After leaving Dragon Bone Forest, Wei Tu found a secluded mountain forest. He dug a small cave beneath it and concealed himself within, using the opportunity to recover the spiritual energy he had expended during his earlier battle.

Before entering Cloud Ze Secret Realm, despite having prepared various pills for replenishing his energy, Wei Tu was not inclined to waste them just yet.

Half a month later.

Wei Tu had fully recovered, his spirit and energy replenished, and his cultivation had even advanced slightly. As per his routine, he used the Twin Resonance Jade to sense the whereabouts of Qin Zhenren before retrieving the two storage pouches that he had kept close to his chest.

Storage pouches contained traces of their previous owner’s spiritual imprint. After some consideration, Wei Tu set aside the pouch belonging to the tall, skinny man and began erasing the spiritual imprint from the pouch that had belonged to the square-faced man.

Once his divine sense penetrated the storage pouch, what he saw inside was just as he had expected—its contents were rather lackluster. There were not many magical artifacts or treasures. Other than a pile of spirit stones stacked in the corner and a few miscellaneous jade slips, there were only three jade boxes placed carefully in the center of the pouch.

“Earth Dragon Flesh?”

When Wei Tu opened the jade boxes, he found them packed with large chunks of blood-colored meat. He was surprised at the square-faced man’s harvest.

Earth Dragon Flesh was a specialty of Dragon Bone Forest. Classified as a spiritual herb rather than ordinary flesh, it could be consumed to enhance a cultivator’s blood essence, making it an invaluable resource for body refinement.

“No wonder. I had delayed my entry into Dragon Bone Forest by more than a month while I waited for the Wind-Cleaving Eagle to break through. It makes sense that this square-faced man managed to obtain such a substantial harvest.”

Wei Tu pondered for a moment.

“Body refinement requires a significant investment of time and resources. However, with these three boxes of Earth Dragon Flesh, the process would be significantly more efficient.”

He had long considered cultivating a body refinement technique after advancing to the Foundation Establishment Realm, but due to time and resource constraints, he had put it off.

Body refinement would not only improve his defensive capabilities but also increase his survival rate in battle.

More importantly, having a robust blood essence would be highly beneficial for forming his Golden Core.

According to ancient texts, forming a Golden Core required the fusion of a cultivator’s essence, energy, and spirit—only by perfectly merging these three aspects could one achieve the transformation known as “Jade Liquid Returning to the Core.”

“Hmm? This is…”

As Wei Tu continued searching through the pouch, he pulled out a pale blue jade slip. Upon examining its contents, he was surprised.

“A method to raise Seven-Colored Phantom Moths?”

His near-defeat at the hands of the square-faced man and his companion had been largely due to this peculiar insect.

The Seven-Colored Phantom Moth was extraordinarily elusive, capable of evading divine sense and even bypassing the detection abilities of his Fragrant Silk Nose. This made it far superior to most common spirit beasts in terms of stealth.

If he could successfully nurture a Seven-Colored Phantom Moth of his own, then he could fully inherit this technique that had nearly cost him his life.

According to the jade slip, the Seven-Colored Phantom Moth was cultivated from a base species known as the Misty Moth.

Wei Tu frowned slightly.

“Misty Moths… not particularly rare, but quite difficult to come by.”

Unlike spirit herbs or minerals, which could be deliberately cultivated or refined, rare insects like the Misty Moth could only be found in the wild.

“Wait, there’s another method?”

Wei Tu flipped through more of the jade slip’s content and discovered an alternative method for raising a Seven-Colored Phantom Moth.

“Corpse Incubation?”

According to the text, if one had the corpse of a Seven-Colored Phantom Moth, it was possible to use a specialized corpse incubation method to extract the remaining vitality and breed new moth larvae.

Wei Tu’s eyes flickered as he glanced toward his storage pouch. He happened to have the dead Seven-Colored Phantom Moth from the previous battle.

“I won’t rush this. I’ll wait until I leave Cloud Ze Secret Realm before attempting it.”

Nurturing an insect with corpse incubation required careful preparation and time. At the moment, he had more pressing matters to attend to.

He put away the jade slip and refocused on the remaining storage pouch.

Opening the second pouch, belonging to the tall, skinny man, Wei Tu found its contents to be similar to the first—spirit stones, a few scattered jade slips, and two boxes of Earth Dragon Flesh.

However, in addition to these, there were over ten Purple Cloud Fruits.

Wei Tu was pleased.

Purple Cloud Fruit was a First-Order spiritual fruit similar to the Silver Luan Fruit he had consumed back in his Qi Refinement days. Its gentle medicinal properties made it ideal for refining spiritual energy.

Just as he was about to close the pouch, he noticed an unusual item.

At the bottom of the storage pouch lay a small black finger bone, its entire surface dark and glossy as if carved from obsidian. It was completely different from the rest of the items in the pouch.

Wei Tu picked it up and carefully examined it.

It seemed ordinary to the naked eye, without any discernible spiritual fluctuations.

He probed it with his divine sense—nothing. It appeared to be nothing more than a regular bone fragment.

Frowning, Wei Tu decided to infuse it with a wisp of his spiritual energy.

The moment his energy entered the black finger bone, it vanished instantly, as if it had been swallowed whole.

Wei Tu’s expression shifted.

“This thing is absorbing my spiritual energy?”

He placed the black finger bone at a distance, then raised his hand and sent a pulse of spiritual energy toward it while activating the Earth Rock Shield as a precaution.

The bone remained motionless for a moment.

Then—a faint blood-red glow flickered across its surface.

It trembled slightly before suddenly lifting into the air and hovering there.

Wei Tu’s eyes narrowed.

The black finger bone began tracing glowing blood-colored characters in the air, one after another, forming an entire string of eerie inscriptions.

After writing nearly a hundred characters, the blood glow on the finger bone faded, and it fell back to the ground, becoming lifeless once more.

Wei Tu took a deep breath, stepping forward to inspect the strange inscriptions.

“A secret transmission of demonic techniques?”

Years ago, after learning of the Demonic Path’s impending invasion of Zheng Kingdom, Wei Tu had studied various records on Demonic Cultivation.

Among those records, he had read about a method used by high-ranking Demonic Cultivators—”Bone Scrolls”.

Unlike orthodox sects, which used jade slips, demonic cultivators often used bones as a medium to store their legacies.

The process involved using their own flesh and bones to inscribe cultivation techniques before death, preserving the knowledge for future demonic cultivators.

More advanced Bone Scrolls could retain their spiritual imprint for centuries, making them invaluable to demonic sects.

Wei Tu speculated that this black finger bone was a Bone Scroll left behind by a demonic cultivator rather than an actual demonic artifact.

Still, he wasn’t one to take unnecessary risks.

To be safe, he released Wind-Cleaving Eagle and commanded it to probe the bone further.

Wind-Cleaving Eagle hesitated, its wings fluttering as it cautiously approached the black finger bone. It circled around the object a few times before finally lowering its head to pick it up with its beak.

Wei Tu remained silent for a moment, then gave the order.

“Swallow it.”

If this black finger bone held some deeper secret, then the flesh and blood of a second-rank beast should be enough to trigger any hidden reaction.

The reason he chose Wind-Cleaving Eagle for this task was simple—it was connected to his mind. Even if the black finger bone turned out to be dangerous, he would have time to react.

After all, Wind-Cleaving Eagle had already reached its peak as a second-rank beast, and its future potential was limited. Its value was nowhere near that of a demonic Bone Scroll.

Time passed.

After observing for a while and seeing no immediate changes, Wei Tu finally relaxed. He then turned his attention to the blood-colored inscriptions left behind by the bone.

“Profound Nether Yin Fire?”

As expected, the black finger bone contained the secrets of a Demonic Path technique—or more precisely, a Demonic Path divine ability.

However, to his disappointment, the bone only recorded a portion of the technique.

After carefully memorizing the inscriptions, Wei Tu summoned innate True Fire to burn away the blood writings, erasing all traces.

Then, he hesitated.

Should he discard the black finger bone, or should he keep it?

This Profound Nether Yin Fire divine ability was powerful enough to be recorded on a Bone Scroll. It was no ordinary technique.

At that moment, Wind-Cleaving Eagle suddenly shook its wings violently, attempting to spit out the bone lodged in its throat.

Wei Tu’s expression hardened.

“That is your fortune. Swallow it back down.”

If the black finger bone was nothing more than a simple Bone Scroll, then it didn’t matter whether he kept it or the eagle did.

But if it posed a hidden threat, then keeping it inside Wind-Cleaving Eagle’s body would serve as an extra layer of protection. If something went wrong, the eagle would be the first to suffer, giving Wei Tu enough time to react.

A few days later.

After completing his recovery, Wei Tu once again set out with Wind-Cleaving Eagle, heading toward the core region of Cloud Ze Secret Realm.

Along the way, he finally used Twin Resonance Jade to pinpoint the location of Qin Zhenren.

Seeing this, he picked up his pace.

Soon, he reached Qin Zhenren’s location.

“Fellow Daoist Wei.”

“Uncle Wei.”

Qin Zhenren and Kou Hongying greeted him.

After exchanging pleasantries, Wei Tu immediately inquired about Qin Zhenren’s plans.

Foundation Establishment Pills were rare, but Condensed Foundation Pills were even rarer.

But compared to Golden Core-forming treasures, even Condensed Foundation Pills paled in value.

Golden Core treasures only grew in the core region, and acquiring them meant they would have to face powerful second-rank beasts and rival cultivators from all factions.

Qin Zhenren smiled faintly.

“I entered Cloud Ze Secret Realm precisely to fight for the opportunity to reach the Golden Core realm… How could I back down now just because of danger?”

Wei Tu nodded in agreement.

Golden Core treasures were rarer than Foundation Establishment materials. These were priceless items that could not simply be bought.

Even the Three Great Immortal Sects weren’t just sitting back and waiting for such treasures to appear in the market—they had sent their own disciples into Cloud Ze Secret Realm to fight for them.

Wei Tu understood this very well.

Years ago, when Huang Changshun had offered him the chance to enter Cloud Ze Secret Realm, he had hesitated.

But he knew one thing for sure—if he missed this opportunity, he might never have another chance to reach the Golden Core realm.

Wei Tu and Qin Zhenren began comparing intelligence reports to assess the dangers in the core region.

“The nearest Golden Core treasure is the ‘Ten Thousand Spirit Ganoderma,’ guarded by a Red-Armored Tiger.”

“However, this area is near three other treasure sites. Rival factions will undoubtedly target it first.”

“Fighting for it would be too dangerous. The best choice is to go for the ‘Huangyuan Grass’ instead.”

“Huangyuan Grass is one of the least valuable Golden Core treasures, so fewer people will be competing for it.”

Qin Zhenren traced a map drawn in the dirt, calmly analyzing their options.

Wei Tu nodded.

“Alright. Let’s go for the Huangyuan Grass first.”

Although killing and looting was the fastest way to obtain treasures, as the factions settled in, it would become much harder to assassinate other cultivators without consequences.

After the initial chaos, order would slowly be re-established.

At least, that’s how it worked 200 years ago.

But whether the same rules still applied today remained to be seen.

As Wei Tu, Qin Zhenren, and Kou Hongying made their way toward Huangyuan Grass, they stumbled upon a shocking scene.

Inside the dense forest, two corpses lay on the ground—both wearing the robes of Heshan Huang Clan.

Nearby, a young woman dressed in flowing white robes stood motionless, her right hand stained with fresh blood.

Her delicate features carried a hint of murderous intent, and her sharp eyes briefly glanced at the group before she turned and disappeared into the shadows.

Wei Tu’s pupils shrank.

“Si Qing?”

Although they had only met a few times, he recognized her at a glance—this was Si Qing, the second-rank formation master serving the Heshan Huang Clan.

Wei Tu quickly approached the corpses.

He immediately recognized them.

“Huang Changkong!”

“Huang Wenqing!”

Two Foundation Establishment cultivators from the Heshan Huang Clan, both slain.

What the hell happened here?

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