Cultivation Starting from Choosing Augments

Chapter 127 - 124: Steward Song’s Murder, Yellow Springs Demon Technique

Opening the Storage Bag, the first thing he saw was another three thousand Spirit Stones.

He skipped over some miscellaneous Magical Artifacts and Cultivation Techniques.

Among the more important items was a Profound-grade Body Refining inheritance and a special Magic called the Carnivorous Body Forging Technique.

Xiao Chen briefly skimmed the contents.

The former required using Body Refining Secret Techniques to stimulate the body day after day, year after year, to strengthen one’s Qi Blood.

The latter was much more unusual. It focused on the Refinement of Essence Qi by eating flesh.

Of course, eating meat itself was normal, but this Magic specifically referred to the flesh of Cultivators.

Xiao Chen’s brows furrowed as he read. "What kind of madman is researching this stuff?"

He skipped the middle and flipped to the last page, where he saw six large words—The Divine Fire descends to cleanse the world.

’Very good. As expected, it’s another one of those animals from the Divine Fire Sect.’

Additionally, there was a complete Pill Formula for a Tier Two Body Forging Spirit Pill—the Iron Bone Pill.

The Iron Bone Pill could be used in conjunction with Body Refining Secret Techniques or consumed alone to strengthen a Cultivator’s physique.

According to the Pill Formula’s description,

if one could refine one hundred and eight of them, they would gain a body of steel and sinew, greatly amplifying their physical prowess.

Xiao Chen checked the Spirit Grass required by the Pill Formula. They were all varieties that supplemented Qi Blood, so it seemed to be a normal Pill Formula.

’This thing is decent. I can consider trying it out when I have time.’

Finally, there were eight portraits.

They were full-body portraits and front-facing close-ups of Xiao Chen, Ye Fei, Miao Yuqing, and Huang Haoran.

The back of each portrait had a different number.

Above the number was a strange mark, and below it was the character for "kill" written in blood-red.

The highest number belonged to Huang Haoran, a full nine thousand.

Next was Ye Fei with eight thousand, and Miao Yuqing with seven thousand.

The smallest number belonged to Xiao Chen himself: only five thousand.

’This should... perhaps... probably... possibly... be a Bounty Order?’

’How am I the least valuable one?’

Xiao Chen stared at the five thousand on the back in disbelief. ’Fine, fine, so that’s how you rate me. Just don’t let me find out who you are.’

He looked at it a few more times, memorizing the mark on the back of the Bounty Order before putting all the portraits away.

"Junior Brother Xiao, how did it go? Did you find any clues?"

Chen Zhi’an had arrived by now.

Xiao Chen shook his head. "No. By the time I reached Jingchuan, I found the Jing Family had already been silenced. This Demon Cultivator moves too fast."

"You could say this lead is a dead end. We’ll have to start from somewhere else."

"What’s the situation back at the sect?"

Chen Zhi’an reassured him, "The Demon Extermination Hall is already on it. The Zhu Family members have been handed over to the Law Enforcement Hall for interrogation. We should have results soon."

"When Mei heard about the situation, he went out of his way to persuade a few Honored Guest Elders and other Elders to help with the patrols."

"As long as they haven’t left the sect’s territory, finding them is just a matter of time."

However, none of them expected that the first piece of news they would receive would be a bad one.

"What? Steward Song has been killed?"

Xiao Chen and Chen Zhi’an had just returned to the sect when they heard the terrible news.

Song Fengbo was a Foundation Establishment Steward of the Li Huo Sect, responsible for the affairs of the sect’s Spirit Beast Garden.

While pursuing Jing Qiyuan in the morning, he had an unfortunate encounter with a Demon Cultivator and was killed.

"That can’t be right."

Chen Zhi’an was shocked and doubtful. "I remember Steward Song had already reached the sixth layer of Foundation Establishment. How could he have fallen so easily?"

Xiao Chen was also puzzled. "Could it be a false report? How could his death be confirmed so quickly?"

However, Elder Chen sighed. "It’s not a false report. Two Foundation Establishment Cultivators from the Song Family were acting together this time, so they got confirmed news very quickly."

"Let’s head to the sect’s main hall first. I don’t know the specifics myself right now."

Inside the sect’s main hall, the atmosphere was heavy.

It wasn’t as if Demon Cultivators hadn’t caused trouble in the past, but those were all minor incidents.

This was the first case in nearly a decade of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator being killed by a Demon Cultivator.

An Honored Guest Elder asked directly, "Mei, I heard that the two brothers from the Song Family went out together. How could one of them have been ambushed alone?"

Generally speaking, it takes some time for a fight between Foundation Establishment Cultivators to be decided.

Xiao Chen’s own battle against the Hundred Poison Demon had lasted for more than a Quarter Hour.

If one party was determined to flee and the other’s pursuit methods weren’t particularly effective, the fight could be drawn out for a very long time, or even end in a successful escape.

In that kind of situation, if a battle were to break out near the Li Huo Sect,

it should have easily attracted the attention of other sect members, allowing for timely rescue.

Mei Yong’s expression was grave. "At the time, Junior Brother Fengbo and Junior Brother Feng Tao split up by about six *li* to increase their search efficiency, checking two different mountain paths simultaneously."

"But for some reason, Junior Brother Feng Tao didn’t hear any commotion from start to finish."

"That’s impossible!"

An Honored Guest Elder immediately retorted, "Even if that distance is beyond the Range of Divine Sense, the sound of Magic attacks should still be easily discernible."

Mei Yong shook his head slightly. "Junior Brother Fengbo didn’t have time to use any Magic."

This sentence caused an uproar in the hall, and the Honored Guest Elders were all shocked and suspicious.

"Did many people attack? Are the Demon Cultivators from the Divine Fire Sect planning to go to war with us?"

"Could a late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator have made a move? No, that’s not right. To make it so Senior Brother Fengbo couldn’t even fight back... could it have been a Fake Pill Cultivator?"

Mei Yong quickly raised a hand to quiet the crowd. "There should have been only one person."

"The Grand Elder and I have seen the scene. The attacker was likely a late-stage Foundation Establishment Demon Cultivator."

"We can’t confirm yet whether they belong to the Divine Fire Sect."

But this raised a new question. "If it was one-on-one, how could he not even have had time to use Magic?"

Hearing this, Mei Yong took out a sect file. "Based on a comparison with the traces left at the scene, the opponent likely cultivates a Demon Technique from the Yellow Springs Dao."

Xiao Chen carefully read the file’s contents.

Simply put, there was a special Demon Technique that could prevent a Cultivator from speaking for a short period.

If you can’t speak, you can’t recite a magic Mantra.

Although many forms of Magic could be cast without a Mantra, a sudden attack could leave one unable to use other spells in time.

Xiao Chen understood at once. ’To put it bluntly, it’s just a silence effect.’

’The Divine Protection Veil is the perfect counter to this kind of unorthodox method.’

Then, Mei Yong explained the entire sequence of events from the beginning, so that those who hadn’t yet participated in the manhunt could also understand what was happening.

"So, are we going into the mountains to investigate next?"

Huang Haoran asked with a frown, "The northern mountain range is full of untamed Demon Beasts. If we go into the mountains with a large, conspicuous force, it might not be effective."

His concern was not unfounded. If they provoked a Golden Core Demon Beast, things would only get worse.

But in truth, he was more worried that if they split up to enter the mountains, they would be picked off one by one.

Huang Haoran’s Cultivation was only at the fifth layer of Foundation Establishment. If he encountered Song Fengbo’s killer, he figured he wouldn’t get away easily.

Mei Yong gave his arrangements, "Since the opponent is a late-stage Foundation Establishment Cultivator, the Grand Elder, Elder Fu, Elder Liu, and I will split up and head into the mountains to investigate shortly."

"We can decide on subsequent actions after we return."

"Until then, no one is to leave the sect alone."

Xiao Chen volunteered, "Mei, I’ll go too. The terrain in the northern mountains is complex. One more person means one more direction we can search."