The Living Are Like This
Translator: Cinder Translations
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Three sharp blades simultaneously pierced into Yu Qi's forehead.
"Ahhhh!"
A chilling, sorrowful scream echoed through the air.
Yu Qi was horrified to realize that 'Ji Yin's' spiritual power was far stronger than his own.
The three blades instantly disrupted his sea of consciousness, causing chaos.
Yu Qi felt intense pain in his mind, as though his soul was being violently torn apart.
With his soul severely injured, Yu Qi's mind became disoriented, and he lost control of the power within his body. He couldn't even manage to fly, plummeting from the sky.
Song Wen swiftly arrived, his right hand transforming into a sharp claw that plunged directly into Yu Qi's chest, crushing his heart in an instant.
With his left hand, Song Wen pressed onto Yu Qi's head.
Soul Search!
As Song Wen probed Yu Qi's memories, he learned the reason behind the demand for the foundation-building pills.
Wu Ji Island managed a large number of industries such as mines and spiritual fields, but it was impossible for the island itself to oversee everything. Some insignificant industries were handled by external families, who paid a fixed amount of spiritual materials each year.
To prevent these families from weakening over time, Wu Ji Island would redistribute management rights every fifty years, based on the family's strength.
This provided opportunities for inner sect elders to profit by helping these families grow stronger and sharing in their earnings.
Yu Qi and the Chu family father and son were examples of this.
After the soul search, Yu Qi's soul was sucked into Song Wen's sea of consciousness, and at the same time, Song Wen began to devour his essence blood.
A pure surge of spiritual power flowed into Song Wen's body along with the essence blood, merging with his original power and eventually entering his dantian golden core.
Song Wen's cultivation rapidly skyrocketed, increasing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The rapid rise of spiritual power seemed difficult to control, and a powerful aura surged around him, sweeping towards the western directions.
Suddenly, an invisible bottleneck appeared, preventing the spiritual power inside the golden core from increasing further.
Just as Song Wen was about to break through the bottleneck of the early golden core stage, the foreign spiritual power began to weaken and then rapidly dissipate. Yu Qi's spiritual power had also been consumed.
Although Song Wen did not manage to break through to the mid-golden core stage, he wasn't disappointed.
The power he had absorbed from Yu Qi saved him ten years of hard cultivation, and that included the use of numerous Blood Spirit Pills. Without them, the cultivation speed would have equated to thirty or forty years of effort.
Song Wen released a burst of flames, which instantly consumed Yu Qi's body, turning it to ash that scattered with the wind and fell into the sea.
He used his Lightning Escape technique and quickly left the area.
Two hours later, after taking a circuitous route, Song Wen returned to Ji Yin Island.
He sent a message to An Tong, informing her that he would be in seclusion for a while and that she should not disturb him unless something important came up. Then, Song Wen activated several formation arrays in his cave and began operating the Corpse King Rebirth Technique to solidify his rapidly increasing cultivation.
...
Half a year later, Song Wen's cultivation was stable, and he ended his seclusion.
He took out Yu Qi's storage ring and began to examine it.
Yu Qi had quite a fortune.
There were twenty-one high-grade spirit stones, several hundred medium-grade spirit stones, and tens of thousands of low-grade spirit stones.
There were also two magical items, both low-grade, a black iron spike and a soul banner.
The soul banner contained a large number of yin souls, which Song Wen transferred into his Three-Flag Yin Soul Banner to nourish the Ghost King.
These two magical items weren't of much use to Song Wen, so he planned to sell them at a shop, expecting to get fifty or sixty thousand spirit stones.
Additionally, there were some pills and spiritual herbs, including a blood jade coral, which was currently being used to prepare the Corpse Curse Water.
Song Wen exited the cave and extended his spiritual sense, finding An Tong and An Yin on the eastern spiritual fields of the island. With a flash, Song Wen appeared beside the pavilion near the fields.
"Senior, you've come out of seclusion?"
An Yin was the first to notice Song Wen, bowing as she spoke.
Her voice caught An Tong's attention, and An Tong also approached to bow to Song Wen.
Song Wen flipped his hand and took out a jade bottle.
"Here are two foundation-building pills, given to both of you sisters. Whether you can build your foundation depends on your own luck."
An Yin and An Tong exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with disbelief and joy.
"Thank you, Senior."
An Yin had already reached the peak of Qi Refining, while An Tong was only at the eighth level of Qi Refining.
Song Wen looked at An Yin and said, "Cultivate well. If you manage to establish your foundation quickly, you can help me with some of the trivial matters."
"Yes, Senior," An Yin replied respectfully.
"During my seclusion, has anyone tried to contact me?" Song Wen asked.
An Tong responded, "Reporting to Senior, Elder Chu Qian came once. He heard you were in seclusion, so he didn't say anything and just left."
Song Wen rose into the air and flew toward Wu Ji Island.
After reaching Wu Ji Island, Song Wen headed straight for the Corpse King Valley. At the entrance of the valley, he saw someone he didn't expect—Jing Kai.
Jing Kai was actually guarding the gate of the Corpse King Valley.
He had become the leader of the guards.
Song Wen recognized him; he hadn't seen him for a while, but this was already his third job change.
Initially, he was a servant at the External Affairs Hall, then he became a shepherd on Sheep Island, and now he was a guard leader.
Being a guard at the Corpse King Valley was far inferior to his previous positions, both in terms of status and treatment.
"Xiao Jing You, what brings you to be a guard here?" Song Wen asked as he approached.
Jing Kai's expression was somewhat desolate, but when he saw Song Wen take the initiative to greet him, he forced a faint smile.
"Greetings, Senior Ji Yin."
After bowing to Song Wen, Jing Kai sighed deeply.
"Senior, you may not know, but half a month ago, my master Yu Qi suddenly died without any explanation. Once he passed, those Golden Core elders who were on good terms with him all turned their backs on me. The job of shepherd is a cushy one, but how could I stay there without any backing? I was forcibly replaced."
Jing Kai clenched his fists, his expression turning fierce.
"My master treated me well. If I find out who killed him, even if it costs me my life, I will avenge my master."
Song Wen was slightly stunned.
So the culprit was actually he himself!
Song Wen asked in shock, "Was your master Yu Qi a disciple of the Yin Shuo Demon Lord? Who would be so bold to kill Elder Yu Qi? Has anyone investigated the killer?"
Jing Kai shook his head with a sorrowful expression.
"The sect has been investigating for months, but they haven't found a single clue about the killer."
Although Song Wen was confident that Wu Ji Island would not find any evidence, hearing this news still put his mind at ease.
Song Wen extended his right hand and patted Jing Kai's left shoulder.
"Xiao Jing, my condolences."
"The dead are gone, and the living remain. As cultivators of the demonic path, we must face life and death with a smile."
"If you encounter any trouble in the future, feel free to come to Ji Yin Island and find me."
Jing Kai's face showed deep gratitude. "Thank you, Senior, for your concern."
After Master Yu Qi's death, all the Golden Core seniors who had been on good terms with him began to avoid Jing Kai. Some even took advantage of his misfortune. Even Zhu Yin, his nominal master uncle, started to treat him with cold indifference.
He never expected that the 'Ji Yin' senior, whom he had only met twice, would show such concern for him.
Jing Kai looked at Song Wen with increasing respect.
(End of the Chapter)
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