Chapter 1092
Fleeing from Crime
The words of the Supreme Being Jingxuan calmed the fearful and uneasy people of the Demon Subduing Hall down a little, but their knees remained rooted to the spot.
Throughout their lives, they rarely even came into contact with Golden Core cultivators. If Song Changsheng hadn't broken through to the Nascent Soul stage, they might never have had the chance to have a direct encounter with a Nascent Soul cultivator.
Such powerful figures wouldn't even give a second glance to a bunch of ants like them.
Nowadays, it's already quite difficult to maintain composure when facing a supreme-level powerhouse.
“Despite living in a remote and impoverished border region, you have never forgotten your duty to vanquish demons; you are all heroes.”
As the Supreme Master Jingxuan finished speaking, an invisible force lifted everyone up, and their turbulent hearts seemed to be slowly soothed.
Wang Zaixing said cautiously, "We will keep in mind our ancestor's teachings and take it upon ourselves to subdue demons and monsters. We will never forget them for a moment."
"It is all my fault for being incompetent and failing to detect the demonic activity in time, which allowed the demonic calamity to spread uncontrollably, forcing me to alert Your Majesty. I am truly ashamed."
"You have already made the most of the resources you have, what is there to be ashamed of?"
Despite the difference in status and cultivation, the Pure Profound Supreme did not look down on Wang Zaixing and the others. However, she did not waste any more time and directly had Wang Zaixing bring out the various samples that had been collected in advance.
Among them are pure demonic energy extracted from the bodies of corrupted demon slaves, as well as land and spiritual energy contaminated by demonic blood, and even related "research reports," which are extremely detailed.
Later, Song Changsheng learned that it was the standard procedure of the Demon Subduing Hall.
However, Wang Zaixing and his group did not receive the true teachings, and coupled with the limited resources they had, they did not achieve any results in their research.
However, this saved Supreme Jingxuan a lot of trouble.
"How do you remove demonic energy from the cultivators' bodies?"
Although it only took a short time to travel from the Palace of Myriad Phenomena to the Hall of Subduing Demons, the Pure Mystery Supreme had already gathered enough information. She knew that the demonic calamity on the border had been basically quelled.
The fact that these neighboring cultivation communities in the southwest have even resumed exchanges and trade indicates that they have mastered the relevant countermeasures.
She first needs to determine whether this method will leave any hidden dangers, and also whether it is possible to replicate and promote it on a large scale.
It should be noted that there are still a large number of cultivators north of the Tianshan Mountains who have been invaded by demonic energy and entered a dormant phase. The only way to completely eradicate them is to carry out a thorough purge, just like in the border regions.
"Your Majesty, this is a method that I discovered by chance in an ancient book, which was later personally verified and implemented by True Lord Zixu."
"Oh?" Supreme Jingxuan couldn't help but become interested.
Wang Zaixing quickly recounted the events in detail. Upon learning that Song Changsheng possessed a fifth-tier [Mermaid Tears], even the Pure Profound Supreme couldn't help but glance at him a few more times.
When she heard that this life-saving [Exorcism Powder] was only sold for one low-grade spirit stone, she was full of praise, making Song Changsheng himself feel a little ashamed.
Unfortunately, while the method is good, it cannot be replicated.
The fifth-tier [Mermaid's Tears] is extremely rare and hard to come by; even the Demon Subduing Hall doesn't possess a treasure of this caliber.
Song Changsheng's single pill is barely enough to supply the border regions, while the area north of the Tianshan Mountains is not only much larger but also more densely populated, so it would probably take dozens of pills to meet the demand.
The Demon Subduing Hall must come up with a new, practical solution to the problem.
Fortunately, they are experienced in this area.
After examining the specimens presented by Wang Zaixing, the Pure Profound Supreme had already made up his mind and said without turning his head, "Go to the Abyss."
"Yes, sir." Song Changsheng quickly accepted the order.
The headquarters of the Demon Subduing Hall is far away in the Central Continent. He originally thought that the Demon Subduing Hall was unaware of the Abyss's secrets, but after making contact, he found that this was not the case.
The Pure Profound Supreme stood there, gazing intently at the rift, as if he had completely merged with the surrounding space.
Song Changsheng and Gu Ying Zhenjun were slightly behind.
“A hundred years ago, Clan Chief Song won the championship in the Five Academies Grand Competition. At that time, he was only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm. In such a short time, he has reached his current position. In this barren and remote border region, he is truly a miraculous existence.”
Song Changsheng raised an eyebrow slightly, but did not respond.
The Shadow Pavilion has many gray industries under its jurisdiction, the most well-known of which should be the black market, which can be accessed by people from all walks of life, from the highest to the lowest ranks.
However, Shadow Pavilion did not start out as an underground trading organization. It was essentially an assassin organization that accepted external hires and commissions. In addition to the assassins it trained, it also had many missions open to the public. Anyone could take on these missions and earn contribution points upon completion.
Influenced by Wu Jie, Song Qingxing went out to gain experience and arrived in the cultivation world of Lu Kingdom to obtain cultivation resources.
Contribution points can be exchanged for resources from the Shadow Pavilion, including many resources that are not circulated in the market and cannot be seen in the light of day.
Gradually, this led to the formation of an underground auction house specifically for selling stolen goods.
As the Shadow Pavilion continued to grow, the underground auctions evolved into underground trading markets, which are now known as the black market.
The black market is also the main reason why Shadow Pavilion, a force that walks on the edge of good and evil, has been able to survive and continue to grow.
Because the black market filled a major gap in the trading market, countless people from top to bottom needed this channel, making the Shadow Pavilion's existence necessary.
The Shadow Pavilion was well aware of this and gradually shifted its focus to the black market, retaining only a small number of assassin agencies that accepted hires. It no longer accepted commissions targeting righteous forces, and the missions it issued were all aimed at those heinous rogue cultivators or evil cultivators, which gradually reversed some of its reputation.
The continuous expansion of the black market has not only brought the Shadow Pavilion a massive amount of wealth, but also a terrifying intelligence-gathering capability.
Therefore, another major pillar of the Shadow Pavilion's business is the sale of intelligence.
Song Changsheng won the Five Academies Grand Competition, so his influence was considerable. Since True Monarch Lone Shadow was coming to the border, it was understandable that he would seek information about this beforehand.
He was more concerned about what the other person would say next.
Receiving no response, True Monarch Lone Shadow did not mind and smiled slightly, saying, "When I was the same age as Clan Chief Song, I was just a minor Purple Mansion cultivator. The difference between us is truly embarrassing."
Still no response.
He didn't care and said to himself, "A golden carp is no ordinary fish; it will transform into a dragon once it encounters wind and clouds."
Now that we have the protection of Ancestor Xuanlei and the east wind is ready, it's only a matter of time before you cross the Dragon Gate.
However, we must still be wary of malicious people causing trouble in secret.
After all that buildup, the true intentions are finally revealed.
Song Changsheng slightly raised his eyelids and said calmly, "Fellow Daoist, please speak frankly."
“Xu Yunhe,” said Lonely Shadow True Monarch succinctly.
“I haven’t seen him for many years. If you’ve come for him, you’ve come to the wrong person,” Song Changsheng said calmly. “You know Xu Yunhe’s whereabouts, and I know them too. He’s in this abyss.” True Monarch Gu Ying pointed to the spatial rift in front of him, then changed the subject, “So, I’m not here for him, but for a young woman named Xu Miaoyin.”
The last sentence was spoken in the form of telepathy.
Song Changsheng remained outwardly calm, but a hint of murderous intent quietly stirred within him, though it quickly subsided.
Since the Dark Shadow Pavilion has already discovered Xu Miaoyin's information, killing Lone Shadow True Monarch would be of no use. It would be better to listen to what purpose the other party had in saying these words to him.
The Lone Shadow True Monarch smiled slightly and said, "This news was reported by my disciple. Not many people know about it now, but that may not be the case in the future. I only control part of the intelligence network and cannot be all-encompassing."
The person who co-manages the intelligence network with me is Youying, who is at the mid-Nascent Soul stage. He has a descendant of the same clan named Yu Jiuming, who is fond of dual cultivation and enjoys raising women as furnaces to improve his cultivation.
In his youth, Yu Jiuming ordered people to find a furnace with a special physique in order to break through to the Golden Core realm.
More than two hundred years ago, one of his subordinates found a pair of twin sisters in the cultivation world of Daqi. At that time, a strange phenomenon appeared in the sky, and a vast purple aura spread across thousands of miles.
The two sisters were named Xia Qingxue and Xia Wanyun.
It possesses the rare [Yin-Yang Phoenix Body], making it an excellent furnace/cauldron.
However, besides that steward, there were also elders from the Golden Crow Sect present at the time.
The steward was acting on a private order and dared not go too far. The elders of the Golden Crow Sect were also wary of his status and dared not openly confront him.
Ultimately, they decided to compromise and divide the money equally between the two sisters.
Xia Qingxue joined the Golden Crow Sect as a personal disciple, while Xia Wanyun was left in the border state of Daqi, ostensibly an auction house, but in reality a prison.
According to the original trajectory, the woman should have been sent to the main headquarters after breaking through to the Purple Mansion stage to help Yu Jiuming break through to the Golden Core stage, but at this time, a one-armed swordsman suddenly appeared..."
At this point, True Monarch Lone Shadow paused, then revealed a cryptic smile and said, "Without this furnace, Yu Jiuming failed to pass the Golden Core Tribulation. His meridians were half destroyed, his dantian was ruptured, and he was practically a cripple. He has not fully recovered even now."
Yu Jiuming claimed to be a descendant of Youying, but in reality, he was the only child born from an affair.
Upon learning this news, he was furious and determined to grind Xia Wanyun and Xu Yunhe to dust.
After years of pursuit, the couple fled to this place and fought a bloody battle but failed to succeed.
The demonic energy also lurked within the wounded soldiers at that time, eventually reaching the main headquarters…
This matter spans more than two hundred years, yet Guying was able to understand it so clearly. With such terrifying intelligence gathering capabilities, it's no wonder he discovered Xu Miaoyin's existence.
After all, Xu Miaoyin had not changed her name, and her friendship with Xu Yunhe was no secret. Professional intelligence agents would never give up on this lead.
It wasn't that Song Changsheng was too careless, but rather that there was an information gap.
He sent Xu Miaoyin to the East China Sea and deliberately reduced contact and meetings with her in order to hide their relationship.
But he never expected that the Shadow Pavilion would have a Heaven-level black market in the East China Sea, and he learned this information from Yi Tianzheng.
When Xu Miaoyin was young, not many people paid attention to her.
But now that she has grown into a Purple Mansion cultivator, the situation is completely different.
Perhaps it was just a simple experience that alerted the group of hyenas with their keen sense of smell to something amiss.
However, it's clear that the other party had ulterior motives for telling him all this.
He said calmly, "As the saying goes, family scandals should not be aired in public. These are all internal affairs of the Shadow Pavilion and should not be known to outsiders."
"Fellow Daoist, I will pretend I didn't hear your words today and will not speak further."
Lonely Shadow True Monarch persisted, saying, "I hit it off with Fellow Daoist Song at first sight, it's alright."
Besides, that shadowy figure is no longer a member of our sect, so it's not a family matter.
He committed such a crime for his own selfish desires; how can our organization tolerate him?
The original plan was to imprison him and bring him to justice, but he controlled nearly half of the cabinet's intelligence network, learned of the plan in advance, and fled to avoid punishment. His whereabouts are currently unknown.
"We have issued numerous wanted notices within the pavilion, with very generous rewards. If you have any leads, please feel free to contact us at any time."
Lonely Shadow True Monarch flipped his hand and took out a palm-sized jade tablet, handing it to Song Changsheng and patiently explaining, "This jade tablet is the latest product of the Craftsmanship Pavilion."
Driven by the power of laws, it can transmit messages almost regardless of distance, which is something other means of communication cannot achieve.
The drawback is that only Nascent Soul cultivators can activate it, and it can only communicate with this part of my body in a one-way connection.
This contains a wanted poster for Youying, which includes his detailed information and the bounty. Since you have nothing else to do, fellow Daoist, you might as well take a look.
These stray dogs are the most dangerous; it's never a bad thing to know about them.
Looking at the jade pendant, a hint of surprise flashed in Song Changsheng's eyes.
Ignoring distance communication, even the Palace of Myriad Manifestations doesn't have such a treasure, right?
This was the first time he had ever heard of it.
If we had had such a treasure back then, we wouldn't have been unable to contact anyone.
It sounds a bit unbelievable at first, but it's not surprising if it comes from the Qiaogonglou, after all, it is the holy land of all the world's master craftsmen and is very similar to the Array Dao Academy.
It not only gathers the most outstanding craftsmen of the human race, but also houses almost all the ancient and modern classics of craftsmanship, and often produces amazing creations.
Unfortunately, the location of the Qiaogong Building is relatively remote. It will take at least several hundred or several thousand years for these ingenious creations to reach the border regions.
If the refining process is too difficult and the quantity is too small, it may never reach the border regions.
However, since Guying gave it away so easily, it probably wasn't anything particularly valuable.
"Alas, that Shadow has controlled the Shadow Pavilion's intelligence network for many years and has many former subordinates."
Even though he has been convicted, there are probably still many people secretly providing him with intelligence. Most of the information cannot be hidden from him, otherwise the search would not be so difficult. "The Lone Shadow True Monarch sighed with feigned regret.
What the other party said seemed like a reminder, but in reality, they wanted to use someone else to do their dirty work.
Song Changsheng understood this clearly, but he still accepted the jade pendant.
A stray dog must be guarded against!
...(End of this chapter)