Translator: Cinder Translations
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Song Wen shook his head and did not take the Soul Concealment Jade that Zhou Siyi handed him.
"This item is no longer useful to me."
He patted the spirit beast pouch at his waist, and the Nether Fox suddenly appeared.
"Master, you finally let me out. Your spirit beast pouch is too small; it's so cramped inside."
The voice of the Nether Fox rang in both Song Wen and Zhou Siyi's minds.
Zhou Siyi looked at the Nether Fox and asked,
"Junior Brother Wu, is this your spirit beast?"
Song Wen nodded. "This is the Nether Fox. The Soul Concealment Jade is made from the third-tier Nether Fox's forehead bone."
"Are you going to kill it and take its forehead bone?" Zhou Siyi asked in surprise.
As soon as the words were spoken, the Nether Fox's fur bristled, standing upright like a large porcupine.
It bared its teeth and glared at Song Wen.
"Human, you promised that as long as I served you for a hundred years, you wouldn't kill me."
Enraged, the Nether Fox no longer called Song Wen "Master" and instead addressed him as "Human."
Song Wen glanced at the angry Nether Fox, ignoring it, and turned to Zhou Siyi.
"There's no need to kill it. We can sign a spirit beast contract and keep it in the spirit beast pouch. That will also conceal my soul fluctuations."
This was something Song Wen discovered after subduing the Nether Fox. Otherwise, he would have killed the fox and taken the bone already.
As for the promise he made with the Nether Fox, it was just a promise, not a soul oath.
"Is what you're saying true?"
Zhou Siyi seemed worried, as if afraid Song Wen might be deceiving her.
Song Wen nodded, "Of course."
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There was still something Song Wen hadn't told Zhou Siyi. Given his current strength and methods, if Tai He were still in the mid-Nascent Soul stage and didn't have any helpers or pre-set formations, Song Wen could protect himself even if he couldn't kill Tai He.
The Nether Fox relaxed when it realized Song Wen didn't plan to kill it.
"I knew it, Master, you're a trustworthy person. How could you break your word?"
Song Wen didn't want to listen to the Nether Fox's chatter and quickly returned it to the spirit beast pouch.
Zhou Siyi turned around, her large eyes gleaming as she stared at Song Wen, her expression serious.
"By the way, should I call you Junior Brother Wu or 'Ji Yin'?"
Song Wen replied, "Call me Ji Yin. Wu Sheng is my alias."
"Alright, then I'll call you Junior Brother Ji Yin from now on. Your cultivation is now a whole realm higher than mine, so you don't mind if I continue to call you 'Junior Brother', do you?" Zhou Siyi asked.
"As long as Senior Zhou is happy, it doesn't matter how you address me," Song Wen said.
Zhou Siyi's eyes curved into crescent moons, clearly delighted.
"Good, then you'll still be my Junior Brother."
Song Wen said, "Senior Zhou, Lei Weiyue can't be trusted. Although she's no longer likely to return to the Lei family, there's still a chance she could fall into their hands. She knows the location of this cave, so we should leave quickly."
"Where are we going?" Zhou Siyi asked.
"To East Huafang Market," Song Wen said.
"There are many Beastmaster Sect disciples there, some of whom know me. If we go to East Huafang Market, I might get recognized," Zhou Siyi said, her tone filled with concern.
"This is simple."
Song Wen took out a veil.
This veil originally belonged to Xing Xinxin and was a magical artifact that was highly effective at concealing one's aura.
Xing Xinxin had used this item to hide her corpse dao aura so well that even Xing Gaohan couldn't detect it. Its power to conceal aura is evident from this.
Zhou Siyi put on the veil, concealing her aura and appearance, and Song Wen then took her to East Huafang Market.
Song Wen rented a courtyard in the square to temporarily settle Zhou Siyi.
Considering that Zhou Siyi's dantian was damaged and she couldn't use her spiritual power, Song Wen summoned a Shadow Gu.
"Senior Zhou, unless necessary, you should stay indoors as much as possible. I will quickly retrieve the Sea Spirit Fruit and reforge your dantian. Also, this Gu will stay with you for now to protect you."
Zhou Siyi looked at the Shadow Gu resting in her palm, her eyes showing strong interest.
"Junior Brother Ji Yin, this Gu is well-raised. But why don't you continue cultivating it to increase its power further?" Zhou Siyi asked.
Song Wen showed a bitter expression and sighed, "It's not that I don't want to, but despite all my efforts, I couldn't make it grow stronger."
"If Junior Brother is willing, I might be able to think of a way to help you," Zhou Siyi said.
"Oh? Senior has a method to enhance the Gu's power?" Song Wen asked.
Zhou Siyi replied, "I have a few ideas, but their effectiveness can only be known once we try."
"Then I'll leave it to you, Senior," Song Wen said.
He took out a storage ring and handed it to Zhou Siyi.
Inside the ring were pills commonly used by Golden Core cultivators and some spirit stones. There were also a flying sword, a shield, a cloak, and a pill furnace, all of them low-grade magical artifacts that Song Wen had obtained through killing others.
After being imprisoned by the Lei family, Zhou Siyi's spirit beast and storage ring were taken from her, leaving her with nothing.
Zhou Siyi looked through the storage ring, and her eyes flashed with surprise.
"Junior Brother Ji Yin, all these things are for me?"
"These items aren't of much use to me. Senior, please take them," Song Wen said.
Zhou Siyi didn't hesitate, as she indeed needed these items.
"Then I thank you, Junior Brother. However, I fear I cannot repay your kindness," she said.
"If Senior can help me raise the Gu to the fourth stage, these items would be far less valuable than that," Song Wen said with a smile.
"Junior Brother, you really dare to dream. Raising a Gu to the fourth stage isn't something that can be easily done," Zhou Siyi replied.
Though she seemed to casually respond, she was already calculating in her mind.
After settling Zhou Siyi, Song Wen left East Huafang Market.
---
That night.
Song Wen arrived at the mist-covered mountain gorge where the Mountain Stream Ghost Market was located.
The Mountain Stream Ghost Market mostly sold illegal or demonic items used by cultivators such as souls, corpses, blood essence, Yin souls, ghost energy, and corpse poison.
However, the slightly larger stores in the Mountain Stream Ghost Market were generally controlled by the righteous Beastmaster Sect or the Lei family.
Disguised as a middle-aged loose cultivator, Song Wen revealed the aura of a cultivator at the early Golden Core stage.
He entered a fairly large spellcraft shop.
"Senior, may I ask what you wish to buy?" A young attendant at the Qi Refining stage approached.
"Does your store sell cultivation methods for the Golden Core stage? Preferably wood-based cultivation methods," Song Wen asked.
The attendant shook his head, "Sorry, Senior. Our shop doesn't have any Golden Core cultivation methods."
Hearing this, Song Wen became somewhat dejected and sighed.
"Ah, there's none in East Huafang Market, and now none here in the Mountain Stream Ghost Market either. Does it really mean that I must rely on the major sects to obtain a Golden Core cultivation method?"
Song Wen muttered to himself.
He raised his foot to leave but suddenly stopped and continued speaking to the attendant.
"Could you ask your manager to come out? I'd like to speak with him directly."
"Of course, Senior. Please wait a moment. I'll inform the manager right away," the attendant said.
(End of the Chapter)
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