Clear white clouds floated in the sky, and the brilliant sunlight shone on the sea of clouds, making everything on Mount Shu appear peaceful and tranquil.
Especially for someone who had just experienced a life and death crisis, everything seemed particularly lovely.
After returning to Mount Shu, Chu Liang rested for a while and then began to work again around noon.
First, he went to the White Tower to take a look and found that the cage was empty.
There were two possibilities: either killing someone did not yield rewards from the White Tower, as the rewards given previously were all for evil spirits; or even though he had cast the Soul-Shifting Spell, the black-robed person had technically committed suicide, so the mark was not transferred to him.
As for which possibility was correct, it would have to be verified later.
Of course, it wasn't a total loss this time, as he had collected quite a few small items from the black-robed person, which needed to be carefully examined.
Although killing someone did not bring rewards, the gains might still be greater, as people and evil spirits were inherently different, and each cultivator was a small treasure trove.
Although the magical items on the demonic cultivator were mostly sinister and treacherous, he could use few of them. But the sect would reward disciples for turning in magic tools from the demonic path, so none of it would go to waste.
He first opened the small porcelain bottles containing sealed ghostly creatures.
What disciples from the Dark King Sect feared the most were the ghostly creatures bred on their bodies. Chu Liang figured that although he couldn't control these creatures himself, dispelling each one with a sword would send them into the cycle of reincarnation and could also be exchanged for rewards at the White Tower, surely a huge profit!
However, when he opened those bottles, he was disappointed.
It seems that the man in the black robe applied some kind of curse when refining the ghosts to prevent them from betraying him, and when he died, all these ghosts vanished.
What a pity.
Chu Liang sighed quietly.
This pile of small bottles was all empty, leaving him with a sudden emptiness in his heart.
There were also some materials for practicing dark magic techniques, which Chu Liang didn't quite recognize, but he had a vague feeling that they wouldn't be of any use, as they would have to be turned over to the Sword Sect later.
Then there was the Netherworld book that increased one's power by killing, an extremely malicious artifact; just by putting his hand on it, he could feel the wailing of those miserable lost souls... No need to think, it was useless.
There was also a small pouch that the man in the black robe had carefully preserved. After opening it, Chu Liang found three hollow dark copper balls, about the size of walnuts. Holding them in his hand, he felt an extreme coldness and a sense of fear.
It should be some kind of sinister artifact.
He would ask his master what it was when he returned.
Finally, there was a dark gold token engraved with the words "Soul Restraint," which seemed to be another magical tool.
Chu Liang couldn't quite understand the purpose of this thing, but he speculated that since the previous owner was dead, there shouldn't be too much danger. He tried to probe it with a trace of his divine sense and took a look.
Whoosh—
His divine sense sank into the token, and unexpectedly found itself in a gloomy and vague space.
There was nothing in this space, only a few lines of golden words floating around, as if it were a magical tool transmitting some kind of information.
【Shaman】: "I have broken through to the third level of the Five Elements Realm. For the next cultivation, I need the Profound Nether True Water or various abyssal sea monsters... As you travel the world, you must pay attention for me."
【Fifty-Nine】: "Congratulations, Master Shaman, we will definitely spare no effort to find it for you."
【Sixty】: "Congratulations, Master Shaman, we will do our best."
【Shaman】: "Hmm? Why is there no news from Fifty-Eight for so long? Could something have gone wrong?"
【Fifty-Nine】: "It's been another hour, is it possible that Fifty-Eight has had an accident?"
【Shaman】: "Fifty-Eight, please reply when you receive this."
Chu Liang looked at these messages and remembered the kind of magical tool he had heard about before. It seemed to be a kind of soul realm space, through which a few people could remotely exchange information through the connection of their souls.
However, the Shu Mountain Sect was not proficient in soul magic, nor did they have the method for such soul realm space, so they had never seen it. It was quite normal for the evil cultivators of the Underworld Sect to have such magical tools, as they specialized in soul magic.
It seemed that there were only these four people in the soul realm space?
That Shaman... and Fifty-Eight, Fifty-Nine, Sixty, just from their names, it wasn't hard to figure out who the group leader was.
And the missing Fifty-Eight, should be the previous owner of this soul restraint token.
What should i do?
Do I need to reply myself?
Anyway, there is no danger. He can't possibly come over from the Soul Realm and beat me up. I might as well give it a try. So, with caution, Chu Liang carefully transmitted a message using his divine sense.
In an instant, the message appeared in the space.
[Fifty-Eight]: "Congratulations, Lord Shaz, I will do my best to find it."
When in doubt about what to say, the safest option is to just comment with an "add one."
Without a reply for a moment, Chu Liang placed the Soul-Restricting Order aside and tidied up the other items first.
In no time, he felt a slight tremor from the Soul-Restricting Order.
Oh, it's vibrating again.
He picked it up and indeed, there was a new reply in the Soul Realm space.
[Shaz]: "Where did you just go? Is there any danger?"
Looking at the leader's questioning, Chu Liang pondered for a moment. He didn't have much time to think. If he didn't reply for a long time, it would inevitably raise suspicions. But saying the wrong thing could also make people suspicious.
He needed a reasonable... explanation for his prolonged absence.
However, he didn't know much about this Fifty-Eight. Lying with his identity would be inevitably flawed.
So he thought for a moment and decided to tell the truth.
[Fifty-Eight]: "I had just experienced a battle earlier and captured a Ru-Jiao Cultivator in the Divine Realm, and brought her into the Underworld Scripture."
[Shaz]: "A Ru-Jiao Cultivator in the Divine Realm? Good, if refined well, she can travel during the day, a great help indeed."
[Fifty-Nine]: "Impressive."
[Fifty-Nine]: "I wish I had that kind of luck too."
[Shaz]: "Fifty-Eight has been in the world for a long time, with a lot of experience, it's not just luck. You two should learn more from him."
[Fifty-Nine]: "Ah, yes, yes."
Chu Liang managed to bluff a bit and then withdrew.
It seemed that the "Shaz" had reached the third level of the Five-Element Realm, which was quite skilled in the Underworld Scripture. The remaining Fifty-Nine seemed to be like a street thug, always responding, seems idle. Sixty didn't show up much, so Chu Liang didn't know much about him.
After the brief conversation, he decided to report the matter to his master.
Arriving at the small loft, the Empress Phoenix was rarely sober, reading the recently popular romantic picture books, all about the stories of lovesick men and women. It was hard to imagine that such a heroic woman would be so engrossed in them.
"Master, disciple has something to report," Chu Liang greeted politely.
"What's up?" Empress Di Feng nonchalantly put down her painting and asked.
"These are the artifacts disciple found on the black-robed man..." He first took out the three dark copper spheres. "Disciple doesn't recognize this item and wonders if it can be kept."
"Oh?" Empress Di Feng glanced lazily. "This is the Dark Yin Thunder."
"Dark Yin Thunder?"
"It's a kind of small gadget that can explode and cause fear at the same time," Empress Di Feng said leisurely. "A Foundation Establishment stage cultivator actually has three of these. It seems he's keeping them as a life-saving talisman. You can also use these, take them to the Sword Pavilion and exchange for some sword coins, it's up to you."
"I see..." Chu Liang nodded, then said, "There's another matter."
He briefly explained the contents of the recent entry into the Soul Realm space to Empress Di Feng.
"Oh?" Empress Di Feng became interested and sat up.
"The left and right guards of the Dark King Sect were recently severely injured by the Nine-Mist Immortal of the Misty Hidden Immortal Mountain. The Silver King was killed directly, and the Purple Gold Marquis was heavily injured and fled. Under the Purple Gold Marquis are Eight-Fold Soul Guides, Twenty-Four Disastrous Spirits, and Seventy-Two Soul-Restraining Enforcers..."
"In the past, he relied on these Soul-Restraining Enforcers to plunder and harm innocent souls and enhance his cultivation. That black-robed man should be one of the Soul-Restraining Enforcers."
"Each guide manages three spirits, and each spirit manages three soul-restraining enforcers, that's the structure under the Purple Gold Marquis."
"The Soul Realm space is composed of a trace of soul seed left by each person, entwined to form an array, so they can communicate from far away at any time. But... if one person's soul dissipates, then this soul-restraining token should no longer be able to enter the Soul Realm space. In the past, when someone killed a Soul-Restraining Enforcer of the Dark King Sect, there was no mention of being able to replace this soul-restraining token..."
Empress Di Feng looked puzzled.
Chu Liang thought for a moment and said, "Is it possible that although the Soul-Restraining Enforcer died, his soul did not actually dissipate... he may have failed the spell and incorporated himself into the underworld scriptures..."
He took out the underworld scriptures and showed them to Empress Di Feng.
In fact, just thinking about it, it's impossible for such a secret communication artifact of a demonic sect to be used by just anyone. Normally, if a Soul-Restraining Enforcer dies, his soul-restraining token would immediately cease to function.
Cases like the fifty-eighth are extremely rare.
Empress Di Feng took a look and roughly understood the origin of it, then suddenly smiled.
"Good..."
"Give this underworld scripture to the people at the Sword Hall later, release all the innocent souls in it, leaving only the soul of that soul-restraining enforcer."
"You'll lurk in that Soul Realm space, try not to reveal any flaws..."
"Now that the Purple Gold Marquis is heavily wounded and in hiding, not only are the people of the righteous path looking for him, but the infighting within the demonic sect is also very severe. He doesn't dare to return to the Dark King Sect, so he must be hiding in some dark place to heal."
"You'll lurk among his direct subordinates, and if you get a chance, you might find out his hiding place..."
"When I directly and single-handedly kill the Purple Gold Marquis in the future, it will be a great feat. By then, what will Wang Xuanling use to compare with me?"
Dreaming of a bright future, Princess Feng's smile became more and more arrogant.
Meanwhile, Chu Liang felt the weight of great responsibility on his shoulders.
"Comrade Chu Liang, your task is to hide!"
"If Master kills the right guardian of the Dark King Sect, the sect's rewards will definitely be substantial, right?" He asked tentatively.
"Don't worry, but whenever there are benefits, we will split them 70-30, and you will definitely get your share..." Princess Feng laughed tremulously, her laughter gradually becoming distorted, "Hehehehehe..."