The eerie sight sent a chill down Wei Yuan’s spine.

When had tens of thousands of Shamans entered his Dao Foundation, and how? He had no idea they were here until after the fact.

Wei Yuan reached out to grab one of the Shamans, but his hand grasped only thin air. As it turned out, the Shamans had no physical form. They were utterly insubstantial even within his sea of consciousness, as if they didn’t exist at all.

Yet Wei Yuan knew they weren’t truly non-existent. Each and every Shaman possessed a unique quality—differing in every way, yet sharing the same essence. It resembled a soul, yet was not a soul. It wasn’t fortune either.

Wei Yuan couldn’t quite articulate what this thing actually was, but its presence was what gave each and every phantom a reason to exist in this world. Even if they couldn’t be touched, there was no denying that they existed.

At the moment, countless Shamans were marching toward the jade hill and vanishing one by one into its depths.

In Wei Yuan’s eyes, a space had mysteriously appeared within the jade hill, and a drop of black water had formed at its base. As the Shamans vanished one by one, the drop of black water slowly grew larger.

Wei Yuan shuddered instinctively as he stared intently at the black droplet. He dared not think about its origin at all.

Wei Yuan opened his eyes and emerged from his meditation. Daylight was already beginning to filter through the window. He pushed open the door, stepped outside, and soared into the air, gazing toward the northwest of the realm.

There was a vast clearing that was illuminated by rows and rows of tall torches. The ground was littered with the corpses of the Shamans. Over a hundred cultivators had been working through the night to remove the converted bodies and replace them with fresh corpses.

This wasn’t the first time Wei Yuan had seen the corpse field. In fact, he had been the one to propose it in the first place and choose its location. All this had happened just a few days ago.

At the time, Wei Yuan hadn’t seen any problem with it. It was both common knowledge that a realm stone could convert the corpses of a member of a foreign race to worldly origin qi. In fact, it was a basic function all realm stones possessed. However, based on past records, the conversion rate was subpar, and the amount was terribly limited, making the function somewhat a mixed blessing. If Wei Yuan hadn’t been so poor, he wouldn’t have gone to such great lengths to build a corpse field either.

But now, thousands and thousands of Shamans were trudging inside his Dao Foundation in a bizarre form and entering the seemingly narrow space within the jade hill to become one with the black droplet.

Staring at corpses on the corpse field, Wei Yuan could almost imagine them rising up without warning.

That said, he was no longer the immature greenhorn he used to be. It took him little time to suppress the flutter in his heart. The path to immortality had never been all sunshine and roses. On the contrary, it was filled with more bizarre phenomena and unexpected twists. Risks lurked everywhere, and every step forward carried the possibility of perishing.

Wei Yuan descended from the central peak and flew toward the corpse field. A small two-courtyard compound had been built beside the field. Though modest in size, it was fully equipped with all necessary amenities. It was Sun Yu’s residence.

Sun Yu wanted to study the differences between various Shamans, but he found the task of transporting the corpses to the central peak to be tiresome and loathsome. That was why he decided to build a dwelling right next to the corpse field.

It had only been a few days since Sun Yu showed up, but nearly half of the people residing in the realm had owed their lives to him. It went without saying that his medical skills had won the hearts of countless people. Thus, when he mentioned wanting to build a place to stay, many cultivators had spontaneously come to help him. The small residence was basically completed in a single day.

Wei Yuan went to find Sun Yu, wanting to ask if he had spotted any unusual changes with the Shamans’ bodies. At the moment, the residence was ablaze with light and packed to the brim with over a dozen people. When Wei Yuan flew into a courtyard, he saw a medical bed had been set up in the main hall. A person was lying on it, covered in blood and unconscious.

Wei Yuan didn’t think much of it at first: the great battle had just ended, and countless people were waiting to be treated. For example, dozens of critically injured cultivators were lying in the side rooms on either side of the residence, slowly recovering.

However, Wei Yuan immediately sensed something amiss when his perception swept over the patient’s body. The man’s body bore at least a hundred wounds—none of them large, but all extremely deep. Not a single one was touching a vital spot as well. It was deliberate.

The injured man was a full Body-tempering stage cultivator. He should have already opened his sea of consciousness and begun to nurture the embryonic form of his Dao Foundation. Yet, his sea of consciousness was now shrouded in darkness, with black mist swirling within. Wei Yuan possessed some knowledge of medicine, so he recognized this as the disintegration of one’s primordial soul caused by extreme pain and terror. Not only was this cultivator’s path to immortality cut short, his mind was gone as well. In short, he had gone mad.

He could not have sustained these injuries on the battlefield. They appeared to be the result of brutal torture.

Sun Yu’s face was no less ugly than Wei Yuan’s. He reported, “Every single tendon in his body has been severed. The perpetrator is also a master of the healing arts. They had tortured him for at least an hour, stopping only after his primordial spirit had disintegrated. At the moment, his soul is in a state of disarray. Even if I were to heal his physical body, I could not restore his primordial spirit.”

Wei Yuan studied the cultivator’s face closely until he recalled that he was a member of the squad he had sent to Willow Ash Town earlier that day to recruit new members.

“What happened?” Wei Yuan asked.

A nearby cultivator responded, “He was brought back by a few guards from the Xu Clan. They had dumped him at the edge of the realm. Seeing how severely injured he was, we didn’t dare delay and rushed him straight to Healer Sun.”

“Guards from the Xu Clan....” A cold gleam flashed in Wei Yuan’s eyes as he asked, “Did they say anything?”

“Well....”

When the cultivator hesitated, Wei Yuan raised his voice, “Speak!”

The man jumped in surprise and quickly replied, “They said that Willow Ash Town belongs to the Xu Clan—the entire Shattered Realm belongs to the Xu Clan, in fact! If we dare to recruit people on their turf again, they’ll kill every person who falls into their hands. They also said that... you should watch your step. Otherwise, you might lose your head before you know it.”

Wei Yuan was completely unfazed by such threats. He simply asked, “I recalled sending over a dozen people to perform the task. Where are the others?”

“... None of them made it back, milord.”

Wei Yuan narrowed his eyes slightly and said slowly, “My men survived the Shamans only to die at the hands of the Xu Clan? Good. Very good.”

Frowning, Sun Yu gave him a look before stepping into the back hall. Wei Yuan followed him. When they had privacy, the healer asked, “How do you plan to handle this?”

“I’ll do exactly what they do.”

Sun Yu said slowly, “Though the Xu Clan ranks at the bottom of the aristocratic families, they are still one of the Seven Surnames and Thirteen Honored. Such a colossal force is far beyond what you and I can possibly contend with. I, too, once hated the aristocratic families with a burning passion. However, I was too young and impulsive to recognize the risks and lost my anger at the wrong time and place. As a result, I lost the most important person to me.”

Wei Yuan replied, “We’ve already killed two of the Xu Clan’s Avatars. Whatever chance we might have had to settle this peacefully is long gone. Besides, if we back down this time, it would be like handing over Willow Ash Town and the one hundred thousand people living in the vicinity to the Shamans on a silver platter! If I were to do that, then why did I ever establish Qingming in the first place? And what would be the point of reestablishing the human realm so deep within the Shaman realm?”

Sun Yu slowly shook his head. “I’m not telling you to give up. I’m just saying that, if you want to go up against a colossus like the aristocratic families, you must never act on impulse. You have to plan carefully before you act, and make sure that your strategy is foolproof. Speaking of which, I just remembered something. Your master left something with me that he had forgotten to retrieve. You may take it and use it for now.”

The healer handed Wei Yuan an unremarkable black stone as he said this. For some reason, an inexplicable chill ran down his spine as he settled his gaze on the stone. His instincts were warning him not to touch it. However, he knew that Sun Yu would not harm him, so he reined in his impulse and took the stone.

The stone was ice cold to touch, yet Wei Yuan felt an inexplicable searing sensation in his hand. All he wanted to do was to throw it far away.

“What is this?”

“This is a little trinket I made by accident back in the day. Make sure you keep it away from any water when you’re not using it. If it gets wet, you won’t see anything unusual with the water or the stone. Besides that, those who haven’t established a Dao Foundation yet will be fine even if they drink the water. But for those who have established a Dao Foundation, even a single drop will cause their Dao Foundation to collapse. Even an Avatar will suffer severe injuries if they accidentally ingested even a slightly larger amount.

“It goes without saying that this is an unnatural item. Back then, I was severely reprimanded by Master and was confined for a full month before she finally let it go. If used properly, it could likely kill several hundred Dao Foundation cultivators.”

I knew it!

Wei Yuan carefully tucked the stone away, afraid to let it come into contact with even a wisp of moisture. Not only that, this was the Shaman realm. Insulating from any water was, frankly, a difficult task.

After Wei Yuan had put the black stone away, Sun Yu said, “There’s one more thing. The aristocratic families are colossal entities—so vast they cannot possibly function as a single, unified whole. Often, the greatest enemies of those within a clan aren’t found outside, but right beside them. Thus, you should target a specific individual within the Xu Clan, or a particular branch of a household. You should never try to target the entire Xu Clan. Back in the day, I had made that exact mistake. As a result, I ended up forcing two people who were originally enemies to join forces instead.”

Wei Yuan would not have understood this before his recent interaction with Cui Yu. He said seriously, “Rest assured, Senior Uncle. I’ve studied history extensively. I promise I’ll handle this with flawless precision.”

Sun Yu nodded. “You history buffs all have blackened hearts. Acts like this must come naturally to you. On the other hand, we healing practitioners are solely focused on healing the world and saving lives and as a result, get pushed around everywhere.”

Wei Yuan silently felt the black stone upon hearing the remark.

Sun Yu knew exactly what he was thinking and explained, “Originally, I had created this to ease the pain of those who cannot be saved. I wanted them to be able to pass on peacefully and without pain. However, what I ended up creating turned out a little more potent than I had anticipated. It’s also colorless, odorless, immune to spiritual senses, impossible to identify via ordinary methods, and fast-acting. The moment it takes effect, the victim is usually beyond saving. Even if they survive, they’re often left disabled for life... that’s why those with ulterior motives ended up using it for other purposes[1].”

Wei Yuan nodded firmly. “I’m sure that your intentions were good, Senior Uncle!”

Sun Yu replied approvingly, “I knew you would understand me!”

With that done, Wei Yuan asked him about the conditions of the Shamans’ corpses. Sun Yu informed him that the conversion was progressing as expected, and nothing seemed out of the ordinary.

Wei Yuan left the small residence and stood next to the corpse field for a while, thinking. Then, he headed straight for the dungeon.

Meanwhile, Xu Jingfeng was slumped in his cell. When the door creaked, he immediately recoiled in fear and pressed himself into a corner, wishing that he could make himself smaller.

He felt slightly relieved when he saw that it was Wei Yuan who had entered, not Xu Wan’er. Even so, he did not dare to speak. He simply clutched himself tightly with both arms while staring at Wei Yuan with wide, terrified eyes.

As soon as Wei Yuan walked in, he caught a whiff of a pungent odor. It would appear that the Jade-faced Immortal Sword had been broken down to the point where he could barely take care of himself in certain areas.

By this point, Xu Jingfeng had already spilled everything he should or shouldn’t say. That wasn’t why Wei Yuan was here anyway. He asked, “Do you want to go back?”

It was a trick question! Xu Jingfeng shook his head frantically. “No, not at all! I’m quite happy here. Why would I want to go back? All I want right now is to stay by your side. Just breathing in your scent can extend my lifespan!”

Wei Yuan replied indifferently, “We still have some time. Think it over carefully. I’ll ask you again tomorrow.”

It was only after Wei Yuan had left that Xu Jingfeng slowly recovered from his extreme panic and began to think clearly again.

Dawn had just broken, but Willow Ash Town was already bustling with activity.

Early risers were busy preparing their daily meals, while the rough-and-tumble types had just finished their work and were heading home to rest. Those in high places were still in high spirits despite a whole night of partying—the wine and revelry were in full swing, and the company was delightful.

But today, dawn had come a little earlier than usual. At the entrance of Lie Flat Inn, two servants were just setting up a ladder to scrub the moss off the signboard. The innkeeper was watching them from below and grumbling about their clumsiness.

Just then, a figure emerged from a side alley and approached the inn’s entrance. The innkeeper thought he looked familiar, and upon a closer look, let out a low gasp. He grabbed the figure’s arm and hurriedly pulled him inside the inn. Only then did he ask, “Where have you been all this time, Lee Zhi? Why haven’t we heard a word from you?”

1. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Never ever underestimate anyone who graduated from the Palace. ☜