Gensheng had only intended to harvest a few "vessels," but Li Simin had gone above and beyond, snatching the Red Maple Valley Elder as a "bonus."

  When did I give that order? he wondered.

  The 《Triple Yin Soul-Refining Manual》 stated that at high levels, a corpse-puppet could develop independent thought and silent communication with its master. But he was a mere novice. Was it because of the lingering resentment in Li Simin’s corpse, or did those Void-Watching Eyes grant her an early spark of sentience?

  Gensheng knelt, pressing his fingers hard into the Elder’s pressure points. The man groaned as he drifted back to consciousness.

  "You... what are you doing!" The Elder scrambled backward in terror, his hands and feet flailing.

  "Chen Qingyun... your Sect Leader. How is he faring these days?" Gensheng asked coldly.

  "The Sect Leader..." The Elder’s lips trembled, his eyes darting. "His Excellency is a man of vast supernatural powers. He is... he is naturally well..."

  "Is that so?" Gensheng placed a hand lightly atop the Elder’s skull, cold killing intent radiating from his palm. "Think carefully before you answer."

  The chill of death surged through the Elder’s body. "After Jiang Guixian detonated himself, the lightning nets ravaged the valley! The sect... the sect suffered catastrophic losses! Not even one in ten inner disciples survived! Two of the three Golden Core Elders died on the spot, and the last one is crippled!"

  "The Sect Leader... to block the Heavenly Tribulation Reservoir Fleas, his Nascent Soul was damaged and his life-bound spirit beast was severely drained. He is... he’s in secluded meditation (Death Seclusion). Without a few hundred years, he won't be coming out!"

  "And the Saintess, Lu Zhaozhao?" Gensheng pressed.

  "The Saintess was... stripped of her title by the Sect Leader and confined to the Cliff of Reflection. If not for her high cultivation and status as the sect's future hope, she would have likely..."

  Gensheng felt no ripples of emotion. He simply rattled off five names: "Ghost-Bone Flower, Rotting Corpse Vine, Hundred-Ghost Mushroom, Soul-Devouring Grass, Blood-Crying Willow Heart."

  "Do you have these five items on you?"

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  "These... what are these?" The Elder looked genuinely bewildered.

  Gensheng frowned. It made sense. Red Maple Valley considered itself an orthodox sect; why would an Elder carry such sinister materials?

  With six arms moving in a blur, he stripped the Elder of his storage bag. Aside from a few dozen mid-grade spirit stones and standard healing pills, only one jade slip held value: 《Clear Light Dao-Shield》, a defensive spell.

  "Fellow Daoist! Mercy!" The Elder realized his utility was gone and began kowtowing frantically. "I’ll be your slave! Just let me live!"

  Gensheng ignored him. He opened his mouth.

  BZZZZT! A black cloud of insects erupted, swallowing the Elder's pleas instantly. Moments later, the swarm returned to his maw, leaving nothing behind. "Has Red Maple Valley fallen so low that even a Qi Condensation cultivator can be an Elder?"

  He hoisted the coffin and walked back into the demon-head gate of the Abode.

  "Boss, how much for a Ghost-Bone Flower?" Gensheng asked at a stall run by a gaunt old man who reeked of Yin energy.

  The old man squinted at the expensive-looking coffin on Gensheng's back. "Five hundred low-grade spirit stones. Per flower."

  "Why don't you just rob me?" Gensheng knew these grew in mass graves; the market price shouldn't exceed a hundred.

  "Take it or leave it," the old man sneered. "I'm the only one in the Abode with stock. The next batch won't be in for six months."

  Gensheng silently paid. The flower he received was bone-white and shaped like a tiny human rib.

  Next was the Rotting Corpse Vine, which was even harder to find. After checking a dozen stalls, he was intercepted by a masked figure in a black robe.

  "Looking for Rotting Corpse Vine?" the man’s voice rasped like sandpaper.

  "You have it?"

  The man held up a finger. "One thousand spirit stones."

  Gensheng cursed inwardly. These bastards saw his fine coffin and treated him like a "fat sheep." But he needed the ingredients. He paid, receiving a length of black vine dripping with thick corpse-qi.

  Two out of five ingredients secured. Total cost: 1,500 stones. But the Hundred-Ghost Mushroom, Soul-Devouring Grass, and Blood-Crying Willow Heart were nowhere to be found.

  Gensheng leaned against a wall in a dark alley, his frustration mounting. He had the "primary medicine" (the five youths), but time was ticking. If the corpses rotted or the resentment faded, the pill's potency would plummet.

  "Brother, we meet again."

  Gensheng spun around. The Bamboo Pole man who sold him the manual was standing behind him, grinning.

  "How are my secret techniques treating you?"

  Gensheng’s six arms tensed. After the encounter with Bai Jingzi, he hated people sneaking up on him. "Do you want to die?"

  The man ignored the threat, his small eyes scanning Li Simin with wonder. "Tsk tsk. A Mid-stage Foundation Establishment corpse-puppet... Your talent is practically made for my techniques."

  "Are you tracking me?"

  "Tracking? This market is small; we’re bound to bump into each other," Bamboo Pole said, leaning in. "By the way, haven't found the ingredients for that 'sinister' Foundation Establishment Pill yet, have you?"

  Gensheng was startled—the man had deduced his intent to refine a Human-Pill.

  Li Simin sensed the hostility, her fingers turning into claws as she lunged for the man’s throat. Bamboo Pole dodged with a ghostly, light movement. "Don't be so hot-headed! I know where the remaining three items are. Follow me."

  Without waiting for an answer, he turned and vanished into the deepest part of the alley.