Upon hearing that the target was a spirit-insect once belonging to his mentor, greed surged within Chen Gensheng. Yet, on the surface, he remained as unreadable as a stagnant pond.

  "How dull," Gensheng remarked, reaching out to pat Zhang Cuizhan on the shoulder. "Celestial Calamities, Thunder-Pools, Fleas... the names sound unlucky. I don't touch such things."

  Zhang’s smile faltered.

  "I'm not actually interested in insect mastery," Gensheng continued with a sigh. "I just find life in the sect a bit suffocating lately. Going for a stroll with a charming person like you, Elder Zhang—seeing the sights, killing a few scoundrels—now that is a true joy."

  He leaned in, sending a silent thread of divine sense: "I’m only doing this because I find you... very much to my taste."

  A shiver raced down Zhang’s spine. The scholarly man forced an awkward smile, cupped his fists, and retreated with uncharacteristic haste.

  Once Zhang was gone, Gensheng turned his cold gaze back to Zhou Shu. He tossed a bottle of low-grade salve and a basic Breathing Manual at her feet.

  "I’m leaving for a trip. Could be a month, could be six. If a single plant in this garden dies while I'm gone, I'll bury you in the soil to replace it." He didn't offer comfort, only a cold ultimatum: "If you aren't at the third level of Qi Condensation by the time I return, get off my mountain."

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  He turned toward the Sap-Heavy Tree. With a sharp inhale, the black clouds of insects—now numbering over 11,000—swirled into a vortex and disappeared into the Myriad Insect Casket within his abdomen.

  Seven days later. The landscape beneath them had transformed into a scorched, desolate wasteland. The sky was a hazy grey, and the air smelled of sulfur and rusted iron. They had arrived at Star-Fall Gorge—a festering wound in the world torn open by a fallen star.

  Zhang Cuizhan pointed to a jagged spatial crack hovering in the air.

  "Our target is Xiao Bai," Zhang explained. "A former elite of the Jade Tripod Sect. He went mad refining 'Fiend Weapons' using human souls and slaughtered entire villages. He fled here with a treasure called the Earth-Origin Pearl. The Jade Tripod Sect wants their pearl back and their traitor dead, but they don't want to dirty their own hands."

  "Why me, truly?" Gensheng asked.

  "Because Star-Fall Gorge only permits Foundation cultivators. And your methods... well, they leave no witnesses."

  Gensheng let out a dry rasp of a laugh. He didn't wait for further pleasantries. Li Simin stepped forward, and the lid of her coffin slid open.

  “Croak.”

  A massive, pitch-black toad—the Essence-Marrow Toad—leaped out, its body now the size of a small hill after months of feeding on corpse-qi. Its eyes glowed with a predatory ferocity.

  Zhang’s scholarly face twitched with surprise. "The Essence-Marrow Toad? Truly impressive, Daoist Chen. I heard three Foundation beast-tamers met their end near the Endless Swamp recently... surely that wasn't your doing?"

  Gensheng stared at him, his expression hollow.

  Zhang waved his hands dismissively, smiling. "Never mind. I just think your luck has always been quite... remarkable."