Translator: CinderTL
"Thank you for your guidance, Immortal Maiden," Song Wen said, clasping his hands in a respectful bow. His tone was sincere. "I am deeply grateful."
Ye Bing, born into the Ye Family—one of the three great families of the Qianchang Wilderness—and later married into the Jiang Family, naturally had access to many secrets regarding advancement to the Void Refinement Stage.
For a rogue cultivator like Song Wen, lacking both background and lineage, the information Ye Bing revealed was invaluable.
Moreover, the strength of one's divine soul was crucial for success in reaching the Void Refinement Stage.
While other cultivators might know this but remain helpless, Song Wen found it a relatively simple matter to address.
Thus, Ye Bing's words carried particular weight for him.
Ye Bing waved her hand, a hint of melancholy in her voice.
"Though you are cautious and reserved, and keep your distance from others, at least you've never harmed me. You're the only person I can truly speak with these days. A few secrets about Void Refinement are nothing."
Upon hearing this, a complex emotion flickered through Song Wen's usually calm eyes.
He quickly suppressed the feeling, his face returning to its usual composed expression.
"Thank you for your trust, Immortal Maiden. Though I may not be a paragon of virtue, I am clear about my debts and grudges. We have faced life and death together; how could I possibly betray you?"
As he spoke, Song Wen glanced several times to his left.
There, in the Spirit Field, grew the Bodhi Spirit Cores.
"Hmph..." Ye Bing's beautiful eyes flashed with undisguised disdain. "I see no evidence of that..."
Before she could finish her sentence, her expression abruptly changed. She rose sharply, her gaze snapping upward toward the misty white barrier overhead, as if facing a formidable enemy.
Simultaneously, a black array disk the size of a bowl appeared before her.
Her hands moved in a blur, magic seals raining down into the disk like raindrops.
The array disk erupted in a blinding silver light.
In the next instant, thirty-six small, dark flags around the island lit up one by one, their silver light flickering.
Each flag marked a formation node of Ice Ling Island's island protection formation. Beneath each flag lay a hundred high-grade spirit stones.
The Spiritual Qi contained within the spirit stones was instantly drained.
The flags blazed with silver light.
Strands of silver mystic script rose from the flagpoles, merging into the misty white barrier like spiritual serpents, coiling upward toward the dome of the sky.
In the blink of an eye, the mist barrier was overlaid with silver runes. As the runes flowed, they exuded an aura of invincibility.
Boom!
A deafening roar echoed from the dome above, as if the heavens and earth themselves were trembling.
The white mist churned violently, like a sea of clouds swept by a tempest, before rapidly dissipating.
Ye Bing staggered, nearly falling, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
She looked up to see the white mist that had obscured her vision completely gone, leaving only a transparent barrier etched with silver runes.
Through the barrier, she could see a monk in a saffron robe standing proudly in mid-air.
"Hmm? This fifth-rank formation actually blocked my casual strike. How intriguing," the monk remarked, his tone a mix of surprise and amusement.
A faint smile played on his lips, neither genuine nor mocking.
Clearly, he considered the formation before him insignificant.
"A Void Refinement Stage cultivator!" Ye Bing's expression turned grave, her eyes filled with alarm.
"Du'e!" Song Wen recognized the monk, his face darkening. He already had a suspicion as to why Du'e had appeared here.
As Song Wen had predicted, Du'e gazed down from above, his eyes sweeping across the island, taking in every detail.
His gaze settled upon the spirit field where the Bodhi Spirit Cores were cultivated.
"The Bodhi Spirit Cores are indeed here. Forty years ago, a robber cultivator took my son, Hui Zhen, hostage, demanding a thousand Bodhi Spirit Cores from this humble monk. The culprit must be one of you two, isn't that right?" Du'e's eyes swept back and forth between Song Wen and Ye Bing.
Ye Bing suddenly understood, turning to glare at Song Wen, her eyes blazing with fury.
Song Wen's heart burned with equal rage.
The news that Ice Ling Island cultivated Bodhi Spirit Cores had been leaked, leaving only one possibility: someone had secretly taken the cores to sell.
However, this person couldn't be Ye Bing herself.
Ye Bing wouldn't stoop to selling a mere one or two Bodhi Spirit Cores for the paltry spirit stones they would fetch.
That left only Ye Bing's subordinates.
Among her subordinates, only two had access to Ice Ling Island: Ning Kun and Zhong Fei.
The one who had secretly sold the Bodhi Spirit Cores must be one of these two.
With this realization, Song Wen's gaze shifted to his right.
The commotion caused by Du'e's attack on the island protection formation had naturally alerted Ye Bing's subordinates.
A dozen female cultivators stood frozen in confusion, staring up at Du'e. Among them, a woman in her thirties wore a hint of remorse in her eyes—Zhong Fei.
Du'e remained oblivious to the thoughts swirling in the minds of the island's inhabitants, nor did he care to inquire.
He had received a report from one of his monks that a Bodhi Spirit Core had appeared in the market at the edge of the Withered Desolation Marsh.
Immediately, he ordered a discreet investigation to uncover the seller.
Zhong Fei knew that if her theft of the Spirit Herb were exposed, death would be her only escape.
Thus, she only stole low-grade Bodhi Spirit Cores, all of which she had personally cultivated, making them nearly impossible to trace. Furthermore, she sold the cores to shops dealing in stolen goods, always disguising herself for each transaction.
As a result, the monks of Dry Zen Temple had considerable difficulty tracking her down.
Ever since Song Wen extorted a thousand Bodhi Spirit Cores from Du'e forty years ago, the abbot had lived in constant unease, fearing that one day the truth would be exposed, angering Veiled Moon Hall and bringing about his own demise.
Back then, Song Wen had explicitly demanded that the thousand Bodhi Spirit Cores have intact roots, clearly intending to plant them.
For years, he had been searching for the whereabouts of that batch of Bodhi Spirit Cores. He had even secretly dispatched agents to investigate the Spirit Fields of numerous sects and clans.
Now that he had finally located them, he naturally intended to eradicate the root of the problem to prevent future troubles.
"You dare to extort this humble monk, causing me sleepless nights for over ten thousand days and nights. Today, your sins will be revealed, and I shall use the Buddhist Dharma to send you on your final journey!"
Du'e pressed his palms together, chanting Buddhist mantras under his breath. Countless intricate golden rune patterns erupted from his body.
The runes gradually ascended, coalescing into a massive golden phantom shadow of a Buddha's hand.
The Buddha's hand opened slightly, its palm lines clearly visible.
As golden light swirled around it, the hand grew increasingly solid.
The people on Ice Ling Island looked up in awe, witnessing the golden hand blotting out the sky like a towering golden mountain, enveloping the entire island beneath its shadow.
Terror gripped their hearts. The dozen or so low-tier cultivators turned ashen-faced, their legs trembling. Some even collapsed to their knees.
(End of the Chapter)
Translator's Corner
Hey guys, so as I tried to login into my ScribbleHub account to today and found that it was banned.😭 All the stories have also been taken off of the site. I don't what has happened, I will try to contact them and figure out what's going on. Please contact me if you know what could be happening and have any potential solutions.
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