"You go and calm the islanders."

Star Pole Island had just been through a great battle. It had been nearly wiped out, leaving the inhabitants in a state of panic and in need of reassurance. After this battle, the powerful unknown faction would definitely return. With a Nascent Soul Cultivator expected in a decade or so, Star Pole Island wasn't a place to stay for long. Before that, it was necessary to ascertain how powerful the offended force was. A Nascent Soul Cultivator guarded the Demon-Sealing Tower, which was not an immediate concern. But how many Nascent Soul Cultivators did this faction possess? If there were more, the death of three Golden Core Cultivators would surely bring even stronger beings to the Qunxing Archipelago.

Jia Ren flew toward the distant islands. Before long, he arrived at Kongyang Island, which was used as a disguise. Ensuring there was no one around, the Fathead Fish popped its head out from the seabed and spat out the unconscious Yu Sheng. Ordinary Resurrection Pills couldn't heal a Golden Core Cultivator's wounds; they could only prevent death. The Elixir had been tampered with, keeping Yu Sheng in a comatose state, unable to awaken.

A silver needle was inserted into Yu Sheng's Dantian, and the sparse Spiritual Power within his body slowly dissipated. Jia Ren took out a Demon-Extinguishing Nail and stabbed it into the acupoints of Yu Sheng's meridians. Even if Yu Sheng possessed secret techniques that did not require Spiritual Power, he could no longer use them. After everything was done, Jia Ren brought a white porcelain bottle close to Yu Sheng's nose. Despite the irritating scent of the medicine, the unconscious Yu Sheng still did not awaken.

"Stop faking death!"

Jia Ren carelessly tossed a poisonous stinging hair onto Yu Sheng. The effect was immediate; Yu Sheng, who had been pretending to be unconscious, let out a wail. His whole body felt unbearably itchy and painful.

"You crippled my cultivation; I'm going to kill you!"

Yu Sheng's eyes were blood-red, like a wild beast ready to pounce. He suddenly leapt from the ground, only to be propelled forward and land sprawled out, unable to move a muscle.

Jia Ren asked indifferently, "Which Sect or power do you come from?"

"Keep dreaming! Don't expect to get any information from me!"

Yu Sheng despised Jia Ren to the core; how could he possibly reveal any information?!

Jia Ren stepped forward and patted Yu Sheng's shoulder, saying earnestly, "If I don't know which Sect you come from, how can I safely send you back?"

"I only drained your Spiritual Power to prevent you from attacking me. I didn't cripple your cultivation."

"Tell me the information, agree to clear my name with your Sect, and then I will let you leave."

Originally resigned to death, Yu Sheng paused upon hearing Jia Ren's words. After carefully sensing his condition, he realized that only his Spiritual Power had been drained; his Realm was still intact.

He's not killing me?!

Do I still have a chance to live?

An almost imperceptible emotion began to grow inside him. Who would choose death if they could live?

"Is what you say true?!"

Jia Ren's expression grew serious, his voice grave, "Shi Bai's word is as heavy as nine tripods—a promise worth a thousand pieces of gold!"

To lend credibility to his statement, he brought out a bottle of medicine for relieving itching and pain and applied it to the areas affected by the poisonous stinging hair. Wherever it passed, there was a cool relief from the previous pain and itching.

Yu Sheng hesitated for a moment. Revealing his Sect's name could intimidate the other party and might force Jia Ren to comply. This wouldn't count as leaking secrets...

"I hail from Thousand Mountains Sect. As long as you let me return and hand over the Incarnation Secret Technique, this matter... can be overlooked."

There had been no deaths in Thousand Mountains Sect; there was still some leeway for negotiation.

Two Golden Core Cultivators dead?

As if Golden Core Cultivators were cabbages lying around in heaps?!

In any Sect, a Golden Core Cultivator was a pillar of strength, and the loss of even one could be considered crippling.

To kill two Golden Core Cultivators from Thousand Mountains Sect, this person was undoubtedly courting death.

Such things wouldn't be stated explicitly—Yu Sheng still hoped to save his own life.

Thousand Mountains Sect?

He was unaware of their strength; a Sect with a Nascent Soul Cultivator at its helm was certainly not small. He hoped that Thousand Mountains Sect didn't have too many Nascent Soul Cultivators.

At least, he had acquired some intelligence.

It was indeed for the Incarnation Secret Technique that they came, which was not outside his expectations.

"May I ask, who is the Nascent Soul Cultivator guarding the Demon-Sealing Tower?"

Yu Sheng became vigilant at once, his gaze towards Jia Ren filling with wariness.

"That person is my master, Jade Bell True Monarch. He is a Mid Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. If I plead with him on your behalf, sparing your life won't be difficult."

A Mid Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator, Jade Bell True Monarch?

"Do you recognize this item?"

Jia Ren, seizing the moment, took out the Brass Whistle he had acquired earlier and presented it before Yu Sheng. He had a strong feeling that this item was out of the ordinary, and there was a good chance it had come from Yu Sheng. Perhaps he could get some information from him.

Yu Sheng stared blankly, looking at the Brass Whistle with confusion, unsure of its purpose.

"I have never seen this before."

If it did not come from Yu Sheng, could it be from He Yuan?

There was one other possibility... it came from Star Pole Island.

"I want to let you go, but I need some form of collateral. Do you have any secret techniques or Magical Treasures that you could give as collateral? Hand them over, and I will allow you to leave," said Jia Ren, opportunistically fishing for secret techniques.

Yu Sheng was not foolish; how could he fail to understand this person's intentions? He wanted to deceive me out of my secret techniques and Magical Treasures!

Letting me go... was definitely a trick to get information from me!

"Shi Bai, you deceive me! You will not die a good death!"

Realizing the truth, Yu Sheng did not beg for mercy and no longer revealed anything.

"What does Shi Bai's promise have to do with me?"

Jia Ren tried several methods such as itchy powder, the Thunderous Charge Curse, and flames, but nothing worked; this guy was tight-lipped.

Pity, I don't have a soul-controlling secret technique.

Yu Sheng possessed such a technique, but unfortunately, he had no way of prying this guy's mouth open to get it.

Jia Ren could not be bothered to waste more time.

"Time to feed!"

The Parasitic Ghost Whip materialized out of thin air and rapidly lunged towards Yu Sheng.

This sight nearly had Yu Sheng's eyes bulging out. "You are from the Bizarre Alliance..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the Parasitic Ghost Whip pierced through him. Countless roots grew and sprouted Parasitic Trickster Blossoms, turning him into new fertilizer.

Jia Ren packed away the sated Parasitic Ghost Whip and carefully collected the new fertilizer.

While his Insect External Incarnation was still busy, stability had returned to the Qunxing Archipelago, and he quickly inquired about the details of the Thousand Mountains Sect. Before long, a fairly detailed report came his way.

The Thousand Mountains Sect originally had two Nascent Soul Cultivators: the Mid Nascent Soul Stage Sect Master, Jade Bell True Monarch, and another, an Early Nascent Soul Stage Qianshan True Monarch, who was also the Grand Elder of Thousand Mountains Sect. Decades ago, while sealing the Drowning Trickster, he perished at the hands of Bizarre Demons.

There were three Late Golden Core Stage Cultivators, seven Golden Core Mid-Stage Cultivators, and eleven Early Golden Core Stage Cultivators.

This was the publicly known strength of the Thousand Mountains Sect, and it was unclear whether they had any hidden powers. One Mid Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator and twenty-one Golden Core Cultivators were enough to consider them a first-rate sect in the Western Wasteland Domain.

The Western Wasteland Domain had quite a few sects. The strongest was the Immortal True Sect, a super-sect possessing a Divinity Transformation expert, followed by the Upper Nine Sects. The Upper Nine Sects consisted of nine sects with Nascent Soul Cultivators. Several decades had passed, and with Heavenly Feather Gate and Tianxing Sect vanishing one after the other, no new Nascent Soul Sects had advanced, reducing the number to seven.

The remaining seven Nascent Soul Sects were Seven Seas Tower, True Fire Palace, Thousand Mountains Sect, Medicine King Valley, Divine Talisman Gate, Seven Stars Palace, and Profound Heaven Sword Sect.

Among the seven great Nascent Soul Sects, the top three in terms of strength were Seven Seas Tower, True Fire Palace, and Profound Heaven Sword Sect; all three had Late Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators and belonged to the elite of the Upper Nine. Next came Thousand Mountains Sect and Seven Stars Palace, each with a Mid Nascent Soul Stage Cultivator. Seven Stars Palace and Tianxing Sect were once part of the same Star Pavilion but separated hundreds of years ago for unknown reasons, diverging into two major sects. The third tier consisted of Divine Talisman Gate and Medicine King Valley, both with only Early Nascent Soul Stage Cultivators, making them the weakest of the Nascent Soul Sects.

Sword Washing Pavilion, Cold Moon Palace, Thousand Illusion Sect, and Corpse Demon Sect were second-rate sects with only Golden Core Cultivators and no Nascent Soul Cultivators.

Moving down... Sects below the Golden Core level were considered insignificant and not even qualified to cooperate with the Town Demon Alliance.

Star Pole Island had been an insignificant sect. However, its Island Master, Xu Yi, controlled five Flying Corpse Demons, which were considered Golden Core-level assets. Otherwise, he would not have obtained the Town Demon League Command Token.

Without their Nascent Soul Cultivator, Jade Bell True Monarch, personally leading an attack, and relying only on their Golden Core Cultivators, Thousand Mountains Sect wouldn't pose a major threat.

A gentleman does not stand under a collapsing wall; he had to be prepared for the Thousand Mountains Sect to come pouring out, with eighteen Golden Core Cultivators surrounding the Qunxing Archipelago.

To leave the Western Wasteland Domain?

Jia Ren still intended to go to the Town Demon Alliance to exchange for the method to refine the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure. He was unsure if other domains had a Town Demon Alliance or if he could even get the method to refine the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure there.

Superior Grade Spirit Stones were not easy to come by, and the veins of Superior Grade Spirit Stone deep in the Great Wilderness were indeed tempting.

Travelling to other domains, hundreds of thousands of miles away, was too far and arduous.

He was in no hurry to leave the Western Wasteland Domain. Besides, there was one major advantage—his true identity had not been leaked.

Thousand Mountains Sect wanted to hunt him down but had no idea where to find him.

"First, I need to think about how to obtain the Town Demon League Command Token and where to establish or take over a sect."

The Thousand Mountains Sect did not pose an immediate, overwhelming threat. The priority was to obtain a new Town Demon League Command Token and, despite already having it, secure the method to refine the Demon-Sealing Tower Treasure through official channels if possible.

There were two paths to obtaining the Town Demon League Command Token: establishing a sect or taking over an existing one. The former would require more time and effort. It would be difficult to quickly establish the sect's reputation, making it less likely for the Town Demon Alliance to take the initiative and approach them. Consequently, obtaining the Town Demon League Command Token would also take longer. Taking over a sect appeared to be much easier; one could simply parasitize an existing sect. However, the existing sects were as solid as iron boards. How could they possibly let an outsider become the sect master and control the Town Demon League Command Token?

Compared to founding a new sect, taking over an existing sect was more convenient and could be considered a shortcut. Jia Ren did not want to manage a sect; he only needed to use the shell of a sect to get his hands on the Town Demon League Command Token.

Good thing I was prepared!

A Jade Slip was taken out. Infused with Spiritual Power, it cast a detailed map into the Void. This was a map he had acquired at a high price in the Eastern Forest Market City, having made preparations early on during his time there.

Besides the Qunxing Archipelago, there were no other islands in the Western Extreme Sea, let alone other forces. East of the Western Extreme Sea lay the Western Wasteland Domain, where the major sects occupied the most lucrative territories with the richest resources. Dozens of Golden Core Sects scrambled for the scraps left by the major sects and struggled to survive. Otherwise, Thousand Illusion Sect and Cold Moon Palace wouldn't have set their sights on the Barren Extreme Land.

Jia Ren's gaze wandered near the Thousand Mountains Sect and Tianxing Sect.

Starting a sect nearby Thousand Mountains Sect was a daring move; they would never expect him to have the audacity to set up a sect right under their noses.

The second option was to take over the now-abandoned Tianxing Sect. The Tianxing Sect had vanished, and its territory was divided among many sects. The power structure there was chaotic, which made it easier to find a suitable target to take over.

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