Yan Tianhen gazed at Ling Chigu. “It’s not necessary to ask the Ghost Masked Man about this. It was written in the Imperial Corpse Technique he passed to me that if the corpse puppet was refined to a certain extent, they can look for suitable souls to inhabit their bodies by themselves. Once they have a soul, the corpse puppet will be able to speak and won’t appear any different from ordinary people.”

　　However, Lin Xuanzhi quickly discovered the key point. He frowned slightly, “But in that case, Ling Chigu will never be Ling Chigu again.”

　　Yan Tianhen nodded. “That’s right, but if Ah Gu truly finds a soul suitable for him and he also wants it, I don’t know whether to stop him or congratulate him.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi and Ling Chigu’s pair of black pupils looked at each other for a moment. “Maomao seems to have some unusual feelings for Ah Gu.”

　　Yan Tianhen’s expression looked slightly surprised.

　　“How unusual?” Yan Tianhen had always been a bit slow on these matters.

　　“Like you and me.” Lin Xuanzhi answered.

　　Yan Tianhen paused, stunned. He obviously didn’t expect that Feng Jingyu would actually admire Lin Chigu in his heart.

　　“But didn’t Maomao say that he’d only heard of Ling Chigu before but didn’t know him at all?” Yan Tianhen asked. His eyes suddenly widened and he stammered, “Don’t tell me…he’s a necrophiliac?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi, “…”

　　Yan Tianhen took a deep breath and comforted himself, “Although this kind of taste is a little perverted, if Maomao truly likes it, it’s not like I can’t accept it. I just need some time…Ow! Dage, why did you hit my head?”

　　“Don’t entertain foolish ideas.” Lin Xuanzhi withdrew his hand, which just gave Yan Tianhen’s forehead a knock, “It’s enough if you simply believe thirty percent of Feng Jingyu’s words. He’s been the West Monarch for countless years and is also the descendent of natural gods. How can every word of his be true? His purpose for coming to the Five Continents is still unknown. Whether or not he knew Ling Chigu before is also only based on his words. You should take it with a grain of salt.”

　　Yan Tianhen rubbed his head and thought for a moment, “Makes sense. If Maomao likes Ah Gu but Ah Gu is occupied by another person’s soul, then Maomao…”

　　“I think, if everything is really as I guessed, Feng Jingyu would rather destroy this corpse than let others defile him.”

　　Yan Tianhen’s mind was filled with the scene of Feng Jingyu burning the entire Pill Limit Mysterious Land in one breath and wiping out all the cultivators. He couldn’t help nodding. “You’re right, Maomao is a violent fellow, so let’s not give him this opportunity.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi pondered for a moment, “As of right now, Ah Gu’s cultivation level isn’t high enough yet, so we can look for other ways.”

　　Yan Tianhen mused, “If we can return Ah Gu’s soul to his body, everyone will be happy.”

　　“But this is also the most difficult part. Ah Gu’s soul has long since been separated from his body the instant he died. At this time, his soul has either scattered into pieces or has been reincarnated once more. Either way, it won’t be easy to find.”

　　Yan Tianhen sighed. “You’re right. If it truly was that easy, then there wouldn’t be so many emotionless corpse puppets in the world.”

　　Not only did they lack a human’s seven emotions and six desires, but they also didn’t even have the five senses. That was why corpse puppets could become a sharp and invincible weapon. Even if their heads were pierced through, they would still advance forward to kill the enemy. The spear known as the corpse puppet would relentlessly press forward unless its limbs were broken and it was chopped into meat paste.

　　After Ling Chigu ran those corpses to the back mountain and thoroughly washed his hands, Lin Xuanzhi brought Ling Chigu into the soul plate’s space.

　　Soul Plate was so angry that it repeatedly shouted at Lin Xuanzhi, cursing him for being unkind — not only did Lin Xuanzhi stuff the living into Soul Plate’s pocket dimension, but now even the dead have to camp there.

　　However, after Lin Xuanzhi promised to supply Soul Plate with another hundred forged stones, Soul Plate became silent after a few Hmph‘s.

　　On the morning of the next day, Lin Xuanzhi and Yan Tianhen were passing through the downtown area when they saw a team of Li family guards running towards Yongtai Manor, their expressions slightly grave. Many people who woke up early also stopped to watch from the sidelines one by one, and some people even discussed it with each other–

　　“It’s early morning; what happened here?”

　　“You don’t know this, but the Boss of Yongtai Manor had an accident. It’s said that in the middle of last night, Shopkeeper Shi was originally still pressing down on an elder sis from the Drunken Red Mansion. Suddenly, a man whose expression was full of bloodthirst rushed over and bit Shopkeeper Shi to death!”

　　“Ah, so scary!?”

　　“This isn’t even the scariest part. A few worms even crawled out of that man’s mouth. Those worms drilled into Shopkeeper Shi’s body and soon sucked him into a dried corpse. It really scared people to death! As for the mysterious man from before, his body swelled up, as though all the blood those worms sucked had entered his body. Later, the man suddenly exploded with a bang, flesh and blood spraying everywhere!”

　　“Hiss–“

　　Terrified gasps could be heard one after another.

　　Lin Xuanzhi took Yan Tianhen’s hand and walked towards Profound Sky Sect.

　　The news that Yongtai Manor’s shopkeeper died in Drunken Red Mansion in the middle of the night would soon spread throughout Profound City. Although his life was not valued very much by the people, that corpse, which was controlled by Gu worms and sorcery and could kill people cruelly, was bound to cause quite a stir in Profound City. It would attract the attention of many families and Profound Sky Sect.

　　However, even if they investigated, he was afraid that they wouldn’t have any results.

　　After all, the murderer had already been changed beyond recognition, blown into meat paste, so he could no longer be identified.

　　In reality, Shi Yongtai’s life or death had little influence on Lin Xuanzhi. He only planned to crush Shi Yongtai’s business but never intended to kill him. However, since Shi Yongtai decided to court death himself, Lin Xuanzhi was naturally willing to give him a push. While he was at it, he could also observe Zhuo Ye’s abilities.

　　Persisting in evil brings about self-destruction, and all debts will eventually be repaid.

　　Soon after, Lin Xuanzhi called Dong Qu, who was in charge of Yin Yang Studio in Profound Sky Sect, and had him start all matters concerning the acquisition of Yongtai Manor. Yongtai Manor was originally Lin Zhan’s private property, but now it was in heavy debt. Plus, now that Liu Mengchen wasn’t meddling in secret anymore, it was naturally reclaimed without much effort.

　　Back to the present moment, Lin Xuanzhi returned to the Profound Sky Sect and first accompanied Yan Tianhen to Broken Sword Peak’s summit. Esteemed Huai Yu happened to be away, and nobody knew where he’d gone.

　　Recently, Esteemed Huai Yu always ran outside without any prior notice. Each trip would take anywhere from ten days to half a month; who knows what kind of urgent matters he had.

　　Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Xuanzhi came to the hunting peak and released Ling Chigu from within the soul plate.

　　Ling Chigu didn’t show any discomfort when he arrived at a new place. He just looked around emotionlessly and seemed to be surveying the terrain.

　　“In the future, you can cultivate with Ah Gu even on the peak.”

　　Yan Tianhen nodded somewhat excitedly. “Yeah, no one ever visits this peak. There are many demonic beasts on it. It’s a good place for cultivation.”

　　“Do you know why no one comes here?”

　　Yan Tianhen pointed to the sky, “Maomao has flown up and scouted this entire area. He said that there are barriers everywhere. People outside cannot easily get in. The people inside can’t get out either if they don’t have a special method. Fortunately, Master has taught me how to get in and out. Otherwise, I would have been trapped here.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi spoke with deep meaning, “That master of yours has high Dao attainments. I’ve not seen anything like it in my life.”

　　Yan Tianhen suddenly looked surprised, “I know my master is quite good at alchemy and arrays, but his Dao attainments shouldn’t be higher than that of Esteemed Lan Yue, right?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi explained, “My master is indeed powerful, but his strength lies in his ability to divine heaven’s secrets and predict ill or good fortune. His vision is high and far-sighted. However, if we’re only talking about Dao attainments, Esteemed Huai Yu is more powerful.”

　　If he was just a teenager who had never been to the Nine Lands, then he really wouldn’t be able to notice how powerful Huai Yu truly was. However, the current Lin Xuanzhi had a wide range of knowledge and was different from ordinary people.

　　This barrier, which covered the entire mountain peak, was by no means something that a mere Profound Realm peak Return Origin Stage cultivator could maintain.

　　But Esteemed Huai Yu really did maintain it.

　　Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t help but guess that Esteemed Huai Yu probably had a magic treasure that enabled him to display cultivation surpassing the Profound Realm even while in the smaller realms.

　　That would be very impressive.

　　At the very least, such a magic treasure must be on the level of a celestial tool.

　　In that case, Esteemed Huai Yu’s real identity needed to be investigated further.

　　After his initial shock, Yan Tianhen looked at Lin Xuanzhi, “Dage, if my master truly is so powerful, then why is he still staying in Profound Sky Peak?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi was silent for a moment before giving his conjecture, “During this period of time, I’ve inquired with the martial brothers I was close to. Although they’ve had contact with Esteemed Huai Yu before, Esteemed Huai Yu’s character and style of conduct in their descriptions are quite different from what you and I have seen right now. Moreover, as you said before, Esteemed Huai Yu would provide Profound level pills to the sect every month, but a year or so ago, Esteemed Huai Yu only displayed excellent talent in planting spiritual herbs but never provided medicinal pills of this level.”

　　Yan Tianhen soon realized Lin Xuanzhi’s unspoken implication. He frowned, “Dage means that my present master is not the same person as before?”

　　Lin Xuanzhi nodded, “Although I say this, I can’t be sure. After all, in the past, Esteemed Huai Yu seldom had contact with the outside world. No one really knew what kind of person he was, but it doesn’t hurt to be cautious.”

　　Yan Tianhen nodded solemnly, “I understand, I will pay attention.”

　　To be honest, even Yan Tianhen felt that there was something strange about Esteemed Huai Yu. He couldn’t say where this strange feeling came from. He was certain that Huai Yu cared about him and sincerely taught him how to cultivate and practice alchemy without reservation.

　　On the other hand, Yan Tianhen also held a natural sense of trust in Huai Yu, as if the mere sight of Huai Yu would relax his nerves. Yan Tianhen felt that even if the other party knew all his secrets, it was no big deal.

　　This kind of feeling was especially special for Yan Tianhen.

　　The last time he felt this way was when Lin Zhan was still here, but Lin Zhan was his dad and had been with him for so many years…

　　Yan Tianhen stopped his wandering thoughts and hurriedly told Lin Xuanzhi, “Dage, let’s release Ah Gu quickly. I’m afraid he’ll be suffocated in the soul plate.”

　　Lin Xuanzhi rubbed Yan Tianhen’s head, “Okay.”

　　Not long after Ling Chigu was placed on the hunting peak, Yuan Tianwen paid a visit to Broken Sword Peak’s summit.

　　Yan Tianhen temporarily deactivated the dense fog forest’s illusions and let Yuan Tianwen in.

　　“I haven’t seen you for a few days. Your array skills look good.” Yuan Tianwen looked at Yan Tianhen and spoke with profound meaning.

　　 We have a now! XD Special thanks to Dr. Mouse for putting everything together and making it so detailed  The link is also on the RSCB home page :3