Chapter 455

The summit of Shenhuo Mountain fell silent; all that could be heard was the roaring boil of the magma within its belly.

Every face bore confusion, their gazes fixed on Zheng Fa and Shi Nandang, brimming with utter bewilderment.

Shi Nandang’s own eyes were also dazed.

His gaze remained fixed on the jade pendant at Zheng Fa’s waist, as if still trying to determine whether it was real or fake.

“Shi Shangren?” The emaciated elder among the six Soul Transformation cultivators finally spoke up.

This was utterly finished—he had given them freedom just as they sought it, indirectly enabling them. This was Xia Yeqing’s worst defeat in twenty-two years.

Chu Fei hesitated but said nothing; he knew today’s affair had spiraled out of control. He turned and got into the driver’s seat.

Ziges’s ability was to collect and summon—he could absorb the souls of any creature that died before his eyes into his cane, whether spirit, demon, ordinary human, or even a rabbit; if Ziges willed it, the dead soul would remain forever trapped within his cane.

The gray-skinned beings stood no taller than one and a half meters, with round, bald heads, large ears, and enormous black eyes bulging outward, each with two distinct pupils. They wore long white robes, appearing utterly bizarre.

The leather sole scraped across Song Lingyue’s face, burning her skin raw; mud and sand from the sole smeared over her cheeks. Song Lingyue arched her back to pull away, but the officer’s men grabbed her hair and forced her face hard against the sole.

When he looked back at the dancer, her face streaked with tears like pear blossoms in rain, his heart clenched painfully—he longed to give her everything he possessed.

Looking at Liu Yao’s pitifully beautiful face, Chu Fei felt a surge of inner resentment, and also annoyance; to be honest, he had originally thought Liu Yao had invited him out specifically to thank him.

“Of course I slept with Qingqing—where else would I sleep?” Chu Fei lied without a hint of shame.

The higher one climbed, the stronger the monsters became; perhaps due to the lingering aura of the divine corpse, the creatures here were unnaturally powerful. Li Duo had seen a massive serpent slithering through the forest, its body seventy or eighty meters long—barely weaker than the Volcanic Black Rock Python.

“Oh, this place is great too!” Tian Xin had just put down her phone when she gasped again, picking it up to start recording once more.

Li Fangzhou offered a very high commission, and these people had been carefully selected and specially trained; their ability to identify mountain goods was reliable, they were willing to endure hardship and labor, and their purchase prices were extremely fair—how could harvests not be abundant?

Wu Fan smiled faintly, studying the old man before him. Though he appeared gentle, Wu Fan knew this elder was no benevolent soul; the piercing gaze in his eyes hinted at his true nature.

The good news was that the camp still had some semblance of soldiers. These troops, though low in cultivation—around the third or fourth level of the Reincarnation Realm—were also Fangshi, likely all at the Fangzun level.

Though the burden on his shoulders was heavy, his steps remained strong. He had walked this path long enough—he had left behind his childhood days of chopping firewood and herding cattle at age ten, following his father along this mountain trail for the first time into the world beyond.

Wu Fan nodded; he understood Lin Shishi’s point. If the location was too remote or too shabby, clients would assume the studio lacked strength and would not last—business would dwindle, and no one would come.

“If you make another mistake and Du Madame catches you out, I can’t protect you anymore. Are you sure it’s properly arranged?” Zi Jin asked.

Bu Fan would never blame Lin Miao for the mistake, especially since these second-generation scions were hardly worth the trouble.