Chapter 367

He employed several large-scale fire-attribute spells, completely erasing the traces left behind here.

After Yunhe briefly identified the direction, he turned into a rainbow light and left the place.

As long as he avoided the direction of the Listening Fragrance Tower, he should not encounter any problems.

Fortunately, during his time at the Listening Fragrance Tower, Yunhe had gained a simple understanding of the directions within the demon realm and the locations of the major sects.

But before Yunhe could fly a thousand li away, he suddenly halted in midair, his expression extremely stern.

"Who?!"

A low shout, transmitted through divine sense, reverberated within a hundred-li radius.

Moreover, his divine sense kept sweeping back and forth, as if searching for something.

Yet the less he could find, the graver his expression became.

After a good while, when Yunhe's face darkened, he finally noticed a few clues.

Yunhe's voice contained not the slightest emotional fluctuation.

This black crow had much to say, and it did not mind being in an antagonistic stance toward Yunhe.

For him, it was indeed quite helpful.

Its eyes shifted, revealing a teasing color, and it said: "I will give you three chances, Dao friend; if you can guess my identity, I will give you that many remaining chances of help. How about that?"

That is what Hualin brought out from the ruins of the Heavenly Insect Sect back then—whether it is the mother worm or the child worm of the Heavenly Corpse Gu.

Or perhaps it is the mother worm of a second Heavenly Corpse Gu?

There's no way around it; the other party is together with the leading Abyssal clan's sacrificial elder, and even such an "ordinary" crow is hard to overlook.

No, to be precise, it can only be considered half, or one-third, guessed.

Heavenly Insect Sect!

Actually, Yunhe still has a doubt in his heart now.

However.

Speaking, he also gave him a somewhat surprised look: "I didn't expect that, after only a few contacts with the Abyssal clan, you, Dao friend, would have such an understanding of their hierarchy."

Yunhe once again did not respond, and the black crow didn't mind, merely continuing:

"First, I, as your senior brother, can tell you some information about the Abyssal clan. Of course, for matters too secret, I am unable to help, after all, the Abyssal clan also guards heavily against me."

"Tsk tsk tsk, I never expected that after not seeing you for over two hundred years, Yunhe junior still remembers his senior brother—truly moving me to tears." The black crow said somewhat exaggeratedly.

Speaking, it withdrew all its smiles and slowly said:

"In that case, as your senior brother, I will give you three 'helps'."

The black crow said this offhandedly, not taking it to heart.

"Actually, I don't even know whether I should address you as 'Senior Brother Hua' or call you 'Heavenly Corpse Gu'."

"Otherwise, how could the Abyssal clan, which had designs on the Listening Fragrance Tower back then, possibly have placed their plan to break Yunhe and them on the child worm of the Corpse Soul Gu?"

"Second, I suppose you, junior brother, must be quite interested in the Heavenly Insect Sect; I can tell you some things about it from back then."

"Help?"

"Just as in duels between cultivators, if one can know the opponent's abilities beforehand, many seemingly thorny problems can actually have solutions prepared in advance."

"Aren't you on good terms with that Abyssal clan's sacrificial elder? Why come looking for Yunhe?"

"If we could learn more about the Abyssal clan, then when facing their cultivators later, we would not be overly passive."

"As for the claim that the Abyssal clan's defenses make it impossible to know secrets, Yunhe will not believe that."

Yunhe also said nothing, merely gazing at him silently.

Yunhe's tone remained calm, evidently having prepared himself mentally beforehand, so even if he guessed correctly, he would not feel surprised.

"Sacrificial elder? Oh, Dao friend, you mean Samian? Yes, she is indeed the Abyssal clan's sacrificial elder."

At this moment, Yunhe had already retracted all his previous expressions; his eyes were calm as water, showing no joy or anger. Listening to the black crow's words, he said lightly:

"No need, Senior Brother Hua."

However, the other party seemed to realize it had been discovered and no longer acted mischievously.

Upon hearing that, the black crow was slightly startled, then burst out laughing: "Not bad, not bad; Yunhe junior is actually more formidable than I imagined."

Seeming to sense Yunhe's killing intent, the black crow revealed a rather human-like look, and spoke with a voice mixed with a hint of laughter:

"Dao friend, you need not harbor such great hostility toward me, right?"

Clearly it is just a crow, and moreover a crow without any trace of magical or demonic power fluctuations, yet it can produce a human voice.

Information about the Heavenly Insect Sect is also indeed what Yunhe needs.

No matter what, the subsequent techniques of the 'Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Art' are what he requires.

"'Good, good, good.' The black crow flapped its wings twice again, seeming to feel a bit uncomfortable under Yunhe's gaze."

Upon seeing this black crow, Yunhe slowly narrowed his eyes, a killing intent flickering in the depths of his gaze.

Information about the Abyssal clan?

Upon hearing these words, Yunhe's heart stirred.

But as for the rest, the black crow obviously could not speak them, so it counts as Yunhe having guessed them.

Senior Brother Hua!

Upon hearing those three words, the black crow, which had seemed somewhat self-satisfied, froze, looking at Yunhe with some astonishment, as if it had not expected him to guess its identity so quickly.

A black crow hanging from a branch somewhere flapped its wings and flew up in a leisurely manner.

Flap-flap—

In that environment, the more 'ordinary' something appeared, the less ordinary it actually was.

And this black crow, in fact, during the earlier Abyssal clan's siege of the Listening Fragrance Tower, the one who was presiding over the tower's protective grand formation had also noticed it.

But Yunhe, however, did not seem to feel any surprise at this situation.

But as the black crow said these, Yunhe's doubts not only received no answer, they only increased.

What exactly does it want to do?

But the black crow paid no heed to Yunhe's thoughts; as it prepared to mention the third point, it once again wore an interested, slightly mocking expression, as if getting ready to watch a good show.

Then it spoke again:

"This third point, junior brother probably doesn't know: when you dealt with the Yellow Spring Ancestor's son, a strand of Yellow Spring Qi slipped into your body without you noticing, right?"

"!!!"

Hearing this, Yunhe's expression finally changed, staring at the black crow with a hint of astonishment.

Immediately afterward, he snapped back to awareness, constantly sweeping his divine sense back and forth through his body, trying to locate the so-called Yellow Spring Qi.

One need not think to know that this Yellow Spring Qi is the final backup left by the Yellow Spring Ancestor on Xiao Wuxian, meant to lock onto the killer of his son!

Perhaps even Xiao Wuxian himself doesn't know that his body harbors such a special seal.

If Yunhe remains unaware of this special spiritual energy within him, then when the Yellow Spring Ancestor emerges from seclusion, what awaits him may be endless pursuit.

As for how the black crow knows he dealt with Xiao Wuxian, that is no longer Yunhe's concern.

If he does not dispel that Yellow Spring Qi, does it mean the Yellow Spring Ancestor can lock onto his position at any time?

Thinking of this, Yunhe felt a chill run through his whole body.

But after searching repeatedly, he still couldn't locate the Yellow Spring Qi.

He even employed several secret techniques for this, all of the sort used by demonic sects to "mark" and kill their own disciples, like "Killing Qi Lure" and "Ghost Spirit Attachment".

Yet the results remained unsatisfactory.

He looked at the black crow before him and asked in a low voice: "How to resolve it?"

Since the other party raised this point, there must be a way to resolve it, right?

But the black crow's answer disappointed him.

"Resolve? You wouldn't think those demonic cultivators developed such secret techniques to make them easy to dispel, would you? I won't speak for others, but I can guarantee that even that old coot, the Yellow Spring Ancestor, cannot touch the Yellow Spring Qi on your body."

Those words sank Yunhe's heart to the bottom of a valley in an instant.

Because he actually felt the black crow's words made perfect sense.

Such "marks" are designed so that the afflicted person can never find a way to dispel them, allowing the caster to pursue relentlessly.

But he quickly found the key in the black crow's words.

Yunhe immediately calmed down and asked: "Not being able to dispel it easily doesn't mean it's impossible to dispel, right?"

"Clever!"

The black crow chuckled lightly: "Funny enough, your senior brother I happen to have a rather clumsy method that can resolve it."

"Conditions." Yunhe said directly.

"Good, talking with a smart person is simple. All you need to do, junior brother, is take the fourth-level insect on your body—no need for the mother insect; just cause it to differentiate into a child insect with the potential to develop into a mother insect and give it to me, your senior brother. Furthermore, help me go to a certain place inside the Heavenly Insect Sect and fetch something, and that will do."

The black crow finally revealed its purpose.

But Yunhe scoffed.

"You merely offer a solution and then ask Yun to do two things? Yun doesn't even know whether the Yellow Spring Qi you speak of actually exists."

Upon hearing this, the black crow stared at Yunhe in silence for a moment.

And Yunhe met its gaze, showing no sign of retreat whatsoever.

Even if that Yellow Spring Qi truly exists, he could simply flee to the Upper Cloud Realm and then temporarily destroy the ultra-long-distance teleportation array; he doesn't believe the Yellow Spring Ancestor could still pursue him there.

Once he cultivates to late Nascent Soul, he will naturally no longer fear the Yellow Spring Ancestor, and by then the so-called Yellow Spring Qi will be mere ornament.

Finally, the black crow conceded: "All right. Junior brother only needs to make a trip to the Heavenly Insect Sect for me. As for that Yellow Spring Qi, junior brother might as well carefully examine the magic treasure you used to slay Xiao Wuxian; this qi should be wrapped around your treasure."

Upon hearing this, Yunhe immediately sank his divine sense into his qi sea dantian, locking onto the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword that had slain Xiao Wuxian.

After an extremely meticulous search, he finally found a tiny, extremely subtle anomaly on that flying sword.

To be frank.

Had it not been for what the black crow said, even with his usual use of the Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword, he would never have noticed even the slightest clue.

Perhaps only when his divine sense can weary a late Nascent Soul cultivator would he possibly feel it.

And while he searched, the black crow continued: "Junior brother, you needn't think of discarding this treasure. Regardless of whether it's your natal treasure, you're reluctant to part with it, but once the treasure bearing this qi leaves your body, it will forever cling to your qi sea dantian, making dispelling it nearly impossible."

But what the black crow didn't know was that when Yunhe truly sensed the Yellow Spring Qi on that Five Elements Heavenly Thunder Sword, his heart relaxed with a great sigh of relief.

Why not just let it pass through the body into the Yao Shou Shijie without leaving the body?

He doesn't believe the Yellow Spring Ancestor, no matter how powerful, could calculate this interworld transmission.

At worst.

He also has the Upper Cloud Realm as a "safe" retreat.

"How?"

Seeing Yunhe open his eyes again with a grim expression, the black crow laughed and asked.

Actually, there's no need to ask; his expression already says it all.

Yunhe directly said: "What do you want to take, sir? You should be more familiar with the Heavenly Insect Sect than I am; you could just send someone, or even dispatch a Heaven Capital Insect Corpse, to find it."

However, the black crow then explained the reason:

"That place requires one to have cultivated the Heavenly Insect Sect's Thousand Insect Myriad Insect Technique to the fourth level or higher, and to carry a fourth-level insect that is not a Heaven Corpse Insect, in order to enter."

Its tone and voice were extremely low, almost gritting its teeth.

Obviously, these are precautions left by the cultivators of the Heavenly Insect Sect in its dying days, guarding against it.

At the same time, Yunhe wondered whether the Heaven Corpse Insect's choice to ally with the Abyss Clan was also because it valued the Abyss cultivators' unique divine sense.

Perhaps it has made many attempts, all ending in failure, only then deducing this conclusion—or rather, the many conditions for entry.

"Junior brother, you are merely at early Nascent Soul, yet your divine sense strength far exceeds that of most mid Nascent Soul cultivators; the Thousand Insect Myriad Insect Technique must surely have been cultivated to the fourth level, or even higher, right?"

Clearly it was a question, but Hei Ya spoke with extreme certainty.

Regarding this, Yunhe also did not refute, choosing to acquiesce.

At this moment, what he is most curious about is what exactly could cause the Heaven Corpse Gu to be so fixated?

Could it be beneficial for its further advancement?

"So, what exactly do you require, sir?" Yunhe asked.

Hei Ya pondered again for a moment, then said: "A Gu furnace."

Gu furnace?

This is an implement used by Gu cultivators when nurturing Gu insects.

By placing a large number of spirit insects and Gu insects with varying abilities into the Gu furnace, then applying a secret method to make the Gu insects inside devour one another, one may eventually obtain a Gu insect that satisfies the Gu cultivator.

Of course, there is also a greater probability of obtaining a useless Gu.

Obtaining a Corpse Soul Gu like Yunhe has can absolutely be said to be extremely lucky.

Could it be that the cultivators of the Heaven Insect Sect originally used that Gu furnace to nurture the Heaven Corpse Gu?

"Alright, junior brother, you need not ask what that Gu furnace is or how it benefits me, elder brother; you only need to know that as long as you deliver this Gu furnace into my hands, I will reveal to you the method to dispel the Yellow Spring Qi."

Hei Ya obviously had no intention of continuing with a deeper explanation, merely adding:

"The three 'assistances' I, elder brother, have given you, junior brother, are enough to demonstrate my sincere devotion, aren't they?"

————

PS: Requesting monthly tickets!

(End of chapter)