Chapter 126

After waiting for more than four hours, Xu Ziyan finally returned and brought Song Qingming with her to the Law Enforcement Hall of the Carefree Sect, where a very elderly Foundation Establishment cultivator was already waiting.

Under Xu Ziyan’s prompt, Song Qingming recounted the sequence of events to this person once more. After listening, the elderly Foundation Establishment cultivator spoke: "Junior Sister Xu has already explained this matter to me. Since you dared to come here, I assume there is no problem. However, as this matter involves a Foundation Establishment cultivator of our sect, according to sect rules, I must use the Soul-Questioning Talisman on you before this matter can be concluded."

As soon as he finished speaking, the old man took a cyan spiritual talisman from his storage bag and stuck it directly onto the top of Song Qingming’s head. Then, he performed a set of hand seals, and the cyan talisman instantly submerged into Song Qingming’s mind.

Song Qingming’s mind jolted, and he immediately felt a wave of dizziness as he fell into a deep sleep. Following that, an identical blue spiritual talisman appeared within his body, wrapping around his spiritual sense. Song Qingming felt as if his very consciousness and thoughts were being controlled; no matter what he tried to think of, he couldn't bring anything to mind.

"Where did you obtain the storage bag and jade box you handed over?"

"In the mountains northwest of Pingyang County, by the side of a small river."

"Did you murder the owner of this storage bag?"

"I did not murder them."

"Whose hands did the owner of this storage bag die by?"

"I do not know."

After the three questions were asked, the Soul-Questioning Talisman inside Song Qingming’s body suddenly disappeared on its own. After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he slowly regained some sensation and woke up with a start from his slumber.

The talisman the old man used was a genuine second-tier Soul-Questioning Talisman, which costs over a hundred spirit stones to produce. Although this type of talisman is merely an auxiliary one, it is extremely rare on the market, and the Carefree Sect does not have many in storage. If it were not for a major matter concerning a sect Foundation Establishment cultivator, it would never be brought out for use so casually.

Seeing Song Qingming wake up so quickly, the Foundation Establishment old man’s expression showed some surprise. He turned his head and said to Xu Ziyan: "Using the Soul-Questioning Talisman will always damage a cultivator’s spiritual sense to some degree. An ordinary Qi Refining cultivator would find it hard to wake up without at least the time it takes to burn a stick of incense. This little cultivator must have practiced spiritual sense techniques."

Xu Ziyan did not know whether Song Qingming had practiced spiritual sense techniques or not, but she really did not want to cause any more trouble in this Law Enforcement Hall. After carefully nodding, she continued to ask: "Senior Brother Zhou, since he has passed the Soul-Questioning Talisman, this matter can be considered settled. I will trouble you, Senior Brother, to hand over Senior Brother Mo’s remains to Senior Uncle Li."

The old man pondered for a moment before speaking again: "I will hand the items over immediately. In a few days, I ask that you help lead the way, little brother. I will go with a few junior brothers to take a trip with you to bring Senior Brother Mo’s remains back to the sect for burial."

Also, since Senior Brother Mo’s matter has nothing to do with this little fellow Daoist, he should receive some reward for returning the remains of our sect’s cultivator. After the items are returned to Senior Brother Mo’s descendants, I will report this matter to Senior Uncle Li and inform you then. I ask that you do not leave Guyang Mountain during this period.

After leaving the Law Enforcement Hall with Xu Ziyan, Song Qingming’s face remained deathly pale the entire way.

Having witnessed the power of the Soul-Questioning Talisman for the first time, his heart remained unsettled for a long time.

He had only heard of this second-tier spiritual talisman before; he never expected it to be so profound. No matter how deep your schemes are, in front of this kind of talisman, not to mention Qi Refining cultivators, even Foundation Establishment cultivators have no way to tell a lie. To resist this kind of talisman, unless you have the cultivation of the Core Formation realm, it is impossible.

Fortunately, this questioning did not involve other secrets he held, otherwise, he would not have been able to walk out of Guyang Mountain today.

After staying next to Xu Ziyan’s cave dwelling for two days, several Carefree Sect law enforcement cultivators, led by the elderly Foundation Establishment Senior Brother Zhou from a few days prior, came directly to Xu Ziyan’s place to pick up Song Qingming.

The group boarded a flying boat and, without taking many days, arrived in Pingyang County, thousands of miles away from Guyang Mountain.

Under Song Qingming’s guidance, they quickly found the remains of Senior Brother Mo from a pile of rubble. Even the corpses of Foundation Establishment cultivators do not completely rot for over a hundred years; the corpse they found was no different from when Song Qingming buried it a year ago.

After returning, Song Qingming continued to stay on the spiritual mountain of Xu Ziyan’s cave dwelling for over ten days. Only then did the Law Enforcement Hall send a Qi Refining cultivator to pass on a message, bringing Song Qingming to the Law Enforcement Hall once again. This time, Xu Ziyan did not follow along, and Song Qingming felt somewhat uneasy throughout the journey.

After entering the hall, Song Qingming saw that besides the elderly Foundation Establishment man surnamed Zhou whom he had met several times, there was also a white-clothed man who looked even younger than himself.

The elderly Foundation Establishment man surnamed Zhou led Song Qingming to the front of the white-clothed man and then respectfully retreated.

"So it was you who returned the remains of Junior Nephew Mo!" The white-clothed man stepped forward, glanced at Song Qingming, and said in a calm tone.

Upon hearing this, Song Qingming finally realized that the person before him was likely the Carefree Sect Law Enforcement Hall Elder, Li Wutong.

"Reporting to the... Old Ancestor, it was this junior who delivered them." After saying this, Song Qingming could not help but break out in a cold sweat on his forehead.

Seeing that the Song Qingming before him was quite frightened, Li Wutong flicked a wisp of a cool breeze from his hand, allowing Song Qingming to instantly feel a sense of coolness, which eased his nervous emotions somewhat.

Afterward, Li Wutong spoke again: "I heard from Junior Nephew Zhou that you are a cultivator from Qinghe County. This time, you traveled thousands of miles to return the remains of Junior Nephew Mo to the sect, so you have performed a meritorious service. I will take the liberty of granting you one request that I can fulfill. Tell me, what spiritual item do you desire most?"

"This junior... this junior desires a Foundation Establishment Pill. I hope the senior can grant this."

For some reason, as soon as Song Qingming heard he could make a request to a Core Formation cultivator, he immediately thought of the Foundation Establishment Pill he had been longing for, and it slipped out inadvertently.

"A Foundation Establishment Pill? You kid really dares to think big." Li Wutong cast a sidelong glance at the bewildered Song Qingming, then continued: "I do have a Foundation Establishment Pill here, but this kind of spiritual item far exceeds the reward you deserve. How about this: I will give you two years. If you can come up with eight thousand spirit stones, come directly to the Law Enforcement Hall to find me, and I can exchange it for a Foundation Establishment Pill—I will even sell it to you at a discounted price. If you cannot come up with it by then, you can only accept a small reward of spirit stones. What do you think?"

"This junior thanks the Old Ancestor for the reward!" Upon hearing Li Wutong say this, Song Qingming knelt down immediately, and after expressing his thousand thanks, he left the Carefree Sect Law Enforcement Hall.

According to Li Wutong’s words, he had already obtained a chance to purchase a Foundation Establishment Pill; he just needed to gather eight thousand spirit stones within two years. Although he could not produce that many spirit stones right now, having this opportunity meant that no matter what happened next, he finally had a glimmer of hope for Foundation Establishment.

After returning to Xu Ziyan’s spiritual mountain, Song Qingming told her everything without reservation, as the reason he could obtain this opportunity was ultimately because of her help.