Chapter 516

Having cultivated for so long, Xu Jin's favorite cultivation resources, aside from sixth-tier and seventh-tier heavenly treasures, were the pure Star Qi accumulated within Soul-Returning Pills and the True God statues of the Worship Battle Divine Sect.

Yet, whether it was sixth-tier and seventh-tier heavenly treasures or the pure Star Qi within the Worship Battle Divine Sect's True God statues, they were all things that could be encountered but not sought.

Only the Soul-Returning Pills produced within the Eight Desolations alien races could be plotted for.

It was just that previously, being far from the Eight Desolations Continent, he had never had much of an opportunity.

Coming to the Eight Desolations Continent this time to seek Soul-Returning Pills to improve his cultivation was, in itself, one of Xu Jin's plans.

Originally, he had thought that after gaining a firm foothold, he would search among the Eight Desolations alien races outside the Blood God Sect. According to previous intelligence, Soul-Returning Pills were also precious items among the Eight Desolations alien races, and it was extremely difficult for ordinary people to obtain them.

But the bribe received today was actually the Soul-Returning Pills that Xu Jin had been yearning for.

This was somewhat of a pleasant surprise.

Jin Dafeng had sent Xu Jin five Soul-Returning Pills, but unfortunately, they were all fifth-tier Soul-Returning Pills.

Originally, for a sixth-tier cultivator, using fifth-tier Soul-Returning Pills also had decent effects; depending on the number of corners of the condensed Cloud Tower, it would take about ten to thirty pills to improve one layer of cultivation.

But for Xu Jin, the foundation of his Cloud Tower was itself several times that of an ordinary cultivator, and he had condensed an eight-cornered Cloud Tower.

For fifth-tier Soul-Returning Pills, it would take two or three hundred to condense a single layer of an eight-cornered Cloud Tower.

Therefore, what Xu Jin needed most were sixth-tier Soul-Returning Pills or even seventh-tier ones.

Five Soul-Returning Pills were only the amount of half a day's bitter cultivation for the current Xu Jin.

However, this was not important; what was important was that since the General Jin Dafeng before him could send out Soul-Returning Pills, it meant he had the methods and channels to obtain them.

Then this was simple.

How could he trick it out of him?

Just as Xu Jin was calculating, the Blood Owl Grand Commander Zhong Ji, who had just received the gift, laughed, "Since General Jin is so sincere, then the matter of you wanting to encircle and annihilate us and silence us will end here."

General Jin Dafeng, upon hearing these words, was just feeling happy when suddenly, Zhong Ji's expression turned abruptly stern, "Then now, we shall begin doing serious business.

General Jin, I have been ordered by Hall Master Mu of the Punishment Hall to specifically investigate the mysterious disappearance of Jiao Hai, General of the Second Guard of the Blood Moon Army, on December 26th of last year.

And according to the investigation, on the night before Jiao Hai disappeared, he once drank and gathered with you; during the banquet, he even revealed his movements.

And the next day, before Jiao Hai executed his mission, he happened to pass through the checkpoint you were patrolling!

General Jin, from this moment on, we Blood Owls will conduct a detailed investigation into everything you have done these past few days, including your subordinates.

I hope you can answer honestly!

Otherwise, don't blame us Blood Owls for being impolite!"

The sudden change of face by Zhong Ji, who had accepted the gift, made Jin Dafeng's expression turn ugly.

Xu Jin, watching this, also secretly gave a thumbs up.

Grand Commander Zhong Ji, this ability to eat everything clean and settle accounts one by one is impressive.

Having just accepted someone's heavy gift, he flipped his face; this ability is truly impressive.

"Grand Commander Zhong, this is truly a misunderstanding—"

Jin Dafeng still wanted to step forward to get close, but Zhong Ji retreated sharply and shouted a stop, directly revealing the Blood Owl token, "Come, take him down for me!"

The next instant, these Blood Owls pounced forward without any politeness, like wolves and tigers.

As for that bit of bravery Jin Dafeng had, it had long since been beaten out of him by Xu Jin; at this moment, he could only helplessly submit.

"Start the interrogation!"

Zhong Ji shouted.

The Blood Owls were not a makeshift group; they had a set of methods for interrogation, especially the captains of each squad.

But before the interrogation, Xu Jin suddenly stepped forward and leaned in to Zhong Ji to suggest, "Grand Commander, interrogate them separately in isolation to prevent them from colluding on their stories!"

Zhong Ji glanced at Xu Jin, a flash of appreciation in his eyes.

He was liking this Vice Commander more and more.

No wonder the higher-ups required him to pay close attention and report back at all times.

His identity was likely not ordinary.

There were rumors years ago that the current Vice Sect Master wanted to arrange for his offspring to come in and hold power?

Could it be that this Qi Jin is the offspring of that Vice Sect Master?

As numerous thoughts flashed through the mind of Blood Owl Grand Commander Zhong Ji, he waved his large hand and issued the order for separate interrogation in isolation.

Xu Jin, while secretly happy, requested to personally interrogate General Jin Dafeng.

Having already liked Xu Jin immensely and feeling as close as brothers with him, and now feeling that Xu Jin might be the Vice Sect Master's offspring, Zhong Ji naturally followed the flow.

He agreed.

Very quickly, Xu Jin began to use local materials, arranging for the Blood Owls to start interrogating Jin Dafeng's confidants separately in the nearby barracks.

At the same time, he respectfully invited the Grand Commander to patrol the various interrogation rooms.

Regarding this, Zhong Ji was extremely satisfied.

Looking at Xu Jin, he found him more and more pleasing to the eye.

Strong in strength, capable in handling affairs, sensible, and clever—where could one find such a good subordinate?

In any case, among the hundreds of subordinates he had managed over these years, not one had made him feel this comfortable!

Of course, having said that, were there no talents within the Blood God Sect?

There certainly were!

Such as the Sect Master, the Left and Right Protectors, and numerous high-ranking officials—regardless of character, their individual abilities were absolutely top-tier.

But the expansion group of the Blood God Sect naturally had problems.

It was destined that the probability of producing top-tier talents was relatively small.

For a figure like Xu Jin, as long as he entered and performed deliberately, standing out was the most normal thing in the world.

Inside the barracks, Xu Jin interrogated General Jin Dafeng according to the Blood Owl's internal interrogation strategy, spreading out his Clear Record Star Pattern while simultaneously sensing and eavesdropping on the interrogation results of others, as well as sensing Zhong Ji's movements.

A dozen breaths later, Zhong Ji walked into the interrogation room where Jin Dafeng was.

"What is the result?"

"Grand Commander, still interrogating!"

"Grand Commander Zhong, I am truly wronged! Jiao Hai's death has nothing to do with me!" Seeing Zhong Ji enter, Jin Dafeng cried out his grievances.

"Whether it has anything to do with it, in the end, we will make the judgment!

What you need to do now is to confess everything we want to know without missing a single detail.

If you dare to have any concealment, then you can only be invited to take a trip to the Punishment Hall!" After Zhong Ji finished speaking, he turned and left.

Jin Dafeng, however, shivered!

The Blood Owls coming to interrogate was actually like a large net sifting for clues.

If he were really invited into the Punishment Hall, the consequences would be terrible.

Under these circumstances, Jin Dafeng answered every single question Xu Jin asked without omission.

Sensing that Zhong Ji had gone to the next barracks to patrol, Xu Jin turned, placed his palm on Jin Dafeng's shoulder, and at the moment of contact, injected the extremely subtle Gentle Dream Star Art into Jin Dafeng's body.

Jin Dafeng had not condensed a Primordial Spirit.

However, to prevent any fluctuation of Divine Soul power, Xu Jin still utilized the physical contact to cast the Gentle Dream Star Art.

In an instant, Jin Dafeng fell into a deep sleep.

And Xu Jin began to urge the Gentle Dream to interrogate the sleeping Jin Dafeng.

"Where did the Soul-Returning Pills come from?"

"Exchanged in the black market."

"Black market? Where is it?"

"Twenty thousand miles away, there is a Silver Horn City built by the Golden Pillar race; inside Silver Horn City, there is a black market where one can trade for Soul-Returning Pills."

"Are any credentials or tokens required? How are Soul-Returning Pills traded?"

Xu Jin used the shortest time to interrogate all the information he wanted to know about the Soul-Returning Pills and basically figured it out. The black market in Silver Horn City had no restrictions.

Anyone could go and trade!

The method of trading was also simple and crude: seven for one!

That is, seven star cores of the same tier for one Soul-Returning Pill of the same tier.

For a fifth-tier Soul-Returning Pill, one had to use seven fifth-tier star cores to exchange.

Sixth-tier and seventh-tier Soul-Returning Pills were the same.

However, Jin Dafeng himself had at most exchanged for sixth-tier Soul-Returning Pills; he had never exchanged for seventh-tier ones.

It was mainly because seventh-tier star cores were relatively hard to come by.

The gift previously given to Grand Commander Zhong Ji was five sixth-tier Soul-Returning Pills.

According to what Jin Dafeng said in his dream, the black market for trading Soul-Returning Pills seemed to be in more than one place across the entire Eight Desolations Continent; he had heard of two other places, but he didn't know the specific locations.

But the owner of the black market was an eighth-tier powerhouse of the Golden Pillar race.

And he had once declared that no matter how many there were, he would exchange for them all.

Xu Jin calculated slightly; if it were truly a case of exchanging for as many as there were, then the cost for the Golden Pillar race to produce Soul-Returning Pills shouldn't be too high.

Seven for one was profiteering!

From this aspect, one could also explain why the cultivation of the core of the Eight Desolations alien races improved so quickly.

With a large number of Soul-Returning Pills used to improve cultivation, wouldn't the speed of cultivation improvement be like riding a rocket?

Xu Jin had to make a trip to this black market if he had the chance.

In Xu Jin's Sumeru space, there were indeed quite a few alien star cores stored, and they were all sixth-tier and seventh-tier.

As for those below the sixth tier, Xu Jin had previously cleared them all out because he felt they took up space.

But there were quite a few sixth-tier star cores.

Even if he exchanged them through normal channels, he could still exchange for quite a few.

Moreover, Xu Jin had unconventional methods!

"Have you ever seen a general named Qi Shanye?" Xu Jin continued to interrogate for his own private agenda.

"Qi Shanye? Seen him."

"Where is he, and what is the current situation of this Qi Shanye?"

"General of the Seventh Guard of the Blood Moon Army; it is said he is highly valued by the Left Protector and has a cultivation of the peak of the sixth-tier, ninth layer, and was appointed as a general. It is said that as soon as his cultivation breaks through to the seventh tier, he will be promoted to Vice Army Master of the Blood Moon Army."

Sure enough, the high-ranking officials in the army all knew each other.

Or rather, the high-ranking officials in the Blood God Sect's army were also deliberately befriending each other.

Xu Jin easily obtained news of his teacher, Qi Shanye.

It was just that this news was not optimistic.

Although Jin Dafeng only heard that it was the Left Protector who valued Qi Shanye, sometimes rumors were the truth.

If it was the Left Protector who valued his teacher Qi Shanye, then the person controlling his Divine Soul was very likely related to the Left Protector.

This difficulty had increased a bit more.

Very quickly, using the same method, Xu Jin obtained the whereabouts of his Martial Uncle Mo Ji from Jin Dafeng's mouth.

Xu Jin had originally thought that Martial Uncle Mo Ji and his teacher Qi Shanye should both be in the Blood Moon Army.

But the news obtained from Jin Dafeng was somewhat different.

Jin Dafeng had never seen Mo Ji, but he had heard of Mo Ji's name.

Mo Ji was now the number one divine archer in the Blood God Sect and was valued by the Right Protector; similarly, he was also a general of a guard, but he was the general of the Fourth Guard of the Blood Cloud Army in Blood Cloud City.

The reason Jin Dafeng had heard of him was because it was rumored that the Left and Right Protectors had once had a big fight because of Mo Ji.

It had even caused a stir.

In the end, Mo Ji was taken under the command of the Right Protector Lin Mingshi, entered the Blood Cloud Army, and was heavily cultivated.

Nowadays, his combat strength was famous throughout the entire Blood God Sect, known as a top-tier fierce general who was invincible below the eighth tier.

He was also a figure in the Blood Cloud Army whose momentum was currently strong.

In the entire Blood God Sect, only the three famous generals in the Blood God Guards and Qi Shanye in the Blood Moon Army could be mentioned in the same breath as him.

When obtaining this intelligence from Jin Dafeng's mouth, a bitter look flashed in Xu Jin's eyes.

When he had obtained various intelligence previously, he had thought that his teacher Qi Shanye and Martial Uncle Mo Ji would be relatively valued.

This was the most normal thing.

Even in the current world, those who condensed a Primordial Spirit at the fifth or sixth tier were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.

Not to mention, both Martial Uncle Mo Ji and teacher Qi Shanye were geniuses in the Spirit Record Star Palace at the time, and furthermore, they were battle-hardened; during their twenty years of fleeing, they had accumulated and developed, and their skills were killed out, with superior combat strength.

Being valued was very normal.

But what Xu Jin didn't expect was that they were directly taken a fancy to by the Left and Right Protectors of the Blood God Sect.

Xu Jin now had only one expectation: he hoped that the person controlling their Divine Souls was not the Left or Right Protectors, but their confidants!

Otherwise, the difficulty of rescuing them would be immense!

After a quick round of questioning, Xu Jin's private agenda was considered finished, and only then did Xu Jin ask about the case of Jiao Hai's mysterious disappearance.

Originally, Xu Jin hadn't held any hope.

After all, the purpose of their trip was just to frame someone.

Even if Jiao Hai's mysterious disappearance had nothing to do with Jin Dafeng, they had to make it have something to do with him.

Moreover, it was the kind that had a little bit of a connection!

Xu Jin didn't expect that under the Gentle Dream interrogation, Jin Dafeng actually confessed some intelligence that he hadn't mentioned at all before.

Jin Dafeng and Jiao Hai had a decent private friendship; the night before Jiao Hai went on his mission, he had indeed drunk with Jin Dafeng, but he hadn't told him the specific route.

But when Jiao Hai left Blood Moon City for his mission the next day, he happened to run into Jin Dafeng, who was on patrol duty.

Jin Dafeng roughly knew the specific direction of Jiao Hai's mission this time.

Jin Dafeng indeed hadn't lied; he hadn't told any Blood God Sect members.

However, he had secretly reported this issue to the Eight Desolations Envoy Ju Bo.

"Why did you report this discovery to the Eight Desolations Envoy Ju Bo?" Xu Jin asked.

Xu Jin knew about the Eight Desolations Envoy Ju Bo.

Regarding this alien race, before the welcome banquet last night, Grand Commander Zhong Ji had already reminded him.

Inside Blood Moon City, there were several existences that the Blood Owls could not afford to provoke.

The conventional ones were the top-tier high-ranking officials of the Blood God Sect, such as the Left and Right Protectors, the elders of each hall, the Army Masters of the Blood God Guards, etc.

But the only alien race mentioned was the Eight Desolations Envoy Ju Bo.

This was an envoy specially sent by the Eight Desolations Wang Ju Zhang to be stationed in Blood Moon City.

The Blood God Sect was under the command of the Eight Desolations Wang Ju Zhang, listening to orders but not attending court.

Usually, when there were orders, they were conveyed by the Eight Desolations Envoy Ju Bo.

The identity of the Eight Desolations King's envoy, and being a Golden Pillar alien race, meant even the Left and Right Protectors had to respect him.

This identity was naturally extraordinary and not something just anyone could touch.

Unexpectedly, the Blood Owls hit the mark by mistake, and Xu Jin actually found a clue.

"Because at a banquet previously, Eight Desolations Envoy Ju Bo had told me that the Great King could give me freedom and could even help me condense a Primordial Spirit and break through to the eighth tier."

Once Jin Dafeng said this, Xu Jin thought of many things in an instant.

Xu Jin seemed to see a large net of erosion covering the Blood God Sect!

(End of chapter)