Chapter 86: 78. Tearing Face, Changwang Tiger Race (3.1K words - Beginning of the Month Request for Monthly Tickets) In the blink of an eye, two days had passed. During these two days, Song Yan enjoyed good food and drink, while also comprehending the "Blood Fusion Technique," successfully transferring it to the ’Cultivation Technique’ section of the panel. On the other hand, he had been trying to discover something through Yin Wutai, but to no avail. ... That noon, Song Yan was sitting in the side room when hurried and urgent footsteps suddenly echoed from the veranda outside. Then... With a "bang," the door was brutally shoved open from the outside. Yin Wutai appeared agitated, with bloodshot eyes cautiously fixed on Song Yan, and barked sharply: "Follow me!" Lady Yuzhuang was preparing fragrance nearby; upon seeing this, she was directly terrified. Song Yan noticed brother Yin’s urgency, and calmly asked, "Why is brother in such a hurry?" Yin Wutai said, "Follow me immediately!" Song Yan leisurely bowed, saying, "Brother, give me half an hour to pack up." "What things do you have?" "Even if I don’t need to pack, my little Yuzhuang has bought quite a few things." "Don’t bring her, follow me alone!" Seeing that Song Yan remained unmoved, Yin Wutai rushed forward, flicking his long sleeve, sending out a paper-made beauty. A threatening voice simultaneously emitted from Yin Wutai and the paper figure, "Go." Song Yan was momentarily stunned but did not resist; instead, he glanced at Lady Yuzhuang and said, "Remember what I said before." Having said this, he promptly followed Yin Wutai outside. Only then did Lady Yuzhuang realize and hurriedly put down the fragrance in her hand, rushing to the window, but no one was visible anymore. "Master..." She murmured softly. Suddenly, she tightly clutched the jade pendant against her chest. During these two days, the Master had instructed her that if separated from him due to any incident, she should use the jade pendant to find the Seventh Miss of the Su Family. ... ... On the other side, Song Yan had already followed Yin Wutai out of the Cold Pool Valley Market. After a few turns, they were in the desolate mountain paths. "Why doesn’t Brother use the Shadow Puppet Void Ship?" Song Yan suddenly asked. Just as he finished speaking, the paper figure seemed to instantly appear behind Song Yan, with sharp nails like knife tips pressing against Song Yan’s throat. Yin Wutai responded neurotically, "Stop rambling! Asking this and that, do you want to die?" Song Yan frowned and said, "Does the Master know about this?" Yin Wutai said, "This is the Master’s order." Song Yan asked, "Then why didn’t the Master tell me personally?" Yin Wutai, somewhat agitated, yet sternly replied, "Now you only need to know that the Master has entrusted you to me. From now on, you must listen to me in everything, even on what to eat and drink!" With these words, he moved his mind, controlling the paper figure to forcefully push against Song Yan’s back. But...it didn’t push. Yin Wutai was momentarily stunned. The next moment, a sudden sense of unspeakable danger arose in his heart as he saw a strip of white light burst from within the sleeve of his Junior Brother, who was only at the Seventh Layer of Refining Profound. The white light was as thick as an adult’s thigh, resembling a great serpent twisting and shooting in the air, extremely swift! Yin Wutai was slightly incredulous. This lad dares to fight back? And what kind of sword technique is this? He did not dare to be negligent, quickly moving his mind; suddenly, black-scaled profound armor enveloped his body, while another hand flicked, and a paper figure swelled with the wind into a tufted doll grasping daggers with both hands. The paper figure doll and the paper beauty simultaneously charged toward Song Yan like two avatars of Yin Wutai wielding profound artifacts, both launching an attack. Song Yan’s expression did not change as he pinched the sword technique. The white light instantly arrived before Yin Wutai. Yin Wutai operated profound qi, expanding an invisible eggshell-like shield outside the armor, which was only needed to barely resist the white light for the two paper figures to capture Song Yan. In an instant, his eyes caught sight of the flying sword hidden within the white light. The flying sword approached. The next moment, it touched the shield’s surface. The profound qi on the shield’s surface melted away like snow meeting hot soup, seemingly devoured by the white light. Yin Wutai’s pupils constricted in disbelief, revealing an "impossible" expression. Bang! The shield shattered. The flying sword continued forward, piercing into Yin Wutai’s profound armor. The latter stumbled, was struck, thrown out, landed, blood dripping from the mouth. And due to this interruption, the paper figure lost control, pausing slightly. Song Yan beckoned from afar, but a black silhouette wearing a "Hidden Suit" suddenly flashed from behind the desolate mountain woods, sending out a streak of black light. The black light instantly traveled dozens of meters, striking Yin Wutai. Bang!! Boom! The point where the black light hit triggered a violent "explosion," and the profound armor couldn’t withstand the force and directly cracked. The black light continued falling steadily, piercing into Yin Wutai’s chest, pinning him to the ground. And his chest was already an indistinct mess of flesh and blood. Yin Wutai helplessly looked up, horrified, with shock reflecting in his bloodshot eyes, seeing the figure of the usually honest and straightforward Junior Brother quickly walking toward him. The Junior Brother held sword techniques in each hand, with black and white sword lights swirling around him forming two halos; they appeared to be swords, but also exuded an indescribable strange evil aura, a domineering malevolent qi. Black light flashed, the paper beauty died! White light turned, the doll paper figure perished! Song Yan did not waste words and instantly descended, pointing decisively at Senior Brother Yin’s brow the moment his lips only barely moved, seemingly to beg for mercy or inquire. Evil qi surged, ghostly malevolence soul searching, devouring souls, reviving. Scenes of fragmented events from recent times accompanied by sounds appeared before Song Yan. He quickly searched through the key points. ... Two days ago... The Communication Stone lit up. From within came the sinister voice of Gu Huangzi. "There’s turmoil in the sect, a fox demon is attacking, make sure you keep an eye on your junior brother, don’t let him run!" ... Yesterday... The Communication Stone lit up, a cold voice came from within. "Upon returning to the peak this time, your junior brother will be placed under house arrest, he must have noticed by now. Remember, Gu Rufeng was killed by him, be careful, don’t waste words with him, don’t let him trick you, and definitely don’t let him escape!" ... Two incense stick times ago... The Communication Stone lit up again, a frustrated and ferocious voice came from within. "The Fox Mistress has gone all out, for some reason, after killing Stone Seat Elder, it left, it most likely headed towards Cold Pool Valley. We probably crossed paths with it without encountering it. Once you receive the message, immediately hide with your junior brother, then bring him back to the peak. If he doesn’t behave, break his legs, just live to bring him back." ... ... Whoosh~ Song Yan raised his finger, quickly finished off Yin Wutai, handled the situation, then took the Storage Bag without looking, and tossed it into his embrace. The Deformed Soul One-tailed Fox Demon Puppet walked to his side, delivering the spoils from this "market shopping spree" into his hands. He suddenly decided to act because the situation was too bizarre, too passive. He could patiently wait and observe, but it was impossible for him to bury his head like an ostrich in the sand, covering his ears and pretending nothing happened when the situation was clearly out of control and heading into the unknown. Song Yan’s thoughts raced, quickly arranging numerous crucial pieces of information. ’First of all, the Fox Mistress suddenly killed Stone Seat Elder and headed towards Cold Pool Valley, does this mean it’s been secretly searching? The essence blood I took is actually very important to it?’ For quite some time, Song Yan hadn’t seen any reaction from the Fox Mistress and assumed the essence blood he took from that "small treasure trove" was nothing special. Now, a sudden realization caused his heart to tremble, spreading a chilling fear. ’Where has the Fox Mistress gone? Yin Wutai hurriedly brought me away, Gu Huangzi notified urgently, does this mean the Fox Mistress is already nearby?’ ’If I leave alone and encounter the Fox Mistress, it’s over. Should I return to Cold Pool Valley? After all... there are many people in Cold Pool Valley.’ Song Yan took a deep breath and looked towards the distant mountain path. The mountain path was thick with shadows from the trees under the early spring sunlight, and a strong wind gusted intermittently, sweeping strongly and weakly as if the whole mountain had gone mad, tossing its hair frantically and screaming wildly. He calmed his mind and then thought: ’From another perspective, now that Gu Huangzi the old demon has returned to the sect, it means that even though he perceives my anomaly through the ’Cold Prison Floating Life Bracelet,’ he cannot reach me. Since I have unknown demon beast blood, the Crimson Palace level technique ’Blood Fusion Technique,’ although missing the Crimson Palace Pill, I can rely on lifespan to infinitely simulate attempts. In other words, although now dangerous, it’s also a great opportunity for my breakthrough. Cold Pool Valley is one of the few places with Profound Qi in the Three Kingdoms outside of the sect. Breaking through here will not be like in the mortal world where the lack of Profound Qi forced a breakthrough, wasting considerable lifespan.’ Song Yan’s thoughts fluctuated, he quickly collected the "Deformed Fox Demon Shadow Puppet" into the Storage Ring, then put on the "Anonymous Suit," and returned to Cold Pool Valley. He did not seek out Yuzhuang nor Su Yao again, but instead chose a tavern run by Jianghu people for quick lodging. Releasing his Divine Sense, sensing that he was surrounded by Jianghu people, he felt a bit safe, immediately closed the door, and swiftly took out the "Traceless Array." Array flags in the corners, instead of the bed or any prominent place, set up an area just big enough for him to fit. Even if someone else checks into this room again, as long as they don’t walk to the sides, they won’t discover him. Subsequently, Song Yan placed a piece of the Great Profound Jade in the array as the "Energy Source," then glanced at the panel: [Name: Song Yan] [Lifespan: 28/7522] [Realm: Ninth Layer of Refining Profound] He immediately focused on the [Cultivation Technique]. A line of information emerged: [Choose lifespan to invest] ... ’With unknown blood, fragments of "Blood Fusion Technique" as a foundation, aiming at breakthrough realm, commencing cultivation...’ ... ... [You drink unknown blood, a lethal poison erupts, you died...] [You died...] [You died again...] Almost as soon as Song Yan began cultivation, lines of information emerged one after another. In a blink, he had died dozens of times. However, because the death time was extremely fast, each time only consumed a minimal lifespan. Finally, after he died over a hundred times, a slightly different piece of information popped up. [You successfully absorbed a trace of "Changwang Tiger Race" blood, but only a trace, you died...] ’Changwang Tiger Race?’ When this unfamiliar name entered Song Yan’s mind, he paused slightly. Upon recalling, it was indeed the first time he heard this name. ’Don’t know if it’s good or bad.’ Song Yan felt a bit uneasy inside. Crimson Palace "Foundation Establishment Blood" is extremely important, if he could choose a good one, who would want to choose a bad one? However, he clenched his teeth shortly. With an arrow on the bow, one must shoot, his Foundation Establishment Blood could only be this unknown "Changwang Tiger Race" blood. He heard stories about Changwang ghosts. It’s a different type of "puppet"... Thinking of this, Song Yan couldn’t help but laugh self-mockingly. He really does have a fate with puppets... ... ... Postscript: Fellow readers, at the beginning of the month, please give some monthly tickets, thank you!