On this day.

Cold Mountain Market, Drinking Cloud Pavilion.

Song Yan received a qiankun bag from Sheng Nian.

"Everything is inside."

Inside the qiankun bag were a scroll of notes and a human head.

He nodded, and Song Yan put it away: "You don’t need me to prepare things on your side, do you?"

Sheng Nian shook his head: "No need."

"Lyu Qin is extremely arrogant and overly clever. I will naturally make arrangements."

"Good. After today, to ensure we are not detected by anyone with ulterior motives, we will temporarily stop contacting each other."

Just as he was about to get up and leave, Sheng Nian suddenly called out to him: "At that time, will there be anyone else with Cheng Yu?" 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

Song Yan was concise: "There will definitely be no Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator."

Sheng Nian nodded: "Then... can the others be killed?"

In fact, this was the question he most wanted to ask.

If there were friends of Old Song among the Cultivators on the mission with this hanging man, it would be bad if they were accidentally injured.

"They are all a bunch of flies and bugs, do as you please."

The Cultivators who could be in a group with Cheng Yu and go on patrol missions were all birds of a feather, sharing the same vile tastes as him.

In his opinion, these people were completely the termite worms of the Chu Kingdom’s Cultivation World.

Song Yan didn’t care at all whether these people lived or died.

"However, with the six sects’ strict patrols, try to save as much time as possible."

"I’m afraid a Foundation Establishment Realm Cultivator will notice."

Sheng Nian nodded.

"Cheng Yu must be killed. Whether the others accompany him is your choice as a Demonic Cultivator."

"..."

Not long after, Song Yan left the Cold Mountain Market and returned to Changping Prefecture City.

The person Gou Sheng wanted to kill was named Lyu Qin.

According to him, this person was his Senior Brother, at the Level 9 Qi Refining Realm.

Song Yan did not intend to act himself; he still needed to create a safe assassination environment for Gou Sheng as much as possible.

He slightly circulated the Hidden Sword Gathering Spirit Stance, making his aura seem unstable.

It was clearly the state of someone who had just experienced a major battle.

He stepped out and walked to the outside of Lianheng Tower.

"Disciple Song Yan, I have an urgent report."

He handed over the scroll of notes.

The guard outside responded, sent a message inside, and soon reappeared, leading Song Yan in.

The Elders handling the matter were not old-timers like Yu Tian or Shen Yu; they all looked quite young.

However, they were Elders from other sects, and Song Yan didn’t know them well, only having seen them from afar.

One of the female Elders saw his solemn expression and naturally assumed that this young Cultivator was overly nervous in front of the Elders.

She raised her hand, her tone gentle: "No need for formalities, just speak directly."

"Thank you, Elder."

Song Yan took out a gruesome human head from his qiankun bag.

"Today, during my day off, as I was returning to the Prefecture City from the Cold Mountain Market, I passed by Wacun. I remembered that a colleague from the Cave Abyss Sect was patrolling Wacun today, so I wanted to go and catch up."

"Unexpectedly, on the way, I encountered a furtive Demonic Cultivator at the Qi Refining Stage Seventh Level, who seemed to be waiting for someone."

"Perhaps mistaking me for the person he was waiting for, that Demonic Cultivator took the initiative to appear. He then realized his mistake and attacked me, intending to silence me."

"After a fierce battle, I fortunately managed to kill him."

"Afterward, in his qiankun bag, I found that scroll of notes."

On the notes was content forged by Sheng Nian.

The general meaning was that on the twenty-ninth, Lyu Qin, a Core Disciple of the Seed Demon Path, would secretly meet with Cultivators from the Yellow Springs Path somewhere in Cheng Family Village.

The notes were in the hands of the Elder in the middle.

The three Elders had naturally all read them, and their authenticity should be beyond doubt.

Of course, it was authentic; this item was genuinely written by a Demonic Cultivator.

"Should I say your luck is good or bad, to encounter so many Demonic Cultivators..."

Song Yan then remembered that when he handed over the corpses of the Five Han Mountain Demons, this speaking Elder was also present.

However, from this aspect alone, it couldn’t be considered suspicious.

Because previously, due to increased patrol efforts, many patrol teams had indeed encountered Demonic Cultivators. Although not many, at least he wasn’t the only one.

"During my day off, Disciple likes to run around aimlessly..."

That Elder frowned: "In the future, it’s better to Cultivate peacefully in the city. Alone, it’s hard to guarantee such good luck next time."

"Don’t lose your life for some Merits."

Song Yan was stunned; these words, when heard, seemed to express concern for his safety.

"Thank you, Elder, for your guidance."

The Elder in the middle took a deep breath and asked: "You two, what do you think?"

"Lyu Qin..."

That female Elder’s surname was Fu, and she was precisely Elder Cong Yuzhen’s master, whom Granny Qin had mentioned.

She pondered for a moment and said: "Hermit Xin Shan’s Senior Disciple? If the information is accurate and the intelligence is true, he could be considered a big fish."

"Cheng Family Village is adjacent to the Corpse Bone Abyss. Demonic Cultivators choosing to meet there likely intend to stir up trouble by leveraging the power of demonic Cultivators."

The Elder in the middle nodded: "Precisely."

"Some of the Demonic Cultivator movements mentioned in this letter are consistent with what we have, so its credibility is extremely high."

He turned to Song Yan: "When you fought with that Demonic Cultivator, did you notice any other anomalies?"

Song Yan shook his head: "The methods the opponent used had nothing special about them."

"A few months ago, this Disciple had a skirmish with a Demonic Cultivator from the Seed Demon Path. When I encountered this person today, although there was a Demonic Technique of the Seed Demon Path in his qiankun bag, he did not use similar methods."

The three Elders exchanged glances, and a possibility simultaneously emerged in their minds.

"This person was probably just a Demonic Loose Cultivator from Changping before, who, by chance, got involved with the Seed Demon Path."

"Wanting to join the Seed Demon Path’s lineage... that’s how all these subsequent events came about."

Song Yan looked enlightened.

At this point, everything gradually took shape and became rationalized within the three Elders’ deductions and conjectures.

"Alright."

"We will make other arrangements for this matter... You can report the Merits for killing the Demonic Cultivator to the archives yourself."

"In addition, there will be extra rewards for the intelligence related to this matter, but it still needs to be discussed with the other Elders."

"You may go back first."

"Yes, Elder."

Song Yan bowed out and left Lianheng Tower.

He went to the archives to register his Merits, having prepared everything that could be done.

He looked up at the dim sun over Changping Prefecture City, his heart calm.

Just waiting for that day to arrive... As he pondered, he didn’t notice a familiar figure walking past him.

Shen Huai slightly turned her head, looking at that retreating figure, deep in thought.

However, she didn’t linger long, but instead walked towards the archives.

Song Yan’s Divine Sense stirred, seemingly detecting something. He looked around but found nothing unusual... "What was that person’s name just now?"

As soon as Shen Huai entered the archives, she heard several Disciples discussing something.

A few days ago, she had patrolled with Dai Rui, captured and killed a Demonic Cultivator at the Middle Stage of Qi Refining, and was now here to register it on her way.

"Song Yan, an Inner Sect Disciple of the Cave Abyss Sect. The last time he came to register, I handled it too."

That Disciple said: "This person has already accumulated nearly a hundred Merits just from killing Demonic Cultivators..."

"So impressive."

Shen Huai slightly frowned, quietly listening to the Disciples’ discussion.

According to her brief examination during their encounter, she didn’t detect any murderous aura on Song Yan.

"..."