"I have only one condition!

You can kill the man, but you must leave his soul behind!"

"No! He must die! He must die!

He must have drawn something out, otherwise the Magic Stele would never have been damaged! You old fossil, you can't stop me!"

"Quick, help me find some flesh and blood! I need flesh and blood! I need to repair the Magic Stele, and then I'll kill him! I'm going to refine that bastard's soul into a Forbidden Artifact!"

"He is an Innate Flesh Mushroom! He has not yet faced his tribulation, nor has he seen the Xian Origin. He cannot be made into a Forbidden Artifact!"

"I don't care! If I don't kill him, don't expect me to refine any more Forbidden Artifacts for you! And you can forget about seeing the subsequent Cultivation Techniques!"

...

"Fine," Elder Life Crane suddenly said with a cold laugh.

"In that case, I'm not going anywhere. And you can forget about me finding you any flesh and blood. You can just go die!

Without you, I'll still be a Zombie God anyway! Heh heh!"

...

"You old bastard, I'll #$%&* you..."

A string of continuous, frenzied curses immediately echoed through the cave, each one fouler than the last. They even cursed the eighteen generations of Elder Life Crane's ancestors, whose very existence was questionable.

Only after a very long time did the cursing gradually subside, and Elder Life Crane's figure soon vanished from the cave.

...

「At the same time.」

A hundred miles from the Jade Flesh Sect in Zichuan State, a figure descended rapidly from the sky, his feet touching the ground in complete silence, not making the slightest sound.

Yang An quickly scanned his surroundings. Within a radius of several thousand meters, he could only sense the auras of a few Demon Fiends, but even if all of them were to attack, they would be no cause for concern.

Next, he planned to find a quiet place and accumulate as much Celestial Gnomon Light and Nine Forces Shocking Dragon as possible before the new Mountain Gate of the Life Crane Sect was rebuilt.

He currently had no leads on a new Dao of Destiny Technique and no time to search for one. These were the only two things that could increase his combat power in a short amount of time.

Furthermore, he had yet to reach their upper limits.

Perhaps when the quantitative change led to a qualitative one, there might be an even more unexpected reward in store for him.

Soon, Yang An's figure blurred into a black shadow and quickly vanished. He had sensed a suitable location.

...

「In the blink of an eye, more than ten days passed.」

On this day, Yang An returned to the site of the new Life Crane Sect's Mountain Gate, which was the former location of the Jade Flesh Sect.

Amidst the mountains, a new platform had been built, a flat-topped structure re-filled and accumulated with massive amounts of earth and stone.

Upon this platform stood a dense collection of newly built pavilions and residences, adorned with many flowers, plants, and trees. The overall style leaned toward that of a garden, but the structure itself seemed somewhat familiar.

This appeared to be the former style of the Life Crane Sect, which was now being carried on.

The old guy had only given the task of rebuilding the Life Crane Sect, so Wen Yin and Zhou Quan naturally built it according to the sect's original appearance. Aside from a few unfamiliar new buildings, there was little overall difference.

The construction speed of the artisans, however, greatly surprised Yang An. To achieve such speed and completeness in this era, and in just over ten days, he couldn't imagine how many people they had hired.

But then again, it was an order from the old guy: it had to be completed within ten days.

And secondly, as long as the pay was good, there was certainly no shortage of labor in this era and under these conditions. There were always plenty of people desperate to live a better life.

Even if it meant building houses for Demon Fiends, as long as the price was right, there would be plenty of people willing to take the risk.

As Yang An entered the new Life Crane Sect, Wen Yin's figure quickly appeared to greet him.

"Hasn't the old guy come back?"

Yang An frowned. He couldn't sense the Qi Seal he had left on the old guy.

...

Hearing Yang An's question, Wen Yin didn't know how to answer for a moment, hesitating to speak.

'Well, well! So you're not even trying to hide it anymore, are you?'

"Master has not yet returned."

Wen Yin replied, then immediately added, "However, a few new disciples have arrived, drawn by the news. Word has already spread that the Jade Flesh Sect has been destroyed and our Life Crane Sect established."

Yang An nodded but didn't say anything.

Before his confrontation with the old guy, he might have listened to him and properly tested these new disciples.

But now, he couldn't be bothered. He would rather use the time for his own cultivation.

For the past ten-plus days, he had been urgently accumulating Celestial Gnomon Light and Nine Forces Shocking Dragon. As he grew more proficient, his speed had become even faster than before.

But even so, the time was too short. He hadn't reached the upper limits of either and still needed more time.

Furthermore, after more than ten days, the charging of the Unidentified Arrow was still far from complete; it would still take some time to reach Perfection.

The reason he had chosen to return to the rebuilt Life Crane Sect now was so he could monitor the old guy's movements at all times. Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered coming back.

"Are all the residences finished?"

Yang An asked.

Wen Yin immediately nodded. "All the residences have been completed. Senior Brother can pick any residence he likes."

"Good. I'll be going, then. I'm going into seclusion for the time being, so I'll have to entrust the matter of testing the new disciples to you, Junior Sister."

Yang An decisively dumped the task from the old guy onto Wen Yin, saving his own time to increase his strength. In any case, Wen Yin could handle such matters just as well; it made no difference.

Without waiting for Wen Yin's response, Yang An walked toward the newly built Life Crane Sect to find a suitable residence for himself.

However, just as Yang An had started to walk away, several unfamiliar figures suddenly ran out from inside.