Still, to have preserved the family for a thousand years after death, Venerable Master Shentu could be considered a remarkable figure.

Wei Tu thought again and had to admit that Venerable Master Shentu’s arrangements before death had been masterful.

Once a man dies, all turns to dust.

The Xia family lasting for a thousand years owed much to Venerable Master Shentu’s efforts before his passing.

With the reason behind the high aptitude of the Qiu siblings clarified, Wei Tu began considering how best to arrange their future.

It didn’t take long for him to settle on a plan.

Young men and women with talent like the Qiu siblings were rare even in Zheng Kingdom—every major power would fight to recruit them.

Bringing them to Zheng Kingdom meant he didn’t need to worry about their future placements.

“Old Master Qiu, Zheng Kingdom is also facing invasion by the demon path. Though I can take your two grandchildren there… the order in Zheng Kingdom might soon be even worse than here in Jing Kingdom,”

Wei Tu said, putting the ugly truth out in the open.

His meaning was clear—he could only protect the siblings for a time, not for life.

“I understand.” Old Master Qiu nodded calmly and replied with resolve,

“If I were content to remain here, I wouldn’t have named my grandson Buchen. To die fighting demons in another land is better than waiting helplessly to be slaughtered here in Changshan Commandery.”

“Since you are willing to honor your agreement with my ancestors to care for our descendants, I am already endlessly grateful. I dare not ask for anything more,” Old Master Qiu added.

“We will not hold it against you, whether we live or die on the way to Zheng Kingdom,” Qiu Huaisu looked at Wei Tu, summoning her courage to speak.

Qiu Buchen, standing beside her, nodded in agreement.

“What a fine family spirit,” Wei Tu praised silently.

Hearing their words, his dissatisfaction with Old Master Qiu’s earlier request eased.

“Pack your things. We’ll leave Jing Kingdom in a few days,” Wei Tu instructed.

Clearly, he had agreed to bring the siblings to Zheng Kingdom.

“Thank you, Immortal Wei.”

The Qiu family, moved to tears, quickly bowed and expressed their gratitude.

Leaving for Zheng Kingdom didn’t just mean the siblings had a new future,

it also meant the Qiu family could reclaim the honor of being a cultivation family.

…

A few days later.

After finishing the arrangements concerning Qian Hong, Wei Tu returned to the Qiu family and took the siblings away.

What surprised him slightly, though it made sense, was that from beginning to end, Old Master Qiu and the other elders had only asked him to take the siblings.

They never once mentioned their own futures.

“Ready to go?”

Standing on the Huangyan Boat, Wei Tu glanced at the two siblings standing on deck, gazing back at the direction of the Qiu family home.

His voice was gentle.

Leaving one’s homeland was never easy.

After leaving Changshan Commandery and Jing Kingdom, this might very well be the siblings’ final glimpse of their family and home.

So, before setting off, Wei Tu had given them plenty of time to say their farewells.

Qiu Huaisu, holding her younger brother Buchen, looked at Wei Tu with gratitude in her eyes and nodded softly, letting out a quiet “Mm.”

As the elder sibling, Qiu Huaisu was more decisive than Buchen.

With nothing more to say, Wei Tu flicked his sleeve, and the Huangyan Boat beneath his feet turned into a pale yellow streak of light, disappearing into the sky.

With his third-stage body cultivation and demonic techniques concealing their presence, their journey was smooth, with no demon cultivators blocking their way.

“Immortal Wei, we seem to be heading southwest. Isn’t that the wrong direction for Zheng Kingdom?”

On the way, Qiu Huaisu asked, noticing the boat’s direction.

She sounded a little confused.

Over the past few days, she had interacted with Wei Tu enough to realize that he was nothing like those arrogant and domineering demon cultivators.

So she spoke more naturally, with less of the fear she had shown back in Changshan Commandery, revealing a bit of youthful curiosity and innocence.

“We’re heading to the Southern Desolate Wastes first. Once I finish my business there, we’ll go to Zheng Kingdom,”

Wei Tu replied, opening his eyes from his meditative state at the front of the boat.

His main goal in coming to Jing Kingdom had been to acquire a high-level soul-searching technique to use on Bai Zhi.

With that goal accomplished, it was time to return to the Southern Desolate Wastes to locate Bai Zhi’s sealed Golden Core and complete the soul search.

Compared to soul-searching Bai Zhi, escorting the siblings to Zheng Kingdom was a secondary matter.

After saying this, Wei Tu closed his eyes again, using the Hundred Fiends Yin Qi given by Liu Moqun to start formally cultivating the Tomb Shadow and Venomous Vessel Secret Art.

With the siblings in tow, his return to the Southern Desolate Wastes was undoubtedly slower.

It took him two months to circle around the dangerous border regions of Jing Kingdom before finally flying into the Southern Desolate Wastes aboard the Huangyan Boat.

“Seems I was overthinking it. Without a body, Bai Zhi has no way to contact the Heavenly Maiden Sect.”

A few days later, Wei Tu used the soul mark he had left on the ape beast to locate Bai Zhi’s sealed Golden Core inside its body.

“No harm in being extra careful. If Bai Zhi has some secret method to contact the Heavenly Maiden Sect, keeping her Golden Core nearby would be too risky.”

Wei Tu lifted the restriction on the pill bottle and took out Bai Zhi’s Golden Core.

Nearly half a year had passed, and the divine soul hidden inside the rounded Golden Core was still the same as when Wei Tu had left. It had only grown much weaker.

“Fellow Daoist Wei, if you agree to sign a soul oath promising to spare my life, I can tell you all the secrets I know.”

Seeing the light again, Bai Zhi’s divine soul showed no reaction. She glanced at Wei Tu and spoke calmly.

She didn’t believe that in just half a year, Wei Tu could have obtained a high-grade soul-searching technique capable of prying into her mind.

High-grade soul-searching techniques were usually controlled by major sects or wielded by powerful experts.

They weren’t something a rogue cultivator like Wei Tu could acquire so easily.

What Bai Zhi didn’t know was that when Wei Tu traveled to Jing Kingdom, he happened to encounter a high-tier auction hosted by the Yunyan Merchant Guild,

an event that had drawn many Golden Core demon cultivators.

That rare soul-searching technique had, as a result, become easy to obtain.

—For most cultivators, a high-tier auction was nothing less than a golden opportunity.

“Tomb Shadow and Venomous Vessel Secret Art!”

Wei Tu didn’t bother responding further. He sneered, placed one hand over Bai Zhi’s Golden Core, and condensed his divine sense into dozens of scorpion-shaped Yin parasites, sending them toward Bai Zhi’s divine soul.

“A ghost path secret art? No! Impossible! Where did you get a high-grade soul-searching technique? It’s only been half a year!”

Seeing the Yin parasites surrounding her, Bai Zhi’s divine soul filled with terror and disbelief.

She quickly formed hand seals, trying to resist Wei Tu’s divine sense invasion.

“Transform into a vessel!” Wei Tu uttered coldly.

In an instant, the dense swarm of Yin parasites around Bai Zhi’s divine soul transformed into a paper boat with a ghostly lantern,

slamming into her divine soul.

Bai Zhi’s divine soul flickered violently, nearly shattered by the impact.

Normally, after only two months of practice, Wei Tu wouldn’t have been able to fully perform this “Yin Parasite Vessel” soul art.

However, Venerable Master Shentu’s “Ghost Infant” had left him a rich inheritance.

After the Ghost Infant was killed by the Golden Purple Destiny, part of its divine soul was devoured by Wei Tu, while the rest had turned into pure “Ghost Path Primordial Soul” and remained in his sea of consciousness.

These ghost essences had rapidly been absorbed by Wei Tu’s divine soul while cultivating the Tomb Shadow and Venomous Vessel Secret Art, allowing him to manifest these potent Yin parasites.

In other words, with Venerable Master Shentu’s final gift, Wei Tu’s talent for ghost path cultivation was on par with that of natural-born ghost cultivators.

Of course, once the ghost essence was exhausted, his cultivation speed would return to normal.

Soul-searching Bai Zhi was different from soul-searching Qian Hong.

Not only did it take longer, but the information he could extract was also limited.

He could only try his best to search for Bai Zhi’s memories regarding the Heaven-Mending Bowl.

—Soul-searching was similar to possession, except the cultivator’s divine soul didn’t fully enter the target’s sea of consciousness, so there was no risk of being devoured and dying.

But even so, a single misstep could lead to the cultivator’s soul being counterattacked and wounded.

So even with a high-grade soul-searching technique, Wei Tu had to proceed with extreme caution when soul-searching someone of equal rank.

Soul injuries were hard to heal.

At worst, they could cripple future potential.

At worst, they could lead to incurable damage or even an early death.

One hour.

Two hours.

…

Half a day passed in a flash.

Wei Tu still hadn’t succeeded.

His excessive use of divine sense caused fine beads of cold sweat to form on his forehead, and his face had grown pale.

He hadn’t expected Bai Zhi to have hidden her memories of the Heaven-Mending Bowl so deeply within her soul.

“Just a little more…” Wei Tu gritted his teeth and pushed on, drawing more ghost essence from his sea of consciousness to replenish his depleted divine sense.

Another half-hour passed.

“Found it!” Wei Tu’s eyes lit up with joy as he withdrew his invading divine sense from Bai Zhi’s soul.

In the next moment, the paper boat with the ghostly lantern inside Bai Zhi’s soul shattered into countless Yin parasites, which withdrew from her soul and returned to Wei Tu’s body.

“The Heaven-Mending Bowl…

a spiritual treasure above even magic treasures…

one of the three great treasures of the Nanhua Sect…

a treasure for the Divine Transformation stage…”

Information began to flow from Bai Zhi’s memories.

“I never expected this item to have such an incredible function—tempering spiritual items to raise their grade.”

Wei Tu was astonished after reviewing the memories.

The Heaven-Mending Bowl had only one purpose—to temper spiritual items and enhance their rank.

For example, an upper-grade first-tier spiritual item could be refined into a lower, middle, or upper-grade second-tier item, greatly increasing its value.

This tempering ability was referred to in Bai Zhi’s memory as the Heaven-Mending Bowl’s “Heaven-Mending” divine ability.

—The key feature that distinguished a spiritual treasure from a mere magic treasure was that it possessed unique divine abilities.

Wei Tu had already suspected that the Heaven-Mending Bowl was a spiritual treasure back in the Cloud Ze Secret Realm, but he hadn’t imagined its ability would be this powerful.