The mist within the Demon Cultivation Sea was thick and damp, carrying a chilling yin aura. Not long after entering, Yun Che’s clothes were soaked through, clinging uncomfortably to his body.

  Su Wanqing, however, looked completely different. The earlier pallor had faded from her face, replaced by a rosy glow. Her skin appeared smooth as jade, soft as fresh cream. With her clothes soaked by the mist as well, the curves of her graceful figure were outlined clearly—an alluring sight.

  Yun Che glanced at her once and quickly looked away, his mind unmoved.

  To him, Su Wanqing had only one value: she could refine the Heavenly Departure Pill and many other medicinal pills. Otherwise, he would never have allowed her to accompany him.

  The Demon Cultivation Sea was an enormous basin. Yun Che descended for a long time without reaching the bottom, but he could clearly sense that the deeper he went, the heavier the yin chill became.

  Strange creatures began appearing in the mist. Some of them radiated spiritual fluctuations strong enough to make even Yun Che wary. Fortunately, with careful movement, they avoided danger along the way.

  Su Wanqing remained extremely nervous. She had heard far too many stories about the Demon Cultivation Sea. Here, there were no rules—only strength mattered.

  And female cultivators were rare.

  That meant if a woman was discovered without powerful protection, her fate would be unimaginably cruel.

  Before the upheaval in Flameburn Kingdom, countless cultivators had been stationed at the border between the kingdom and the Demon Cultivation Sea. Even Nascent Soul cultivators guarded the frontier to prevent demonic cultivators from rushing out to plunder.

  Fortunately, the most powerful factions of the Demon Cultivation Sea lived deep within its center. The border regions mostly contained small forces that posed limited threat.

  After traveling for an unknown amount of time, Yun Che suddenly stopped.

  Su Wanqing nearly collided with his back.

  His eyes turned cold as he stared into the distant mist.

  “Come out.”

  Three tall, thin shadows slowly emerged from the fog. Their faces could not be seen clearly, but they were clearly male cultivators.

  One of them sneered sharply.

  “How dare you! This area belongs to the Douxie Sect. Leave the woman behind if you value your life, otherwise—”

  Before he could finish speaking, Yun Che snorted coldly.

  “Too noisy. Die.”

  The map had clearly stated: within the Demon Cultivation Sea, there were no rules—only the strong ruled.

  Yun Che raised his right hand slightly. His Extreme Realm divine sense burst outward.

  The three cultivators were only mid–Foundation Establishment. Killing them was effortless.

  In an instant, red lightning flashed in their eyes.

  Their bodies trembled violently. Confusion filled their expressions, then their consciousness faded.

  Their divine senses shattered.

  The three men collapsed lifelessly.

  Yun Che stepped forward, collected their storage bags, then kicked their corpses into the mist without another glance.

  Behind him, Su Wanqing stared in horror.

  This was the first time she had seen Yun Che attack.

  The three men had been mid–Foundation Establishment—just like her.

  Yet they had died without resistance.

  The method was terrifying.

  Her mind immediately recalled a story her brother Li Qiqing had told her half a month ago about a massive war near the spirit vein border of Xuanwu Kingdom.

  In that battle, something extremely strange had occurred.

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  Foundation Establishment cultivators had suddenly begun dying mid-battle, falling from the sky one after another without explanation.

  At the time she had dismissed it as rumor.

  But now… seeing these three die in exactly the same mysterious way…

  She followed Yun Che nervously and asked in a trembling voice:

  “S-Senior Brother… which division were you assigned to in the Flameburn Alliance?”

  Without turning his head, Yun Che replied coldly.

  “Tenth Division.”

  The words struck her like thunder.

  Her brother had told her clearly that the Tenth Division had fought in that battle.

  At that moment she became almost certain.

  The cold young man before her was the one responsible for those mass deaths.

  Any lingering thought of resistance vanished instantly.

  Suddenly another memory flashed in her mind—an obscure cultivation technique she had once read about in Luohe Sect’s library.

  She blurted out:

  “Was that… the Death Curse Technique?”

  Yun Che paused slightly but showed no expression.

  “You know it too?”

  Su Wanqing trembled.

  The Death Curse Technique was an ancient and terrifying divine art.

  Legend said that once mastered, simply speaking the word “die” while focusing on someone would instantly kill them.

  But the cultivation method was monstrous.

  It required gathering three energies:

  Yin Energy — gathered from women’s primal essence through harvesting techniques.

  Death Energy — refined from corpse aura.

  Killing Intent — formed through immense slaughter.

  When the three merged, the practitioner would face life-and-death trials repeatedly.

  Even after surviving several cycles, the technique would only reach minor success.

  And the chance of reaching true mastery was almost zero.

  Because of its cruelty, even most demonic cultivators refused to cultivate it.

  After explaining this, Su Wanqing noticed Yun Che’s silence and became even more terrified.

  Eventually they reached the very bottom of the Demon Cultivation Sea.

  The mist was thicker here and the yin energy even stronger.

  After some thought, Yun Che found a towering underwater mountain and began carving a cave dwelling into its side.

  The rock was extremely hard, forcing him to summon over thirty flying swords controlled simultaneously by divine sense.

  Under the storm of blades, the cave slowly took shape.

  Four stone chambers were created.

  Then Yun Che began laying down defensive formations.

  Su Wanqing observed quietly.

  When she noticed the formations, surprise appeared in her eyes—followed by a brief trace of disdain.

  Yun Che noticed it immediately.

  Without turning around, he said coldly:

  “I plan to cultivate here for a long time. If someone breaks the formation, I can escape—but you will be left behind.”

  Su Wanqing stepped forward silently.

  She began placing formation flags, rearranging Yun Che’s formations, and linking them together.

  Then she took out a large blue crystal beast bone and cut it into pieces.

  Carefully calculating positions, she laid down eighteen pieces to form a Nine-Li Corpse Bone Formation.

  “This formation can stop Core Formation cultivators for at least one hour,” she explained, exhausted.

  Yun Che examined the jade slip she gave him detailing the safe passage through the formation.

  Satisfied, he allowed her inside the cave.

  Within the cave, Su Wanqing activated a concealment flag. Instantly the entire mountain appeared completely ordinary from outside.

  No one would detect the cave.

  Inside, Yun Che studied her carefully.

  She paled.

  “Senior Brother… shall I begin refining the Heavenly Departure Pill?”

  Yun Che shook his head.

  “I don’t dare eat pills you refine.”

  Her eyes reddened with tears.

  “How can I make you trust me?”

  Yun Che replied calmly:

  “I won’t force you. Simply refine enough pills to help me reach Core Formation. After that, I will send you away.”

  “But during that time, you must give me your soul blood.”

  After a moment of hesitation, she agreed and extracted a drop of soul blood from her forehead.

  Yun Che accepted it.

  Then he threw several storage bags before her.

  “Check what pills can be refined from these.”

  When Su Wanqing examined the materials, she gasped repeatedly.

  Many herbs were extremely rare—even extinct in Flameburn Kingdom.

  Her excitement replaced all earlier fear.

  “These materials can produce three hundred Yellow Spirit Pills, fifty Antidote Pills, and many other medicines,” she said enthusiastically.

  Then she lifted a small red vine.

  “This is the most valuable item—Demon Blood Vine. It is the key ingredient for the Heavenly Departure Pill.”

  Yun Che nodded indifferently.

  “Alchemy is your responsibility.”

  After a moment he added:

  “I’m leaving for a while. Three days at least, half a month at most.”

  As he turned to leave, Su Wanqing quickly spoke again.

  “Senior Brother… could you help me find a better pill furnace? The Heavenly Departure Pill requires a superior furnace to succeed.”

  Yun Che frowned but said nothing as he left the cave.

  Outside, he looked toward the distant direction of Zhao Kingdom.

  A cold killing intent filled his eyes.

  “Teng Huayuan…”

  “I’m about to reach Core Formation.”

  “The day I form my Nascent Soul will be the day I return to Zhao and drown your Teng clan in blood.”

  “You’d better stay alive… and wait for me.”

  Then he activated Earth Escape and vanished into the mist.

  His goal: spirit beast bones.

  They were needed both to strengthen the Nine-Li Corpse Bone Formation and to refine artifact furnaces.

  After searching for a long time, he suddenly sensed movement.

  A flying sword streaked past.

  A middle-aged cultivator, poisoned and barely controlling his sword, was fleeing.

  Behind him chased a strange young man—only Qi Condensation level.

  In the young man’s hand was a black beast bone.

  Each time he blew into it, threads of black smoke shot forward and burrowed into the fleeing man.

  “Run faster, Senior Brother,” the youth said cheerfully.

  “I want to see how long you can survive sixteen poisons.”

  Eventually the fleeing cultivator collapsed and died.

  The youth approached cautiously to confirm the kill.

  Then he froze.

  A figure stood in the mist ahead.

  Cold sweat ran down his back.

  He immediately bowed respectfully.

  “Junior of Douxie Sect, Sang Muya, greets Senior. How may I serve you?”

  Yun Che stepped from the fog.

  His voice was cold.

  “Hand me that beast bone.”

  Sang Muya felt a chill deep in his soul.

  Without hesitation, he threw the bone forward.