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The first was a spirit note worth 500 spirit stones. The second was a jade box used for liquidizing medicinal pills. Inside of it was a violet pill that was in the process of liquidizing. The third was a stack of three jade slips, which were the Golden Vajra Warrior Sect’s techniques, plus the spirit automaton technique.

The fake bag of holding only contained random items worth about a hundred spirit stones in total.

Seemingly worried that Xu Qing wasn’t pleased, the patriarch quickly whispered, “That second highness was simply too ruthless. That’s why I don’t have much left.”

“The bag of holding you left out in your previous sect headquarters was also a fake?” Xu Qing asked slowly.

“Yeah....” the patriarch replied, trembling.

Xu Qing didn’t respond. Sprinkling Corpse-Ravaging Powder on all the corpses, he headed into the ruined sect headquarters, where he found the secret treasure storehouse the patriarch had mentioned. The only thing inside was the formation crossbow. As the patriarch had said, it was specifically designed to be used on a dharmaboat, and even required a dharmaboat spell formation to work. After looking it over, Xu Qing took it.

He cleaned out the rest of the sect, but there wasn’t much to take. The dead disciples didn’t have anything valuable, and the sect lord and the elders only had a bit more than that.

“You were right to kill them, milord. These traitors were secretly planning to rebel against me next time I went into seclusion. I was actually planning to take care of them myself.”

Xu Qing didn’t care if what the patriarch said was true or not. After searching the sect thoroughly, he disappeared into the snow and wind.

As the dark sky filled with more and more snow, it slowly covered the Crimson Wilds until they were white instead of red.

The wind grew more bone-chilling, carrying snow everywhere to cover everything.

This was true winter. A lot of people would die.

Xu Qing kept his clothes wrapped tight around him as he sped through the wilderness. He didn’t go back to the scavenger basecamp. Instead, he headed through the night to the city on the edge of the Crimson Wilds.

“I need to get back to Seven Blood Eyes as quickly as possible,” he murmured. “I can’t stay out here.” As he sped along, he glanced down at the iron skewer in his sack.

He still hadn’t decided whether to destroy the spirit automaton that was Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior. However, he decided that since he had the patriarch, he might as well ask some questions.

“Tell me about the Church of Departure.”

Sensing that he wasn’t completely safe, the patriarch nervously went into every detail he could think of. “In the continent of South Phoenix, the Church of Departure is one of the big powers that stands alongside Seven Blood Eyes, the Violet Lands, and Words of Truth. It also has its foundation in Revered Ancient. The South Phoenix branch is considered a subsidiary congregation.”

“What do you mean ‘its foundation is in Revered Ancient?’” Xu Qing asked, looking at the patriarch. Although Xu Qing knew something about the power structure in the continent of South Phoenix, it was obvious that as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, the patriarch would know more.

Sensing the doubt in Xu Qing’s voice, the patriarch, hoping to prove his value, began a rapid-fire explanation. “Milord, of the four major powers in South Phoenix, the Violet Lands is the only truly native force. The other three have foundations away from South Phoenix.

“Your sect, milord, is a perfect example. The seven mountain peaks of Seven Blood Eyes seem like they’re all united. But the truth is that each mountain peak is self-governing. It just so happens that they all follow the same rules. And after all the years that have passed, they’ve gradually become like one united force.

“Even still, the seven peaks are actually branches of the Seven Sect Coalition, which is made up of seven of the largest human sects on the Revered Ancient mainland! Branches like that actually exist on all the islands in the Endless Sea on which humans live. It just so happens that South Phoenix is one of the largest islands on the sea, so the branches here are particularly formidable.

“As for Words of Truth, well, they’re very secretive, and I don’t know much about them.”

It was Xu Qing’s first time hearing anything like this. “Tell me more about the Seven Sect Coalition.”

“The Revered Ancient mainland is massive, and humans occupy only a small area. That said, the area they occupy could still be considered huge. Of course, I’ve never been there, so I don’t know all of the details. But I’ve heard that the Seven Sect Coalition is a superpower that exists near the coast. I get the feeling... that if you consider all humans as a whole, the Seven Sect Coalition probably isn’t the strongest group out there.

“Of course, everything is relative. To your humble servant, even one of Seven Blood Eyes’ mountain peaks is a colossal monster of an organization....”

Xu Qing was shocked to hear all of this, and as he looked out at heaven and earth, he realized that he only knew a little bit about the world around him.

“However,” the patriarch continued, “I do know about the Church of Departure. They have countless adherents all over the world, and they’re very powerful. It’s all because of their teachings....

“The Church of Departure’s teachings stretch far beyond the brutal world we live in. They fanatically believe that in ancient times, when the broken face of the god arrived, the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns departed to establish a holy land. And they firmly trust that, one day in the future, those Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns will take them there.

“One of the reasons the Church of Departure has so many congregations is that their holy writings say that there were a total of nine Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns who created that holy land.

“Because of that, the Church of Departure has nine factions, each of which adheres to a different one of the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns. None of those factions get along, and they all believe that they worship the greatest of the nine, and that only the one they worship will lead them to the holy land.

“Of course, the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns weren’t all human. Some were nonhuman. And that’s why you’ll find adherents of the Church of Departure among all types of living beings.”

Hearing all this, Xu Qing felt deeply shaken. However, as he digested the information, he asked, “What are these Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns?”

The patriarch looked a bit stunned. The truth was that he didn’t even know the answer to the question. However, not wanting to look ignorant while Xu Qing was still deciding his fate, he thought for a moment and then said, “The realm of the Ancient Emperors and Imperial Sovereigns is beyond my ability to fathom. But one of the ancient records I read said... that Ancient Emperors were the beings who united the Revered Ancient mainland and conquered all living beings. And the Imperial Sovereigns were beings who did not unite the Revered Ancient mainland, but had the power to defy heaven and were strong enough to do battle with the Ancient Emperors.”

Xu Qing seemed fascinated by all this, but didn’t say anything.

Seeing that look on his face, the patriarch secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Truth be told, he had no idea if that description was accurate. After all, the ancient records that he read were mostly considered folk tales....

With that, he shifted the conversation topic back to the Church of Departure.

“The most supreme entity in the Church of Departure is the mysterious Arbiter of Destiny, who is supposedly not even a cultivator from this world, but rather, comes from the holy land itself.

“The leaders of the nine factions are called the apostles.

“The congregations here on South Phoenix are all branches of the Dark Serenity faction. The Dark Serenity faction headquarters is on Revered Ancient, and they worship the human Ancient Emperor, who is none other than Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity!

“According to the ancient records, before the broken face of the god arrived, there was once an epoch among the many other epochs which was called the Epoch of Dark Serenity. That epoch was founded by Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity, and it was during that time that he led humans to unite the Revered Ancient.”

Hearing all of this left Xu Qing feeling more than a little bit shaken. However, he sped on through the night. By the time the light of dawn appeared, his destination was in sight. It was the chaotic city that was the location of the only teleportation portal in the Crimson Wilds. By now, Xu Qing had come to a decision about what to do with Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior.

“What kind of pill is in that jade box?” he asked.

Looking at the city in the distance, the patriarch quickly replied, “Ah. That’s a spirit whale pill, and there’s a very special way to use it. You can’t consume it right now. It needs to liquidize in that jade box for a hundred days. At this point, there are three days left.”

“I like quiet,” Xu Qing suddenly said.

The patriarch shivered and was about to say something, but then he felt great pressure weighing down on his life essence spirit. It covered the iron skewer, inflicting serious damage on his spirit automaton self, and then ultimately sealed him.

Xu Qing still didn’t feel at ease having the patriarch simply sealed, so he added a bit more pressure. Under all of that weight, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior grew weaker, and then slipped into a deep sleep.

Xu Qing had decided not to kill him. A spirit automaton was too valuable, so he would keep him around and use him to perfect his iron skewer. However, without any reliable methods to control the spirit automaton, Xu Qing planned to wait until he was in Foundation Establishment before waking him up. And he was ready to wipe him out of existence immediately if he caused any problems.

Having accomplished that, Xu Qing took a deep breath and made his way through the morning snow and away from the city.

The truth was that, earlier in the night, he had muttered about returning to Seven Blood Eyes so that Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior would hear him. Although the spirit automaton seemed to be telling the truth about everything, Xu Qing wouldn’t trust him that easily.

His question about the medicinal pill had also been a test. If the patriarch lied about the pill, then he would exterminate him instantly. As for mentioning Seven Blood Eyes, he’d done that in case the patriarch had some way to secretly pass a message to someone else. After all, he didn’t actually plan to go back to Seven Blood Eyes.

As he sped through the wind and snow, he used all of his flight talismans to move as quickly as possible.

Eventually, when night was about to fall again, he found a remote cave to hole up in. After sprinkling poison powder all around the entrance, he sealed himself inside, sat down cross-legged, and took out the jade box with the medicinal pill.

Your life or death depends on whether you told the truth about this pill!

Putting the box down, he stepped back a bit, then waved his finger. The lid of the jade box slowly opened, and a medicinal aroma wafted out.