"Kun Tu was murdered! Is it true?" impatient from waiting, Elder Mengshan stepped forward and asked eagerly.

He had just received a message from the Great Cave Master that Kun Tu had suddenly fallen. He valued this disciple greatly, and was even more worried about the whereabouts of the Yin Ghost Flag, so he hurried over to inquire about the situation.

Hearing this, Elder Saren also showed a look of surprise.

"Just now, that Wulu was an eyewitness, who only escaped by luck. The others killed alongside him were Hu Huo and Liu Su," said the Great Cave Master, nodding.

"Hu Huo is dead as well?" furrowed his brow, Elder Saren.

Hu Huo was a deacon in the Beast Slave Hall that he supervised. Though of average ability, he had been competent in managing the Fur Beast Slaves over the years.

"Half a day ago, Kun Tu, Hu Huo, and a Registered Disciple named Liu Su fell simultaneously outside a village about two hundred li northwest of Biluo Cave," the Great Cave Master said slowly.

"A village northwest of our Sect by two hundred li... Could it be Miao Hua Village?" Elder Saren inquired.

"Oh, you know of that place?" the Great Cave Master seemed surprised.

"Yes, I have come here precisely to report an important matter to the Great Cave Master…" Elder Saren nodded, paused for a moment, and then detailed the mission of capturing souls that Yuan Ming and the others had carried out, including Hu Zha being killed by a group of men in black.

Upon hearing this, Elder Mengshan's complexion changed repeatedly, but the Great Cave Master remained much more composed, with little change in expression.

"According to Wulu's statement, at that time, Kun Tu took him and Hu Huo nearby and sensed something was amiss over at Miao Hua Village, so they hurried over and ran head-first into that group of men in black. According to his recollection, their manner of attack was roughly the same as what you described," said the Great Cave Master after a moment of contemplation.

Upon these words, Elder Saren, who had been skeptical of Yuan Ming's story, now had his doubts dispelled with Wulu's corroboration.

However, this issue was deeply troubling; the falls of Kun Tu, Hu Huo, and the others were no longer of urgent concern. The real trouble lay with that group of men in black.

"What are your thoughts on this matter?" the Great Cave Master inquired, turning his gaze towards the two of them.

"Great Cave Master, considering the way Kun Tu and the others were attacked and that the group of men in black could control corpses and ghosts, it seems very much like the methods of the Black Fire Sect," Elder Saren said solemnly.

"Indeed, among the Five Great Sects in the Southern Border, it is only the Black Fire Sect that has such deep grievances with our Biluo Cave; I just hadn't expected them to make their move now," added Elder Mengshan.

"That may be so, but all we know is from the mouths of two Qi Refinement Realm Cultivators. To be cautious, we should still send someone to investigate the situation in Miao Hua Village," said the Great Cave Master.

"I suggest sending Zha Lang to investigate. I believe he will bring back results soon," Elder Saren proposed.

"This Inner Sect Disciple of Second Cave Master does seem to be a suitable candidate," agreed Elder Mengshan.

"Mengshan, go arrange this, and Saren, dispatch the notice to strengthen the Sect's defenses. You both know that we are in particularly pressing times, with the Refining Furnace Hall needing your assistance soon. For now, let's leave this matter as it is until the investigation yields some leads, and we can then discuss further," the Great Cave Master instructed.

...

At the same time, Yuan Ming left the Beast Slave Hall and headed straight back to his residence.

He carefully reflected on his conversation with Elder Saren, confident he had not revealed any flaws. If things went smoothly with Wulu as well, he believed he could keep this matter concealed.

Yuan Ming sat down cross-legged, cradling the incense burner and starting his cultivation of the Moonlight Technique.

Thanks to the effect of the Meat Bone Pill, his injuries had healed significantly. After some Breathing Control, he would be fully recovered in a day or two, and with the incense burner, his Divine Soul's drain wouldn't be too much of a problem either.

With this thought, he felt somewhat relieved. However, from this battle, he had come to understand some of the matters previously mentioned by the silver cat.

Soul Cultivators fight using their Divine Soul Power, which can harm others intangibly, and even challenging those at a higher level is not impossible. The Divine Soul, however, is fragile, more so than the Physical Body, and the slightest carelessness can lead to backlash and possibly irreparable damage from excessive drain.

Luckily, with the incense burner at his side, he did not need to worry about this, making his use of Soul Cultivator techniques more unrestrained. Otherwise, he might not have achieved the same outcome when ambushed.

"This incense burner is truly a treasure for a Soul Cultivator!" Yuan Ming rejoiced inwardly and continued the cultivation of the Moonlight Technique.

Half a day later, feeling his Soul Power more than half-restored, he began to attempt gathering Soul Power in his Sea of Consciousness, trying to condense a soul crow.

The soul crow was the basis of his Soul Cultivator Divine Skills, and without one at the ready, he felt uneasy.

To his surprise, no matter how he activated his Soul Power, he could not condense a soul crow.

"What's going on?" Yuan Ming furrowed his eyebrows, recalling the abilities he had obtained when he initially accomplished Divine Soul Transformation.

"Far Travel" and "Soul Feeding" had no time limit, but "Soul Collision" required the sacrifice of a soul crow, so it could not be used again for seven days after each use.

He had thought that this was the case because it took seven days for the Soul Power to recover, but it seemed this was not so.

"Never mind, if it's seven days, then let it be seven days. There's no rush," Yuan Ming muttered to himself, continuing his Cultivating for recovery.

That night.

Yuan Ming was seated cross-legged at the window, calmly cultivating the Moonlight Technique. His body enveloped in a faint white light formed a circle of pale aura around him, nearly invisible to the naked eye.

At that moment, a slight noise came from the window.

The light around Yuan Ming receded as he slowly opened his eyes and soon saw a gracefully crouching silver cat with fur sleek as silver, perched on the branch of a pine tree outside the window.

He knew the silver cat must have something to discuss with him; otherwise, it would not have made any noise to alert him.

"Would you come in for a talk?" Yuan Ming stood up, placed a Jade Box on the table near the window, then stepped back a few paces and smiled invitingly.

The silver cat hesitated for a moment before gracefully making her way to the desk by the window, where she sat down in a crouch.

"Big hero, how does it feel to perform acts of chivalry and heroism?" the silver cat's voice echoed in Yuan Ming's mind.

Yuan Ming thought his mission for the Beast Slave Hall would be smooth sailing, but encountering Tuya and her daughter was beyond his expectations.

Yuan Ming pulled up a chair to sit down and replied, "Then I couldn't just stand by and do nothing, right? Besides, you're here, aren't you?"

Upon hearing this, the silver cat tilted her head to the left, her beautiful heterochromatic eyes flashing upwards.

"Hmph, without me causing the Yin Ghost Flag to lose control and backlash, grass would be growing on your grave next year," the silver cat scoffed disdainfully.

"How did you make the Yin Ghost Flag backlash?" Yuan Ming asked.

"I'm not telling you," the silver cat replied.

Yuan Ming was already used to her aloof and tsundere demeanor and asked, "If you encountered such a situation, would you have helped them?"

"I wouldn't bother with such trivial matters. They live such miserable lives here in the Southern Border; isn't it better to die earlier and reincarnate sooner?" the silver cat retorted.

"For what purpose does Biluo Cave cause such harm to mortals?" Although Yuan Ming had witnessed much cruelty, he still couldn't understand it with his current nature.

"There are countless cultivation techniques in this world, and the techniques of the Evil Path are far more numerous than you can imagine. It seems these soul fragments were taken to refine something," the silver cat's chilling words resounded in Yuan Ming's Sea of Consciousness.

Yuan Ming pondered his own situation, feeling ashamed to stay in Biluo Cave, but uncertain of where to go if he were to leave. His future cultivation was even more insecure; he couldn't help but fall into deep thought.

"Just a reminder; forcibly using your Soul Feeding ability this time will bring you no small trouble in the future," the silver cat's voice rang out in his Sea of Consciousness once again.

"What kind of trouble?" Yuan Ming asked, puzzled.

"Don't use Soul Feeding recklessly before you've mastered the ability to purify Divine Souls. Otherwise, you'll obliterate your Divine Soul and there'll be no chance for reincarnation," the silver cat warned.

"Then why didn't you help me earlier?" Yuan Ming said.

"I, Xi Ying, love to watch idiots try to be heroes, overestimating themselves and getting beaten into unconsciousness. Hahahaha..." The silver cat laughed heartily, suddenly crying out "Oh no," realizing she had misspoken. She turned her head and was about to leave.

Seeing the silver cat about to go, Yuan Ming called out, "Wait, do you have a name? Are you called Xi Ying?"

"Don't you dare call me by my name; is my name for you to call?" The silver cat turned and glared at Yuan Ming, her fierce appearance failing to intimidate anyone.

"Alright, alright, I won't call you by name," Yuan Ming said, and with a swipe of his hand on the storage bag at his waist, he asked for another favor, "Help me take a look at this, what is it?"

In the palm of his hand appeared a fist-sized piece of white solid, resembling both stone and jade.

It was something he had found in Elder Hu Huo's storage bag, but he didn't know what it was used for.

"White Jade Stone Grease, a main spiritual material used in refining Disguise Magic Artifacts, though it's just junk," the silver cat glanced at it casually and provided an answer.

Yuan Ming's eyebrows rose at her response. The silver cat, Xi Ying, might consider it junk, but he was penniless, so he pressed on, "Is this also needed for crafting a Thousand Mechanism Mask?"

"Indeed. Besides White Jade Stone Grease, you also need the face skin of the human-faced spider, Black Stiff Silkworm Silk, Jade Skin Powder, and Xuduan Flower. What do you want with this?" The silver cat was somewhat puzzled.

"I just so happen to have the skin of the human-faced spider, and upon hearing about the uses of White Jade Stone Grease, I had to ask," Yuan Ming smiled and said.

"Knowing these materials is useless; the difficulty in crafting the Thousand Mechanism Mask lies not in gathering the spiritual materials, but in mastering the complex disguise runes, which ordinary people can't learn at all. Moreover, it's not easy to engrave runes on such thin ghost spider skin like it is on weapons; even professional Artifact Refiners might not be able to do it," the silver cat explained.

"No worries, humans make things possible. I have some foundation in Drawing Talismans; I'll learn engraving and spiritual opening later, and then I can try it," Yuan Ming was quite optimistic.

After all, even if it didn't work out, he would only lose some spiritual materials.

"You? Hmph, with your current cultivation, you have no chance of learning engraving and spiritual opening," the silver cat ridiculed unabashedly.

"Is the ability to engrave and open the spirit related to cultivation?" Yuan Ming asked, surprised.

"How can an ignoramus like you still be alive? It's preposterous. Only the Spiritual Power of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator is barely sufficient to support an Enlightenment session. With your current cultivation, it's simply not enough," the silver cat continued to pour cold water on him.

Yuan Ming was used to her mockery and didn't feel disappointed.

"You don't care?" the silver cat was now a bit curious.

"What is there to care about? It's just that my cultivation isn't enough. Just because it's not possible now doesn't mean it won't be in the future. As long as I diligently pursue cultivation, I'll eventually advance to Foundation Establishment, and then it will no longer be a problem," Yuan Ming said.

Hearing this, the silver cat had no desire to keep talking to Yuan Ming. Accidentally revealing her name had already made her somewhat regretful, so she gracefully turned and left.

"Wait!" Yuan Ming called out to her again.

"What else do you want?" the silver cat was impatient.

"Thank you for this time, Xi Ying," Yuan Ming suddenly said.

"Don't you dare call me by my name." With that, she grabbed the jade box on the desk, leapt out, and her silver fur turned transparent in the air. In an instant, she became invisible in the night, disappearing without a trace.

Yuan Ming then realized how Xi Ying had severed Kun Tu's neck.

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