Translator: Cinder Translations
---
Zhang Xiaofan summoned a small flying ship. After Lu Cang and his daughter boarded, the ship slowly made its way towards the mountain gate at the foot of the mountain.
Perhaps due to being inside the sect, the ship's speed was not fast, in fact, it was very slow, moving leisurely.
On the way, Zhang Xiaofan encountered two foundation-building cultivators he knew and greeted them actively.
When the ship arrived at the mountain gate, Zhang Xiaofan stopped the ship and took out a token. After activating the token, a gap appeared in the formation barrier in front of the mountain gate.
The ship passed through the gap and exited the sect, flying into the air above the marketplace at the foot of the mountain.
Just then, a figure flew towards the mountain gate.
The person was a burly male cultivator. Upon seeing Zhang Xiaofan standing at the bow of the ship, he called out to him.
"Senior Zhang, oh, Elder Lu and his niece are also here. You three are leaving together, where are you headed?"
"Greetings, Elder Zhou." Zhang Xiaofan bowed and casually replied, "Recently, Chanmei encountered a cultivation bottleneck, so Master and I are accompanying her to go out for a bit."
"Elder Lu, your family is truly harmonious, it's enviable," Elder Zhou said, giving a salute before flying towards the mountain gate.
Lu Cang glanced at Elder Zhou's departing figure and coldly said, "Xiaofan, don't dawdle, speed up the ship."
"Understood."
As soon as Zhang Xiaofan responded, the ship suddenly accelerated and quickly disappeared into the horizon.
...
Zhang Xiaofan's ship stopped outside the valley where he had arranged to meet Song Wen.
Lu Cang summoned a late-stage third-tier Ghost King.
The Ghost King jumped down from the sky and rushed into the valley.
As a Golden Core cultivator of the Corpse Demon Sect, Lu Cang didn't craft corpse puppets, but rather specialized in ghost cultivation.
After the Ghost King had searched the entire valley and confirmed that there were no ambushes or formations in place, the ship entered the valley and hovered in mid-air.
Lu Cang looked up at the blazing sun in the sky and asked, "There's not much time left until noon, why don't we see Ji Yin?"
"I'll contact him with a communication jade slip right away," Zhang Xiaofan hurriedly said, not wanting to risk the plan failing after he had worked so hard to get Lu Cang and his daughter out here.
[Ji Yin, I've brought the Dead Man's Vines, why don't I see you?]
[You and I agreed to meet for a private transaction, why are there two Corpse Demon Sect cultivators with you, one of whom is a Golden Core cultivator?] Song Wen replied, helping Zhang Xiaofan act as planned.
"They are my wife and father-in-law, they were worried about my safety and came along. They are people I completely trust, you don't need to be suspicious," Zhang Xiaofan responded.
At that moment, a figure slowly rose from one corner of the valley.
"Where are the Dead Man's Vines?" Song Wen asked.
Zhang Xiaofan stepped into the air and leaped out of the ship.
Then, he raised his hand and threw out two narrow jade boxes.
Song Wen caught the boxes and extended his spiritual sense, carefully scanning the Dead Man's Vines inside.
As Zhang Xiaofan had said, Song Wen did not find any phosphorous bone moth eggs. After putting the boxes into his storage ring, he said, "Why are there only two Dead Man's Vines of a few decades of age? Where is the two-hundred-year-old one?"
"What about the fifty top-grade spirit stones you promised me? Without seeing the spirit stones, how would I easily hand over the two-hundred-year-old Dead Man's Vine?" Zhang Xiaofan replied.
Song Wen heard this and took out a storage bag from his chest, casually tossing it toward Zhang Xiaofan.
Before Song Wen had even thrown the storage bag, Zhang Xiaofan was already preparing his magic, ready to act.
As soon as the storage bag left Song Wen's hand, Zhang Xiaofan eagerly used his magic to pull it toward him.
Lu Cang, observing the storage bag flying toward the ship, wore a look of confusion.
He noticed that the storage bag had a spiritual imprint, meaning it had been refined by "Ji Yin." Before the imprint was removed, neither he nor Zhang Xiaofan could open the bag or know its contents.
This was unusual for cultivators' transactions!
After all, if they couldn't sense the contents of the storage bag from a distance, they wouldn't be able to judge if the bag had been tampered with beforehand.
If the bag contained something lethal, it could threaten one party's life.
"Be careful, the storage bag may have a problem," Lu Cang instinctively warned.
However, Zhang Xiaofan seemed to ignore him, rushing toward the bag as if he urgently needed it.
Lu Cang stared at Zhang Xiaofan's back, feeling an inexplicable premonition arise in his mind.
At that moment, a soft "bang" was heard.
A section of the ship's deck suddenly exploded, releasing a large amount of dark green mist that instantly enveloped Lu Cang and Lu Chan.
"Soul Corroding Smoke!" Lu Cang shouted in panic.
The Soul Corroding Smoke didn't harm the body but could corrode the soul.
Those poisoned would gradually lose consciousness, their thoughts dulling, even experiencing hallucinations, greatly weakening a cultivator's ability to react and fight.
As soon as the smoke made contact with him, Lu Cang felt a sense of dizziness.
His heart filled with rage as he realized what had happened. This was part of Zhang Xiaofan's plot!
Zhang Xiaofan had colluded with outsiders and intended to kill them both!
The storage bag thrown by "Ji Yin" was deliberately meant to distract him.
Soul Corroding Smoke was extremely rare and difficult to obtain, showing that Zhang Xiaofan had been planning this for a long time.
It was likely that Zhang Xiaofan had been scheming to eliminate them for quite a while and had gone to great lengths to acquire the Soul Corroding Smoke.
Lu Cang grabbed his daughter, Lu Chan, intending to escape the reach of the smoke.
Suddenly, a mid-stage third-tier silver corpse fell from the sky, crashing into the Soul Corroding Smoke.
Seeing this, Lu Cang acted quickly, not bothering to deal with the silver corpse, but instead rapidly descended toward the valley with Lu Chan in tow.
They soon escaped the smoke's range. Apart from feeling a bit dizzy, Lu Cang was not significantly affected.
However, Lu Chan was much worse off. Her eyes had lost focus, and her mind was in a daze.
Fortunately, the damage caused by the Soul Corroding Smoke was not permanent, and with time, her soul would recover.
Lu Cang coldly watched Zhang Xiaofan and Song Wen in the distance, then retreated rapidly, not thinking of relying on his cultivation advantage to kill the two of them.
Since they dared to set up an ambush, they must have other means.
"Zhang Xiaofan, this Soul Corroding Smoke doesn't seem so effective," Song Wen said, looking relaxed.
Zhang Xiaofan, however, was in a state of extreme urgency, "Quickly stop them, if Lu Cang escapes to the Corpse Demon Sect, neither of us will survive."
"Heh heh... you won't survive, but I will," Song Wen replied with a cold laugh, though his actions were swift.
As he cast two spells, another corpse puppet appeared, blocking Lu Cang's escape route.
Lu Cang's pupils contracted as he saw the corpse puppet suddenly leap out from the forest ahead.
The corpse puppet was surrounded by the aura of death, its skin was dry and black, tightly wrapped around its bones, giving it a very frail and sickly appearance.
However, Lu Cang treated it as a serious threat.
This was a peak-stage third-tier silver corpse.
(End of the Chapter)
---
đź“–Read (RDC) on Pa.treon@CinderTL - c898. [+2]
🔑Early Access at $5.
✍Translated (6) Series, (3K+) Chapters, (4.2M+) Words.
đź’ĄFlat 30% Discount on All Tiers Available Till 26th July, Use Code 3KCHAPTERS to Avail.