Translator: CinderTL

As the Nether Fox approached, Song Wen quietly retreated over six thousand kilometers, ensuring the creature couldn’t find him.

He had the shadow void repeatedly confirm that no one was following the Nether Fox before instructing it to summon the creature.

Upon receiving the shadow void’s message again, the Nether Fox appeared somewhat disappointed. It soared into the air and flew toward Song Wen’s location.

Soon, it spotted Song Wen standing atop a mountain peak.

"Master, you’ve finally come! The Primordial Qi Death Zone is far too dangerous. I’ve been living in constant fear for the past month, terrified I might never see you again." The Nether Fox landed at Song Wen’s feet, gently swaying its five black tails.

By now, the Nether Fox’s earlier displeasure had completely vanished, replaced by a human-like expression of fawning. It gazed up at Song Wen with obsequious devotion.

Song Wen patted the Spirit Beast Pouch at his waist.

"If you’re so afraid of the Primordial Qi Death Zone, then get into the Spirit Beast Pouch yourself."

The Nether Fox’s eyes darted around, adopting a pitiful expression.

"Master, actually... the Primordial Qi Death Zone isn’t so bad after all. Perhaps I should stay a little longer?"

Song Wen smiled faintly. "You stay in the Primordial Qi Death Zone solely to hunt and devour void fiends. I have a way for you to leave this place and still have an endless supply of void fiends to eat."

The Nether Fox’s eyes lit up. "Master, have you found a way to preserve void fiend corpses?"

Once a void fiend dies, its corpse rapidly deteriorates, losing all spiritual essence within two or three days.

This was why Song Wen couldn’t hunt void fiends in large numbers to stockpile blood food for the Nether Fox.

To eat void fiends, the Nether Fox had to enter the Primordial Qi Death Zone and hunt them fresh.

"I can’t preserve their corpses, but we can capture them alive."

With that, Song Wen pulled a black cloth pouch from his sleeve—Yan Tong’s Spirit Beast Pouch, capable of containing void fiends.

The internal space of a Spirit Beast Pouch typically correlates with its rank.

However, cultivators rarely store multiple spirit beasts in the same pouch, as they would compete for the limited Spiritual Qi within, hindering their growth.

But Song Wen had no such concerns. As long as the void fiends remained alive, that was all that mattered.

Song Wen gently shook the cloth bag, and the Beauty Serpent tumbled out.

The Beauty Serpent had regained consciousness, but its Demon Soul remained severely injured. It lay prostrate on the ground, its slender eyes fixed on Song Wen with terror.

Song Wen hadn’t killed it because he suspected Lord Yingwu’s motives for capturing it weren’t as simple as Yan Tong and the others claimed—merely a twisted fascination with the exotic. The Beauty Serpent might still serve some other purpose.

After studying the creature closely for a moment, Song Wen was astonished to see that the tentacle, severed at its base, had already regrown by two feet. At its tip, tendrils of flesh still writhed and pulsed.

The Beauty Serpent’s tentacles were originally only three feet long, roughly the length of a human leg. With two feet already regrown, it meant the tentacle would soon be fully restored.

Limb regeneration!

The thought flashed through Song Wen’s mind.

In the Immortal Cultivation World, there were countless miraculous treasures and unfathomable secret arts. Yet Song Wen had never heard of any Spirit Herb or secret art capable of regenerating severed limbs.

If a cultivator lost a limb, there were only two ways to restore it.

First, the severed limb could be reattached to its original position. This required both internal and external application of Spirit Herbs to stimulate blood circulation, regenerate muscle tissue, and reconnect damaged meridians, allowing the limb to fuse back with the body and regain its unity.

Second, if the severed limb was irretrievable, a limb from another being could be transplanted. However, such a foreign appendage remained an alien entity. To achieve seamless integration and control as natural as one’s own arm, the transplanted limb had to be refined and nurtured through a lengthy and arduous process, consuming vast quantities of spiritual objects.

Witnessing the Beauty Serpent’s ability to regenerate its severed limb sparked Song Wen’s curiosity.

In the Immortal Cultivation World, many demon beasts claimed to possess limb regeneration abilities, but these claims were often exaggerated. Even if new limbs grew, they typically remained incomplete or imperfect.

Over the years, the only creature Song Wen had ever encountered capable of true limb regeneration was the Fallen Immortal Blood.

However, the Fallen Immortal Blood was not a demon beast but a unique life form existing between demon beasts and spirit plants.

"Shadow Void, can void fiends regenerate severed limbs?"

Shadow Void replied, "No. Only the bone serpent void demons possess that ability."

Upon hearing this, Song Wen became even more convinced that the Beauty Serpent must serve some other purpose.

After scrutinizing the Beauty Serpent for a long time, Song Wen couldn’t figure out its true significance. He then addressed the shadow void within his Sea of Consciousness:

"Ask the Beauty Serpent if it knows why those humans wanted to capture it."

Immediately, the shadow void’s voice echoed into the outside world, a string of gibberish that Song Wen couldn’t understand.

The Beauty Serpent’s narrow eyes flashed with terror upon hearing the shadow void’s voice, clearly startled by its mysterious origin.

The Beauty Serpent then responded with its own stream of unintelligible sounds.

After listening, the shadow void reported back within Song Wen’s Sea of Consciousness:

"Master, it doesn’t know why those humans wanted to capture it."

Song Wen frowned slightly. It seemed only Lord Yingwu knew the truth behind this mystery.

However, Song Wen had no idea who Lord Yingwu was.

After a moment’s contemplation, Song Wen decided to set the matter aside for now. He stowed the Beauty Serpent in a black cloth bag and ventured deeper into the Primordial Qi Death Zone, instructing the Nether Fox and shadow void to scout for void fiends.

One day later.

Song Wen captured thirteen fifth-tier void beasts and two sixth-tier void fiends, while also devouring the Soul Bodies of over twenty resentful spirits. Only then did he depart the Primordial Qi Death Zone and head toward Cloudstream Valley.

Upon returning to Cloudstream Valley, Song Wen tossed a fifth-tier void beast to the Nether Fox before entering his pavilion.

Sitting cross-legged, Song Wen began refining his cultivation, stabilizing his realm.

Refining one’s cultivation was an extremely tedious task. It involved circulating spiritual power through the dantian in endless cycles until every strand of energy moved with perfect fluidity, responding to his will.

Time flowed slowly. Three months later, Song Wen suddenly sensed one of the four Gu insects dormant within him awakening.

The awakened Gu was a fourth-tier insect. It crawled out of Song Wen’s mouth, vibrated its wings, and danced before him, signaling its hunger.

Song Wen retrieved a demon beast corpse and tossed it out of the pavilion.

The Gu insect pursued the corpse, darting out of the pavilion to begin devouring it.

Over the next few days, the remaining three Gu insects gradually awakened as well.

The last to stir was the Gu insect that had recently advanced to the fifth tier.

Song Wen didn’t give it much thought. As with the previous three insects, he tossed it a demon beast corpse and drove it out of the pavilion.

However, less than an hour later, something unexpected occurred.

While Song Wen was cultivating, his mind suddenly jolted.

One of the Dao contracts between him and a Gu insect had dissolved.

Song Wen’s eyes snapped open, disbelief flashing in his gaze. A fourth-tier Gu insect had died.

How could a Gu insect die inexplicably while staying in the canyon?

(End of the Chapter)

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