Chapter 512: Endless News

Qin Sang repeatedly requested this type of spiritual medicine in exchange for the corpse puppets he sold during this period. Astute observers would surely guess that the corpse puppet master might have suffered a backlash, explaining his urgency and willingness to spend everything on medicine.

For demonic cultivators who practice corpse refining, being backlashed by their corpse puppets is a common and logical occurrence.

This is precisely why no one would suspect Qin Sang's true intentions.

A single Firethorn Grass was certainly not as valuable as a Fiend Corpse refined from a late-Foundation Establishment stage body. However, transactions in the cultivation world are inherently based on mutual need, with rarely any equivalent exchange.

Wen Yanjie was clearly planning to take advantage of the situation. He held up the Firethorn Grass, looking confident and smiling as he watched Qin Sang.

Qin Sang was already intent on selling, and even without the Firethorn Grass, Wen Yanjie was a target who perfectly met his requirements.

He suppressed his feigned anger, stood still with clenched fists, and slightly lowered his head. It was clear he was tempted but reluctant to part with his valuable item, thus hesitating.

Seeing this, Wen Yanjie smiled slightly and kindly advised: "Fellow cultivator, to be able to raise so many corpse puppets, you are certainly no ordinary person. Corpse puppets are mere external objects. Compared to your own cultivation path, which is more important? I'm sure you understand perfectly well. As the saying goes, 'money spent will eventually return.' As long as you resolve the hidden danger of the backlash, what kind of Fiend Corpse can't you refine? This Firethorn Grass is not easily obtained, especially given your current situation..."

"Hmph! Easy for you to say! Do you really think Fiend Corpses are so easy to refine? Do you know how much effort this old man has put in? If not for a moment of carelessness, this old man..."

Qin Sang gritted his teeth, looked up at Wen Yanjie, and with a wave of his hand, summoned the Fiend Corpse made from Luo Xiao's body. He said coldly, "Consider yourself lucky to have hit this old man's weak spot! Give me the Firethorn Grass, and this Fiend Corpse is yours!"

Wen Yanjie glanced sideways at the Fiend Corpse. After carefully sensing it with his spiritual consciousness, he saw that it was indeed more powerful than the previous one, and a flicker of unusual light appeared in his eyes.

His accomplishments in the art of corpse refining were far inferior to Steward Bao's, making it impossible for him to easily discern the flaw in the Fiend Corpse's dantian.

Of course, unless facing an old monster with extremely rich combat experience, this flaw would have almost no impact.

Even a cultivator as powerful as Wen Yanjie had to admit that this Fiend Corpse would be an excellent helper during combat.

Just as Qin Sang reached out to grab the Firethorn Grass, Wen Yanjie unexpectedly pulled back his arm and said playfully, "Did fellow cultivator misunderstand something? This Wen said he wanted to exchange for your Fiend Corpses, but never said *only* this one. Your previous one was still passable; this Wen will reluctantly accept it as well..."

"You Wen, you're trying to take advantage of me!"

Qin Sang flew into a rage.

He had truly underestimated Wen Yanjie; this person was inherently greedy. Exchanging one Firethorn Grass for a Fiend Corpse was already a great bargain, yet he was still not satisfied!

If he agreed to this impudent demand, the man would surely become even more audacious. If the situation spiraled out of control and affected his plans, it was certainly not what Qin Sang wanted.

"Even if this old man dies from the poison today, you won't succeed!"

Qin Sang would rather not sell it. He unhesitatingly recalled the Fiend Corpse and stormed out the door in a rage.

Judging by his demeanor, if Wen Yanjie dared to block him again, it seemed he would fight to the death.

Seeing that Qin Sang was not faking it, Wen Yanjie's expression changed slightly, his eyes flashed, and he suddenly broke into a broad smile, his tone softening. "This Wen was just joking, fellow cultivator, why get so agitated... Very well, as you suggested, the Firethorn Grass for that Fiend Corpse."

To show his sincerity, Wen Yanjie was the first to toss the Firethorn Grass to Qin Sang.

"I don't think Fellow Cultivator Wen was joking..."

Qin Sang stopped, his tone stiff. He took the Firethorn Grass in his hand, examining it repeatedly for a long time. Only then did he re-summon the Fiend Corpse, erase his spiritual imprint from it, instruct Wen Yanjie on how to control it, and then left without looking back.

About a quarter of an hour later.

On the outskirts of Qingyang Market, at a property owned by the Qingyang Demonic Sect, Wen Yanjie had arrived there at some point, having left the Treasure Pavilion.

At this moment, the Fiend Corpse stood before Wen Yanjie. Wen Yanjie's eyes were slightly closed as he familiarized himself with the Fiend Corpse's strength. A smile was on his face, clearly indicating his great satisfaction with the Fiend Corpse.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps approached, the door was pushed open, and three people entered.

"Senior Brother Wen, that fellow has disappeared."

The three stood still before Wen Yanjie, speaking in urgent tones.

Wen Yanjie's brows furrowed slightly. "Where did you lose him?"

One of them said shamefully, "The three of us lost track of him right here in the market. The subordinates guarding the market exits also didn't spot any suspicious individuals passing through."

Wen Yanjie glared fiercely at him. "You lost him right here in our own market? A bunch of good-for-nothings!"

The three men looked embarrassed. The one on the left quietly defended, "The three of us spread out, very cautiously, making it impossible for us to be exposed. This person seemed even more familiar with Qingyang Market than we are; he kept winding left and right, then suddenly disappeared. I suspect someone was assisting him. Those major merchant guilds all have their own agendas, and without an uncle-master's command, we couldn't go in and search..."

After listening carefully to the account, Wen Yanjie snorted, "It seems this person is extremely cautious; he must have surveyed the area long ago and planned his escape route. What a pity. I had already probed and found that he should only have one Fiend Corpse of that level, and he's also suffering from a backlash from his corpse puppet, with corpse poison in his body. Now is his weakest moment... Never mind, call off the search. Let him live another day."

In an unnoticed corner of Qingyang Market.

Qin Sang quietly appeared, coldly watching the people who were tracking him withdraw.

Having seen through Wen Yanjie's true nature, Qin Sang had been cautious after leaving the Treasure Pavilion and indeed found that he was being followed.

Their methods were very clever; had he not been cautious, it would have been difficult to notice them.

Qin Sang was by no means a kind person. At any other time, if Wen Yanjie dared to target him, he would surely have taught him a lesson he would never forget.

However, important matters took precedence now, so Qin Sang decided to endure it.

He then found another opportunity to sell the mid-Foundation Establishment stage Fiend Corpse to a Qingyang Demonic Sect cultivator. Qin Sang's initial objective was achieved; now it was time to quietly observe the developments.

Afterward, Qin Sang settled down to work at that shop, posing as an artifact refiner.

He did not reveal his high-level artifact refining skills. Most of the cultivators he interacted with daily were low-level Qi Refining stage cultivators. It was from these individuals that information was most easily extracted without drawing attention.

His focus, naturally, was on those who had purchased his corpse puppets.

Ten days or so quickly passed.

During these days, Qin Sang intentionally or unintentionally cultivated closeness with disciples of the Qingyang Demonic Sect, finally obtaining two pieces of information.

First, Wen Yanjie and all other disciples who had purchased corpse puppets continued as usual during this period, entering and exiting the sect gates normally with their corpse puppets. The Qingyang Demonic Sect seemed unconcerned about their disciples controlling corpse puppets, and the elders within their sect did not stop them.

Second, just a few days ago, they had successively received warnings from their sect elders: avoid traveling too far from the sect if there's no urgent matter!