Chapter 765: Hooked Decision Pen

"Are we leaving now?"

Shang Shiqiu pointed to the vanished hidden space. "Fan Jiang is still inside."

"Are we just abandoning him?"

Even if he wasn't her disciple, it seemed wrong to leave him behind like that.

Yun Yang gently poked her head. "Use your brain more. With so many of us here, not leaving and doing nothing at all, wouldn't Ren Guhong and Wu Manyue get suspicious? Besides, Fan Jiang was able to trick those two badly; he's not foolish. He wouldn't have gone in there without a plan. We should leave quickly and avoid drawing attention to him."

Shang Shiqiu was crestfallen from the scolding. Pouting, she mumbled, "You're one to talk. You're even dumber than me when you're reading a book." She huffed.

Inside the hidden space, Jiang Fan immediately felt an oppressively thick Yin energy. It seeped into every pore, desperately trying to penetrate his body. Even with his lightning protection, he couldn't completely block it. When a trace occasionally slipped inside, it would excitedly burrow towards his Golden Core like a bloodworm. Jiang Fan's internal lightning arcs swiftly extinguished it.

"No wonder Li Shangqiu didn't want to come," he muttered. "Such dense Yin energy would be wasted on anyone below the Nascent Soul realm." He decisively took out the Mountain River Cauldron.

"Little broken cauldron, we'll see if you're a burden or a blessing today." He activated it with spiritual energy. At the same time, he used the Great Yin Sect's Corpse Refining technique to manipulate the Yin energy in the space. As the technique was put into motion, the pervasive Yin energy began to converge inside the Mountain River Cauldron.

Initially, there was no visible change within the cauldron. However, as more and more Yin energy was refined, a dark mist began to adhere to the inner walls of the small cauldron. This mist then condensed into droplets, which gathered at the bottom of the cauldron, forming a pool of liquid. As the liquid level rose, it neared the brim and threatened to overflow.

Jiang Fan frowned. "This cauldron is useful, but... it's too small." It was only palm-sized and couldn't hold much at all.

Just then, as if it understood Jiang Fan's murmur, the Mountain River Cauldron suddenly grew larger. When the liquid threatened to overflow again, it expanded once more. This repeated several times. By the time all the Yin energy in the space was cleared, the miniature Mountain River Cauldron had grown to two feet tall. It was filled with liquefied Yin energy, black as ink.

Moreover, it was rapidly condensing. Jiang Fan stared at the Mountain River Cauldron in astonishment. "This cauldron is called 'Mountain River.' Could it be that it can expand infinitely and contain an entire mountain range and river?"

*Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—*

A frictional sound soon emanated from the cauldron. The liquefied Yin energy was beginning to solidify into fist-sized stones. These stones then rapidly condensed further, until only a thin, black flake, about half the size of a thumbnail, remained. This must be the Yin Marrow Shang Shiqiu had mentioned.

Jiang Fan carefully wrapped it in a piece of soft cotton. The object was extremely fragile; a mere touch could cause it to dissipate into Yin energy as before. "I'll ask someone later if it's valuable," he mused.

After securing the cotton, he finally had time to observe his surroundings. The area appeared to be a military camp. Various documents, rotted to mud, lay scattered on the ground. To his left and right, seven or eight armored guard skeletons were strewn about. On the table at the very front, miscellaneous items were haphazardly piled.

"Documents?" Jiang Fan walked forward curiously, intending to pick one up. However, the vibration from his footsteps caused the documents to instantly vaporize. "This..." A flicker of regret crossed Jiang Fan's eyes.

Next, he approached the armored guards. He was about to search them, but as soon as he drew his purple sword and before it even touched the armor, the sharp glint became the final straw. The skeletons inside instantly shattered, and the heavy armor, losing its support, crashed to the ground with a resounding clang.

This sound triggered a chain reaction. Distant skeletons, scattered documents, weapons lying haphazardly, the commander's table, and everything else in the area, shattered into pieces!

It took a while for the commotion to subside. He fanned away the dust in front of him, a look of helplessness on his face. "How many years has this space existed?" he wondered. "Everything inside is so fragile."

Once the dust settled, he looked around. Everything was shattered. Not a single item...

"Huh!" Jiang Fan's gaze suddenly fixated. Among the debris of the shattered table, a writing brush lay completely intact. "It didn't decay?"

He walked over and gently picked up the brush from the pile of stones. It felt incredibly heavy in his hand. Though only a foot long, it weighed a ton. The brush handle was jet black, inscribed with the characters "Gou Jue." The brush tip, made of an unknown material, was stained with vermillion red ink. Despite countless ages, the red ink remained as vibrant as ever.

Curious, he picked up the brush and tried to casually write the character "我" (wǒ, 'I') on the ground. Strangely, the brush in his hand began to write a different character, uncontrollably. The first stroke was "一." The second was "丿." The third was "フ." The fourth stroke was "歹." Jiang Fan's heart jolted.

This was the left radical of the character "死" (sǐ, 'death'). He quickly lifted the brush. It was then that he realized his entire body was weak and limp. He fell heavily to the ground. When he inwardly inspected himself, he was even more startled. His Golden Core was completely empty. Not a single trace of spiritual energy remained! Only a few wisps of residual lightning energy lingered within his body. He broke out in a cold sweat.

He had only written half of the character "death," and in mere moments, it had drained all his spiritual energy and ninety percent of his physical strength? "What kind of brush is this?"

Jiang Fan's hands were too weak to even hold the brush properly. Looking again at the characters "Gou Jue" on the handle, a sudden realization struck him: this was a 'Death Warrant Pen', used to mark criminals for execution! When condemned prisoners underwent trials and and were finally sentenced to death, the highest authority would use a red brush to mark a cross next to their names. This brush must be precisely that—a 'Gou Jue Pen' used specifically for condemning criminals!

Writing only half of the 'death' character had almost completely drained Jiang Fan. If he had finished writing it, he might have instantly become a withered corpse. "If the entire character 'death' is written and applied to someone, would it be equivalent to signing their death warrant? Would that person die on the spot?" A flicker of excitement lit up his eyes. He vaguely suspected that he had acquired an extremely potent killer weapon.

However, he needed to quickly raise his cultivation. His current spiritual energy was simply insufficient to unleash the brush's power of condemnation. He stored the brush in the Heavenly Thunder Stone. He immediately sat cross-legged, slowly recovering his spiritual energy and physical strength.

Just then, from the spatial entrance he had come through, there was a faint tearing sound, as if a spatial rift had been opened. A soft exclamation followed. "Is someone inside?"

Jiang Fan's body tensed. He turned his head cautiously to look. There stood a woman in white, as pure as snow, with raven hair cascading like a waterfall, and an ethereal, exquisite beauty. She exuded a remote aura, as if untouched by the mundane world. For a moment, Jiang Fan thought he was seeing Consort Yunxia. Her aura and demeanor were remarkably similar.

"Who are you?" Jiang Fan asked, examining her, a hint of admiration in his eyes.

The woman in white gently curtsied. "I am Huaxin. You must be a disciple of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion too, Junior Brother?"

Indeed, she was a female disciple of the Heavenly Secret Pavilion. Jiang Fan secretly nodded. He had to admit, the Heavenly Secret Pavilion truly had many beauties. Ye Banxia had been stunning, and Huaxin was no less impressive. He cautiously looked at the spatial entrance behind her. "Is it just you, Senior Sister Huaxin?"

Huaxin offered a gentle smile, reassuring him. "I always travel alone. You don't need to worry, Junior Brother."

Jiang Fan nodded slightly. But suddenly, he remembered something, and a warning flared in his mind! No! This woman was lying!