Chapter 108: Damn It-Heavenly Tome of Mastery(Wen drifted past the peak.)

"Little one, I was blind and disrespectful to Your Excellency," Junior Disciple Wu said stiffly, craning his neck. "I know my offense is unforgivable, and I dare not beg for mercy. I only hope Your Excellency, considering we are all practitioners of the Dao, will grant me a swift end."

"Hmm, still quite stubborn!" Feng Ke'er bent down, her smile blossoming like a flower. "Have you heard of Puppet Technique?"

At the mention, Junior Disciple Wu’s face instantly turned pale, drained of color. Of course, he had heard of Puppet Technique—a vicious and sinister method of forging. It used living beings as materials; while the victim's consciousness remained fully aware, their soul threads were forcibly extracted, and a fragment of the master's divine consciousness was implanted in their spiritual sea. Once completed, the person lost all self-awareness, reduced to a mere puppet of the forger.

“No, Your Excellency, I beg for mercy!” Wu chattered fearfully, his teeth chattering uncontrollably. “I’ll say everything, I swear.”

A foul stench spread as the man lost control of himself.

Feng Ke’er frowned in disgust and straightened up. “What are you babbling about?” She thought it would be better if he had this realization sooner. Then she wouldn’t have had to scare him into such a state. Truthfully, she barely knew anything about Puppet Technique—only that it existed.

“I…” Wu was about to confess when a sharp, urgent whistle came from the window.

“Bang!” He exploded like a firecracker with a lit fuse.

In an instant, blood and flesh were scattered everywhere.

Feng Ke’er dodged too late, splattered with blood. Her once pristine white robe was now a filthy, blood-soaked garment. Fortunately, Wu’s cultivation was only at the seventh level of the Core Formation stage, and his body was shattered by a sonic attack rather than self-detonation. Thus, only Feng Ke’er was drenched in blood. If it had been a Golden Core stage practitioner self-destructing, or someone of Nascent Soul level or above, she would have been buried under a torrent of gore. Though she escaped losing limbs, being knocked unconscious was certain.

Damn it. When she regained her senses, there was no sign of Junior Disciple Wu in the room—he had been obliterated beyond recognition.

Murder to silence! Was that whistle signal arranged by the mastermind behind the bounty? Feng Ke’er wiped the blood from her face but quickly dismissed this theory: bounty hunters never meet the clients directly. Therefore, Wu couldn’t have known the patron’s identity, nor would the patron have reason to silence him. Unless, these two weren’t bounty hunters at all but assassins sent by someone.

Recalling Wu’s dying expression as if he wanted to expose something, Feng Ke’er became even more certain of her suspicion: the shadowy figure thought she was just a third-level Core Formation female cultivator and dispatched two killers who fancied themselves clever to capture her.

But she had just arrived and kept a low profile. Who would think to abduct her alive? Could it be, like Wu suspected, that someone coveted her rare Yin constitution and wanted her as a furnace vessel?

The thought made Feng Ke’er shudder violently.

All of this trouble was caused by the goddess Nüwa.

Back when she first transmigrated, male cultivators held low status. No one dared such schemes. It was only in the past three centuries, after Nüwa forcefully promoted gender equality among cultivators, that men’s status rocketed like a rocket.

To be honest, men were far stronger physically than women. Previously, male cultivators had failed to make a mark because they were heavily restricted by countless rules. But now, with those rules lifted, over the past three centuries, male cultivator forces in the mortal realm had rapidly grown, not only catching up with women but even threatening to surpass them.

The rapid rise of male cultivators strengthened the cultivation world like never before but brought many negative consequences. For example, men grew bolder and more reckless. To quickly and efficiently advance their cultivation, some scoundrels even resorted to the despicable practice of using Core Formation stage or higher female cultivators as ‘furnace vessels.’

If that was truly the case… Hmph! A dark gleam flashed in Feng Ke’er's eyes. She flicked a fingertip, casting a Purification Charm, cleansing the bloodstains from herself and the room. Then, with a sullen face, she stepped out to investigate.

If the second theory held true, then the mastermind likely wanted to silence another person—the shop assistant surnamed Wang, who had been bribed with a bag of spirit stones and had lied shamelessly to her.

However, as she stepped into the courtyard, Feng Ke’er noticed two teenage girls in cyan short robes dragging a rolled-up reed mat toward a side door.

A lock of black hair and a corner of a red robe peeked from the rolled mat.

Feng Ke’er focused and used her sight to peer through the thin reed mat. Inside was indeed the wide-eyed little girl—the shop assistant—who had died from a ruptured dantian explosion. Because her cultivation was only mid Qi Refining stage, the blast was less powerful, leaving a complete corpse.

Seeing the two girls glancing back at her, Feng Ke’er deliberately covered her mouth and nose, asking with disdain, "What’s going on here?"

They exchanged a glance. One put down her load and respectfully replied, "Reporting to the fairy, inside is Sister Yuyan. She was practicing cultivation inside and suffered a cultivation mishap, exploding and dying."

“Unfortunate!” Feng Ke’er tossed them two low-grade spirit stones and strode away.

“Thank you for the fairy’s generosity.”

After Feng Ke’er’s figure disappeared, the other girl tossed down her reed mat and approached. The favored one generously shared a piece with her. Laughing, the two dragged the mat and left through the side door.

The death of the wide-eyed girl confirmed the second theory was likely true. So there was no need to verify the bounty order at the bounty hall tomorrow. With nowhere else to go, Feng Ke’er glanced up at the dark night sky and ultimately returned to her guest room.

Earlier, when the men had seized her, two large holes had been torn in the wooden wall of the room. Now, those holes were gone. The wall looked intact as if no damage had ever occurred.

Suspicious, Feng Ke’er tapped the wooden wall. Those thin planks were either immortal wood with regenerative properties or simply ordinary cedar boards.

She cast her sight into the neighboring room and was startled to see a black bear demon freshly transformed, lying prone. Sensing her gaze, the demon—looking like a red-haired langur—wiped sweat from its brow and immediately lifted its head, alert and scanning around.

A sixth-rank elder demon cultivator—sure enough, more alert than the two Core Formation men earlier. Feng Ke’er quickly closed her eyes and assumed a seated meditation pose but her mind raced: Clearly, the hidden hand had already made preparations. Was such effort truly necessary just to abduct her as a furnace vessel? Without sect protection, lone cultivators were rootless weeds in the cultivation world. Cultivators only respected strength. Someone like her, abducted openly on the street, would be left without anyone to defend her.

With this in mind, she dared not act recklessly and spent the next two days confined to her guest room, diligently practicing the Mind-Cleansing Incantation.

The third day was for results. Early in the morning, Feng Ke’er went to the first hut. The outcome was as disappointing as it was hopeful. For five hundred low-grade spirit stones, she bought two jade slips.

The first contained a blurry vision, much like what Bodhizi had described: A storm triggered a mountain flood. A group of black-robed men took advantage of the chaos and massacred the Qingyun Sect. Their cultivation was formidable. The sect leader, Elder Qin, fought their chief for less than ten exchanges before being struck in the chest and falling like a felled tree. When the elders rushed to catch him, he had already died. Tragically, his Nascent Soul was shattered by the blow, leaving no chance to escape. The other disciples were no match; except for the elders who could fend off a couple of attacks, most were defenseless and slaughtered like grass. After leveling Qingyun Sect, the leader raised his large curved blade and summoned several bolts of lightning, destroying all the sect’s buildings. Finally, they boarded a black cloud ship and vanished into the mist.

They wore no masks nor used concealment spells, but Feng Ke’er could not see their faces clearly—only one possibility: their cultivation far surpassed hers.

The second jade slip explicitly stated that Qin Hanyan had perished during the sect’s destruction.

Presumably, Qin Ruhua and her child had not escaped that disaster either. Feng Ke’er’s heart sank like iron.

The red-robed youth remained standing in place, clearly waiting for his fee.

Recalling last night’s attack, fury flared in Feng Ke’er’s chest. These unscrupulous merchants only knew how to extort spirit stones, indifferent to their clients’ lives. She angrily slammed the first jade slip at the youth’s feet and snapped, “This only records the scene of Qingyun Sect’s destruction. It doesn’t mention the cause, and the enemy’s faces are blurred, unrecognizable. Is this considered completing the task? Do you think I’m easily fooled?”

Unexpectedly, the youth in red robes neither got angry nor offended. Smiling, he bent down to pick up the jade slip and held it respectfully. “Fairy, you don’t realize how much effort it took to obtain this footage. Because many facts remain uncertain, I only charged you five hundred low-grade spirit stones for these two slips. Usually, our cheapest information costs eight hundred or more. So these jade slips are the least expensive in my possession. If you’re unsatisfied, you may post a bounty order at the bounty hall. Perhaps a witness will come forward.”

Feng Ke’er was left speechless. What a ridiculous notion—posting a bounty order. After yesterday’s events, she had zero interest in such things.

Snatching the jade slip from his palm, she stormed out of the News Grove. With Wu dead and the trail cold, and the enemy lurking in the shadows while she remained exposed, it was safer to leave the News Grove and find a livelier place—like the marketplace.

Earlier, when they seized her, two large holes had been torn in the wooden wall of the room. Now, those holes were gone. The wall looked intact as if no damage had ever occurred.