"Could it be someone from the Demonic Cult?" Zu'an even suspected that Yun Jianyue had come, because someone who could serve as a sentry in such a strategic location was not necessarily skilled in cultivation, but rather in agility. To kill them all at once before they had a chance to warn them was an incredible feat.

However, he immediately dismissed this speculation, because Yun Jianyue wouldn't make the scene so bloody; if she really did something, it would be pure art.

Zuan quietly left the outpost at the valley entrance and headed into the valley. Sure enough, the outpost in the valley had also been taken out, and even the lookout tower on the mountaintop was deserted. It seemed that he was probably in grave danger.

Just as Zuan was about to investigate the situation at the exit, his ears twitched as he heard the sound of many footsteps coming from afar.

He quickly leaped onto a tree, using the dense canopy to conceal himself.

Not long after, a group of men in black rushed over and began to tidy up the messed-up tables and chairs, clean up the bloodstains on the ground, and so on. They sprinkled some kind of powder, and soon the bloodstains on the ground disappeared.

Zuan naturally understood their purpose in doing this, but it was no use. All the sentries were dead. Could it be that these people had put on their clothes and impersonated them?

But anyone from the prefect's office who isn't stupid will definitely bring people they know well here. They'll be able to tell at a glance that these aren't their colleagues, so what's the point of impersonation?

To his surprise, these people left quickly after cleaning up the scene, without impersonating sentries. Even more strangely, they left all the sentries' bodies behind.

Zuan: "???"

But what surprised him even more was what happened next, because not long after, the corpses on the ground actually stood up!

At first he was unsteady, but he quickly got used to it and finally stood guard there again with his spear in hand, only his face was much paler than before.

Zuan felt a chill rise from his back. If he hadn't just personally checked and confirmed that they were indeed dead, Zuan would have even doubted that they were actually alive.

"Corpse Gu?" In this world of cultivation, Zu An naturally didn't think he was watching a horror movie, but immediately thought of a secret technique he had encountered before.

They can control corpses through Gu worms, making them act like living people.

There must be a spellcaster nearby!

Looking around, Zuan saw that the vast valley was silent and lush with trees and foliage. The men in black who had just disappeared into the forest had vanished without a trace. How easy would it be to find them?

Unfortunately, just because ordinary people can't find it doesn't mean Zuan can't find it. He stretched out his left hand, and the pattern of the jade cong on his arm appeared faintly. He began to control the small animals in the entire valley to help him search.

Soon, a series of 3D images came together in his mind, and the men in black who had been hiding were clearly visible one by one.

Zuan couldn't help but marvel at how divine the jade cong truly was. Although it had no offensive power, wearing it was like having a radar map, making the entire field seem like it had X-ray vision.

He quickly found his target: a gaunt old man sitting cross-legged on the back of a giant rock shaped like a lone wolf on the mountaintop.

As he sat there, a black aura began to emanate from him, and the nearby grass withered and turned black.

"It's practically a humanoid bio-weapon!" Zuan complained, realizing that several people he encountered who practiced similar techniques had turned themselves into this inhuman, ghostly form. What fun was there in life?

For example, if you approach a pretty girl and before you even have a chance to hold her hand, you poison her to death, let alone do anything more intimate. You're destined to be childless.

He shook his head and quietly made his way to the top of the mountain. The map in his mind showed the location of each man in black, so he avoided them without alerting anyone.

Having reached the mountaintop, he used the Mirror of Light to conceal his presence and quickly arrived at a tree a few feet away from the old man in black robes.

With his current cultivation level, a sneak attack from this distance would be enough to kill him instantly.

However, Zu'an hesitated for a moment and gave up making a move. Firstly, he didn't know if the other party was Yun Jianyue's subordinate and was worried about hurting his own people. Secondly, he needed to control the sentries below, otherwise the people from the Prefect's Mansion would notice the abnormality when they reached the outside of the valley and would not enter the valley.

And so the two of them sat down to meditate, several feet apart.

Zuan had previously absorbed the violent and bloody true energy of the Thick-browed Taoist, but hadn't had time to refine it yet. This was a good opportunity to remove the violence from it, otherwise, it would be easy for problems to arise when they started fighting later.

Several hours passed in the blink of an eye, and the sun rose high overhead. Zu An opened his eyes and felt the surging true energy within his body. He had previously been at the eighth level of the ninth rank, but now he was at the peak of the ninth rank. He was truly only one step away from becoming a grandmaster.

"As expected, it gets harder to advance further." The amount of vital energy required for each subsequent minor advancement is enormous, and even with all his power, Thick-browed Taoist could only help him advance one minor advancement.

Just then, the old man in black robes not far away opened his eyes. He stood up straight, hid his figure behind the boulder, and quietly observed everything at the bottom of the valley.

"They're here." Zuan, now in a high position, could also see the situation at the bottom of the valley.

A group of people slowly drove in, led by a military general holding a long spear. He rode a tall horse with an imposing air, his large, bell-like eyes scanning the surroundings warily for any danger.

"This man has vigorous blood and a murderous aura from the battlefield. He must be Yang Sheng, the Commandant of Yi County." Zu An sighed inwardly. The imperial court is truly full of talented people. Even a local commander has such cultivation.

Zuan quickly scanned the area and found no prison carts or anything like that, only a tightly sealed carriage, which, judging by its size, should be the governor's vehicle.

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