This speed was far greater than before. After all, the efficiency of a single placement slot was "two strands per day," so two slots meant "four strands per day." The third slot was dedicated to the [Corpse Demon Secret Art] and could not be changed.
Using two placement slots for his primary cultivation technique also doubled the efficiency of deducing and advancing it to the second rank. A twenty-year process was reduced to ten, another significant benefit for him.
The minor aptitude improvement offered by the "Coldblooded Art" was critically important to his progress.
On the day he ended his seclusion, Wang Yu found a talisman message stuck to the isolation barrier of his residence. Reading it, a smile spread across his face.
"An arm from a second-grade refined corpse... I truly managed to find one."
Three days later, he left to meet his contact.
Meanwhile, within the increasingly desolate Xu residence, the massively built Xu Jiaojiao stood before Su Qingshan. A cold glint, invisible to outsiders, shone in her eyes, nearly hidden by the folds of fat, yet her voice remained deceptively delicate.
"Su Lang, with Father taken by the Enforcement Hall without a trace, are you sure it was that Wang Yu who caused it?"
"Without a doubt."
Su Qingshan spoke with complete confidence, laying out his analysis. "Jiao Mei, my investigation confirms that Wang Yu was the one who reported the Zhu grandfather and grandson from your father's shop. He profited from it, gaining the attention of Zhuo Shouqing from the Enforcement Hall.
"That Zhu grandson had offended a True Disciple of the Evil God Peak. He and his grandfather, the shopkeeper, conspired to deceive your father and embezzle Xu family resources, planning to use spirit stones to resolve his troubles.
"Wang Yu ruined their scheme. Nearly a hundred thousand spirit stones were swallowed by Zhuo Shouqing. When the Evil God Peak's True Disciple learned of it, he coveted the sum. He used it as a pretext to detain your father, wanting a share.
"It all traces back to Wang Yu!"
Su Qingshan's investigation was factually correct, his sources reliable, proving his own capability. But placing the blame squarely on Wang Yu was utterly unreasonable.
Yet, it was the only path left to them.
Neither Zhuo Shouqing nor the Evil God Peak's True Disciple were people the Xu family or he could afford to challenge. They could only direct their blame and hatred toward Wang Yu.
It was a form of self-deception, a desperate refusal to face the powerful forces truly responsible.
The Evil God Peak was already the lowest-ranked peak in the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect. For one of its prominent True Disciples to covet such a sum of spirit stones was exactly the kind of thing they would do. Steward Xu was simply unlucky.
By daring to open an alchemy shop in the Evil God District, he had already offended the local power. The spirit stones he paid went first to the Alchemy Hall, representing the orthodox sect authority.
The second portion went to the Fifth Peak, [Savage Ghost Peak], as the Xu family lineage were disciples there, seeking its protection.
The Evil God Peak would never accept this. It was highly probable that the Zhu family's scheme was even directed by the Evil God Peak's True Disciple himself.
Xu Jiaojiao, having cultivated a demonic technique her father had chanced upon, had transformed from a slender maiden into a monstrous, swine-like creature. She rarely dared to appear in public, her mentality both naive and profoundly twisted.
Her naivety lay in her enduring belief in love, willingly giving her own cultivation pills to Su Qingshan, trusting that once he reached Foundation Establishment, he would overlook her appearance and marry her.
Her distortion was evident not just in her bizarre and often cruel tastes, but in her fundamentally warped character.
Su Qingshan had initially steered Xu Jiaojiao's hatred toward Wang Yu to extract secrets about Tantai Chen, aiming for the high-grade Foundation Establishment Pill she possessed.
But after Tantai Chen's return from Heavenly Treasure City, the many first-generation Foundation Establishment disciples had fallen silent. Even the Alchemy Hall had invited her to lecture. This demonstrated her significant backing and deterred further schemes.
Thus, Su Qingshan abandoned that plan. He turned to seeking a Foundation Establishment chance through his father-in-law. With Xu Jiaojiao's influence, he hoped to secure at least a lower-grade pill.
But then... it all collapsed.
Steward Xu was imprisoned, his shop sealed, with a massive deficit of nearly a hundred thousand spirit stones. Even if her father were freed, securing a pill for Xu Jiaojiao herself would be difficult, let alone for Su Qingshan.
His hatred for Wang Yu burned fiercely. He had used a secret art to manipulate several outer disciples to ambush Wang Yu, intending to kill him.
They were all killed instead. At the last moment, he forced them to utter Xu Jiaojiao's name, clearing his own name. Which led to the present confrontation.
Another ambush!
Wang Yu felt a familiar frustration. He had been careful to avoid isolated areas. Today, he was meeting an inner disciple from the Heavenly Corpse Peak.
Yet, he encountered Xu Jiaojiao near the Corpse Nurturing Grounds in the [Heavenly Corpse District].
The grounds were vast, located on the district's outer edge. Aside from a few keepers' huts, it was essentially wilderness.
For her to find him here so precisely meant the inner disciple had betrayed him. Realizing this, he tried to reason with her.
"Miss Xu, I hold no grudge against you. I even helped your father once. Why do you insist on targeting me?"
"Targeting you? Helped my father?
"Lies!"
Fury contorted Xu Jiaojiao's fleshy face. "When have I ever targeted you? It is you who will not leave my family alone! You deserve death!"
Wang Yu sensed a disconnect in her words, but there was no time for debate. The human battering ram was charging. He would not stand idly by.
"Stubborn fool!"
He was not the same cultivator he was a year ago. The changes were profound.
His body moved, creating nine phantom copies that scattered, forming a battle array. With a single-handed seal, he summoned his power.
Beside each phantom, ten sharp ice swords materialized. A dense volley of over a hundred projectiles shot forth!
Nine illusions, one real. The glinting ice blades were nearly impossible to distinguish.
Xu Jiaojiao stomped the ground, gathered her breath, and unleashed a thunderous roar.
It was a sonic wave technique, rare and powerful. The Savage Ghost Peak was known for physical might, and this technique embodied its essence.
This was the high-grade spell—Savage Ghost Howl!
Visible waves of sound erupted. The false ice swords from the phantoms shattered instantly. Only the volley from Wang Yu's true body remained.
Undeterred, Xu Jiaojiao swung her arm. Her right hand swelled, shrouded in black smoke, transforming into a massive ghostly claw that swatted the remaining ice swords aside.
Wang Yu's expression tightened. Xu Jiaojiao's revealed cultivation was at the eighth level of Qi Refining—a full three stages above him. The pressure was immense.
He formed another seal, pushing his technique further.
"Ice Coffin Curse - Bind!"
The temperature plunged. Frost crackled across the ground. Four walls of ice encased Xu Jiaojiao, slamming together.
Instantly, the top and bottom sealed with crystalline ice. A giant, hovering coffin formed around her, trapping her inside.
**(End of Chapter)**