Yuan Ming discovered something in Cui Wuran’s memories: over a year ago, when they first met in Quicksand City, Cui Wuran had invited him to join a mission. It turned out that Cui Wuran intended to lure him out and hand him over to the people from the Returning to Origin Sect, but Yuan Ming had declined at that time.

Cui Wuran’s breakthrough in cultivation was due to the benefits he received from the Returning to Origin Sect. The so-called “Flower Transplantation Technique” was one of those benefits, which was also the main reason Cui Wuran was so devoted to serving the sect.

He had a three-spiritual-root aptitude, which was considered average in the cultivation world. Generally, without special opportunities or strong support from a sect or family, reaching the Foundation Establishment stage was the limit for someone like him, especially as a rogue cultivator. Only through the Flower Transplantation Technique could he hope to form a Golden Elixir.

As for Steward Liao, although he was a trusted confidant of the City Lord’s Mansion in Quicksand City, he participated in this risky endeavor due to the allure of forming a Golden Elixir through the Flower Transplantation Technique. With his help, Cui Wuran had succeeded frequently over the past two years.

“The temptation of forming a Golden Elixir is indeed great. If I weren’t a soul cultivator with the secret technique of the Soul Pill, I might have also relied on this Flower Transplantation Technique,” Yuan Ming thought to himself. He flipped his hand and summoned the Soul Extinguishing Sword, pointing it at Cui Wuran. A burst of sword qi shattered Cui Wuran’s soul, and his aura completely dissipated.

Yuan Ming approached the tall, thin old man, placed his palm on the man’s head, and performed a soul search again, quickly uncovering the old man’s background.

This person was originally a rogue cultivator who, after being captured by the Returning to Origin Sect, betrayed his friends to gain freedom and eventually joined them in the business of abducting cultivators.

Having spent a long time with the Returning to Origin Sect, the old man had close ties with the sect’s cultivators. His memories included images of their stronghold, a mine controlled by the sect. Captured cultivators were sent into the mine, handed over to a Nascent Soul stage cultivator who ruled that area. This cultivator conducted many inhumane experiments on the captives, the most striking of which involved transplanting parts of demonic beasts onto the cultivators.

Yuan Ming recalled the horn on the forehead of the man he had encountered earlier and suddenly understood. The Nascent Soul stage cultivator’s experiments were somewhat similar to the Hair Implantation Technique of Bi Luo Cave, both involving the implantation of demonic beast power into cultivators. However, according to the old man’s memories, directly transplanting demonic beast parts into cultivators was extremely risky, with more than a fifty percent chance of causing a fatal conflict between human and demonic energies.

Yuan Ming shook his head and continued the soul search. His expression suddenly froze as he saw a familiar figure in the old man’s memories—it was Wu Lu. Wu Lu was in that mine, toiling alongside the other mining slaves.

Why was Wu Lu there? Was it a new mission from his family, or had he been lured and captured?

Yuan Ming speculated silently. Given Wu Lu’s cunning and methods, he shouldn’t have been deceived, right? But from the old man’s memories, it didn’t seem like he was undercover. Moreover, what purpose would there be in infiltrating such a place? Yuan Ming was puzzled and was about to continue the soul search to find the exact location of the mine when the old man’s body suddenly trembled, his aura completely dissipated, and his soul gradually vanished.

The old man had been on the brink of death and could no longer hold on.

Yuan Ming’s palm emitted a green light, attempting to save him, but it was too late.

“Careless,” he muttered to himself, frowning. He turned to the Crimson Gold Centipede and raised his hand.

A transparent soul crow flew out from the centipede’s head—it was the second soul fragment Yuan Ming had painstakingly cultivated over the past year, which had been hidden in Zuo Qinghui’s body.

The manipulation of the old man and the Crimson Gold Centipede had been the work of this soul fragment.

Over the past year, this soul fragment had grown significantly. Although its soul power was far inferior to Yuan Ming’s main soul, it was not weaker than an average mid-Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.

The Crimson Gold Centipede, being a demonic beast, had a strong physical body but a weak soul, unable to resist the control of the soul fragment.

As soon as the soul fragment left, the Crimson Gold Centipede’s eyes quickly regained clarity, and a fierce aura rapidly revived.

Yuan Ming activated the Soul Extinguishing Sword, pointing it at the Crimson Gold Centipede in the void.

A black sword qi shot out, flashing into the centipede’s head. The centipede’s body trembled, and its soul completely disintegrated.

Yuan Ming took out a large spirit beast bag, collecting the Crimson Gold Centipede, the old man, and Cui Wuran’s bodies. Then he summoned the Azure Cloud Crane and soared into the sky, flying in a certain direction.

Although he hadn’t found the exact location of the mine from the old man, he had discovered the route the Returning to Origin Sect’s cultivators took to get there. Other people returning would likely pass through this area.

Following them would also lead him to the mine.

Half a day later, a group of Returning to Origin Sect cultivators returned on a flying boat.

Shi Chuan had already been captured, his hands and feet tightly bound, thrown into the boat, his head and face covered in blood, clearly having been severely beaten.

Steward Liao was also on the flying boat, unable to return to Quicksand City after Yue Rong escaped, so he had to join the Returning to Origin Sect.

At this moment, the cultivators of the Returning to Origin Sect looked heavy-hearted. Although they had captured Shi Chuan and Steward Liao had joined them, they had lost the Crimson Gold Centipede and didn’t know what punishment awaited them upon their return.

Just then, a rumbling sound of sand and dust came from the ground ahead, as if someone was fighting.

The people on the boat extended their spiritual consciousness to investigate.

Amidst the sand and dust, a dark-skinned, short-haired Foundation Establishment stage cultivator was battling two second-level sandworms, already heavily injured and retreating as he fought. “Capture him alive; it will somewhat make up for our losses!” ordered the man with the horn.

Two Returning to Origin Sect cultivators flew down. Seeing this, the dark-skinned cultivator showed a look of terror and hastily summoned a flying artifact to escape, but he was quickly caught and brought back to the flying boat.

The flying boat did not stop and continued to shoot forward.

Behind a nearby sand dune, Yuan Ming’s figure appeared, his eyes flickering with thought.

As for the dark-skinned cultivator, it was none other than Zuo Qinghui.

To change his appearance and aura, Yuan Ming had spent considerable effort on techniques.

He had shaved Zuo Qinghui’s beard and hair, washed his entire body with a special potion to temporarily turn his skin black, and used a blood fusion secret technique from the Blood Transformation Technique along with a concealment technique to temporarily alter Zuo Qinghui’s aura, successfully deceiving the Returning to Origin Sect cultivators.

In the scorching heat, the clinking of chains echoed, and the hot shackles rubbed against Zuo Qinghui’s hands, leaving faint red marks.

He silently raised his hand, hooked his fingers around the collar on his neck, and felt around, finding no gaps.

After being captured by the Returning to Origin Sect cultivators, they had immediately placed this collar on him, suppressing his power and reducing his cultivation to the third level of Qi refining.

However, the collar only suppressed his power, not his soul. As Yuan Ming’s soul fragment, he could leave this body and possess another at any time if he wished.

But since he had intentionally been captured with a purpose, he remained still, making no significant moves.

On the deck of the flying boat, besides him, there were more than ten other prisoners with collars around their necks, including the bloodied Shi Chuan.

These cultivator prisoners were either anxious or angry. Due to the suppression artifacts, Zuo Qinghui couldn’t discern their exact cultivation levels and could only guess their former strength from their expressions.

In addition to these cultivator prisoners, there were also many mortal prisoners on the flying boat, all shackled but without collars.

The guards were the Returning to Origin Sect cultivators, and there were more of them than Yuan Ming had seen before, likely because some had stayed behind to guard the prisoners while others went out to capture more.

After Zuo Qinghui was captured, the group didn’t immediately return but continued to capture more cultivators and mortals along the way.

Nearly five days had passed since Zuo Qinghui’s capture, and the prisoners had learned from the guards’ conversations that the flying boat was on its way back to the sect.

Though they didn’t know how long it would take to arrive, the prisoners knew that once they reached their destination, the guards would only increase, not decrease.

Therefore, despite the suppression of their power, the proud cultivator prisoners were unwilling to remain subdued and sought any opportunity to break free.

However, the biggest obstacle to their freedom was the collars around their necks.

These artifacts were not particularly advanced. Though they suppressed the prisoners’ power, with external help, a Foundation Establishment cultivator’s power could break the collars. But on the flying boat, the only ones with Foundation Establishment power were the guards.

But not entirely.

Zuo Qinghui suddenly noticed a bald, tattooed man to his right. The man’s collar was old, and its spiritual light flickered, occasionally allowing his power to return.

The bald man was aware of this and sat silently, eyes closed, waiting for an opportunity. Several prisoners had also moved closer to him, shielding him from the guards’ view.

They seemed to have found a way to escape, but when Zuo Qinghui glanced at the nearby guards, he saw a knowing, sinister smile on their faces.

In the next moment, a barely audible “click” sounded. The bald man opened his eyes in surprise and immediately reached out to help others remove their collars.

But just then, two golden lights flashed, turning into golden ropes that bound the bald man’s hands and feet.

A guard in Returning to Origin Sect attire approached with a sneer.

He formed a sword gesture with his right hand, pointing at the bald man. From behind him, a dagger-like artifact flew into the crowd, circling the bald man and leaving dozens of bloody wounds.

The bald man groaned, blood gushing from his wounds, turning him into a bloodied figure, causing the surrounding prisoners to shudder.