### **Chapter 91: The Hard-to-Get Slave Capture Mission**
Both took priority over simply advancing his realm. With his current setup, unless someone had an astonishing background, trump cards, or secret treasures mismatched with their realm, his combat power was already maxed out for the Qi Refining stage.
Realm advancement mostly increased spiritual power reserves, which could be supplemented with pills, having a relatively low impact on actual combat power.
Slowing down his realm advancement was actually fine. It wasn't like he could speed it up much anyway.
He had heard the news last April. Now it was already August. Barring any accidents, Wei Zhong's emergence was imminent.
The atmosphere on Coldblood Peak and in its market had changed.
Disciples moved about with hurried steps. The True Disciple establishments standing in the market had also changed from their usual state. Fatal ambushes happened frequently in the shadows, and the Corpse Peak's business of recycling corpses had increased by nearly thirty percent.
The number of missing disciples rose sharply, inevitably including "clever little devils" who took advantage of the chaos to make a profit.
With the storm approaching, and as an outer disciple of Coldblood Peak still nominally attached to the Ice and Snow Pavilion, Wang Yu found it hard to stay completely out of it, unless he openly defied True Disciple Su's orders.
Time was pressing for him. He couldn't afford any more delays.
Therefore, after emerging from seclusion this time, Wang Yu contacted Gu Zhengshun and Si Tu Hong, hoping to use the slave capture missions of the Five Yin Peak and Corpse Peak as a pretext to leave the sect.
He didn't even go near the Coldblood Market. He even changed his usual lodging, moving from the Evil God Market to the Corpse Market, staying in a peripheral area close to the Nourishing Corpse Grounds.
This place was a special facility of the sect. Corpse Peak disciples needed to spend contribution points to place their refined corpses here for nurturing, and the price wasn't low.
Correspondingly, besides the special facilities for each of the Nine Peaks and their ten legacies, there were seven or eight types of common special structures. Wang Yu, having little to his name, had never visited them.
The Essence Qi Room was actually one, but it worked better for those with higher spiritual root aptitude; it was almost useless for him.
According to his plan, Gu Zhengshun, being profit-driven, would be easier to persuade, hence his move to the Corpse Market.
But this time, the message talisman he sent received no response.
As for Si Tu Hong, Wang Yu owed him a favor from before when he taught him about ancient demonic script. Wang Yu didn't hesitate to ask for help again, disregarding face.
His thinking was, since he already owed the favor, owing a little more wouldn't matter.
And for Si Tu Hong, since he had already helped, helping a bit more was the same. The logic worked both ways.
It was an investment. Doubling down was common.
In the afternoon, the two met at his new residence. Si Tu Hong looked around at the environment, somewhat strangely asking:
"Brother Wang, with your skills, why haven't you moved into a True Disciple establishment? Instead, you're here in the free residence of the Corpse Market?"
"It's a long story. How did the matter I asked for your help with go?"
Si Tu Hong picked at his fingernail, feeling a bit odd. For some reason, it suddenly felt like he was the subordinate. Was it the context?
Shaking his head, he said, "Slave capture missions are different from regular sect missions. The Nine Peaks have a combined total of forty to fifty thousand spirit slaves, with a new batch every six months."
"Each peak has two teams cycling out to perform the missions. This part is controlled by the True Disciples of each peak. Procedurally, you need the True Disciple's approval to take one. The teams are fixed, and it's hard to change."
Wang Yu frowned slightly and took out a bag of spirit stones.
"Is it difficult to manage?"
"Actually, it's not that bad." Si Tu Hong didn't take the bag. He slowly poured himself a cup of tea, but finding it was stagnant water left by the previous occupant, his face darkened, and he had to put the cup back down.
"When traveling outside, people always die from various accidents. Slave capture teams also need to replenish their members."
"On the Five Yin Peak side, I can put in a word, but it would be easier to operate if you transferred from Coldblood Peak to my side."
"This..."
If he could, he would gladly do it. He had wanted to leave long ago.
The problem was his outer disciple status was given by True Disciple Su. Once the mark was placed, it couldn't be washed off. Otherwise, the three stewards from the Evil God Market Enforcement Hall would have already pulled him into the First Blood Nether Peak.
Now, especially during this sensitive period, he couldn't act recklessly, or True Disciple Su would likely make an example of him first.
"If a transfer isn't possible, you can only try to take on a slave capture mission from Coldblood Peak itself."
Wang Yu hadn't expected it to be so troublesome. Thinking again, if he couldn't go home, surely he could just take any mission that got him out of the sect to lay low.
"What about other missions that leave the sect... There must be suitable ones. Does Senior Brother Si Tu have any leads?"
Si Tu Hong felt a bit speechless. He was calling him 'Senior Brother' again. He weighed the bag of spirit stones Wang Yu had offered, his eyes lighting up, and said quietly:
"You are, after all, a disciple of Coldblood Peak. I'll go back and see if there are any joint missions between our two peaks. That would be easier to conceal."
"In that case, I'll trouble Senior Brother Si Tu. The sooner, the better. This junior is extremely grateful."
"Easy, easy."
With the matter settled, Wang Yu's anxiety eased a bit. After seeing Si Tu Hong off, he looked around suspiciously.
He had a constant feeling of being watched by True Disciple Su's people.
After all, he was involved in the plot against Wei Zhong. Anyone wanting to keep an escape route would definitely keep a close eye on him, not letting him leave the sect.
As for the inactive Fatty Duan, he could be sacrificed at a moment's notice. Wang Yu didn't believe that guy wasn't anxious himself.
He waited a few more days.
Wang Yu often used the Night Concealment Charm to go out and gather information, taking advantage of the increasing chaos in the Coldblood Market to acquire some contraband, like maps.
After all, having cultivated to this point, his understanding of the world was still limited to the Taihu Spirit Domain and the Crimson Kite Demon Domain. Although these two domains were vast, they were still small for an entire world. There had to be other regions.
Understanding this was still very necessary.
Ten days later, just as Wang Yu was growing impatient and considering other channels, Si Tu Hong finally sent a message. They met again in the Corpse Market.
"Brother Wang, success at last!"
*Whew—*
Hearing good news for once, Wang Yu breathed a sigh of relief and waited for the other to continue. Si Tu Hong spread out a map of the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect's Night Qiong Province, which was much more detailed than the one Wang Yu had drawn himself.
Pointing to a location on the map, he said.
"This place is called **[Spider Mountain]**. It's a mid-grade second-grade spirit vein. The Five Yin Peak cultivates a type of demonic beast called 〈Ghost-Eye Spiders〉 there. Their eyes are highly beneficial for ghosts and Yin-type beings."
"Additionally, it abundantly produces a cold-attribute spirit herb called 〈Spiderheart Grass〉, an essential auxiliary ingredient for refining many cold-attribute spirit pills, with a very wide range of applications."
"This Spider Mountain has twenty-one Ghost-Eye Caves, housing tens of thousands of Ghost-Eye Spiders, and five hundred and forty *mu* of Spiderheart Grass fields. The annual output is nearly three hundred thousand spirit stones."
"It's jointly managed by the Five Yin Peak and Coldblood Peak, each with a Foundation Establishment cultivator stationed there. If you're willing to take this mission, Brother Wang, you'd likely be assigned to the Spiderheart Grass fields."
"The reward is five hundred contribution points, ten stalks of Spiderheart Grass, plus three hundred spirit stones. The term is ten years."
Si Tu Hong explained in great detail, and Wang Yu listened attentively.
This was different from the Profound Bone Mountain mission. The biggest benefit there was the Profound Essence Flowers, and ownership was never firmly settled due to the contention between the Gu Poison Peak, Five Yin Peak, and Corpse Peak.
**(End of Chapter)**