Chapter 68 Part 1

Xie Linlang, once he had made up his mind, always acted swiftly.

A true Zhu Yan Pill required more than a week to refine, but since this was a pill formula he had developed himself, he merely adjusted a few medicinal effects and produced a low-grade version of the Zhu Yan Pill.

The low-grade version of the Zhu Yan Pill perfectly achieved the effects that Kill Matt Night Senior desired—for instance, it could turn demon beasts into humans, alter appearances, and even cultivators with exceptional strength could not discern the true face, only vaguely judging that the person had disguised their appearance, and so on.

The only drawback was its short duration; the effects wore off after six hours, and to maintain them, one had to keep consuming the pills within that timeframe.

Xie Linlang named this new pill the Appearance-Changing Pill. He took one himself first, thoroughly fixing his appearance to prevent anyone from seeing through it with pupil techniques or secret arts.

Once he confirmed the Appearance-Changing Pill was effective, he immediately summoned Shen He and quickly explained the refining method and precautions to him.

“Alright, you start refining as well. It doesn’t need to be full pills or high quality—just ensure it lasts six hours.”

Xie Linlang calculated inwardly. He had no idea how long he would stay at Jiuxia Mountain—at least half a month, right?

Half a month meant thirty pills. If unexpected events required emergency top-ups, adding and subtracting, they would need at least forty as a baseline.

Moreover, since Xie Linlang had obtained quite a few high-end materials from Jin Ling True Person under the pretext of refining pills for Kill Matt Night Senior, he still needed to prepare forty pills for Night Senior.

By this calculation, if he relied solely on himself to refine them, he wouldn’t get anything else done in the coming days.

Shen He, upon hearing Xie Linlang’s requirements, simply acknowledged it and rolled up his sleeves to get to work.

The master and disciple busied themselves through the night. The next day, both looked exhausted and listless.

Night Senior, who had vanished somewhere, suddenly reappeared. He landed on Xie Linlang’s shoulder and tilted his head to scrutinize him, sensing something off about the person beside him—as if he were fake.

Night Senior immediately pecked at Xie Linlang’s cheek with his beak.

Xie Linlang was already fatigued and couldn’t be bothered to keep up pretenses. He casually and irritably swatted Night Senior off his shoulder.

Night Senior flapped his fleshy wings and landed on the ground.

Oh, it was Xie Yu in person.

Night Senior then flew to Shen He’s shoulder. Finding Shen He similarly listless, he continued to poke at him.

Shen He said helplessly, “Stop it, Night Senior. Senior Brother and I busied ourselves all night to prepare the pills you wanted.”

Night Senior was full of confusion and was about to keep poking Shen He to ask what was going on when he saw Jin Ling True Person ahead calling everyone over.

“Everyone rested well? All present? Let’s go to Jiuxia Mountain.”

Ying Xiaotian stood to one side with over a dozen White Bone Sect disciples. The white-clothed youth appeared to smile faintly at everyone, but in reality, his gaze lingered mostly on Kill Matt Night Senior.

Especially when Xie Linlang rudely swatted Night Senior to the ground—Ying Xiaotian’s eyes nearly bulged out!

Ying Xiaotian rudely sized Xie Linlang up and down until Jin Ling True Person spoke, snapping him out of it.

“Oh, right. Let’s set off.”

Ying Xiaotian gave another deep look at the listless Xie Linlang until he met a pair of distinctly hostile crimson eyes. Only then did Ying Xiaotian shiver and turn toward the Teleportation Array.

The Silent Night Palace disciples experienced teleportation once more. Unlike the last time when they had been flung about in disarray, this time they had mastered their states, circulating Demonic Qi within their bodies to counter the twisting rotation of spiritual power, and finally landed steadily.

The Teleportation Array was set up on a spacious platform. Xie Linlang followed the crowd down from the platform and saw a middle-aged man greeting Jin Ling True Person.

The middle-aged man had sword brows and star-like eyes, exuding an elegant scholarly air.

He wore a sky-blue open-collared outer robe over a black long garment embroidered with subtle patterns, his long hair bound in a crown, with a short beard under his chin—altogether presenting a steady and dignified image.

Upon seeing Jin Ling True Person, the middle-aged man revealed a mild smile and stepped forward in greeting. “This must be Silent Night Palace’s Steward Jin Ling True Person, I presume?”

Jin Ling True Person: “Shen Wei True Person.”

This was none other than Jiuxia Mountain’s Sect Leader, Shenwei True Person’s junior brother, Xie Linlang and Pei Ji’s martial uncle—Shen Wei True Person.

Xie Linlang glanced at Shen Wei True Person and immediately looked away.

As his gaze shifted, Xie Linlang spotted a youth standing not far behind and to the side of Shen Wei True Person.

The youth seemed somewhat introverted, dressed in a black long robe with a long sword at his waist. His long hair was tied in a ponytail, with straight bangs across his forehead, giving him a docile and quiet appearance.

Xie Linlang lowered his eyes.

He naturally recognized this youth. The youth was Wen Jingyan, Shen Wei True Person’s chief disciple, whom Shen Wei True Person greatly favored.

Shen Wei True Person naturally hoped Wen Jingyan would inherit his mantle and become Jiuxia Mountain’s next Sect Leader.

But Xie Linlang knew Wen Jingyan fairly well. This man loved studying array arts and had no interest in power struggles, not even caring much about his own cultivation.

Back then, Xie Linlang had slacked off due to Pei Ji, so his mindset was similar to Wen Jingyan’s.

No matter what Shen Wei True Person thought inwardly, on the surface, he certainly took good care of his senior brother’s disciples and was happy to see Wen Jingyan interact more with Xie Linlang. Thus, one immersed in pill refining and the other in array research, their relationship had actually been quite close.

But all of this hinged on one premise: Pei Ji had already fallen.

If Pei Ji were still in the world, if there was something fishy about Pei Ji’s mission to Nine Spirits Sect back then, as Sect Leader, did Shen Wei True Person truly know nothing?

The entire Boxia Lineage had perished, and the inheritance fell into Shen Wei True Person’s hands. As the ultimate beneficiary, Shen Wei True Person hardly seemed innocent.

Xie Linlang sighed inwardly. He composed himself, avoiding looking at Jiuxia Mountain’s disciples, and instead gazed toward the mountains ahead shrouded in clouds.