15: Assessing the gains, undercurrents are brewing.

The night was as dark as ink. The Shen Family manor was brightly lit; on one side, they were tending to the wounded, while on the other, they were tallying battle losses.

On the other side, however, the Lin Family manor had fallen into a deathly silence.

Shen Yuanmo did not move with the main group; instead, he slipped alone and silently into the deepest part of the Lin Family residence, Lin Xiaotian's seclusion chamber.

With his current Divine Sense at the Foundation Establishment Stage, he easily bypassed the few remaining, inconsequential Restrictions of the Lin Family.

The seclusion chamber was not large, and the furnishings were simple: only a stone bed, a meditation cushion, and an inconspicuous treasure shelf in the corner.

The air still held the lingering, chilly aura of Lin Xiaotian's Demonic Path.

Shen Yuanmo's gaze locked directly onto the treasure shelf.

Several jade boxes and Storage Pouches were placed on the shelf; with a sweep of his Divine Sense, he broke the simple Restrictions upon them.

He opened the first Storage Pouch; inside were Spirit Stones.

Low-Grade Spirit Stones were piled into a small mountain, roughly estimated at seventy or eighty thousand, and there were also over five hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.

This wealth was almost the sum of the Shen Family's accumulation over the past few decades.

In the second Storage Pouch were some Medicinal Pills and Spiritual Plants, mostly for healing and increasing cultivation; their grades were not high, but their quantity was not small.

There were also some main Materials needed to refine the 'Nine Ghosts Soul-Devouring' Spell, such as Soul-Yin Grass and Resentful Bone Flowers, which emitted an uncomfortable aura.

Shen Yuanmo only took one look before losing interest; in his view, these Medicinal Pills had mixed pill toxins and low efficacy.

When he had time, he could use the Materials in the Lin Family's herb garden to casually refine top-grade Medicinal Pills with ten times the efficacy.

His attention was drawn to a black jade box.

A Restriction Talisman was pasted on the jade box, clearly containing something very important.

Shen Yuanmo's fingertips surged with Red Sun mana, easily dissolving the spiritual power on the Talisman.

Opening the jade box, an ancient book made of animal hide lay quietly inside, with four twisted seal characters written on the cover: 'Mysterious Yin Ghost Record'.

He flipped through a few pages and discovered that this was exactly the Cultivation Technique Lin Xiaotian practiced, a Demonic Path Cultivation Technique that pointed directly to the Golden Core.

However, this Cultivation Technique did not seem complete, as there were obvious signs of tearing at the back.

'A defective Cultivation Technique?' Shen Yuanmo's heart stirred.

His Comprehension Ability talent was most sensitive to such incomplete things.

As his mind sank into the Cultivation Technique, various cultivation methods, Qi Circulation routes, Spells, and Divine Abilities related to the 'Mysterious Yin Ghost Record' instantly flowed through his mind.

Almost in an instant, countless defects and errors were clearly marked in his mind.

'So that's how it is. This Cultivation Technique is eager for quick success, forcibly condensing Yin-Fiend Qi, causing great damage to the Meridians; every time one breaks through a layer, a hidden danger is buried. Lin Xiaotian was able to Cultivate to the Mid-stage Foundation Establishment, likely by relying on external objects to forcibly suppress the backlash; his Foundation was already hollow and unbearable.'

'Moreover, the Nine Ghosts Soul-Devouring he cast had an extremely crude refining technique; he only knew its form but not its spirit. If one follows the perfect method I deduced, nourishing it with one's own essence soul, the power could be at least thirty percent stronger.'

Shen Yuanmo shook his head and casually tossed this Demonic Path Cultivation Technique, which would be enough to cause countless Loose Cultivators to fight over it in the outside world, back into the jade box.

To him, this kind of self-harming and altruism-lacking Cultivation Technique was worthless.

His Divine Sense probed the last corner of the seclusion chamber, underneath the stone bed.

There was a hidden compartment there.

Opening the hidden compartment, there were no Spirit Stones, no Magic Treasures, only a letter sealed with wax.

There was no writing on the envelope.

Shen Yuanmo picked up the letter and tore open the wax. There was no signature on the letter paper either, only a few words written in a sweeping, calligraphic hand.

'Brother Lin, the Old Ancestor of the Shen Family is near the end of his Lifespan; this is a heaven-sent Opportunity. After the matter is accomplished, the Spiritual Vein belongs to me, and the market belongs to you. Act quickly.'

Shen Yuanmo's pupils constricted slightly.

This handwriting looked familiar to him.

Years ago, when he represented the Family to pay taxes at the City Lord's Mansion, he had seen a notice written by the City Lord Zhao Wuji himself; it was seventy percent similar to the handwriting on this letter.

Although the other party had deliberately changed the strokes, that overbearing aura, long steeped in power, was difficult to hide.

'It really is the City Lord's Mansion.'

Shen Yuanmo held the letter paper up to the candlelight, watching it slowly turn to ashes.

Evidence? He did not need evidence.

As long as this letter existed, it could become leverage for others to hold against him.

Only things kept in one's own heart were the safest.

He stood up and was about to leave when, suddenly, a faint fluctuation of spiritual power came from the wall.

He walked to the wall, reached out, and tapped his fingertips lightly on the cold stone wall.

'Thump, thump, thump...'

In one inconspicuous place, the sound was slightly different.

A flash of light shone in Shen Yuanmo's eyes; he poured mana into his palm and pressed lightly against that spot.

With a dull thud, the stone wall recessed inward, revealing a secret passage that could only accommodate one person.

A more concentrated and purer Yin-Fiend Qi rushed towards him from the depths of the secret passage.

He did not hesitate and stepped inside.

The secret passage was not long, about a hundred zhang, and at the end was a naturally formed underground karst cave.

In the center of the cave, there was a blood pool about a zhang square; the blood in the pool was viscous and bubbling.

Countless wronged souls struggled and roared within it, forming a blood fiend pearl the size of a human head, emitting an astonishingly evil aura.

Beside the blood pool, a dozen or so corpses of Mortals whose essence blood had been sucked dry lay scattered about.

'Using the essence blood of living people to refine evil objects...' Shen Yuanmo's expression turned completely cold.

'What a fine Lin Family, what a fine Lin Xiaotian.'

This kind of behavior was no longer a normal struggle between Cultivators, but an out-and-out Demonic Path act.

According to the laws of the Immortal Dynasty, once discovered, it was a crime punishable by the execution of the entire Family.

It seems this was the Lin Family's biggest secret; was the City Lord's Mansion unaware of this, or... were they colluding?

Shen Yuanmo's thoughts raced.

This blood fiend pearl was a supreme treasure for Demonic Path Cultivators, but for him, it was a filthy object; however, if he destroyed it directly, it would be a pity.

He stared at the blood fiend pearl, his Heaven-Defying Comprehension Ability activated once again.

Countless pieces of information flashed through his mind: the composition of the blood fiend power, the essence of the wronged souls, the transformation of energy...

A moment later, a bold idea formed in his heart.

'Blood fiend power is essentially a type of energy as well. It is extremely Yin and extremely evil, exactly the opposite of my Red Sun Glazed mana. If I could transform it...'

He sat cross-legged, formed hand seals, drew a wisp of blood fiend Qi, and carefully incorporated it into his body.

As soon as that chilly, evil power entered his body, it was like a maggot on a bone, frantically trying to erode his Meridians and consciousness.

'Hmph, a mere grain of rice daring to shine?'

Shen Yuanmo's heart stirred, and the Red Sun Glazed dao foundation within his Dantian roared into operation.

The extremely Yang and extremely rigid mana surged out like a brilliant sun, wrapping around that wisp of blood fiend Qi.

'Using my body as a furnace, my mana as fire, reversing Yin and Yang, refine for me!'

Red-gold flames burned fiercely in his Meridians.

Under the refining of his mana, that wisp of blood fiend Qi actually began to emit shrill shrieks, and the resentment and Impurities within were burned away bit by bit.

In the end, it turned into a wisp of the purest, non-attribute Origin Qi, merging into his dao foundation.

'It's feasible!'

A light never seen before burst forth from Shen Yuanmo's eyes.

This blood pool, which others would see as a life-taking poison, was a heaven-sent Opportunity for him!

If he could refine the entire blood fiend pearl, his cultivation could likely be pushed directly to the peak of the Early Stage of Foundation Establishment, or even break through to the Middle Stage, touching the threshold of the Late Stage!

Just as he was preparing to go all out, a message Talisman flew from the outside into the secret passage and hovered in front of him.

It was a message from his father, Shen Qiming.

'Mo'er, people from the City Lord's Mansion have come, specifically asking to see you.'

Shen Yuanmo's movements stopped; he glanced at the alluring blood fiend pearl, and in the end, he stood up.