Not long after Xiao Fei escaped the mountain with the bodies, another cultivator found the cave but returned disappointed.
Meanwhile, Xiao Fei had already hidden himself in a deserted forest and taken out the bodies of the two family cultivators to search them thoroughly.
These family cultivators were wealthy, each carrying over a hundred spirit stones.
He also found a flying sword and a black shield, both high-grade magical artifacts.
The two had already collected eight spirit herbs for the mission, a much faster pace than Xiao Fei.
With these eight, plus the two he had found earlier, he now had ten.
In addition, Xiao Fei found a jade slip. Upon probing it with his divine sense, he discovered it was a map of the Dragon Fall Abyss.
However, this map was more detailed, marking the production sites of various spiritual items.
It was no wonder these two collected spirit herbs so quickly; they simply had to follow the map, searching one location after another.
In the center of the map, a red circle was marked without any accompanying text, leaving its meaning unknown.
In the following days, Xiao Fei followed the markings on the map. Some locations had already been claimed by others, while some did not yield any growth this year.
However, his overall efficiency increased significantly. In a few days, he found another eight spirit herbs and three types of spirit ores, bringing his mission items to a total of 21.
At this rate, he would soon gather all the required spiritual items for the mission.
One day, Xiao Fei headed towards a pool according to the map. A mineral required for the mission was produced at the bottom of the pool.
As he reached the edge of the pool and had just removed his mask to wash his face, he unexpectedly encountered a group of cultivators – Lin family cultivators.
It was too late to put his mask back on now.
Lin Xiang, on the other side, also saw Xiao Fei at a glance and was momentarily stunned.
He had a slight impression of this once subservient rogue cultivator.
What he didn't expect was that Xiao Fei could advance to the tenth level of Qi Refining in such a short time, which was extremely rare among rogue cultivators.
Could this person have excellent cultivation aptitude?
"You! Come here!"
Lin Xiang pointed at Xiao Fei, still commanding him with his usual condescending tone.
He had already decided that this individual possessed excellent cultivation aptitude and must not be allowed to live!
This group of Lin family cultivators consisted of five people, all above the eighth level of Qi Refining, with the strongest being at the twelfth level.
Facing such a situation, fighting was impossible, and even escaping was out of the question.
With no other choice, Xiao Fei had to revert to his previous humble and fawning smile.
"So it's Young Master Lin gracing us with his presence. Xiao Fei pays his respects to all young masters."
Xiao Fei's hand had already quietly slipped into his sleeve, retrieving a wax pellet from his spatial storage and crushing it within his sleeve.
A colorless and odorless gas dispersed into the air.
Even Xiao Fei himself, upon careful sensing, could not detect the presence of this gas.
All he needed to do now was to stall for time.
"You're quite sensible, boy. How many spiritual items have you collected? Bring them out for this young master to see!"
"Yes! Yes!"
Xiao Fei was eager to stall for more time. He took out a small wooden box from his embrace and placed it in front of him.
"Young Master Lin, look, this Spirit Gathering Grass was collected by me here. It's exceptionally robust and worth at least five spirit stones."
Xiao Fei took out the Spirit Gathering Grass from the wooden box, a fawning smile on his face, and introduced it to Lin Xiang incessantly.
"Please, Young Master Lin, accept this Spirit Gathering Grass. It represents my humble intentions."
Lin Xiang's forehead was covered in black lines. These rogue cultivators were all so unsophisticated, treating a single Spirit Gathering Grass as a treasure.
"Stop! Do you think this young master is as ignorant as you rogue cultivators?
Even if a Spirit Gathering Grass fell on the ground, this young master wouldn't pick it up!"
Lin Xiang interrupted Xiao Fei's obsequious words without mercy.
The other Lin family disciples also let out cold chuckles, waiting to dismember this small rogue cultivator into pieces moments later.
"Quickly, take out all the mission items you've found, and your magical artifacts as well. This young master can spare your life."
Xiao Fei, reprimanded loudly by Lin Xiang, was not angered at all. He maintained his smile, enduring the insult.
"Yes! Yes, Young Master Lin, your reprimand is correct!"
Xiao Fei was magnanimous and never bothered with the dead. What was wrong with giving a smile to five people who were about to die!
"I'll get them now!"
Xiao Fei estimated that the medicinal effect should be nearing its peak.
To fulfill Lin Xiang's dying wish, he quickly took out a Purple Ganoderma and two mineral stones from his embrace, placing them before him.
"Is that all? What about the magical artifacts? Take them all out!"
Xiao Fei unbuckled a short sword he had obtained earlier from his waist and threw it at his feet.
"Heh heh! Now that's more like it..."
"Hmm! My head feels a bit dizzy!"
Thump! Thump...
The five Lin family disciples fainted one after another, losing consciousness.
The Black Leaf Datura flower had no initial symptoms upon poisoning. By the time the medicinal effect took hold, it was already too late.
The poison in the flower only caused dizziness, not death.
Xiao Fei did not hesitate. He picked up the flying sword from the ground and decapitated each of them.
Just as Xiao Fei was about to search the bodies for spoils, a wisp of black qi surged from the Soul Nurturing Pearl he wore on his chest and entered Lin Xiang's corpse.
"Second Sister!"
"Are you awake?"
Xiao Fei asked tentatively.
His second sister, Xiao Lan, had been in a deep slumber within the Soul Nurturing Pearl for many years and had never woken up. Today, however, there was a reaction.
"Second Sister?"
Still, there was no response.
The black qi that had previously emerged from Lin Xiang's corpse flew out and immediately burrowed into another body.
Xiao Fei simply stood still and observed.
After a moment, the black qi, having circled through all five corpses, materialized before Xiao Fei, forming the outline of a woman's figure.
However, the appearance of the woman made Xiao Fei hesitate to recognize her.
She had a slender figure, exuding a maiden's beauty, but her face was green and fanged, her eyes blood-red.
"Second Sister! Is that you?"
"Roar!"
The woman before him let out a roar and lunged towards Xiao Fei.
Seeing this, Xiao Fei dared not attack with his flying sword and could only retreat, circling around the spot.
"Second Sister! Is that you? I'm Xiao Fei!"
Finally, the woman stopped, standing still and tilting her head as if recalling something.
After a moment, the green, fanged face receded, revealing Xiao Lan's appearance, though her eyes remained blood-red.
"Xiao Fei!"
"Second Sister! You're awake!"
Xiao Fei excitedly walked up to Xiao Lan and reached out to take her hand, but his grasp went through empty air. Xiao Lan was still just a phantom.
"Xiao Fei, to put it briefly, I have transformed into a fierce ghost. My cultivation is too low now, making it difficult to maintain a clear state of consciousness. Everything will be driven by instinct.
This is my soul blood. You can use this to control me when I'm not lucid, to prevent me from harming you."
As Xiao Lan spoke, a drop of black blood appeared in her hand and flew into Xiao Fei's forehead.
After the black soul blood merged into his forehead, Xiao Fei immediately felt a telepathic connection with Xiao Lan. They could communicate through consciousness.
Conscious communication was much faster than spoken language. In that instant, they exchanged a great deal of information.
"I can't control it anymore!"
After transmitting this thought, Xiao Lan's face began to contort, once again transforming into a green, fanged fierce ghost. She let out a roar and lunged towards Xiao Fei again.
"Absorb!"
Xiao Fei uttered a soft command. The fierce ghost before him struggled for a moment before transforming into a black light and disappearing into the Soul Nurturing Pearl.
By giving him her soul blood, Xiao Lan had essentially entrusted her life and death to Xiao Fei's control. Such a thing would only be entrusted to the closest of kin.