Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

"name?"

"...the silk weaver."

"Is this your real name?"

The female cultivator did not respond, but simply shook her head.

To Yan Cheng's surprise, the notoriously vicious headhunter did not attack him the moment she woke up. Instead, she was willing to cooperate with him in communicating.

It was just cooperation, which meant that no one took action at the slightest disagreement.

You still can't get much useful information out of her.

Yan Cheng remained silent.

The reason he put the female cultivator into the black coffin was because the yin energy in the coffin had a nourishing effect on the corpse cultivator, which should theoretically help the female cultivator recover from her injuries.

He had considered taking advantage of the female cultivator's unconsciousness to cut off her head.

However, his life in the palace for many days made him realize that the matter of the head-hanging man was not as simple as it seemed.

At least one thing is clear: if the Lord wanted this female cultivator dead, she would never have lived this long.

Who knows if killing the female cultivator wouldn't backfire and ruin the important affairs of the high-ranking cultivators in the hall!

Taking reckless action before fully understanding the situation could lead to even greater disaster.

That being said, keeping this female cultivator who calls herself the Silk Weaver in one's own room is equally risky.

Who knows if there's a method in the palace to deduce the other party's location?

Thinking of this, Yan Cheng's eyes gleamed:

"Unseen mist..."

"How did you manage to absorb that mist into your body?"

The silk weaver shook her head again.

Yan Cheng began to feel somewhat irritated. He stared intently at the female cultivator, then slowly walked to a spot three zhang in front of her and sat down.

A distance of three zhang is safe enough. In case the Silk Weaver suddenly attacks, the moon wheel seal he holds in his palms under his sleeves is not to be underestimated.

Moreover, the other party's injuries were not minor.

Corpse cultivators who practice the "Yin Corpse Walking and Evil Technique" can further condense the Yin Corpse Evil within their bodies into corpse poison and attach the corpse poison to their ten claws.

If a fellow corpse cultivator is struck by a poisoned claw attack, the yin energy within their body will surge instantly, inevitably triggering a backlash of yang fire, causing them to explode into a bloody mess in an instant.

However, such an attack consumes a great deal of corpse energy, which most corpse cultivators are reluctant to do.

Therefore, Yan Cheng deduced that it was the ghoul puppet in the corridor that was responsible.

An ordinary corpse cultivator would certainly not survive to this moment if struck by this claw.

But for those who possess the method of guiding yang fire away from the body, things are naturally different...

Yan Cheng frowned again.

He probably knew where the puppet strings in Tiantong and the others came from.

If he was right, the silk weaver in front of him who could produce silk threads must be quite precious to the Hall of Longevity, which also explains why the hall has not yet eliminated her.

Tian Tong once mentioned that the production of puppet silk is not as high as before...

Is it because other silk weavers have also lost control, just like this person in front of me?

Thinking of this, Yan Cheng felt a headache coming on.

Allowing this woman to roam freely in the Hall of Longevity resulted in the deaths of several corpse cultivators who were strangled by her in the middle of the night, their deaths left unexplained.

The emperor spared her life because he believed she was still useful.

As for how many corpse cultivators would die because of her while she was on the run, the big shots didn't care.

A bright purple flame ignited in his palm, and he stared intently at the silk weaver, asking:

Why were those people hanged?

The silk weaver remained silent for a long while before finally speaking:

"Soul".

"A person's soul contains yang energy. Once I'm out of the coffin, I won't live more than seven days without consuming souls."

Yan Cheng frowned upon hearing this.

Ordinary corpse cultivators are afraid of having too much yang energy in their bodies, but have they ever heard of the opposite, that they cannot live without yang energy?

The silk weaver lightly waved her delicate hand, and strands of silk thread extended from beneath her wide black robe to her fingertips, meandering and moving as if alive:

"Our way of entering the palace is different from yours. We were chosen by the envoys of the immortal sect before we were born and brought back to the palace to be refined into corpses."

"Although it is a Yin body, it is nourished by the Rejuvenation Pill year after year and coffined with seven Yang-attribute spiritual beings."

"Every seven days and seven nights, the coffin is opened and the excess yang fire is drawn out by the method of silkworms spinning silk, and then the coffin is sealed again for slumber. Year after year, it has long been inseparable from the supply of yang energy."

Yan Cheng couldn't see her eyes hidden in the shadows, but she could feel the other woman's gaze fixed on her.

"But from a certain day onwards, the supply of the Rejuvenation Pill was suddenly cut off."

"The official in charge of watching over us didn't offer a single explanation. He just told us to be patient, to be mindful of the bigger picture, and not to cause trouble for the sect."

"We never saw her again after that."

"Some of the disciples who entered the hall earlier had been nourished by the Rejuvenating Pill for a longer period of time, and their bodies had long been inseparable from the yang energy. One after another, they withered and died in their coffins, and their souls scattered."

"But I don't want to die."

Yan Cheng narrowed his eyes slightly:

"So you expect us to die for you?"

The silk weaver's tone remained calm:

"Who are you all?"

"The other corpse cultivators in the hall are their own, and you are yours."

"They break through to higher realms and rise rapidly in rank, without sharing any benefits with you."

"Similarly, their deaths at my hands have not cost you anything."

"I was injured by that soulless and spiritless Yin puppet, and had no choice but to take refuge in this place. I had no intention of taking your soul."

"At least...not now."

"If you don't believe me, then cut off my head with one sword. At this moment, I have no room to resist."

Yan Cheng said:

"It's a bit of a luxury to talk about trust when we're here."

"I just want to know, what is the origin of your technique of transforming into mist? Is it a wondrous skill you mastered after consuming the Unstable Mist?"

The silk weaver shook her head:

"I have never swallowed any mist or fog."

Seeing Yan Cheng's gloomy expression, she remained unperturbed and said softly:

"If you mean this mist, it is the residue left after I absorbed the yang energy of souls."

"The master who once looked after us passed down the 'Hidden Mist Concealment Technique,' which allows one to temporarily transform into mist, impervious to evil energy and untouched by weapons."

"However, this fog condenses extremely slowly, and in the past, most of it had to be handed over every year, so this escape technique can only be used a few times now."

Yan Cheng remained silent.

He seemed to know where the sea of ​​mist currently enveloping the cultivators of the Hall of Longevity came from.

If what the silk weaver said is true, their efficiency in condensing the mist is obviously not high, and not enough to form a large area of ​​mist that covers the entire valley.

But what if we add the souls supplied by the corpse cultivators when they die?

No wonder that neither Huang Tong's Corpse Puppet Refining School nor the loan shark's Corpse Dismemberment School seemed to care much about the daily losses of the Corpse Cultivators.

Compared to the flesh and blood of the corpse cultivators, their souls are far more valuable.

However, these souls are automatically drawn away when the corpse cultivators die.

The claim that his soul was scattered after being killed by the executioner actually means that his soul was not taken away by the emperor, but instead entered the belly of the silk weaver.

Compared to the gains and losses of external things like the puppet strings, this undoubtedly truly touches upon the core interests of the high-ranking cultivators in the palace.

That's why there was that carnivorous shadow puppet patrolling the corridor, trying to capture the silk weaver who had embezzled the palace's precious assets!