When it comes to cultivating immortality, it naturally starts with upgrading the herb garden.

"Of course! Let's make a contract!"

Yu Xin looked at Song Chen on the stage and forced a smile.

At this point, he had already sensed that something was amiss.

Why is Song Mazi so calm? Could he have mistaken him for someone else? Is he no ordinary mortal?

Song Chen snorted coldly, his voice booming: "Not enough!"

Three pills shot out. The pills were pale purple and had no patterns. They were only grade three pills, but they had an inexplicable strangeness.

The cultivator on duty took a deep look at the pill, and for some reason felt a sense of apprehension towards Song Chen.

Song Chen held the pill and joked with amusement:

"This is my specially crafted Contract Tongue-Severing Pill. Once ingested, it will activate automatically according to the terms of the contract between both parties, with absolutely no possibility of escape!"

Song Chen emphasized his last sentence, shattering Yu Xin's plans completely.

As soon as he finished speaking, everyone looked around at the three of them, and the atmosphere of gossip grew even stronger.

As he finished speaking, Song Chen swallowed one of the pills in one gulp, then tossed one to each of them, saying, "Eat these!"

Yu Xin and the cultivator accepted the pills.

The cultivator swallowed it without hesitation, while Yu Xin hesitated quite a bit.

What if this person is a cultivator hiding their true strength?

"I only wanted to find a troublemaker to play with, how did I end up in this situation?"

After taking the medicine, the monk was still unaware of the problem and kept giving Yu the messenger meaningful glances.

This shows that the two were clearly conspiring to set a trap for Song Chen.

Yu Xin held the pill, hesitant to take a bite, his heart filled with deep worry, and he even considered backing out: "Um..."

"Eat! You must eat! We, the Letter-Writing Ones, are not afraid of a mere mortal like you!"

"Lord Shuxinzi, this kid has gone mad. Just wait and see him make a fool of himself!"

Listening to the conversation of the group of people around him, Yu Xin relaxed considerably, thinking to himself:

"His aura is unmistakable; Song Mazi looks so ordinary, he must be just a mortal!"

"He's bluffing! If I don't take this pill, he'll use it to refuse to fight the puppet! I can't fall for his scheme!"

With this in mind, Yu Xin felt much more at ease. He swallowed the pill in one gulp and shouted boldly, "I'll eat it! I, Shuxinzi, am not afraid of you!"

"Excellent! As expected of a letter writer! You have guts!"

"Lord Shuxinzi will surely be victorious!"

Cheers erupted, which made Yu Xin relax a lot, and even the corners of his mouth turned up more.

Seeing this, Song Chen sneered and turned around to face the puppet.

The monk on duty, realizing what was happening, asked, "Are you ready?"

He nodded slightly, his gaze falling on the puppet, his right hand already forming a hand seal.

The puppet also raised its right hand, and a faint thunderstorm appeared within it, once again unleashing that offensive spell.

The cultivator shouted, "Prepare to die! A puppet at the eighth level of Qi Refining is far superior to you! Hahahaha!"

"You will pay with your life for your recklessness!"

All around were voices—mockery, regret, all sorts of things.

Song Chen didn't care; he only had one thought in his mind: destroy this puppet!

He found his past self laughable.

Observe the puppet? Study the optimal solution?

Meaningless!

He's a powerful cultivator at the tenth level of Qi Refining!

The Three Pure Ones Sword Shadow Technique!

Several sword shadows flew horizontally, each radiating dazzling light; if someone without cultivation looked directly at them, it would damage their eyes.

The aura of the tenth level of Qi Refining was released from Song Chen!

The entire room fell silent.

"What? It's actually a level ten major repair!" Yu Xin was shocked. His narrowed eyes widened suddenly, and his mouth opened slightly.

The cultivator's face turned deathly pale, and he trembled all over as he felt this chilling aura.

The sword shadows moved like slicing melons and cutting vegetables, each unleashing a terrifying sword technique that instantly annihilated the puppets.

Before the cultivators on duty could react, the puppet had already been reduced to fragments.

Yu Xin gritted his teeth, staring at the remaining sword energy on the field, his heart filled with horror.

He was cynical and disdainful, regarding cultivators with low cultivation levels as ants and mortals without cultivation as playthings.

But this does not mean that Yu Xin is unable to distinguish right from wrong or does not understand what a strong person is like.

On the contrary, Yu Xin knew very well what kind of people he couldn't afford to offend.

The man in front of him, Song Mazi, was someone Yu Xin couldn't afford to offend.

If even one of those sword shadows were to fall on Yu Xin, it would be enough to kill him a hundred times over.

Click!

"cough!"

Blood flowed from Yu Xin's mouth, and a red tongue spurted out.

He was pale and kept his head down without saying a word.

The cultivator screamed in agony, "Ah!"

Blood spurted from his open mouth, and a piece of his tongue flew out, landing on the ground with a crisp sound.

The cultivator immediately fainted from the pain and remained motionless.

The monk on duty stepped forward, his previous sternness softened, and asked gently, "What's your name?"

"Song Mazi," Song Chen said, turning his head to look at him.

The cultivator on duty nodded, full of approval: "You've been selected. Even among those of the same level, you're among the top tier. You're very strong!"

"Compared to you?" Song Chen asked with a smile.

Song Chen had been holding back, partly because of the cultivator in front of him.

The monk on duty thought for a moment and said, "They are evenly matched!"

Song Chen laughed heartily: "Alright! You even want to know my name, senior?"

"Call me Senior Brother! I am Wan Nan. We'll discuss the initiation details later. You should rest in a safe place for now."

Wan Nan smiled faintly and offered her suggestion.

Song Chen cupped his hands in thanks: "I'll need your guidance after I've joined the sect! By the way, about this puppet..."

"No need to worry."

Wan Nan raised his hand and condensed the puppet fragments, and the puppet miraculously returned to its original state, surprising everyone, including Song Chen.

"You'll get used to it. That's the advantage of memory puppets. As long as their essence remains, even if they're completely destroyed, they can instantly return to their original state!"

Wan Nan explained with a smile, "You'll see even more bizarre puppets after you start learning; just get used to it!"

Song Chen shook his head and walked towards the cultivators outside the dueling platform who were preparing to fight.

The gazes of these rogue cultivators fell upon Song Chen, each one a mixture of stunned silence, jealousy, and envy.

As soon as he approached the group, a short-haired cultivator stepped forward and bowed, saying, "My name is Shi Jian. Please give me your guidance!"

Song Chen was dumbfounded, thinking to himself: "I've hardly left the house in the past four years, but today I've encountered an unusually large number of strange people. Is this some kind of misfortune brought about by my blood spirit root?"

After exchanging a few casual pleasantries, Song Chen realized the other party's intentions.

It turned out that this person was a Qi Refining Ninth Level cultivator who was confident that he would be able to enter the Lower Sword Sect, so he thought of getting to know Song Chen in advance.

Song Chen was speechless, and kept thinking to himself: the world is so big and full of wonders.

Suddenly, he felt dizzy and his vision went black; he almost couldn't stand up.

After recovering, Song Chen probed his dantian with his consciousness. The dried-up spiritual sea contained nothing but a phantom-like soul and a Spirit Condensation Pill.

What he just took wasn't a tongue-severing pill at all, but a spirit-condensing pill!

Even so, the spiritual energy was completely exhausted, not a single drop remained.

This shows just how enormous the energy consumption is to unleash the Three Pure Sword Shadow Technique at full power!

Furthermore, unleashing such a powerful spell at once also puts a certain burden on the soul, which is why Song Chen experienced dizziness just now.

Song Chen sighed.

From all perspectives, resolving the issue of the soul truly needs to be put on the agenda!