Chapter 275: Taking Charge

Mr. Zhuang, skilled in ink painting, once mentioned a visualization map.

In the cultivation world, there were originally no techniques to cultivate divine sense. The only way to enhance divine sense was by using external objects, and that method was the visualization map.

Visualization maps are extremely rare. Even among the great clans and prominent families of that world, they are considered absolute secret inheritances.

The third boss is the middle-aged array master I encountered before.

His ability to become a first-grade array master and even hope to break through to the second grade surely stems from inheriting array techniques.

Furthermore, after so many years at Hei Shan Zhai, having killed countless cultivators and plundered countless cultivation resources and inheritances, it wouldn't be strange for him to possess a visualization map.

I was very curious.

I had long wanted to know exactly what a visualization map is.

Is it true that you can visualize by looking at a map and enhance your divine sense?

However, Mr. Zhuang warned me that visualization maps carry unknown dangers and should not be deeply studied or relied upon. So, before, I didn't pay much attention to it.

But even if I don't use the visualization map to enhance my divine sense, just looking at it would be beneficial for broadening my knowledge.

Now, perhaps that third boss might have a visualization map in his possession.

If there truly is a visualization map, and visualizing with the map can indeed enhance divine sense, I might be able to possess Foundation Establishment stage divine sense earlier and become a Foundation Establishment cultivator sooner.

Otherwise, at the current rate of divine sense growth, reaching Foundation Establishment is a bit too long.

My heart was a little excited, but after thinking about it, I felt a bit dejected.

That third boss is a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator and an evil array master.

How could he possibly give me an opportunity to steal the map?

Not to mention stealing, even hiding nearby and watching with him would likely be very dangerous.

"Forget it. In the future, if one day I can completely overthrow this Hei Shan Zhai, then I'll find a way to see if I can get this map."

Moreover, this is just my guess.

What the third boss possesses might not necessarily be a visualization map; it could just be a rare array map.

Right now, investigating information is still the priority.

I calmed my heart and focused my mind, continuing to eavesdrop from the side.

After the scar-faced man finished speaking, the pale-faced man was also a bit surprised and asked, "What map?"

The scar-faced man was reluctant to answer.

The pale-faced man kept chattering. The scar-faced man couldn't help but scold him.

"How the hell would I know? How many heads do I have to dare look at the third boss's things?"

The pale-faced man was a little disappointed and immediately asked again,

"You've been here for so long. Have you ever seen the big boss?"

The pale-faced man joined the stronghold later and knew little, while the scar-faced man joined earlier and was more senior.

But when it came to the big boss, the scar-faced man also shook his head.

"The big boss is like a divine dragon, you only see the head but not the tail. Not to mention me, even some of the old folks in the stronghold who are more senior than me haven't necessarily seen him."

The pale-faced man asked again, "What about the other bosses?"

The scar-faced man glanced at him, "What, you want to be a boss?"

The pale-faced man laughed awkwardly, but secretly thought, "Isn't this just nonsense?"

In this Hei Shan Zhai, who doesn't want to be a boss?

Becoming a boss means holding immense power within Hei Shan Zhai, far surpassing ordinary evil cultivators like them. Their status is much higher, their power is naturally much greater, and they can do whatever they want.

A hint of greed flashed in the pale-faced man's eyes.

The scar-faced man saw through his thoughts and scoffed, "Then I'll tell you. You can weigh whether you have what it takes."

"If you want to be a boss, first you must be a Foundation Establishment cultivator."

"Among the bosses of Hei Shan Zhai, the big boss is unfathomable. The second boss is a cold-blooded person with extremely heavy killing intent."

"The second boss hasn't been seen for the past few days. It's said that the big boss told everyone to restrain themselves recently, and the second boss, unable to suppress his killing nature, went to other immortal cities to kill people."

"The third boss is an array master. You should naturally understand the status of an array master. All the arrays in Hei Shan Zhai, from beginning to end, were set up by the third boss. No one in the stronghold dares to offend him except the big boss."

"As for the fourth boss, the previous one died, and this one is newly promoted. He likes to drink blood. If you provoke him, be careful not to be sucked into a human husk."

The scar-faced man laughed contemptuously, "Which position do you think you can replace and become a boss?"

The pale-faced man's face twitched slightly, but he still feigned strength and said,

"Thirty years to the east of the river, thirty years to the west of the river. It might not be certain in the future."

The scar-faced man coldly snorted, "Thirty years later, you probably won't even be alive."

Being an evil cultivator in this Hei Shan Zhai is not a stable matter. Not to mention living to Foundation Establishment and becoming a boss, not many can even live to die of old age.

The two looked at each other with cold eyes, and then each drank their wine.

Meanwhile, I was thinking silently.

I was right. There are indeed four bosses in Hei Shan Zhai!

I have seen the third boss and the fourth boss.

The second boss went out and hasn't returned yet.

The big boss is like a divine dragon, only seeing the head but not the tail, probably either in closed-door cultivation or not in the stronghold.

In other words, I only need to be wary of the third boss and the fourth boss.

Avoiding them will ensure my safety.

The only thing that worries me is the big boss's cultivation level.

Since he is the big boss, he must be the old evil cultivator who founded Hei Shan Zhai.

With so many ruthless evil cultivators under his command, his cultivation level must be high.

I just don't know if he is in the mid-stage or late-stage of Foundation Establishment.

If he is truly in the mid to late-stage of Foundation Establishment, that would be too terrifying.

Elder Yu was only in the early-stage of Foundation Establishment. If it comes to a real fight, how can we fight?

I sighed secretly in my heart.

But this is not something I can worry about. For now, it's important to draw the map well and gather more intelligence.

In the following time, I started drawing the map of Hei Shan Zhai.

From the mountain gate, I marked down the roads, houses, evil cultivators' residences, and the iron cages for imprisoning cultivators, one by one.

I remembered where each array was placed and what needed to be noted.

Through the arrays, I also reverse-engineered the building layout of Hei Shan Zhai.

Thus, even for some rooms with tightly closed, airtight doors that couldn't be investigated, I could roughly guess their uses.

In the evenings, I would still secretly listen to the scar-faced man and the pale-faced man talking.

Evil cultivators in Hei Shan Zhai don't usually talk much.

These two were exceptions.

Perhaps they were also bored keeping watch at night and needed to say something.

I just hid on the side, listening to them talk, to see if I could hear any useful information.

Hei Shan Zhai is full of dangers. I couldn't practice arrays on the stone tablet in the evenings.

However, taking time to sink into my sea of consciousness and meditate in front of the stone tablet for a while, even if I don't sleep, still leaves me feeling energetic.

Moreover, the fourth boss goes out to drink blood in the evening, and the third boss is in closed-door cultivation.

And for me, the evening is actually the safest time.

The scar-faced man and the pale-faced man chatted for a long time, and suddenly started arguing again.

I listened roughly.

It turned out that this scar-faced man, despite his ferocious appearance, cultivated a harvesting and supplementing technique.

While the pale-faced man, who looked weak and pale, cultivated an absorbing spirit technique that borrowed spiritual power from others to supplement his own.

The pale-faced man was lustful and wanted to learn the harvesting and supplementing technique from the scar-faced man to better harvest Yin and supplement Yang.

The scar-faced man ignored him.

The pale-faced man was angry and ashamed, and instead ridiculed him, "With that appearance, what harvesting and supplementing are you cultivating? Aren't you afraid that women will find you disgusting?"

The scar-faced man retorted, "With your weak appearance that can't withstand supplementing, what's the point of learning harvesting and supplementing? Don't get your life supplemented away."

The two cursed at each other a few more times, then started fighting.

The scar-faced man is a body cultivator, and the pale-faced man is a spirit cultivator.

The scar-faced man relied on body techniques to get close to the pale-faced man's body. The pale-faced man circled around with body techniques while suppressing him with spells. With a raise of his hand, fireballs condensed and shot out.

The spell he used was surprisingly also Fireball Technique.

I was stunned when I saw this and immediately felt displeased.

"What kind of person is this guy, actually using the same spell as me?"

I looked a few more times and suddenly let out a light "eh" in my heart.

The pale-faced man's Fireball Technique seemed indeed more powerful than mine.

Although it wasn't as fast as mine, nor as accurate, the color of the fireball was a bit deeper, and its power was also quite good.

It shouldn't be a cultivation problem.

A general Qi Refining stage ninth level spirit cultivator using a spell like Fireball Technique wouldn't have this kind of power.

Could it be that this pale-faced man has some trick for Fireball Technique?