Corpse Liberation Immortal Body

The moment Yang He chose to inherit it, the Dao child's phantom gradually merged with him.

His experiences within the Ghost Lotus flashed through his mind. It was as though the two had always been one, while the dharma seal within his Numinous Palace flickered with faint light.

The Pupil Ghost opened at his brow.

Apart from one yin vein belonging to its main body, four more were developing.

Compared to exchanging for yin veins, inheritance required no time to refine them. Yin energy immediately surged through the courtyard, gathering toward the side room.

Meow~~

The black cat perked up its ears excitedly, greedily sharing the yin energy.

Yang He frowned slightly at the sight. He forcibly suppressed the Pupil Ghost's stirrings, lest too much commotion draw the attention of the evil ghost cultivators.

Besides, without reviving, the Main World's concentration of yin energy was simply far too low.

The sun set, and the moon rose.

Yang He breathed in and out yin energy within the side room until the Pupil Ghost's five yin veins were completely stabilized.

As the Pupil Ghost approached the full nine veins of the Weak Ghost stage, it was visibly becoming more profound and mysterious, especially the strands of bloodshot veins interwoven through the whites of its eye.

They seemed to carry a different kind of Dao resonance.

"Mm."

Yang He let out a muffled groan. The instant the Pupil Ghost finished, the Force Ghost appeared within his body, and the Pupil Ghost, unwilling to be outdone, mobilized yin energy.

He could not help feeling tense, afraid that the two ghosts would backlash and cause him to go into deviation.

Yet Yang He quickly dismissed the thought. The Force Ghost showed not the slightest discomfort, allowing the Pupil Ghost to establish itself as the dominant one.

"Hehehe, good that you know fear."

The ghost hand trembled violently, clearly having faced the terror of the Main World head-on.

Through refinement with the Grafting Method, the Force Ghost attached itself between his ribs in the form of cartilage, sparing the Inner Elixir Art from having to slowly grind it down and suppress it.

Before he could even catch his breath, the Corpse Liberation Immortal Body followed close behind.

A chill shot up his spine straight to the Crown of the Head.

Yang He rolled his eyes back. His three yang fires went out in unison, his body temperature plummeted, his organs lost their vitality, and corpse spots surfaced across his skin.

Jet-black yin fire ignited.

Yang He fell into a daze. He could feel that his body was already on the verge of death, its vitality severed, yet the Corpse Liberation Immortal Body kept his soul from scattering.

"Yang fire uses yang energy as fuel, while yin fire uses one's lifespan as fuel."

"Once it burns out, death is certain!!"

Yang He opened his mouth wide. The Corpse Liberation Immortal Body quietly receded, and the instant the corpse transformation vanished, the yin fire turned back into yang fire. Vitality slowly began to grow again.

Only after a long while did the terror of being dead yet not rigid fade.

Yang He regained consciousness and immediately noticed the benefits brought by the Corpse Liberation Immortal Body. Even without using the Pupil Ghost, yin energy followed the rhythm of his breathing in and out.

Over time, his body's resistance to yin energy's corrosion would continually increase.

"If I want to complete the Corpse Liberation Immortal Body, I'll probably have to keep exploring Qianyuan Mountain."

Yang He exhaled a breath of foul air.

He silently communicated with the Force Ghost, and the ghost hand behind him seized the copper coin sword.

The ghost hand could shift between the tangible and intangible. Along with it, the copper coin sword could become half-real and half-illusory, allowing its blade to pass through physical objects and directly injure demons and monsters.

"As expected of Grandmaster Taiyi. The yin artifact forged by an immortal truly is extraordinary."

"And the ghost hand seems capable of affecting me as well."

The ghost hand gripped Yang He's right arm. As its flesh withered, yin energy grew thick and sinister around it, and it then ignored the quilt and passed directly into the bed.

"Cough, cough, cough."

Yang He released his right arm with a strange expression. Blood began circulating through it again, but its skin was covered in blue-purple bruises, and he could not exert any strength with it for the time being.

"Apart from its drawbacks, the Force Ghost practically has no weaknesses..."

Having to sever off a third arm every hundred days and refine it anew was enough to make his scalp crawl.

"Wait."

"My ghost hand exists independently outside my body. Could I isolate the Force Ghost and solve its drawback that way?"

After hesitating again and again, Yang He opened the Pupil Ghost on his chest. Yin energy corroded the blood vessels and meridians connecting to the Force Ghost until they necrosed.

The Pupil Ghost closed.

Though the Force Ghost had broken free of his control, it behaved obediently without causing trouble. Soon afterward, the blood vessels and meridians grew back.

"It works!" Yang He could feel the Force Ghost becoming even more responsive, like an extension of his own arm. It was just rather hard on him; his chest was covered in bruises.

Yang He's entire body ached. That experiment had nearly cost him half his life.

He closed his eyes to recuperate, planning his next move. He did not know how much time had passed when the black cat suddenly let out a soft, hurried cry.

Right after that.

Yang He heard the sound of rats crawling through a crack in the courtyard wall.

He did not open his eyes immediately. Pupil Ghost stopped absorbing yin energy, and the turbulent yin energy in the courtyard gradually settled into calm.

Squeak, squeak, squeak.

Yang He's spiritual vision could enhance his five senses, allowing him to hear the rats mixing a few human words into their chatter.

'Strange. There's nothing unusual about the yin energy, yet there's clearly a strange smell nearby.'

'Can't find anyone. Does Peibai City really have a cultivator who has undergone a second revival?'

The rats gradually crawled away.

Yang He's expression turned frosty. He understood that the rats were connected to the Beast Tamer. The other party was clearly looking for him, and Song Zhi had most likely leaked the information.

"Fortunately, I didn't make contact with Song Zhi back then."

"But..."

Yang He looked out the window. The full moon hung high overhead, while the downpour in the First Layer of Hell still showed no signs of stopping. The standing water had already reached half a meter deep.

Ripples spread out in waves.

With a sweep of his spiritual vision alone, he spotted at least forty or fifty Hungry Ghosts wandering through the water.

The people were complaining that Peibai City was becoming ever more fishy and foul-smelling. Perhaps before long, one Evil Ghost after another would arrive in the mortal world.

Killing intent flashed in Yang He's eyes, and all joy at his explosive rise in cultivation vanished without a trace.

"Only when the Evil Ghost cultivator dies will Peibai City be safe."

Qianyuan Mountain: 0/1 (4%)

"It'll take around half a month before Qianyuan Mountain replenishes its uses."

"I have to obtain new mundane objects immediately. There's no time to circle around them—I need to reach the Hungry Ghost stage before the Evil Ghost cultivator makes a move."

Yang He stared toward the entrance of the marketplace. The century-old Treasure Fish was still there.

He had heard earlier that the century-old Treasure Fish's stomach and bones were difficult to sell, so the various merchant associations had temporarily shelved the auction.

Meow~~

Yang He stroked the black cat's head and took out the copper coin sword for blood refinement.

In the dead of night.

"Heh heh, I truly don't have the strength to threaten you right now, but that's fine. Causing you a little trouble is still easy enough."

"By the time you have the energy to pay attention to me again, who knows who'll be the prey?"

Yang He put away the copper coin sword and left the earthen house. The city was deathly silent at this moment; only the squeaking and scurrying of rats could be heard, their paths deliberately winding around him.

Without slowing, he headed straight for the yamen gates without the slightest hesitation.

After confirming there were no oversights, Yang He slipped through the main gate. The black cat diligently followed behind him as man and cat weaved between the buildings.

Only moments later.

Yang He was already seated in the study, tiger stripes emerging in his eyes.

With a cold sneer, he held the tiger ghost hide in his hand. Bloody writing appeared across the fur, though the strokes were clearly becoming increasingly hasty and blurred.

'I am Sun Qi. Who are you?'

Yang He did not ask any further questions. Instead, he wrote out the parts missing from the Inner Elixir Art.

Head Constable Sun had most likely been left on the brink of death by containing a second ghost. His remaining consciousness occasionally still awakened. Obtaining the Inner Elixir Art might not restore his injuries, but...

But it would be more than enough to tie down the Evil Ghost cultivator!

"Should I try using the ghost hand to remove the Chang Ghost from Old Man Yang's body?"

"No."

Yang He shook his head. Given Peibai City's situation, the constables were under Head Constable Sun's protection, so the Evil Ghost cultivator still did not dare tear off all pretenses.

He slowly walked out of the yamen and headed straight for the marketplace entrance where the fish corpse lay.