Before Departure

Li Weiyi followed her into the Qingyi Garden: "But the curse that befell the Immortal Mist Sect happened a hundred years ago. The captain doesn't look a hundred years old at all."

Qing Ziqin said, "A hundred years ago, my father stayed in Qingyi Garden and was lucky enough to survive. Later, he joined the Sentinel Spirit Army. He thought everything was over, he married, and had me. But... he died in the same way, turning into a withered, dried corpse at the Yan Jue Mountain, unable to escape his destined fate."

As she spoke, she led Li Weiyi to the ancestral hall in Qingyi Garden.

Thirteen Longevity Corpse sat neatly behind the memorial tablets, arranged in four rows, representing four generations.

The Qing Family certainly has more than four generations, or even more than forty generations; it's just that Qing Ziqin belongs to the fourth generation.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked."

Li Weiyi followed her, lit an incense stick, bowed three times, and then placed it in the incense burner.

"It doesn't matter! One day in the future, I will probably suffer the same fate and turn into a white-haired, desiccated corpse. I just hope that when you see me then, you will bring me here and offer incense."

Qing Ziqin stood amidst the drifting smoke, her eyes devoid of any emotion. Suddenly, she shifted her focus to the conversation from two days prior. "Even if the Departed were incredibly strong in life, they are gone and can no longer exert much combat power. Half of these thirteen elders were Great Longevity in life, but with my Corpse Control Talisman, even if they joined forces, they probably couldn't defeat Second Realm Peak martial artist like Qiu Cheng."

"Why is this happening?" Li Weiyi asked.

Qing Ziqin frowned slightly, not understanding Li Weiyi's meaning.

Li Weiyi then asked, "Were the Longevity Golden Pill removed from their bodies?"

"Not really. No one dares to use cursed Longevity Golden Pill for alchemy. They even keep their distance from the corpses, fearing they might be tainted by some incomprehensible strangeness."

She added, "However, the Ancestral Field, Wind Mansion, and Qi Sea have already shrunk."

"I can..."

Li Weiyi pointed to thirteen Longevity Corpse.

Qing Ziqin said, "Please go ahead."

Li Weiyi touched it with his finger and released his spiritual light to investigate. "The blood energy is completely gone, Longevity Golden Pill has dimmed, but there is still one or two tenths of usable magical energy inside. This shouldn't be the case, Captain. Is it because your corpse control technique is not refined enough?"

Longevity Corpse are not uncommon in the Netherworld of the Departed.

But those Longevity Corpse, buried underground for thousands of years, have almost completely lost their physical essence, like iron about to rust into the soil.

The corpses of the Immortal Mist Sect were different. They had died a hundred years ago, their skin was as hard as armor, their bones were Divine Charm refined, and their bodies still contained abundant vital energy. More importantly, their Longevity Golden Pill were still intact, even though they had darkened and their magical energy had dissipated in large quantities.

This is why Li Weiyi chose to cooperate with Qing Ziqin!

This Immortal Mist Sect Orphan possesses a precious power that she herself cannot even imagine.

Li Weiyi specifically inquired with the Deputy Sentinel Lord, the Last Sect Master the Immortal Mist Sect, who was also the previous Sentinel Master of the Dongxu Camp. It is very likely that the Immortal Mist Sect suffered retaliation from the Netherworld of the Departed for this reason, resulting in its tragic end.

It can be said that Qing Ziqin, the sole survivor, has absolute ownership of the Immortal Mist Sect, and anyone who dares to seize it will be attacked by the entire Dongxu Camp.

Even when the Dongxu Camp was established within the Immortal Mist Sect, they consulted her first.

Qing Ziqin said coldly, "What ingenious methods do you have? Show them to us."

"Then I'll have to offend these seniors. Captain, are you sure you've thought this through?" Li Weiyi asked again.

Qing Ziqin remained silent, turned around, stepped over the threshold, and walked out of the ancestral hall.

"She's never even met the Qing Family from a hundred years ago, so she probably won't care too much."

Li Weiyi selected the mummified corpse with the strongest cultivation level in life, probably at the Sixth Realm. Even though it had lost all its blood and energy, its body still weighed over a hundred pounds, and ordinary magic weapons couldn't cut it at all.

Lay the mummified corpse flat on the ground and remove the sect robes of the Immortal Mist Sect.

Immediately, he took out ink refined from the blood of a transcendent being, and released wisps of spiritual light as a brush to draw one Puppet Script after another on the body of the mummified corpse.

The ancestral field has the highest density of Puppet Script.

Some of these Puppet Script were directly applied to the Longevity Golden Pill.

As darkness fell, Li Weiyi glanced at Qing Ziqin's beautiful, picturesque back as she stood outside the door. He wondered why this seemingly cold and aloof beauty trusted him so much.

Aren't you afraid that you're using her?

At this moment, Qing Ziqin, gazing at the bright moon, was also pondering the same question: Why did she agree to Li Weiyi's suggestion? Why did she bring him here?

Is it the kind of shared suffering and sympathy that comes from finding someone like you, being orphans together?

Or perhaps, despite his Exceptional Talent, he remained completely humble and always addressed her as "Captain"? Did calling him that so often make her truly consider him one of her own?

Inside the ancestral hall, Li Weiyi began to sketch the last secret inscription, which was also the most important one.

"Approaching!"

The secret text with the word "Lin" fell on the forehead of the mummy.

"Whoosh!"

The mummified corpse opened its eyes and absorbed all the crimson Puppet Script on its body into its own.

Li Weiyi took three steps back, formed a hand seal, and softly shouted, "Rise!"

The mummified corpse stood up straight, its magical energy circulating throughout its body, Azure Radiance appearing in its eyes, and an Aura of Great Longevity emanating from its body.

Startled by the aura emanating from the mummified corpse, Qing Ziqin turned around abruptly, only to feel a strong Wind Force sweep over her, causing her body to retreat uncontrollably.

In a flash, the mummified corpse appeared in the courtyard, slamming its palm into the ground and leaving a deep handprint.

"Splash!"

Immediately, beams of light rose up all around.

Li Weiyi stepped across the threshold, manipulating the mummified corpse with Spiritual Light Threads: "Captain, do you think Qiu Cheng is his match?"

Qing Ziqin could sense the magical energy circulating within the mummified corpse; the sheer aura of its Great Longevity was terrifying. "With just this one body, one could remain invincible below the third realm."

"It's hard to say when they encounter the third realm! Even if they can't defeat the Puppet Corpse, they are fully capable of bypassing it and directly killing the Corpse Controller. Or they can use Daoist techniques to disperse the Corpse Controller's spiritual light and erase the Puppet Script on the corpse."

"Here, take it to protect yourself," Li Weiyi said.

Qing Ziqin's heart skipped a beat. "How many can you refine?"

"Time is too tight! We only have five or six bodies at most before we set off," Li Weiyi said.

"Come with me."

Qing Ziqin led Li Weiyi toward the summit of Yan Jue Mountain. This time, they crossed the summit to reach the other side of the mountain, which was close to the Netherworld of the Departed.

As you descend the mountainside, all you see are ruins and rubble, and the place is so dark that even the fire abyss cannot illuminate it.

Upon arriving at the entrance of a cave near the foot of the mountain, Qing Ziqin bowed to the Old Man guarding the cave, whispered something to him, and then said to Li Weiyi, "Come in with me!"

The Old Man sat cross-legged on the right side of the cave, never opening his eyes. His body was covered in dust and even cobwebs.

Li Weiyi couldn't hear any breathing or heartbeat from the Old Man, and he suspected that Qing Ziqin was just making a fuss and using a dead body to intimidate him.

Entering the cave.

"Whoosh!"

Qing Ziqin raised her palm, and Solar Sacred Radiance appeared in her palm, illuminating the darkness of the vast cave.

Under the flames, the air was filled with drifting dust particles.

A sea of coffins appeared before Li Weiyi's eyes, densely packed and neatly arranged, layer upon layer, countless in number.

It's obvious that the Departed of the Immortal Mist Sect were not cremated but buried here.

Qing Ziqin descended the stone steps. "With my cultivation at the First Realm, I can only control thirteen Longevity Corpse, so I only took thirteen members of the Qing Family with me. Since time is of the essence, you may choose any Longevity Corpse here!"

"Those transcendent corpses?" Li Weiyi asked.

She gave him a cold look. "The remains of a transcendent being are not stored here. With your current Psychic Power Attainment, can you possibly shake the transcendent being's Other Shore Heavenly Pill?"

Li Weiyi said, "Excuse my bluntness, but with such wealth in the captain's possession, he could easily sell some of their martial robes for an astronomical price. Paying me a 6,000-year-old herb to rent a staff and spear shouldn't be difficult."

"Wealth?"

Qing Ziqin turned to look at him. "If it weren't for the danger of going to the Ancient Kingdom of the Years Ruin, do you think I would have brought you here? We are in an alliance and cooperation, each getting what we need. Also, before using these corpses, no third party must know."

"Okay, I admit I misspoke, I apologize."

Li Weiyi was not a member of the Immortal Mist Sect, so no matter how much he sympathized with Qing Ziqin, he could hardly truly empathize with her. He could only choose to keep quiet and get down to business.

A light shone from his brow, and countless four-colored light threads spread out, drilling into the coffin to search.

"The remains of the Seventh Realm Great Longevity are all stored over there," Qing Ziqin reminded her.

Li Weiyi said, "What I'm looking for is Longevity Corpse with a similar body shape to ours."

"What do you mean?" Qing Ziqin asked.

Li Weiyi said, "With my current Psychic Power Attainment, I'm not capable of crafting Substitute Puppet. However, crafting two Decoy Puppet before setting off might be more valuable than crafting five or six Puppet Battle Corpse. We can craft the Puppet Battle Corpse slowly after entering the Ancient Kingdom of the Years Ruin."

"Decoy Puppet... How did you learn so much?" Qing Ziqin asked.

Li Weiyi said, "I just learn quickly! You come and assist me, hurry up, once Tu Miangou passes on the message, we'll probably be setting off."

Li Weiyi and Qing Ziqin worked in the cave all night until dawn.

It was evening of the second day.

The two of them had exhausted their Psychic Power Spiritual Light and looked very tired. As soon as they returned to Qingyi Garden, they saw Liu Ye and Chang Yujian already waiting there.

Chang Yujian looked them up and down and said with a smile, "I couldn't find you anywhere in the camp. Where have you been hiding under the flowers and moon? Mo Duanfeng and Bai Chuan called everyone to set off two hours ago, and the rest of you have already arrived at the Teleportation Hall."

Qing Ziqin entered the garden without saying a word, treating the Chang Yujian and Liu Ye as if they were air.

Liu Ye looked puzzled. Qing Ziqin used to dislike Li Weiyi very much. But today, the way the two of them were behaving made it hard not to think things through.

"Don't make fun of her, I wouldn't dare mess with her. You guys go ahead, I'll go back and pack my things."

Li Weiyi returned to the Qingyin Pavilion. Actually, there wasn't much to pack, as he had already stored it in his boundary bag and Blood Mud Space. He went back mainly to pick up the Phoenix Wing Moth Emperor was left behind.

Heading towards the Teleportation Hall.

Li Weiyi passed by Qingyi Garden, Qing Ziqin had already gone ahead of him.

The two gateposts in front of Qingyi Garden, engraved with profound Formation Script, have disappeared, clearly taken away by her. Everyone is making every effort to prepare for this perilous trial.