Xia Qi'an followed the traces of Turbid Qi deep into a dense forest.
Suddenly, Xia Qi'an seemed to sense something. His ears twitched slightly as though he were distinguishing some sound behind him.
Sure enough, after listening carefully, he seemed to hear the sounds of fighting ahead.
Out of caution, Xia Qi'an lowered himself and felt his way closer.
Soon, he saw two Wei Dao Si martial artists locked in fierce combat with a zombie.
When Xia Qi'an took a closer look, his pupils suddenly contracted.
The zombie was wearing the official uniform of the Wei Dao Si, and there was a bloody hole in its abdomen, like a deep ravine in its body. The sight was enough to make one's hair stand on end.
Its flesh had long since rotted away, like withered wood weathered by the passage of years, crumbling at the slightest touch.
Its features were blurred beyond recognition, as though the hands of time had wiped them away, leaving behind only indistinct outlines.
It had no lips, and its teeth were exposed. That mouthful of fangs glinted coldly in the darkness, while even the bones of its gums were clearly visible, as ghastly and terrifying as white skeletons.
In the pitch-black forest, this zombie had appeared as abruptly as a ghost. It gave off waves of putrid stench and was exceptionally unnerving, making one's hair stand on end.
Xia Qi'an widened his Crimson Pupils and only then managed to recognize that the zombie in the Wei Dao Si uniform was none other than Su Mu, who had been dead for more than a month!
Why had he come back from the dead? And why had he become a zombie?
A huge question surged through Xia Qi'an's mind.
His heart pounded like a war drum, and an ominous premonition rose within him, as though it foretold that some earth-shaking event was about to occur.
At that moment, the Blood Corpse Su Mu, risen from the dead, was ferocious beyond measure.
After becoming a Blood Corpse, Su Mu's body had become as hard as steel, impervious to blades and spears. He moved as swiftly as the wind, no different from an ordinary person, and possessed a monstrous strength to boot.
The two Hound Guards of the Bone Forging Realm were actually unable to subdue him for the time being.
The Blood Corpse Su Mu seemed to have retained the memories of his life. His voice was hoarse and low as he snarled like a beast, "Kill... kill... kill all the Wei Dao Si's lackeys! Chu Shiqing... I'll kill you..."
Hound Guard Jiang Feng looked solemn, as though facing a great enemy. "The dead should be laid to rest!"
This man was Jiang Feng, the training-camp instructor who had taught Xia Qi'an the Great Strength Vajra Fist.
The other Hound Guard was none other than Big-Bearded Lin Beihai, the chief instructor of the Wei Dao Si's recruit training camp.
Fortunately, with the two of them present, Xia Qi'an had dared to approach in secret.
However, even though the two men were powerful—Jiang Feng was at the Mid Bone Forging Realm, while Lin Beihai had reached the Late Bone Forging Realm—even working together, they found it difficult to do anything to the Blood Corpse Su Mu.
This showed just how terrifying the mutation in Su Mu's body had been after he became a Blood Corpse.
Fortunately, Xia Qi'an had the enhancement of his Crimson Pupils. With them, he could see the flow of Turbid Qi within the Blood Corpse with perfect clarity.
In his eyes, a dense mass of Turbid Qi had gathered around the Blood Corpse Su Mu's heart, swirling together in a frenzy like a vortex.
Thus, he boldly guessed that this might be the Blood Corpse's fatal weakness.
"The heart! Its weakness is in its heart!" Xia Qi'an, who had been observing from the shadows, suddenly called out a warning.
Jiang Feng and Lin Beihai were both startled. They shouted in unison, "Who?"
"It's me, Xia Qi'an!" Xia Qi'an quickly replied.
"Don't come any closer! You're only at the Early Blood Refining Realm. Who told you to come carry out a mission like this?" Lin Beihai said with an expression of disgust.
Xia Qi'an knew that Lin Beihai was hard-faced but kind-hearted, and that this was merely his way of showing concern.
"I came at Lord Sinan's command to investigate the situation!" Xia Qi'an answered truthfully.
Lin Beihai and Jiang Feng exchanged a glance before asking doubtfully, "You just said that the Blood Corpse's weakness is its heart. What proof do you have?"
Xia Qi'an hesitated again and again before saying, "I have no proof for now! If the two of you trust me, why not give it a try?"
Jiang Feng had always had a good impression of Xia Qi'an. "All right... we'll trust you this once!"
With that, he exchanged a tacit glance with Lin Beihai. The two understood each other without words.
They seized their weapons and launched a fierce attack on the Blood Corpse Su Mu like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey.
This time, their coordination was flawless.
Lin Beihai wielded two bronze hammers and attacked the Blood Corpse with the weight of Mount Tai crushing an egg. Every hammer strike carried the force of a thousand jun, and he took charge of close combat, locking down the Blood Corpse Su Mu's movements.
Jiang Feng, meanwhile, was like a ghost. Wielding twin maces, he waited for an opening, seeking a fatal strike like a venomous snake darting from its lair.
At last, after dozens of rounds of fierce entanglement, the scales of victory began to tip toward Jiang Feng and Lin Beihai.
Suddenly, Jiang Feng seized an opportunity and smashed both maces hard into the Blood Corpse Su Mu's chest.
"Dong!"
A deep, thunderous boom rang out.
The Blood Corpse Su Mu staggered back as though struck by lightning. His body, originally impervious to blades and spears, began twisting unnaturally.
Xia Qi'an saw clearly.
The dense mass of Turbid Qi around Su Mu's heart had been scattered considerably by that blow.
That was what had caused the strange phenomenon in the Blood Corpse Su Mu's body.
"It works..."
Lin Beihai and Jiang Feng were both invigorated at the sight.
They continued launching even more ferocious attacks on the Blood Corpse Su Mu.
After another fierce battle,
Su Mu's rotten body began to lose its balance, and his limbs gradually stiffened.
"Roar..."
Suddenly, the Blood Corpse Su Mu, who had suffered blow after blow, let out a grotesque roar.
He actually broke free of Lin Beihai and Jiang Feng's encirclement.
Then he lunged toward Xia Qi'an, who stood not far away.
Seeing this, Xia Qi'an remained completely calm.
"An arrow at the end of its flight...! I'm no soft persimmon!"
Xia Qi'an chose not to retreat. Instead, he moved like a fierce tiger and leaped down from the tree.
He charged straight at Su Mu.
"Vajra's Fury!"
This time, Xia Qi'an thrust both fists forward, hammering them simultaneously toward Su Mu's heart.
"Boom!"
The Blood Corpse Su Mu was sent flying by the punch.
Xia Qi'an could feel something inside Su Mu explode.
The heart!
And Xia Qi'an could also see the Turbid Qi around Su Mu's heart scattered by the punch.
In the end, Su Mu swayed and collapsed, transforming into a withered skeleton.
After dealing with the zombified Su Mu,
the three of them sat around beneath a large tree, with a campfire burning in the middle.
Big-Bearded Lin Beihai sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, regulating his breathing and circulating his energy.
Jiang Feng was responsible for roasting the wild rabbit, while Xia Qi'an was responsible for adding firewood.
"Instructor Jiang! What exactly happened to Su Mu? How did he become a Blood Corpse?" During their rest, Xia Qi'an finally voiced the question in his heart.
"It must have something to do with the Demonic Ancient Path!" Jiang Feng said gravely as he turned the wild rabbit roasting over the campfire.
"The Demonic Ancient Path...? What is that?" Xia Qi'an was utterly confused, and the doubts in his heart deepened.
"The Demonic Ancient Path is an evil organization formed by monsters, heretical martial artists, and demonic cultivators. Its origins are mysterious and ancient, impossible to verify. A few words aren't enough to explain it!"
"But I can tell you this... the Wei Dao Si was established precisely to fight the Demonic Ancient Path!"
Xia Qi'an was stunned upon hearing this.
This Demonic Ancient Path was actually so terrifying!
"If you're interested, you can look up the Demonic Ancient Path's records at the branch after we return to Jinling City!"
"However, I still have to warn you. The people of the Demonic Ancient Path are extremely dangerous! With your current strength, it's best not to come into contact with them too soon." Jiang Feng was worried that Xia Qi'an would continue asking about the Demonic Ancient Path, so he advised him to stop.
"Yes!" Xia Qi'an nodded.
From their conversation, he learned that the fire at Liu Family Village had been started by Lin Beihai.
Earlier, when the two men had been investigating the Blood Corpse's tracks, they discovered that the villagers of Liu Family Village had already been corrupted by Turbid Qi and had launched an attack on Lin Beihai and Jiang Feng.
Thus, in his desperation, Lin Beihai had set Liu Family Village ablaze and burned it to the ground.
After the three of them finished sharing the wild rabbit and exchanged a few words,
Xia Qi'an bade the two men farewell, mounted a horse, and returned to Jinling City alone to report.
He needed to return to Jinling and quickly deliver Lin Beihai and Jiang Feng's investigative findings to Si Nanyue.
Lin Beihai and Jiang Feng's mission, however, was not yet over.
They still had to continue investigating the traces of the Demonic Ancient Path's monsters.
What the two men did not know was that
after Xia Qi'an had killed the Blood Corpse, he absorbed all the Turbid Qi within its body.
The Qi and blood within him grew by another great measure, and his martial cultivation even reached the Mid Blood Refining Realm.
He was only a thread away from breaking through to the Late Blood Refining Realm.
Not only that, the Qi and blood he had gained this time also gave him an effect equivalent to undergoing blood exchange three times.
At this point, Xia Qi'an had effectively undergone blood exchange seven times in the Blood Refining Realm.
He needed only two more times to achieve the legendary nine blood exchanges.
Moreover, he still had a Vital Energy Pill in hand, which could also let him undergo blood exchange once.
It could be said that he was only one step away from achieving the feat of nine blood exchanges.
Before you continue