After finishing his dinner, Jiang Liu returned to his residence. He sat cross-legged in his room and began his daily cultivation of the mental techniques. Just as he was about to begin Soul Refining Technique at midnight, a thought suddenly struck him.
Sensing something was amiss, Jiang Liu immediately changed into night clothes, slipped out of his residence, and flew towards the direction from which the unusual movement in his consciousness had originated.
Upon arriving at a courtyard not far from their lodgings, they found it completely dark, without a single ray of light, as if even the moonlight couldn't penetrate it.
Jiang Liu approached and saw that the entire inner part of the courtyard was covered with black cloth. Just as Jiang Liu was wondering about this and was about to go inside to investigate, a noise suddenly came from outside the courtyard wall.
Jiang Liu spread his consciousness and scanned the area, discovering two dark figures fleeing rapidly. Jiang Liu was unsure whether to catch the fleeing people or to enter the courtyard to investigate. The fleeing people had already separated and escaped.
Without further hesitation, Jiang Liu chased after the fleeing figure on the left.
Before long, Jiang Liu caught up with the shadowy figure. He threw a punch at it, but the fist flew straight past, as if it hadn't struck any flesh and blood.
Jiang Liu was taken aback, then threw another punch at the dark figure. It still passed by, but this time Jiang Liu saw it clearly. It turned out that it didn't go straight by, but rather the figure would shrink back just before the punch hit it, making it look like the punch went straight by.
"Such precise muscle control?" Jiang Liu was somewhat incredulous. He released his mental pressure, unleashing Annihilation by Thought. Hmph! The opponent immediately let out a muffled groan and collapsed to the ground. It seemed the opponent's mental strength was a weakness.
Jiang Liu stepped forward, lifted the shadowy figure, and saw that the person was deathly pale, as if there was no blood in their body.
What kind of monster is this? It looks like a person, but not quite. It's more like a zombie, only completely different from the stereotypical, lifeless zombies Jiang Liu remembered.
Could this be the Corpse Golems of Corpse Valley? Apart from its skin being paler than that of a normal person, it seems no different. However, its agility is much stronger than that of an ordinary martial artist.
If there were many such Corpse Golems, that would be terrifying. Then Jiang Liu thought, if this is Corpse Golems, what about the one that escaped separately? Is it the owner of this Corpse Golems? Or is it another Corpse Golems of the same kind?
Was the appearance of this Corpse Golems a diversionary tactic? Jiang Liu immediately realized he had been tricked and hurriedly picked up the Corpse Golems, rushing back.
Before even approaching the courtyard, a strong smell of blood wafted out. Jiang Liu immediately sensed something was terribly wrong. Sure enough, the courtyard had returned to normal, but there wasn't a single survivor! The black cloth covering the courtyard wall had also been removed.
Jiang Liu quickly picked up the Corpse Golems and left the place. He figured the Martial Prohibition Hall would be arriving soon, and he didn't want to waste time explaining himself or revealing his strength.
Jiang Liu carried the Corpse Golems out of the South City and into the woods. He threw the Corpse Golems on the ground and saw that it still did not react. It must be that the source of control had been Annihilation.
Without further hesitation, he unleashed a Frost Nether Palm strike at the Corpse Golems, shattering it into pieces of ice.
After finishing his tasks, Jiang Liu climbed up a large tree, intending to cultivate there for a while. Going back to his residence now would definitely lead to him being questioned by the Martial Prohibition Hall. Therefore, to avoid trouble, he decided to wait until dawn.
After daybreak, Jiang Liu changed out of his night clothes and slowly walked back to the city. As he approached the alley where he lived, he heard his neighbors talking.
"The entire Lin family died last night. Didn't you hear any noise?"
"No! I must have been sleeping very soundly last night. Do you know what happened?"
"Oh! How tragic! A family of five, all dead, not a single survivor. And I heard that Old Lin's whole body was deathly pale, without a drop of blood, as if he had been drained dry."
"Uh! That's terrifying? Could it be the work of some kind of vampire Exotic Beast?"
"I'm not sure about that, but the Martial Prohibition Hall arrived early this morning. Since the Martial Prohibition Hall has intervened, it must have been done by Exotic Beast or a martial artist."
"A martial artist? Are there really such cruel martial artists? They kill people, and then they suck all their blood!"
"I'm not sure about that."
After listening, Jiang Liu roughly understood the truth. It seemed that the people from Corpse Valley were preparing to drain everyone's blood, but he ran into them. They had no choice but to send the Corpse Golems to lure him away, and he escaped before he could drain the remaining blood from the corpses.
This Corpse Valley is truly evil. Not only do they control Corpse Golems in battle, but they also cultivate by sucking human blood. No wonder it was destroyed by the three major sects; has it reappeared in the mortal realm to cause trouble again?
Judging from the actions of the people in Corpse Valley, they must not be of high rank. Otherwise, the blood of an ordinary commoner wouldn't have much essence. They are no match for martial artists.
Furthermore, the Corpse Golems he sent out weren't very strong; they were just a little faster and more agile.
Jiang Liu didn't expect that the people in Corpse Valley didn't want to drink blood here at all. They just happened to have an old injury flare up and needed to drink blood to control the injury, so they randomly found someone to kill. As a result, they were discovered by Jiang Liu as soon as they finished drinking the first person's blood.
He, too, feared being targeted by the Martial Prohibition Hall, even though he was in Corpse Valley.
In a secret place, a young man with pale skin, gray hair, and a bloodless face appeared. He was a man from Corpse Valley who had escaped from Jiang Liu's clutches.
His Li Kui, a martial artist with the strength of a sixth rank. He came here with the person in charge of this transaction with the White Saint Society. However, not long after arriving here, while still in the city, his old injuries flared up.
That's why he was exposed this time. He returned to their Corpse Valley outpost in Feng County with a heavy heart. He didn't know how the person in charge would punish him this time. He didn't dare to run away, because even if he did, he would have nowhere to go.
As soon as Li Kui stepped into the outpost, a cold, menacing voice rang in his ears. "You still have the nerve to come back?"
"My lord, spare my life! I had no choice!" Li Kui hurriedly knelt down on the ground, kowtowing and begging for mercy, making a loud thud on the ground.
"Normally, something like what you did wouldn't be considered a mistake if you were careful. But this is a different time, and your mistake was being discovered and losing a Corpse Golems, which exposed our presence here."
"Now, I have no choice but to deal with you. I'm punishing you by suspending your Blood Suppression Pill and Blood Rush Pill for three months. Do you have any objections?"
"My lord, please don't! I'd rather forgo the Blood Rush Pill in June than not give me the Blood Suppression Pill!"
Blood Rush Pill is a pill refined by Corpse Valley to aid cultivation, while Blood Suppression Pill is used to control the turbulent blood and qi within the body. Corpse Valley cultivates a blood-absorbing technique, utilizing the essence and blood within a martial artist's body for cultivation.
If too much blood is sucked, it will naturally cause a riot. This riot usually happens once a month, which requires the Blood Suppression Pill to control it. Otherwise, the pain alone is unbearable for ordinary people. When the pain is so bad, they would want to commit suicide.
Therefore, Corpse Valley doesn't need to use drugs or other methods like the White Saint Society or the Deity Summoning Society to control its members. As long as you cultivate Corpse Valley's techniques, you can't do without the Blood Suppression Pill. As long as you control the Blood Suppression Pill, Corpse Valley members will have to obey you.