"Fellow Daoist, please wait."
The one who spoke was a strapping young man. His every move stood in stark contrast to the unassuming manner of the many corpse buriers. There was a hint of nobility between his brows, so even though his clothes were not particularly fine and he was no cleaner than the others, he still did not look especially bedraggled.
Wen Jiu had no desire to deal with him, but the young man and another person had actually blocked Wen Jiu's way.
The one who had spoken called out again, his gaze settling on the handkerchief Wang Nian had given him. "I'm Fang Zheng. My brother-in-law is Li Liang, a patrol supervisor on the side peak of Corpse Peak. May I ask what your relationship with Manager Wang is?"
"Need something?"
Wen Jiu offered no explanation.
There was no need.
He did not have to explain himself just because someone asked.
That would be too low.
Fang Zheng said, "Since you also have connections on Corpse Peak, why not join our Gathering Righteousness Hall? Whether you work as a corpse burier or become an apprentice in the future, we can look out for one another."
"Not interested." Wen Jiu shook his head.
He was about to walk past them.
Fang Zheng persisted, putting heavy emphasis on his final words, as though afraid no one would hear. "If you're willing, the Gathering Righteousness Hall can offer you a position as a trading house manager, with a monthly salary of a hundred taels of silver... That's as much as a corpse burier earns in three years!"
"Our Gathering Righteousness Hall does business across a hundred li around the side peak and works with plenty of cultivation lineages. Once you join, you'll never lack connections. And after you become an apprentice, we can look out for one another and keep our fellow disciples from bullying you."
The other person beside Fang Zheng chimed in.
His words were full of pride.
Clearly,
the Gathering Righteousness Hall was no small organization.
Wen Jiu still had no interest. Until he understood the situation on the side peak well enough, he would not join any group.
He did not want to be used as someone else's weapon.
"Excuse me."
Wen Jiu walked past them. When he glanced at the corpse buriers around him, he saw that they were all looking at him with envy.
Clearly, they all wanted to join the Gathering Righteousness Hall.
But they were not qualified.
Or perhaps they had not been invited.
This made Wen Jiu a little curious about what this so-called Gathering Righteousness Hall was all about.
It was impossible that they were openly poaching Corpse Peak's people. Most likely, it was an organization formed by Corpse Peak disciples themselves.
After Wen Jiu had walked past the two and continued on his way, the third person, who had not spoken until then and was clearly their leader, suddenly spoke up.
His tone was grave.
He spoke with the earnest, weighty advice of an old hand, as if Wen Jiu's refusal to join the Gathering Righteousness Hall showed how shortsighted he was.
"Fellow Daoist... You won't get far in cultivation by fighting alone. Without friends, those who follow the Unorthodox Path won't be welcome either. I'll give you some time to think it over and ask around about the Gathering Righteousness Hall. Once you've made up your mind, you can come find us."
Wen Jiu
acted as if he hadn't heard.
He walked away at an easy pace.
But
after he had gone a mile or two,
Wang Nian actually flew over on his sword and landed beside Wen Jiu, as if he had been following him the whole time.
Sure enough,
the first thing Wang Nian said was about what had just happened. "Boy Wen, do you know the Gathering Righteousness Hall was jointly founded by several supervisors from the side peak? Their business stretches a hundred li in every direction, and they work with at least eight or ten cultivation lineages. They're a significant force on the side peak. Join them, and you'll have backing."
"Big Brother Wang, did you follow me just to tell me this?" To be honest, Wen Jiu would not have believed him even if Wang Nian had said yes.
Wang Nian smiled. "Of course not. I just came to remind you of something... Don't bargain with the tiger for its skin. With your talent for cultivating the Unorthodox Path, there's a proper, aboveboard road to advancement for you at Corpse Peak. It may be harder than it is for ordinary Qi Refining cultivators, but you don't need to rely on those crooks who collude with one another."
"Thank you for the reminder, Big Brother Wang."
Wen Jiu bowed and expressed his thanks.
Even without Wang Nian's warning, he would not have made a careless choice.
But Wang Nian had still gone out of his way to warn him.
For that, he was grateful.
It also showed that Wang Nian was a decent person.
In an unfamiliar world, meeting an elder willing to care for and guide you was a stroke of luck.
Before long,
Wen Jiu returned home.
After nightfall, he went as usual to chant the Corpse Nurturing Incantation to the White Zombie. Perhaps because the Corpse Remnants had been piling up in the Death Ground for longer and longer, his chanting drew out a newly formed Yin Soul. But it became food in the White Zombie's belly.
That day,
the White Zombie gained another 20 experience points.
Wen Jiu gained 100 Death Qi.
That was equivalent to sixteen days of cultivation and the daily settlement reward.
One thing worth noting: perhaps because of the Cultivator's Essence Blood, when the White Zombie attacked the Yin Soul, a faint blood-red glow seemed to shimmer across his corpse. This had not happened when his Blood Transformation Body first reached the first layer.
What was more, when the glow appeared, the Blood Qi and corpse Qi faintly emanating from the White Zombie were enough to make even Wen Jiu feel a little afraid.
He was already at Qi Refining Layer One.
And the White Zombie was still only a White Zombie.
So Wen Jiu tried attacking the White Zombie.
At first, he did not dare use his full strength. He had yet to cultivate any spells, but even the Mana of a Qi Refining Layer One cultivator could cause considerable damage when released.
To Wen Jiu's surprise, even when he attacked with all his strength, he could not harm the White Zombie's Blood Transformation Body.
He could not even budge him.
But according to the Yinzhou Corpse Nurturing Record, a corpse should not be this powerful. Even upon becoming a Black Zombie, it should only be comparable to a Body Refining Cultivator at the Body Refining First Layer.
A Body Refining Cultivator at the Body Refining First Layer could not take a full-strength blow from a Qi Refining cultivator without a scratch. At best, if struck by a spell, they might turn a grave injury into a minor one—no matter how powerful they were.
But the White Zombie's corpse now completely defied the common sense and rules set out in the Yinzhou Corpse Nurturing Record.
"Looks like it's because of the Cultivator's Essence Blood... If this fellow becomes a Black Zombie, how powerful will he be?"
Wen Jiu sighed.
Then he buried the White Zombie again.
After returning home,
Wen Jiu fell into a deep sleep.
He slept more soundly than he ever had.
The unease of being a stranger in a strange land was gone.
Perhaps it was because he had reached Qi Refining Layer One.
Perhaps it was because he had seen how powerful the White Zombie's Blood Transformation Body was.
The next morning, when he headed to the Death Ground to bury corpses again, his state of mind had changed considerably once more.
A bold thought sprang to life.
I'm going to live forever!
I'm going to become an immortal!
There was no denying it.
What a bold thought.
But when Wen Jiu arrived at the Death Ground, he found the atmosphere strange, and there were many more people than usual. Wang Nian had also abandoned his usual tardiness and arrived earlier than almost everyone else.
From a distance, Wang Nian was talking with the black-armored cultivators. Every other sentence made his brows knit tighter.
A moment later,
Wang Nian walked over to them.
"Boy Wen, did you come to this Death Ground last night?"
Wen Jiu nodded.
There was no point in hiding it.
When he left home at night, the sound of the door opening and closing could be heard.
Besides, when he had shown off the White Zombie to earn another chance to trade, he had already said he would come to the Death Ground at night to nurture the corpse.
After hearing Wen Jiu's answer, Wang Nian told him to follow. "When they ask you something in a moment, answer truthfully... Don't worry, it has nothing to do with you. They just want to ask you a few things."
"Mm-hmm."
Wen Jiu nodded.
When they reached the black-armored cultivators, the murderous air they gave off made Wen Jiu's heart skip a beat. Their displayed auras amazed him as well.
Three of them had auras comparable to Wang Nian's.
They should all be at Qi Refining Third Layer.
And one of them had an aura even stronger than Wang Nian's.
Qi Refining Mid-stage?
What on earth had happened to bring out a Qi Refining Mid-stage cultivator?
"You're Wen Jiu, right?"
One of the black-armored cultivators asked. His tone was cold enough to make Wen Jiu worry that he would draw a knife on him at any moment.
Wen Jiu nodded.
The black-armored cultivator asked again, "What were you doing at the Dead Corpse Land last night?"
"Nurturing a corpse. I cultivate the Yinzhou Corpse Nurturing Record, so I have to come to the burial ground at the Hai hour to chant the Corpse Nurturing Incantation."
Wen Jiu answered truthfully.
The black-armored cultivator looked at Wang Nian, who quickly nodded and said he had seen the White Zombie.
Seeing this, the black-armored cultivator did not doubt him and continued asking, "Did you hear anything last night?"
"Anything? No." Wen Jiu shook his head.
The black-armored cultivator seemed unwilling to believe him. He asked again in a cold voice, "Think carefully. If we find out later that you hid something or lied to us, our Night Patrol Division has the right to execute you on the spot!"
[I've been moved up the rankings!
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Monthly votes, too!
Many thanks, fellow Daoists!
I'm nervous...]
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