The traces from before had long since been buried beneath the cold frost of Yin Qi.
After nightfall, the Yin Qi grew heavy, making traces on the ground hard to see.
Fortunately, Wen Jiu had left a special marker, so after searching for a while, he found the burial site.
After digging a deep pit, Wen Jiu saw the male corpse again. He began feeling all over it, even lifting its clothes to inspect the skin that had yet to decay, but still found nothing.
Meanwhile,
Wen Jiu also used his Spiritual Sense to probe the male corpse's body.
There was nothing unusual there either.
"Then all that's left is this talisman and that Soul Devouring Blood Bead." Wen Jiu didn't study the talisman. With his limited knowledge and experience, he wouldn't be able to figure anything out. He merely probed it with his Spiritual Sense.
After confirming that he could sense nothing unusual, Wen Jiu cautiously extended his Spiritual Sense into the Soul Devouring Blood Bead. He should have left it alone.
The moment he probed inside, a torrent of information suddenly flooded his mind like a leech burrowing in.
But since he had already experienced the original owner's memories flooding into his mind once before, Wen Jiu didn't feel any discomfort.
Only as the information slowly unfolded did the Yin Qi seem to gather around his face.
"The Ancient Yin Fiend Blood Curse Body!"
"Created by Yin Fiend True Person in the thirty-seven thousand two hundred and twenty-third year of the Yuan Yang Era. It is an unorthodox body-tempering art, with thirteen stages in total. It requires a cultivator's essence blood and large quantities of Earth Fiend Yin Energy to cultivate. Once one reaches great perfection, there is a seventy percent chance of successfully achieving Foundation Establishment—a chance comparable to that of someone with a Supreme Spiritual Root!"
Wen Jiu was secretly astounded.
He had no real grasp of what a seventy percent chance of successful Foundation Establishment meant, but he knew what a Supreme Spiritual Root was.
With a Mid-grade Spiritual Root,
one could enter Corpse Peak directly as a disciple.
With a High-grade Spiritual Root,
one might even be taken as a disciple by an elder of Corpse Peak.
But a Supreme Spiritual Root—
he had never heard of one.
It existed only in legends and rumors.
"Looks like they came for this!" Wen Jiu hurriedly began reburying the corpse, resolving never to return to the burial site.
A quarter of an hour later,
Wen Jiu had buried the corpse again.
He tossed some Corpse Remnants on top, waiting for the cold frost of Yin Qi to gather and completely conceal the signs of digging.
Once he was done, Wen Jiu left at once.
He walked straight back to his lodgings.
His heart was full of unease,
but also wild with joy.
He didn't know much about the cultivation world.
But just looking at Corpse Peak, Wen Jiu knew how difficult it was to obtain cultivation methods.
He couldn't even get the third layer of the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art, let alone an ultimate body-tempering method like the Yin Sha Blood Curse Body, which could be cultivated through thirteen stages.
Compared to it, no matter how precious a First-grade High-quality Magic Tool was, Wen Jiu didn't think the Soul Devouring Blood Bead came close.
"Looks like they definitely came for this."
Wen Jiu read through the Yin Sha Blood Curse Body several more times, familiarizing himself with it from every angle.
The more he read, the more delighted he became.
Cultivating the Yin Sha Blood Curse Body required large amounts of cultivator essence blood, but Earth Fiend Yin Energy was actually the key.
The creator had substituted large quantities of cultivator essence blood because Earth Fiend Yin Energy damaged one's lifespan when absorbed into the body.
But Wen Jiu wasn't afraid of that.
He could cultivate mainly with Earth Fiend Yin Energy,
supplemented by cultivator essence blood.
He still had plenty left.
"It's practically tailor-made for a Corpse Nurturer like me." Wen Jiu was ecstatic.
But he soon calmed down.
He forcibly smothered his urge to begin cultivating before it could take root.
He couldn't cultivate it.
At least, not yet!
If he succeeded, he would likely invite disaster upon himself.
After all, someone was looking for it!
"Though I can't cultivate the Yin Sha Blood Curse Body yet, I can use Earth Fiend Yin Energy to temper my body first. That way, I can still achieve the goal of body tempering." Every day, he already chanted the Corpse Nurturing Incantation to draw in Earth Fiend Yin Energy and nurture corpses.
When the time came, he could absorb some himself to temper his body.
He would build a solid foundation first.
Then, whenever he wanted to cultivate it in the future, he could start at once.
The next day,
Wen Jiu returned to the Dead Corpse Land with a heart full of unease.
But everything was as usual.
No one from the Night Patrol Division appeared again.
Only then did Wen Jiu's suspended heart finally settle.
After nightfall,
Wen Jiu prepared to give it a try.
As he chanted the Corpse Nurturing Incantation to draw in Earth Fiend Yin Energy and nurture the corpse, Wen Jiu sat cross-legged above the burial site and competed with the Black Zombie for the energy. He then used the method recorded in the Yin Sha Blood Curse Body to channel it into his flesh.
The process was somewhat painful.
But Wen Jiu could bear it.
After the hour of the boar,
Wen Jiu was drenched in sweat.
His body had become unbearably numb and sore.
Dragging his exhausted, aching body home, Wen Jiu gulped down several mouthfuls of cold water. A ravenous hunger soon followed.
But even with money, there was nowhere to buy food at this hour.
With no other choice, Wen Jiu went hungry and waited for the Daily Settlement, planning to see how effective it had been before gritting his teeth and going to sleep.
[Daily Settlement Panel Lv1 (81/100)] [Today's Settlement!] [Chanted the Corpse Nurturing Incantation for one hour, cultivated the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art for one hour, panel experience +1, Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art experience +10, Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art experience +1] [Buried corpses in the Death Ground for three hours, searched for Yin Souls for three hours, continuously absorbed corpse Qi and Death Qi, panel experience +1, corpse Qi +6, Death Qi +6] [Used Earth Fiend Yin Energy and a large amount of cultivator blood to nurture corpses at the Corpse Nurturing Ground for twelve hours, panel experience +1, Dead Body Mutation experience +3, +18, Corpse Nurturer experience +1.] [Consumed two bowls of inferior Spirit Rice, one piece of unranked demonic beast meat, and tempered the body with Earth Fiend Yin Energy for one hour, body-tempering experience +10.1]
"Dead Body Mutation actually lost 3 points, but body-tempering experience went up by 10!" The effect of just one hour was incredibly efficient!
After his excitement had passed,
Wen Jiu went to gulp down a few more mouthfuls of cold water.
"This makes me hungrier than going without food for several days."
Wen Jiu gritted his teeth and forced himself to sleep.
Early the next morning, when his older sister, Wen Ya, brought him food, Wen Jiu wolfed down a bowl of rice in three mouthfuls and swallowed the demonic beast meat in one.
But he was still hungry.
With no other choice,
after his sister left, Wen Jiu ate three more bowls of coarse noodles.
Only then was he barely full.
But it was just enough to fill his stomach.
The numbness and soreness, along with the weakness, hadn't gone away.
"Does body tempering mean I have to eat large amounts of Spirit Rice and demonic beast meat too?"
Wen Jiu's expression changed.
How could he afford that?
His monthly wages were only three taels.
When he returned to the Dead Corpse Land,
Wen Jiu had planned to ask Wang Nian if there were other ways to make money. If not, he would put body tempering on hold.
But Wang Nian didn't show up. Instead, the three of them—Fang Zheng and the others—arrived.
This time, the three of them spoke more politely, and their attitude had changed considerably.
"Fellow Daoist, have you made up your mind? If you don't think it's suitable, we can double the monthly payment we promised before."
Double.
That would be two hundred taels.
To be honest,
it was tempting.
But Wen Jiu didn't want to get involved with them over a little money.
If he didn't have the money, he could just put body tempering on hold.
It didn't matter.
"Not interested." Wen Jiu shook his head.
Fang Zheng gave a crooked smile and continued, "Fellow Daoist, we've already looked into it. Your sister hasn't married into the family yet, so she doesn't count as Steward Xu's concubine. What if Steward Xu comes back and decides not to marry your sister? To be honest... you'd have no one to rely on at Corpse Peak!"
Wen Jiu shot Fang Zheng a cold look. He couldn't even be bothered to give him a perfunctory answer. Seeing this, Fang Zheng was about to lose his temper, but then he remembered his brother-in-law had said Wen Jiu had reached Qi Refining Layer One. The fist he had clenched loosened, wisely.
Though the three of them said nothing more, their eyes had grown completely cold.
The other corpse buriers looked at Wen Jiu the same way.
Wen Jiu didn't care.
So what if they ostracized him?
It didn't matter.
Wen Jiu had never wanted to waste time on pointless socializing or cultivate useless connections.
Just then, Wang Nian arrived.
The corpse buriers immediately set off to work.
"Wen, wait."
Wen Jiu stopped. After the other corpse buriers had left, Wang Nian lowered his voice. "For the next little while, don't come to the Dead Corpse Land at night to nurture corpses."
"Why?"
Wen Jiu was taken aback.
He didn't understand.
What had happened now?
Wang Nian continued in a low voice, "Fang Zheng's brother-in-law is the Night Patrol Division steward who made things difficult for you that day. He knows you've reached Qi Refining Layer One, and today you turned down Fang Zheng's invitation. The people from the Gathering Righteousness Hall will probably target you from now on... But that's nothing to worry about. With me here, they won't dare cause trouble. But the Night Patrol Division steward, Li Ye, is narrow-minded and stops at nothing. To make sure Fang Zheng and the others take one of the top three spots, he might send someone to kill you in secret."
With that,
Wang Nian stamped the ground beneath his feet.
"If they kill you here in secret... they can easily pin it on the infiltrator who killed more than ten Corpse Peak disciples."
"Thanks for the warning, Brother Wang."
As he spoke,
Wen Jiu silently committed Li Ye's name to memory.
No wonder he'd singled Wen Jiu out that day.
So it hadn't been because Wen Jiu was cultivating an unorthodox path after all.
But now he couldn't come at night to chant the Corpse Nurturing Incantation. That meant he'd lose quite a bit of experience in his daily settlement.
It was infuriating.
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