No Wonder They're Short-Lived

After leaving the Dharma Transmission Tower.

The many Corpse Buriers gathered together, each face brimming with satisfaction and hopeful smiles.

The past two days of hardship and exhaustion—spent in the Death Ground, accompanied by blood mud, Yin Qi, and Corpse Remnants—were swept away in an instant.

Many even began to congratulate themselves for choosing to become Corpse Buriers rather than remaining lifelong mortal Miscellaneous Servants.

But Wen Jiu noticed.

When others caught sight of the Yin Province Corpse Refining Record in his hands, a faint glimmer of disdain flickered in their eyes.

As if they found it contemptible.

Seeing this, Wen Jiu silently tucked the Yin Province Corpse Refining Record into his robes and, without a word, followed the crowd out of the market.

Whether he could become an Apprentice Disciple—

In Wen Jiu's view, that wasn't important for now.

What mattered most at the moment was improving his strength. If he truly couldn't become an Apprentice Disciple of Corpse Peak, he would find another path.

There was always a way.

As for leaving Corpse Peak to become a rogue cultivator—

Wen Jiu wasn't that foolish.

Having a backing.

Having a group to rely on.

Why would anyone become a rogue cultivator?

He'd rather remain a Corpse Burier forever than become a rogue cultivator.

Besides, seeing how these Qi Refining Cultivators looked down on the Unorthodox Path, Wen Jiu felt that being a rogue cultivator might be rather dangerous.

What if some so-called "Righteous Path" cultivator decided to take him down?

Night fell.

After eating a bowl of plain noodles at the market near his dwelling to stave off hunger, Wen Jiu hurried home.

He set to work cultivating the method recorded in the Yin Province Corpse Refining Record—the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art.

Strictly speaking, the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art was also a Qi Refining Method, capable of reaching the Qi Refining realm. However, it required not ordinary Spirit Qi, but the absorption of Yin Spirit Qi in Yin locations during Yin hours.

That is, a mixture of Yin Qi and Spirit Qi.

None of this was difficult.

After all, the Death Ground was right next door.

It was worth noting that the first page of the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art bore a warning written in the author's own blood: Do not rush; haste makes waste. If you blindly pursue rapid cultivation, you will be harmed by Yin Spirit Qi and have your lifespan shortened!

This was the only point of caution in the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art.

Seeing this, Wen Jiu understood even better why the white-haired old man had said no one would choose him as an Apprentice Disciple.

But as a Corpse Nurturer, Wen Jiu's passive trait was that Death Qi, Yin Qi, and Corpse Qi did not erode him—instead, they became his nourishment.

So he had no worries about this at all.

Suddenly.

A pop-up window appeared.

[Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art]

[Grade: Qi Refining Cultivation Method (Two layers, cultivatable to Qi Refining Second Layer)]

[Cultivate?]

"Yes!"

Wen Jiu was delighted.

Being able to directly choose cultivation—did that mean he wouldn't need to pick Yin locations or Yin hours?

The next moment.

His personal information panel followed.

[Wen Jiu]

[Age: Twenty-three]

[Lifespan: 23/73]

[Realm: None]

[Technique: Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art (First Layer 0/1000)]+

[Lv1 Corpse Nurturer (0/100)]

[Secret Art: Mutate Corpse]

[Dead Body--Mutating (0/100)]+

[Death Qi Balance: 8]

[Corpse Qi Balance: 8]

"Both the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art and the mutating corpse have a plus sign."

Noticing this, Wen Jiu tried tapping the plus sign on the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art.

[Technique: Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art Beginner (1/1000)]+

[Death Qi Balance: 7]

"So I can directly use Death Qi to improve the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art." Wen Jiu was delighted, then added all the remaining seven points.

Once the experience value for the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art Beginner reached 7, Wen Jiu immediately felt a few strands of flowing Qi appear in his lower abdomen's dantian, but it leaned toward the cold side—presumably the Yin Spirit Qi mentioned in the Corpse Nurturing Art.

"When Yin Spirit Qi starts accumulating in the dantian, it means cultivation has begun!" Wen Jiu smiled again. "If I max out the 1000 experience points, would that mean stepping into Qi Refining Layer One?"

If so.

Then that was way too fast.

Because those eight points of Death Qi came from yesterday's eight hours of corpse burial on Death Ground.

Today, he hadn't worked a full eight hours.

But he had done six.

If he calculated based on six points of Death Qi per day, wouldn't it only take 166 days to reach Qi Refining Layer One?

As far as he knew, to step into Qi Refining Layer One, a normal cultivator needed at least about a year.

Only those with exceptional talent could shorten that time.

No wonder it was called an Unorthodox Path.

Truly fast!

Next, Wen Jiu added the eight points of Corpse Qi to the mutating corpse.

[Dead Body--Mutating (8/100)]+

If 100 fullness meant successful mutation, then in less than ten days, he could become a true Corpse Nurturer!

Soon.

Midnight arrived.

[Daily Settlement Panel Lv1 (3/100)]

[Today's Settlement!]

[Buried corpse on Death Ground for six hours, continuously absorbing Corpse Qi and Death Qi, Panel EXP +1, Corpse Qi +6, Death Qi +6]

[Nurtured corpse on Extreme Yin Ground for eight hours, Panel EXP +1, Dead Body Mutation EXP +6, Corpse Nurturer EXP +1]

What Wen Jiu hadn't expected was that after the daily settlement, the corpse's mutation experience directly reached 14.

And he still had 6 points of Death Qi left over.

"Burial on Death Ground gives Death Qi, nurturing on Extreme Yin Ground gives experience—with double support, it'll only take five days for the corpse to turn into a White Zombie!" Thinking this, Wen Jiu was overjoyed.

Though White Zombies had many weaknesses and unknown strength, this efficiency was truly astonishing.

So this was the Unorthodox Path?

Fast indeed.

With this kind of efficiency, a short life was all too normal.

Good thing he had the Corpse Nurturer passive, immune to the erosion of Yin Qi, Death Qi, and Corpse Qi.

The next morning.

The sky had just begun to show a hint of pale white when the door was knocked on again.

"It's me!"

It was his elder sister Wen Ya's voice.

Wen Jiu quickly got up and opened the door.

As soon as the door opened, he saw his sister holding a large bowl, still covered with a lotus leaf, but this time the leaf clearly couldn't quite contain it—there was a bulge, and besides the Spirit Rice, there was an extra hint of meat aroma.

The meat aroma was strange.

Very unusual.

At least, Wen Jiu had no memory of it.

Wen Ya cheerfully lifted the lotus leaf and said, "Eat up quick, there's meat today... Let me tell you, this is Monster Beast Meat. Eating it is a great tonic, strengthens the body, and speeds up cultivation. In this first year, we definitely can't compete for the top three, but we'll make sure we don't fall behind!"

"Sis, Monster Beast Meat must be more expensive than Spirit Rice, right?" In his memory, there was no information about Monster Beast Meat.

But it not only strengthens the body, it also speeds up cultivation—for those two reasons alone, it should cost more than low-grade Spirit Rice.

In Wen Jiu's view, gain required sacrifice.

For this bowl of Spirit Rice and this piece of Monster Beast Meat, what had this Elder Sister given up?

Was she really just going to be a maid?

Wen Ya shook her head, as if unwilling to say more. "A little more expensive... hurry up and eat, or you'll have to go work again soon."

"Sis, if you don't tell me, I'm not eating." Wen Jiu's tone was firm.

Seeing this, Wen Ya shook her head helplessly. "It's fine, don't worry about me. Someone like me, a Miscellaneous Servant, living hand to mouth with no future in sight—being noticed by an Immortal Official is already the best outcome... Besides, I can still bring you food from time to time to help you build up your strength. Once that Immortal Official returns in a few days, he might even be able to help you, get you an Apprentice Disciple status."

Hearing this.

Wen Jiu understood.

Not a maid.

Probably a Concubine or something similar.

Wen Jiu looked at his sister, who still wore a smile, and suddenly felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. After weighing it carefully, he chose not to press further.

He only asked one question. "Sis, who is that person?"

Since things had come to this.

And couldn't be changed.

He at least needed to know who it was.

So he could make discreet inquiries later. If it was just a Concubine, then so be it—as a Miscellaneous Servant, becoming an Immortal Official's Concubine was indeed an excellent way out. This wasn't Blue Star, after all, where talk of love and romance mattered.

But if it was an Old Cultivator looking for a Cultivation Cauldron...