As a flood of Yin arts poured into the Corpse Eye, it began refining the demonic corpses stored inside.
Although he couldn't see it with his own eyes, his Spiritual Sense clearly perceived the demonic corpses steadily vanishing and Corpse Blood forming. There was nothing particularly remarkable about the process, but the demonic flesh and blood, after passing through Blood Essence and then the Corpse Eye, had indeed transformed into something else—a dark, blackish Corpse Blood.
Before long, half a demonic corpse had been completely refined, and the Corpse Eye's storage space now held an extra half a pound of Corpse Blood.
When his Spiritual Sense probed it, he immediately sensed an especially wild, violent Corpse Qi and Blood Qi. Even a brief probe left him dazed, and his mood grew considerably more irritable. It was completely different from what Wen Jiu had seen before.
"So this is Corpse Blood?"
Only then did Wen Jiu understand why Black Zombies raised on Corpse Blood were said to be prone to slipping out of their Corpse Nurturers' control.
He withdrew his Spiritual Sense and continued using the Corpse Eye to nurture the blood. But after he had exhausted all the Yin arts in his dantian, he had only just managed to refine one demonic corpse. Fortunately, he had gained a pound of Corpse Blood, so Wen Jiu wasn't in a hurry.
Early the next morning, Wen Jiu headed to the Dead Corpse Land and took the dark Corpse Blood from the Corpse Eye for the Black Zombie to consume.
The moment the Black Zombie saw the Corpse Blood, it became as excited as a cat spotting catnip. It let out a steady stream of low growls as it frantically devoured the blood.
If Wen Jiu hadn't stopped it, it might have swallowed the entire Corpse Eye.
Just then, Wen Jiu suddenly saw a drop of Corpse Blood accidentally slide from the Black Zombie's mouth.
The instant it hit the ground, it began to corrode the earth much like Wen Jiu's corrosive Yin art, only more violently. In just a few breaths, it had polluted and eaten away at the area within a yard. If there had been more, it might have contaminated the entire Dead Corpse Land.
"Looks like I can't let anyone find out about the Corpse Blood. Otherwise... that'll give them yet another reason to call me a Wicked Heretic."
Wen Jiu smiled wryly.
After Midnight.
Wen Jiu saw the experience increase brought by a pound of Corpse Blood.
Previously, even after nurturing corpses for twelve hours in the center of the Dead Corpse Land, he could only earn six points of experience. His Corpse Nurturing Incantation, at Great Mastery, could add another three, but that still wasn't much. He earned only nine points a day.
But a pound of Corpse Blood had earned him an extra fifty points of experience, while his Blood Transformation Body had also gained twenty.
The improvement was enormous.
Then again, a single demonic corpse weighed at least a hundred pounds and was worth over a hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones. Considering that the Corpse Blood refined from one could yield seventy experience points, it seemed reasonable enough—not too outrageous.
Over the next few days, Wen Jiu nurtured blood while raising corpses. In six days, he successfully refined all six demonic corpses into Corpse Blood, giving the Black Zombie three hundred experience points and raising his Blood Transformation Body by one hundred and twenty.
The Black Zombie's experience had now climbed well past four hundred.
[Black Zombie—Corpse Raising (Upper Realm 426/2000)]
His Blood Transformation Body's experience had reached six hundred.
[Black Zombie Skill: Blood Transformation Body, Third Level (600/2000)]
At his current pace, he would earn nine Corpse Raising Experience each day when it was tallied. The Black Zombie would need around 185 days to fill its experience bar, while reaching the fourth level of Blood Transformation Body would take nearly sixty days.
Under normal circumstances,
Wen Jiu would have been quite satisfied with this rate.
But the situation at Flying Immortal Peak had put some pressure on him, whether he realized it or not. The sooner he could raise the Black Zombie into a Walking Corpse, the better.
At present, one pound of demonic blood could earn fifty experience points, speeding things up by five and a half days, while also cutting a day off the time needed for Blood Transformation Body. The cost was nearly a hundred Low-grade Spirit Stones, but it was worth it.
After all, he could now earn Spirit Stones by drawing Soul Seizing Talismans.
Once his Soul Seizing Talisman proficiency had reached Great Mastery, it was no longer stuck at two successes out of ten. Wen Jiu had tried it out over the past few days.
He could now manage four or five successes out of ten.
The quality had risen along with his success rate. Before, he could only draw a Fine-grade talisman by luck, but now Wen Jiu often produced them. A Soul Seizing Talisman capable of injuring a Qi Refining Second Layer cultivator could sell for at least four or five Low-grade Spirit Stones.
Wen Jiu could draw eight or nine talismans a day now, and on a good day, he could successfully make ten. Soon, he would be able to fund his corpse-blood raising by selling Soul Seizing Talismans.
The one drawback was that, after reaching Great Mastery, he earned only one experience point for each successful talisman.
Failures no longer earned experience.
Soul Seizing Talisman required 500 experience points to reach completion.
Over the past few days, Wen Jiu had successfully made fifty-one in total.
[Soul Seizing Talisman (Great Mastery 51/500)]
Early the next morning,
Flying Immortal Peak finally lifted its lockdown.
The Inspection Envoys from the Inspection Hall had spent six whole days questioning the stewards, deacons, and elders of Flying Immortal Peak.
One could imagine how thorough their interrogations and investigations had been. They had probably even used quite a few special methods along the way.
And yet,
It seemed they still hadn't found anything, in the end. Not one of the seven elders had been imprisoned by the Inspection Hall or taken into custody on the spot.
That very day, Wen Jiu was summoned once again to the Night Patrol Division, where he met Liu Xiao and Mu Canglong in private.
After seven days of questioning, both Liu Xiao and Mu Canglong looked utterly exhausted.
"Brother Liu, Steward Mu..."
Wen Jiu took two bottles of pills from his Storage Bag, ones that replenished stamina and Qi and Blood. They had come from killing Chen Feng.
But Mu Canglong didn't accept them. Instead, he asked, "Do you know why I summoned you here alone?"
"This subordinate does not know."
Wen Jiu answered honestly.
Mu Canglong continued, "The Inspection Hall's people won't be leaving. They'll intensify their investigation into the Peak Master's death. Elder Gong volunteered to assign us to serve the Inspection Hall, so we'll be leaving Flying Immortal Peak for a while... perhaps a month, perhaps two."
"This..."
Wen Jiu's expression tightened.
A month or two would be more than enough for him to raise Blood Transformation Body to the fourth level.
Liu Xiao chimed in, "Don't worry. We know you don't want to leave the sect, so Steward Mu won't involve the Apprentice Disciples. We called you here because there's something else we want to tell you. Steward Mu and I are both worried this trip may be perilous, so before leaving Flying Immortal Peak, Steward Mu wants to take on a disciple to inherit his legacy."
"I'm willing!"
With such an obvious hint, Wen Jiu would have to be a fool not to understand.
He didn't know whether Mu Canglong was a member of the Blood Robe Tower, but he could say for certain that Mu Canglong was a good man.
Taking him as his master wouldn't be a bad thing.
Besides, Wang Nian had once told him to show Mu Canglong his talent for Yin talismans. There had to be a reason for that.
"You're a clever one." Mu Canglong smiled in satisfaction, then changed the subject. "But I'm not looking for a disciple to inherit my own legacy. I'm looking for one on behalf of my father—the creator of the Yinzhou Corpse Raising Method."
"Old Master Mu?"
Wen Jiu's expression changed slightly.
He had heard a little about Mu Canglong's father. He had died more than ten years ago.
Could the man Mu Canglong had mentioned earlier—the one who lived only to fifty-seven and reached the sixth layer of Qi Refining—have been his father?
Mu Canglong continued, "I'd originally planned to pass it on to you after you reached the third layer of Qi Refining. But after seeing your talent for the unorthodox art of corpse raising, and since I can't be sure I'll return alive from this trip, I've decided to pass on the entire Yinzhou Corpse Raising Method to you ahead of time."
At those words, Wen Jiu immediately dropped to his knees.
To be taught a method—
Such immense kindness—
Deserved a bow of gratitude!
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