"Rise."
"On all of Flying Immortal Peak, I can't think of anyone but you who could inherit this Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art."
Mu Canglong joked as he spoke. Then he took a black wooden box from his Storage Bag. Wen Jiu knew at a glance that it was no ordinary item. The Death Qi that had seeped into the box was scant, but extremely concentrated.
It came from a corpse that wasn't a Black Zombie.
And given how concentrated it was—and that it had not dissipated after all these years—it had to come from a powerful walking corpse.
The Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art Mu Canglong had given him earlier covered how to cultivate walking corpses. But Wen Jiu lacked a First-grade Mid-quality Yin Talisman technique and a Yin cultivation method for the Qi Refining Mid-stage. So he guessed those were what the box contained.
Perhaps it also held a cultivation method for after Qi Refining Sixth Layer. If so, he would be spared the trouble of searching for one later.
Mu Canglong's expression turned serious. "Boy, remember my words. Never rush things, and always know when to cut your losses. Unorthodox Path techniques consume too much life force. In the end, you can't use them for long."
"This subordinate understands!"
Wen Jiu nodded.
As before, he said little.
His immunity to Yin Qi, Death Qi, and corpse Qi was one of his greatest secrets.
So even though he was grateful to Mu Canglong for passing on the techniques, Wen Jiu would never reveal this.
"There's also a Yin Talisman secret art my father obtained in his early years. It's called the True Meaning of Yin Talisman. Open it and take a look." Mu Canglong gave Liu Xiao a signal. Liu Xiao immediately stepped forward, took the box, and handed it to Wen Jiu.
As soon as Wen Jiu took the box and opened it, he saw two black booklets—and a brush.
A talisman brush.
But it was unlike an ordinary talisman brush. Those were thick, like large writing brushes, while this one was very slender.
It was more like a paintbrush, with an extremely fine tip.
The material was unusual, too. Its shaft was a slender black bone—not human, nor from a spirit beast. It looked more like it came from some kind of demon, for the aura it gave off was every bit as sinister as corpse Qi.
The bristles were just as strange. Each strand seemed to have a life of its own, gently stirring. The aura they gave off was so bizarre that Wen Jiu couldn't make sense of it at all.
"This is a First-grade Mid-quality Yin Talisman Brush, and it's part of the True Meaning of Yin Talisman. My father always said that only with this can you draw a true Yin Talisman." Mu Canglong gazed at the brush, lost in old memories. A trace of melancholy entered his expression.
Wen Jiu couldn't help picking up the brush. The instant it touched his hand, he felt how different it was from ordinary talisman brushes.
An ordinary talisman brush was just a vessel. When drawing a talisman, you had to send Yin techniques from your dantian into the brush, channel them to the tip, then carefully trace the Talisman Script one stroke at a time.
But the Yin Talisman Brush was different. The instant Wen Jiu picked it up, it began drawing out his Yin techniques like a leech. Once absorbed, the techniques were stored inside. When he held the brush again, he no longer needed to channel Yin techniques from his dantian or expend a great deal of Spiritual Sense to carefully control how much flowed out. He only needed to focus on controlling the brush.
It might seem like only one step less, but for drawing talismans, it was practically a cheat. He could use all his Spiritual Sense to control the strokes of the Talisman Script. That would send his chances of success soaring.
Dividing your attention could never compare to focusing on one thing at a time.
"Thank you, Steward Mu!"
Wen Jiu was overjoyed.
With this brush, his success rate at drawing talismans would surely climb another level.
Putting everything else aside, just for this brush, Wen Jiu ought to pay his respects at Old Master Mu's grave.
Seeing Wen Jiu's delight, Mu Canglong immediately understood. "Have you already started drawing Yin Talismans, boy?"
Wen Jiu stuck to the principle of revealing three parts while concealing seven. "To answer Steward Mu, yes. This subordinate can barely draw a First-grade Low-quality Soul Seizing Talisman at present, but my success rate is low. I only manage it once in a while."
At those words,
Mu Canglong and Liu Xiao's expressions changed abruptly.
Good heavens.
It hadn't even been that long.
The boy had taken up corpse raising, advanced to Qi Refining Second Layer, and now become a First-grade Yin Talisman Master.
Talisman masters were nothing like Qi cultivators. Anyone could begin Qi cultivation, even with an Inferior Spiritual Root. They might not get far, but they could grind away at it over time. Talisman masters were different. They needed sensitivity, talent, and insight. They couldn't lack any of the three.
If you didn't have it, you didn't have it.
No amount of time could change that.
"Your talent for the Wicked Path is truly astonishing, boy... It's a shame you weren't born in a better era." Mu Canglong couldn't help sighing. "If you'd been born fifty years earlier, you'd have been the finest among the Wicked Path cultivators of Corpse Peak. Unfortunately, though Corpse Peak still preserves Unorthodox Path traditions, the betrayal and flight of an Unorthodox Path faction, followed by the Blood Robe Tower upheaval, left almost everyone on Corpse Peak with a deep dislike of Unorthodox Path cultivators. These days, nearly every living cultivator of Corpse Peak has had three or five relatives killed by Wicked Heretics."
"I see."
Wen Jiu finally understood.
He couldn't help feeling helpless.
Mu Canglong reassured him. "Still, Corpse Peak can make room for you. Don't worry... Since you've become a First-grade Yin Talisman Master, this Black Bone Yin Talisman Brush will be the perfect addition."
"Thank you, Steward Mu!"
Wen Jiu bowed in gratitude.
Then Mu Canglong changed the subject. "Besides that, there's also a corpse-raising secret technique my father obtained by chance, called Three Fiends Corpse Raising. My father once told me that raising a corpse in a specially made Corpse Raising Coffin using the Three Fiends method could double your results with half the effort. The walking corpses it produced were several times stronger than ordinary ones, and could be called Three Fiends Walking Corpses. Even at the middle stage, they could dominate the Qi Refining Mid-stage... This should suit you best. Your talent for corpse raising surpasses even my father's."
"Steward Mu is too kind."
Wen Jiu replied modestly.
Then his gaze fell on one of the black booklets.
The words Three Fiends Corpse Raising were written on the cover!
Wen Jiu opened it and glanced at just a couple of pages, but the distinctive, powerful corpse-raising method immediately captivated him.
Compared to this, the corpse-raising method he had used in the Dead Corpse Land could only be called crude.
Mu Canglong smiled bitterly. "Put it away. We're going after the Blood Robe Tower remnants and investigating the peak lord's death. I don't know whether I'll make it back alive, or whether I'll see you advance further... But I hope you'll carry on the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art. Don't let it die out."
Wen Jiu put it in his Storage Bag, then quickly said, with a thoughtful look, "Steward Mu and Brother Liu are surely blessed with good fortune. You'll return safely, uncover the truth, and rise higher with every step!"
"I'll take your word for it, boy."
Mu Canglong smiled with satisfaction.
Then he continued, "But the things I gave you don't include a cultivation method for after Qi Refining Sixth Layer. If you ever reach Qi Refining Sixth Layer and want to advance further, you must go to the main peak of Corpse Peak and look for a cultivation method called Yin Province Unorthodox Records."
"Yin Province Unorthodox Records?"
"The idea behind my father's creation of the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art came from the Yin Province Unorthodox Records. That's a true Unorthodox Path Foundation Establishment cultivation method. Corpse raising is only one small branch of it."
Mu Canglong explained, but didn't mention that no one had succeeded in cultivating the Yin Province Unorthodox Records in a hundred and fifty years. Almost no Unorthodox Path cultivator could survive to Qi Cultivation Great Perfection and then establish their foundation.
Rapid progress was the Unorthodox Path's advantage. A short lifespan was the price.
He didn't say it outright because Mu Canglong knew Wen Jiu would never abandon the Unorthodox Path. Perhaps with his talent, he too could find his own way through the Yin Province Unorthodox Records, just as his father had.
As for Foundation Establishment—
To be honest, Mu Canglong didn't dare imagine it.
In his view, it would already be remarkable if Wen Jiu reached the Late Qi Refining Stage.
For as strong as Wen Jiu's talent for the Unorthodox Path was, he still had an Inferior Spiritual Root.
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