If he didn't.
These corpse buriers were injured by Yin Qi, with seven or eight falling sick every day. Who was he, as their supervisor, supposed to order around? It wasn't as if he could haul and bury the corpses himself, could he?
Forget it.
Even the scent of Blood Qi and Death Qi made him uncomfortable. Every time he went home, he had to use a Cleansing Talisman to clean himself from head to toe three times.
Let alone haul corpses.
"Wait."
Wang Nian froze.
As he pondered, he suddenly noticed that when Wen Jiu pushed the handcart to bury a corpse, the thick Yin Qi clinging to him was gradually disappearing, as if something were devouring it. This made no sense at all!
Even Qi Refining cultivators needed a special Yin Dispelling Talisman to cleanse themselves completely when Yin Qi clung to them.
That was also one reason it caused ordinary people to fall seriously ill—if you couldn't get rid of it, it would keep harming you.
Ordinary Martial Artists, let alone common people, couldn't get rid of it. They probably couldn't even avoid it. Yet Wen Jiu could clear it away with ease.
No!
After observing more carefully,
Wang Nian gradually spotted the truth.
The Yin Qi wasn't suddenly vanishing for no reason. Wen Jiu was recklessly drawing it into his body.
"Could this kid have already made some progress?" The thought flashed through Wang Nian's mind, and he could hardly believe it.
This kid.
His talent for the Unorthodox Path was actually this incredible?
It had only been a few days.
And he had already mastered the basics.
He had even started drawing in Yin Qi to cultivate.
To confirm his suspicions, Wang Nian deliberately stopped Wen Jiu as everyone was leaving. "Kid, what cultivation method are you practicing?"
"The Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art."
Wen Jiu answered honestly.
He was secretly pleased.
Looks like that little display of skill had done the trick.
Wang Nian asked again, "You've mastered the basics?"
"Mm-hmm."
Wen Jiu nodded.
Wang Nian tried hard to hide it, but a trace of surprise and astonishment still appeared between his brows.
It vanished in an instant, though.
His usual menacing expression, the sort that made people keep their distance, returned. Wang Nian waved a hand, left him with a "Not bad," and turned to leave.
Back home,
Wen Jiu was quite pleased with how things had gone that day.
Wang Nian had noticed him now. All he had to do next was wait and see what happened.
Having lived two lives, Wen Jiu knew all too well that he couldn't rush things. Push too far, and he'd only bring trouble upon himself.
Over the following days, Wen Jiu kept his head down and continued working as a corpse burier, acting as though Wang Nian had never questioned him. Wang Nian didn't seek him out again, either, and remained as cold as ever.
Just like that,
a few more days passed in the blink of an eye.
The Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art progressed as usual. An hour of cultivation each day earned him just 1 experience point, but Wen Jiu could collect 6 points of Death Qi every day, so his experience still crawled upward at a rate of 7 points per day.
Compared to the White Zombie's experience gains, though, the difference was heaven and earth.
At this rate, it would take another 135 days to reach Qi Refining Layer One.
The White Zombie, meanwhile, gained 12 experience points every day. In just 16 days, it could transform into a Black Zombie and become an existence on par with a cultivator.
"That's probably why the Unorthodox Path is looked down on... Others work themselves to the bone for three years to reach Qi Refining Layer One, but a White Zombie can transform into a Black Zombie in just over ten days, making it comparable to a Qi Refining Layer One cultivator."
Wen Jiu couldn't help but sigh.
If it were up to him,
he definitely couldn't accept that.
Before long,
eight days had passed since he had shown off a little in front of Wang Nian.
That day, after he collected his gains, Blood Transformation Body needed just 3 more experience points to reach full capacity.
Add points!
Corpse Qi -3!
The Blood Transformation Body panel changed in an instant.
[White Zombie Skill: Blood Transformation Body, First Layer (0/500)] [Ordinary iron cannot harm it; ordinary fire and water cannot faze it. Forged from a cultivator's blood, the Blood Transformation Body can regenerate severed limbs so long as the Corpse Spirit remains intact, once it reaches the ultimate realm.]
"So this is the Blood Transformation Body?"
Reading its description, Wen Jiu couldn't help but marvel.
It could even regenerate severed limbs.
Absolutely outrageous.
If word of this skill got out, wouldn't those Qi Refining cultivators hate him to death?
They'd all have the same thing to say.
"Damn this Unorthodox Path!"
The following night,
Wen Jiu arrived at the burial ground as usual during the Hai hour to chant the Corpse Nurturing Incantation.
But this time,
the Yin Qi felt much heavier.
Even though the Corpse Nurturer's passive ability kept him from being corroded by Yin Qi, the temperature at the burial ground still made his hair stand on end.
And he had the nagging feeling that something was out there in the dark.
"Am I imagining it?"
Wen Jiu looked around at the dark night.
He swallowed.
Remembering that the White Zombie was with him beneath his feet, he hurriedly worked up his courage and began chanting the Corpse Nurturing Incantation.
But as he chanted, something felt wrong. No matter how powerful the Yin Qi in the burial ground was, it had never made his hair stand on end. Yet just now, his entire body had felt as if it had plunged into an icy abyss.
The cold went to the bone.
It came without warning.
And that cold carried a thick Death Qi, crashing toward him like a tide—something Wen Jiu had never experienced before.
As time passed, the Yin Qi and Death Qi seemed to turn into a hand around Wen Jiu's neck, squeezing tighter and tighter until he could barely breathe. Yet when he touched his neck, there was nothing there.
Just then, the White Zombie suddenly burst out of the earth!
"Ha—"
Standing bolt upright after breaking through the ground, the White Zombie exhaled a mouthful of pale, frosty Yin Qi.
Its snowy fangs were covered in blood, as if it had just fed.
Its face was even more twisted and terrifying. Even though Wen Jiu had been prepared, he couldn't help being startled.
Feeling the White Zombie's surging hostility, Wen Jiu was both puzzled and a little unnerved. "What's wrong?"
The moment the words left his mouth,
the White Zombie pounced.
Wen Jiu was startled.
He stumbled backward.
But the White Zombie moved incredibly fast and lunged in to bite. Just as Wen Jiu was about to kick it away, a chilling shriek erupted behind him, sending ice from his head to his toes.
"Ah—"
Wen Jiu whipped around and saw the White Zombie sail past him as if it had bitten something. Then it abruptly sucked the thing into its belly.
The next moment,
the surrounding Yin Qi plunged.
A wave of warmth swept over him.
The suffocating feeling vanished without a trace.
Then the White Zombie's hostility slowly faded. A faint look of satisfaction even appeared in its eyes, and the Yin Qi around its body swelled a little. Seeing this, Wen Jiu instantly realized what had happened.
A Yin Soul.
When a person died, their soul sometimes lingered.
After absorbing vast amounts of Yin Qi and Death Qi, it became a soul.
Formless and shapeless.
The greatest enemy of corpses!
But a great tonic when eaten!
"Fuck, I really ran into a ghost."
Wen Jiu wiped away his cold sweat. Looking at the White Zombie's hideous, terrifying face—the kind that could scare someone to death—he suddenly felt a little safer.
"Good brother!"
"I'll mutate a wife for you someday!"
After saying that,
Wen Jiu sent the White Zombie back to the Corpse Nurturing Ground and continued chanting the Corpse Nurturing Incantation.
When midnight came and he returned to wait for the daily tally, the new settlement information made Wen Jiu ecstatic.
Because one more line had appeared in the daily settlement.
[Devoured one newly formed Yin Soul. White Zombie experience +10. Undigested Death Qi added to the surplus. Death Qi +50!]
Not only did it gain 10 experience points,
it also brought him 50 points of Death Qi.
Fifty points.
That was equivalent to eight full days' worth of Death Qi, plus the gains from cultivation.
"That means my cultivation and the White Zombie's growth can speed up again!"
At the thought,
Wen Jiu was both shocked and delighted.
At the thought, Wen Jiu hurriedly looked through the Yin Province Corpse Nurturing Art again, searching it for information on Yin Souls.
He hadn't known what to expect, but what he found left him stunned.
When a cultivator died,
if their soul did not disperse,
a Yin Soul would inevitably form.
If it happened in a Death Ground where tens of thousands had died, Yin Souls would form at an extremely high rate.
A Death Ground?
No!
A treasure ground!
"I love the Unorthodox Path!"
Wen Jiu was overjoyed.
Normal Qi Refining cultivation?
Even a dog wouldn't do it!
Before you continue