Mangu, the Eager Student

The main city of Huangzhou is called Hanshui City, which is the most important and prosperous city in Huangzhou. The Corpse Driving Sect is located in the Yin Corpse Mountain Range outside Hanshui City, where the Yin Qi is the strongest and most suitable for raising corpses.

Corpse-driving masters all regard the Yin Corpse Mountain Range, where the Corpse-driving Sect is located, as a sacred place.

Upon entering the territory of the Corpse Driving Sect, despite the bright sunshine, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou felt no heat at all; instead, they were enveloped in a chilling aura.

Zhao Po wore a comfortable expression, seemingly enjoying the environment.

The Immortal Fairy wasn't surprised. "It's not just corpse drivers; anyone who cultivates Yin-attribute Cultivation Method will find it very comfortable here. Besides, there's no thunder when it rains here, so it's very safe."

The so-called Yin attribute Cultivation Method refers to the Cultivation Method related to ghosts, souls, corpses and other such things. The Cultivation Method practiced by the Nine Nether Sect belongs to the Yin attribute Cultivation Method.

Cultivators who practice Yin-attribute Cultivation Method are most afraid of thunder, as thunder represents the ultimate Yang and is the most effective counter to cultivators of Yin-attribute Cultivation Method.

One of the twenty-four solar terms is called "Jingzhe" (惊蛰), which describes the deterrent effect of thunder on yin entities.

"Senior Brother Zhao Po, you're back!"

The two gatekeepers bowed respectfully upon seeing Zhao Po return.

Each of them also had a living corpse standing guard alongside them.

As the second-best of the new generation of disciples, Zhao Po is an idol-like figure among them.

Unlike Huang Ming, who was the first to achieve this, Zhao Po was always willing to help others. Many people had received his assistance, and he was extremely popular within the Corpse Driving Sect.

"Senior Brother Zhao, who are these two...?"

"They are fellow Ask Dao Sect, Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou, who have come to visit our Corpse Driving Sect."

The two gatekeeper disciples were taken aback. "It's the Ask Dao Sect again?!"

"Again?"

"Senior Brother Zhao, you may not know this, but while you were away, a fellow Daoist from the Ask Dao Sect came to our sect. He's a barbarian, and he's here to learn the art of corpse driving."

"Is it called Man Gu?" Lu Yang couldn't help but ask.

"Yes, that's its name."

"Why would Man Gu learn the art of corpse driving? Isn't he a Confucian scholar?" Meng Jingzhou didn't understand.

Who knows?

Two gatekeeper disciples informed the sect, and upon hearing this, the sect's steward personally came out to greet them.

"Please inform them that we are here to pay a visit to your sect Sect Master."

The steward looked troubled. "The Sect Master reached a crucial stage in his cultivation and has been in seclusion ever since accepting Huang Ming as his disciple, unable to see anyone."

"Is that so? No problem, we can visit your sect's elders."

Anyway, they're here to find a solution for Meng Jingzhou; they can ask anyone.

"Then I'll take the two of you. My master is the Grand Elder," Zhao Po said with a smile.

After the sect competition, Huang Ming was accepted as a disciple by the Sect Master, while he was accepted as a disciple by the Grand Elder. In terms of actual status, he was even higher than the steward.

"Then I'll have to trouble Junior Nephew Zhao Po."

"Uncle Mo, what are you saying?"

The three people, along with the corpse and the horse, successfully entered the Corpse Driving Sect. They first settled the old horse, and then went to find the sect's Grand Elder.

"It smells so good." Zhao Po's nose twitched as he smelled a fragrance he had never smelled before.

"It really smells delicious, and it's very familiar." Meng Jingzhou's nose twitched as he smelled the familiar aroma of barbecue.

"It must be Man Gu," Lu Yang said with a smile.

Only the three of them—the high-ranking members of the Immortal Cult and the followers of the Nine Nether Cult—could bake it to this flavor.

In other words, besides the Demonic Sect, only those three groups exist.

"Let's go, let's go see them." Meng Jingzhou put his Curse out of his mind.

The three of them followed the scent to find Man Gu, or rather, they didn't need to smell the scent; they just needed to see where there were many people.

The disciples of the Corpse-Driving Sect were gathered together, doing something unknown, and the aroma was emanating from the very center.

"Make way, make way." The three squeezed to the front of the crowd and saw Man Gu.

Man Gu was sitting cross-legged on the ground, muttering incantations.

Two sheep carcasses danced on the fire, smearing each other with seasonings. The aroma of the mutton and the seasonings blended perfectly, and the flames released an irresistible fragrance.

The two roasted sheep carcasses were so enticingly colored that they made one's mouth water.

"Divide!" Man Gu shouted, and the two sheep carcasses decomposed on their own, into small pieces, one for each person.

The disciples of the Corpse-Driving Sect had been waiting for this moment, and they feasted with gusto, praising the food endlessly.

"I've never had such delicious roasted whole lamb. Look at the skin, so crispy and fragrant, and the meat, so juicy with every bite."

"More than that! The whole roasted lamb I used to eat wasn't heated evenly; some parts were overcooked, while others were undercooked. Look at the Man Gu Daoist Mangu roasted—it's incredibly fragrant, even the bones are infused with flavor!"

"The Ask Dao Sect really knows how to do things! Why didn't we think of using the Corpse Driving Technique to roast them? The results would be so much better."

"That's why they can enter the Ask Dao Sect while we can't; their level of thinking is just different."

"It's not just your intellectual level, Man Gu, your talent is also high. Look at us learning the Corpse-Driving Technique, it would take us three to five years, but Fellow Daoist Barbarian Man Gu mastered it in just half a month."

"They're much more enthusiastic about learning than we are."

Man Gu acted very modestly. "Fellow Daoists, you flatter me too much. Compared to my two senior brothers, my skills are nothing but a drop in the ocean, especially Senior Brother Lu Yang. If he could learn the Corpse-driving Technique and add the Samadhi True Fire, the taste of this roasted whole lamb would be elevated to another level!"

No one could imagine how delicious it must be.

Lu Yang: "..."

Meng Jingzhou: "..."

No wonder you, Man Gu, came to learn the art of corpse driving; it turns out you haven't forgotten what you said back in the dense forest.

While Lu Yang, Meng Jingzhou, Tao Yaoye, and Man Gu were training in the dense forest, they slaughtered many Demon Beasts. At that time, Man Gu discovered that roasting a whole Demon Beast was prone to uneven heating, so he suggested using the Corpse Driving Technique to roast it.

This method even received high praise from the Immortal Fairy, a powerful figure among the Ancient Barbarian Tribe.

"The Man Gu are learning very well. Not only can they make sheep carcasses stand on a fire to roast, but they can also decompose automatically."

The two learned from Zhao Po that the dismemberment of living corpses was a combat technique that was extremely difficult to master.

"Man Gu, it's been a long time!"

The two greeted each other, and the corners of their mouths couldn't help but turn up.

Man Gu heard the familiar voice, he looked up abruptly and saw Lu Yang and Meng Jingzhou. His eyes lit up.

"Brother Lu, Brother Meng, what are you doing here?"

"Old Meng has done all sorts of bad things, and he's finally getting his comeuppance," Lu Yang said with a wicked grin.

"Something bad?" Man Gu asked in confusion. In his mind, Brother Lu and Brother Meng were his role models and great people. How could they do something bad?

"Old Meng is Curse; he's having terrible luck with women now."

Man Gu suddenly realized that Brother Meng must have deliberately suffered the Curse to maximize the potential of his single Spirit Root in order to cultivate, thus demonstrating his determination to cultivate.

During the time I was learning the art of corpse driving, Brother Lu and Brother Meng must have been making the most of every minute to practice diligently.

Looking at myself, I'm already complacent after learning a little bit of the corpse-driving technique, and it doesn't even improve my cultivation level. Compared to Brother Meng, I'm just wasting my time.

He felt extremely ashamed.