The Mysterious Figure's Golden Finger!!!

Returning to his room, Zhang Ming was greeted by a scene utterly different from that of a dozen-odd days ago.

If, a dozen-odd days earlier, Zhang Ming's bedroom had merely been an antiquated little room, filled with the atmosphere of a feudal era.

It could have been called an elegant residence.

Now, however, it was the complete opposite.

On the bookshelves sat one terrifying biological specimen after another.

From the rafters hung densely packed anatomical diagrams of humans and animals of every kind.

Biological specimens, human anatomical diagrams, and a faint medicinal smell filled the entire room.

If an ordinary person saw this, their first thought would surely be: was this the bedroom of a mad scientist?

No, this era had no concept of mad scientists.

They would only suspect that Zhang Ming had gone mad.

Looking at everything around him—the strange biological specimens that clearly had not been taken from normal animals, along with the various records and diagrams hanging from the rafters—

A smile appeared at the corner of Zhang Ming's lips. He spread his arms and embraced everything in the room.

"I succeeded."

"After a dozen-odd days and three instances of [Ignite Comprehension], I successfully found a research method unique to this world."

Zombies were peculiar creatures, and Zhang Ming's desire to study and unravel them was exceptionally strong.

Yet limited by this world's current technological level, researching them through normal methods was almost impossible.

Thus, the first [Ignite Comprehension] clarified the research plan, the second refined and optimized it, and the third successfully cracked some of the Zombie's traits.

The various specimens, anatomical diagrams, and records in the room were merely insignificant gains from those three instances of [Ignite Comprehension].

Thinking of the third [Ignite Comprehension], which had been ten minutes at a thousandfold rate—

It was equivalent to using the Old Version Mighty Bull Great Medicine for fifteen full instances of [Ignite Comprehension] before achieving this research result.

The smile on Zhang Ming's lips simply refused to fade.

"The Zombie Body Forging Technique, or perhaps the Zombie Skill, or, more bluntly..."

"The provisional first version on how to imitate Corpse Qi's corrosion and strengthening of human muscle tissue."

Corpse Qi, Corpse Qi, Corpse Qi.

After more than ten days of research, Zhang Ming still had many things he did not understand.

But one thing was certain: Corpse Qi was the root of how Zombies formed, why they were so powerful, why they possessed so many traits, and how they retained their "living" characteristics.

Without Corpse Qi, a Zombie was merely a corpse.

With Corpse Qi, a Zombie was a Zombie—a Zombie capable of crushing ordinary people and rivaling a Postnatal Martial Artist.

And Corpse Qi was also the root of a Zombie's immense strength.

Over the past few days, through the special research method he had comprehended with [Ignite Comprehension]—

He used his own martial Vital Energy to envelop Zombies, then, with medical skill at the perfected level as support, precisely controlled every minute change in the Zombies' Corpse Qi.

This special research method allowed Zhang Ming to successfully extract from Zombies the entire process by which Corpse Qi strengthened Zombie muscle tissue.

"It's just a pity that the technique carries risks."

His gaze shifted slightly, landing on those specimens that did not seem to have come from normal animals.

The specimens were bizarre in every possible way: tiny mice shaped like cats with knotted muscles all over their bodies.

"White pigs" whose bodies had shrunk and rotted, their skin turned purple-black.

Large birds that had shed their feathers, grown larger, and become featherless birds.

There were all sorts of strange specimens, none of them possessing the appearance a normal creature should have had.

"Ah, the technique carries risks. It isn't mature yet, so I need to conduct more experiments."

The Zombie Body Forging Technique—or Zombie Skill—had been developed.

But the source of the Zombie Skill was Corpse Qi's evolution and transformation of corpses.

Though corpses were, in a sense, also "people."

There were still some differences between the dead and the living.

If he copied it wholesale, he might end up cultivating himself into a Zombie with rotting skin, no brain, and a thirst for blood.

That was not what Zhang Ming wanted.

Therefore, Corpse Qi's evolution and transformation of corpses could be imitated, but absolutely not copied wholesale.

"Wait."

Zhang Ming suddenly thought of something.

"Eh? I can't copy it wholesale because, by the end of cultivation, I might become a new Zombie."

"But..."

"If I let outsiders cultivate it..."

"I could even add some materials..."

At that thought, Zhang Ming hurriedly shook his head.

"No, no. What am I thinking?"

"My purpose in studying Zombies isn't to become some devil."

"I should continue researching and optimizing the Zombie Skill, striving to incorporate it into the Mighty Bull Cultivation Method as soon as possible."

"Right, human experiments need to be put on the agenda as soon as possible.

"Doing experiments only on animals won't do."

"Oh, and I nearly forgot about this."

Lowering his head, he saw a palm-sized, withered blade of grass inside the Jade Box.

"This is Dragon Blood Grass?"

"It looks completely ordinary. It doesn't seem any different from roadside weeds."

"Mm... compared with saving it for when I need it to save my life, I'd rather study it."

"Study how a blade of grass can bring the dead back to life and regrow white bones? And even strengthen Vital Energy and improve physical constitution?"

Curiosity surged within him.

But then he looked again at the many specimens, notes, and anatomical diagrams in the room.

"Forget it. I'll put it aside for now."

"I'll first develop a Zombie Skill that ordinary people can adapt to."

"Corpse Qi and human qi—Vital Energy—what exactly is the difference between them?"

"Why does Corpse Qi come into being? How can so much Corpse Qi be transformed from an ordinary person's corpse? Where does this conversion ratio come from? Can Corpse Qi be transformed back into Vital Energy for my cultivation?

I'm so curious!"

With intense curiosity, Zhang Ming suppressed the exhaustion in his body and threw himself back into work.

Elsewhere, in a certain place within Liangguang Province.

Inside a vast underground Karst Cave.

Jiang Yingxue lowered her head and respectfully bowed toward a Mysterious Figure before her.

"Yingxue, have you obtained the Phosphate Fertilizer?"

"Yes, Teacher. The Phosphate Fertilizer has already been loaded onto ships. It will be delivered within half a month."

"Mm, not bad. You've worked hard."

Jiang Yingxue bit her lip and asked again, somewhat unwillingly, "Teacher, that Zhang Ming..."

The Mysterious Figure raised a hand.

"Zhang Ming is merely a capable little nobody. There is no need to take him seriously."

"This world is ultimately a stage for the strong. A few petty tricks are useless."

Jiang Yingxue lowered her head, still unwilling to accept it.

"But, but... exchanging Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures for..."

"Mm, I know what you're thinking."

As he spoke, the Mysterious Figure raised his hand, and a Jade Box floated through the air to Jiang Yingxue.

"You have only just advanced to Grandmaster. Your techniques have yet to enter the Path."

"This Wisdom Fruit can lend you a helping hand."

"Wisdom Fruit!"

Jiang Yingxue's eyes widened as she stared in disbelief at the Jade Box in her hands.

As its name implied, the Wisdom Fruit was a fruit that could temporarily and drastically enhance its user's intelligence and comprehension.

If one used it while cultivating martial arts or techniques, it could greatly improve the effects of comprehension.

Yet that was not even its most important effect. Most importantly, even after the medicinal effect of the Wisdom Fruit faded, a user who had consumed one would passively gain a small permanent increase in intelligence and comprehension.

It was an exceptionally effective and exceedingly rare Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.

If Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures had ranks—

Then the Marrow Cleansing Flower and Wisdom Fruit were undoubtedly at the very highest tier.

Dragon Blood Grass, meanwhile, merely healed injuries while providing a slight increase to Vital Energy and physical constitution. It was undoubtedly the most ordinary and lowest-grade Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure.

"Take it."

"Yingxue, Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures are important, but I am not lacking them. At the very least, I will never be stingy toward those who have rendered merit!"

"Thank you, Teacher. Thank you, Teacher."

Jiang Yingxue beamed with delight.

"Teacher, do you have any other instructions? If not, I'll take my leave."

"Go on, go on. Cultivate well."

After Jiang Yingxue left, the enormous underground cave was left with only the Mysterious Figure.

Thinking of Jiang Yingxue's words, of the Armor and Weapons and Bows and Crossbows Zhang Ming had brought him, and of the divine tool called Phosphate Fertilizer that could now double grain production—

The Mysterious Figure murmured.

"Zhang Ming? Interesting."

"Did this person exist from the beginning, or did I 'burn' him into existence by burning fortune?"

The Mysterious Figure lowered his head and rubbed a pearl that had somehow appeared in his hand.

Raising his hand, the pearl's strange radiance illuminated his eyes.

"The Heavenly Fate Pearl gathers fortune, sees through fortune, plunders fortune, and burns fortune to make wishes. So many abilities gathered into one.

"It truly is a peerless divine tool."

"I merely burned fortune to make a wish, and this person called Zhang Ming appeared, helping me resolve the matter of Armor and Weapons and Bows and Crossbows."

"And now he has even brought me the unexpected delight of Phosphate Fertilizer!"

"What a pity that this Zhang Ming is merely a White Fortune Person, with such meager fortune. Otherwise, I could have directly taken him under my command, plundered his fortune, and had him lend me a hand."

Thinking of the whole affair—how his subordinates had inexplicably discovered Zhang Ming through a fortunate coincidence, thereby resolving the issue of Armor and Weapons and Bows and Crossbows—the Mysterious Figure clicked his tongue in wonder.

"The Heavenly Fate Pearl, the Heavenly Fate Pearl! It truly is wondrous beyond compare. The workings of fortune are unfathomable to gods and ghosts alike."

"Even though this is not the first time I've used it, this ability still remains unbelievable."

Returning to his senses, he put the little nobody who was merely a White Fortune Person and had likely already been squeezed dry of all value out of his mind.

Holding the Heavenly Fate Pearl, the Mysterious Figure sensed the immense fortune upon himself.

"Heavenly Fate Pearl, burn fortune and help me find a capable general, then find me a strategist, to help me accomplish my grand ambition!!!"