Chief Constable Zhou Lie's ashes had to be taken back by the Ashes Yamen.
So Li Ye dug them out ahead of time.
When the Black-Clad Academicians outside opened the door, he handed them over.
Seeing Li Ye once again alive and bouncing around right before their eyes, the Black-Clad Academicians nearly popped their eyeballs out.
He'd eaten roast chicken twice and come to no harm. That was one hell of a hard fate.
"Boss, he survived again."
One of the Black-Clad Academicians clicked his tongue in wonder.
Chief Constable Zhou Lie's corpse was definitely no ordinary one.
It had already undergone Corpse Transformation halfway by the time they carried it up the mountain.
They'd spent some time drawing lots to decide who would get it.
The Corpse Deliverer had also needed some time to bring it over.
By the time Li Ye entered the Corpse Incineration Room, there should have been a good chance it had undergone Corpse Transformation.
Yet he'd come out safe and sound again.
Their leader, Wu Qing, said, "Give him another meal of steamed buns tomorrow. I'll pay."
"Boss, what if he eats roast chicken again and still doesn't die?"
one of the Black-Clad Academicians asked.
"Then I'll treat him to another meal of steamed buns."
The leader replied calmly.
After the Corpse Incinerator left, Li Ye hurriedly shut the courtyard gate and returned to his room to examine the Nine Heavens Crimson Thunder Art.
It was a Cultivation Method of utmost yang and hardness.
Its contents were simple: just one breathing technique.
The technique consisted of six stages, each practiced in a different posture: standing, half-squatting, lying on one's back, lying on one's side, sitting cross-legged, and standing upside down.
It looked simple, but thanks to the Saint's memories, Li Ye could still tell that this Cultivation Method was extraordinary.
The Nine Heavens Crimson Thunder Art was far more powerful than any Cultivation Method the Saint had practiced in his lifetime.
Li Ye spread his legs shoulder-width apart, relaxed his whole body, and cleared his mind of distracting thoughts.
He began practicing the breathing technique that went with the first movement.
Time passed slowly. After the time it took for one incense stick to burn, waves of hot mist rose from Li Ye's body. His breathing was slow and steady, gradually growing stronger, until it seemed to carry the faint roar of thunder.
With each breath, his body's surface trembled, shaking tiny traces of sticky impurities out through his pores. They gave off an unpleasant smell.
The Saint's aptitude had been exceptional, and his body had long since been tempered to perfection.
But during the half year since his demotion, he'd neglected his cultivation and given up on himself, allowing plenty of new impurities to build up.
Li Ye kept going until his skin began to ache as if it were being torn apart and his body could no longer withstand the tempering of the breathing technique. Only then did he stop.
Once he finished, the pain faded, and an unprecedented feeling of comfort spread through every pore in his body.
"Ah, that's the stuff!"
Li Ye couldn't help exclaiming, then stretched.
After resting for a while, Li Ye switched to the second stage of the breathing technique.
He bent his knees slightly and clenched his fists—in other words, he took a horse stance.
Before long, he entered the rhythm of the second stage, and white mist seeped from his back.
Li Ye faintly sensed warm currents flowing in through his mouth and nose. Could that be the legendary Spiritual Qi?
The first stage of the breathing technique tempered the skin. The second worked on the muscles.
Half an hour later, Li Ye once again felt a tearing pain.
So he stopped.
Ten minutes later, he switched to the third stage of the breathing technique.
This stage tempered the meridians.
The fourth stage tempered the bones.
The fifth, the internal organs.
When he finished practicing this stage of the breathing technique, Li Ye sensed a vibrant force of life within him. It felt warm, and his internal organs felt clearer and more comfortable than he could describe.
He suspected that this stage of the breathing technique could extend his lifespan, keeping his internal organs as good as new.
"Could this be the Cultivation Method for Eternal Life I've dreamed of?"
Li Ye grew excited.
The sixth stage was Bone Refining and Marrow Entry. It tempered the bone marrow.
Once the marrow was tempered, his blood would be renewed, transforming him from the inside out.
Boom!
When Li Ye finished circulating the sixth stage of the breathing technique, his body suddenly shuddered, releasing a faint aura.
Sixth layer of the Body Tempering Realm!
He swung his fist. A gale roared, and it felt as if he possessed a thousand jin of strength.
"Ordinary people who temper their bodies need medicinal baths alongside their Cultivation Method."
"One hundred jin of strength at the first layer of the Body Tempering Realm, two hundred at the second, and so on. At Great Perfection of the Body Tempering Realm, one would possess a thousand jin of strength."
"The Saint practiced the Divine Concealment Sect's profound arts. Even at Great Perfection of the Body Tempering Realm, he only had fifteen hundred jin of strength."
"I'm only at the sixth layer of the Body Tempering Realm, yet I already have a thousand jin of strength."
Li Ye guessed that by the time he reached Great Perfection of the Body Tempering Realm, he should have two thousand jin of strength, perhaps even more.
Most importantly, this Cultivation Method didn't require medicinal baths. It tempered the body directly by absorbing Spiritual Qi.
That was something only experts at the Qi Gathering Stage could do. No wonder the Corpse Incineration Furnace had given him this Cultivation Method.
Early the next morning, Li Ye heard that Zhou Bao had gotten into trouble.
He decided to go take a look.
But as soon as he stepped outside, he saw Zhou Bao sitting with several Corpse Incinerators, chatting and laughing in high spirits.
It turned out he had mastered the Corpse Suppressing Incantation.
"Brother Li Bai?"
When Zhou Bao saw Li Ye, he hurried over.
He told Li Ye what had happened to him the night before.
If anyone had luck on his side, it was this guy. He was the true Child of Fortune.
Zhou Bao had been at the Corpse Refining Courtyard for many days, but last night was the first time he'd encountered a corpse rising.
The Fierce Corpse had clawed his arm. In his panic, he'd somehow recited the Corpse Suppressing Incantation he'd been practicing for days and defeated it in one stroke.
To celebrate surviving the ordeal, Zhou Bao had gone down the mountain to buy two jars of rough wine and a jin of peanuts. He was sharing his story with several Corpse Incinerators—and promoting his Corpse Suppressing Incantation.
"He's the owner of Courtyard No. 3?"
"So young."
Most of the newly arrived Corpse Incinerators had never met Li Ye. They couldn't help feeling surprised.
Everyone began introducing themselves.
Old Chen: a man in his early forties, of average height and a little plump. His family had once been well-off, but the world fell into chaos and bandits ran rampant. His home was looted, his wife and children were killed, and he drifted here.
Liu Zhi: a trained martial artist with a Body Tempering cultivation base, formerly a bodyguard escort.
He'd encountered bandits on an escort job, and the goods had been stolen, leaving the mission a failure.
All his companions had died, but he'd been lucky enough to survive. He'd followed a great horde of refugees across the barren land, tending his wounds and begging as he went, until he ended up here.
Sun Zhuang: a tall man who'd once been a long-term laborer for a landlord. Years of disasters had left even the landlord in dire straits.
He'd dismissed nine of his ten concubines.
No need to mention a long-term laborer like Sun Zhuang.
How had the Great Gan Dynasty come to this?
The country was on the brink of ruin.
Listening to everyone's stories, Li Ye shook his head.
Thud!
Suddenly, a dull crash came from ahead.
It seemed someone had kicked open the gate to the Corpse Refining Courtyard.
"Hey, hey! Anyone breathing in there?"
"Come out!"
The newcomer shouted as he entered.
At this time of day, almost all the Black-Clad Academicians had gone down the mountain to eat and drink. Aside from the gatekeeper, there shouldn't have been anyone around.
A man in blue appeared out of nowhere in front of Li Ye and the others.
He looked eighteen or nineteen, with sharp brows sweeping toward his temples and bright, phoenix-shaped eyes. He was full of heroic spirit.
His ornate blue robe fluttered in the wind. In his left hand, he held a silver longsword, its scabbard bearing the three golden characters "Divine Concealment Sect," gleaming in the sunlight.
In his right hand, the man in blue carried a corpse.
He stared at everyone, an invisible aura naturally radiating from his eyes.
An immortal of the Divine Concealment Sect?
The Corpse Incinerators tensed.
The Divine Concealment Sect—the legendary sect of immortals.
To show its respect for the Divine Concealment Sect, the Great Gan Dynasty had ceded the tax revenues of the nearby Ten Cities.
That showed just how exalted the Divine Concealment Sect's status was.
Anyone who could enter the Divine Concealment Sect was a once-in-a-million genius. Even the lowest-ranking Menial Disciple could become a junior officer who charged across the battlefield if he joined the army later.
It was him? Li Ye stared at the man in blue, never expecting someone from the Divine Concealment Sect to come to the Corpse Refining Courtyard.
But once he realized who it was, he wasn't all that surprised.
"You're the Corpse Incinerators, right?"
"It's about to undergo Corpse Transformation. Deal with it!"
the man in blue said.
Suddenly, his gaze sharpened as he noticed Li Ye among the crowd...
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