Realm

On tonight's patrol, the air was no longer filled with its usual deathly silence. Instead, a viscous, unsettling restlessness hung over everything. The stench of decay was far stronger than before, drifting over in waves with the night wind.

Sure enough, they had not gone far before seven or eight stiff figures emerged hazily from behind the tangled grass and collapsed earthen walls ahead. Their skin was blue-black and their movements sluggish. They were the lowest-grade half-formed members of the Corpse Clan. But there were clearly many more of them than in the previous few days.

"Prepare to engage!" Wang Quan barked, charging forward first. After several nights of tempering, Shi Zhu and the others were still nervous, but they could just barely keep up, swinging their sabers at the walking corpses.

The battle was not difficult. These half-finished creatures had limited strength and speed; there were simply more of them. Wang Quan's saber flashed as the Wind Slaying Saber Technique combined with his minor mastery of Shadow Step. His figure drifted unpredictably through the corpse horde, and every slash precisely severed a neck or pierced a heart. Prompt sounds rang out in his mind one after another:

[Slayed a low-grade walking corpse, obtained Skill Point: 1]

[Slayed a low-grade walking corpse, obtained Skill Point: 1]

[Slayed a low-grade walking corpse, obtained Skill Point: 1]

When the battle ended, six headless corpses lay on the ground. Wang Quan's breathing had just begun to settle when the tally came through in his mind: [This patrol's low-grade walking corpse kills yielded a total of 6 Skill Points].

That was just enough. With a thought, he said, "Raise Shadow Step to Initiate!"

[Would you like to consume 3 Skill Points to raise Shadow Step to the "Initiate" realm?]

"Yes!"

A light current of air rose from the Yongquan points on the soles of his feet and rapidly spread through both legs, bringing a strange sense of agility. Techniques for exerting force more effectively, using light and shadow to conceal his figure, and explosively accelerating over short distances surged into his mind. He unconsciously shifted his feet, feeling as if his body had grown lighter. As he moved, it stirred up the faintest whisper of wind.

[Shadow Step has been raised to Initiate. Remaining Skill Points: 3]

"Continue. Raise Shape-Shifting Art to Grandmaster!"

[Would you like to consume 3 Skill Points to raise Shape-Shifting Art to the "Grandmaster" realm?]

"Yes!"

He felt an even subtler, more precise control over the muscles and bones of his face, neck, and entire body. He now felt that he could not only alter his appearance and build to a considerable degree, but even imitate some common postural traits, while maintaining the changes for longer.

[Shape-Shifting Art has been raised to Grandmaster. Remaining Skill Points: 0]

As he was sensing the changes in his body, Shi Zhu's astonished voice came from beside him. "B-Boss... look at this..."

Wang Quan followed his voice and saw Shi Zhu using the tip of his saber to lift the ragged collar of a walking corpse they had just cut down. An expression of disbelief covered his face. "This... this looks like Old Third Liu, who sold baked flatbreads on East Street! H-He said half a month ago that he'd saved enough money to take his wife and child south to join some relatives. How... how did he end up looking like this?!"

Wang Quan's heart tightened. He walked over and examined the corpse carefully. Most of its face had rotted away, but a few traces of its features remained recognizable. The style of the coarse-cloth clothing still clinging to it was indeed common in the area. A man who should have left Anping County had died silently outside the city and turned into the lowest-grade member of the Corpse Clan...

He remembered the coffin child refined with a pregnant woman's fetus. He remembered how the number of Corpse Clan creatures had clearly increased tonight. The unease in his heart grew heavier and heavier. Anping County seemed like an invisible net tightening around them, while they were all vermin caught inside it.

After clearing the battlefield, the group continued their patrol. In the latter half of the night, they happened to encounter another patrol led by Wei Dayong at a fork in the road. The two groups nodded to one another, but the atmosphere was heavy on both sides.

"Master Wei," Wang Quan said, moving closer and lowering his voice, "tonight's not peaceful. There are more and more corpse whelps. One of my men just recognized one of them—it was Old Third Liu, who said half a month ago that he was leaving."

At this, the muscles on Wei Dayong's sallow face twitched. He sighed. "Isn't that the truth... Our patrol ran into several groups too. There's a youngster in Old Wang's team who said one of them looked familiar, like someone who had once served time in the hard labor prison with us and was later bailed out by his family... We didn't pay much attention at first, but now that you mention it, it does seem downright sinister." He paused, his voice growing heavier. "And with that bizarre business involving the 'coffin child' a few days ago... this county seat may really have caught the eye of something unclean. It feels like there's a pair of eyes watching from the darkness. It sends a chill down the spine."

Wang Quan nodded silently. It seemed he had not been overthinking things. He then asked, "Master Wei, I haven't been here long and my experience is limited. I've always had a question. What are the cultivation paths of demons, Nightmares, and corpses? How are their realms divided? We can't keep hacking away at them in a fog."

Wei Dayong seemed somewhat surprised that Wang Quan would ask, but after thinking it over, he replied, "I only know the general outline, all hearsay. For the Demon Race, the first realm is called Awakening Intelligence. That means gaining a mind and truly being able to swallow the essence of the sun and moon to cultivate. Like that Pig Demon we killed—the Snake Demon doesn't count as having awakened intelligence, but what can you do? They were born lucky and had a good lineage that awakened their minds for them. The second realm is Soul Molding. I hear that once a demon's soul becomes solid, its abilities grow much greater. The third realm is Core Condensation, when a Monster Core forms inside the body. That makes them formidable great demons—even Captain Chen would have to weigh his chances against one." He continued, "The Corpse Clan is easier to recognize. You can tell by the color of their skin. The lowest grade are these half-finished things we often hack apart; they don't count. True Corpse Clan creatures begin with the first realm, Shadow Purple Corpse. Their flesh turns purple, and they become faster and stronger. The second realm is Frost White Corpse. White hair grows all over them, and with Bronze Skin and Iron Bones, ordinary blades and swords can barely hurt them. The third realm is Azure Leap Corpse. Supposedly, they can bound through the air as if flying and are incredibly vicious! The ones we've encountered so far still don't count as true members of the Corpse Clan. They're all miscellaneous soldiers transformed after being tainted by Corpse Qi."

He paused for breath and lowered his voice. "The strangest of all is the Nightmare Race. Those things have neither form nor substance and specialize in attacking the human spirit. They're impossible to guard against. The first realm is Echo. Supposedly, they can create phantom sounds and illusions inside a person's mind and rouse their inner demons. The second realm is Delusion Scab, which is even more sinister. I hear it can cause a person's physical body to mysteriously rot and decay from the inside out! The third realm is Void Devour, which is even more arcane. Supposedly, it can directly devour a person's soul and memories! We know the least about Nightmares, and they're the hardest to deal with. That coffin child we encountered a few days ago was probably something created by a powerful Echo Realm Nightmare from the Nightmare Race." He suddenly changed the subject and asked seemingly casually, "Master Wei, tell me... if the Demon Race behind that Pig Demon realized that we were the ones who acted and came looking for us, would you plan to fight to the death, or... seek another way out?"

Wei Dayong's body visibly stiffened at the question. He opened and closed his mouth, the muscles in his cheeks twitching, as if he wanted to say something impassioned. In the end, it became only an extremely soft sigh filled with boundless weariness. He shook his head without saying a word, merely patted Wang Quan on the shoulder, gave him a complicated look, and then silently led his people toward another patrol route.

Watching the direction in which Wei Dayong disappeared, Wang Quan gave an order. "Continue patrolling tonight. If you see any Corpse Clan creatures, blow your whistles immediately. I'll come and kill them. Just keep them occupied. I'll look around by myself first."

"Understood, sir," Shi Zhu and the others replied.