Zhu You Control Corpse

Cousin vomited until only bile came out before finally stopping, one hand on his waist, the other waving.

"I'm never playing with my heart again."

Hanyu looked around. The surroundings were filled with shady phoenix trees, and deep within the grove, a faint light flickered on and off.

He followed the light across the leaf-strewn ground. After about a hundred meters, he spotted a crescent-shaped lake, its surface shimmering under the sun, the rippling water gleaming white.

So that was the source of the light. Beside Crescent Lake grew a patch of unknown plants with purple stems, red leaves, and white flowers.

Before Hanyu even got close, he caught the faint fragrance drifting from the blooms.

"Such a unique scent. It makes the whole body feel comfortable."

Whoosh!

Suddenly, a strange sound came from above. Hanyu quickly looked up. A white figure, who had somehow hidden in the phoenix tree, was diving down with a dagger.

Hanyu raised his arm to block. With a clang, the fabric on his elbow was sliced off, revealing pale skin. Then a heavy kick landed square on his chest. The white figure swiftly retreated back into the tree.

Both of them frowned.

What a tough body!

What agile footwork!

Hanyu studied the figure in the tree—thick brows, a pale face, long and narrow cheeks, utterly ordinary looks, dressed like a scholar.

The scholar, in turn, sized up Hanyu, but inexplicably felt a surge of anger.

"Die!"

With a soft shout, the scholar dove again. True Essence swelled instantly, making his white robe snap in the wind. The dagger, wrapped in True Essence, grew even more lethal as its tip thrust toward Hanyu.

Hanyu's eyes flickered. He reached out and caught the blade with his palm. The dagger's tip could go no further. At the same time, his other fist shot toward the scholar's chest.

The scholar's expression shifted in shock. He abandoned the dagger and crossed his arms to guard his chest. A tremendous force sent him flying backward.

Seeing his blow land, Hanyu burst into laughter. He leaped three zhang into the air, intending to smash the scholar down.

But the scholar forcibly stabilized himself. All his True Essence gathered beneath his feet. In an instant, he walked on air as if on solid ground, taking three steps midair, and Hanyu's attack missed.

Both landed. The scholar's face was grim. He already wanted to retreat.

Hanyu, however, was brimming with excitement. He shook his arm and charged again. The scholar was forced to meet him. They exchanged blows back and forth. The longer they fought, the more horrified the scholar became.

Because Hanyu's initially clumsy punches were growing faster. Watching closely, the scholar realized Hanyu was learning his agile techniques. Before long, Hanyu was overwhelming him.

What a terrifying Corpse King! It can even learn! The scholar was shaken.

Just then, Hanyu withdrew his fists and feet. The scholar's bizarre air-stepping footwork was truly troublesome. He was about to use a Hungry Ghost Path technique to subdue him when he raised his hand—but Cousin suddenly came running over, drawn by the noise.

"Stop!"

Cousin shouted repeatedly. Seeing the two facing off, his expression changed...

"So, this one is still Mortal in disguise?"

A quarter of an hour later, Hanyu sighed and said helplessly.

With all this shape-shifting nonsense, he'd better not get killed by mistake one day. Actually, no need to say "one day"—if he'd been a bit harsher just now, Mortal wouldn't have needed Cousin to save him...

Cousin was equally helpless. That unlucky bastard Mortal had nearly been taken out by his own people, with no one to even complain to.

Mortal's face was strange. He kept sizing up Hanyu anew, finally noticing the rise and fall of his chest—clearly a living person, not a Corpse King at all.

But that only made him more astonished.

Why would a cultivator train their body to this level?!

Cousin began introducing them to each other. Since they were on the same side, there was no room for grudges. They'd just have to call it a fight that led to friendship.

Mortal secretly tugged at Cousin and asked curiously, "Where did you find this guy?"

Cousin chuckled and shook his head. "That little Daoist Yixian recruited him."

Mortal looked at Hanyu with admiration. "This body is so tough, I initially thought he was a Corpse King coming for me. Absolutely insane. I've seen plenty of Body Cultivators, but never one like this."

Body Cultivator? That was a first. Hanyu asked curiously.

"They're heretics!"

Mortal said indignantly.

Cousin explained with a smile that it was a type of cultivator from Mortal's homeland.

As the details came out, Hanyu was surprised. Mortal was actually from the Overseas Islands. Rumor had it that there were cultivators overseas, but it was only hearsay. He never thought he'd meet one.

Body Cultivators were a peculiar branch among overseas cultivators. They were similar to Hanyu's state, but the difference was that while training the body, they didn't neglect their inner world's cultivation. It was a path that balanced both.

"Tell me, when you're in the middle of a good fight, and suddenly the other guy charges in without a care and punches you twice—isn't that vulgar?"

Mortal looked at Hanyu, seeking agreement with dissatisfaction.

Hanyu just rubbed his nose and smiled, because he'd done the same thing just now. From the sidelines, it seemed Mortal had suffered quite a bit at the hands of Body Cultivators.

Getting down to business, Cousin put on a serious face and asked Mortal, "So what's this all about?"

The two explained the situation outside the valley. Mortal's expression cleared, and he nodded. "No wonder I haven't seen Bao Ruijie outside the valley these past two days. He must have gone out to find someone to restrain me."

Bao Ruijie—an unfamiliar name that left the other two with puzzled expressions.

This Mortal waved his hand, saying only that he would first take the two to see something, then walked ahead to lead the way.

The place was not far. The group followed north for several dozen meters before stopping beside a mountain arm.

A row of commoners in varied attire leaned against the stone wall with closed eyes, motionless, as if asleep.

This Mortal then produced a palm-sized bell. After pulling out the rag stuffed in its mouth, he infused it with True Essence, and the bell immediately began to glow. He reached out and shook it, producing a clattering ring.

The row of silent commoners suddenly raised both hands horizontally, opened their eyes—which had no whites—and began to hop in time with the bell's sound.

"Corpse refinement!"

Both exclaimed simultaneously.

This was the second forbidden art Hanyu had encountered, after the beast-making technique.

Unlike beast-making, which had been deliberately buried in the dust of history, this method was quite famous—because a sect had once used it to dominate the cultivator world for decades.

But in the end, because it was too heinous against heaven, it was destroyed by a coalition of many sects. It was said that some sects in the Southern Border still excelled at this method, but truth and rumor were hard to distinguish, so it was only taken as hearsay.

They never expected that someone would still dare to practice this art.

This Mortal then began to recount what had happened to him. After parting ways with his cousin at their agreed time, he had entered Hidden Moon Valley.

The strange plants by Crescent Lake were the goal of his trip. That flower was called Gentleman's Intoxication.

When he arrived, however, he found the place already occupied. Seeing that the other party were all cultivators and not few in number, he guessed it was a sect operation.

This Mortal crouched in ambush for half a day, only watching as cultivators continuously carried commoners inside. At first, he couldn't figure out their purpose—until night fell.

"What? Gentleman's Intoxication is an auxiliary ingredient for corpse refinement?"

That was what This Mortal had discovered after nightfall, and the two couldn't help but exclaim.

When night came, a man in his forties arrived at Crescent Lake. He picked the Gentleman's Intoxication, mixed it with a furnace of medicine, and fed it one by one to the unconscious commoners.

What followed was somewhat cruel. As This Mortal recounted it, his expression tightened slightly.

That middle-aged man used eight coffin nails to pin shut each person's Conception Vessel, Governing Vessel, Penetrating Vessel, Belt Vessel, Yin Heel Vessel, Yang Heel Vessel, Yin Linking Vessel, and Yang Linking Vessel. Then he refined them alive into Corpse Puppets.

Having seen this far, This Mortal had already intended to retreat—such ruthless methods surely didn't belong to a proper sect.

But just as he was about to leave, he was discovered by a tall cultivator the middle-aged man had brought along. That cultivator's figure was towering, his face iron-blue, and his eyes had no whites at all.

More importantly, his physical body was incomparably tough. After a fierce struggle, This Mortal could gain no advantage.

"Damn it. Only later did I find out that was a Corpse King."

This Mortal cursed bitterly.

Hanyu thought for a moment. With so many people surrounded outside and not entering, things couldn't be that simple. He asked, "What happened next?"

This Mortal pointed at the bell in his hand and said, "I saw that middle-aged man controlling the bell. I figured it was the tool to control the Corpse King, so I had to snatch the bell first to subdue the Corpse King before making other plans."

"But that guy's cultivation wasn't bad—he was at See Me Realm, after all. I couldn't get the upper hand. I only stole a Command Token and another bell from his bosom, then used my unique movement technique to lead them in circles around here."

As he spoke, This Mortal took out another Command Token, on which was written: Zhu You Sect, Bao Ruijie.

Overseas cultivators truly were different. Even See Me Realm was only rated as "not bad."

Hanyu looked at This Mortal with a strange gaze. To be able to fight evenly with a See Me Realm cultivator, he was likely a See Me Realm cultivator himself.

He thought back to Lu Dayou, who had stubbornly traded a year's luck just to break through to See Me Realm. He wondered what Lu Dayou would think if he were here.

"Since you've already shaken them off, why didn't you just fly away on your sword?" his cousin asked in confusion.

This Mortal spread his hands, looking very helpless. "Before, I didn't know he was a Corpse King. I stabbed my Flying Sword into his mouth, and he bit it in two. Otherwise, I'd have run long ago."

He couldn't help but sigh. "Can't fly out either. Bao Ruijie's newly refined corpse's control bell is with me, so it ended up like this."

Without the bell, these Corpse Puppets couldn't be moved at all. Bao Ruijie naturally wouldn't give up, but the bell was on This Mortal, and This Mortal's movement technique was extremely agile—especially in this dense forest, where he was like a fish in water.

Bao Ruijie had chased him for three days straight, using every trick in the book to no avail. This Mortal was like a slippery loach, always managing to escape.

But This Mortal also had his troubles. He could move freely in the dense forest, but he couldn't get out. He couldn't fly, and the valley entrance was guarded by the Corpse King.

His usual disguise skills were useless against the Corpse King—it only recognized aura, not faces.

This Mortal had tried disguising himself multiple times to leave the valley, but the Corpse King always detected him immediately.

Now neither could do anything to the other. But Bao Ruijie hadn't appeared for two days—he was probably getting anxious and might have already found help.

Today's third chapter delivered in a burst, please enjoy. I'm off to prepare new dishes for tomorrow's burst update. Dear readers who enjoy this book, please give some recommendations, collections, and monthly votes to support me! Let me code with more spirit. If you don't vote, I don't vote, the author cries like a little old man.