In the quiet room at the Public Mortuary, Qiusheng suppressed the turmoil in his heart and opened his status panel.
"Character: Qiusheng (inner disciple of the Maoshan Sect).
Cultivation: Occult Master+ (early stage).
Exorcism Points: 800.
Daoist Arts: Talisman Drawing+ (beginner), Shangqing Dongxuan Record (intermediate), Maoshan Basic Martial Arts+ (intermediate), Palm Thunder+ (beginner), Lightning Bolt Fist+ (entry level), Feng Shui Geomancy+ (entry level), God-Inviting Technique+ (entry level).
Lifespan: 58+."
Looking at his status panel, Qiusheng gritted his teeth and poured all his Exorcism Points into increasing his cultivation.
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You spent 60 Exorcism Points to raise your cultivation to the middle stage of Occult Master."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You spent 60 Exorcism Points to raise your cultivation to the late stage of Occult Master."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You spent 120 Exorcism Points to raise your cultivation to the early stage of Human Master."
After spending a full 240 points to raise his cultivation to the early stage of Human Master, Qiusheng saw that the plus sign beside his cultivation had disappeared.
In its place was a strange note that made him frown.
"Your cultivation has reached a bottleneck. You must awaken a special constitution to break through."
Seeing the note beside his cultivation, Qiusheng felt helpless.
The moment he saw the system's note, he already knew how to solve the problem of awakening a special constitution.
However, the method was far too difficult. Qiusheng knew there was no chance of raising his cultivation beyond the early stage of Human Master anytime soon.
Then he shifted his attention to the arts he had mastered.
Of them, Lightning Bolt Fist and Palm Thunder were his favorites. Their power was simply astonishing, so he focused all his attention on these two techniques.
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You spent 60 Exorcism Points to raise Palm Thunder to intermediate level."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You spent 120 Exorcism Points to raise Palm Thunder to advanced level."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You spent 60 Exorcism Points to raise Lightning Bolt Fist to beginner level."
"Ding! Congratulations, host. You spent 120 Exorcism Points to raise Lightning Bolt Fist to advanced level."
By the time he had raised both techniques to advanced level, Qiusheng had only 80 Exorcism Points left.
He immediately spent 40 of them on his lifespan, adding four years to it. He put the remaining 40 points into the God-Inviting Technique, raising it to beginner level.
That was the end of the 800 Exorcism Points Qiusheng had earned this time. His strength had made a huge leap.
As for the yin energy inside him, the sudden surge in his magical power forced it all out of his body.
Once the yin energy left his body, Qiusheng let out a long breath. Feeling his body, stronger than before, he was still wondering about the change when he suddenly heard the system's notification.
"Ding! The host's body was previously stimulated by a powerful electrical current, greatly increasing the vitality of his cells. However, the stimulation was too intense, reducing the host's lifespan by two years."
The system's belated notification explained why Qiusheng's lifespan had been shortened by two years after his battle with the White-Robed Ghost.
"That explains it. No wonder so few cultivators live to an old age, even though they all know how to maintain their health. When fighting powerful ghosts, the backlash from their arts can shave years off their lives if they aren't careful."
Qiusheng suddenly understood. Fortunately, he had the Exorcism System, which let him use Exorcism Points to make up for the years he had lost.
In fact, as long as he had enough Exorcism Points, even immortality was within reach.
That was the system's power. It was truly astonishing.
A sense of awe for the system within him rose inexplicably. After standing there in a daze for a while, he got to his feet and loosened his limbs. His injuries had mostly healed, so he promptly left the Public Mortuary.
Old Master Ren's corpse was no longer inside the Public Mortuary. There was no reason to stay and keep watch, so he had no intention of lingering there.
The most urgent thing now was to hurry to Ren Mansion and stop Ren Weiyong from drinking the blood of his own relatives.
But no matter how quickly Qiusheng rushed, he still arrived at Ren Mansion too late.
It was the middle of the night, but Ren Mansion was still brightly lit.
Captain Ren, Uncle Nine, Taoist Four Eyes, Wencai, and Qiusheng, who had just arrived, all stared grimly at a corpse on the ground.
The corpse was none other than Master Ren's. Beside it was Ren Tingting, weeping uncontrollably.
"Damn it! What was that monster that wouldn't stay down?"
As everyone stood in gloomy silence, Ren Wei suddenly pulled his Nambu Pistol from his waist and pointed it at Uncle Nine's head.
"Captain Ren, surely you saw it. That was the zombie formed from Old Master Ren's corpse!"
"A zombie? How is that possible? When a person dies, they're dead. How could they turn into a zombie?"
"Lin Jiu, don't think I don't know. You Maoshan occultists love practicing evil arts. My uncle-in-law must have been killed by your dark magic."
"Men, arrest all these crooked practitioners and lock them up in our jail!"
Ren Wei clearly didn't believe a word Uncle Nine said. He shouted at the nearby security team members, and more than ten gun barrels immediately trained on Qiusheng and the others.
Facing Ren Wei's unreasonable accusations, Qiusheng said coldly:
"Ren Wei, I'm telling you: anyone related to Ren Weiyong by blood is now his prey."
"He killed Master Ren today. By tomorrow, once he's fully absorbed the blood of his own kin, he'll become even more ferocious. Then both you and Tingting will be in danger!"
"Of course, if you're looking to get yourself killed, I can leave you to it. But Tingting won't be harmed because of your stupidity—not even a single hair on her head!"
As he spoke, Qiusheng pushed aside the gun barrel in front of him, went over to Ren Tingting, and pulled her behind him.
"Tingting, from now on, you must stay by my side every moment. Otherwise, your life could be in danger at any time."
Qiusheng's actions made Ren Wei's nostrils flare with rage. He immediately shifted the Nambu Pistol from Uncle Nine's head to Qiusheng's and shouted:
"Kid, do you think I was born yesterday?"
"I'm telling you, as long as I'm here, whether it's a zombie or even the Jade Emperor himself, no one will touch a hair on my cousin's head."
"So, kid, you'd better behave and stay in jail!"
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