Infected with Corpse Poison

Tingting saw Wencai holding the glutinous rice and immediately took it from him. Looking at Uncle Nine, she asked,

"Uncle Nine, how should we use this glutinous rice?"

"Tingting, take half and spread it around Qiusheng. Then use the rest to cook glutinous rice water for his bath."

"Wencai, take this money and buy some more glutinous rice in town."

"Remember, it has to be all glutinous rice. Don't mix in any other kind."

Uncle Nine gave Wencai his instructions.

At his command, Tingting and Wencai sprang into action.

Tingting hurriedly poured half the rice over Qiusheng and ran to the kitchen with the rest.

Wencai raced off to the rice shop in Ren Family Town without wasting a moment.

"Senior Brother, don't worry. With Qiusheng's current cultivation, a little corpse poison is nothing. He'll be fine even without glutinous rice."

Taoist Four Eyes spoke when he saw the grave expression on his senior brother's face.

"Hmph. I know he'll be fine. We still have to make the preparations, though."

Uncle Nine was worried sick, but he refused to admit it.

Seeing his senior brother stubbornly refuse to show his concern, Taoist Four Eyes rolled his eyes and left him to it. He reached into his robes, took out a pill, and swallowed it.

Then he sat cross-legged and began to regulate his breathing.

He hadn't been infected with corpse poison this time, but Ren Weiyong had broken his God-Inviting Technique head-on, leaving him with serious internal injuries. If he didn't take care of himself, that could lead to trouble.

Just as Taoist Four Eyes sat down, Qiusheng, who had been lying on the ground, slowly opened his eyes.

"Cough, cough."

He coughed several times, expelling thick corpse qi from his mouth.

"Damn it, I really had the worst luck this time. I took the full blast of the zombie's source corpse qi."

Qiusheng muttered bitterly as he opened his status panel.

Character: Qiusheng (inner disciple of the Maoshan Sect).

Spirit Body: Earth Spirit Body (suppressed temporarily by corpse poison).

Cultivation: Human Master (late stage) (to break through, one must awaken a Five Elements Spirit Body).

Exorcism Points: 2200.

Dao Arts: Talisman Drawing (Advanced)+, Shangqing Dongxuan Record (Intermediate)+, Maoshan Basic Martial Arts (Advanced)+, Palm Thunder (Advanced)+, Lightning Bolt Fist (Advanced)+, Feng Shui Geomancy (Beginner)+, God-Inviting Technique (Beginner)+.

Lifespan: 62+).

Seeing the note beside his Spirit Body, Qiusheng felt a pang of worry. This was a real headache.

"Qiusheng, did the zombie's source corpse qi hit you?"

Uncle Nine saw that Qiusheng had woken up and heard him muttering, so he asked in a grave voice.

"Yeah. Luckily, I have a Spirit Body. Otherwise, I would've turned into a zombie on the spot."

Qiusheng looked toward the voice and saw Uncle Nine staring at him with a solemn expression. He answered at once.

"Hmph. That's what you get for being so reckless. The zombie had just been forced back to its original form. If you'd stayed on its heels instead of fighting it head-on, it would've fallen into your hands sooner or later. Why were you in such a rush?"

As he spoke, Uncle Nine crouched beside Qiusheng and grabbed a large handful of glutinous rice from the ground. He used it to draw a Zombie-Suppressing Talisman on the earth, then slapped Qiusheng onto his back.

"Don't move for now. I'll use this talisman, drawn with glutinous rice, to draw the corpse qi out of you."

"Once Tingting makes some glutinous rice water, soak in it for half an hour. That should draw out most of the corpse qi."

As he spoke, Uncle Nine tore open Qiusheng's shirt, fetched some more cinnabar from the altar, and drew a bright red Zombie-Suppressing Talisman on his chest.

Watching his master take the corpse poison in him so seriously, Qiusheng couldn't help but purse his lips.

Honestly, although the zombie's source corpse qi had hit him and infected him with a dense concentration of corpse poison, he hadn't been bitten directly. The poison hadn't entered his bloodstream, so there was no need to make such a fuss.

But seeing how serious his master looked, Qiusheng decided not to say anything. He would just let his master do his thing.

Lying on the ground, Qiusheng felt the subtle sensation of the corpse qi slowly being drawn out of his body. Before he knew it, he had entered a state of enlightenment.

As his mind emptied, the magic power within him suddenly began to circulate on its own.

His primary cultivation method, the Shangqing Dongxuan Record, displayed unprecedented power. Before Uncle Nine's eyes, streams of spiritual energy poured into Qiusheng's Baihui Acupoint, steadily strengthening his cultivation.

That wasn't all. As the spiritual energy continued to flow into him, Qiusheng's understanding of the Shangqing Dongxuan Record deepened. Without spending any Exorcism Points, he had raised his mastery of it to the Advanced level on his own!

This was unexpected. For cultivators, their own cultivation method was often the hardest thing to improve. Yet Qiusheng had always made rapid progress, and this time he had broken through simply by entering a state of enlightenment. Uncle Nine watched the changes in his disciple and couldn't help drawing a sharp breath.

"This kid's talent is astonishing. Has he really cultivated the Shangqing Dongxuan Record to this level?"

Uncle Nine stood nearby, murmuring to himself in disbelief.

"Damn, Senior Brother, how does your disciple even cultivate?"

"His God-Inviting Technique is almost as good as mine, and his Lightning Bolt Fist is close to mastery. Now he's even cultivated our sect's profound method to the level of mastery. Is this what they mean by years of preparation finally paying off?"

Taoist Four Eyes had finished regulating his breathing. He stood and looked at Qiusheng, unable to keep from praising him.

"Mm, Qiusheng has good talent. It's just a shame he's still young and can't devote himself entirely to cultivation."

"If not for that, in a few more years I could place the full burden of leading the Maoshan Sect on his shoulders. Even our senior brother—his martial uncle—would probably be forced into submission by the boy, whether he liked it or not."

"Ha! That man deserves to be called our senior brother? He's nothing but a fame-seeker. If he weren't so powerful that none of us could beat him, we'd have cleaned house long ago."

At the mention of their senior brother, Taoist Four Eyes flew into a rage and complained loudly.

"Enough, Junior Brother. Let's not talk about Senior Brother anymore. He is still our senior brother, so we shouldn't speak of him that way."

After admonishing his junior brother, Uncle Nine said no more. He simply stood guard beside Qiusheng and protected him as he cultivated.