The Second Corpse Refinement

"It came so quickly!"

Zhou Yan looked up at the moon. It was still early in the night, not the prime time for a zombie to be active.

From this alone, he could tell that the zombie's movements were not being directed by a human. Furthermore, its cultivation was very weak; it had likely only recently transformed into a zombie, and its intelligence was inferior even to that of a clever wild beast.

He did not strike immediately, instead having his Corpse Controlling puppet scout the perimeter. Only after confirming that no one was lurking nearby and that there were no other zombies did he slowly stand up.

Zhou Yan had not walked many steps before he saw a hopping figure in the distance.

This was a zombie that had not yet fully transformed into a Black Zombie. Most of the hair on its body was black, but there were still sparse patches of white; it was just a hair's breadth away from a full transformation.

It was fortunate that this was the case. Once a zombie fully evolved into a Black Zombie, its strength would surge, as would its appetite.

By that time, it wouldn't just be one person dying, but at least several.

These low-level zombies were like wild beasts, hunting only to fill their stomachs.

As long as their bellies were full and they weren't startled, they wouldn't kill indiscriminately.

Otherwise, a single Black Zombie could easily slaughter a village of over a hundred people.

"Take it down."

Zhou Yan issued the order, and his Corpse Controlling puppet immediately charged toward the zombie.

"Roar..."

The zombie was startled by the sudden appearance of the puppet and let out a roar.

However, it immediately realized that the intruder was one of its own kind.

But before it could even feel relieved, the puppet lunged forward and sent the zombie flying with a single slap.

"Wuu..."

After landing, the zombie quickly hopped back up, though it looked somewhat aggrieved.

It seemed unable to comprehend why one of its own would attack it, and it was too afraid to retaliate.

After all, it was just a newly formed zombie with poor intelligence and little ferocity; it hadn't even realized that something was wrong.

Bang.

Another heavy palm struck down, pinning the zombie to the ground, unable to rise for a long while.

The Corpse Controlling puppet cared nothing for whether it was attacking its own kind. Under the dual control of Zhou Yan's Corpse Refining and Corpse Controlling arts, the possibility of a backlash was virtually non-existent.

Even though the puppet's strength was increasing steadily, it couldn't keep pace with the speed at which Zhou Yan was grinding his proficiency.

"Don't kill it!"

Seeing that the zombie was so fragile, Zhou Yan quickly ordered.

He intended to convert this zombie into his own refined corpse, so he couldn't afford to waste it.

There was no helping it; the speed at which he could refine his own corpses was too slow, and it required too much time.

Moreover, to increase the grade of a refined corpse, he had to consume his own Profound Yin Essence Blood, which caused too much damage to his body and hindered his own cultivation progress.

But this zombie before him could become his refined corpse after a simple conversion.

Even if there was a gap in potential, Zhou Yan truly didn't care about the limited potential of a common zombie.

He was only using it as cannon fodder.

The Corpse Controlling puppet that Zhou Yan truly valued had to possess a unique fate, one with enough potential to grow alongside him.

Otherwise, it would always just be a temporary tool.

To be honest, even his current Corpse Controlling puppet was just a stopgap.

Otherwise, it wouldn't have remained nameless for so long after he had successfully refined it.

Soon, the zombie was beaten to a near-death state, lying motionless on the ground.

Zhou Yan stepped forward and cast the Corpse-Suppressing Incantation, completely sealing the creature.

His Corpse-Suppressing Incantation had reached a high level of proficiency; the zombie would not show any signs of life for three days and three nights.

After finishing this, Zhou Yan brought the zombie to the Ancestral Hall.

"The zombie has been subdued."

Following his announcement, the people of Zhao Family Market and the patrol officers all flocked over to watch, their eyes wide with astonishment.

Soon, cheers erupted.

The once deathly silent Zhao Family Market suddenly became bustling, with everyone visiting each other to spread the good news.

Some bold children even crowded around to get a closer look at the zombie, only to run back in fear, triggering waves of laughter.

Others looked at the Corpse Controlling puppet with admiration, clicking their tongues in praise.

"What a hero."

"Indeed, subduing a zombie with his bare hands."

"That's not right. I heard a master mage subdued it; he's just the mage's attendant."

"The mage's sidekick is no ordinary person either."

"Right, right. I heard that when the mage was casting his spell, it was this hero who rushed forward and held the zombie down, allowing the mage to successfully subdue it."

"Really..."

"..."

The danger had passed, and the long-lost sense of security returned, leaving many in Zhao Family Market feeling somewhat high on the relief.

They were completely unaware that the formidable man in their eyes was actually a zombie himself—and a much more powerful one at that.

After cultivating, Zhou Yan seemed to have grown unaccustomed to such situations.

Furthermore, he needed to bring the zombie back as quickly as possible.

Otherwise, once dawn broke and the sun emerged, the clash of yang energy would ruin the zombie.

"I'm leaving first; handle the rest yourself," Zhou Yan whispered into Ma Yan's ear.

Ma Yan nodded slightly and said, "Fine, go ahead. I need to take care of the aftermath."

Zhou Yan said nothing more and quickly left with the zombie.

As the people of Zhao Family Market remained curious, Ma Yan explained, "The mage has gone to dispose of the zombie. These things are evil spirits; if not handled properly, they can easily cause trouble, so the mage must deal with it immediately."

Hearing this, the people of Zhao Family Market nodded in succession.

Zhou Yan returned quickly with the zombie, but the city gates were already closed by the time he reached Shen City.

Fortunately, he had the documents Ma Yan had given him, allowing him to enter the city with ease.

Shen City had no garrison, so the various gates were manned by the Police Station, and the guards were not strict, mostly just going through the motions.

Back home, Zhou Yan immediately placed the zombie on the ground and began to examine it carefully.

The zombie had been handled roughly by the Corpse Controlling practitioner, but fortunately, zombies were naturally durable enough that it didn't suffer much damage.

In just this short while, under the influence of yin energy and moonlight, it had already recovered a small portion of its injuries.

This was the most troublesome aspect of zombies: thick-skinned and fast-healing.

If there were blood bags available, it could return to its peak state in minutes.

However, for Zhou Yan, this was good news.

He stripped the zombie of all debris and picked up a talisman brush to quickly draw Corpse Refining talismans on its body.

In this regard, he had ground his skills until his proficiency was nearing mastery.

In just a short while, the zombie's body was covered in talismans.

With a faint, almost imperceptible flash of red light, the cinnabar talismans sank into the zombie's body.

This meant that the second Corpse Controlling subject had been successfully refined...