Half a Year of Arduous Cultivation

Steward Yue moved quickly; before long, he had selected a courtyard. It was a two-tiered residence in the inner city, spanning a full five or six hundred square meters—exactly the kind of property an average middle-class family would inhabit.

Zhou Yan was very satisfied with the courtyard, yet he did not move in himself, instead letting Mother Zhou and his younger siblings take up residence there.

As for himself, he remained in the courtyard in the outer city.

Although the conditions there were inferior to the inner city, the environment was exceptionally well-suited for his cultivation and Corpse Refining.

Unless he found a place with even heavier Yin energy, Zhou Yan would not easily move away from such a prime geomantic location.

Compared to cultivation, suffering a little hardship was nothing.

With the Prajna Heart Sutra in his possession, Zhou Yan's cultivation schedule became even busier.

Every day, in addition to the various techniques and skills he was required to practice, he added the Prajna Heart Sutra to his routine. Furthermore, he had to squeeze out a significant amount of time to visit the Yue Mansion to pore over various texts on cultivation knowledge.

While there were no powerful incantations or secret arts among them, the foundational knowledge regarding cultivation was recorded in great detail.

Many of these were things Zhou Yan had been lacking.

With these detailed records and insights, even without a master's guidance, he had patched up a major shortcoming in his training.

Moreover, with the system, Zhou Yan could select the optimal cultivation methods and correct his own errors, which was more effective than the guidance of even the best master.

Perhaps because Zhou Yan's path had been too rugged before, his journey became remarkably smooth after being taken in as a guest retainer by the Yue Mansion.

Not only did he fill the gaps in his cultivation knowledge, but his practice of the Prajna Heart Sutra also proceeded very smoothly. It successfully resolved the drawbacks of the "Yaksha Devouring Ghosts" aspect of the Yakshas Meditation Method, sweeping away the whispers in his soul and leaving his entire spirit feeling as if it had been rejuvenated.

From this, it was evident that Zhou Yan's hypothesis was not without merit.

Of course, this also had to do with the profound nature of the Prajna Heart Sutra.

In Buddhism, "Prajna" means "ultimate wisdom" or "discriminative wisdom"—the wisdom to perceive all things and the origin of all existence as they truly are.

Any technique that could bear the name of Prajna was never simple.

After mastering the basics of the Prajna Heart Sutra, Zhou Yan felt his internal Qi and blood increasing day by day, and the soul within his mind seemed to have become more resilient.

It was truly worthy of being a Buddhist technique; the heritage was powerful.

Even as an internal martial arts technique, it could actually provide no small benefit to the soul.

From then on, Zhou Yan could cultivate the Mystic Yin Art at full throttle without worrying about his body being unable to handle the strain.

Meanwhile, Ma Yan had also begun delivering several high-quality corpses suitable for refining, and he had already started the process one after another...

Time flowed like water.

More than half a year passed in the blink of an eye.

Zhou Yan walked out of the Yue Mansion's study and looked up slightly at the sky; the sunlight shining on him felt warm.

These past six months could be considered his most relaxed and fulfilling days.

He had successfully filled the gaps in his cultivation knowledge and learned a large number of basic incantations, becoming more and more like a true practitioner.

Not only that, he had condensed his Profound Yin Essence Blood to seventy-eight drops, raising his cultivation to the late stage of the Essence Blood Realm.

Most importantly, his physical Qi and blood had caught up, so he would no longer find his body unable to keep pace with the progress of his cultivation as he had before.

Now, Zhou Yan had no shortcomings in his magic power, physical body, or soul, and there were no obvious flaws or weaknesses in other areas. He could barely be considered a practitioner of the orthodox Mystic school.

Perhaps because he had practiced heterodox arts from the beginning, or perhaps because of the suffering he had endured during his training, a fixation had unknowingly taken root in his heart.

Deep down, Zhou Yan felt an inexplicable yearning for the orthodox Mystic schools, accompanied by a faint, underlying sense of defiance.

Even if he practiced heterodox arts, he would not be inferior to those disciples of the orthodox schools; he would be even stronger!

Things he would have never cared about in the past had gradually become a fixation in his heart...

[Name: Zhou Yan]
[Age: 17]
[Cultivation: Essence Blood Realm (Profound Yin Essence Blood: 78)]
[Techniques: Mystic Yin Art (1st Layer) (Great Success 902/1600), Yakshas Meditation Method (Minor Success 239/800), Prajna Heart Sutra (Minor Success 56/800).]
[Skills: Cart Pulling (Great Success 259/1600), Spring Leg (Great Success 897/1600), Five Animal Frolics (Great Success 377/1600), Shennong Health Cultivation Method (Great Success 17/1600), Corpse Refining (Minor Success 617/800), Corpse Controlling (Great Success 81/1600), Prajna Palm (Minor Success 159/800).]
[Corpse Servants: Black Zombie (Late Stage *1, Mid Stage *5).]
[Items: Soul-Fixing Lamp, Soul-Suppressing Bell, Corpse-Suppressing Stone, Cinnabar Rope, Lightning-Struck Peach Wood Sword, Coin Sword.]

Zhou Yan had not only spent a massive amount of time on his cultivation, but he had also ground his various skills day and night, bringing them all to either Minor or Great Success.

Beyond that, he had comprehended the Prajna Palm from the Prajna Heart Sutra, greatly increasing his ability to protect himself.

This was a true internal palm technique; even at the Minor Success level, its power was more than ten times greater than that of his Great Success Spring Leg.

If combined with the breathing techniques of the Prajna Heart Sutra, its power would be even greater!

However, Zhou Yan did not reveal his martial arts prowess, though he made no effort to hide his Corpse Controlling or soul-related abilities.

Even so, when Steward Yue learned of Zhou Yan's cultivation progress, he was secretly astonished.

Although he said nothing on the surface, behind the scenes he never missed a chance to lament to Yue Yuna that Zhou Yan was a cultivation prodigy with immense self-discipline, and that their Third Miss had truly struck gold.

It had to be said that ever since Zhou Yan stepped onto the path of cultivation, his level of diligence could almost be described as self-torture.

Logically speaking, he had no enemies and no deep-seated grudges, making such urgency seem rather inexplicable.

Yet, a sense of unease always lingered in Zhou Yan's heart, as if someone were constantly pressing a blade against his back.

Perhaps it was due to these chaotic times; Zhou Yan understood all too well that in such an era, human life was as insignificant as ants or weeds, and he refused to let himself or his family become mere sacrifices.

Therefore, only by constantly improving his strength could he feel a shred of security.

Who doesn't want to enjoy life? But one must be alive to do so, Zhou Yan sighed inwardly.

His choice to become a guest elder of the Yue Mansion was partly for this reason.

Only by becoming a guest elder could he maintain a high-speed progression in his cultivation while also gaining a layer of protection.

Even if there were potential dangers, compared to the future, he could only focus on the present.

It was precisely because Zhou Yan had awakened memories of his past life that he overthought things and harbored so many misgivings.

If it were any other rogue cultivator, hearing that the Yue Mansion was willing to take them on as a guest elder, they would have agreed in a heartbeat, terrified of missing the opportunity.

Just like his brother-in-law Ma Yan, who had nearly gone mad with joy upon hearing that he had become a guest elder.

Had Zhou Yan not instructed him to keep it quiet, Ma Yan would likely have wanted to broadcast it to the entire world.

Then there was Jin Mantang, who was also incredibly envious after learning that Zhou Yan had become a guest elder of the Yue Mansion.

However, he did not make a scene; instead, he advised Zhou Yan to keep as low a profile as possible.

This confirmed to Zhou Yan that while Jin Mantang might appear shrewd and slick, he was actually someone worthy of trust and friendship.