Essence Blood Realm

If the news of Zhou Yan's affairs hadn't spread, it would be one thing, but now that it has, people will inevitably come knocking on his door one after another in the future.

Ordinary people aside, when the wealthy and powerful come calling, it will be impossible to refuse them.

The only way to break this deadlock is for Zhou Yan to truly possess the ability to deal with evil spirits, and perhaps even handle people as well.

Ma Yan realized this too, his expression turning somewhat grim, though mostly filled with helplessness.

"I'll do my best to help you fend some of them off," he said.

Zhou Yan shook his head, smiling as he replied, "No need. I plan to stop pulling the rickshaw for now and focus on mastering my cultivation technique. Once I've made progress, I'll start this business officially; it's bound to be better than pulling a rickshaw."

Ma Yan paused for a moment before saying, "Very well, use your own judgment. If there's anything you need my help with, don't hesitate to ask."

"Brothers fight tigers together; naturally, I'll be counting on you."

Zhou Yan didn't stand on ceremony, stating directly, "I need some corpses with specific birth dates. I'll give you the horoscopes later. It's best if they are young and without any obvious physical defects..."

Ma Yan took Zhou Yan's words to heart, planning to seek out someone at the Household Registry Office once he returned.

The next moment, Zhou Yan tossed a stack of silver dollars over.

Ma Yan caught it, and one touch was enough to know what it was. He immediately looked up at Zhou Yan, seemingly wanting to refuse.

"Take it. Whether it's greasing palms, gathering information, or transporting corpses, it all costs money. Li Deyou gave me over a hundred silver dollars yesterday, and I still have half left. It's more than enough," Zhou Yan said.

Ma Yan clicked his tongue in secret.

A hundred silver dollars—even if his own family tried to scrape that together, it would cost them dearly.

Yet, in just one night, Zhou Yan had earned over a hundred silver dollars.

Even Ma Yan felt a stir of envy at such a situation.

Money was only one aspect; the most important part was the connections.

Zhou Yan had befriended Li Deyou, and in the future, a single word from Li Deyou could prove immensely useful in many matters.

"Alright, then I'll accept it."

Ma Yan was not a man of hesitation and immediately took the silver.

Just as Zhou Yan had said, with money to pave the way, many things would be far more convenient.

After the two returned, they didn't mention a word of it, and the family enjoyed dinner together happily.

When Ma Yan and Zhou Li arrived, they brought a roasted duck and two pounds of meat, which left the two children, Zhou Chuan and Zhou Jing, with grease smeared all over their mouths.

After Ma Yan and his wife left, Zhou Yan found Mother Zhou and spoke to her about his cultivation.

Beyond that, he also mentioned the matter of the Li residence.

"Cultivation? Dealing with evil spirits!"

Upon hearing this, Mother Zhou's face was filled with worry. "Second son, evil spirits are too dangerous. Why not just stick to pulling the rickshaw? Even if you earn less, it's enough for the family, and Third son will grow up soon enough to help you share the burden."

To a mother, no amount of glory could compare to her son's safety.

Zhou Yan felt a surge of warmth in his heart and smiled. "Mother, it's alright. I have it under control."

Mother Zhou remained anxious, but Zhou Yan insisted, "In this world, natural disasters and man-made calamities are constant; there is no true safety anywhere. If one wants the ability to withstand danger, one must strengthen their own skills to repel it."

At this, Mother Zhou fell silent.

Zhou Yan knew she was thinking of his late father.

As poor people living at the very bottom, a little dust falling from above was like a mountain crashing down upon them.

They never had many choices to begin with, which made it all the more necessary to seize every opportunity.

This was also why Zhou Yan had braved the danger to head to Taoist Ma's house in the middle of the night.

Although he had gained almost nothing in the end, that mindset was essential.

Zhou Yan was also grateful that he had awakened the memories of his past life; otherwise, he might have been ground down by the hardships of poverty until he lost all hope, lacking the courage and temperament to fight for a better future.

In the days that followed, Zhou Yan stopped pulling the rickshaw and devoted himself entirely to studying the Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique.

The Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique focused on refining corpses, controlling them, and absorbing corpse energy to nourish the body, eventually refining it into Mystic Yin Qi to elevate one's cultivation.

Aside from the Mystic Yin Art, the text primarily detailed the methods for refining and controlling corpses.

However, the initial entry point could be practiced successfully even without the presence of corpse energy.

It took Zhou Yan only half a day to successfully make his entry, refining a wisp of Mystic Yin Qi and using it to condense his first drop of Profound Yin Essence Blood.

Without a point of comparison, he didn't know if this speed was good or bad.

However, Zhou Yan estimated that it was likely quite impressive.

After entering the path of cultivation, the first realm is known as the "Essence Blood Realm."

The name didn't sound particularly elegant, but it was well-deserved.

Practitioners of the Essence Blood Realm focused on condensing their own essence blood to strengthen their physique, which could also be utilized as magical power.

However, every time essence blood was consumed, it required a massive amount of nutrition to replenish. Furthermore, excessive consumption of essence blood could lead to a shortened lifespan and physical frailty; in severe cases, it could even damage one's foundation.

Once one hundred and eight drops of essence blood were condensed within the body, one could advance to the next stage: the Qi Induction Realm.

Especially for someone like Zhou Yan, who had just entered the threshold by absorbing and refining Yin energy, his complexion turned visibly pale immediately after, and his body even seemed to exude a sense of frailty.

At this moment, Zhou Yan finally understood why Taoist Ma was penniless.

Because his cultivation not only required a large amount of medicinal herbs for nourishment, but practicing the Mystic Yin Art also necessitated purchasing herbs to purge Yin energy and corpse aura to prevent his body from deteriorating further.

This was the drawback of heterodox paths; the techniques practiced not only failed to solidify one's foundation but also carried other inherent flaws.

Of course, where there are disadvantages, there are advantages.

The Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique allowed a practitioner to command zombies from the very beginning, which not only greatly enhanced their combat power but also allowed for rapid cultivation progress by absorbing and refining corpse aura.

If one could refine corpses with special destinies into zombies, it would be of even greater benefit to the practitioner.

What Zhou Yan had given Ma Yan were simply some specific birth dates and times.

After successfully entering the threshold of cultivation, besides feeling joyful, Zhou Yan's biggest reaction was—moving house!

Because both his future cultivation and corpse refining would generate massive amounts of Yin energy and corpse aura, which were extremely harmful to ordinary people.

Moreover, the environment here was too noisy, the population too dense, and the Yang energy too heavy, all of which were highly unfavorable for corpse refining.

So this is the price of stepping onto the path of cultivation!

Zhou Yan fell silent for a moment, then chuckled twice and cast the thought to the back of his mind.

Since he had made his choice, he would not regret it.

Furthermore, he possessed confidence.

Once he grinded the Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique to a high realm, these would no longer be problems.

The Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique was the threshold for his start, while the system was the source of his confidence to soar...