Essence Blood Realm

Zhou Yan's affairs might have stayed quiet, but now that word had gotten out, people would surely start coming to his door one after another.

Ordinary people were one thing, but he couldn't refuse visits from the rich and powerful.

The only way to turn things around was for Zhou Yan to truly have the ability to deal with evil spirits—and even take on people as well.

Ma Yan had thought of this too. His expression darkened slightly, though mostly he felt helpless.

"I'll do my best to keep some of them away," he said.

Zhou Yan shook his head and smiled. "No need. I'm going to stop pulling a cart for a while and focus on mastering the technique. Once I've got the basics down, I'll start doing this for a living. It'll be better than pulling a cart."

Ma Yan paused, then said, "All right. You know what's best. If there's anything you need my help with, just ask."

"We're brothers who fight tigers together. Of course I'll need you."

Zhou Yan didn't stand on ceremony. "I need some corpses with different birth dates. I'll give you their birth dates and times in a bit. They should preferably be young, and without any obvious missing parts..."

Ma Yan committed Zhou Yan's request to memory, planning to ask around at the Household Registry Office once he got home.

The next moment, Zhou Yan tossed him a silver dollar.

Ma Yan caught it. One touch was enough to tell him what it was. He immediately looked up at Zhou Yan, seeming about to refuse.

"Take it. Whether it's for greasing palms, gathering information, or transporting corpses, you need money. Li Deyou gave me over a hundred silver dollars yesterday. I still have half of them, so there's plenty to spare," Zhou Yan said.

Ma Yan clicked his tongue inwardly.

Even his family would have to take a serious hit to come up with over a hundred silver dollars.

But Zhou Yan had made that much in a single night.

Even Ma Yan was a little tempted by that kind of income.

Money was only one part of it. The most important thing was connections.

Zhou Yan had made a connection with Li Deyou. In the future, Li Deyou's word might carry a lot of weight in all kinds of matters.

"All right, then. I'll take it."

Ma Yan wasn't one to hesitate, and he accepted the silver dollars at once.

Just as Zhou Yan had said, having money to smooth the way made many things much easier.

After the two returned home, they said nothing about it, and the family happily ate dinner together.

When Ma Yan and Zhou Li came over, they brought a roast duck and two pounds of meat. The two children, Zhou Chuan and Zhou Jing, ate until their mouths were greasy.

After Ma Yan and his wife left, Zhou Yan went to find Mother Zhou and told her about his plans to cultivate.

He also told her about what had happened at Li Residence.

"Cultivate and fight evil spirits?"

Mother Zhou was full of worry. "Second Son, evil spirits are too dangerous. Why not keep pulling a cart? Even if you earn less, it's still enough to support the family. And Third Son will be grown soon. He'll be able to help you shoulder some of the burden."

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

Zhou Yan felt a wave of warmth in his heart and smiled. "Mother, it'll be all right. I'm confident."

Mother Zhou was still worried, but Zhou Yan said, "In this world, disasters and man-made calamities never stop. There's nowhere truly safe. If you want to be able to withstand danger, you have to strengthen yourself. Only then can you stand up to it."

Mother Zhou fell silent.

Zhou Yan knew she was thinking of his father.

For the poor, who lived at the very bottom, even a speck of dust falling from above was like a mountain crashing down on them.

They had never had many choices, so they needed to seize every opportunity.

That was why Zhou Yan had braved the danger and gone to Taoist Ma's house in the middle of the night.

In the end, he had gained almost nothing, but that was the kind of mindset he needed.

Zhou Yan was also grateful that he had awakened memories of his past life. They had kept his poverty from snuffing out the last spark of hope in him, and preserved his courage and resolve to take a chance.

Over the next few days, Zhou Yan stopped pulling a cart and focused entirely on studying the Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique.

The Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique revolved around refining corpses, controlling them, and absorbing corpse energy to nourish oneself. That energy would then be refined into Mystic Yin Qi to raise one's cultivation.

Aside from the Mystic Yin Art, the technique mainly explained how to refine and control corpses.

However, even without corpse energy, one could still make a smooth start with the initial stages of cultivation.

Zhou Yan needed only half a day to master the basics. He refined a wisp of Mystic Yin Qi and used it to condense his first drop of Profound Yin Essence Blood.

He had no frame of reference for that kind of cultivation speed, so he didn't know whether it was good or bad.

Still, Zhou Yan figured it was probably quite good.

Once a cultivator had mastered the basics, the first realm was called the Essence Blood Realm.

It wasn't a very pleasant name, but it was an apt one.

Cultivators in the Essence Blood Realm focused on refining their own essence blood to strengthen their bodies. They could also use it as Magic Power.

However, every time they spent their essence blood, they needed a great deal of nourishment to replenish it. Using too much could shorten their lifespan and weaken their bodies; in severe cases, it could even damage their foundations.

Once they had refined a hundred and eight drops of essence blood within their bodies, they could advance to the next realm, the Qi Induction Realm.

Zhou Yan had cultivated by absorbing Yin Qi, so his face had visibly paled as soon as he mastered the basics. Even his body seemed to carry a hint of weakness.

Now he finally understood why Taoist Ma was so destitute.

His cultivation required not only large quantities of medicinal herbs to nourish his body, but also herbs to dispel Yin Qi and corpse energy while cultivating the Mystic Yin Art, to prevent his condition from worsening.

That was the drawback of an unorthodox path. Its cultivation techniques not only failed to build a solid foundation, but came with other disadvantages as well.

Of course, every drawback came with an advantage.

The Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique allowed cultivators to control Zombies from the very beginning. This greatly increased their combat strength, and they could also rapidly improve their cultivation by absorbing and refining corpse energy.

If they could refine corpses with unusual fates into Zombies, that would be an even greater boon to a cultivator.

The birth dates and times Zhou Yan had given Ma Yan belonged to people with unusual fates.

Once he had mastered the basics, Zhou Yan's greatest reaction, aside from his excitement, was to move!

Whether he was cultivating or refining corpses, he would create large amounts of Yin Qi and corpse energy, both of which were extremely harmful to ordinary people.

Besides, the neighborhood was too noisy and crowded, and its Yang Qi was too strong, making it highly unsuitable for corpse refining.

"So this is the price of embarking on the path of cultivation."

Zhou Yan fell silent for a moment, then chuckled twice and put the thought out of his mind.

He had made his choice, so there was no point in regretting it.

Besides, he was confident.

Once he had ground the Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique to a high level, these things would no longer be problems.

The Profound Yin Corpse Refining Technique was his first step toward making a name for himself, but the system was what gave him the confidence to soar...