Paths Diverge

According to Bai Meng,

Although Qingping Spirit Ruins' power was far inferior to Heavenly Dao Sect's, it still had Golden Core patriarchs holding the fort, and the war had already been going on for nearly ten years.

The reason Bai Meng had been so thrilled and excited

Was entirely because Qingping Sect cultivators were not only all excellent Corpse Seeds, but because the source of spiritual power in their dantians had been dug out, their prices were barely different from ordinary Corpse Seeds.

Once they were cultivated into Living Corpses, the Sect's purchase price would be thirty percent higher than for ordinary Living Corpses. They could be called one of the finest types of Corpse Seed.

Zhu Yu guessed that the high price was likely related to the Qingping Sect of Qingping Spirit Ruins.

Just imagine it: encountering familiar fellow disciples who had become Living Corpses on the battlefield. Whether it enraged the opponent or made them lose focus, it could provide an advantage in the battle that followed.

"Lower Dantian, source of spiritual power..."

Zhu Yu's gaze fell upon the bloody hollow in the lower abdomen of the Corpse Seed carried by the servant. His expression turned thoughtful.

Unlike Heavenly Dao Sect, which used the Basic Visualization Diagram to condense Soul Particles and open up the Divine Sea, Qingping Sect cultivators used their Spirit Roots as a guide to forcibly draw in spiritual qi and open up the Lower Dantian.

Their subsequent cultivation paths also went in completely opposite directions.

Heavenly Dao Sect cultivators used Soul Particles to construct manifested Rings, drawing in spiritual qi and refining it into Spiritual Power.

Qingping Sect, however, was different. It used the dantian as its foundation and the Human Body Heaven and Earth Meridian as the circulation pathways for cultivation, drawing upon the spiritual qi of heaven and earth. At the same time, depending on one's realm and cultivation technique, different spells would awaken.

"Too crude, too rigid..."

Zhu Yu secretly shook his head.

With even a little thought, one could tell that as long as they knew what method a Qingping Sect disciple cultivated, they could immediately guess most of that person's background and trump cards.

When there was not much difference in realm,

One side prepared while the other knew nothing—the result was easy to imagine.

And that was only the information gap.

Such a Dao Path likely would not be very strong either.

And according to Bai Meng,

Heavenly Dao Sect and Qingping Sect walked different paths and could not scheme together.

They were "Dao enemies"!

Only when one side's orthodoxy had been severed would they stop.

Besides that, according to him, the dantians Qingping Sect cultivators had cultivated for many years were good things. Not only could they be refined into Dharma Seeds, they could also be forged into Dharma artifacts capable of casting spells directly. They could even be planted within the body as one of one's backup methods...

A thought suddenly stirred in Zhu Yu's mind. Could Bai Meng's surprise be the cultivation Dharma Veins that might remain within Qingping Sect cultivators' bodies?

One could tell from how every Corpse Seed had only had its lower abdomen cut open that the dantians had most likely been yanked straight out.

It was not strange for some broken limbs and severed veins to remain inside.

Even if there was only a short section, it was still a graded spiritual item. Its value definitely would not be low.

Should I take a look?

With that thought, Zhu Yu's desire to pick up a bargain surfaced. He was in no hurry to return, occasionally chatting with Bai Meng while waiting for the Corpse Grotto to open.

Time slowly passed.

Who knew how long had gone by.

No more servants entered the ship's hold. Restriction light surged across the vessel's surface as it slowly rose, turning into a streak of light that shot straight into the dome.

Zhu Yu saw it clearly. When the vessel touched the dome, it did not pause in the slightest. Like water merging with water, it sank into it and vanished.

"An evasion-type restriction?"

The thought flashed through Zhu Yu's mind. When he came back to himself, Bai Meng was nowhere to be seen. Looking up, he saw the crowd that had been waiting earlier swarm into the halls of the Corpse Grotto.

Seeing this, Zhu Yu leaped down from the Blue Stone and walked toward the hall. Upon reaching it, he instructed a servant to look after Little Black, then entered the underground cavern where Corpse Seeds were stored under another servant's guidance.

Before long,

After passing through a formation gate, a vast space as large as several football fields appeared before him.

At this moment,

The Underworld Grounds disciples were shopping as though in a marketplace. They did not inspect the corpses carefully. So long as they saw that a corpse was intact, they would have the servant beside them record it and leave their own Mark.

Among the crowd, he also saw Bai Meng. Perhaps because his purse was tight, he was one of the few carefully selecting Corpse Seeds.

He had not felt anything was wrong before, but when he saw the more than one thousand Corpse Seeds piled within the cavern, Zhu Yu could not help sucking in a cold breath, momentarily dazed.

"How many people must have died for this...?"

He did not believe that after a great battle, the cultivators left behind only intact corpses. There were probably far more shattered ones than whole ones. With Qingping Sect suffering such terrible casualties, Heavenly Dao Sect cultivators likely had not suffered few losses either.

"Good thing I didn't choose to join the Demon-Slaying Guard..."

Zhu Yu secretly rejoiced, but then his expression shifted slightly. He thought of Liang Kuan, who had joined the Demon-Slaying Guard. His brows furrowed as he decided he would tell Liang Kuan about this tomorrow and see what choice he made.

No longer dwelling on it, he walked toward an unoccupied area.

Very soon,

He came before a Corpse Seed. After examining it for a few moments, he reached out and touched its forehead, silently reciting:

"Detect and collect Corpse Seed information."

[Target: Corpse Seed]

[Bloodline: None]

[Body Integrity: 81%, Mutation Degree: 35%]

[No spiritual item remains...]

"So high!"

The instant Zhu Yu saw the information, shock surfaced in his eyes.

Only then did he understand why Bai Meng had been so excited, and why those people did not even bother choosing. Whenever they saw an intact Corpse Seed, they immediately claimed it.

With such body integrity and mutation degree, the chance of cultivating it into a Living Corpse was at least sixty percent!

For an instant, Zhu Yu was tempted. But after hesitating, he still gave up. He only had a half-year adaptation period. Picking up a bargain was fine, but cultivating another Corpse Seed would disrupt his later plans.

Shaking his head slightly, he walked toward the next Corpse Seed.

As expected,

The body integrity of nearly every Corpse Seed ranged from sixty-five to eighty-five percent, while their mutation degrees ranged from ten to sixty percent.

He guessed that these Corpse Seeds had probably been at Early Qi Refining to Middle Qi Refining before their deaths.

"Has Qingping Sect reached the end of the road? Even Early Qi Refining cultivators have joined the war..."

Yet Zhu Yu secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

This showed that Qingping Sect was already running out of people and would not be able to keep jumping about for much longer. It would be best if he could cultivate peacefully. Even if war broke out again, it would have to wait until he had cultivated to Qi Refining Perfection and gained some ability to protect himself.

He examined the Corpse Seeds one after another...

The time it took to drink a cup of tea passed.

Zhu Yu stood before a plain-faced Corpse Seed, raised his hand, and touched its glabella. A few breaths later, a stream of information flooded into his mind.

[Target: Corpse Seed]

[Bloodline: None]

[Body Integrity: 87%, Mutation Degree: 69%]

[A Spirit-Transformed Dharma Vein remains within the body...]

The next moment,

A Human Body Heaven and Earth Meridian Diagram appeared in Zhu Yu's mind. At the center of its left palm was a complete Dharma Vein Diagram resembling a winding vine, formed of slender emerald-green veins.

Below the Dharma Vein Diagram, a thin vein extended down to the wrist before abruptly cutting off, as though it had been deliberately severed.

"A complete Dharma Vein Diagram..."

A trace of delight surfaced in Zhu Yu's eyes. He rose to his feet, summoned a servant, took out his Identity Jade Token, and said:

"I'll take him."

"Yes, sir."

The servant respectfully acknowledged the order and took out a jade rod, tapping the jade token with it.

Zhu Yu sent his Divine Sense into the jade token. Seeing that the registered information was the same as for the Fierce Tiger Corpse Seed, he nodded slightly, instructed the servant to carry the Corpse Seed, and continued wandering onward.

After looking all the way through,

He did find Corpse Seeds with Dharma Veins left behind, but with a pearl already before him, and those remaining Dharma Veins being so short, he did not want to waste cultivation slots. He greeted Bai Meng, who was still carefully examining the Corpse Seeds, then turned and left.

After leaving the Corpse Hall,

Zhu Yu called Little Black over and quickly departed the plaza with the Corpse Seed on its back.

By the time he returned to his own Corpse Field,

Six dim, waning moons hung in the gray sky.

In the courtyard,

Zhu Yu removed the Corpse Seed from Little Black's back and laid it flat. He reached out and touched its palm, silently sending a thread of Spiritual Power into it.

At once, specks of emerald spiritual light emerged.