Counting the Spoils, Returning to the Immortal Sect

Xu Yuan stared fixedly at the headless, blood-soaked corpse on the ground. The other man's hysterical words seemed to still echo by his ears. He took a deep breath, and his gaze gradually regained its calm.

A lowly Daoist acolyte with meager strength was not even a flickering lamp in this filthy world. Matters of right and wrong, matters of conviction—none of it was for him to judge. All he could do was seek a clear conscience.

Dragging Zhu Zihua's corpse over from a distance, Xu Yuan began taking stock of his gains from this venture.

The two were dead, so their belongings naturally belonged to him.

First was Zhu Zihua. His storage pouch contained ninety-eight low-grade spirit stones in total, including the fifty low-grade spirit stones Xu Yuan had just used.

Fortunately, there had been something in the man's storage pouch. Otherwise, with only his battered mid-grade Dharma artifact, the outcome of his fight with Nan Yun would still have been anyone's guess.

Aside from the spirit stones, there was naturally that Armored Horse Talisman of his—a mid-grade first-rank talisman that could be used repeatedly. It would serve equally well for fleeing or pursuit.

When they had come to Filial Piety Village, he and the now-sleeping Nan Yun had eaten no small amount of dust behind the other man.

Zhu Zihua had even deliberately slowed the Armored Horse Talisman. Otherwise, even if Xu Yuan had pushed his speed to the limit, he would never have caught sight of the man's back.

Beyond the spirit stones and the Armored Horse Talisman, there was the Kwai Water Heavenly Yin Sword. It was a low-grade Dharma artifact, but its quality was solid. Such artifacts usually sold directly at artifact shops for between one hundred fifty and one hundred sixty low-grade spirit stones, while the buyback price was roughly sixty percent of that.

Apart from those, there was the small half-piece of yin jade Xu Yuan had given her, a bottle of qi-replenishing pills, two bottles of cultivation pills, and a bottle of healing pills. Together, they were probably worth fifty low-grade spirit stones.

"I can see why that bitch was so set on killing you."

His hands trembling as he put everything away, Xu Yuan looked at Zhu Zihua, who had died with his eyes still open, and sighed.

Then he began searching Nan Yun's corpse.

Yet to Xu Yuan's surprise, he searched all through her clothing and turned over her sleeves several times, but found no cloth pouch. Left with no choice, he expanded the scope of his search. Only then did he finally find a small white pouch at the root of her thigh.

"She actually has a storage pouch too."

There was a trace of surprise in his eyes, but after giving it some thought, Xu Yuan quickly found it understandable.

As Nan Yun had said, she was already thirty-eight. It was only normal that she had accumulated some savings.

It was likewise a small space of one-third a cubic yard, yet the things inside were no fewer than Zhu Zihua's—if anything, there were more.

First were the spirit stones: sixty-seven low-grade spirit stones in total. Added to Zhu Zihua's, Xu Yuan had now gathered one of the materials needed for the Five Elements Spirit Nurturing entry.

Next was a book on formation arts. Aside from recording a small concealment formation, the only other thing in it was the illusion formation that had trapped Xu Yuan earlier.

The formation arts book was covered in notes and revisions. Many pages had been worn through and repaired, showing how painstakingly its owner had studied it.

Setting down the formation arts book, Xu Yuan took out another incomplete ancient tome. Its contents held the key to Nan Yun's refinement of the copper corpse.

Take one who was alive and steeped in utmost grief and resentment, feed them a Corpse Transformation Pill refined through countless methods, then compel them to kill their own blood relatives. Feed them ninety-nine human corpses, and the copper corpse would be complete.

"Fortunately, Nan Yun had only completed the initial refinement of the copper corpse and had yet to fully finish it."

As he leafed through the ancient tome, Xu Yuan discovered that the copper corpse was not merely meant for fighting. In fact, combat was its most insignificant use.

Once the copper corpse was fully refined and then devoured the bodies of two living Immortal Dao cultivators, the corpse controller could extract the brain marrow of the mature copper corpse. Such brain marrow was an exceptional spirit treasure. Though it carried a great chance of turning one bloodthirsty and berserk, transforming them into a living corpse, it could also allow one to break through their shackles and aid one's ascent upon the Immortal Dao.

As Xu Yuan examined the ancient tome, a sheet of yellow paper suddenly drifted out from within. He picked it up and found that it recorded some of Nan Yun's thoughts.

"I, Nan Yun, am now thirty-eight. I know that there is no light upon my immortal path. Having encountered this opportunity today, I must give it a try. Even if I die, I will have no regrets. Right and wrong, gratitude and enmity—if I cannot attain the Dao, then in a hundred years I will be no more than a cup of yellow earth. Before immortality, all things are empty..."

Xu Yuan tore up the yellow paper, then glanced through the ancient tome once more. He did not destroy it. Besides corpse refinement, it contained some things concerning cultivation that would benefit him as well.

Apart from those two books, there was Nan Yun's Dharma sword. The storage pouch also contained many varieties of pills—more than ten bottles, large and small—for preserving beauty, replenishing qi, gathering qi for cultivation, and more. Those alone were worth nearly one hundred fifty low-grade spirit stones.

In terms of total value, Nan Yun's wealth truly was not bad. As expected of savings built up over more than a decade.

Hanging the two storage pouches at his waist, Xu Yuan made a rough estimate. Not counting the value of the pouches themselves, if everything before him were converted into spirit stones, even after depreciation it would amount to more than three hundred, nearly four hundred low-grade spirit stones.

If the depreciated value of the storage pouches was included, another three or four hundred low-grade spirit stones would have to be added.

That many spirit stones would have been enough for Xu Yuan to dig in a mine until his mind went numb. Yet now, he had obtained them all in a single night.

They said murder and arson made for a golden belt. This time, he had gotten to wear one himself. Yet remembering the dangers now still sent fear rising in his heart. One slow step, one wrong step, and he would have become food for the copper corpse.

Looking at the two corpses, they too counted as valuable goods. Even if they were left too long and spoiled, taking them back to the blood shops and meat shops of the Hidden Moon Sect would at least fetch a dozen or so low-grade spirit stones.

But Xu Yuan merely shook his head. Then he ignited a spark with spiritual energy and tossed it onto the two bodies.

He still was not accustomed to this so-called Immortal Dao.

Walking back onto the ruins, Xu Yuan came before the copper corpse. The body and head still lay quietly where they had been placed, while the savage expression on its face had not faded in the slightest.

His cloth boots stepped through the black blood on the ground. Using Nan Yun's Dharma sword, Xu Yuan lifted that enormous head. He quietly said, "Forgive me," then split the head open with a single slash. At once, a crystal-like object flew out from within.

Though the copper corpse had not fully matured, it still had some brain marrow.

Carefully putting away that small item, Xu Yuan had finally collected everything.

He threw the copper corpse into the bonfire at the center of the village as well. Holding two iron rods, Xu Yuan moved continuously through the village, finding corpse after corpse.

As he kept tossing the villagers' bodies into the fire pit, the blaze burned ever hotter, crackling and popping as billowing black smoke surged into the sky.

For a time, the stench of burning clothes, charred flesh, dried bone marrow, and corpse grease churned behind Xu Yuan in wave after wave. He tossed the Divine Travel Armored Horse Talisman he had taken from Zhu Zihua onto the ground, then leaped up and mounted the tall paper horse.

The cold night wind rose. Moonlight still hung overhead, but the paper horse had changed owners. Three had descended the mountain together, yet only a lone shadow returned.

"Off we go!"

With a flick of the reins, Xu Yuan did not look back. A gust of yin wind wrapped around the paper horse beneath him, and in the blink of an eye, it vanished into Soul-Severing Forest.

The next morning, at the foot of the Dark Mountain Range, Xu Yuan led the paper horse onto the road up the mountain.