Refining the Living into Corpses
Song Wen turned and left, a barely perceptible glint in his eyes.
Just now, he sensed a trace of corpse energy from the rat-eyed man.
Only corpse cultivators, Corpse Puppet, or dead corpses possess the aura of corpses.
The rat-eyed man was breathing normally and his heart was beating strongly; he was definitely not a corpse.
Furthermore, the rat-eyed man's Dantian has been destroyed. Without a rare treasure to repair Dantian, it's impossible for him to cultivate again. That leaves only one possibility...
Zombies?
The rat-eyed man's body was not inhaled and refined by his own conscious effort; rather, it was forcibly infused with corpse energy.
A cold smile curled at the corner of Song Wen's lips. The righteous territory was much more interesting than he had imagined.
Although Zhao Dapeng was only a steward of the outer sect of the Beast Taming Sect, he was in charge of an alley in the market, which brought him quite a bit of extra income.
With powerful backers and abundant Spirit Stone, why would he risk cultivating demonic techniques in the marketplace? What is his true purpose?
Song Wen pushed open the gate of courtyard number thirty-six. The courtyard was a bit messy. When Sun Daxiong left, he didn't take many of his personal belongings with him and just threw them haphazardly in the Small Courtyard.
After tidying up the Small Courtyard to a barely acceptable standard, Song Wen didn't bother with it anymore, since he didn't live there anyway.
Upon entering the kitchen, we moved the water vat aside, revealing a large, blue stone slab about ten feet long.
In a few quick movements, the ten-foot-long stone slab was pried open, revealing brown soil.
A shovel appeared in Song Wen's hand, and he began to dig in the soil, storing the excavated soil into his storage ring.
He had previously dug an underground chamber in the opposite yard, so he was already very familiar with the process.
In less than an hour, Song Wen dug out a secret chamber, 20 meters long and 10 meters wide, five meters underground.
Before returning to the market, Song Wen originally planned to set up the <Nine-Palace Yin-Transforming Formation> and the <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation> in the secret room of the opposite Small Courtyard. With the concealment effect of the two arrays, he should be able to hide from the Divine Sense detection of Golden Core cultivators.
Song Wen planned to cultivate some Cultivation Method techniques that could not be easily revealed to others, and he would do so in the underground secret chamber.
As for demonic Cultivation Method, Song Wen will not practice them for the time being. Cultivating the <Corpse King Blood Refinement Art> requires a large amount of Corpse-Baleful Qi or Yin Baleful Dew, which is very difficult to obtain in East Birch Market. Only a small amount can be bought in the Mountain Ravine Ghost Market, but for Song Wen, it is somewhat of a drop in the ocean.
Before leaving the Corpse Demon Sect, Song Wen had stockpiled a considerable amount of Corpse-Baleful Qi and Yin Baleful Dew. He also obtained a significant amount of Yin Baleful Dew after killing Wu Ren, but it was a limited resource that would diminish with each use. Song Wen did not intend to use it for the time being, in preparation for unforeseen circumstances.
To his surprise, Zhao Dapeng had rented out the Small Courtyard across the street a second time.
The <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation> must be retrieved; Ji Ruxue must not be allowed to discover the corpse beast within the array.
For the next few days, Song Wen stayed indoors, Alchemy and practicing the Longevity Art.
At the same time, a Black Armor Gu was dispatched to keep a close watch on Ji Ruxue's movements across the street, waiting for her to leave the courtyard before retrieving the <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation>.
This wait lasted four days.
Late that night, Ji Ruxue, dressed in a black outfit and with her head and face covered, left the courtyard.
Worried that Ji Ruxue might suddenly turn back halfway, Song Wen sent out a Black Armor Gu to follow her at a distance.
He then slipped into the Small Courtyard across the street.
Song Wen released his Divine Sense and slowly walked towards the kitchen. The entrance to this secret room was also under the water tank in the kitchen.
Just as he reached the kitchen door and was about to push it open, Song Wen Divine Sense sensed that a thin, transparent thread was tied to the door.
These transparent threads are extremely tough and sharp. If an ordinary Qi Refinement cultivator were to come and not notice the threads, and instead rush into the kitchen, they would likely be cut in half by the threads.
"It seems that Ji Ruxue is no ordinary person."
Although Song Wen couldn't identify what kind of treasure the transparent thread was, he was certain that it was no ordinary object.
Carefully avoiding the thin thread, Song Wen entered the kitchen.
The kitchen was very tidy, but there was a thin layer of dust on the stove, giving the impression that no one had been in there for a long time.
There wasn't a single thing in the kitchen needed for cooking: firewood, rice, oil, salt, bowls, and plates.
In other words, no one has cooked in the kitchen for a long time, and Ji Ruxue has no intention of cooking.
It's a bit strange that Ji Ruxue, who only has Qi Refining Stage cultivation, doesn't plan to cook.
Song Wen moved the water vat aside, pried up the bluestone, and revealed the entrance to the secret chamber.
Upon entering the secret chamber, the <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation> was intact, with a wolf demon corpse lying listlessly within the array.
The wolf demon corpse beast has been placed in the formation for several months, and its Corpse-Baleful Qi has not been replenished and is almost exhausted.
Song Wen used the Formation Plate to control the array, opened a corner of the array, and slipped inside.
He took out a low-grade magic Law Artifact, the Corpse-Nurturing Coffin, put away the wolf demon corpse beast, and then retracted the <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation>.
Song Wen retreated to the entrance of the secret chamber, took out a storage ring from his pocket, and with a thought, a large amount of soil sprayed out of the storage ring, quickly filling the secret chamber.
After restoring the kitchen to its original state, Song Wen slipped out of the Small Courtyard and headed towards courtyard number thirty-six.
At this moment, the Black Armor Gu was monitoring Ji Ruxue sent back a message.
Ji Ruxue suddenly accelerated, breaking through the speed limit of Qi Refinement cultivator, and disappeared without a trace.
The Black Armor Gu only Qi Refining Ninth Layer of Qi Refining, making it impossible for it to keep up with Ji Ruxue, whose speed is comparable to that of Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Song Wen was astonished. Ji Ruoxue had actually concealed her cultivation level; she was at least a Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Even with his Divine Sense comparable to the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, he couldn't detect her hidden cultivation level. Either her cultivation level was above the Foundation Establishment Late Stage, or she possessed a treasure that could alter her aura and shield her from his Divine Sense's detection.
Song Wen couldn't help but feel somewhat fortunate. Luckily, he hadn't chosen to force his way into the opposite Small Courtyard when the other party was home; otherwise, his identity as a corpse cultivator might have been exposed. After all, without using corpse cultivation techniques, it would be difficult for him to defeat a Foundation Establishment Realm sword cultivator.
Upon entering the underground secret chamber of courtyard number thirty-six, Song set up the <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation>, and then set up the <Nine-Palace Yin-Transforming Formation> around it. With these two arrays, at least Golden Core cultivator would not be able to detect the anomaly in the secret chamber.
Song Wen took out three storage rings and one Storage Bag and began to check the belongings of Lei Hong and the other three.
First is Lei Hong's storage ring.
As the acting patriarch of the Lei Clan, Lei Hong had a lot of Spirit Stone in his storage ring, totaling more than 80,000 Spirit Stone. When Song Wen killed Wu Ren, he only obtained seven Superior Spirit Stones, more than a hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stone, and several thousand low-grade spirit Spirit Stone from Wu Ren's storage ring, totaling more than 80,000 low-grade Spirit Stone.
Of course, the value of the other items in Wu Ren's storage ring was far greater than that of Lei Hong. The Funeral Banner alone, a Law Treasure, was worth at least hundreds of thousands of Spirit Stones.
The rest consisted of some pills, spiritual herbs, a few Jade Slip, and a flying sword.
The flying sword is a high-grade Spirit Artifact. Song Wen only has the cultivation of the Foundation Establishment Early Stage, so he cannot use it for the time being. He will have to wait until the Foundation Establishment Late Stage to unleash some of its power.
Among the Jade Slip, one in Jade Slip delighted Song Wen.
The Jade Slip is titled "Thunder Scripture," and it records various Thunder Method, including Palm Thunder, Five-Thunder Technique, Thunder Spear Technique, Thunder Shield Technique, and so on, totaling twelve Thunder Method.
There are also the first two divine thunderbolts among the Nine Great Heavenly Thunder Secret Arts of the Lei Clan, namely the North Pole Divine Thunder and the Great Cavern Divine Thunder.
The Thunder Scripture that Song Wen obtained was clearly not the complete version, but it already satisfied Song Wen quite a bit.