Corpse Dissection

"Who are you? How did you break into the Corpse Dissection Cave?"

Just as Song Wen was looking around the cave, a sudden voice interrupted his observations.

A middle-aged man reeking of blood and stench appeared before Song Wen, a trace of wariness in his eyes. However, upon noticing Song Wen's feeble cultivation, the man did not make any excessive move.

Song Wen cupped his hands and replied, "Reporting to Senior, this disciple is a newly inducted outer sect disciple. I came here to serve as a corpse dissector."

As he spoke, Song Wen did not forget to display the "Corpse Dissection" token in his hand.

The middle-aged man carefully examined the token and quickly confirmed its authenticity, though suspicion still lingered in his expression.

"With cultivation as low as yours, why were you sent to the Corpse Dissection Cave? Could it be that you slept with some Foundation Establishment elder's Dao companion?"

A bitter, awkward smile appeared on Song Wen's face. "Senior, please do not jest. This junior merely..."

Song Wen was about to explain, but before he could finish, the middle-aged man cut him off.

"Enough. Anyone who comes to the Corpse Dissection Cave is a fallen soul in distress, so there is no need to explain the reasons. You need not call me Senior either. I am only an outer sect disciple in Late Qi Refinement. My name is Yuan Cheng. Just call me Senior Brother Yuan."

"I am Extreme Yin. Greetings, Senior Brother Yuan."

Yuan Cheng nodded. "Come with me."

Led by Yuan Cheng, Song Wen arrived at a small cave on the left side of the underground cavern's entrance.

Yuan Cheng entered the small cave, rummaged through the stone table inside, then found a Bone-Slicing Knife and tossed it to Song Wen.

"This is a special sharp weapon the sect provides to corpse dissectors. It is a low-grade magical artifact."

"All the corpses to be dissected today have already been assigned. Do not dissect any corpses today. Go look around the Corpse Dissection Cave and observe how corpses are dissected."

"Tomorrow, between the hours of Chen and Si, come here to collect corpses and officially begin dissecting them."

Song Wen instantly understood. Although Yuan Cheng had not said it outright, the information in his words made it clear that he usually managed the operations of the entire Corpse Dissection Cave.

Yuan Cheng would be his direct superior for the next five years.

"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Brother Yuan. I will certainly heed your teachings. I hope Senior Brother will look after me in the future."

Yuan Cheng waved his hand, signaling that Song Wen could leave.

Song Wen bowed once more before turning and departing.

As he walked, he examined the magical artifact Bone-Slicing Knife in his hand.

Song Wen had not expected the sect to issue magical artifacts to corpse dissectors. Though it was only a low-grade magical artifact, it was perfectly suited to his current cultivation.

Just because Song Wen had received a magical artifact the moment he arrived at the Corpse Dissection Cave did not mean they were easy to obtain. Magical artifacts were actually precious and rare. Even Extreme Yin, who had obtained Huang Shang's belongings, possessed only one magical artifact—a pill furnace—and that pill furnace was likewise merely a low-grade magical artifact.

Huang Shang had spent decades as a Rogue Cultivator in the Cultivation World and had only managed to save up for a low-grade magical artifact pill furnace. That was enough to show how precious magical artifacts were. Of course, though both were low-grade magical artifacts, the pill furnace was more valuable than the Bone-Slicing Knife in Song Wen's hand.

Song Wen had originally expected the dangers within the Corpse Dissection Cave to be nothing more than dense blood qi and a small amount of corpse qi and resentment qi. His physical body could absorb blood qi, while his cultivation art could refine Corpse-Baleful Qi. He should have had powerful resistance to the chaotic, turbid worldly qi within the Corpse Dissection Cave.

The truth was just as he had expected. The instant he stepped into the Corpse Dissection Cave, he sensed his body slowly absorbing the blood qi within, replenishing the deficit in his vital blood caused by a month of cultivating the Corpse King Blood Refinement Art.

This discovery gave Song Wen a surge of excitement. From the current situation, his choice to become a corpse dissector had been the right one.

As Song Wen pondered this, he walked near a corpse dissector.

The corpse dissector held a Bone-Slicing Knife, which flashed up and down over the body of an adult woman.

Under the corpse dissector's Object Manipulation Technique, the adult woman's corpse was reduced to a pile of scattered pieces in only a few minutes.

Even a master butcher dismembering an ox could not have done better.

The entire process flowed like drifting clouds and running water, without the slightest pause, as though he had dismembered countless human bodies and already knew the human body's structure like the back of his hand.

The corpse's flesh and bones were completely separated. Hardly a shred of flesh remained on the woman's bones; they had been picked clean.

The blood within the woman's corpse flowed through the blood grooves in the Dissection Platform and into a blood pool ten zhang wide not far away.

The corpse dissector separately placed the woman's flesh, bones, and internal organs into storage bags.

Watching the corpse dissector's smooth, flowing movements, Song Wen could not help feeling nauseated.

The impact of seeing a corpse dismembered was simply too great. Though he had already prepared himself mentally, when the scene truly unfolded before his eyes, it was still unbearable to watch.

Yet Song Wen forcibly suppressed his discomfort and made himself stare without blinking.

He did not dare show the slightest weakness. Since he had joined the Corpse Demon Sect, cultivated the demonic path, and entered the Corpse Dissection Cave, he could only harden his heart like iron and stone. Otherwise, he would not live long within the Corpse Demon Sect.

Cowardice was the mark of the weak, and the weak deserved to be bullied.

After handling the woman's corpse, the corpse dissector took out another male corpse and prepared to begin another round of dissection.

Using the tip of the Bone-Slicing Knife, the corpse dissector cut from the male corpse's neck all the way down to its ankles.

At once, the clothes on the male corpse were entirely sliced open, yet not the slightest bit of skin had been injured. The sight left Song Wen dumbfounded. This move of the corpse dissector's was truly miraculous.

After stripping away the male corpse's clothes, the corpse dissector began dissecting it bit by bit from the head.

More than half a shichen later, the corpse dissector had finished dissecting all the corpses for the day. After casually tidying the Dissection Platform, he headed toward Yuan Cheng's small cave.

Seeing the corpse dissector walking in his direction, Song Wen hurriedly said respectfully,

"Greetings, Senior Brother. I am a newly inducted disciple. Please look after me in the future."

Song Wen had wanted to make himself familiar to the man, so that if he encountered anything he did not understand while dissecting corpses in the future, he would have someone to ask.

Yet the corpse dissector coldly said, "Move aside!"

The corpse dissector's icy voice jolted Song Wen awake. This was the Corpse Dissection Cave, infamous even within the Corpse Demon Sect. Not every corpse dissector was as easy to speak with as Yuan Cheng.

Song Wen hurriedly stepped aside and watched helplessly as the corpse dissector passed him, went to Yuan Cheng's small cave, and handed over three storage bags containing flesh, bones, and internal organs respectively.

There were more than a hundred Dissection Platforms in the entire Corpse Dissection Cave, but when Song Wen had first entered, only forty-three people had been dissecting corpses. The other Dissection Platforms had all been empty.

While Song Wen had been watching that corpse dissector break down corpses, people had gradually finished their dissections for the day and left the Corpse Dissection Cave.

By this point, only a little over twenty corpse dissectors remained in the Corpse Dissection Cave.