That day.
Song Wen arrived at the Corpse Dissection Cave as usual.
The moment he entered Yuan Cheng's cave, before he could speak, Yuan Cheng beat him to it.
"Extreme Yin, there is a batch of special corpses that needs handling. Today, use Dissection Platform No. 8 to process them."
A corpse dissector's platform was generally fixed.
For instance, the platform Song Wen used had always been No. 73.
All the dissection platforms had drainage channels that led the blood from the corpses into the great blood pool in the central area of the Corpse Dissection Cave.
Platforms No. 1 through No. 9, however, were different. Each of those nine platforms had its own independent blood pool, and the blood from the corpses was collected separately.
Hearing Yuan Cheng's words, Song Wen's heart skipped a beat.
Could they be special corpses like that old woman again?
Although nothing unexpected had happened during the last dissection of the old woman's corpse, upon thinking it over afterward, Song Wen had come to understand.
The old woman had clearly been a powerful Gu master, one who raised Gu within her own body. Her corpse might have concealed all manner of bizarre and powerful Gu Worms. Whenever Song Wen recalled the process of dissecting her corpse, he could not help feeling a lingering dread, along with relief at having escaped unscathed.
Perhaps seeing Song Wen's hesitation, Yuan Cheng spoke directly before Song Wen could say anything.
"Junior Brother, there is no need to worry. They are merely the corpses of mortal children. There will be no danger.
"However, these corpses are somewhat special. When dissecting them, you must give it your all and make sure everything is done to perfection."
Song Wen glanced at Yuan Cheng, and more than half the unease in his heart faded. He cupped his hands and replied, "As you command, Senior Brother."
This time, Yuan Cheng directly handed him four storage bags and a jade bottle.
One of the four storage bags contained the corpses, while the other three were meant to hold the separated skin and flesh, internal organs, and bones.
The jade bottle was for collecting blood.
Song Wen stood before Dissection Platform No. 8 and sent his spiritual sense into the storage bag. Just as Yuan Cheng had said—
There were a full hundred mortal corpses inside. What Yuan Cheng had not made clear was that they were all the corpses of children under five years old. Several were even newborn infants.
Looking at the children's corpses, even Song Wen, who had long grown accustomed to dissecting corpses, felt nauseated.
The cruelty of Devil Dao cultivators truly surpassed anything ordinary people could imagine.
Song Wen knew that these hundred children must have possessed special birth dates and eight characters. Their bodies had been born with certain unusual powers, and Devil Dao cultivators often used them for cultivation, corpse refinement, or the refining of ghostly entities.
However, Song Wen knew that none of this had anything to do with him. He only needed to dissect the corpses.
Only by being cold and heartless could one survive in the Corpse Demon Sect, in this cruel world of cultivation.
Song Wen had no lofty ambitions or grand ideals. He only wanted to live.
Song Wen casually took out a corpse and placed it upon the dissection platform.
It was a female corpse, judging by her height, about four years old. After steadying his mind, Song Wen raised his knife and brought it down, beginning the dissection.
Since all the corpses were those of children, Song Wen worked quickly. There were only a hundred of them, and he finished dissecting every corpse in just over two hours.
This was the first time in half a year since entering the Corpse Dissection Cave that Song Wen had not been the last to finish.
Carrying the four storage bags and jade bottle, he went to Yuan Cheng's cave.
Before he even stepped inside, he saw a gloomy-faced young man dressed in embroidered finery sitting on the cave's only chair.
That chair had originally belonged to Yuan Cheng, yet Yuan Cheng was now standing properly beside the young man, looking every bit like a loyal subordinate.
Upon seeing Song Wen enter, Yuan Cheng hurriedly asked.
"Extreme Yin, have you finished dissecting all the corpses?"
Although Song Wen did not know the identity of the richly dressed young man, he knew the other party's background must be extraordinary. He first respectfully cupped his hands toward the young man, then saluted Yuan Cheng and said.
"Reporting to Senior Brother Yuan, the dissections are complete."
As he spoke, Song Wen casually waved a hand. Supported by his spiritual power, the storage bags and jade bottle floated through the air toward Yuan Cheng.
Yuan Cheng did not reach out for the four storage bags and jade bottle. Instead, the richly dressed young man took them first.
He first inspected the blood in the jade bottle, then examined the storage bags one by one. A brief hint of satisfaction appeared on his gloomy face.
The richly dressed young man nodded and said to Song Wen.
"Your cultivation is not impressive, but your corpse dissection work is quite good."
Song Wen did not know the young man's identity or how to address him, so he could only bow and say.
"Thank you for your generous praise, Senior."
At that moment, Yuan Cheng took over and introduced him to Song Wen.
"Extreme Yin, this is Senior Brother Wu Sui, a personal disciple of Yin Fiend Hall. Senior Brother Wu Sui's master is Elder Wu Ren, the hall master of Yin Fiend Hall."
A personal disciple of Yin Fiend Hall!
Wu Sui!
The hall master of Yin Fiend Hall was named Wu Ren!
This fellow is probably a second-generation cultivator, isn't he?
Though that was what Song Wen thought, his expression became somewhat frightened, yet also somewhat delighted, as if meeting Wu Sui were an enormous honor.
Song Wen bent even lower, his voice carrying a trace of excitement as he said.
"Outer sect disciple Extreme Yin greets Senior Brother Wu Sui."
Wu Sui nodded in satisfaction at Song Wen's reaction and said.
"You are a little fellow with some sense, after all. If you can advance to Late Qi Refinement within six years of entering the sect, you may come to Yin Fiend Hall and find me."
After saying that, Wu Sui's figure transformed into a series of afterimages and vanished from the cave.
Once Wu Sui had left, Yuan Cheng gave Song Wen an envious look.
"Junior Brother Extreme Yin, I never expected that after meeting Senior Brother Wu Sui only once, you would earn his favor. You truly have good fortune."
Song Wen put on a belatedly enlightened expression and asked in confusion.
"May I ask, Senior Brother Yuan Cheng, does Senior Brother Wu Sui possess some other mysterious identity besides being a personal disciple?"
In the cultivation world, the status of a personal disciple might be noble, but in a demonic sect, it was another matter entirely.
Masters used blood sacrifices on their disciples, used disciples to cultivate or refine corpses; treated disciples as furnaces to harvest yin and replenish yang—of course, there was also harvesting yang to replenish yin; there were even cases of seizing a disciple's body...
In any case, in Devil Dao Sects, masters scheming against their disciples was commonplace.
Therefore, being a personal disciple in the Devil Dao was not necessarily a good thing.
In the end, the cultivation world still revered strength above all else. No matter how noble a personal disciple's status might be, they were still merely a Qi Refinement cultivator, not truly an expert.
Once ordinary disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect advanced to the Foundation Establishment Realm, their status would automatically rise to elder. Personal disciples, on the other hand, would be called demon sons or demon maidens.
Yuan Cheng said with a hint of envy.
"Senior Brother Wu Sui is the biological grandson of Wu Ren, the hall master of Yin Fiend Hall. Moreover, his aptitude is exceptional. It is said that he possesses a seventh-grade superior Spiritual Root. Senior Brother Wu Sui is only sixteen years old, yet he is already at the Qi Refining Seventh Layer. In just a few years, he will likely succeed in Foundation Establishment."
Yuan Cheng's expression became somewhat complicated.
Foundation Establishment was his greatest hope. Yet because he had no backing, despite having reached the Qi Refining Ninth Layer years ago and being only a single step away from the Qi Refinement Peak, he had no choice but to stand guard in this hellish place, the Corpse Dissection Cave, in exchange for sect contributions. He hoped that one day, he could obtain a precious Foundation Establishment Pill from the sect.
As he watched himself grow older, with fewer and fewer years left before reaching sixty, Yuan Cheng's heart grew increasingly urgent.
In truth, Foundation Establishment Pills could also be found outside the major sects. Every few years, a small number would appear in the major cultivator markets.
However, most of those Foundation Establishment Pills were exorbitantly expensive. Yuan Cheng's aptitude was not particularly good, and in order to reach the Qi Refinement Peak as quickly as possible, he was nearly living beyond his means. He simply could not afford a Foundation Establishment Pill.
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