Path-Protection Technique

Path-Protection Technique

Two and a half years passed in a flash.

Inside the Outer Sect Scripture Repository, Xiao Liang had gradually grown into his features. His face had become more handsome, and his black-and-white mottled hair was tied up with a sword-shaped hairpin.

It did not look particularly strange, since it was a side effect of cultivating the Blood Nightmare Technique and was commonplace in the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern.

At that moment, Xiao Liang respectfully held out a jade slip.

An Outer Sect elder with white hair and beard reached out with a pair of bony, eagle-claw-like hands, took the jade slip, and casually glanced at it.

Then he let out a strange laugh. "You little devil brat have some ambition. Do you really think the Bound Spirit Zombie recorded in this jade slip is something you can covet?"

"When this disciple was in the mortal kingdoms, my aptitude for martial arts was already abysmally poor, much less sword techniques or saber arts for cultivators. I doubt I can learn those, so I boldly wished to try this Spirit Zombie method. At least it would give me another means of protection!"

Xiao Liang remained perfectly composed as he gave a half-true, half-false explanation with a bitter smile.

"According to sect rules, once you reach the Third Level of Qi Refining, you may choose any one Qi Refining Stage spell. Are you certain you wish to choose this Spirit Zombie Refining Technique?"

"This disciple is certain!"

The Outer Sect elder looked at him mockingly. It was impossible to tell whether he believed Xiao Liang or not, but he did not waste any more words after hearing the affirmative answer.

A wisp of spiritual light flashed from his fingertip, and with a wave of his hand, he removed the magical restriction on the jade slip.

Then the Outer Sect elder casually tossed it to Xiao Liang, leaving him scrambling to catch it.

"Then hurry up and leave. Do not disturb this old man's sleep. Especially do not come begging me to change your spell in a few days, understand?"

Seeing the Outer Sect elder's expression as though he were waiting for a joke, Xiao Liang felt rather helpless. He had not wanted to attract so much attention.

However, this was not a major matter. To outsiders, he was merely another ignorant little fellow trying to cultivate an advanced spell.

Most demonic cultivators were cold and indifferent by nature. Other than people like this Outer Sect elder, who had a twisted sense of humor and waited to watch others make fools of themselves, no one would care about a minor cultivator at the Third Level of Qi Refining.

After Xiao Liang respectfully saluted, tucked the jade slip close to his body, and walked some distance away,

the Outer Sect elder, who had been reclining in his chair with his eyes closed, finally lifted his eyelids slightly and said with disdain,

"Quite a few powerful Outer Sect disciples have set their sights on this thing, but without Spirit Stones flowing like water and profound magical power, you can at most obtain a zombie only slightly stronger than a walking corpse. Tsk, tsk, another idiot throwing himself into the mines!"

Meanwhile, Xiao Liang cautiously returned to his stone chamber near Little Ghost Hall and carefully began studying the jade slip he had just acquired.

"The refinement of a Bound Spirit Zombie requires at least one hundred corpses as materials, with no upper limit. The more materials used, the better the result."

"After preparing the materials, use spirit pills as a catalyst to activate their spiritual energy. Then use a corpse-driving method to control them, making them slaughter and fight one another. Select the strongest corpse with combat instincts, then use essence blood as the medium to imprint it with both spiritual and magical power seals!"

"As the period of nurturing gradually increases, this contract will become unbreakable!"

"A zombie refined in this manner not only possesses immense potential and combat strength far beyond ordinary walking corpses, but it will not turn on its master. Once it reaches a certain level of cultivation, it can even provide feedback to its master."

"Other than the nightmare-level difficulty of refinement, this is practically the perfect Path-Protection Technique!"

Xiao Liang put down the jade slip and pondered for a moment. He now understood why the Outer Sect elder had thought so little of him.

First of all, the enormous number of corpse materials required to refine a Bound Spirit Zombie was not something an ordinary cultivator could afford.

In the Demon Sect, corpses, even those of mortals, were important cultivation resources.

No Spirit Stones, and you wanted to sneak into the mass graves near the Ten Thousand Demon Cavern to dig up a few decent corpses and refine them into zombies?

You were dreaming!

Those corpses tainted by yin energy all had owners.

Within three days, law enforcement cultivators would catch you, and your fate would be miserable.

Even if you went farther afield and luckily obtained corpse materials, you would still need to prepare pills to activate their spiritual energy, as well as techniques to control the corpses and make them slaughter one another.

Techniques and pills could be acquired if one gritted one's teeth, but the crucial step was controlling the corpses in battle—controlling at least a hundred corpses at the same time!

That was enough to drain even a Late Qi Refining cultivator dry. It was a massive undertaking that one person could hardly accomplish alone.

If Xiao Liang truly had to rely on his meager Third Level of Qi Refining magical power to slowly grind through it, the difficulty would be no less than asking an ordinary mortal to dig through an entire mountain!

Logically speaking, anyone with half a brain would give up on refining Spirit Zombies after seeing this part of the jade slip and instead cultivate some other spell.

But Xiao Liang refused to do so.

He was even happier, a nearly crazed curve appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"My three whole days wandering the Outer Sect Scripture Repository were not wasted. If my guess is right, this Spirit Zombie Refining Technique was practically tailor-made for that Resident Evil World!"

The Resident Evil World!

It was a fictional work from Blue Star in Xiao Liang's previous life, telling of a world where a biochemical virus leak ultimately led to a zombie apocalypse.

Perhaps because Xiao Liang was a transmigrator, after he officially stepped into the First Level of Qi Refining two years ago, he awakened an extraordinary ability.

He could travel to other worlds for a short time and return instantly!

This ability could even be called that of a Heavenswalker!

Unfortunately, according to Xiao Liang's experiments, he could only enter apocalyptic worlds filled with death and despair.

A danger capable of destroying an entire world was naturally a fatal threat to a Qi Refining Stage cultivator.

Thus, over the past two years, aside from necessary explorations, Xiao Liang had almost never stayed in those apocalyptic worlds for more than a minute.

Even so, Xiao Liang had encountered danger several times and narrowly escaped death. Fortunately, he could return instantly, and after returning, no strange viruses or curses could affect him.

That was why Xiao Liang had avoided trouble.

After all, they were separated by endless worlds. If not for Xiao Liang's ability to travel through apocalypses, the Sky Mist Continent would never have had any connection with those worlds.

After constant experimentation, Xiao Liang finally found an apocalyptic world that was relatively safe for him.

That world was generally similar to Blue Star from his previous life. Perhaps it was a parallel world of Blue Star or something of the sort. In any case, an unknown virus eventually leaked, mutated, infected humanity across the globe, and ultimately destroyed the world.

After dying, those infected by the virus would automatically revive and, under its control, wander aimlessly in search of flesh and blood.

The resemblance was simply too strong, which was why Xiao Liang called it the Resident Evil World.

"The two most difficult problems in refining Spirit Zombies—corpse materials and controlling corpses in battle—seem not to exist in the Resident Evil World."

"The corpses there gather into seas and are impossible to exhaust. There is no need to spend magical power controlling them either; they will slaughter one another on their own. I only need to prepare pills to activate spiritual energy and enough blood food!"

"I can get the pills from Senior Sister Xie, but if I want to refine Spirit Zombies, I definitely cannot return the moment there is any disturbance as I did before. It would be best if I could borrow a magical artifact for protection, even a pseudo-artifact."

After thinking it over, Xiao Liang counted the few Spirit Stones he had left, then carefully picked up a bamboo box from the corner of his stone chamber. It rattled with clinking sounds, though it was unclear what was inside.

Half an hour later, Xiao Liang arrived at a mountaintop platform in the Outer Sect. He found a corner and waited silently.

Many disciples set up stalls here during breaks from cultivation, either to earn Spirit Stones or exchange goods.

The place was quite popular among Outer Sect disciples and probationary disciples, so Xiao Liang, dressed in a gray robe, was utterly unremarkable among them.

After a while, a rather tall female disciple appeared, wearing the black robe that represented an Outer Sect member.

Xiao Liang's eyes immediately lit up.

This woman was named Xie Ling'er. Back then, she had accepted a sect mission to teach the new disciples of Little Ghost Hall, so she and Xiao Liang had met once. Later, due to a few twists of fate, they had developed some acquaintance.

He had heard that Xie Ling'er joined Elixir Hall last year and was now an alchemy apprentice. The gap between her status and Xiao Liang's had widened.

Without any unexpected developments, their shallow friendship would gradually fade away with time.

However, she possessed something Xiao Liang wanted, and he did not mind showing her a little of his value.

Seeing that she had arrived as promised, Xiao Liang quickly called out, lifted the bamboo box in his hands, and shouted, "Senior Sister Xie, over here! I brought the thing you wanted!"

(End of Chapter)