Pu Du Ci Hang

"How did you see through me?"

Zhou Yi looked Li Pan up and down.

He was completely different from the timid, cowardly man he had been before Old Ancestor Tai Yin.

Li Pan was thin, his eyes bright and sharp. "The moment I entered, this poor Daoist noticed something was wrong. Why would the Old Ancestor have a heartbeat?"

"So that was it. An oversight on my part."

Zhou Yi's voice returned to its original form as he smiled. "This poor Daoist is Chixiao. I have long admired the Heavenly Corpse Sect's scriptures and wish to borrow them for a look. You are a clever man, so surely you will not make my trip a disappointment?"

Li Pan snorted coldly. His figure flickered, and in the blink of an eye, he landed outside the door with a Bronze Bell somehow appearing in his hand.

The Heavenly Corpse Sect was famous for refining corpses. Corroded by corpse qi day and night, its disciples became neither human nor ghost, but their bodies were tempered until they rivaled iron zombies.

Though Li Pan had never learned lightness skills, his speed was already among the best in the martial world.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

As the Bronze Bell rang, roars from corpses answered it.

Li Pan shouted, "I do not care who you are. How dare you covet—"

Rip!

A gray-haired head flew several feet into the air.

Li Pan died with his eyes open. He had not even seen how he died.

Zhou Yi sighed. "Such a clever man, yet he became muddleheaded over a matter of life and death."

With a slight shake, the blood vanished from his palm.

Using his palm as a blade, he had executed the Wind Breaking Saber Technique. He had not expected Li Pan's neck to be so tough and had carelessly gotten blood on himself.

"You will not become muddleheaded too, will you?"

Zhou Yi swept his gaze across the remaining Heavenly Corpse Sect disciples. Wherever his eyes passed, they obediently lowered their heads.

"Rest assured. This poor Daoist is not bloodthirsty. Each of you will write out a copy. Get something wrong, and you lose your left hand. Leave something out, and you lose your right hand."

As soon as he finished speaking, the Heavenly Corpse Sect disciples hurriedly searched for paper and brushes, racking their brains to recall the sect's scriptures.

None of them wanted to become crippled, much less die.

The Heavenly Corpse Sect was already among the foremost Daoist sects. Any one of its disciples would be considered an extraordinary figure in the martial world.

Those at the elder level could already be called cultivators seeking immortality and the Dao. They had long grown indifferent to everything else and only wished to live—and live longer.

Fortunately, cultivators possessed powerful memories. So long as no one deliberately altered anything, there would be no mistakes.

An hour later, the last person to submit his work was the Heavenly Corpse Sect's vice sect master, Yang Bai.

The sect master was dead, and Yang Bai had the best chance of taking his place. As long as he served this murderous star well, he could enjoy decades of prestige afterward.

"Not bad! Not bad!"

Zhou Yi flipped through the pages and found that no one dared seek death.

Cultivation Method: Mysterious Yin Qi Refining Method

Rank: First Order

Description: Absorbs Profound Yin Qi to temper the soul and body

Spell: Mysterious Yin Corpse Refining Technique

Rank: First Order

Description: A method of using Profound Yin Qi to catalyze zombies, including methods for refining Iron Corpses, Bronze Corpses, and Silver Corpses.

Aside from these two techniques, there were corpse-controlling incantations, methods for crafting corpse-controlling bells, and several cultivation taboos.

"The Heavenly Corpse Sect has been passed down for centuries, and this is all you have?"

As Zhou Yi spoke, the Dark Gold Flying Sword circled the necks of the Heavenly Corpse Sect disciples.

Yang Bai felt a chill around his neck and explained tremblingly, "Senior Sword Saint, there truly is nothing else. Our patriarch was once a True Inheritance disciple of Maoshan. Later, after falling out with his sect, he established his own school and founded the Heavenly Corpse Sect."

"These two volumes of scriptures were brought from Maoshan by our patriarch. Even in Maoshan, they are among the finest cultivation methods."

Yang Bai had already guessed Zhou Yi's true identity and vaguely understood how Old Ancestor Tai Yin had died.

Zhou Yi snorted, but did not press the matter. Obtaining the Mysterious Yin Qi Refining Method was already an unexpected delight.

A First Order qi-refining method directly made up for his greatest current weakness.

The difference in cultivation speed between having a qi-refining method and not having one was enormous.

The Mysterious Yin Qi Refining Method was an orthodox Daoist method. From the Primordial Chaos Stance to the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture, Zhou Yi's cultivation had always been part of the Daoist lineage, so there was no need for him to switch schools.

"What is going on with the Great Jing Crown Prince? As the future ruler of a nation, why would he choose his teachers from among the Buddhist Sect and Daoism?"

It was not that Zhou Yi looked down on Buddhists or Daoists. In fact, cultivators were no less learned than great Confucian scholars, given their ability to remember everything at a glance.

Eminent Buddhist monks and Daoist perfected beings were all scholars of heavenly knowledge. Let alone teaching the Crown Prince, they could even lecture the emperor on scriptures.

However, whether Great Jing or the dynasties before it, all revered ghosts and gods from afar. The Great Ancestor of Great Jing had even left behind an ancestral decree forbidding Buddhists and Daoists from entering the court.

That was because the people of both teachings put their faith before their country. If monks gained power, they would establish a Buddhist kingdom on earth; if Daoists gained influence, they would devote themselves to creating an immortal Daoist court.

"To be honest with you, Lord Sword Saint, three years ago, the emperor encountered evil spirits while hunting beyond the capital. Fortunately, a Buddhist master, Pu Du Ci Hang, saved him. For some reason, the emperor then appointed Pu Du Ci Hang as Imperial Preceptor."

"After becoming Imperial Preceptor, Pu Du Ci Hang received support from Buddhists across the realm and traveled everywhere preaching scriptures and building temples. With the support of the Great Jing Court, the Buddhist Sect has reached a level of prosperity unseen in a century!"

"Moreover, by cultivating with the Imperial Dynasty's Fortune, Pu Du Ci Hang's progress has been astonishing. He is said to be the person most likely in a thousand years to attain Dao and reach the Primordial Spirit realm."

At the mention of Pu Du Ci Hang, Yang Bai gritted his teeth. The Heavenly Corpse Sect had been branded a wicked and heretical sect by him and had suffered no shortage of suppression over the past two years.

A single claim that corpse refining desecrated one's ancestors had left all Daoist sects unable to refute it.

Old Ancestor Tai Yin had been determined to obtain the position of Grand Tutor for this reason as well. In a few more years, once Pu Du Ci Hang's cultivation reached fruition and he began suppressing the Daoist sects, the Heavenly Corpse Sect would surely be the first target.

"Pu Du Ci Hang... so it was him... the Buddhist Sect..."

Others might not know Pu Du Ci Hang's true background, but how could Zhou Yi not know?

Forget being a leader of the Buddhist Sect—he was nothing more than a demon. There were countless masters within the Buddhist Sect, and several had attained the Arhat Fruit Position.

Zhou Yi did not believe that Pu Du Ci Hang's identity as a demon could have escaped the Buddhist Arhats.

There must be something strange behind this!

Zhou Yi said, "Remember this: from now on, I am Old Ancestor Tai Yin. We will go meet that Pu Du Ci Hang."

Yang Bai and the others exchanged glances. Seeing that everyone feared death, they all bowed together.

"We obey your decree. With the Old Ancestor taking action, victory is certain from the start, and you will surely enjoy the honored position of Grand Tutor!"

"Withdraw."

Zhou Yi suddenly reminded them, "Remember to detoxify Nanshanzi. After all, he brought me to the capital. Even if he has no merit, he has at least labored."

Yang Bai wore a bitter expression as he bowed in agreement.

With a wave of Zhou Yi's hand, the door closed by itself.

I only have 161 points of Origin. I should first raise the Mysterious Yin Corpse Refining Technique. Refining a Silver Corpse will greatly increase my strength.

The Gateway to Myriad Wonders is not in this world. Sixty-two years have passed, yet it has not absorbed spiritual qi and converted it into Origin. But on Blue Star, it is increasing at every moment. Even though I am in this world, is this one of the differences between the True Self and the Other Self?

Zhou Yi could clearly sense that his True Self was not on Blue Star.

When traveling through the myriad worlds, the Gateway to Myriad Wonders had taken his True Self inside it, so he did not need to worry about it being dug up by accident.

Forget it. Once my cultivation becomes powerful enough, I will naturally uncover the origin of the Gateway to Myriad Wonders.

With a thought from Zhou Yi, Origin was consumed to increase his proficiency in the Mysterious Yin Corpse Refining Technique.

10 points of Origin consumed.

Mysterious Yin Corpse Refining Technique (Beginner)

The consumption for a First Order spell was ten times that of a Zero Order spell, equal to the Purple Sun Sword Qi Scripture.

20 points of Origin consumed.

Mysterious Yin Corpse Refining Technique (Minor Mastery)

80 points of Origin consumed.

Mysterious Yin Corpse Refining Technique (Perfect Mastery)

Countless experiences concerning the refining of zombies flooded into Zhou Yi's memories.

In that instant alone, when it came to corpse refining, Zhou Yi was more proficient than even the Heavenly Corpse Sect's patriarch.

Silver Corpses can actually cast spells... Good thing I never gave Tai Yin the chance...