Next Life, Cultivate Demonic Arts!

Mysterious Yin Corpse Refining Technique.

It recorded the Five Elements Spirit Corpses, yet lacked the corresponding refining method.

The Five Elements Spirit Corpses were born by absorbing the Five Elements Sha Qi.

Individually, they were slightly stronger than Bronze Corpses but far weaker than Silver Corpses, yet they were born with the Five Elements Escape Technique.

All things under heaven could not escape the Five Elements. When the Five Elements Spirit Corpses gathered, nothing could not be escaped—they already possessed a trace of profound supernatural power.

Hold a heart of fierce and valiant progress, yet act with caution and care!

The escape technique of the Five Elements Spirit Corpses was profound. Even if they ultimately could not defeat Pu Du Ci Hang, the world was still wide enough to roam freely.

That day, Zhou Yi was inspecting the Five Elements Corpse Nurturing Ground when a disciple of the Heavenly Corpse Sect came to report with a joyful expression.

"Old Ancestor, that stubborn monk Ku Bu has finally opened his mouth."

Zhou Yi controlled the inherited Silver Corpse of the Heavenly Corpse Sect and bore the name of Old Ancestor Tai Yin, earning him enmity with the high masters of the Buddha Dao.

The cultivators of the Heavenly Corpse Sect had no choice but to submit. If the Buddha Dao masters could not deal with Zhou Yi, would they spare the Heavenly Corpse Sect, now without the protection of its Old Ancestor?

"Has Eunuch Chu finally made his move?"

"The Old Ancestor's calculations are divine! With a scroll of the Yang Revival Secret Method, how could Eunuch Chu refuse?"

"In truth, if Chu Xiu had refused, This Seat would have been pleased instead..."

Zhou Yi let out a disappointed sigh, rose into the air, and flew straight toward the Heavenly Prison.

The disciple scratched his head, unable to understand the thoughts of the great figure, and continued hauling bricks and refining corpses.

Heavenly Prison.

It was established at the founding of Great Jing.

It had once held countless great villains and heinous criminals. It was said that the Guardian Grandmaster of the previous dynasty had died here.

Another evil True Person, after being captured, had his cultivation crippled and died of old age in this prison.

The Heavenly Prison lived up to its name—at least two Innate Grandmasters had died here.

Ku Bu Luohan would be the third, and the first Buddhist Luohan.

Heavenly Prison Cell No. 1.

Five pale-gold chains, as thick as a man's wrist, forged from Essence Gold, pierced through Ku Bu Luohan's heart, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys.

The chains were fused directly into the cell, which was itself cast from metal and buried several zhang underground.

The Essence Gold Chains were inscribed with prohibitions. Under the triple suppression of flesh, True Essence, and soul, even the Arhat Golden Body, though capable of moving mountains, could not exert a fraction of its strength.

Moreover, a Silver Corpse stood guard. Even if he broke free of the prohibitions, he would still be suppressed.

In just ten days, three waves of interrogators had come to question Ku Bu Luohan.

First, the disciples of the Heavenly Corpse Sect interrogated him, but no matter how they racked their brains to torture him, they could not make him speak.

Then, the foremost interrogation official of Great Jing was summoned. He pierced acupoints and severed meridians, but Ku Bu Luohan bore it all with equanimity.

After that came the newly appointed Imperial Guard Directorate Commander, Eunuch Chu.

Eunuch Chu was skilled in torture, inheriting the secret interrogation methods of the inner palace, and was himself an Innate Grandmaster.

At first, Chu Xiu sternly refused—partly because he did not wish to offend the Buddhist Sect, and partly because Li Yu's stance toward Zhou Yi remained unclear.

However, the Yang Revival Secret Method that Zhou Yi had discovered in the imperial archives finally convinced Chu Xiu to act.

In one day, Ku Bu Luohan spoke. He wanted to see Zhou Yi.

When Zhou Yi saw Ku Bu Luohan again, he almost failed to recognize him—so wretched was his state.

The punishment of branding was nothing compared to this. Flaying and drawing sinews were ordinary. If the Arhat Golden Body were not still of great use, only his soul would likely remain.

"I ask you—what exactly is the relationship between Pu Du Ci Hang and the Buddhist Sect?"

Ku Bu Luohan raised his head, his bare bones exposed. When he opened his mouth, wind whistled through the gaps, and only a few teeth remained.

"It was originally a spirit beast raised by Puzhao Temple..."

"So it is indeed connected to your Buddhist Sect."

Zhou Yi snorted coldly: "Since it was a spirit beast, without the shackles of Lifespan, it should have cultivated in quietude, seeking the Immortal Dao. Why did it commit demonic acts, attempting to devour the dragon qi of the dynasty?"

Spirit beasts belonged to the Demon Race, yet they differed from beast demons and demonic beasts.

One type was bloodline spirit beasts, born noble, such as dragons, phoenixes, and Kirin.

The other type was like Pu Du Ci Hang—raised by human cultivators, differing from human cultivators only in form.

Spirit beasts had long lifespans. As guardian beasts of a sect, they could at least protect the sect from decline for several hundred years.

"Hehehe!"

Ku Bu Luohan let out a sinister laugh, no longer resembling a Buddhist high monk: "Of course Pu Du Ci Hang did not want this. But an old undying of the Buddhist Sect was nearing his end and urgently needed to extend his life."

"The Buddhist Sect has a method to condense the Eightfold Heavenly Dragon Qi to extend life. Did they expect a Buddhist high monk to sacrifice himself? Of the six spirit beasts under the Buddhist Sect in the world, Pu Du Ci Hang was merely unlucky to be chosen!"

Ku Bu kept going on about how the Buddhist Sect did this or that, calling the sect's old ancestor an undying geezer—he'd clearly stopped seeing himself as a Buddhist cultivator.

"Really now?"

Zhou Yi frowned. "I thought the Buddhist Sect was colluding with demons to expand their power, but this is even filthier than I imagined."

"That lifespan-extending undying bastard—who is he? Driving spirit beasts to devour Dragon Qi and wreak havoc on the world, just to live a few more years—he deserves to die!"

Ku Bu Luohan fell silent for a moment. This man was a great secret of the Buddhist Sect, a figure who suppressed their fate. Otherwise, several Buddhist Arhats wouldn't have supported devouring the dynasty's Dragon Qi to extend their lives.

A dynasty's Dragon Qi contained the power of all living beings' wishes. Cultivators steered clear of it, not daring to touch even a trace.

One misstep, and heaven's wrath and men's resentment would strike them dead with five thunderbolts.

The Eight Divisions Heavenly Dragon Secret Method could purify through an intermediary, reducing ninety percent of the Dragon Qi's backlash, but it was still extremely dangerous.

Zhou Yi said, "Master Ku Bu, who is it? I promise you, I won't refine your corpse."

"You'd give that up? This shell of mine—I won't say it could become a Gold Corpse, but as a Silver Corpse, it'd be far stronger than Kongxing!"

The Heavenly Corpse Sect's legacy of Silver Corpses came from stealing Kongxing Arhat's Arhat Golden Body remains for refinement—that was the root cause of the Buddhist Sect's constant targeting of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

Kongxing Arhat had died of natural lifespan exhaustion, and the Golden Body he left behind was no longer at its peak.

"I'd give it up. I swear by my Dao heart that I won't refine your undying corpse into a zombie."

Ku Bu Luohan sighed. "That man is my grandmaster, Zen Master Fahong!"

"Fahong..."

Zhou Yi's face changed, disbelief in his voice. "How could it be him? He lived over two hundred years ago—he's long past his lifespan limit!"

"You're still too young, and you're not from a sect. In both the Dao and Buddhist paths, there are always one or two undying geezers who use secret methods to seal their blood and extend their lives."

Ku Bu Luohan said, "They only act to turn the tide when their lineage is on the verge of extinction. Zen Master Fahong has lived two hundred and seventy-three years! But compared to the one hiding on Qingcheng Mountain, he's at least fifty years younger!"

"There are people like that? What's their cultivation level—can they condense a Primordial Spirit?"

Zhou Yi had read True Person Taiyuan's explanation of cultivation realms from Kunlun's Rogue Cultivator: after Qi Induction into Body came Qi Refinement into Spirit Transformation.

What was Spirit Transformation? It was when Qi merged with the spirit, and Qi returned to the spirit—that was called the Primordial Spirit.

"Hehehe! You actually know about the Primordial Spirit. The Dao path calls it the Primordial Spirit; the Buddhist Sect calls it Attaining Buddhahood."

Ku Bu Luohan said, "Don't talk about now—even a thousand years ago, no one in the world had attained the Primordial Spirit."

"To condense a Primordial Spirit, you have to cross the Minor Four-Nine Heavenly Tribulation. The last recorded tribulation descended one thousand five hundred years ago. True Person Ziyang of the Dao path, a man of unparalleled learning, attained the Primordial Spirit and enjoyed a thousand years of life!"

Zhou Yi's doubts vanished, and he now understood the Buddhist and Dao sects' foundations—they were only at the peak of Qi Induction into Body.

He couldn't win in a direct fight, but once the Five Elements Spirit Corpses were complete, escaping would be no problem.

With two hundred years of Qi Refining, his True Essence was as vast as an ocean. Crushing everything with overwhelming Mana was beyond any technique's ability to counter.

"I respectfully invite Master Ku Bu to ascend to paradise, return through reincarnation, and re-enter the path of cultivation!"

Ku Bu Luohan revealed a terrifying smile.

"Next life, this seat cultivates the demonic path!"