Desire Corpse

Biodata

Power Progression

Appearance

Desire Corpse was reputed to be decrepit with age, but his possessed body could appear as a young Daoist with an incongruously aged voice 92.

• Human guise: A youthful appearance and apparently Ninth Grade presence, despite retaining Seventh Grade abilities 92.
• True corpse form: A ten-foot-tall, pitch-black body with a blue face, protruding fangs, and two holes in place of external ears 92.
• Claws: Ten sharp, black-glinting fingertips surrounded by wisps of black Qi 92.
• After Heavy Water City: Reconstituted himself after severe injuries, but shrank to less than half his former height, shorter than an ordinary person, with visibly thinner Corpse Qi 100.

Personality

Desire Corpse was notorious for predatory conduct toward academy disciples. He pursued both men and women, took Jiang Chi as a concubine, and attempted to have Jiang Chi lure Jiang Yunyao to him. Dragonflame Daoist openly despised his character 39 42 76 92.

He was calculating rather than habitually impulsive. After learning that Jiang Yan had become a dangerous enemy, he gathered information through Jiang Chi; after Jiang Chi’s death, he showed no outward anger and announced seclusion instead. Jiang Yan interpreted this restraint as preparation for a safer opportunity to strike 70 76 81.

His corpse vessel undermined that self-control. It stirred intrusive desires and demonic thoughts, eventually driving him into a frenzy at Heavy Water City. His principal objective was nevertheless deliberate: acquire Jiang Yan’s exceptionally talented body and continue his cultivation beyond the limits of his existing life 92 98 99 101.

Abilities & Skills

Desire Corpse Method

Desire Corpse created this method by combining a Dao-soldier method with Nether-Passing Beast Command and Furnace Refining and Cauldron Command. Seventy or eighty percent of his fighting strength rested in the resulting corpse body 93.

• Solid form: Possessed immense strength and durability sufficient to contend with an ordinary Seventh Grade cultivator 93.
• Intangible form: Could become ghostlike, invisible, or dispersed into Qi; cultivators below Seventh Grade could not discover it 93.
• Transformation: Could alter his appearance, enabling him to travel through Scale Clan territory without ordinary lower-level inhabitants seeing through him 93.
• Reconstitution: Reformed after losing his hands and suffering a split skull, though the process left his body smaller and his Corpse Qi depleted 99 100.
• Mental cost: The vessel’s desires could disrupt his judgment. During his frenzy, he failed to prevent a self-detonation that a clearheaded use of Law Power could have interrupted 92 99.

Corpse Qi Manipulation

His Corpse Qi served as a weapon, a means of flight, and a way to consume living beings 93 98 99.

• Drained flesh-and-blood essence from victims, leaving desiccated remains that could crumble into powder 93.
• Formed giant blades capable of cutting through mine rock and reaching the surface above 98.
• Unleashed successive Qi Blades against An Ling while avoiding lethal attacks on Jiang Yan, whose body he wanted intact 99 101.
• Enveloped Heavy Water City in Corpse Qi and consumed its inhabitants’ Blood Qi 99.
• Could not overcome the Headmaster’s Ink River protection; that same power prevented his pierced body and severed head from rejoining 104.

Divine Sense

His Seventh Grade Divine Sense allowed him to restrain weaker cultivators and directly attack their minds 92.

• Immobilized Xiao Li and Li Yunshu, then wounded Xiao Li’s mind as they escaped 92.
• Combined Divine Sense with Corpse Qi to bind a Seventh Grade golden saber attack 92.
• Repeatedly probed Jiang Yan’s protective barrier for an opening but failed to penetrate it 101.

Desire-Emotion Heart-Swapping Technique

Created from an incomplete Emotion-Desire Fragment, this technique used the caster’s emotions and desires to influence another soul, alter its foundations, and ultimately possess the recipient 108.

• Desire Corpse also called it the Desire-Emotion Heart-Unity Technique, initially presenting it as a way to share emotions and combine their efforts in cultivation 101.
• Its true purpose was to seize Jiang Yan’s body and mind, allowing Desire Corpse to escape his corpse vessel 101.
• Required the caster to have cultivated Divine Sense 108.
• Could only be used once because the recipient’s lingering emotions and desires would affect the possessor 108.
• Could grant a seventh-grade Daoist with little remaining lifespan another lifetime; Desire Corpse never completed its use on Jiang Yan 104 108.

Emotion and Desire Cultivation

His surviving Emotion-Desire Fragment described two stages of practice; the passages do not establish which stage he had fully mastered 108.

• Emotion-Desire Corpse-Nurturing Technique: Used to nurture Pink Red into the Rakshasa Corpse Body that Desire Corpse possessed 108.
• Corpse Qi Dao-Soldier Technique: Preserved among his Jade Slips; Jiang Yan retained it for possible use with the pure Corpse Qi left after his death 108.
• Desire Corpse Bliss Technique: A technique he considered using with Xiao Li and Li Yunshu; its workings are not shown 92.

Tracking Restrictions

• Placed a restriction on Jiang Chi that allowed him to sense the presence associated with Jiang Chi’s killer 93.
• Jiang Yan deliberately exposed the connected Straw Figure to lure him toward Heavy Water City 91 93.
• The connection was blocked when Jiang Yan stored the Straw Figure inside Jinbao’s belly 98.

History

Established Cultivator of the East River Realm

Desire Corpse had spent many years at Seventh Grade and maintained local connections as a native immortal citizen. He had never entered the Prefecture Academy or received a Dao Register 70 102.

His misconduct was widely known, but the academy did not eliminate him. Dragonflame Daoist explained that figures like him created pressure for disciples to improve, while the academy’s higher-ups protected its most promising talents for eventual Dao Army service 42.

Conflict with Jiang Yan

Desire Corpse targeted Jiang Yan from the time of his arrival at the academy. His involvement with Jiang Chi, and his attempt to draw Jiang Yunyao into his reach, helped establish the feud. Jiang Yan later returned to East River Town intending to deal with him and enlisted An Ling to investigate 67 69 76.

After hearing of Jiang Chi’s death, Desire Corpse replaced his manor’s main gate and announced seclusion without visibly retaliating. Jiang Yan and An Ling suspected he would instead attack during the Yearly Examination, prompting them to formalize an alliance 81.

Infiltration of the Yearly Examination

Desire Corpse entered Scale Clan territory in his possessed corpse body. In Westwood City, he detained Xiao Li and Li Yunshu and demanded Jiang Yan’s location or a means to contact him. Xiao Li activated a protective ring that produced a golden saber attack and carried the pair away, though Desire Corpse’s Divine Sense injured him 92.

After suppressing the saber, Desire Corpse killed nearby Scale Clan woodcutters. He then sensed the restriction connected to Jiang Chi and followed it southeast toward Jiang Yan 93.

Destruction of Heavy Water City

Hearing an explosion from the direction of his target, Desire Corpse rushed into Heavy Water City, fearing Jiang Yan might die before he could possess him. He killed the Purple-Scale warriors at the mine entrance and pursued Jiang Yan underground 96 98.

When Jiang Yan concealed the Straw Figure inside Jinbao, Desire Corpse lost the trail and began slashing through the mine. A Full-Realm Scale Clan fighter intervened, giving Jiang Yan and An Ling an opportunity to escape 98.

The loss of Jiang Yan from his perception triggered a frenzy. Desire Corpse consumed the city’s inhabitants and tore his opponent in half, but the mortally wounded fighter self-detonated. The blast destroyed his hands and split his skull; he survived by dispersing and reforming at greatly reduced size 99 100.

Final Pursuit and Death

Jiang Yan exposed his presence again and lured Desire Corpse to a prepared cave. There, Desire Corpse revealed his possession plan while attempting to breach Jiang Yan’s protective barrier. Jiang Yan’s Lustful Desire Qi affected the corpse body but failed to incapacitate him, forcing Jiang Yan to detonate his stockpile of explosive pills and collapse the mountain 100 101.

During the Tree God’s intrusion, the East River Realm’s defensive impulse immobilized Desire Corpse as he struggled not to throw himself at the invader. Jiang Yan attacked repeatedly, but his unassisted Sword Talismans inflicted only limited damage 102.

The Headmaster’s arrival changed the battle. Empowered by Ink River Law Power, Jiang Yan wounded Desire Corpse, resisted his Corpse Qi, and beheaded him before he could finish offering surrender. Jiang Yan then divided the remaining Corpse Qi into numerous portions until all vitality was extinguished 104.

Equipment & Possessions

• Seventh-Rank Jia Corpse Dao Soldier — Identified in Muling Daoist Boy’s warning about his strength 39.
• Storage Bone Ring — Recovered by Jiang Yan after his death; its attached Divine Sense dissipated with him 108.
• Spirit Stones and spirit crystals — Approximately one thousand Spirit Stones and one hundred spirit crystals were found in the ring 108.
• Jade Slips — Contained the Emotion-Desire Fragment, his possession technique, the Emotion-Desire Corpse-Nurturing Technique, and the Corpse Qi Dao-Soldier Technique 108.
• Corpse-nurturing jars — Held skeletons in pale gray liquid alongside blood-covered flesh. Jiang Yan inferred these remains belonged to other “disciples” from his manor 108.
• Protective talismans — Applied in preparation for possible resistance from Xiao Li 92.

Relationships

• Jiang Yan — Intended possession target and eventual killer. Desire Corpse prized his aptitude and tried to preserve his body during their confrontations 96 101 104.
• Jiang Chi / “Pink Nose” — Favored male companion and concubine; also used to gather information about Jiang Yan. Desire Corpse had placed a tracking restriction on him 60 70 76 93 101.
• Pink Red — Eldest disciple, whose body was nurtured into the Rakshasa Corpse Body that Desire Corpse later inhabited 101 108.
• Jiang Yunyao — Target whom he attempted to lure through Jiang Chi 76.
• An Ling — Investigated him and allied with Jiang Yan; he attacked her during their escape from Heavy Water City 69 81 99.
• Xiao Li and Li Yunshu — Detained during his search for Jiang Yan; escaped through Xiao Li’s protective ring 92.
• Dragonflame Daoist / Long Yan — Openly despised his conduct and treated him as a threat through which Jiang Yan could be tempered 42 69.
• Green Fox High Person — Observed his rampage and considered directing him back toward Jiang Yan as further tempering, while undertaking to keep Jiang Yan safe 99 104.