A Shameless Style

"This is."

You Shi asked those two words uncontrollably, his heart filled with resistance, not wanting to fall into Xu Qi'an's trap.

But when he saw the ancient corpse, his eyes were out of control, his emotions were uncontrollable, and his desire was like a raging storm, overwhelming his reason.

It's perfect, this body is perfect.

It was more perfect than any corpse he had ever seen, more alluring than any puppet in the Corpse Department.

Although it looks dilapidated.

Xu Qi'an did not answer his question, but smiled and said:

"If the leader of the Corpse Demons is interested, he may wish to observe it up close."

"Hmph, I'm not interested." Yu Shi retorted stubbornly, flapping its wings and landing beside the coffin.

It stared silently at the ancient corpse for a long time, then moved its two paws, circling the coffin once. Its steps were slow, and it was completely focused, like an antique collector appraising an ancient but priceless artifact.

Suddenly, the corpse let out a "Huh?" and pecked the ancient corpse's face hard.

The sharp beak moved with lightning speed, clearly using all its strength, but it failed to damage the ancient corpse, nor did it produce a sharp metallic clang.

You Shi suddenly raised his head, looked at Xu Qi'an, hesitated for a moment, but finally couldn't help but ask in a deep voice:

"This doesn't resemble the corpse of a martial artist, but the resilience and strength of the flesh even surpasses my third-grade walking corpse."

Xu Qi'an laughed:

"You're an expert."

"That's right, this is not the corpse of a martial artist. This corpse is the remains of a powerful Daoist School master from thousands of years ago. He was at the peak of the second rank. After failing to transcend the tribulation, he shed his old body, and this is his corpse."

Actually, the peak of the second rank is a very conservative estimate.

You Shi's tone was somewhat heavy. "Peak of the second rank? Are you sure it's peak of the second rank?"

As he asked the question, he unconsciously flapped his wings a few times, as if to emphasize his words.

"A third-grade Yang God doesn't have such a robust and immortal physical body," Xu Qi'an said with a smile.

You Shi couldn't refute it; the Yang Spirit of the Daoist School indeed didn't possess such a physical body, and he had just personally tested it—this was not a martial artist's physical body.

Why was he ruined like this?

You Shi tried his best to keep his tone calm, so that Xu Qi'an wouldn't hear his heartache and his longing for the corpse.

If you knew it had once possessed sentience, it would be even more obsessed. Xu Qi'an pondered for a moment and decided to tell You Shi the truth, which would increase his leverage and make it even harder for the other party to refuse.

"This is a long story. This corpse had once possessed intelligence and self-awareness, just like any other living being. I sealed it in the tomb where it was found. Much later, I accidentally returned to the tomb and discovered that its body had been shattered and its soul had been scattered."

Everyone clearly saw that the giant bird's body stiffened and remained motionless for a long time.

"You lied to me! You lied to me! You lied to me!"

Yu Shi was more agitated than ever before, shouting loudly.

As a group specializing in controlling corpses, the Corpse Gu Clan's ultimate academic goal is to bring corpses "back to life."

This is different from a powerful Primordial Spirit possessing a corpse. Such behavior is called possession or body snatching, while what a Corpse Gu Master wants is to bring the corpse back to life.

Of course, the truly dead cannot be resurrected, but there is another kind of resurrection: the corpse is given sentience.

But this great goal has never been achieved by anyone in the Corpse Gu Clan for thousands of years.

Long Tu and the others exchanged strange glances, especially Luan Yu and Chun Yan, whose eyes flashed with disgust.

Because they thought of something:

The ancestors of the Corpse Gu Clan once speculated that if the remnant soul left in the body of a walking corpse is properly nurtured, it can transform into a true Primordial Spirit, and the corpse will develop sentience.

Thus, they are resurrected and reborn.

How could a remnant soul without its own will possibly transform into a true Primordial Spirit? This is as absurd and laughable as the human race creating a body directly without going through a ten-month pregnancy.

In the eyes of the six tribes, this was an excuse made by the Corpse Gu tribe for their abnormal relationship with corpses, forcibly anthropomorphizing the walking corpses.

Facing You Shi's questioning gaze, Xu Qi'an briefly recalled and said:

"It once told me that when that Daoist priest shed his old body, a part of his remnant soul remained inside. This remnant soul was repaired by the Daoist priest through special means, and became a complete Primordial Spirit."

The leaders were stunned, looking at You Shi with bewildered expressions, only to find him completely dumbfounded.

"As expected, as expected, our ancestors' guesses were right. There really is a way to bring corpses back to life, and there are precedents for it. This is not just a pipe dream."

The more Yu Shi spoke, the more excited he became. In the end, his wings flapped incessantly, like a person dancing wildly.

Xu Qi'an waited a moment until the leader of the Corpse Gu tribe had calmed down before speaking:

"So, in exchange for this ancient corpse, would you for not forming an alliance with Yunzhou?"

Long Tu and the others all stared intently at the giant bird.

Yu Shi froze for a moment, recalling his confident statement.

In the end, his desire for the ancient corpse outweighed his shame and dignity. He coughed and said in a hoarse voice:

"Longtu is right, Wei Yuan is dead, and this feud is over. I shouldn't have let my clansmen sacrifice themselves in vain because of my personal obsession. As for this ancient corpse, what you said is only one side of the story, and I won't believe it easily."

"But since you've already convinced the other six departments, well, I'll reluctantly agree."

Xu Qi'an smiled and said, "That's good."

With that, he closed the coffin lid and put the coffin back into the fragments of the Earth Book.

"Hey, you—" You Shi shouted, barely suppressing his anger, and said in a deep voice:

"Didn't you hear me say we won't ally with Yunzhou?"

"I heard you." Xu Qi'an's smile remained unchanged.

"I said I would give you this ancient corpse, and I will, but not now. I will keep my promise after the war in the Central Plains ends."

How could You Shi possibly agree to that? It would have been fine if he hadn't seen the ancient corpse yet, but now that he had, he wouldn't allow himself to lose it.

Who would willingly lose the love of their life?

"Why should I believe you'll keep your promise?" he sneered in a hoarse voice.

Xu Qi'an responded with a cold laugh:

"Then why should I trust you? What if you renege on your promise and secretly ally with Yunzhou?"

Yu Shi, with his strong personality and uncompromising nature, retorted sharply:

"Either leave the ancient corpse behind, or we part ways."

Goodbye!

Xu Qi'an turned and left, silently counting in his mind: 3, 2, 1

Xu Qi'an, also a Corpse Gu Master, was absolutely certain that You Shi couldn't refuse him, just as he couldn't refuse his aunt.

"Etc!"

Yu Shi let out a low growl and hurriedly spread its wings. When Xu Qi'an stopped and turned around, it immediately folded its wings and turned its head to the side.

Give me back this third-rank walking corpse.

"Furthermore, you must sign a written agreement in the presence of all your clansmen."

Xu Qi'an immediately took out a pen, ink, paper, and inkstone, and in the presence of Granny Tian Gu and others, wrote a written agreement for him and pressed his fingerprint on it.

"Keep this safe. Everyone in the Central Plains knows that this silver gong is worth its weight in gold."

Xu Qi'an blew the ink dry, folded the paper, and handed it over between his fingertips.

The giant bird snorted coldly, "I will come to the Power Gu Clan to retrieve the walking corpse later."

After saying that, it cautiously poked its head out, snatched the note, and flapped its wings to fly into the sky.

The giant bird flew very slowly, gently, and steadily, as if afraid that if it flew too fast, the wind would blow the words in its beak out of its mouth.

"Hey, aren't you going to avenge your father's death?" Xu Qi'an silently shouted in his heart as he watched the giant bird soar into the sky.

The negotiations are over. This truly demonstrates the power of knowing yourself and your enemy, leading to victory in every battle. He withdrew his gaze, swept it over Luan Yu and Chun Yan, and said with a smile:

"Let's treat your two sisters' injuries."

He summoned the Floating Pagoda, causing the phantom image of the Pharmacist to float atop the pagoda.

Having witnessed the Floating Pagoda repairing the mutilated body of the walking corpse, Luan Yu and Chun Yan were both amazed and intrigued by the legendary Bodhisattva's magical Law Treasure.

The jade vase scattered a golden light, like spring rain descending, enveloping them.

The pain from the fracture slowly disappeared, replaced by a refreshing coolness that penetrated to the core.

Luan Yu opened her arms, twirled gracefully, her long, sheer dress blooming like a flower. She transformed once more into that alluring and seductive vixen, smiling as she said:

"With this blessing, I'm no longer afraid of Xu Yinluo's ferocity in bed."

She had completely acknowledged the disparity in strength between them. With such a miraculous Law Treasure, there was no way she could defeat him, and he had indeed shown mercy earlier.

Chunyan nodded demurely to express her gratitude.

Are you ready for your guts to rip out? Xu Qi'an glanced at the slut expressionlessly, then nodded in response to Chun Yan.

At this moment, Xu Qi'an finally had time to deal with other matters:

"Mother-in-law, where is Ge Wenxuan from Yunzhou?"

The shadow said calmly:

"If we had fought you, he couldn't have been gone; he's probably already fled."

Xu Qi'an remained silent, then took out another fragment of the Earth Book and poured out a broken bronze mirror.

"What do you need from me?"

The Heavenly Mirror sounded somewhat impatient, but its attitude was still acceptable. The fact that the Taiping Blade had been summoned out to do some work had made it feel much better.

"With me as the center, my influence extends for miles around."

Xu Qi'an gave the instructions.

Without further ado, the Hun Tian Divine Mirror blurred, becoming like a clear glass mirror. Then, a series of images flashed by at high speed, like a revolving lantern. Xu Qi'an's powerful eyesight imprinted these images one by one into his mind.

The mirror did not leave any mark on Ge Wenxuan, so it could not be located directly, and this "simple" method could only be used to track him.

The fact that this person could talk was Law Treasure. The Gu clan leaders were taken aback. Just how many valuable things did this person possess?

Seeing this, Chunyan walked to the side and whistled a clear, bright tune.

A dozen seconds later, a dense flock of birds flew in from all directions, circling overhead in a dark mass, emitting a noisy cacophony of calls.

Their calls were noisy and chaotic, mostly saying "I didn't see anything."

A small group was saying, "Let's go, let's go."

Chunyan listened intently for a moment, then said:

"They were in the woods to the south not long ago, and they've only been gone a short while before heading southwest."

Xu Qi'an could also understand the birds' "language" and gave the order:

"Shine in a southwest direction, the area is not limited."

The images in the Hun Tian Divine Mirror continued to flash, one after another, rapidly moving until they reached the limit of the Law Treasure's range.

"Not found."

He retrieved the Heavenly Mirror and shook his head in disappointment.

"He's just an insignificant nobody, why bother with him?" Luan Yu swayed her slender waist and pressed herself against him, saying sweetly.

"How do you women from the Central Plains address your lovers? Hmm, Xu Lang, right?"

Even from a distance, Xu Qi'an could see Mu Nanzhi's suddenly sharp gaze.

He solemnly pushed Luan Yu away, deliberately showing an angry expression under Mu Nanzhi's gaze.

"What, are you going to break the contract?" Luan Yu said, feeling wronged.

"No, what I want to tell you is that in our Central Plains, men and women can only be intimate at night after the lights are turned off. During the day, Miss Luanyu, please observe proper etiquette."

Xu Qi'an said these words with an angry expression, but Mu Nanzhi couldn't hear him anyway, so she just thought he was scolding the seductive slut from Southern Frontier.

As expected, Mu Nanzhi, standing in the distance, wore a satisfied expression.

"Great, that sounds interesting!"

Luan Yu smiled and gave Xu Qi'an a flirtatious wink.

Xu Ningyan is flirting with another woman again. Lina thought resentfully, while pulling out a fragment of the Earth Book from her bosom and turning her back to everyone.

Since Chu Yuanzhen finished speaking, every twenty breaths, someone has been delivering a message from the fragment of the Earth Book.

Lina's mind was focused on the battle, and she had no time to pay attention to anything else. Now she was finally able to let the members of the Heaven and Earth Society know that she was safe.

[5: It's over!]

After she sent those three words, just as her fingers were about to continue writing, the transmission of the Earth Book fragments suddenly erupted like a commotion.

[Second: Why are you only replying now? I've sent you so many messages, didn't you see them? Did something happen to Xu Ningyan that made you afraid to reply?]

[Part 1: What happened to him? What was the outcome?]

[Seven: Xu Qi'an, that scourge lives on forever, he should, um, be alright, right? He escaped, didn't he?]

[Six: Lina, how is Lord Xu? How serious are his injuries?]

[Four: Tell me quickly, how did it go?]

These messages were sent at least five seconds apart, and judging by the length of the words, they were written simultaneously.

Just then, Lina finished writing her second sentence:

[5: Xu Ningyan won.]

The Earth Book chat group fell silent instantly, so silent that Lina suspected she had been blocked by Master Jinlian.

Even the most hot-tempered Li Miaozhen didn't reply, let alone anyone else.

A full twenty seconds passed before Li Lingsu was the first to reply:

[Seven: It's over, Xu Ningyan is dead. Number Five didn't dare tell us the truth, so he lied.]

But those who know Lina's personality know that this is the truth— Xu Ningyan won.

[Second: How did he do that? It's impossible for him to be promoted to the second rank so quickly.]

Li Miaozhen wrote these words with trembling hands, unable to distinguish whether she was excited or shocked.

This time, unlike in Jianzhou, Xu Qi'an summoned the spirit of Emperor Gaozu during the battle of Quanrong Mountain, which turned the tide of the battle.

However, Xu Qi'an later told his comrades, who had faced life and death with him several times, that this move could not be used twice, and that the Zhenguo Sword was given to Sun Xuanji to take back to the capital.

[Four: Perhaps he had already discovered the bottleneck of the second rank when he fought Asuluo in the Hundred Thousand Mountains?]

Chu Yuanzhen offered a barely acceptable explanation, but Li Lingsu decisively rejected it:

[Seven: No, the Demon-Sealing Nails are still inside him.]

After a moment of silence, Chu Yuanzhen sent a letter:

Could you tell us the details of what happened?

[Five: Hmm.]

She was a slow writer, and when she encountered a character she didn't know how to write, she would think for a long time, resulting in numerous spelling mistakes. However, the members of the Heaven and Earth Society read her writing with exceptional seriousness and attention.

Until Lina said, "[I'm done speaking.]"

Chu Yuanzhen sent a letter expressing his feelings:

[Four: It seems like only yesterday that his cultivation was sealed by the Demon-Sealing Nails, yet in just two months he has cultivated the Seven Deadly Gu to this level. Combined with his strength as a third-grade martial artist, defeating the leaders of the Gu Clan shouldn't be too difficult.]

The members of the Heaven and Earth Society could only sigh, without any other thoughts. They even suspected that soon they would lose even the interest in sighing, leaving only numbness.

[Part 1: Has the Gu Clan agreed to cancel their alliance with Yunzhou?]

After a brief moment of surprise and shock, Huaiqing immediately remembered the important matter at hand.

The members of the Heaven and Earth Society were invigorated, remembering Xu Qi'an's original intention in starting this fight.

[Five: Yes.]

Lina responded with a concise letter.

[Second: Excellent! If the Gu Clan hadn't joined the war, the Great Feng and the rebels of Yunzhou would still have had a fighting chance. The soldiers of Great Feng should all thank Xu Ningyan for once again saving the Great Feng court.]

Although he was not on the battlefield, he did too many important things for the war that was about to sweep across the Central Plains.

[One: His achievements will not be forgotten; the soldiers and people of the Great Feng will know all that he did.]

Huaiqing sent a letter saying...

[Six: Lord Xu has never disappointed this humble monk. This humble monk will also strive to cultivate myself to repay Lord Xu's past life-saving grace and not disappoint him.]

"Master Hengyuan, what you're saying sounds strange, like a soldier making all sorts of promises before going into battle," Li Miaozhen said sincerely.

Hengyuan's words sounded strange. Lina was about to deliver the message when she suddenly heard her father's voice from behind her:

"Lina, let's go back."

Startled, she immediately hid the fragments of the Earth Book and pretended to be nonchalant as she responded to Long Tu standing behind her:

"Okay, I understand."

"What were you doing just now?" Longtu asked.

"I... I didn't do anything!" Lina said, forcing a smile.

Longtu nodded in satisfaction. Lina had been clever and shrewd since she was a child, unlike her foolish brother who couldn't keep secrets.

On the other side, Xu Qi'an, who was walking towards Mu Nanzhi, suddenly stopped, turned around abruptly, looked at Granny Tian Gu and the others, and said in a deep voice:

"Wrong!"

PS: Let Xu get away with "not right" for ten hours first.

I recommend a book. "The Invincible Villain Begins When the Moon Exploded," by Xin Yi, a veteran author. Those interested can check it out.