Evil God District, Xu Residence.
Su Qingshan stared grimly at the shattered jade pendant in his hand. This paired-fish pendant was a token of his love with Xu Jiaojiao; its breaking signified the death of one of them.
However, a smile quickly spread across his face.
While it was a pity the revenge plot had failed, he had successfully rid himself of that morbidly obese sow, Xu Jiaojiao. That alone was cause for celebration.
Glancing around, Su Qingshan let out a hearty laugh.
He opened his storage pouch wide and began outright looting the Xu residence of anything valuable. While these items might be miscellaneous, together they were worth a significant number of spirit stones.
And the most valuable items of all—the property deeds—would all belong to him, Su Qingshan!
As for Steward Xu's potential revenge upon his release, Su Qingshan didn't care. With Wang Yu, the actual killer of his daughter, drawing the man's primary hatred, Su Qingshan decided to lay low somewhere far from the main sect.
After leaving a letter behind.
He naturally went to the Ice Snow Pavilion to find Zhao Shang, hoping the other could arrange a suitable assignment for him to lay low for a few years.
After hearing Su Qingshan's request, a strange expression crossed Zhao Shang's face.
"I suggest Brother Qingshan go to the Blood Nether District and purchase an ordinary Profound Bone Token. Profound Bone Mountain is in [Maple Province], one of the farthest sites from the main sect."
"That works."
Su Qingshan agreed almost without consideration, given the urgency of his situation and the need to avoid trouble.
......
......
After Wang Yu successfully returned to the Evil God District, he immediately began examining the second-grade Strength Corpse arm he had acquired.
Jiangshi were one of the evil beings born of heaven and earth, existing through resentment and feeding on blood. Their classifications and grades were highly complex. Those that survived heavenly tribulation could develop a rudimentary intelligence and even have a chance to ascend.
They were broadly divided into three types: Armored Corpses, Sha Corpses, and Aberrant Corpses!
The Heavenly Corpse Peak inheritance primarily focused on Armored Corpses, with Sha Corpses being secondary. Aberrant Corpses were the rarest, often originating from innate spiritual bodies that underwent corpse transformation after death, allowing them to inherit their former spiritual abilities. They were the most unique.
Armored Corpses were graded as: Bronze Armored Corpse, Iron Armored Corpse, Gold Armored Corpse, and Unyielding Bone, corresponding to Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul respectively!
Sha Corpses were graded as: Hairy Corpse, Green Corpse, Flying Corpse, and Yaksha, corresponding to the same stages.
Aberrant Corpses had no fixed naming convention and were often named based on their characteristics, making replication difficult.
Those Jiangshi controlled by cultivators were uniformly referred to as Refined Corpses—literally, Jiangshi that had been refined and controlled, used for combat!
The Ice Corpse promised by True Disciple Su previously was a type of Sha Corpse that had absorbed cold, baleful energy. It was highly compatible with Wang Yu's attributes. Using an arm from an Ice Corpse would have been the most suitable.
The Strength Corpse, however, was a type of powerful Armored Corpse, often refined from the corpses of those born with great strength or cultivators who practiced body refinement techniques. They possessed immense physical power.
They could easily tear tigers and leopards apart with their bare hands, and lift massive cauldrons!
This arm was entirely gray-white, its muscles knotted and bulging. The capillaries beneath the skin showed as a bluish-black. Concentrated Corpse Qi formed patterns on the surface resembling mountain ridges and armor scales. It was three times larger than Wang Yu's right arm.
Wang Yu frowned deeply, silently circulating the Corpse Demon Secret Art. This art had been continuously active in his placement slot. Even though it had reached Perfection, it still absorbed Yin and Corpse Qi, fusing them with his own spiritual power to form "Yin Blood Pills."
Using the incomplete talisman motes in his blood as the core, they coalesced into a Yin Blood Pill, which traveled through his blood vessels, circulating throughout his body.
Due to the incomplete nature of the secret art, only one pill could exist within his body at a time for now. Proceeding with caution,
Wang Yu opened his mouth and spat out a Yin Blood Pill, directing it into the corpse arm. He then channeled spiritual power into the arm, beginning the refinement process.
This was a relatively lengthy procedure.
The effect of the Yin Blood Pill was essentially to transform this corpse arm, making it conform to Wang Yu's body. Every minute detail needed adjustment and modification. A single pill was far from sufficient.
Fortunately, the placement slot helped him automatically condense Yin Blood Pills, preventing a supply shortage.
As time passed, under the influence of successive Yin Blood Pills, the left arm began to shrink. Its appearance gradually became consistent with Wang Yu's right arm, finally achieving a match!
This was the superficial change. Delving deeper, every component of its internal structure was being assimilated by Wang Yu's Yin Blood. Refining this second-grade corpse arm was truly not easy.
A full two months were consumed in the process.
On this day, Wang Yu's right hand formed a series of seals as he uttered a low command.
"Attach!"
The corpse arm had long since been molded to his form. As the severed end was brought close to his shoulder, countless fine threads of Yin-Corpse energy instantly connected the two.
Bones reconnected, flesh and skin knit together, meridians re-established, nerves restored!
A series of four distinct transformations occurred, causing Wang Yu to shudder violently. The flexibility was now no different from his original hand.
The joy of regaining his left arm was undeniable, but it also brought a new problem: it lacked vitality!
A corpse was a corpse. Having been a Jiangshi for so long, it had long lost the vitality inherent to a living person.
Although Wang Yu, after cultivating the Corpse Demon Secret Art, was also somewhat less than human, his fundamental essence remained unchanged.
Now that the bones of the corpse arm were connected to his own, and the bone marrow inside made contact, a wave of Death Qi began to erode his body. It started at the bone marrow level, progressing slowly.
Wang Yu's expression turned serious.
This was a Death Affliction, where Death Qi penetrated deep into the marrow. In mild cases, it shortened lifespan; in severe cases, it caused sudden death.
Paradoxically, due to the Corpse Demon Secret Art, his own bones were also abnormal, forming a kind of symbiotic relationship with the arm's Death Qi. If harnessed correctly, this Death Qi could become his hidden trump card.
By the same token, under normal circumstances, being "plagued by Death Qi" would mean he wouldn't live more than ten years, despite his youth and ample lifespan. However, even though the secret art was incomplete, it was still effective.
Supplemented by using his spiritual power to restrain it, he should be able to maintain a balance. As long as the Death Qi was confined to this arm and didn't invade his main body, his lifespan should remain unaffected.
If he could stall until the Corpse Demon Secret Art was repaired to the second grade, the issue with this corpse arm could be completely resolved.
With that, this chapter could be considered closed.
After the restoration, the strength of his left arm was noticeably far greater than his right. His black nails could scrape against the rock wall as if it were soft tofu.
Its terrifying power had already surpassed the limits achievable by a typical Qi Refining cultivator.
Wang Yu was lost in thought.
His original plan was to purchase a magical instrument, but having obtained the top-grade first-rank Nether Spirit Iron Chains from Xu Jiaojiao, there was no need. This instrument was also well-suited for his use.
Paired with this powerful Strength Corpse left hand, killing opponents of the same level would be like slaughtering chickens!
What he really needed to do was prepare more medicinal ingredients to refine a large quantity of auxiliary and functional pills—Fasting Pills, Spirit Restoration Pills, Barrier Removal Pills, Scent-Eliminating Powder... and so on.
He even refined several bottles of the recreational Multifarious Wonder Pill. Preparing for the trip to Profound Bone Mountain also required purchasing a set of formation flags for travel.
And so.
Another month passed.
It was the 12th month of Wang Yu's second year as an outer disciple, early autumn. A travel-worn group returned to the Reverse Spirit Blood Sect. They numbered only about eighty, but every one was at the late stage of Qi Refining.
Half of them had reached the ninth level of Qi Refining, each just a step away from Foundation Establishment!
This group was precisely the team that had left the sect for Profound Bone Mountain five years ago. This sight truly shocked many onlookers.
"This... what kind of opportunity lies hidden at Profound Bone Mountain?"
"Junior Brother Wang!"
**(End of Chapter)**