Demonic Cultivator: Immune To Common Side Effects - Chapter 22

Chapter 22: Corpse Refinement and Ghost Marriage

As the sound of explosions drew closer, Li Yan hastily led the female corpse away from the area.

He soon realized why Old Daoist Xuanwang had created such a commotion.

The echoes of the explosions reverberated through Broken Sword Valley, drawing countless corpses toward the source of the noise. The scattered groups of bodies gradually coalesced into a dense, shuffling horde.

While the horde was drawn to the noise, it inadvertently blocked Li Yan’s path.

Seeing the clusters of corpses ahead, Li Yan knew that engaging them would inevitably attract the attention of Old Ghost Xuanwang. After a moment of contemplation, an idea struck him.

He pinched his fingers into a hand seal and pointed forward. “Go! Clear the way!”

The lifeless female corpse floated forward, forcefully shoving aside the obstructing horde. Li Yan seized the opportunity to follow closely behind, avoiding encirclement.

During this maneuver, Li Yan noticed the corpse’s remarkable resilience, far beyond what an ordinary cultivator should possess.

He couldn’t help but speculate, “This Fairy must have been a Blood Pill Realm powerhouse in life! What could have caused her demise in Broken Sword Valley?”

“Forget it. Let’s find a place to rest first.”

Li Yan pinched a hand seal, manipulating the female corpse as he charged through the swarming zombies, using her as a living shield.

The zombie horde wandered through the mist, drawn toward Xuanwang’s direction.

After shaking off the horde, Li Yan spotted a Cave Mansion in the fog ahead. Using his Mind’s Eye to confirm there were no dangers inside, he immediately led the corpse into the dwelling.

With a flick of his wrist, Li Yan retrieved a Concealment Talisman from his Storage Ring and affixed it to the cave entrance. This would prevent their aura from leaking out, while the mist of Broken Sword Valley further shielded them from Divine Sense and Mind’s Eye detection.

Only then did Li Yan finally let out a long sigh of relief.

“Finally, a chance to sit down and properly examine the contents of my Storage Ring.”

After confirming the cave was empty and the talisman was secured at the entrance, Li Yan found a spot to settle down and carefully inspected the ring’s contents.

Fortune smiled upon him—the ring contained a wealth of rare heavenly materials and earthly treasures, enough to keep him from starving for the time being.

He could now rest and recuperate in the Cave Mansion, slowly refine the female corpse using the Corpse Refinement Art, and select a suitable Secret Manual to cultivate.

Gradually relaxing, Li Yan began flipping through the secret manuals in his Storage Ring.

Soon, one book caught his attention. Unlike the others, its cover was blank.

With a thought, the nameless book materialized in his hand.

As he turned to the first page, he immediately realized it was the personal diary of the Fairy Su Mo!

Intrigued, Li Yan began to read carefully.

First day away from home: I’ve finally escaped the Su Clan’s control. No longer will I be forced into a ghost marriage with that Green Gate Ancestor.

I can’t imagine what promise Green Gate Mountain made to our Clan Grandfather to betroth his great-granddaughter—me—to that ancient ghoul, to be buried alive with him!

The first page was explosive.

Li Yan hastily flipped through the rest of the diary, discovering that the female corpse was named Su Mo, a young lady from the Su Clan, a prominent Immortal Cultivation family residing within the Mountain of No Return.

Furthermore, page seven revealed that Su Mo had recently broken through to the Blood Pill Realm, making her the pride of the Su Clan’s younger generation. Though not yet a century old, her strength already rivaled that of the clan elders.

Su Mo couldn’t understand it. With her immense potential, her future should have been boundless.

Yet she had been betrothed to the Ancestor of Green Gate Mountain—in a ghost marriage, no less!

“A Blood Pill Realm cultivator for a ghost marriage? Ouch…”

“Could the Green Gate Ancestor be some terrifying existence in the Blood Cocoon Realm?”

Blood Pill Realm cultivators could live for four to five hundred years. This fairy was barely a century old and had a strong chance of breaking through to the fourth realm.

To have such a promising female cultivator forced into a ghost marriage and buried alive with the Green Gate Ancestor—it felt utterly twisted.

The latter half of the diary detailed Su Mo’s desperate flight from the relentless pursuit of the Su Clan and Green Gate Mountain, working together.

After that, the entries stopped abruptly. Presumably, she was so relentlessly hunted that she had no time or peace of mind to record anything more.

After finishing the diary, Li Yan gazed at the long-dead female corpse before him, a flicker of sympathy in his eyes.

But mostly, he felt a kinship with her fate, like a rabbit mourning the death of a fox.

“Even a Blood Pill Realm powerhouse couldn’t escape a fate dictated by others…”

“This Immortal Cultivation World… there’s something deeply twisted about it.”

“Even though you’re dead, a Blood Pill Realm cultivator’s body is still a priceless treasure. Letting it rot would be a terrible waste.”

Having confirmed that the female corpse before him was indeed a Blood Pill Realm cultivator, Li Yan picked up the Allheaven Corpse Refinement Art.

“The most basic materials for Corpse Refinement: Myriad Gu Saliva, Rotting Heart Flowers, Yin Spirit Water…”

“Rotting Heart Flowers and Yin Spirit Water are commonly found in extremely yin places. We should be able to find them in Broken Sword Valley!”

“As for the Myriad Gu Saliva, we’ll just have to get lucky and see if the cultivator’s corpse has any on it.”

With that thought, Li Yan summoned his Ebony Sword.

“Martial Aunt, I’ll trouble you to personally take care of this!”

Pinching his fingers into a hand seal from the safety of his Cave Mansion, Li Yan used his Mind’s Eye to guide the Ebony Sword as it flew out.

Broken Sword Valley might lack many things, but corpses were plentiful!

Countless cultivators throughout history had sought their fortunes here.

Even Su Mo Fairy had likely come to Broken Sword Valley seeking Immortal Fate, fleeing persecution from her clan.

And a mountain of corpses meant a wealth of materials!

Li Yan manipulated the Ebony Sword, releasing his Martial Aunt from it.

At that moment, the Nine-Foot Martial Aunt seemed to be the sword spirit of the Ebony Sword, completely bound to it.

Her long hair cascaded to the ground, spreading out like countless small snakes in every direction.

These strands of hair were impervious to traps.

Like a swarm of serpents, the countless strands began rummaging through the corpses’ belongings.

Before long, they discovered Rotting Heart Flowers in Broken Sword Valley and Yin Spirit Water in a stagnant pool. Even the notoriously difficult-to-find Myriad Gu Saliva was discovered—an entire large bottle of it, tucked inside a dead cultivator’s satchel.

“Broken Sword Valley is a treasure trove! So many cultivators must have met their end here over the ages,” Li Yan mused.

In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, Li Yan had gathered all the materials he needed for Corpse Refinement, a feat he never dared to dream he could accomplish so quickly.

No wonder so many cultivators risked their lives to enter Broken Sword Valley.

If others, like Li Yan, could reverse their system’s side effects to gain full vision, Broken Sword Valley would indeed be a treasure trove for scavengers.

Protected by the dense mist, Li Yan no longer needed to fear being hunted down by Xuanwang.

Soon, under his control, the Martial Aunt floated back to his Cave Mansion, carrying the Corpse Refinement materials.

Li Yan rubbed his hands together, eyeing the three materials laid out before him.

“I wonder how strong a Corpse Puppet refined from a Blood Pill Realm cultivator will be,” he mused.

“At least this corpse is relatively fresh, which should make the refinement process easier.”

With a flick of his finger, Li Yan summoned an alchemy furnace from his Storage Ring and tossed the three ingredients inside.

These sinister materials couldn’t be refined with ordinary flames, but that posed no problem for Li Yan.

“Martial Aunt, I’m afraid I need your help again,” he said, a smirk creeping onto his lips as he gazed at the Nine-Foot Martial Aunt sealed within the Ebony Sword.

Under his control, her pale hands, tipped with sharp claws, conjured the Death Yin Flame.

The dark violet flames, imbued with the aura of Death Yin, began to refine the materials within the furnace.

Finally, a ghostly blue liquid flowed from the furnace into a porcelain bowl.

Li Yan picked up the bowl of Corpse Refinement Spirit Liquid and carefully applied it to the female corpse’s face, hands, and legs.

Just as he finished these preparations and was about to begin the Corpse Refinement process, a notification appeared:

Host detected using a malevolent art imbued with potent Death Yin Qi. Activating Side Effect Reversal System!