Demonic Cultivator: Immune To Common Side Effects - Chapter 23

Chapter 23: Fairy Corpse Puppet—What Have I Created?!

Li Yan hadn’t anticipated that activating the Allheaven Corpse Refinement Art would also trigger the Side Effect Reversal System.

Could this mean…?

A bold idea surged through his mind. He formed a hand seal, channeling the Corpse Refinement Art and using the Spirit Liquid imbued with Death Yin energy to fuel the spell.

Blood-red runes seeped into the pale skin of the female corpse, creating a chilling spectacle.

Under the influence of this Evil Technique, the corpse’s shriveled skin began to plump up.

As the Evil Technique reversed its effects, the corpse’s grayish-green complexion gradually transformed into a snow-white hue, even gaining a faint rosy tint.

Li Yan watched in astonishment as the corpse slowly regained the appearance she had in life.

The only difference was her once dry, black hair, which gradually transformed into silvery-gray strands.

The System’s message materialized before him:

Allheaven Corpse Refinement Art Side Effect: Transforms corpses into Death Yin entities.

Side Effect Reversal: Revives corpses, gradually restoring their former Cultivation Base, and even allowing them to surpass it!

Unknown Effect: Though the corpse has been resurrected, it now contains a massive amount of Yin Offspring energy, which is fusing with its flesh.

Li Yan glanced at the results of the Side Effect Reversal System.

“Others use the Corpse Refinement Art to refine corpses,” he muttered to himself, unable to help but marvel at the irony, “but I’m using it as a resurrection technique, aren’t I?”

He wasn’t concerned about whether the female corpse would truly revive. Her soul was gone; even if she did, she’d just be an empty shell.

Staring at the fair-skinned beauty before him, Li Yan’s lips curled into a predatory smile as he began to covet her body.

“Even without Blood Qi, a cultivator’s body from the Blood Pill Realm can withstand attacks from Old Ghost Xuanwang!”

“If I continue refining it, this husk will undoubtedly become my strongest trump card!”

Li Yan coveted the Fairy’s physical resilience, not her beauty. His desire for power burned purely and intensely.

Though the Fairy had regained her flesh and blood, making her appearance far more appealing than her previous desiccated state, the choice between a living corpse with a natural fragrance and a rotting mummy in this isolated Cave Mansion was hardly a dilemma.

Li Yan gazed at the exquisitely elegant Fairy before him. With a wave of his hand, he retrieved a Sword Case from his Storage Ring.

“This Sword Case was yours in life,” he said. “Now that you’re dead, you can carry it.”

“Stand guard at the cave entrance. Alert me immediately if anything unusual occurs outside the Cave Mansion.”

Even refined Corpse Puppets could understand simple commands.

Only now did Li Yan begin to truly scrutinize the Fairy he had “revived.”

The Corpse Puppet possessed a graceful figure, its black immortal robes accentuating her lithe form.

Her face was oval-shaped, with a high-bridged nose and cherry-like lips. Her grayish-white eyes stared blankly ahead, devoid of expression.

When her silver hair billowed, it exuded a cool and captivating aura. The contrast between her dark robes and pale hair gave her a unique immortal charm.

With a Blood Pill Realm Corpse Puppet guarding him, Li Yan felt considerably safer.

For now, the female corpse lacked Blood Qi, reduced to merely an empty shell, but that was sufficient.

“This Corpse Puppet possesses the physical resilience of a Blood Pill Realm cultivator,” he mused. “With her here, navigating Broken Sword Valley will be much easier.”

Obeying Li Yan’s command, the Corpse Puppet slowly walked to the entrance of the Cave Mansion and stood motionless, steadfastly guarding the opening.

Observing her every move, one would hardly suspect she was a Corpse Puppet, save for her slight woodenness.

Li Yan withdrew his gaze from the Corpse Puppet and looked at the ring on his finger again.

This female corpse, Su Mo, had brought a wealth of Intermediate and High Grade Cultivation Techniques when she fled the Su Clan.

Choosing any one of them would undoubtedly be far superior to the techniques practiced within the Tranquil Void Temple.

The Su Clan was an Immortal Cultivation family, unmatched by frauds like Old Ghost Xuanwang.

He raised his hand, and dozens of Cultivation Technique manuals materialized from the Storage Ring.

With a wave of his hand, the manuals spun like a roulette wheel, allowing Li Yan to choose at will.

“Are there any spells that synergize well with the Burning Lamp Technique…?”

As he flipped through the manuals, the title of one particular volume caught his eye:

Su Clan’s Secret Manual

“The Su Clan’s exclusive technique? I’ll have to see what secret method allowed them to dominate a corner of the Mountain of No Return.”

He picked up the Su Clan’s Secret Manual, causing the other floating books to vanish back into the Storage Ring.

Opening it, Li Yan immediately understood how the Su Clan had managed to maintain its dominance in the perilous Mountain of No Return.

“The Blood-Soaked Shadow Technique?”

“Soak a cultivator’s shadow in Death Yin Blood, then silently chant ancient immortal incantations to activate the blood shadow…”

“Using a shadow to manifest the Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation?!”

Li Yan had never seen anything like it before—cultivating a shadow into a Heaven-and-Earth Manifestation by soaking it in blood.

After finishing the Su Clan’s Secret Manual, Li Yan couldn’t help but exclaim, “The Founding Ancestor who created this Blood-Soaked Shadow Technique was an absolute genius and a monstrous talent!”

“The cultivation method itself isn’t difficult, but where am I supposed to find Death Yin Blood?”

As Li Yan pondered this, the Corpse Puppet suddenly turned around without a word and drew a flying sword from its sword case.

It positioned itself in front of him, blocking his path!

The Corpse Puppet then sliced open its wrist, creating a glaring wound on its snow-white forearm. Dark purple blood dripped onto Li Yan’s shadow.

“This?!”

Li Yan was slightly surprised. While he knew the Corpse Puppet would unconditionally obey his commands, he hadn’t expected it to immediately offer its own blood to feed his shadow just because he’d casually mentioned needing Death Yin Blood.

This Corpse Puppet is truly something, Li Yan thought. She’s shedding blood without even a flicker of hesitation—she doesn’t see me as a stranger at all.

Seeing a pool of blood spreading across the ground, Li Yan quickly called out, “Enough.”

His concern was that the Corpse Puppet might bleed itself dry and revert to its desiccated state.

The Corpse Puppet dazedly pointed at the porcelain bowl, seemingly wanting to drink the remaining Corpse Refinement Spirit Liquid.

This sparked a new idea in Li Yan’s mind.

“If you absorb this Spirit Liquid, can you recover?”

The Corpse Puppet nodded blankly.

Li Yan began to wonder if the Corpse Puppet possessed some form of intelligence.

“Strange,” he mused. “Corpse Puppets created with the Corpse Refinement Art shouldn’t have any self-awareness.”

“Could it be that the Side Effect Reversal System turned the negative side effects positive, placing the Corpse Puppet in a state between life and death, making it different from ordinary Corpse Puppets?”

“No soul, yet a trace of self-awareness? Intriguing.”

Li Yan wasn’t worried about the Corpse Puppet rebelling. He had refined her himself, ensuring her absolute obedience to his commands.

The Corpse Puppet’s current sluggishness and blankness, however, suggested her self-awareness was incomplete, giving her an almost ethereal quality.

For example, she desperately wanted to drink the Spirit Liquid in the bowl, but without Li Yan’s explicit permission, she dared not reach for it.

“Go ahead and drink it,” Li Yan said.

When he signaled that she could have the remaining half-bowl of Spirit Liquid, the Corpse Puppet’s face lit up with a childlike smile.

Li Yan watched as she greedily gulped down the liquid, making gurgling sounds and displaying an expression of lingering satisfaction.

He admired his “masterpiece” of Corpse Refinement, completely unaware of the terrifying entity he had created: a Ghost Object poised between life and death!