Chapter 34: Corpse Cultivator Part 3

Once the first one was willing to cultivate, a second followed—especially after Wu Liangyi discovered these children were exceptionally easy to manipulate. As demonic cultivators repeatedly devoured spirit roots, their talent grew stronger and stronger. After that, those older, mediocre outer sect disciples began dying in “accidents” one after another.

After the accidents, their bodies were sent into the array to have their spirit roots and flesh devoured, becoming nourishment for the Mistlongevity Village disciples.

In Wu Liangyi’s eyes, trading ten mediocre disciples for one with medium spirit root talent was worth it. He knew he had a grudge with Mistlongevity Village, but with his curse seals, those children would not only forget their hatred for him but willingly serve at his command.

Gui Nian’an was the oldest among them and held out the longest.

She had originally planned to starve herself to death, but after days and nights soaked with piles of corpses and rotting meat, her body gradually became corpse-like and started passively absorbing corpse qi. Wu Liangyi discovered this by accident and, considering she was the only granddaughter of the human talisman bearer, dug up a corpse refining technique from ancient texts for her.

Corpse refiners mainly survived by absorbing corpse qi, and their bodies grew increasingly like the dead. Once they started cultivating, if they stopped or went too long without absorbing corpse qi, their bodies would fall apart like just now—shatter, and finally dissolve into a puddle of blood and die.

She had started cultivating young out of fear of pain, but later it became hard to control.

Corpse refining required no talent, only enough corpses, and she progressed rapidly.

After she successfully reached Foundation Establishment in just one short month, Wu Liangyi’s attitude toward her changed. She was no longer the human talisman’s granddaughter but an experimental subject of the Heavenly Feast Sect. Wu Liangyi wanted to see how far corpse refining could go, whether this path could really work.

A cultivation path that required no talent, no devouring of kin, and allowed rapid progress was the shortcut among shortcuts.

If it succeeded, the Heavenly Feast Sect becoming the top sect in the Cultivation World would be just around the corner.

Wu Liangyi was willing to provide her with corpses, so Gui Nian’an cultivated desperately. She thought that maybe one day she could grow strong enough to kill him. Unfortunately, corpse refining had major limitations. With each breakthrough, the required corpse qi increased dramatically.

A hundred years ago, after she broke through to Nascent Soul, Wu Liangyi had thrown over five thousand corpses into her, yet her cultivation didn’t advance a bit.

After that, Wu Liangyi gave up on her and sent her to He Yongda’s courtyard to serve as his sparring partner.

She hadn’t absorbed corpse qi in over a year, and her body had reached its limit. She had come over just now because she smelled the corpse qi.

If she hadn’t absorbed He Yongshi’s corpse qi in time, she might have died like that.

Bo Xuenong understood. “So all the children from your village who came to the Heavenly Feast Sect—except you—have become people of the Heavenly Feast Sect? And turned into demonic cultivators?”

“Yeah.” Gui Nian’an nodded with a pained expression. “They betrayed the village.”

Bo Xuenong said, “No wonder.”

Gui Nian’an didn’t quite understand what Bo Xuenong meant, so Bo Xuenong told her about the Contention Petal Talisman.

Thinking of how Gui Nianqin had been trapped in someone else’s scheme for so many years, Gui Nian’an’s eyes turned red with anger. “Heh! What good looks can survive? The prettier you are, the shorter you live!”

Gui Nian’an sneered twice and strode off to settle accounts with the one who had schemed against her grandmother. But after two steps, she turned back. “Miss Bo, He Yongda has a barrier set up in this courtyard. I can’t leave it. Do you have a way?”

Bo Xuenong replied, “Aren’t you also at Nascent Soul?”

Gui Nian’an bit her lip bitterly as a yin-cold aura spread from her. “He devoured Uncle Li and is now at Nascent Soul late stage. My cultivation comes from corpse qi—it’s not orthodox. I’m no match for him.”

Nascent Soul late stage.

He Yongda was even tougher than imagined.

Bo Xuenong took out a bottle of pills from her storage jade bracelet and handed it to Gui Nian’an. “Kill him, and you can leave the barrier. This is Jade Spirit Pills. Taking them will multiply your spiritual power, though there are some side effects.”

The moment Gui Nian’an took the pills, Bo Xuenong suddenly grabbed her hand and quickly placed a curse seal on her wrist.

The dark red mark flashed once. Gui Nian’an paused. “Death Seal?”

“I don’t trust you.” Bo Xuenong’s lips pressed into a tight line. “Don’t worry—as long as you don’t harm me, you won’t die.”

Gui Nian’an held the pills and suddenly laughed out loud.

Her reaction was completely unexpected. Bo Xuenong pouted in dissatisfaction. “What are you laughing at?”

“This is the first time I’ve seen someone plant a death seal and announce it upfront.” Gui Nian’an rolled up her long sleeve, revealing an arm stained with blood. She patted it lightly, and dozens of fresh red marks instantly appeared on her arm—all different death seals. “See? You should plant death seals silently, in a hidden spot. Yours is too obvious.”

Bo Xuenong hadn’t expected one person to have so many death seals. Anyone marked with one would die in agony, bleeding from all orifices, if they attacked the sealer. “With these, you probably can’t take revenge.”

Gui Nian’an carelessly rolled her sleeve back down. “I can’t act myself, but I can get others to do it.”

She pointed at He Yongshi. “Actually, I can control corpses.”

Gui Nian’an hooked her index finger lightly, and gray mist wrapped around He Yongshi’s corpse again. It was as if he came back to life—the layers of ice melted away, but no more blood flowed out. The blades in his body fell off one by one, and his wounds actually healed. Apart from his eyes gradually turning crimson, he looked just like a living person.

Gui Nian’an held her palm out to Bo Xuenong. A little person identical to her crawled out from her palm. “After breaking through to Nascent Soul, this appeared in my body. She has corpse control abilities. The more corpse qi she accumulates, the more bodies she can control.”

Bo Xuenong understood.

It wasn’t that the corpse qi needed after Nascent Soul increased a thousandfold, stalling Gui Nian’an’s progress. Instead, Gui Nian’an had diverted all the corpse qi to this little person.

Her body was covered in death seals. If her cultivation grew too fast, someone might fear her revenge and strike first. By transferring corpse qi to the little person, she could grow stronger in secret and lower the Heavenly Feast Sect’s guards against her. Gui Nian’an was smart. The only thing she hadn’t anticipated was how thoroughly Wu Liangyi and the others would seal her fate, trapping her in this courtyard and nearly letting her die from lack of corpse qi to absorb.

The little person controlled corpses—it wasn’t her body acting.

The death seals couldn’t kill Gui Nian’an.

Bo Xuenong pointed at the little person. “Why tell me your life-saving method? And show it to me? You should know I could plant another death seal on this clone of yours anytime.”

Gui Nian’an replied, “If planting a death seal puts you at ease, then do it.”

Gui Nian’an could see Bo Xuenong’s doubts. She gazed at her as if seeing someone else through her. “You’re from the Imperial Serenity Sect. I’m willing to trust a friend. Things in the village can’t get any worse. You’re already great for coming to help us on Aoqing’s account. It’s normal not to trust me right after we met. If…”

Bo Xuenong pushed Gui Nian’an’s hand back and gently wiped the death seal from her wrist, making it vanish. “Can you… not tell my master that I planted a death seal on you?”

Gui Nian’an looked puzzled. “Miss Bo?”

Bo Xuenong touched her lips, feeling the blood fragrance overshadowed by inner irritation.

She subconsciously stepped back two paces. “You seem like a pretty good person. My master doesn’t like me hurting good people.”

Gui Nian’an rubbed her ears several times before confirming that she hadn’t misheard Bo Xuenong’s words. She couldn’t understand why the person who had just planted a death seal to threaten her suddenly acted so timid. “Miss Bo, are you very afraid of your master?”

“You’re talking nonsense. I’m not afraid of Master—I just don’t want to make her sad!” Bo Xuenong mumbled. “If Master is sad, then I’ll be sad too. I can’t do anything she doesn’t like, and I’ll try hard to do everything she likes! I want to be the person Master likes and not the one she dislikes!”

The more she spoke, the fiercer Bo Xuenong’s tone grew. “You can’t tell Master that I planted a death seal on you, or I’ll definitely kill you.”

Gui Nian’an found it stranger and stranger. She rubbed her ears again and suddenly came to a realization. “I get it. The ‘master’ you’re talking about, Miss Bo, is probably your dao companion, isn’t she?”

Bo Xuenong’s face instantly turned beet red. She scratched at her cheek incoherently. “What nonsense are you spouting? Master is Master… Master is…”

She grew furious.

The Gui Nian’an before her eyes only seemed more and more irritating.

Gui Nian’an vaguely sensed trouble and let her gaze drift lightly. “Miss Bo’s master must be a beautiful, kind-hearted, incredibly gentle, and powerful cultivator, right?”

When Gui Nian’an praised Shen Yanting, the resentment in Bo Xuenong’s heart dissipated at once. She had already forgotten about the blood scent lingering in the air, and the corners of her mouth lifted unconsciously. “That’s natural!”

Gui Nian’an: “…”