CHAPTER 551: CHAPTER 281: REFINING THE CORPSE WITH LUNAR YIN, ARBOR DEMON CROSSING TRIBULATION (PART 2)

"Chief Zhao, you wouldn’t want County Magistrate Chen to be investigated and dismissed because of some weird happenings with corpses, would you?"

"..."

Just as Zhao Zhonghe was about to say something, a government official cried out not far behind him, "It moved, it moved!"

"What are you yelling about!"

"Boss, the corpse just sat up..."

Xu Qing silently withdrew his hand, which was secretly performing the Corpse Guiding Technique in his sleeve, and quietly observed.

"Even a freshly killed chicken flutters a bit, so what if a dead person sits up? It’s really much ado about nothing!"

Though he spoke dismissively, Zhao Zhonghe did not dare be careless. Chen Guangrui was a rare good official in recent years, and if the County Magistrate were dismissed because of this, he would be deeply unsettled.

Zhao Zhonghe turned to Xu Qing and frowned, "A Demon Hunting Captain from Jinmen Prefecture rarely comes to Linjiang, and I’m no exorcist..."

Xu Qing smiled, "Has Chief Zhao forgotten that I work with the deceased as an undertaker?"

"Brother Xu, can you perform an exorcism?"

"I cannot!"

Xu Qing firmly denied it, but then he added, "Although I can’t perform an exorcism, I have heard of a local method to suppress and control corpses."

"But this method requires someone like Chief Zhao, who is robust and courageous, to perform it!"

Zhao Zhonghe grinned at these words, "What method is this? Tell me!"

Xu Qing beckoned Zhao Zhonghe to lean in closer.

After hearing Xu Qing’s words, Zhao Zhonghe immediately shook his head, "I’m not cut out for shamanistic practices, this won’t work!"

Xu Qing grabbed the escaping Zhao Zhonghe and reminded him again, "Chief Zhao, can you really bear to gamble with County Magistrate Chen’s future?"

"Even putting aside the County Magistrate’s future, if these corpses really undergo supernatural changes and harm Linjiang’s people, it wouldn’t be good either. I believe Chief Zhao wouldn’t want to see such things happen, right?"

"..."

Zhao Zhonghe grimaced, very reluctant, but he eventually agreed.

...

At the execution ground, heads of the condemned fell row by row; beneath the execution grounds, at a place covered by the notice board, two people were shoving each other as if arguing.

"Chief Zhao, you must act quickly. If someone questions you, say you are the vanguard under the Eight Banner Marshals, dispatched by the Marshal to exorcise calamities."

Zhao Zhonghe reacted swiftly, his eyes brightened, "That’s a brilliant idea, if someone asks afterward, I’ll feign ignorance! If anyone dares to laugh at me, I’ll knock their teeth out!"

Though cursing, as soon as he walked out from behind the notice board, Zhao Zhonghe immediately composed himself, pretending to be in a trance, sleepwalking.

On the execution platform, Prefect Lu was reading the crimes of the condemned, planning to proceed with the execution, when he suddenly caught sight of a man dressed as a general, with a flag on his back and a horse whip in hand, muttering as he walked towards where the corpses were placed.

This black-faced, thick-bearded general seemed quite familiar—wasn’t it the chief constable of Linjiang County Government Office, Zhao Zhonghe!

At this time, Zhao Zhonghe was holding a red cup in one hand and a horse whip in the other.

He approached the corpses, using the whip to dip into the vitality dew condensed by the Dharma Realm of the Blood Lake, while chanting and sprinkling the liquid.

"Spirits of heaven and earth, manifest the divine power of the Eight Banner Marshals."

"..."

From a distance, Xu Qing listened to Zhao Zhonghe’s improvised incantations, finding him increasingly like a charlatan.

Prefect Lu vaguely sensed something amiss, but the execution was of utmost importance, so he didn’t bother with Zhao Zhonghe’s antics.

The government officials exchanged glances; one approached to inquire but was glared back by Zhao Zhonghe.

Once the cup’s contents had been sprinkled, Zhao Zhonghe, as instructed by Xu Qing, roared and shouted, claiming that the city’s temple deity, the Eight Banner Marshal, had manifested, commanding the vanguard officer to possess him, to bless the people and avert disasters at the execution ground.

Chen Guangrui, upon hearing this, was puzzled. Chief Zhao, with his thick eyebrows and big eyes, didn’t seem like someone who would lie and play the fool. Could it be...

Prefect Lu then scolded with a frown, "A county’s chief constable acting crazy at the execution ground is disgraceful. County Magistrate Chen, as the main official of Linjiang County, you must manage your subordinates better!"

Meanwhile, Zhao Zhonghe donned the black constable’s uniform. When he returned to the corpses of the Cangyi Group’s rebels, he touched them, and indeed, the corpses were no longer ice-cold.

Looking again at the strange runes drawn on the corpses, they had turned into smudges resembling ink washed away by rain.

Xu Qing stood at a distance, silently observing the crowd.

These corpses were tampered with by the Cangyi Group, or rather, were inflicted with a curse technique by Nan Cuo’s witches using evil techniques.

If Zhao Zhonghe hadn’t stepped in, and these corpses were directly transcended by him, then the Cangyi Group would certainly have set their sights on him as the funeral master.

Now with Zhao Zhonghe breaking these witchcrafts, Xu Qing could safely gather the corpses from the execution ground.

...

That night, in the Chenghuang Temple in the southern part of the city.

The statue of the Eight Banner Marshals suddenly shattered to pieces, Ji Lingzhou, dressed in a cloud-patterned brocade robe, sheathed his sword and said coldly:

"A dead man, really thinks he can protect Dayong’s fate."

Han Renshan remained expressionless and said: "The Eight Banner Marshals are in the Ancient Yin River Dao, unable to interfere with mortal world affairs. This matter is likely unrelated to him."

Ji Lingzhou squinted and said: "Are you saying that person has acted again?"

"Perhaps." Han Renshan took a deep breath and said, "Now, various forces in the Ancient Yin River Dao are mixed together. Brother Ji, do you think that person would be content with solitude, and continue to linger outside?"

"If he really went to the Yin River, that would be better! I want to see who exactly this sneaky rat is."

Meanwhile, at the Funeral Shop.

Xu Qing completed the transcendence for over three hundred corpses, in addition to receiving a reward of ’Ren’ level, he also obtained a ’Di’ level middle-grade Witch Soldier Nurturing Technique.

Those Cangyi Group rebels covered in strange symbols during the day were to be nurtured into Undying Witch Soldiers.

Undying Witch Soldiers are also called Headless Army. Back in the early days when the Eight Banner Marshals campaigned against Nan Cuo, he encountered a Headless Army of nearly ten thousand soldiers.

At that time, the Eight Banner Marshals personally went to the Sect Martial Mansion to ask the Gu Family’s Four Symbols Dao Soldiers to come forward, which led to defeating those Undying Witch Soldiers.

After reading the Witch Soldier Refining Technique, Xu Qing gained new insights into the evil nature of Nan Cuo’s witchcraft.

From the Hundred Infant Tower in Huangping Village; to the Yin-Yang symbiotic contract enforced on the Eight Banner Marshals by the Yin Erosion Dharani King; and then to beheading his own troops and subordinates to refine them into Undying Witch Soldiers using curse techniques.

The witches of Nan Cuo truly resort to all means.

In comparison, Xu Qing’s Ghostly Intrigue Soldier Nurturing Technique seemed moderate and upright.

Besides the Witch Soldier Nurturing Technique that he could not use, Xu Qing also obtained over a hundred Yin Essence Pills.

These Yin Essence Pills were all harvested from those cursed Witch Soldiers.

However, before the Witch Soldiers could be fully refined, he broke the techniques wielded over them.

Xu Qing held a Yin Essence Pill and tried to absorb its pure yin energy to accelerate the cultivation of the Undying Bone.

Now, Xu Qing’s spiritual advancement has reached a bottleneck. To further progress, he must expand his capacity, and break through to Flying Corpse from the Undying Bone.

Since he couldn’t advance in spiritual cultivation, Xu Qing resorted to using all absorbed yin energy to nurture his bones.

After refining the bone in his left hand to Undying Bone using dragon blood, Xu Qing no longer separately refined specific bones but nurtured all remaining bones together.

Progress in cultivation requires accumulation of "chance," and without the arrival of opportunity, even spending a long time might not lead to a breakthrough.

When Xu Qing had dragon blood as a guide, he could quickly refine a single Undying Bone, but without dragon blood, he found that daily progress in cultivation was tortoise-like.

"Opportunity in cultivation is hard to find, and master teachers are rare. Without opportunity, one can only rely on gradual effort."

It’s said it’s hard to move from extravagance to frugality, but Xu Qing didn’t feel much of a sense of loss regarding this.

Zombies are not bound by time, as long as he patiently cultivates, he will eventually refine the Undying Bone to the legendary Returning to Truth Realm.

As they say, accumulating fibers becomes inches, accumulating inches becomes feet; once water reaches inches, it becomes yards.

Regarding opportunities similar to dragon blood...

Keep in mind, a transient rainfall is not as reliable as a constant mountain spring, a sudden burst may not compare with long-term buildup.

"Undying Bone has three stages: the first is condensing bone and injecting spirit, the small success phase; the second is transformation from extreme death to life, the key to great success; lastly is the legendary Lunar Shape Refining, Circulation Returning to Truth Realm...

The final realm only counts as achieved when all 206 bones in the body are refined into Undying Bone, and they all reach the great success stage of transformation from extreme death to life."

After a night of cultivation, Xu Qing’s bones experienced a subtle and imperceptible change.

The Returning to Truth Realm, with undying refinement, unifying bones with the circulation of the five elements, lays the foundation for Kui Ba.

This is also the sole path for zombies to transcend the three worlds and six realms, to become immortal, unaging, and indestructible.