Chapter 118: Second Corpse Mutation

Wei Hong woke up groggily. He hadn’t expected to actually wake up.

After all, his last memory before passing out was being knocked out by the Tiger Demon.

The blinding light made him uncomfortable. Once he got his bearings, he discovered he was locked in some sort of prison cell.

Though this prison seemed rather carelessly made, just wooden bars fencing him in. Looking carefully around, he saw the other three who had descended into the tomb with him were also locked up together, still unconscious. Even their backpacks and supplies were piled right there.

Looking beyond, in the next cell over, a Water Monkey floated in water, only its head visible above the surface. It watched him with eyes full of pity.

He felt confused. Why had the Tiger Demon captured him? Then he looked again. The Tiger Demon was locked up next to the Water Monkey, its pack of Chang Ghosts huddled fearfully in their cell’s corner.

Wei Hong’s pupils contracted sharply. This wasn’t what he had imagined at all.

His gaze swept over the surrounding wooden bars, and his heart jumped with sudden alarm.

This prison wasn’t just holding the Water Monkey and the Tiger Demon. There were also Water Ghosts, Jiangshi, and a whole lineup of monsters. Yet all these creatures were being extremely docile, not daring to make any trouble.

It was obvious: something far more terrifying was present here.

“You’re awake. Looks like the Tiger Demon knew how to hold back. Saved me the trouble of healing you.”

A voice spoke. A scholar navigated the winding path between the cells. Seeing Wei Hong awake, he spoke directly.

“And who are you, sir? I am from the Touch… Gold sect…”

“I know. Tomb raiders. I saw you come down. Honestly, your conduct is deplorable. Raiding dead men’s tombs doesn’t bother me much, but this place is occupied! You were digging through someone else’s home, understand?” Chen Xiyi stated.

This left Wei Hong feeling awkward, momentarily lost for an explanation.

“Speak,” Chen Xiyi said when the silence went on. “How did you find my tomb? And why are you here?”

“We were sent under orders of Commander Li from Rong City,” Wei Hong blurted out, selling out his backer without hesitation. “He hired us to steal an ancient Guqin from this tomb. A thousand Silver Dollars on completion, he promised. And any other treasure found in the tomb would be ours alone – he just wanted the Guqin.”

Messing up Commander Li’s job might simply mean avoiding Rong City in the future and losing the thousand Silver Dollars.

But lying to the man before him? That meant never leaving here alive.

“Commander Li of Rong City… Huh. Seems this place finds itself in high demand,” Chen Xiyi remarked. He didn’t know what purpose the Guqin served, only that it was gone. It had become Zhangliu.

“Fine. You four stay put for a few days. I’ll figure out what to do with you after I finish my current tasks,” Chen Xiyi declared. Then he left.

He decided to keep these four tomb raiders alive. They would serve nicely as experimental subjects later.

Right now, he needed to perfect the Corpse Demon’s Corpse Body ability. He retrieved the Corpse Demon imprisoned nearby.

He had to admit these trespassers carried diverse Qi Mechanisms within them. Each radiated Resentment Qi, Evil Qi, naturally arising Killer Qi, and more. Alongside these valuable Qi types Chen Xiyi sought, were Yin Qi, Ghost Qi, and others.

While young and strong, these Qi Mechanisms might not cause overt harm. Yet as age crept in, their toxicity would unleash. Worse, marrying and fathering children would inevitably transfer the taint – onto newborns, even embryos — manifesting as deformities or growth deficiencies.

Crucially, these Qi Mechanisms intertwined deeply. Only a Qi Refiner could expel them. Otherwise, they lingered as a perpetual curse, poisoning one’s lifeblood and legacy.

It hardly required guesswork to picture ruthless tomb robbing habits and frequent descents beneath the earth, leading to such accumulation. The quantities might be small, but their potential destruction was immense.

Chen Xiyi extracted a fraction from each. He did not purge it.

He wanted to examine these four specimens. Why could Human Qi and Yang Qi coexist within them alongside these harmful energies?

Normally, Human Qi and Yang Qi actively repelled such negative Qi Mechanisms. Yet, defying logic, they existed together inside these tomb raiders. Their inherited methods likely held the key. Chen Xiyi reflected that the world indeed overflowed with marvels.

Setting the Corpse Demon aside, his thoughts drifted to the other trouble: Rong City’s Commander Li.

The man wouldn’t give up easily. Though a minor annoyance, a persistent one. Four tomb raiders were sent to ransack his domain; others would surely follow.

He needed a solution, and fast.

“Can’t get away,” Chen Xiyi sighed. Journeying out to deal with it himself could take unpredictable time.

Leaving his Shelter carried too much risk. What if a rebellion brewed during his absence?

Dealing with Commander Li would have to wait. He’d monitor the Map, handle the trouble when it arrived on his doorstep.

The man supplied a steady source of experimental subjects. Saved Chen Xiyi the trouble of hunting.

He strapped the Corpse Demon onto the dissection table, activating its Corpse Mutation once more.

[Mutated Corpse, Health Points: 100%, State: Evolving]

“The data aligns. State reverted to Evolving as intended. Note: the prefix shifted from Reviving to Mutated. Clearly a marker of Second Corpse Mutation.”

Chen Xiyi channeled the extracted Evil Qi, Resentment Qi, and other hostile energies into the Corpse Demon.

As these Qi Mechanisms merged, the Corpse Demon’s structure began altering significantly. This structural shift centered on the physical form itself – the Corpse Body Skill was mutating.

He pondered. Perhaps the Corpse Demon’s ultimate potential lay not in the finalized Corpse Body, but in the Corpse Mutation process itself?

Mastering that transformative energy, integrating it with the Corpse Body itself… he could forge an Evolvable Passive Skill.

Therefore, future tests wouldn’t necessarily need the Corpse Demon. He could experiment directly on Skills.

Moreover, this path could unlock the remaining two abilities within the Corpse Demon.

Finally, integrating the tomb raiders’ method – creating harmony between Human Qi, Yang Qi, and destructive Qi types — offered potential optimization.

It wasn’t impossible.

Under ideal conditions, he’d aim higher: blending Water Qi, Earth Qi… even Purple Qi. Creating an immunity to diverse spells.

Since he was pioneering this, why aim low? Crafting just another passive for defense and strength? He had abundant resources.

True, the difficulty wouldn’t be minor. Nor would the cost.

While the Corpse Demon underwent its Second Corpse Mutation, Chen Xiyi stayed busy. He accessed the Cloud Seal Tao Script again; he hadn’t finished analyzing its secrets.

The Cloud Seal Tao Script represented the pinnacle of Innate Divine Abilities and spellwork development within its domain. Other traditions relied on chance for Awakening an Innate Divine Ability. With this scripture, refining Qi and cultivating spirit to manifest the Tao Script Primordial Spirit guaranteed Awakening an Innate Divine Ability linked to spellcraft.

Further, mastering any spell led to born Divine Abilities tied to it. As spell proficiency deepened, more associated Divine Abilities would emerge.

These spell-specific Divine Abilities included effects like reducing the spell’s energy cost, amplifying its power, or transforming it from single-target to area-of-effect, etc.– achieving almost unreal efficiency.

Achieving high mastery over a single spell meant barehanded casting rivaled or surpassed the power gained by using talismans or Ritual Implements, solely through these Divine Ability enhancements.

Thus, the White Cloud Taoists formed two major schools: Ten Thousand Spells Flow (Mage) and One Law Flow (Focused Mastery).

Mages learned myriad spells, stacking numerous passive Divine Abilities.

Focused Masters specialized, often choosing only one or two spells. However, mastering a single spell so profoundly, augmented by its web of Divine Abilities, allowed it to manifest countless effects.

“This… is true Cultivation.” Chen Xiyi couldn’t contain his sense of awe.

Naturally, flaws existed: spell mastery demanded exceptional comprehension (“talent”) and innate foundation (“Bone Foundation”), coupled with massive resources.

The spells themselves were inherently difficult. Their cultivation required sacred Feng Shui sites and rare materials.

For example, Brilliant Light Diamond Body Technique required Gold powder, Silver particles, Copper chunks, and Iron essence. Plus, achieving progress demanded periodic evolution visits to veins of Iron Ore, copper, and other ores.

These costs… few non-Qi Refiners could afford it.

This counted as relatively normal expenditure – you could just buy the materials if rich enough. Consider Boundless Beast Technique. Initially simple animal essence is sufficient. Advancements demanded powerful Spirits. The technique stores beasts; more beasts stored required stronger ones. But achieving Grand mastery unleashed legions of stored beasts to conquer your enemies, letting you literally sit back and win. Sadly, the sheer resource drain makes reaching that thousand-beast-strong pinnacle a distant dream.

The Qi Refinement and Spirit Cultivation method within seemed standard, nothing startlingly divine. The true challenge lay in its affiliated spells. Typically, less wealthy practitioners opted for the Ten Thousand Spells Flow. Initial material costs were feasible. Spellpower lagged behind the One Law Flow, true. But a strong Primordial Spirit, empowered talismans, and arsenal-like variety of spells offered comparable combat capability — still demanding heavy investment, just shifted towards Ritual Implements and talismans instead of exotic cultivation components.

These spells truly broadened Chen Xiyi’s perspective. Yet practicing them remained forbidden. These spells imposed sterner prerequisites than other Taoist paths required.

The essential requirement: possessing the Tao Script Primordial Spirit. Without its core spell-specific Innate Divine Ability, cultivating these spells remained impossible. Even a workaround might grant the base spell, but never the accompanying Divine Abilities which defined the art’s true strength.

It locked the practitioner onto a single, unyielding path.

“Spells and Divine Abilities… a trade-off.”

Most need to spend lifeforce; this path spends money. Without substantial support from a great faction, mastering the Cloud Seal Tao Script proved unrealistic. Regarding the required comprehension (“wisdom”) and innate foundation (“Bone Foundation”)– from Chen Xiyi’s view, this formed the lowest hurdle. Becoming a Qi Refiner itself relied on more than mere luck.

“Luckily, these scriptures aren’t my primary path. Possessing such intricate knowledge about Divine Abilities and spells just adds valuable Nourishment Resources to my collection.”

He couldn’t directly cultivate these methods, true. But he could assimilate their profound principles, integrating the essence into his own evolving Taoist legacy.

That was his destined way forward. Existing established traditions no longer fit him. Lacking Human Qi and Yang Qi stripped him of the foundational energies required by many profound arts. Unless a compatible Spirit chose to support him by lending its unique essence, forging his own path remained the sole viable option.