Chapter 159: Refining Corpses

The Earth Fiend Qi surged violently into the cavern.

Qin Sang shivered. Without daring to delay, he quickly suppressed his injuries and activated his movement technique, darting deeper into the cavern. Just then, he felt something unusual, stopped, and turned to look behind him.

He saw that as the Earth Fiend Qi poured in, golden runes suddenly illuminated the cavern walls. These runes were interconnected by golden threads; some glowed brightly, while others were faint, scattered throughout the walls.

The Earth Fiend Qi struck the golden light emanating from the runes and, to his surprise, its advance was stopped.

Qin Sang's eyes lit up. His guess was correct; the cavern indeed had a restriction that isolated the Earth Fiend Qi. Otherwise, it would be impossible for anyone to cultivate in such a place.

But Qin Sang's relief was short-lived.

Whether due to being unmanaged or simply the passage of time, the restriction's power had faded. Facing the ever-increasing surge of Earth Fiend Qi, the runes held out for only a brief period before quickly dimming and then vanishing completely.

The Earth Fiend Qi swept through the cavern, obliterating the runes as if they were dried leaves. Its invasive speed was only slightly reduced.

Witnessing this, Qin Sang abandoned all hope. He sighed inwardly and swiftly darted towards the depths of the cave dwelling. In truth, he had no firm plan, fearing that the cavern might lead to a dead end and the Earth Fiend Qi would persist. He could only proceed one step at a time.

The cavern was not wide, and the unknown contents within made it ill-advised to travel openly by sword.

Qin Sang activated his Falling Cloud Wings and moved stealthily.

This magical artifact had accompanied him since his time at Kuiyin Sect, proving its immense value on numerous occasions. Unfortunately, its essence was that of a malevolent artifact, destined to self-destruct eventually. Thus, Qin Sang used it sparingly, saving it for critical moments.

Unsure of the conditions within the cavern, he decided caution was paramount.

Fortunately, the cavern was not a dead end. As he ventured deeper, he found numerous branching paths, leading up, down, left, and right, converging and diverging in an intricate network. This silently astonished Qin Sang, as the internal space was far larger than he had imagined.

His figure moved swiftly, and he soon arrived at a three-way fork. All paths led deeper into the cavern, but one branched left, one upward, and one downward.

After a moment's thought, Qin Sang chose the downward path.

The upper part of the burrow had no cavern entrance and was likely a dead end. Qin Sang had attempted to attack the stone walls; while the restrictions on them couldn't hold back the Earth Fiend Qi, they were certainly beyond his ability to breach.

Qin Sang had been the quickest to react at the time. If any others had managed to escape into the cavern, they would be further down. The burrow was too eerie, so he decided to first find a way to reunite with his companions before confronting any potential dangers.

Qin Sang's figure flickered repeatedly, reaching the end of the stone path without any hindrance. There, he found a tightly shut stone door, apparently protected by a restriction.

Upon seeing the obstacle, Qin Sang's expression subtly changed. Although he had encountered stone doors along the way, they had all been wide open. This was the first time he faced a closed one. If the restriction on the stone door proved too powerful, he could very well end up trapped and perish here!

He tentatively extended his spiritual energy and easily broke the restriction on the stone door. The restriction on the door was not integrated with the ones on the surrounding walls.

"Fortunately!"

Qin Sang secretly felt relieved.

Just then, a rumbling sound echoed from behind him as the Earth Fiend Qi relentlessly pursued. Qin Sang dared not hesitate further; he pushed open the stone door with force, only for a sudden malevolent gust of wind to surge out.

"Someone's inside?"

Qin Sang was both startled and pleased; his figure shot back, evading the sneak attack.

The attacker wasn't particularly fast. Qin Sang easily dodged far away and watched as a dark shadow lunged at the spot where he had just been. A black, human-like hand swiped through empty air, its five fingers striking the nearby stone wall.

With a sharp 'CRACK,' several sparks flew from the impact.

The hand was dry and skeletal, covered in stiff, black hairs like steel needles. Its fingernails, longer than its fingers and sharp as blades, were pitch black and faintly tinged with a strange, dark green aura, clearly indicating poison.

"Hoo... hoo..."

The dark shadow turned, revealing a monster with a human-like form but a vicious, ghastly appearance. Its fangs, like its nails, were tinged with black and green qi. Beneath its dense black fur, its skin faintly glinted with a metallic sheen, like bronze or iron.

The monster stared greedily at Qin Sang, guttural noises rumbling in its throat.

"A zombie?"

A hint of surprise appeared on Qin Sang's face. No wonder he hadn't detected any aura from it; it wasn't a living being, but a zombie startled by the scent of a living person.

Just as flora, fauna, rocks, and even artifacts can transform into spirits or monsters, so too can corpses.

This is especially true for cultivators who die unexpectedly. If their bodies happen to land in a unique terrain, retaining residual spiritual power and resisting decay for years, then under the influence of persistent obsession, they can undergo a 'corpse transformation'.

Within the Demonic Sects, some demonic cultivators practice the path of corpses and ghosts. They are skilled in the art of corpse refinement, able to turn the corpses of mortals, or even cultivators, into corpse puppets and control them in battle.

The "Corpse Core Secret Art" that Qin Sang acquired from Gu Tiannan was not a corpse refinement technique but rather resembled alchemy.

Among all types of refined corpses, zombies are the lowest and weakest. Most naturally formed zombies fall into this category.

If, by sheer chance, a mortal's corpse is buried in a place with extremely potent Yin Qi, it can easily transform into a zombie. Some grow white fur, others black, and they assume various bizarre forms. Mortals, unaware of the nuances, might believe there's a significant difference between "white zombies" and "black zombies," when in reality, they are all merely the most common type of zombie.

The weakest zombies merely possess great strength, are impervious to pain, and have tough bodies. They are also vulnerable to objects imbued with Yang Qi, and even mortals possess methods to subdue them.

However, if it's an ancient corpse, or a zombie puppet refined by a cultivator, it's beyond the capabilities of mortals.

The zombie before Qin Sang was precisely this type. Its flesh was extraordinarily tough, like metal, and its movements were agile, with virtually no discernible weaknesses. Furthermore, it emitted corpse poison qi. Even cultivators at the eighth or ninth layer of the Qi Refinement stage would find it challenging to deal with, and a single misstep could lead to their demise at its hands.

If a zombie absorbs sufficient Yin Fiend Qi, it can transform into a Fiend Corpse. Powerful Fiend Corpses move with incredible speed and can manipulate Yin Fiend Qi, making even Foundation Establishment cultivators somewhat apprehensive of them.

Naturally evolved Fiend Corpses are exceedingly rare. They harbor an intense hatred for living beings and are inherently bloodthirsty. Should one ever appear in the mortal realm, it would undoubtedly herald a major catastrophe.

Some demonic cultivators can also meticulously refine Fiend Corpse puppets by channeling Yin Fiend Qi.

It is said that above Fiend Corpses exist Flying Yakshas, beings capable of rivaling Golden Core cultivators. They are masters of the Five Elements Escape Techniques, possessing immense and unfathomable power.

Few demonic cultivators possess the ability to refine corpse puppets of the Flying Yaksha caliber. The difficulty is immense, requiring not only the corpse of a powerful cultivator but also numerous rare spiritual treasures. The process is exceedingly complex, comparable to forging a powerful magical artifact.

In ancient times, there were even Celestial Corpses said to have achieved enlightenment and ascended to the immortal realm. However, with human cultivators now struggling to even reach the Nascent Soul stage, such tales exist only in legends.

Seeing that his attacker was a zombie, Qin Sang felt a tinge of disappointment. He immediately summoned his Five Elements Law-Breaking Sword and effortlessly cut the creature in two. His figure then flickered, bringing him swiftly to the side of the bisected zombie.