Chapter 305: Double Corpses Ascend, Various Evils Refine the Body

Wang Yu found a suitable spot and tossed out his feng shui compass. Twelve blank tier-two formation flags, arranged according to the Twelve Earthly Branches, were planted in all directions. A faint blue feng shui array rapidly expanded from the small compass until it established a connection with the twelve flags and stabilized.

This kind of ordinary feng shui formation, though naturally occurring, was similar in grade to a 'human-level' formation, not meeting the standard of an 'earth-level' formation. Even Wang Yu, a novice geomancer, could set it up. The ingenious part was that this environment was exceptionally suitable for zombies. With the feng shui compass's augmentation, the surrounding yin mist converged. Once the feng shui array and formation stabilized, Wang Yu placed the Lunar Malice-Nurturing Coffin at the very center of the formation, clapped his hands, and decided he was done.

Everything that needed to be set up was in place. Paired with the Malice-Nurturing Coffin, promotion was only a matter of time. He still needed to seize the opportunity to continue exploring this secret realm. Equipment and treasures were one thing. Burial grounds like this, where many cultivators were interred, were bound to have spawned pits of malevolent energy underground or in special locations. As for the type of malevolent energy, he would only know once he saw it.

After confirming everything was in order, he retrieved his feng shui compass. He ran his fingers across his eyes, activating his secret art, the Golden Pupils of Qi Sight. The needle of his feng shui compass began to sway.

"This place is yin-aligned, primarily composed of tombs. The west belongs to malevolent energy, with earth veins confronting north and south, central calculations... I'll head northwest first." After quietly calculating for a bit, he realized he had hit a dead end. Wang Yu honestly used his Golden Pupils to observe the flow of terrestrial qi. Since malevolent energies were fierce and life-devouring, finding a place where vitality receded was sure to lead to them.

And so it was. Within a few days, Wang Yu not only discovered an underground palace tomb but also a naturally formed pit of malevolent energy.

"It's Yellow Spring Malevolent Energy! Indeed, since this is a secret burial ground of the Nether Spring White Bone Dao, Yellow Spring Malevolent Energy should be the most prevalent type of malevolent energy." This type wasn't as pure as Lunar Malice, but it was still a top-tier yin-based malevolent energy, perfectly suited for cultivation through the Netherworld Demonic Dragon Art. Furthermore, such pits of malevolent energy likely contained roots of malevolent energy or secondary malevolent beads, both excellent materials for crafting magic treasures, which could be integrated into his Bloodline True Artifact to enhance the origin of his Dragon Armor.

The so-called Yellow Spring Malevolent Energy was extremely yin and cold, rumored to be a type of malevolent energy born in the Yellow Springs. In this realm, it was both rare and not so rare, due to the large number of Yellow Spring Dao cultivators. They could also give rise to this type of malevolent energy after death. In other places, it wouldn't be so convenient to collect, and living beings couldn't enter the Yellow Springs directly; they could only find ways to draw out its power.

Wang Yu first spent half a day exploring the underground palace. Inside the sarcophagi of every underground palace here, there was invariably a Tier-3 Yellow Spring Crystal or an Azure Nether Crystal, both superior treasure materials that could be refined as the core of a magic treasure. Cultivators from the Yellow Spring Temple would all be willing to pay heavily for them. As for Azure Nether, it was essentially the 'sky' of the Yellow Springs, rumored to be composed of worlds of death. Its specific mysteries were not something a minor figure like Wang Yu could glimpse.

Though Core Formation cultivators possessed divine abilities like moving mountains and filling seas, they had only just stepped through the gates of cultivation. In the demonic path, he had not truly entered. Only by absorbing and refining demonic qi could one become a true demonic cultivator. Within two hundred years, he was confident he could advance to the Nascent Soul stage, truly entering the realm of the demonic path.

Using secret feng shui arts to bypass numerous restrictions, Wang Yu easily acquired two types of Tier-3 materials before returning to the edge of the Yellow Spring malevolent energy pit. It was like a massive pit burning with murky yellow flames. After activating the Netherworld Demonic Dragon Art, Wang Yu jumped straight in. These malevolent energies, though appearing like flames, actually had a water-like quality. Upon sensing Wang Yu's presence, they clung to him like maggots, relentlessly corroding his physical body.

Assuming the stance of Demonic Dragon Fist, Wang Yu began to practice, striking with punches and kicks at an incredibly slow pace, enduring the sensation of intense pain assailing his body. Throughout his limbs and bones, the excessive nourishing dragon blood energy was fully activated, constantly repairing his damaged body. After circulating through his major meridians according to the cultivation art's path, it surged into his dragon spine. His divine marrow finally began to grow stronger, strengthening at a visible pace, thread by thread, steadily progressing.

Half a month later, this Yellow Spring malevolent energy pit was completely depleted. At the bottom, not far from where the Yellow Spring malevolent energy had emerged, Wang Yu dug up a murky yellow bead. This was a Malevolent Bead! He summoned his Malevolent Demonic Dragon Armor to devour and slowly digest it. Wang Yu then took out his feng shui compass again and began searching for other malevolent energy pits and underground palace tombs.

In the second location, he found White Bone Malevolent Energy. In the third, he found Netherworld Malevolent Energy. In the fourth, it was Yellow Spring Malevolent Energy again. He continued exploring one place after another in a cycle, accumulating more and more Tier-3 materials, though the homogenization was becoming a bit severe.

Three full months passed this way. At the end of July in the fifth year of Elder Wang Yu's career, within a Yellow Spring pit, the surging murky yellow flames gradually extinguished. To his slight surprise, Wang Yu dug out a rib-shaped treasure from it. This was a Yellow Spring Malevolent Root! It was a precious treasure only found in a very few malevolent energy pits, capable of continuously generating Yellow Spring Malevolent Energy. After a brief thought, Wang Yu put it away. Crafting this into a magic treasure would be the most profitable use. Even if it became obsolete later, the root's essence could still be consumed by his Malevolent Demonic Dragon Armor.

"A rib... Should I refine it into a sword? Or a spear or staff?"

Just at this moment, an unusual sensation arose in his heart. "Both zombies are about to advance!" Realizing this, Wang Yu immediately transformed into a streak of light, arriving at the Minor Yin Corpse-Nurturing Formation he had set up three months prior. He saw that the Lunar Malice-Nurturing Coffin was already wide open.

The first to begin its advancement was the Lunar Malice Zombie. It had indeed reached its limit earlier and consumed more supplements, countless Golden Core flesh and blood. As soon as Wang Yu lifted the restrictions, its advancement actually began.

"—ROAR!!!"

A soul-shattering, spirit-crushing roar ascended skyward, forming visible sound waves. Wang Yu's eyes lit up. Its second awakened divine ability: Soul-Shattering Sky-Trembling Roar. The potential of a variant zombie was indeed formidable. Though not as powerful as its innate divine ability, it shared a similar terrifying effect with his own Soul-Destroying Spirit-Shattering Death Ray. If both were used against a single person, their soul and spirit would likely scatter. It was also a trump card against demonic beasts that rarely cultivated their souls.

"Not bad, not bad."

After the Lunar Malice Zombie advanced to Tier-3 Mid-stage, its divine abilities and corpse dao techniques made significant progress. Its physical body also showed a slight enhancement, and it awakened more malevolent energy control arts. When their gazes met across the air, the unruly eyes filled with primal killing intent were immediately suppressed by Wang Yu's overwhelming divine sense. The corpse-controlling talismans continued to strengthen. It took a while to calm it down, after which he forcibly stuffed and locked it back into the Malice-Nurturing Coffin.

"Kids get harder to manage as they grow up~"

In fact, his divine sense had progressed faster than his physical body, already reaching the peak of Tier-3 Mid-stage. He could break through to the late stage anytime using a Soul Dream Primordial Pill. He was simply engrossed in body refinement, hoping to advance both simultaneously. "Alright, alright, once the Lightning Zombie finishes its advancement, I'll break through everything that can be broken through. It'll also be about time to return to the sect, lest Zhuo Shouqing think something happened to me."

He mumbled to himself. Suddenly, a thunderclap erupted from flat ground, a powerful bolt of lightning streaking upwards, cleaving the sky in reverse. Like a play, as soon as one act finished, another began! The Lightning Zombie leaped up, not only shattering the auxiliary feng shui array Wang Yu had set up but also completely draining and destroying the natural feng shui formation.

The ferocity of the Lightning Zombie far surpassed that of the Lunar Malice Zombie. Even among variant zombies, the Lightning Zombie ranked in the top ten, while the Lunar Malice Zombie was only mid-to-low tier. If not for its powerful supportive abilities, it wouldn't even qualify as a variant zombie. As the Lightning Zombie advanced to Tier-3 Mid-stage, thunderclouds naturally gathered in the sky. Scattered bolts of lightning descended, all absorbed by it, immediately revealing its dominant abilities.

This sight captivated Wang Yu. If the Corpse Demon Secret Art could seize the body of a zombie of this tier, it would be perfect. One should know that neither "Corpse Demon Bone" nor "Heavenly Yin Blood" corresponded to ordinary zombies or yin souls. Their effects were actually not as heaven-defying as imagined. It was like gaining the power of a rogue Core Formation cultivator: tasteless to eat, yet a pity to discard, purely a chicken rib. However, Wang Yu had investigated the creator of this secret art, the Old Man Heavenly Cripple, who was also a demonic path grandmaster from the late ancient era. He felt that the secret art the man had created, using all his life's power, shouldn't be so rudimentary. Perhaps its true power would only manifest once it was deduced and restored to Tier 4.

His attention refocused on the Lightning Zombie. After absorbing the lightning from the sky, it also awakened its second innate divine ability: Heavenly Lightning Dharma Aegis! This was primarily a defensive ability, but it also had offensive capabilities. He saw it adopt a welcoming posture with its hands. A bolt of lightning suddenly descended from the sky, striking the Lightning Zombie and forming a lightning-qi armor. With a stomp, it rapidly appeared beside Wang Yu. Though it didn't attack, the interwoven lightning crackling and sputtering around its body gave Wang Yu a jolt. It was as if it was saying: "If you can't fight back, I'll annoy you."

"Damn it, you bastard!" Muttering curses, Wang Yu slapped it, and the corpse-controlling talismans quickly layered and strengthened. The Lightning Zombie immediately returned to its original state, looking at its bald head. Wang Yu rapped it fiercely a few times before kicking it into the Malice-Nurturing Coffin.

"Pah!"

With both zombies having completed their advancements, Wang Yu calculated the time. He simply took out a dose of Dragon Blood Secret Medicine and immediately began cultivating the Netherworld Demonic Dragon Art on the spot. All the malevolent energy he had consumed over the past three months had become fuel for his advancement. With sufficient tempering and adequate nourishment, the divine marrow in his dragon spine had grown from the size of a fingernail to that of an egg. With various resources continuously being refined, his qi and blood naturally surged. As the divine marrow grew, it further nourished his physical body, forming a simple cycle.

"The breakthrough is today!"

The Netherworld Demonic Dragon, formed from his qi and blood, burst forth from his body, soaring up and down, guided by Wang Yu's fists. Its three-hundred-meter length rapidly surged, plowing the ground beneath his feet, leaving it shattered. With his powerful physical body, every movement caused sonic booms in the air, sending out rings of turbulent air.

"ROAR!!!"

He didn't know how much time had passed, but when he stopped cultivating, the Netherworld Demonic Dragon's length had surpassed a thousand meters. His qi and blood surged into the sky like wolf smoke, so dense that even fierce winds couldn't disperse it. The divine marrow within his dragon spine grew rapidly, like a dormant dragon ascending to heaven, filling one-third of his dragon spine in one go.