Chapter 44: Completing the Missing Limb

At Xu Manor in Evildust Quarter, Su Qingshan watched grimly as the jade pendant in his hand shattered. This twin-fish pendant was a token of love between him and Xu Jiaojiao, and its breakage signified the death of one of them.

However, a smile quickly appeared on his face.

While it was regrettable that his revenge had not succeeded, he was still overjoyed to be rid of Xu Jiaojiao, that sickly fat pig.

Su Qingshan glanced around, then burst into laughter.

Opening his storage pouch to its widest extent, he began packing up all the valuable items in Xu Manor. Although these items were miscellaneous, they were worth a considerable amount of spirit stones when combined.

Even the most valuable land deeds were now his!

As for Deacon Xu's retaliation once he returned, Su Qingshan was utterly unconcerned. With Wang Yu, the murderer of Xu's daughter, drawing all the hatred, Su Qingshan decided to find refuge somewhere far from the sect gate.

After leaving a letter, he naturally went to Ice Snow Tower to find Zhao Shang, hoping the latter could arrange a suitable assignment for him to lie low for a few years.

After hearing Su Qingshan's request, Zhao Shang couldn't help but reveal a strange expression.

"Brother Qingshan," Zhao Shang began, "I suggest you go to Blood Nether Quarter and purchase an ordinary Profound Bone Token. Profound Bone Mountain is one of the furthest places from the sect gate in Maple Province."

"That works," Su Qingshan agreed almost without hesitation, as the situation was urgent and avoiding calamity was paramount.

Upon successfully returning to Evildust Quarter, Wang Yu immediately examined the Tier 2 Divine Strength Corpse Arm in his hand.

Zombies are one of the evil creatures of heaven and earth, born from resentment and feeding on blood. Their types and ranks are extremely complex. Should a zombie survive a heavenly lightning tribulation, it can develop rudimentary sentience and even gain an opportunity to ascend.

They are broadly categorized into three types: Armored Corpses, Fiendish Corpses, and Aberrant Corpses!

In the lineage of Celestial Corpse Peak, Armored Corpses are primary, followed by Fiendish Corpses. Aberrant Corpses are the rarest, often formed when a Nascent Soul seed with a natural spirit physique undergoes zombification, inheriting their pre-mortem spiritual abilities, making them highly unique.

Armored Corpses are divided into four tiers: Bronze-Armored Corpses, Iron-Armored Corpses, Gold-Armored Corpses, and Undecaying Bones, corresponding respectively to the Qi Condensation, Foundation Establishment, Core Formation, and Nascent Soul stages!

Fiendish Corpses are divided into four tiers: Hairy Zombies, Green Zombies, Flying Zombies, and Yakshas, corresponding to the same stages as above.

Aberrant Corpses do not have singular names; they are often named based on their unique characteristics, making them difficult to classify systematically.

Zombies controlled by cultivators are collectively known as Refined Corpses, meaning, as the name suggests, zombies that have been refined and controlled and are used in combat through corpse manipulation!

Previously, the Frost Corpse promised by True Heir Su was a type of Fiendish Corpse that had absorbed frigid fiendish energy. It matched Wang Yu's attributes, and using a Frost Corpse arm to reattach his severed limb would have been the most suitable option.

The Divine Strength Corpse, on the other hand, is a type of Mighty Corpse within the Armored Corpse category, often refined from the bodies of those naturally gifted with immense strength or cultivators practicing body-refining techniques, possessing limitless power.

They can effortlessly tear apart tigers and leopards and lift nine cauldrons!

The arm was entirely grayish-white, with bulging, knotted muscles and dark bluish-black capillaries beneath the skin. Potent corpse energy formed a pattern resembling mountain ridges and scales on its surface. It was three times larger than Wang Yu's right hand.

Wang Yu furrowed his brow and silently activated the Corpse Demon Secret Art. For some time, this secret art had been in a 'passive' state, continuously absorbing yin and corpse energies even after reaching completion, merging them with his own spiritual power to form "Yin Blood Pills."

Using the fragmented rune particles in his blood as a core, each Yin Blood Pill was formed, flowing through his blood vessels and circulating throughout his entire body.

Due to the incompleteness of the secret art, only one such pill could exist in his body at a time. With careful manipulation, Wang Yu opened his mouth and spat out a Yin Blood Pill, sending it into the corpse arm. He then infused spiritual power to begin the refinement process.

This was a relatively long process.

The effect of the Yin Blood Pills was to transform this corpse arm, making it adapt to Wang Yu's body. Every minute detail required adjustment and modification, and one pill was far from enough.

Fortunately, the 'passive state' feature allowed him to condense Yin Blood Pills automatically, preventing any shortage.

As time passed, under the effect of countless Yin Blood Pills, the left arm began to shrink, its appearance becoming fundamentally consistent with Wang Yu's right hand, gradually achieving a match.

This was merely a surface change; deeper within, every component and structure was being assimilated by Wang Yu's Yin blood. This Tier 2 corpse arm was indeed not easy to refine.

It took a full two months.

On this day, Wang Yu changed his hand seals with his right hand and softly commanded, "Connect!"

The corpse arm had already taken on his form. As the severed end drew close to his shoulder, countless dense threads of yin-corpse energy instantly linked the two parts.

Bones reconnected, flesh merged, meridians resumed, and nerves restored!

With these four successive transformations, Wang Yu shivered intensely. The arm's flexibility was no different from his original hand.

While regaining his left arm was indeed exhilarating, it brought a new problem: it had no life force!

A corpse was a corpse; after being a zombie for too long, it had long lost the vitality a living person should possess.

Although Wang Yu had become somewhat inhuman after cultivating the Corpse Demon Secret Art, his fundamental nature remained unchanged.

Now that the corpse arm's bones were connected to his own, and their internal marrow made contact, a deathly aura began to slowly erode his body, starting at the bone marrow level.

Wang Yu's expression grew serious.

This was a form of deathly affliction; if the death energy permeated his bone marrow, it would shorten his lifespan in mild cases and cause sudden death in severe ones.

Ironically, due to the Corpse Demon Secret Art, his own bones were also abnormal, forming a symbiotic relationship with this death energy. If utilized well, this death energy could become his trump card.

Similarly, under normal circumstances, being "afflicted by death energy" would mean he wouldn't live for more than ten years, despite his youth and abundant lifespan. However, even though the secret art was incomplete, it was still effective.

Furthermore, with the suppression of his spiritual cultivation, he should be able to maintain balance. As long as the death energy was confined to this arm and did not invade his main body, his lifespan would naturally be secure.

Once the Corpse Demon Secret Art was fully restored to Tier 2, the issues with this corpse arm could be completely resolved.

Thus, this could be considered a temporary conclusion.

After his left arm recovered, its strength clearly surpassed his right arm significantly. His dark fingernails clawed at the rock wall, effortlessly tearing through it as if it were tofu.

The sheer terror of its power already surpassed the limits achievable by a Qi Condensation cultivator.

Wang Yu was deep in thought.

His original plan was to purchase a magic artifact, but with the Tier 1 High-grade Nether Spirit Iron Chain he had obtained from Xu Jiaojiao, there was no need to buy another. This artifact was also perfectly suited for his use.

Paired with this powerful Divine Strength left hand, he could slay opponents of the same cultivation stage as easily as slaughtering chickens!

Instead, he should prepare more medicinal ingredients to refine a large quantity of auxiliary and functional spiritual pills, such as Fasting Pills, Spirit Recovery Pills, Obstruction Dispelling Pills, Scent Erasing Powder, and so on.

He even refined a few bottles of the wondrous pills for entertainment, preparing for his journey to Profound Bone Mountain. Simultaneously, he also needed to purchase a set of formation flags for use while traveling.

So, another month passed.

It was December of Wang Yu's second year in the outer sect, early autumn. A dusty, weathered team returned to the Inverse Spirit Blood Sect. There were only about eighty members, but every single one was at the late-stage Qi Condensation realm.

Half of them had even reached the ninth level of Qi Condensation, each just a step away from Foundation Establishment!

This was precisely the team that had departed the sect five years ago for Profound Bone Mountain. Such a sight genuinely astonished many.

"What kind of opportunity," someone murmured, "could Profound Bone Mountain possibly hold?"

"Junior Brother Wang!"