Chapter 56: The Pot and the Pill

Several days passed by.

The daily life of the corpse-buriers did not stir up any waves.

But an undercurrent had now become apparent.

"It appeared again."

Du En, having arrived at the wasteland, stood before the corpses waiting to be buried and looked at the few bodies in his sight.

They all bore traces of being gnawed on by demonic beasts; using a shovel to push them aside, one could see a small hole torn open in the chest and abdomen, with the heart and liver inside gouged out and eaten.

Ren Li was silent for a moment and began to explain, only to smack his lips at the end and add somewhat dejectedly: "However, it can boil soil until it's cooked; that part is indeed not wrong."

Ren Li did not look dejected at all; on the contrary, he was very spirited.

He spoke with a bit of insincerity, and then, he heard Du En's puzzled remark: "But why is it called 'cooked soil'? Could it be that it can boil soil until it's cooked and tastes delicious?"

By noon, although Ren Li was still continuing his enlightenment, Du En was already completely convinced and understood.

Unknowingly, their attitude toward Du En had become increasingly respectful.

Prepared specifically for this moment!

The numbers were becoming more and more numerous, appearing increasingly bold!

"Just a little more, just a little more..."

They did not even see them take action when evil cultivators—who were far more dangerous—caused chaos, so naturally, it was the same when mere demonic beasts committed crimes.

They were very interested in this, but just now, no one had crowded over, standing in place with great restraint.

Although the other party had not heard the previous sentence, seeing the situation at hand, he knew what he was asking and immediately shook his head slightly: "It is just a first-rank demonic beast causing trouble; the stewards value their status, so naturally, they will not take action."

Du En did not find it strange either.

He naturally refused on his end; after all, at the moment, serious matters were urgent, and he really did not have that spare time.

For one, the boss, Du En, was not panicking, and with him there, it was not much of a problem.

At the same time, he secretly paid attention to Ren Li's actions.

The medicinal pill dissolved in his abdomen, and the medicinal power surged outward.

It could be said that the sense of security among the corpse-buriers was now at an all-time high!

"So? Are the stewards still ignoring it this time?"

It was very clear that the demonic beasts brought by the typhoon that passed through earlier had not chosen to leave.

If feigned death is not enough, use cultivation techniques to make up for it!

As long as the cultivation technique is mastered deeply enough, all problems will be solved easily.

From noon until afternoon, from Du En's perspective of perception, Ren Li had not advanced even a fraction of an inch, still stuck fast right there.

Hearing these words of thanks, Ren Li could not help but nod immediately, feeling very gratified inside.

It had become addicted to eating here and was not leaving!

Therefore, people who were attacked, killed, and had their hearts and livers eaten began to appear.

Ren Li did not hesitate and swallowed it in one gulp.

"The storage bag from the legends?"

Du En was immediately lost in thought, drew a conclusion, and used Ren Li's current performance of perceiving the wasteland to verify it.

Du En was still very tactless here, directly turning his head and saying: "What about the method for refining the magical tool and the incantations to control it? Surely you don't need me to help you with anything else, do you?"

Then, Ren Li spoke again: "However, the foremen are eager to try; after all, demonic beasts are not like evil cultivators, and they are quite valuable when beaten and captured, so a few at the Great Perfection of Qi Refining are discussing ambushing and capturing it, and they even wanted to pull me in to join them, which counts as a gesture of goodwill toward me."

The point in time when it became obvious was after he had killed the demonic beast alone and gathered the spiritual herbs.

This topic was thus skipped over.

So, just as the sun was about to set, he woke up, and the state of feigned death from corpse-yin on his body quickly faded away.

Because Ren Li was indeed delving deeper than ever before; that invisible barrier separating him from exploring the profound mysteries had been crossed through the thick outer layer, but the final thin inner layer remained.

The others heard this and subconsciously felt worried, but they were not too worried.

Du En thought to himself again.

Not giving Du En a chance to say anything more annoying, Ren Li flicked his large sleeve and strode away, appearing quite impatient as he walked toward the wasteland to begin today's different kind of sitting meditation.

Ren Li patted his waist, and a pot the size of a palm appeared in his hand, looking quite magical, which made the others widen their eyes.

This layer of separation felt like an abyss!

But in the end, he said nothing; no longer hiding his impatience, he walked straight to the chosen spot for enlightenment, turned his back to the crowd, and sat down in meditation.

It had two handles and a round body, was gray-black in color, and its surface was smooth yet faintly shimmering with profound patterns; it looked only the size of a palm, but it was actually quite heavy, weighing at least several dozen jin.

"So that's how it is..."

"... measuring a gentleman's heart with a petty person's yardstick."

"This is also what you deserve, so there is no need to be so polite."

Fortunately, Ren Li was not a child and had a sense of propriety in his actions.

Corpse-Yin Pill.

Having been "tastelessly" handled like this, his interest in chatting quickly dropped.

"Thank you, Boss!"

Du En finished scanning and memorizing it, then casually handed it to the others.

"I see, I hope they don't mess things up and fall short of success because of the subsequent division of spoils, causing our workload to increase instead of decrease."

"The key lies in how to feign death to establish a deeper and more direct connection with this corpse-burying wasteland... My Breath-Restraining Technique is derived from the evil cultivators' Life-Restraining and Feigned-Death Technique; now that I have mastered it, although it is still just a matter of strengthening breath restraint, when it reaches the stage of great accomplishment, it should be able to gather the original source school as well."

"It seems that just feigning death is clearly still not enough, but at the very least, this path has been proven to be able to complete the first ninety percent."

At the very worst, it can still gather a portion.

"However, just feigning death still seems to be lacking quite a bit..."

Du En did not find it strange either; after all, where there is profit to be made, those overseers naturally would not miss out.

Using Corpse Shade Grass as the main ingredient, the essence of a Guardian Grass Demon Tiger's physical body as a supplementary material, and combining it with other secondary materials, it is a special medicinal pill that can only be obtained by commissioning a Foundation Establishment stage alchemist.

Ren Li was a bit unhappy; after all, this was his masterpiece, how could it be ignored?

Thus, he began to introduce it with a hint of smugness: "The Mature Mud Pot, a first-tier high-grade item, is not just for use as a cooking pot; I specifically added an inflammation-heating artifact restriction to it. As long as you input magic power to activate it, it can draw in surrounding spiritual Qi and convert it into adjustable heat. You could say this one pot solves the two major problems you face in spiritual meal preparation!"

By then, even if one cannot borrow a strange pill like Ren Li did, one can still follow his old path.

Secondly, the overseer Ren Li has great strength; with him here, there shouldn't be any major problems.

Hearing this, they were overjoyed, thanked him in unison, and then received it with both hands.

"I see, you're very thoughtful, thank you."

It is not a spell, just a way of using magic power, so it is not considered difficult.

"You all should take a look too; perhaps you will be able to use it in the future."

When night falls, even if he has to be dragged, he must be dragged away; he cannot be allowed to spend the night here, otherwise, if something happens, none of the corpse buriers will be able to escape.

Du En turned his head to look at the somewhat late-arriving Ren Li.

Visibly, death energy began to permeate, his skin color turned ghastly pale, his vitality withered rapidly, and there was even a faint scent of rot drifting up.

A medicinal pill appeared in his hand.

When he heard the thanks from the crowd, he paused slightly again, seemingly grumbling a bit about Du En's act of being generous at another's expense.

"... Of course not, the usage of 'mature' here refers to what is matured, while 'mud' is a metaphorical term; combined, they are used to indicate that its performance is excellent."

Therefore, Du En was not anxious; after finishing the day's work, he let the others go back first, while he remained there, refining the Mature Mud Pot and imprinting it with his own magic power, all while keeping watch over Ren Li, who had truly become a corpse.

Du En took it and examined it carefully.

Next, it was time for the real business.

Ren Li, who had paused, had actually just forgotten to give it; after saving face with those words, he tossed over a piece of paper without looking back, on which was written the basic, universal method for refining and controlling magical artifacts.

"Shouldn't the focus of attention right now be this magical artifact pot?"

Du En did not mind this and began to set about the work of burying the corpses.

Because his progress in enlightenment today had already far exceeded the previous half a year.

Du En blinked his eyes and did not say anything more.

(End of this chapter)