Chapter 46

Although the overall level is quite high, unfortunately it is the Liu family's cultivation method, which is unsuitable for Zhou Shuo to practice; the Liu family's method relies on corpse qi to cultivate. After a person dies, the three hun scatter, while the seven po remain in the body. These seven po gradually fade as the corpse decays, but due to certain unique internal and external factors, a person's seven po can linger in the body, not dissipating but instead condensing into a single mass, forming a qi—this is corpse qi, the main factor causing a corpse to become a zombie.

The Liu family's cultivation method has the practitioner use qi to condense the seven po of a corpse, nurture corpse qi from the dead body, then meld that corpse qi into their own true qi; over time, the true qi acquires a slight characteristic—not only does it possess a diffusive toxin, but it can also revive a corpse, restoring its vitality.

The Liu family's cultivation method is similar to Zhou Shuo's previous Azure Flame Azure Silk Palm, except that the Azure Flame true qi is refined using the practitioner's own body as a cauldron, aided by medicinal power, whereas the Liu family uses a corpse as the cauldron, condensing the seven po within the deceased's body and cultivating true qi with the corpse qi produced during the corpse's decay.

Merely cultivating true qi is not enough; the practitioner must also learn to control the diffusive corpse qi so as not to harm themselves or others, and to use true qi to provoke a corpse back to life, then subdue it with talismans, turning it into a substitute that can be commanded at will. Mastering all of this takes at least six years.

According to this aberrant cultivation method, Zhou Shuo can roughly guess why Liu Yanyan is so rebellious: before her cultivation succeeded, she was likely confined at home; after social circumstances allowed her to finally complete her training, she was then told she could not freely use her abilities outside, she could control external corpse insects but not the internal ones, causing her to go berserk and seek to join the so-called Quánxìng organization.

Setting aside Liu Yanyan's change of heart, Zhou Shuo feels he cannot master the Liu family's corpse-driving method: first, because the practice is too repulsive; second, because it demands too many conditions—not to mention the corpses required for training, even the practitioner's own strength entirely depends on the corpse, with strength proportional to the corpse's bones and cultivation level.

Although the Liu family's method cannot be practiced, the vast knowledge it contains is an extremely valuable asset. Aside from the Three Corpses Gods, it includes the categorization of the body's seven po and the use of qi. In this world, qi refinement is not as chaotic and ruleless as in the Qin era; exploration of the human microcosm has already delved into the souls and spirits, something the Yangshen world cannot match.

The Yangshen world also holds the view of hun and po, but it remains limited to the spirit hun and blood po—Daoists contemplate to cultivate the spirit hun, while martial artists train the blood po to develop fist intent. In the Liu family's method, however, the cultivation of nurturing corpse qi has already fully identified the seven po within the human body: they are the Corpse Dog, Crouching Arrow, Sparrow Yin, Swallowing Bandit, Non-poison, Eliminating Filth, and Stinking Lung.

Martial artists refine qi and blood together with hun and po into fist intent; after body and spirit unite, various spiritual intuitions arise, which can be found reflected in the seven po. For example, a Martial Saint possesses the intuition of sensing an autumn wind before the cicada stirs, while the Corpse Dog among the seven po signifies a person's perceptual reaction ability—those with a strong Corpse Dog naturally have powerful precognition. Since the corpse is the abode of the hun and the dog guards the home, it is named Corpse Dog.

After a series of extraordinary encounters, Zhou Shuo's flesh had already attained the level of a Martial Saint, yet he still could not achieve unity of spirit and flesh. This time, the Liu family's method of condensing the seven po of a corpse to nurture corpse qi gave him an opportunity: he used qi to condense and shape those seven po, then supplemented it with his original Daoist cultivation; achieving no law, no thought should be fine—except that the three hun are not mentioned in the formula, which likely also hides a secret.

Qi Refining

"Why did it take so long to come back?" Zhou Shuo reacted, twitching his nose. Hmm, meat buns and fresh soup—unfortunately, the room reeks of a bloody corpse stench, but he can only make do; sometimes a too-sensitive nose is truly unpleasant.

With a hint of questioning, Zhou Shuo without hesitation began eating the food Liu Yanyan brought back. Having traversed two worlds, he has developed certain habits; eating directly in front of the corpses in the room is nothing to him, and Liu Yanyan, who has long trained with corpses, feels even less awkward.

"I went to check, I asked Zhang Xilin's family?" Liu Yanyan said, biting into a bun and gulping down the soup while wolfing it down to explain her whereabouts. In fact, she also had someone authenticate the gold coin Zhou Shuo gave her; it turned out to be real gold, though the pattern on the coin was unheard of. She didn't care about that, since the gold was genuine she had profited, so she forgot the previous unpleasantness and bought back the food.

"And then?" Zhou Shuo asked leisurely while eating his bun, simultaneously sensing the changes in the food as it entered his stomach, ready to spit it out immediately if something felt wrong.

"Not sure, I just grabbed a newspaper and asked a random person. I heard that Zhang Xilin died twelve years ago; his corpse was found in the deep mountains, later retrieved by the police. His son has no news, but he has a grandson who studies at Nanbu Kai in Jinmen." Liu Yanyan pondered a bit, feeling she might have stirred up something huge.

"Nanbu Kai?" Zhou Shuo swallowed the soup in his mouth, the corner of his mouth twitching slightly. Which author is being so mischievous?

"Yeah, and it's right here in Jinmen." Liu Yanyan missed the hidden tone in Zhou Shuo's words, instead nodding solemnly. She cared about Zhang Xilin's grandson, who also happens to be studying in Jinmen, and she herself must bring Zhang Xilin's corpse to Jinmen to turn in the mission. His corpse is rich in yang qi; at a glance he was clearly a qi-refining adept in life. She only hopes his grandson won't become an obstacle to her joining Quánxìng.

Great Yin Heavenly-born Divine Chapter

Three Corpses Divine

"Hmm, by the way, I want to ask you something: do you know which three hun make up the human three hun?" Zhou Shuo looked at his ravenously eating sister and asked leisurely while munching his bun.

"The human three hun are the fetal light, the bright spirit, and the dark essence!" Liu Yanyan raised her head, staring oddly at the well-mannered fellow eating politely.

"Hmm, what do they each represent? Do qi cultivators have methods to train them? Just like you gather the seven po of a corpse with qi to nurture corpse qi." Zhou Shuo gave a slight nod.

"I don't know that. There are two theories about the human three hun: one is what I just said—fetal light, bright spirit, dark essence; the other is heaven, earth, and human three hun. I don't know the exact distinction, why are you asking only these questions?" Liu Yanyan felt utterly strange; this fellow's train of thought really is unlike anyone else's.

"Just for fun! I ask you: in the cultivation world, is there a method to inject qi into an object and control it, just as you infuse qi into a corpse to gather its seven po and nurture corpse qi?" Zhou Shuo wasn't surprised; the various theories of the three hun are indeed many, and the Liu family's focus solely on the seven po while ignoring the three hun is not surprising, so let's change the subject.

"That, you said, should be controlling objects and transforming objects, right?" Liu Yanyan lifted her gaze.

"Yeah, that's right—what about creating objects?" Zhou Shuo, hearing Liu Yanyan's technical terms, mentally compared them, nodding repeatedly while guessing: controlling objects means using qi to manipulate items; transforming objects means letting matter emit qi; thus there should be creating objects, letting items develop abilities.

Qi is the source of life; every living being possesses its own qi, but not everyone can master their own qi, let alone be called an adept.

After Zhou Shuo and Liu Yanyan inquired in detail, they learned that adepts are divided into innate and acquired types: an innate adept's qi is born with special abilities, while an acquired adept gains abilities by training their own qi. People can acquire abilities through qi refinement; the Liu family's method can refine corpses to strengthen true qi. So can one, via qi, imbue objects with abilities to practice artifact forging?

"What you said must be artifact forging!" Liu Yanyan's face turned strange; this fellow's train of thought is becoming harder to follow. Artifact forgers are a rare breed; it's not odd that ordinary qi refiners don't know them, but his manner of speaking seems, well, as if he were a complete novice to the qi refinement path.

"Mm-hmm, right, artifact forging—please explain it in detail." Zhou Shuo nodded repeatedly; this world's qi refinement system certainly hasn't disappointed, having already derived an artifact-forging system.

"Well then, let me explain: so-called controlling objects means attaching one's qi to an item in order to manipulate it, while transforming objects means nurturing an object with qi and then reflecting it back to enhance oneself. Each school has its own secret arts for controlling and transforming objects; our Liu family has the transforming method of the corpse-driving staff, and the most famous controlling-objects art should be from the western Jia family village." Liu Yanyan didn't understand why Zhou Shuo was like this—utterly unfamiliar with the qi refinement world—but it didn't stop her from showing off her knowledge.

"Mm, impressive, refining artifacts!" Zhou Shuo nodded repeatedly. Controlling objects, transforming objects—the theories of these two, in the Qin-era world's swordsmanship training have some meaning, but the concepts are quite vague. In the Yangshen world, it's explained clearly; I also studied the Fangxian Classic and the Taiyin Heavenly Born Divine Chapter, but those artifact-refining methods only go as far as qi-blood, essence-qi, fist intention, and divine soul thoughts, not involving the realm of true qi.

"Artifact refining, I don't know about that. As for artifact refiners, I've only heard a little from my old master; such people seem extremely rare, only hearing that the legendary treasures come from their hands." Liu Yanyan looked at someone who loves learning, and involuntarily her face flushed slightly embarrassed; this she really couldn't say.

"Then, about that corpse-driving staff of yours, could you tell me about it?" Zhou Shuo asked carefully.

"That's not a problem, take the core of locust wood, soak it in corpse oil for maintenance; every day at zi hour, that is, between 11 PM and 1 AM, infuse it with one's own true qi..." Liu Yanyan was very generous, she spoke out the method of cultivating the corpse-driving staff, this thing requires corpse oil and also needs to be fed with the true qi refined from the Liu family's cultivation method, and moreover it is only applicable to the Liu family's extraordinary persons, so she doesn't keep it secret at all; if you have the ability, you can cultivate it.