Chapter 331: Silver Talisman and Corpse Crafting Art

Indeed, these white stones were all made of the same rare petrification force that had turned the three Luorì Sect disciples into powdered stone.

As for this long petrified trench, it was clearly caused by the Yin Corpse Rat's beam of light.

This sent a chill down Wang Yu's spine.

Had he not anticipated the attack and immobilized it beforehand instead of trying to block it head-on, being struck by that beam would have left him in dire straits—whether it killed him outright was uncertain, but he certainly wouldn't have escaped unscathed.

Wang Yu pondered, then held his previously numbed fingers up to his eyes.

A faint tingling still lingered at his fingertips.

After all, since his Black Tiger Corpse Body had reached completion, his flesh had grown extraordinarily strong, enveloped continuously by a transparent qi membrane that even ordinary entry-grade artifacts struggled to pierce.

Yet this petrification force bypassed the membrane entirely, still causing numbness in his fingers—proof of its strangeness.

Petrification force, as the name suggests, is the ability to turn living beings into stone; this form before him, though not full internal petrification, was a partial external petrification.

Moreover, this petrification force could numb the body and absorb vital essence—clearly terrifying.

According to the texts he knew, petrification abilities were exceedingly rare; few cultivators were said to master them, but several rare beast species possessed petrification as a natural talent.

At this thought, Wang Yu rapidly sifted through detailed information on several petrifying beasts.

"Stone Bat Rat."

Wang Yu's heart stirred as he recalled the largest undead rat corpse beneath the well; a look of sudden understanding crossed his face.

He slapped his waist pouch.

A white scroll unfurled, ejecting the recently collected crimson bat wings and the desiccated corpse of a giant rat.

Both floated lightly before him.

Wang Yu waved one hand; under precise spiritual sense control, the two crimson bat wings adhered perfectly to the two blood marks on the giant rat's back.

Their size and length matched almost exactly.

Indeed, this giant rat corpse was the rare beast known as the "Stone Bat Rat," recorded in texts as possessing both petrification and flight abilities.

These bat wings had been plucked from this creature and grafted onto the Yin Corpse Rat he had seen earlier.

But according to the texts, the Stone Bat Rat's petrification came from its saliva—anyone sprayed would turn to stone instantly, with no apparent connection to its wings.

Moreover, the method of petrification had shifted from saliva spray to a direct beam attack of greater power.

Recalling the other rat corpses beneath the well, missing organs and limbs, this Yin Corpse Rat truly seemed assembled by some peculiar method.

Such a crafted undead was deeply strange—was it perhaps the Mo Luo Sect's unique secret art?

And what connection did the Tong family have with this dwarf?

Was this Yin Corpse Rat crafted by the dwarf himself, or secretly made by the Tong family?

Wang Yu's mind raced with thoughts and doubts; he waved one hand, retrieving the intact Stone Bat Rat corpse into his pouch, then moved swiftly, floating lightly toward the direction where the dwarf had self-exploded.

Though the Mo Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator's pouch had been destroyed in the explosion, leaving nothing inside, the black iron cone and iron shield were genuine second-grade artifacts—he must retrieve them.

…

"This is…"

Wang Yu held the black iron cone in one hand and gripped a small, pitch-black shield in the other, staring at the faint silver bottle's phantom floating before him, his face showing surprise.

He remembered clearly: this object's original form had been a silver talisman, which had absorbed all the poison hidden within the fist imprint.

But wasn't this supposed to be a one-time-use item? Why was it still here?

Wang Yu tucked away the two artifacts, waved one hand, drawing the bottle phantom closer, then extended a finger to touch it.

It felt weightless, as if it had no mass at all, yet possessed a distinct smooth texture, as if it were truly a metal bottle.

He gazed intently at the bottle's phantom, noticing layer upon layer of silver spiritual patterns, countless in number.

Staring too long, he faintly felt as if his body and spirit were being sucked inward.

After exhaling softly, Wang Yu carefully channeled a trickle of qi through his fingertip into the bottle.

"Puff."

The bottle trembled slightly; its silver patterns layered and surged forth, then suddenly dissolved into a streak of silver mist that sank into his fingertip and vanished without a trace.

Wang Yu's body froze.

Was this thing alive?

He drew a sharp breath, quickly formed hand seals, sat cross-legged, and probed his body with his spiritual sense.

Not in his palms, not in his arms, not in his dantian—his spiritual sea…

Wang Yu scanned every part of his body, finally discovering a floating silver talisman in his spiritual sea.

This thing could hide inside his spiritual sea!

Wang Yu's heart shook violently.

He had never heard of anything entering the spiritual sea except third-grade or higher artifacts, which could be rendered intangible and nurtured within it to cultivate their spirit.

Even third-grade talismans were not known to possess such a function—could this be some ultra-high-grade special talisman?

But if it were so high-grade, why had the dwarf used it only to absorb a small amount of poison?

Wang Yu, puzzled and wary, observed the talisman in his spiritual sea for a while.

The silver talisman, like the earlier bottle, was hazy and indistinct, seeming both illusory and real, its surface covered in countless overlapping spiritual patterns, exuding profound mystery.

Seeing the talisman lie still in his spiritual sea with no sign of anomaly, Wang Yu hesitated, then released a thread of spiritual sense to gently touch it.

The next instant, silver light surged in his spiritual sea—the silver talisman vanished without a trace.

At the same moment, the silver talisman reappeared silently in his hand.

Wang Yu's face showed slight astonishment; he channeled a bit more qi into the talisman again.

"Puff."

The talisman trembled, transformed into a stream of silver mist, and reformed into the silver bottle's phantom once more.

This time, after studying the silver bottle phantom for a moment, Wang Yu released a thread of spiritual sense and probed into its mouth.

His face instantly showed surprise!

Inside the bottle lay a small space—not large, only about ten cubic units—but every inner wall was covered in bronze-colored strange patterns, casting the entire space in a bluish-green glow.

Floating within this space were two objects.

A pale white jade slip and a large mass of ink-green liquid.

The latter, needless to say, was the poison absorbed from the exploded gourd.

As for the former…

Wang Yu shifted his thought, directing his spiritual sense to touch the jade slip.

"Swoosh."

In his other hand, a white jade slip appeared.

Wang Yu stared at the jade slip in his hand, then at the silver bottle phantom in the other, falling silent.

How different was this from a storage pouch, except that it could be stored in the spiritual sea or extended outside to collect things?

Suppressing his inner doubts, he pressed the jade slip to his forehead and immersed his spiritual sense into it, swiftly scanning its contents.

After a few minutes, he removed the jade slip with a soft exhale, his face showing an odd expression.

The jade slip recorded a mysterious Mo Dao necromancy technique—methods for crafting corpses from ungraded desiccated bodies, to first-grade white-furred corpses, second-grade iron corpses, even third-grade silver corpses—all were detailed.

But that wasn't the most important part; the bulk of the jade slip recorded the trial logs of a Mo Dao Foundation Establishment cultivator who experimented with combining various modified beast organs and limbs to forge stronger undead.

The number of trials recorded exceeded a hundred—nearly consuming the cultivator's entire life—until he finally achieved some success, even crafting a powerful second-grade late-stage undead.

What struck Wang Yu most was that the Mo Dao cultivator in the jade slip bore the surname "Tong."