Chapter 168: Studying the Corpse

After closing the Ghost Gate, Lin Feng returned to his original state, then turned his gaze to the harvest from this army of paper figures.

He immediately stored away the two cast dark-gold bricks, followed by a large quantity of ore, black jade ore, and the ghosts suppressed by the paper figure army.

Beyond these, the most eye-catching items were undoubtedly some special corpses.

"So these are Iron Corpses and Gold Corpses?"

To facilitate his research, Lin Feng had specifically ordered the Heavy Armor Paper Figures to bring these special corpses back from the Underworld.

Among them, the Iron Corpses were the ones from Jiang Henian earlier, though most had been smashed to a pulp by the Zhiren General, looking more like a mass of dark green mud.

"Grunt~ grunt~"

Lin Feng simply tossed them into a grave pit to bury them, seeing if there might be any special harvest.

"Clatter~"

Soon, the *Corpse-Planting and Ghost-Raising Scripture* opened before Lin Feng, and the life experiences of this corpse began to appear before his eyes.

Seeing nothing special in these experiences, the only thing worth noting was that the corpse's martial arts in life were quite decent, having reached the level of a Master.

"Eight Dragon Gold Lock Art, a pure body-refining technique; it seems even more profound than the body-refining technique I currently use."

Lin Feng quickly finished reading the corpse's life experiences and obtained a special body-refining technique.

"It's a pity I can't see its experiences after death; otherwise, I would know exactly what changes occurred to the corpse."

Lin Feng shook his head with regret, then buried the other few Iron Corpses that were severely damaged.

The life experiences of these corpses were largely similar; they were all martial artists with decent talent, one of whom was even approaching the level of a Martial Dao Grandmaster.

"The stronger the strength in life, the stronger the corpse after death—is that why they are used for corpse-raising?"

Through these corpses, Lin Feng basically grasped some things about corpse-raising, and at the same time, he obtained two Great Ghosts; the interesting part was that these two Great Ghosts also possessed some martial arts skills.

"There are three Iron Corpses left that aren't too badly damaged and can be repaired. I'll patch them up and see!"

As Lin Feng's voice fell, the Tou Gui appeared, and a large number of blood threads directly connected the damaged parts of the three Iron Corpses before him.

Under the special power of the Tou Gui, these Iron Corpses, which were originally broken all over, gradually recovered.

Lin Feng then tested them and found that the strength of these Iron Corpses was still inferior to his current Heavy Armor Paper Figures, with nothing particularly special about them.

He then turned his gaze to the only Gold Corpse; this corpse looked far more extraordinary than the Iron Corpses.

Because the Gold Corpse had undergone a mutation before being severed, its form remained extremely ferocious and terrifying, with bone spurs growing at the joints, a dark green face, and particularly ghastly fangs in its mouth.

Furthermore, the corpse aura emitted by the Gold Corpse was more intense than he had imagined; just being near it made him feel uncomfortable.

However, he now possessed nearly five hundred years of internal energy within him, and the toxicity of this corpse aura was neutralized with just one circulation of his internal energy.

Yet, even so, it was enough to show how terrifying this Gold Corpse was: a formidable body, terrifying corpse poison, and the special trait of not fearing ghosts.

"Hoo~"

Lin Feng's chest swelled slightly, then he blew a breath of air fiercely at the corpse, and the corpse aura that had been permeating the Gold Corpse was blown away, revealing the details of its skin and flesh.

"Tsk tsk, the dark gold has already fused into the corpse, and even the skin has turned dark gold!"

Then, the incredibly robust body of the Gold Corpse was presented in its entirety before Lin Feng, which made him feel quite incredulous.

"An ordinary corpse could absolutely not turn into this; I fear this corpse itself was a true Martial Dao Grandmaster!"

With Lin Feng's current discernment, he could naturally see some deeper things.

"Hiss~ damn it, I suddenly feel my hands itching; I have an urge to bury this corpse right now!"

The more he looked, the more Lin Feng felt that if he could bury this corpse, he might obtain some benefit.

"Sigh, I shouldn't have agreed to their condition!"

However, after thinking about it seriously, Lin Feng shook his head and dismissed the idea; if he obtained the inheritance of the Corpse-Driving Artisan later, he might also obtain relevant benefits.

Burying a Gold Corpse would ultimately result in either obtaining a ghost or a skill, which was, more or less, not very cost-effective.

"I'll repair it first; if the Corpse-Driving Artisan's inheritance I obtain doesn't have relevant information, I'll find a way to get another Gold Corpse then!"

Lin Feng did not believe the Corpse-Driving Artisan only had one Gold Corpse; he would surely encounter more in the future.

As his voice fell, the Tou Gui began to act, and as blood-colored threads began to weave between the two halves of the Gold Corpse's body, this special corpse soon began to fully recover.

"Bang!"

As the Gold Corpse fully recovered, this terrifying corpse suddenly straightened its body, as if it were about to pounce on a living person the next moment.

However, at this moment, blood-colored threads instantly appeared on every part of the Gold Corpse's body, and under the control of these threads, the once incredibly ferocious Gold Corpse became a large marionette.

"Bang~ bang~"

This corpse was now completely naked, its muscles bulging in lumps, and its overall appearance was dark gold, looking like a dark gold statue.

Although it was a dead object, Lin Feng could feel the violent power within it, and even the hair on this thing seemed to be constantly wriggling.

"Good stuff! It is indeed good stuff!"

Even Lin Feng had to admit that this Gold Corpse was somewhat special; if used as a target for practicing martial arts, it would be an excellent opponent!

"Haha, I'll use it for a while first; anyway, I never said when I would return it to them!"

Indestructible, capable of counterattacking, strong, and possessing a certain level of vitality—it was truly quite special!

"Bang bang bang!"

Lin Feng did not stand on ceremony and began to act, his massive internal energy surging within him, and with every punch he threw, it began to vent wildly toward this Gold Corpse.

The Gold Corpse, controlled by the Tou Gui, also blocked or counterattacked, but relying solely on Lin Feng's current fist and foot techniques, it could not cause much impact on it.

"Hoo~ hoo~"

"It's been a long time since I've felt this refreshed!"

After fighting for a long time, Lin Feng stopped only when his internal energy was more than half depleted; using martial arts this time was much more satisfying than punching stones or the air!

Especially that feeling of fist-to-flesh contact was simply too satisfying, so much so that Lin Feng felt his Martial Dao was about to break through again.

"Hahaha, from now on, you will be my target for practicing martial arts every day!"

Lin Feng then calmed his surging internal energy and stored the Gold Corpse into the Shadow Ghost Domain.

"Almost forgot the main business, the Tou Gui is about to promote!"

Withdrawing his recent thoughts, Lin Feng couldn't help but shake his head, then began sacrificing the Great Ghosts he had harvested to the Play Ghost and Gluttony Ghost.

However, Lin Feng's focus remained on the Tou Gui; after placing a Great Ghost into the Underworld Soil pottery bowl in front of its grave, the ghost indeed began to promote.

The Great Ghost inside the Underworld Soil pottery bowl was rapidly absorbed, and then Lin Feng offered several more Great Ghosts to it.

Very quickly, the Tou Gui began to undergo strange changes, with layers of illusions appearing centered around it.

A massive amount of shadows spread across the ground, with terrifying evil ghosts wandering within them, while in the sky, strands of blood-red thread wove into a net.

This scene began to extend in all directions like a inescapable net, soon encompassing more than half of Xinglong Ridge.

The entire world was left with only black and red colors; the ground was a world of shadows where terrifying three-eyed evil ghosts lurked.

In the sky, strands of blood-red thread crisscrossed, blotting out the sun, and some even hung down; these blood-red threads wriggled slightly like living creatures, as if they would entangle and bind or control their targets at any moment.

At the center, the evil ghost patterns on the Tou Gui's body had disappeared, completely merging with the shadows; it wore red clothes, carried an embroidery basket in its hand, and its brows revealed a hint of confusion.

It looked just like a sorrowful maiden in a boudoir, yet it still remained unable to speak, just as it had been before.

Feeling the Tou Gui's abilities, Lin Feng discovered that its capabilities in all aspects had undergone a qualitative leap.

Its abilities in stitching, binding, combat, and containing ghosts all far exceeded its Fierce Ghost period.

"It has become stronger, but it has also reached its limit..."

Looking at the Tou Gui, which looked more and more like a living person, Lin Feng could not help but sigh softly.

At the same time, he understood in his heart that becoming a Calamity Ghost was already its limit; if it wanted to continue improving from here, there would likely be no other way except for forced fusion.

"After the Ghost Iron Statue is finished, I should make a trip to the Ghost Market; getting some more red candles should be enough to let it gain true intelligence."

Controlling the Tou Gui to retract its Ghost Domain, Lin Feng thought for a moment and made this decision; the look of confusion the Tou Gui had just revealed had moved him somewhat.

However, it was still lacking; at this moment, it had not yet gained true intelligence.

After thinking it over, Lin Feng led the Tou Gui toward the stone house; next, he had to get the machine for making the Black Jade Talisman base ready, and also forge the Ghost Iron Statue.

This time, Lin Feng did not specifically control the Tou Gui, but it instinctively followed his footsteps.

Although the Tou Gui had not yet gained true intelligence, it already possessed some of the most basic instincts.