Chapter 89: Corpse Puppet Complete, Finally Freeing My Hands!
Even after returning home, Ji Yuan couldn't shake off the scenes he had just witnessed beneath Wang Mazi's house.
If even corpses could be sold for spirit stones, wouldn't it be a waste not to cultivate properly?
After pondering for a while, Ji Yuan decided to change the signboard to [Pill Refining Room].
He planned to first try elevating his pill refining technique to Tier 1 Middle Grade.
He then refined a batch of Hundred Herb Pills and attempted to make a batch of Profound Qi Pills. His success rate for the Hundred Herb Pills had stabilized at two out of three.
Once he could achieve a full success rate, he would be able to produce two batches of pills in one go.
However, his proficiency with the newly learned Profound Qi Pills was lacking; he could only succeed with one out of three.
As night fell, Ji Yuan checked the Yin Ghost Banner and found that the two yin ghosts inside remained motionless.
By the next morning, after a night of diligent cultivation, Ji Yuan didn't forget to slaughter all the Red-Crested Chickens.
When he delivered them to the chicken cultivator, the old friend greeted him with a smile more painful than a cry.
It wasn't until Ji Yuan mentioned his continued need for Lushui Chickens that the cultivator's expression brightened.
For the chicken cultivator, this was straightforward; Lushui Chickens were more profitable than Red-Crested Chickens.
And since Senior Ji was generous with his spending, it was a good deal.
After dealing with the Red-Crested Chickens, Ji Yuan returned home to change into his previous attire. By the time he arrived at Wang Mazi's butcher shop again, the sun was already high in the sky.
Wang Mazi seemed prepared, not even opening the shop. Upon seeing Ji Yuan, he waved him over.
"Fellow Daoist, you're early today."
Once Ji Yuan entered the house, Wang Mazi closed the door and said with a grin:
"You're in luck today. I just received a fresh immortal-grade corpse, delivered within three hours of death. It's still warm."
"Hmm? How did she die?"
"Poisoned. It seems she was poisoned earlier and tried to escape to our Yunyu Marshlands market but died on the way. Our people happened to find her."
As they conversed, they descended to the underground chamber.
In the center of the dark room lay an ice coffin containing a young woman in a wide black robe. Her face was peaceful but had a bluish hue.
She was also covered in gray-black mud, as if pulled from a muddy pit.
"This poison seems potent. Be cautious when using her," Wang Mazi advised.
Ji Yuan sensed her cultivation level before death—Qi Refining Stage 5, which was acceptable.
He had intended to find a male cultivator's body, but waiting might take too long unless he did as Wang Mazi suggested.
Kill one on the spot.
"Alright."
"I'll take this one."
Ji Yuan paid the remaining ten spirit stones and, with a wave, made the ice coffin disappear.
Wang Mazi was stunned.
A storage bag that could hold an ice coffin?
How large must it be?
Typical Qi Refining cultivators used bags about a foot square, with better ones being three feet square.
How could they fit an ice coffin?
Even this corpse was initially transported in a storage bag and then placed into an ice coffin by Wang Mazi using his techniques.
But Ji Yuan had previously acquired a storage bag from a peak Qi Refining cultivator, measuring a full ten feet square!
Not to mention this small ice coffin; even taking all the ice coffins from the wall would be a bit challenging.
After a while, Ji Yuan returned home.
He didn't rush to process the female cultivator's corpse but first went to the [Talisman Room] to draw six Soul Control Talismans.
Now a Tier 1 High-Grade Talisman Master, drawing Middle-Grade talismans wasn't difficult. After a few attempts, he succeeded.
With the Soul Control Talismans ready, he needed rootless water, yin-fiend mud, and spirit needles.
His high-grade artifact, the Spirit Water Needle, wasn't suitable—not only did it require twelve needles to pierce the corpse's twelve main meridians, but the Spirit Water Needle was designed to kill, not heal.
So he needed to prepare a new set.
Medical cultivators usually had these.
The Medicine King Valley had plenty; perhaps this "Corpse Puppet Technique" originated there.
Ji Yuan then went to Zengtou Market to purchase fifty pounds of rootless water and a set of spirit needles.
Rootless water was rainwater that hadn't touched the ground.
It was inexpensive, purchasable with broken spirit stones.
Yin-fiend mud was also manageable—just some mud infused with yin-fiend energy.
Often used to cultivate certain herbs.
Ji Yuan visited several herb shops to gather enough.
The spirit needles, though not even considered artifacts, cost him five spirit stones.
Once everything was ready, Ji Yuan returned home.
He needed to wash the female cultivator's corpse with rootless water—though he wasn't sure why this was necessary.
A "Cleaning Technique" or a "Cleaning Talisman" could have sufficed.
It would have been less trouble.
But since the technique required it, Ji Yuan complied; any misstep could cause problems.
He then went to his bathroom and released the female cultivator's body.
Her face remained bluish; the poison seemed hard to neutralize.
For now, he focused on cleaning the corpse.
Looking at her, Ji Yuan muttered:
"Apologies."
He began to undress her—wait, such a figure?
With such a figure, why wear such a large black robe?—No, damn it, she's already a corpse.
Why am I even thinking about this?
I must reflect on myself.
"[Cave Dwelling], help me calm my mind!"
After two incense sticks' time, Ji Yuan finally cleaned the female cultivator's body.
Mostly, it was just the mud on her face.
Next, he needed to clear the residual spiritual energy from her dantian.
Placing his hands on her cold abdomen, Ji Yuan infused spiritual energy and immediately sensed the situation inside her body.
Poison!
Even the residual spiritual energy in her meridians was toxic!
Ji Yuan quickly withdrew his hands, nearly allowing the poison to enter his body through the spiritual energy.
Damn, what kind of poison was this? So aggressive?
A typical mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator wouldn't be worthy of such poison.
Ji Yuan became curious about her identity.
Any storage bags that might have confirmed her identity were long gone, along with any jewelry.
He looked at her face again.
Previously obscured by mud, it was now clear—she had excellent features and figure.
During cleaning, he noticed her hands and feet had delicate skin, not like someone who had done manual labor.
She was likely a wealthy young lady or from a cultivation family.
Well, he didn't plan to let her go out anyway.
She just needed to feed chickens and pigs at home, and he could retrieve the storage bag when necessary.
What was there to fear?
If only he could extract the poison.
Such a potent toxin—if he could apply it to flying swords or needles, it would be highly effective.
Ji Yuan had no solution.
After some thought, he decided to consult Wen Lin next door.
They said alchemists were half poison masters; he might know something.
Surprisingly, Wen Lin did have a method.
"You just need this 'Poison-Attracting Insect,' but remember, Brother Ji, ensure there's no resistance from the other party. These insects are extremely fragile; any resistance will cause them to dissolve into poison water instantly."
"Once this Poison-Attracting Insect absorbs all the toxins in the target’s body, use this Attractant Incense to lure it out. Then seal it inside a jade box for three days and nights, and it will naturally dissolve into poisonous liquid—stronger than the original poison," Wen Lin explained.
As he finished speaking, Ji Yuan found an opened jade box in his hand.
Inside was a black beetle-like insect, nibbling on a tiny ball of incense.
"Just light the incense, and the insect will come out."
"Alright, thank you, Brother Wen."
Ji Yuan closed the jade box without asking how Wen Lin had such a thing.
Just like how Wen Lin didn’t ask what Ji Yuan needed it for. He would owe him a favor for now and repay it later, along with the one for the Foundation Establishment Pill recipe.
Back home, Ji Yuan first made a small cut on the palm of the female corpse’s right hand and released the Poison-Attracting Insect into her body.
He could even see a small bump moving within the body. Wherever the insect passed, the poison vanished, even from her face.
The bluish hue on her face gradually returned to normal.
Only then did Ji Yuan realize he had underestimated her looks.
It wasn’t that he had any peculiar fetish or thoughts about corpses—this female cultivator had only just died, barely distinguishable from a living person.
She resembled a sleeping beauty.
Coupled with her excellent figure and appearance—tsk, all beauty is but a skeleton in the end.
Maintaining a tranquil heart, Ji Yuan waited about half an hour before seeing the Poison-Attracting Insect stop at her neck.
No trace of poison remained on her body.
Judging it complete, Ji Yuan lit the Attractant Incense.
The previously still insect suddenly sprang to life, shooting out from the wound on her hand with a “whoosh”.
The once dry insect was now swollen, plump, as if it could burst any second.
As it returned to the jade box, Ji Yuan quickly closed the lid.
With the insect stored away, his attention returned to the female corpse.
Now free of toxins, her already fair skin became even more translucent.
Ji Yuan dared not linger his gaze, quickly placing his hands on her cold abdomen to cleanse the residual spiritual energy from her dantian and meridians.
Then he pierced her twelve main meridians with the spirit needles. Her skin was so pale that locating the meridians was easy.
Once the needles were in place, he applied Yin-Fiend Mud over every inch of her skin.
Now came the hard part.
He needed to nourish her with his spiritual energy continuously for twelve hours.
That meant Ji Yuan had to maintain output non-stop—a test of endurance.
Fortunately, the [Cave Dwelling] effect covered the whole home.
As long as it was his building, the buff applied.
Ji Yuan also placed a circle of spirit stones around himself—roughly over a hundred pieces.
In addition, he prepared twenty Spirit Recovery Pills, just in case.
Once ready, he placed his hands on the corpse and channeled pure water-element spiritual energy from his dantian, spreading it like a veil over her.
Hold on.
Hold on tightly.
The energy consumption wasn’t fast, so for the first three hours, Ji Yuan felt nothing.
After three hours, his dantian began to deplete, bringing a sense of emptiness.
He didn’t push himself—he immediately took a Spirit Recovery Pill.
With each pill refined, he held on for another three hours.
After six hours, all pills were gone. Ji Yuan then had to simultaneously absorb spiritual energy from nearby spirit stones while outputting it to the corpse.
He became a literal spiritual energy converter.
No matter how much energy he absorbed, it merely passed through his body.
This was a huge test of his meridians. If he could endure, they’d become tougher. If not, failure.
At first, it was agonizing—like ants crawling through his veins.
He almost gave up several times.
But then he remembered: if he succeeded, he’d never have to feed chickens or pigs again.
That drove him on.
Thankfully, his body refinement had paid off. His meridians were resilient.
Otherwise, it would’ve been even worse.
Hold on. Just hold on.
When the surrounding spirit stones were nearly depleted, and Ji Yuan was about to replace them, he noticed cracks forming on the dried Yin-Fiend Mud on the corpse!
It was like something was about to emerge—
Or... metamorphosis!
“Crack—”
With a sharp noise, the once lifeless female corpse suddenly sat upright.
Her tightly shut eyes flew open, glowing blood-red.
It looked exactly like a corpse revival.
Here it comes!
Ji Yuan immediately sent out three Soul Control Talismans, which landed squarely on her back.
She stopped moving instantly.
Without delay, Ji Yuan took out his talisman brush and ink, came to her front, and wrote the character [Puppet] on her chest.
As he finished the stroke—
The blood-red glow faded from her eyes, leaving only a faint red tint in the pupils.
Moreover, Ji Yuan felt a strange, inexplicable connection form between them.
It was as if... she would obey him completely?
Do whatever he told her?
Thinking of this, Ji Yuan issued a mental command: "You, go feed the pigs."
The corpse puppet immediately stood and walked straight outside.
Ji Yuan realized something was off.
Wait—put on some clothes first.