The owner of this Heavenly Corpse Token had likely held no small status within the Heavenly Corpse Sect, though they had not belonged to its highest echelons either, which was why the token contained only an incomplete manual.
Qin Sang picked up the black pouch once more. It turned out to be called a corpse puppet pouch—an exclusive magic tool of the Heavenly Corpse Sect used to store corpse puppets. It isolated corpse qi and baleful qi to prevent them from being detected.
Refining a corpse puppet pouch consumed no small amount of spiritual materials, so Qi Refinement stage disciples could only rely on cumbersome coffins to store their zombies.
Storing all three items away, Qin Sang looked thoughtfully at the living corpse before him, recalling the details regarding the Heavenly Corpse Talisman from the manual.
Heavenly Corpse Sect disciples left a spiritual sense imprint within the Heavenly Corpse Talisman and controlled their living corpses through it.
Inside this living corpse's "origin soul," there was bound to be a Heavenly Corpse Talisman. Because its master had died and left it uncontrolled, it had unleashed its bloodthirsty nature.
If he took this Heavenly Corpse Talisman for himself, wouldn't he gain a corpse puppet comparable to a Foundation Establishment cultivator?
Judging by this baleful corpse's strength, it had very likely been a cultivator in the middle Foundation Establishment stage before being refined into a living corpse.
At that thought, heat surged through Qin Sang's heart. He glanced at Baiyun Shanren; that man had probably harbored the exact same idea when he dared to take such risks.
After all, obtaining a living corpse puppet would instantly double one's strength, and that was merely the obvious benefit.
Later on, whether exploring secret realms or encountering peril, he could push a fearless living corpse to the front line, avoiding untold dangers.
Yet he wondered if it was possible.
Qin Sang carefully sorted through the secret art of the Heavenly Corpse Talisman in his mind. The technique for controlling the talisman was not difficult, and he easily mastered it after a few tries.
To his surprise, when Qin Sang channeled the secret art and sent his spiritual sense sinking into the living corpse to take control, the living corpse suddenly let out a furious, startled roar. The Heavenly Corpse Talisman trembled violently, unleashing a fierce, berserk counterattack that nearly tore Qin Sang's spiritual sense to shreds.
Qin Sang hurriedly severed the connection to that strand of spiritual sense. His face paled slightly and his gaze darkened as he realized he had been far too naive.
Every Heavenly Corpse Talisman was meticulously crafted by the corpse refiner. During the refining process, they fused their soul imprint into it; even in death, the soul imprint lingered, making it far from simple to replace.
Unless the original master dispersed the soul imprint, he could never subjugate this living corpse.
However, Qin Sang's efforts were not entirely fruitless. After learning the secret art of the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, though he could not claim the living corpse for himself, it remained masterless. He could use the secret art to interfere with its movements through the talisman, preventing it from exerting its full power.
Having confirmed it could not be subjugated, Qin Sang abandoned all delusions and resolved to slaughter the beast directly.
With no master to help it resist the secret art's influence, the Black-Yellow Armor on its body—which had been exceptionally agile and repeatedly blocked the ebony sword's sword qi—immediately grew sluggish under the technique's disruption, its effectiveness vastly diminished.
Diverting his focus to drive the ebony sword while the Black-Yellow Armor faltered, Qin Sang surged his sword qi and struck repeatedly at the same spot, opening deep wounds that exposed bone. When the earth fiend qi on the living corpse could no longer repair the damage in time, a single thrust impaled the baleful corpse's skull, obliterating its "origin soul."
*Thud!*
The living corpse collapsed to the ground. Unlike the previous baleful corpses, it did not crumble into a pile of ashes, instead retaining its humanoid form.
Qin Sang cast out a plume of flame to incinerate the living corpse. Waving a hand to retrieve the ebony sword and the Ten Directions Yanluo Banners, he regulated his breath briefly, then turned to gaze at the corpses of Baiyun Shanren and Wu Yuesheng with a contemplative expression.
A moment later, Qin Sang burned Wu Yuesheng's corpse as well, but sealed Baiyun Shanren's corpse inside an ice coffin.
According to the manual, the method for refining a baleful corpse puppet required the corpse of a Foundation Establishment cultivator. Since Baiyun Shanren had harbored murderous intent first, Qin Sang naturally showed not an ounce of mercy, intending to refine him into a corpse puppet.
Unlike a living corpse, which was only slightly weaker than when alive once refined into a corpse puppet, refining Baiyun Shanren into a baleful corpse would leave its final strength only slightly greater than a cultivator at the thirteenth level of the Qi Refinement stage. Its flesh could endure strikes from a Foundation Establishment cultivator, but it could only cause them minor nuisance. Still, it made for a decent helper.
This was especially true given his plan to venture into the Ancient Immortal Battlefield to temper himself, where a corpse puppet would be even more useful. In the vast, sparsely populated Ancient Immortal Battlefield, he had no fear of someone discovering the puppet.
However, Qin Sang dared not treat Wu Yuesheng's corpse the same way. Baiyun Shanren was a rogue cultivator with no powerful backing; even dead, no one would avenge him. Wu Yuesheng was a different matter.
Coming from the same sect, Qin Sang knew Shaohua Mountain would never overlook the mysterious disappearance of a Foundation Establishment disciple. Once outside, the survivors would inevitably face interrogation by the sect.
The cultivation world held countless bizarre methods. If any clue were uncovered, even though Wu Yuesheng had struck first, Qin Sang's act of refining a fellow disciple into a corpse puppet would remain an unforgivable crime.
He would even have to find an opportunity to discard Wu Yuesheng's Crimson Flame Sword, which had been bound to Wu Yuesheng's life.
Qin Sang then sealed Liu Jiang's mutilated corpse. After all, Liu Jiang had helped guide the way, so Qin Sang left his mustard seed bag untouched, intending to return it upon meeting Liu Shan—though he could not imagine how Liu Shan would feel upon seeing this corpse, corroded beyond recognition by corpse poison.
Next, Qin Sang beckoned with his hand, sweeping the belongings left behind by Baiyun Shanren and Wu Yuesheng into his palm. He then casually wiped away the traces of battle in the hall. Once the earth fiend qi surged up, every clue would be thoroughly erased anyway, so there was no need to be overly meticulous.
While unraveling the restrictions on the heavy darksteel doors, he divided his attention to examine the belongings of the two men.
Wu Yuesheng's magic tools and anything that could link back to Shaohua Mountain had to be discarded entirely, but items like spirit stones, medicinal pills, and spiritual materials could be kept.
This man's wealth was quite substantial: his spirit stones alone amounted to over eight hundred low-grade spirit stones. Adding Baiyun Shanren's legacy, Qin Sang's gains reached over one thousand two hundred low-grade spirit stones.
After breaking through to Foundation Establishment, Qin Sang had cultivated diligently in his cave abode and had not touched the five middle-grade spirit stones issued by the sect. Combined with what he already had on him, his fortune had previously stood at nearly a thousand low-grade spirit stones.
Two thousand two hundred low-grade spirit stones could buy a fine top-grade magic tool. Among Foundation Establishment cultivators, Qin Sang could now be considered a man of modest means.
Besides the Crimson Flame Sword, Wu Yuesheng possessed several fine magic tools; Qin Sang could only toss them back into Wu Yuesheng's mustard seed bag with an aching heart, intending to find a spot to dispose of them. Compared to Wu Yuesheng, Baiyun Shanren seemed far more destitute. His strongest magic tool, the Sky-Trapping Pouch, was destroyed. Among his remaining tools, only the wooden staff known as the Dragon Subduing Staff was decent—a high-grade magic tool of excellent quality with its own wondrous uses.
The base of the Dragon Subduing Staff seemed to be a length of spirit wood, but unfortunately, having already been refined into a magic tool, it was mixed with other spiritual items that had disrupted the structure of the spirit wood, meaning it could not be used to enhance the ebony sword.
After being refined into a wood spirit sword embryo, the ebony sword was undeniably powerful, but in a certain sense, it had also become far more delicate. Any disharmony would drastically reduce the spirit sword's power or even cause it to collapse outright; it could only absorb the most pristine spirit wood.
Chapter 171