Qin Sang had not lied to the fat man.
Three stalks of soul-attracting grass had yielded a total of seven Heavenly Corpse Talismans.
Before entering the Yuncang Great Marsh, Qin Sang had already used five of them.
One had been used on Yu Daiyue, but the attempt to refine a living corpse ended in failure; one had been used on Liang Yan, and though the living corpse was successfully refined, it was unfortunately destroyed by Yu Hua in Wuya Valley.
One had been given to Tan Jie to keep his soul from extinguishing, and one Qin Sang had used on himself to save his own life.
Another was used to seal and suppress Yu Hua's origin soul. However, because Qin Sang had never felt confident, he had hesitated to start refining the corpse, leaving Yu Hua still nourished inside the corpse puppet pouch.
Soul-attracting grass was hard to come by, and to prepare for the unexpected, Qin Sang had to keep one for himself. Thus, over the past three years, he had only ever refined that single living corpse, which he then sold.
Manager Bao did not believe Qin Sang's nonsense and went on talking: "Fellow Daoist's corpse refining art is truly unique, and those refined corpses possess formidable strength. If you have higher-quality refined corpses that you are willing to part with, our shop will certainly offer Fellow Daoist a satisfactory price. However, humble as my knowledge may be, having served as manager for so many years, Bao has managed to deduce a thing or two. Between Fellow Daoist's two kinds of refined corpses, the living corpse is clearly superior to these refined corpses. No, they cannot even compare! The higher the cultivation realm, the greater the disparity!"
Qin Sang chuckled and glanced back. The nine baleful corpses were being disparaged right to their faces, yet remained completely oblivious.
"Are these baleful corpses of this old man so worthless in Fellow Daoist's eyes?"
Manager Bao shook his head repeatedly. "Fellow Daoist, please do not tease me. Bao does not speak without aim. What I just said, Fellow Daoist surely understands..."
Qin Sang adopted a posture of being ready to hear the details.
"Then Bao shall speak frankly, and I hope Fellow Daoist will not take offense."
Manager Bao glanced at the baleful corpses.
"Just now, I heard Fellow Daoist refer to these nine refined corpses as baleful corpses.
"A baleful corpse possesses formidable strength, a cut above refined corpses produced by other corpse refining arts, yet it suffers from two major flaws.
"First, a baleful corpse cannot advance!
"Other corpse refining arts can raise a refined corpse's realm through corpse-nourishing grounds or other secret arts; some ghost cultivators even nurture a refined corpse into a natal corpse that can grow alongside them, offering limitless future potential.
"Truth be told, when Bao saw Fellow Daoist's baleful corpses last time, curiosity got the better of me. I kept one to study intently, and only then did I realize how extraordinary Fellow Daoist's corpse refining art is.
"It seems that the moment refinement is complete, a baleful corpse is permanently set.
"I applied several corpse refining techniques to it, yet failed to increase its strength by even a sliver. Even placing it in a corpse-nourishing ground would likely produce no change whatsoever.
"At first, Bao thought it was due to the earth fiend qi, so I went to great lengths to find earth fiend qi, yet still could not achieve it.
"A cultivator's strength will inevitably advance step by step, whereas a baleful corpse permanently stagnates. It will soon fall behind its master's pace and become useless. Is that not its greatest flaw?"
Manager Bao's eyes shone brightly, his expression brimming with confidence as he posed the question back to Qin Sang.
Beneath his black robe, Qin Sang's eyes flickered. Hearing Manager Bao's words, he could not help feeling a surge of surprise.
To think that this man was also a grandmaster in the corpse dao; his deductions were entirely correct.
In the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art, the method for refining baleful corpses was indeed as Manager Bao had described: bounded by the corpse's strength in life, its completion marked its peak, incapable of advancing until its eventual destruction.
The same was true of living corpses; it was only from Wu Shang's leftover book that Qin Sang had learned of the secret method to advance a living corpse into a Flying Yaksha.
However, the advantage of the Heavenly Yin Corpse Art lay in how quickly the refined corpses took shape, without requiring a prolonged period of corpse nourishing.
Naturally, the Heavenly Corpse Sect also possessed conventional corpse-nourishing methods.
The method for refining zombies, like the corpse refining arts of other sects, could advance step by step alongside the cultivator, and by channeling a wisp of earth fiend qi into the body to temper the flesh, it still surpassed other corpse refining arts.
However, Qin Sang could not possibly stay indefinitely in a yin fiend place, spending day and night with a refined corpse, nor did he intend to expend energy nurturing a natal corpse. He merely treated refined corpses as tools for combat and self-defense.
Seeing Qin Sang lapse into silence, Manager Bao paid it no mind and continued:
"Bao did not come away empty-handed either. I discovered that the dantian of a baleful corpse differs noticeably from other refined corpses; it must have been refined through Fellow Daoist's secret technique.
"The dantian is precisely the second flaw Bao spoke of!
"Aside from sharing the same weaknesses as other refined corpses, the baleful corpse has an additional, greatest fatal spot—its dantian!
"I do not know what secret art Fellow Daoist used to strengthen the baleful corpse's dantian so it could withstand the impact of earth fiend qi.
"However, earth fiend qi is clearly not so easily appeased. Once the dantian is damaged, the fiendish qi surges through the body, setting off a chain reaction that causes the baleful corpse to collapse beyond any hope of recovery.
"A baleful corpse possesses negligible spirituality, retaining only the instinct to slaughter. The battlefield changes in the blink of an eye; should its master lack the spare attention to direct it, an opponent need only seize an opening to easily destroy the baleful corpse.
"If facing someone of low realm, it might escape their notice.
"Yet the higher an opponent's cultivation, the sharper their eyes. Encountering a seasoned expert of the battlefield who sees through the baleful corpse's weakness at a glance would not surprise Bao in the least.
"A living corpse, however, is not so!
"The master of that living corpse came and went in haste, so Bao could not examine it closely. I am unsure whether a living corpse can advance through corpse nourishing, or if it possesses other abilities. But of one thing Bao is certain: a living corpse is brimming with spirituality, instinctively knowing how to seek advantage and avoid harm while protecting its vitals. In duels between experts, it can still exert tremendous power!"
Manager Bao spoke all of this in one breath, drained the tea on the table in a single gulp, and smacked his lips, wanting more. "Fellow Daoist, is there any error in what Bao has said?"
Qin Sang rose to his feet and cupped his hands. "Manager Bao has eyes like torches. To deduce so much from a single baleful corpse, you have practically seen right through this old man's secrets. Impressive, truly impressive! However, this old man did not deceive Manager Bao. Formidable as a living corpse may be, the difficulty of refining one is astonishingly high, and the requirements are exceptionally harsh. Even with the will, this old man lacks the means. If Manager Bao has no other matters, please evaluate these for me. This old man must return to bitter cultivation and will trouble Manager Bao no longer."
Discerning that Qin Sang was not speaking falsely, Manager Bao could not hide his disappointment. Yet he refused to give up, persisting with another question: "Fellow Daoist, do not be in such a hurry! Not having a living corpse now does not mean you will not have one in the future. Bao will ask Fellow Daoist just one question: given enough time, is it possible to refine a living corpse that rivals an expert of the False Core stage?"
Qin Sang gave Manager Bao a deep look, hesitated a moment, and said, "Rivaling the False Core stage is impossible... A living corpse at late Foundation Establishment, perhaps there might be a chance. However, Fellow Daoist should not compare other refined corpses to a living corpse. A living corpse's capabilities are far greater than Manager Bao imagines."
Overjoyed at those words, Manager Bao asked eagerly, "What would it take for Fellow Daoist to sell a living corpse? Even if Bao cannot afford it myself, I can act as a broker for you."
Qin Sang's heart stirred, and he said with profound meaning, "If Manager Bao truly can find a buyer for this old man, I need only three things. First, a spiritual item capable of aiding Core Formation. Second, a heavenly material and earthly treasure that can repair one's foundation. Third, a demon core removed from the body within the last ten years, or..."
Halfway through his sentence, Qin Sang stopped himself.
Manager Bao's expression turned exceedingly grim.
Chapter 447