Selling Corpses

In the blink of an eye, several months had slipped by in Qingyang City. During this time, Qin Sang had not stayed idle. He frequently attended major auctions, primarily to attend to three matters. First, taking inventory of the treasures in his mustard seed bag, selling off unsuitable magic tools and replacing them with ones suited to his hand to bolster his strength as much as possible. Second, procuring various medicinal pills to treat corpse transformation. Back then, Wu Shang had staked everything on a single throw, willing to turn himself into a living corpse. Having no secret method to dispel the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, he cared even less about changes to his physical body, seeking only Core Formation. With the jade Buddha protecting him, Qin Sang had resolved the greatest hidden danger of this secret art. Thus, he needed to evade its other perils as much as possible and avoid genuinely turning into a living corpse. Chief among these perils was the physical corpse transformation. Before refining the golden core into one's body, one first had to refine oneself into a living corpse. According to Wu Shang's concept, when Qiantian astral qi countered the baleful energy, one did not need to fear corpse transformation during that step. Before that, however, when refining oneself into a living corpse, one had to draw earth fiend qi into the body. From that moment on, the flesh would suffer the impact of the earth fiend qi, undergoing severe corpse transformation. In the short term, such a corpse transformation was still curable. If left too long, there would be no hope of recovery unless he abandoned his physical body. Wu Shang had listed pills with such curative effects in detail. They were not exceptionally rare, and given Qin Sang's considerable wealth, he spared no expense in preparing plenty of them. Third, searching for two spiritual items: Ten Thousand Generations Camphor and Tiandu Rock. These were the two missing spiritual items required to forge the Primordial Concentric Rings. The Ten Thousand Generations Camphor sounded like a type of spiritual wood, but it was actually a jade treasure. It was said that a peculiar spirit jade could grow like a living creature, and after ten thousand years of gestation, it would form a small jade tree resembling a camphor tree. Once formed, this jade camphor tree was called the Ten Thousand Generations Camphor. That the name boasted ten thousand generations might be an exaggeration, but that was only natural, and it spoke to the camphor's extraordinary value. Tiandu Rock, on the other hand, was a rare spiritual rock. Though slightly inferior in value to the Ten Thousand Generations Camphor, it was equally elusive. Old Man Dique had possessed the Primordial Concentric Rings for so long without ever completing their refinement precisely because he lacked these two spiritual items; all the others had been assembled. Qin Sang was only a single step away from Core Formation. Though this step was like a chasm hard to cross, it did not stop him from gathering information on these two spiritual items in advance. If he could restore the Primordial Concentric Rings, he would have three different magic treasures at his disposal once he reached Core Formation—something even seasoned Golden Core cultivators might not match. Unfortunately, both the Ten Thousand Generations Camphor and Tiandu Rock were exceedingly rare and had never appeared. Aside from this, Qin Sang did not forget to search for spiritual items that aided Core Formation. Though precious, such items occasionally surfaced at major auctions, often serving as the grand finale treasures. Yet the finest among them were at best slightly superior to the Kanli Golden Pill, while most were inferior. They were useless to Qin Sang. Neither the snow spirit lotus, the iris flower, nor even slightly inferior pills like the Xuanzhen Pill had appeared once. Thinking about it, Qin Sang was quite fortunate to have obtained a pair of them by chance; he could only blame his own disappointing talent. *** Outside Qingyang City. Wearing a wooden mask and a Daoist robe, Qin Sang abruptly left his cave dwelling and flitted toward an unnamed desolate mountain. Arriving before the mountain, he saw a figure standing at the summit—Yunyouzi. "I've troubled Senior these past months, keeping you cooped up in Tianyou City for so long." Qin Sang lowered his flying light, cupped his hands, and spoke with a hint of shame. He had not expected the sect master of the Qingyang Demonic Sect to be so patient. Even with so many treasures appearing at the auctions, none could lure him away from the sect, and Ziwei Palace's opening was barely over two years away. If the Qingyang Demonic Sect master waited until the opening of Ziwei Palace before setting out, Qin Sang would be left with no recourse but to take a desperate gamble, where the chance of success would likely be under ten percent. "Standing by one another in mutual aid is only proper." Yunyouzi shook his head. "Besides, this old Daoist didn't come in vain. The items needed for the Ziwei Palace trip are nearly all gathered here in Tianyou City. Now, all that remains is to wait for the palace to open." Qin Sang's tone relaxed slightly. "That is good to hear! Did Senior summon me because you received news?" Yunyouzi nodded, waving his hand to set up a simple ward. "My sect's Taiyi Elixir Pavilion operates in Tianyou City and maintains ties with various demonic sects. While staying there recently, this old Daoist caught wind of a piece of news. Three months from now, Demon Monarch Tongyou, the exalted sovereign of the demonic path, will personally host an auction in Tianyou City. Not only demonic Nascent Soul figures, but the sect masters of every demonic sect will attend. The Qingyang Demonic Sect master is a late Core Formation expert himself, and given the Qingyang Demonic Sect's background, he is on the guest list. I have already had people keep watch... Brother Qin, didn't you mention your plan would take some time to prepare? You can start now!" "Demon Monarch Tongyou? The demonic sovereign whose fame rivals that of Red-Haired Ancestor, the master of the Chunyang Sect?" Seeing Yunyouzi nod slightly, Qin Sang was overjoyed. Demon Monarch Tongyou possessed immense demonic might and was said to be the foremost expert of the demonic sects, second only to Red-Haired Ancestor. An auction personally hosted by him would surely feature countless extraordinary treasures; no one invited would refuse. Upon inquiring, Qin Sang learned that not only the demonic sects, but the righteous path was also holding a similar auction in Chungang City at this time, presided over by Red-Haired Ancestor instead. Such auctions were customary. Every faction was preparing for the impending opening of Ziwei Palace, exchanging what they had for what they needed to bolster their strength, striving to preserve their lives while seizing more treasures inside Ziwei Palace. It was said that after these two auctions, an exchange meet open only to Nascent Soul experts would take place, with participants coming from beyond just the Lesser Cold Domain. To Qin Sang, this could not be better news. Furthermore, when the experts of the Lesser Cold Domain gathered at the two great strongholds, the Qingyang Demonic Sect would have no need to fear a surprise raid on their headquarters and wouldn't be jumping at shadows. Qin Sang acted decisively. Together with Yunyouzi, he headed straight for Qingyang Market. *** After reaching Qingyang Market with utmost speed, Qin Sang calculated the timing, disguised his appearance, and entered Qingyang Market to set his plan in motion. Qin Sang already had a clear grasp of the various factions in Qingyang Market and the entanglements between them. After approaching them one by one, he selected a merchant house known as Zhenbao Pavilion, took out two zombies, and entrusted the shop to put them up for auction. Three days later. The two zombies were successfully sold. They were merely two low-level zombies, a common sight in demonic territory. Aside from catching the eye of a few observant people, they caused no significant stir. Before long, however, another two zombies appeared in Qingyang Market. This time, far more people took notice, especially Qi Refinement cultivators, including disciples of the Qingyang Demonic Sect. Moreover, several Foundation Establishment cultivators began paying attention as well. Clearly, a cultivator skilled in corpse refining arts was selling refined corpses in the market. These zombies were likely just the lure—the seller might well possess a baleful corpse!