At 1:30 in the afternoon, the sun blazed mercilessly. The dusty, slightly potholed street radiated searing heat that warped the air.
A dust-caked taxi pulled up to the curb not far from the archway of Wuhen Hotel.
With a backpack slung over his shoulders, a peaked cap, and a face mask in place, Zhang Yuanqing pushed open the door and stepped out.
"Young man, heading back to Songhai later? I can wait for you!" the middle-aged cab driver poked his head out the window and called warmly after him.
Although this one trip had already earned him a handsome fare, he wouldn't mind making another.
Zhang Yuanqing thought it over, then turned back and replied, "I'll be returning tonight. Care to wait?"
"Have a good one!" The driver stepped on the gas and took off.
Zhang Yuanqing tugged down the brim of his cap, strode across the parking spaces before the entrance, and pushed open the lobby door.
A powerful blast of cold air rushed out. Zhang Yuanqing felt instantly refreshed, cool and comfortable from head to toe.
Auntie Xiao Yuan stood behind the counter, dressed as always in her uniform of a white shirt paired with a wine-red blazer. Tall and curvaceous, her features were strikingly radiant.
Xiao Yuan cast him a glance and said flatly, "Follow me."
With that, she stepped away from the counter and clicked toward the interior of the hotel in her high heels.
Why is this woman always blowing hot and cold... Zhang Yuanqing hurried after her and entered the elevator.
Reaching the third floor, Xiao Yuan pulled a staff keycard from her pocket and swiped open Room 306.
"The Level 3 Bewitching Demon you wanted. His experience is roughly around thirty to sixty percent. Quite capable. He was the head of a local underworld syndicate in Jinshan City and had committed plenty of heinous atrocities." Xiao Yuan leaned against the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest.
Zhang Yuanqing stepped into the room and saw a man lying quietly on the bed. He appeared to be around thirty-five, with a gaunt face, a well-proportioned, athletic frame, and well-developed muscles without an ounce of excess fat.
After inspecting the body, he confirmed there were no obvious external wounds or broken bones, and he nodded in satisfaction.
The physical body was the raw material; it had to be intact. Missing arms or legs was completely out of the question. This body was in exceptionally pristine shape, showing that Xiao Yuan had put real care into it.
"How long has he been dead?" he asked further.
It was best for the "material" to have been dead for under twelve hours, as the concentration of the spirit body remaining in the shell directly determined its quality.
"Killed just this morning," she said.
Zhang Yuanqing nodded with satisfaction once again, took off his backpack, and pulled out twenty thick bundles of cash—ten thousand yuan per stack.
"Here's the payment."
Xiao Yuan froze for a second, her expression suddenly turning chilly. "I don't need payment. Hunting down a Bewitching Demon for you was my promise, and it was meant to repay your favor."
Her gaze lingered reluctantly on the two hundred thousand yuan in cash for several seconds before she resolutely tore it away.
Does she think I'm pitying her? Talk about touchy. Even the slightest gesture of goodwill bruises her pride... Zhang Yuanqing said in a solemn voice, "The favor is owed by Kou Beiyue, so he should repay it himself. Right now, what I'm repaying is the favor I owe you."
Xiao Yuan frowned and fell silent.
The hotel wasn't doing good business, and with the sluggish economic climate in recent years, making money was difficult. Supporting the small team's expenses put a tremendous strain on her.
Master Wuhen's team consisted of far more than just her and Kou Beiyue.
Two hundred thousand yuan in cash was a big deal.
Striking while the iron was hot, Zhang Yuanqing feigned annoyance. "If you repay Kou Beiyue's debt to me in his place, it makes me feel like an outsider. Don't tell me that in Auntie Xiao Yuan's eyes, I rank even below that dimwit?"
"You do," Xiao Yuan said.
Zhang Yuanqing: "..."
A glimmer of amusement flashed in Xiao Yuan's eyes, quickly hidden behind a cool face as she said, "Still, you're right. Kou Beiyue's favor should be repaid by himself. He's already sixteen; it's time he took on some responsibility."
Taking the cue, Zhang Yuanqing handed the two hundred thousand yuan over.
Cradling the stacks of banknotes, Xiao Yuan pulled the door shut and was about to leave when she suddenly paused and said, "I originally intended to hunt down an older woman for you, but targets like that are rather rare, and you were rushing me. Next time you want to refine a yin corpse, remember to let me know two weeks in advance. As for the fee..."
She looked down at the thick stacks of cash pressed against her chest, the corners of her lips curving up. "Still two hundred thousand."
Bang!
The door shut.
She actually joked with me? And a joke about that, of all things... Zhang Yuanqing was dumbfounded.
Though, Xiao Yuan, I prefer warm older women, not ice-cold ones.
After basking in amused delight for a moment, he reined in his emotions and turned his focus to the business at hand.
From his backpack, Zhang Yuanqing sequentially took out a small white porcelain bowl, a writing brush, cinnabar, bodily fluid extracted from a zombie, and black soil saturated with yin energy from a desolate grave. He poured them all into the porcelain bowl and stirred rapidly with the handle of the brush.
Before long, the mixture formed a thick, paste-like dark-brown substance.
He walked over to the bed, slit the corpse's clothing with the Bloodthirsty Blade, held the bowl in one hand and the brush in the other, dipped into the "ink," and began painting Spirit Talismans across the Bewitching Demon's body.
After a person died, their spirit body would gradually disperse. During this process, even though the spirit body still lingered within the flesh, it was effectively separated from it.
It was like water in a cup: the water was inside, but it was not one with the cup.
Therefore, the first step in refining a yin corpse was to make the remaining spirit body inside fuse back into the physical shell.
Only then could one refine a yin corpse possessing rudimentary intelligence. A yin corpse devoid of intelligence was merely an immobile puppet, possessing little practical value.
Moreover, once the spirit body fused with the physical shell, it would retain certain traits, usually a passive skill.
At the Transcendent stage, a Bewitching Demon possessed only one passive: Berserk!
Zhang Yuanqing concentrated with rapt attention, tracing every stroke with painstaking precision. Not only could there be zero mistakes in drawing the Spirit Talismans, but the amount of Lunar force channeled into each stroke had to be identical.
An uneven infusion of Lunar force would unbalance the formation's structure, ruining all his effort.
Ten-odd minutes later, the Spirit Talismans were complete. Twisted, distinct incantations linked together in a harmonious and orderly pattern, forming a formation that was both eerie and strangely aesthetic.
Zhang Yuanqing clearly sensed the lingering spirit within the corpse fusing bit by bit into the flesh and blood, returning to this long-cold shell.
"Success!"
Zhang Yuanqing exhaled heavily, his face filled with joy.
Although Spirit Talismans was an innate skill of a Night Wanderer, mastering the runes was only the basics; achieving success on the first attempt depended entirely on proficiency.
In this regard, the gap between a novice and a veteran was vast.
Refining a yin corpse for the first time, Zhang Yuanqing took a deep breath and drew two glass test tubes from his backpack, containing purple and red liquids respectively.
The purple liquid was the blood of a powerful yin creature, harvested from a Night Wanderer-exclusive Spirit Realm.
The red liquid was the sap of a plant called "Blood Hand," brimming with potent vitality.
The former was used to nourish the yin corpse, imbuing it with baleful aura and yin energy. The latter restored vitality to the cold corpse, loosening stiff joints and returning flexibility to its muscles.
In simpler terms, it was lubricating oil to get rusted gears turning again.
Finally, Zhang Yuanqing produced an amber-clear yellow crystal. Among all the materials, this was the most expensive, worth two million yuan.
Harvested from an Earth Monster-exclusive Spirit Realm, it contained potent earth-attribute spiritual power and possessed exceptional compatibility, able to merge with almost anything.
The attribute he had chosen for the yin corpse was "earth." This was a well-thought-out decision made long ago.
Bewitching Demons were exceptional combatants whose close-quarters capabilities ranked near the very top among all classes, but their mediocre self-healing and defense were definite weaknesses.
Between self-healing and defense, Zhang Yuanqing had chosen the latter.
Because a yin corpse felt neither fatigue nor pain, self-healing was somewhat redundant. Defense was a different story; as a puppet and a tool, it was susceptible to damage.
Especially when facing a powerful adversary, it could easily be flayed or torn apart.
In that case, the yin corpse would be ruined.
Zhang Yuanqing poured the purple and red liquids into the small bowl, mixed them into the thick paste, and gave it a quick stir.
Dipping the brush into the thinned liquid, he began inscribing a formation on the floor. Fortunately, the room had wooden flooring and floor tiles; had it been carpeted in red, Zhang Yuanqing would have been at a complete loss.
Inscribing the formation was far more complex and difficult than drawing on the body. To ensure no mistakes were made, Zhang Yuanqing moved extremely slowly.
After all, he only had one set of materials.
Half an hour later, he wiped a cold sweat from his forehead, feeling a sense of exhaustion akin to spending a whole day building blocks as a child and finally completing the set.
Zhang Yuanqing lifted the Bewitching Demon's corpse, gently placed it at the center of the formation, and laid the yellow crystal on its chest.
"Success or failure hinges on this!"
Stepping back to the formation's edge, he pressed a palm lightly against one corner and steadily channeled Lunar force into it.
Instantly, chilling yin winds gusted through the room, and the temperature plummeted. The dried runic scripts began glowing with faint glimmers of purple, black, and red.
The black and purple radiance sank into the corpse, condensing into yin baleful energy, while the red light nourished the flesh, revitalizing its pale skin... Seeing this, Zhang Yuanqing immediately boosted the flow of Lunar force.
The three colors flared brilliantly, soaring toward the ceiling in a dazzling display.
The yellow crystal on the chest melted like ice cream, absorbed into the yin corpse.
Lying at the center of the formation, the yin corpse suddenly snapped its eyes open. Its gaze was sinister, fierce, and tyrannical. An overwhelming force surged from within it, whipping up a yin wind that fluttered the curtains and bedsheets.
"It worked!"
Zhang Yuanqing was overjoyed.
No, there's still one last step... He strode into the formation, bit his fingertip, and drew a circular seal on the yin corpse's forehead.
The moment the circle took shape, it sank into the yin corpse's body, while an identical circular seal appeared in Zhang Yuanqing's sea of consciousness.
This was the master's brand, as well as the medium for controlling the yin corpse.
The brand served two purposes: the first was to issue directives to the corpse, commanding it to carry out specific tasks, though only simple, straightforward ones like killing an enemy.
Orders requiring finesse or complexity—such as painting—were beyond the low intelligence of the yin corpse to comprehend or execute.
The second was to use the brand as a medium to take over the yin corpse's body, manipulating it just like a spirit servant. In this state, the yin corpse could perform all sorts of intricate actions.
"Let's see what abilities this fellow kept, and what attributes the yellow crystal gave it..."
At once, Zhang Yuanqing focused his concentration, detached a wisp of consciousness, and merged it into the brand in his sea of consciousness.
The next moment, he felt as though he had been split in two. He sensed two versions of himself, possessing two bodies. Simultaneously, through the yin corpse's vision, he saw himself standing there in tapered cropped pants and a white T-shirt.
The sensation wasn't unfamiliar; it felt just like when he possessed Little Doubi.
Holy crap, this yin corpse's physique is even stronger than my main body...
After discerning the yin corpse's attributes, Zhang Yuanqing was astounded.
First was its physique. As a Level 3 Bewitching Demon, its physical constitution surpassed his current main body. What was more, Zhang Yuanqing felt a restless, surging fighting will within this body.
It was as if it had been born to fight. That craving for combat and battle-hardened confidence were things Zhang Yuanqing's original body lacked.
It feels like a combat talent was forcefully grafted onto it... Is this how Bewitching Demons usually are?
Next were its attributes: the Berserk passive—Blood Frenzy—was preserved, which was a Bewitching Demon's sole passive skill.
Bewitchment and Marking, being active skills, had already returned to the Spirit Realm.
What truly delighted Zhang Yuanqing, however, were the three attributes bestowed by the yellow crystal: First, during combat, the yin corpse could actively absorb the power of the earth to bolster its endurance, eliminating the need for its master to constantly sustain it with Lunar force.
It was worth noting that a yin corpse had limits and was not a perpetual motion machine. Once its internal Lunar force was spent, its master would need to replenish it.
Second, enhanced defense of skin and flesh.
Though it had not reached the level of copper skin and iron bones, ordinary blades and bullets would struggle to pierce it.
Third, Summon Stone Armor.
This attribute was an active skill. The yin corpse could convert the earth-attribute spiritual power stored in its body into invulnerable stone armor lasting three minutes. The armor's defensive power was formidable; even against armor-piercing class items from same-level Bewitching Demons, it could hold out for a full minute.
"Without items, this yin corpse actually feels a bit stronger than my main body. No wonder they say a Night Wanderer with a yin corpse is an entirely different beast from one flying solo. No wonder those Scholars ranked me eleventh..."
Zhang Yuanqing came to a sudden realization.
Then he couldn't help wondering: how strong must Zhao Chenghuang, ranked first with a Level 4 yin corpse, be?
Even if the yin corpse lost most of its Saint stage skills, as long as it retained just one, its Saint-tier physique alone could virtually steamroll the vast majority of Transcendents.
And that wasn't even factoring in Zhao Chenghuang's own combat prowess.
I was too overconfident before. Thankfully, I've got a yin corpse now too, closing the gap... In two days, the tournament begins. When the time comes, I'll make a grand entrance with my yin corpse. Full of confidence, he led the yin corpse out of the room.
Taking the elevator back down to the first floor, Xiao Yuan heard the commotion and glanced over from behind the counter.
Her gaze lingered on the yin corpse, which radiated an oppressive baleful aura, and said impassively, "You'd better get him a pair of sunglasses and a mask. You wouldn't want constables asking him for his ID on the street."
Zhang Yuanqing glanced back at the yin corpse and stroked his chin. "Good point!
"By the way, I haven't named him yet. Auntie Xiao Yuan, any suggestions?"
Xiao Yuan mocked, "Just call him Corpse No. 1. Fits your aesthetic."
Zhang Yuanqing's eyes lit up. "Great name! It's settled."
The spirit servant was Little Doubi, and the yin corpse was Corpse No. 1. A bright future awaited them all.
Xiao Yuan: "..."
"Auntie Xiao Yuan, the arena tournament is the day after tomorrow. Just wait for me to take the championship... Well, making the top three is definitely in the bag." Zhang Yuanqing didn't make promises he couldn't keep.
Xiao Yuan gave him a look. "You'll be lucky if you can even make the top five."
"Care to make a bet?" Zhang Yuanqing challenged.
"What are the stakes?" Xiao Yuan accepted the challenge.
If this were an erotic novel, the wager would definitely be a date or a kiss. But I'm an honorable gentleman... Zhang Yuanqing thought for a moment and said, "The loser rolls in the sheets with the winner!"
Promptly thereafter, he and the yin corpse were hurled out of the hotel by Xiao Yuan.
"It was just a joke, geez..."
Zhang Yuanqing scurried away in disgrace.
Two days later, early morning.
After finishing breakfast and washing up, Zhang Yuanqing returned to his bedroom and locked the door behind him.
He summoned the yin corpse, Corpse No. 1, from the wardrobe, strapped on his fanny pack, and packed the Cat King Speaker.
He waited in silence for 9:00 AM to arrive.
According to the official announcement, entering the tournament worked the same way as entering an instance: all one had to do was wait at home for the Spirit Realm prompt.
The opening ceremony was at nine o'clock.
Wait a minute...
Zhang Yuanqing suddenly remembered something. If that Yin Ji really was the Demon Lord's lover, she would definitely recognize the Cat King Speaker.
After all, this item could not be stored in an inventory.
If she spotted him with the Cat King Speaker, even if she wouldn't immediately conclude he was the Demon Lord's successor, she would certainly harbor doubts and question him.
It would only invite trouble.
At this thought, he hurriedly unstrapped the pack.
You'd better stay tucked away in the drawer... Sigh, losing a powerful support item... he thought ruefully.
The minutes ticked by, and nine o'clock finally arrived.
Chapter 180