Corpse Dissection to Cultivate the Heart

The next morning.

Song Wen arrived at the Corpse Dissection Caves early in the dawn hours.

When he had departed, he had requested a one-month leave of absence from Steward Feng Deng. Returning two days ahead of schedule, it was necessary for him to report back.

Feng Deng looked upon Song Wen, who had been gone for nearly a month, but said very little. He understood the wisdom of keeping a low profile far better than Yuan Cheng. Aside from allocating the daily tasks of corpse dissection, he rarely exchanged a single word with the corpse dismemberers.

"Ji Yin, you took a month's leave. According to the regulations, you must make up for that month's quota over the course of the next three months."

"Starting today, you will be assigned two hundred corpses daily. Do you have any objections?"

Feng Deng was merely acting according to the rules, so Song Wen naturally had no reason to complain.

"I shall defer entirely to your arrangements, Steward Feng. This subordinate has no objections."

Feng Deng nodded, tossed four Storage Bags to Song Wen, and then closed his eyes, speaking no further.

Song Wen walked over to corpse dissection platform number seventy-three and began to dismantle the bodies at a steady, unhurried pace.

Having spent nearly six years performing corpse dissection, Song Wen had transformed from his initial state of disgust and resistance to a later stage of numb adaptation.

By now, he had actually begun to enjoy the process.

It was much like a Daoist priest chanting sacred scriptures daily to cultivate the mind and nourish the spirit, or a Buddhist monk striking a wooden fish and reciting sutras to cleanse the thoughts and dissolve karmic hindrances.

Song Wen was able to attain a similar state of clarity through his grisly work.

His mind became as still as water, tranquil and undisturbed.

The act of corpse dissection helped him banish distracting thoughts and temper his disposition, serving to elevate his mental state.

He no longer pursued mere speed, but rather strove for a sublime mastery akin to the legendary butcher who dismantled oxen with effortless grace.

With every corpse he dissected, he sought to preserve the absolute integrity of the meridians, bones, blood vessels, and musculature.

In his eyes, those severed limbs and internal organs were no different from a painting to an artist or a stanza to a poet.

They were the meticulously crafted pieces of his own art.

Dismantling the two hundred corpses occupied more than four hours of his time. By the time he stepped out of the Corpse Dissection Caves, dusk was already drawing near.

Upon exiting the caves, he did not return to his cave dwelling. Instead, he made his way up the mountain toward the Scripture Transmission Hall.

The Corpse King Blood Refining Art he practiced only contained methods up to the Qi Refining stage. If he wished to continue raising his cultivation realm, he either had to locate the subsequent volumes of the technique or switch to another Foundation Establishment cultivation manual.

Furthermore, now that his Foundation Establishment was complete, he needed to enhance his combat repertoire by learning techniques suited for a true Foundation Establishment cultivator.

The Scripture Transmission Hall of the Corpse Demon Sect comprised three ancient buildings, which corresponded to the cultivation methods and secret arts of the Qi Refining, Foundation Establishment, and Core Formation Realms respectively.

Since Song Wen did not possess the token of a Foundation Establishment Elder, he was naturally barred from entering the Foundation Establishment building.

He stood several hundred paces away from the structure. Seated cross-legged before its entrance was a middle-aged woman who still retained an air of fading charm. Her eyes were tightly shut as she meditated, seemingly immersed in her cultivation.

This woman was the Steward Elder in charge of the Foundation Establishment building.

Unlike the bustling crowds that frequented the Qi Refining building, the grounds outside the Foundation Establishment pavilion were utterly deserted, with scarcely a soul in sight.

The Corpse Demon Sect publicly claimed to possess some two hundred thirty Foundation Establishment cultivators. Most of them would visit the Scripture Transmission Hall once upon succeeding in their breakthrough, but they rarely returned afterward.

Through his perception, Song Wen could tell that the middle-aged woman possessed a cultivation level of at least the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. Attempting to sneak past her into the building was an exercise in futility.

Moreover, he had no way of knowing what other hidden defensive measures might be lurking within the shadows of the hall.

To infiltrate blindly would be no different from courting death.

The only proper strategy was to obtain an Elder token and enter openly through the front doors.

The disciple and Elder tokens of the Corpse Demon Sect verified the identity of the bearer by matching the spiritual aura bound within the token to the cultivator's own unique aura.

However, Song Wen's physical control over his own flesh allowed him to perfectly mimic the spiritual aura of others.

This meant that as long as he could acquire a single Elder token, he could smoothly enter the Scripture Transmission Hall.

Of course, the Elder he chose to impersonate could not be anyone intimately familiar to the Steward Elder. Otherwise, no matter how flawless his aura, some minor slip in his demeanor would inevitably give him away.

After lingering outside the Foundation Establishment building for a brief moment, Song Wen feigned a soft sigh and turned to walk toward the Qi Refining building. He perfectly played the part of a low-level disciple filled with yearning, staring wistfully at the higher-level pavilion while fantasizing about the day he might successfully establish his foundation and cross its threshold.

He was currently masking his presence as a cultivator at the fifth layer of Qi Refining. If he spent too long staring at the Foundation Establishment building without making some deceptive gesture to cover his tracks, it would inevitably draw the suspicion of anyone watching.

After casually selecting a minor secret art from the Qi Refining pavilion, Song Wen descended the mountain and headed straight for the market town.

Upon entering the town, he went directly to the underground black market.

There, he hoped to find a way to gather information regarding the Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Corpse Demon Sect.

Yet, the moment he stepped into the subterranean market, he sensed that something was amiss.

Among the crowds moving through the market, the number of Foundation Establishment cultivators was noticeably higher than usual. What was more, the majority of these extra cultivators appeared to be rogue cultivators.

"Where did so many Foundation Establishment rogue cultivators come from?"

"I haven't heard of any major auctions taking place in the market recently, nor are there any rumors of a secret realm or ancient ruin appearing near the Corpse Demon Sect. Why are these rogue cultivators gathering here?"

Song Wen detected a faint, unusual scent of trouble lingering around these passing figures.

However, after a moment's reflection, he dismissed it, believing it had nothing to do with him.

In any case, his only desire was to remain hidden within his cave dwelling to cultivate, stealing a bit of essence blood during his daily corpse dissection duties to exchange for resources. He was perfectly content with his current state of affairs.

If he could find a way to eliminate the threat posed by Shi Shou, it would be even better.

Unless a day came when the essence blood he harvested from the Corpse Dissection Caves could no longer sustain his cultivation needs, he had no intention of leaving.

Song Wen walked directly to the central counter of the underground market hall and addressed the elderly man seated behind it.

"I require information on the cultivators who have advanced to the Foundation Establishment stage within the Corpse Demon Sect over the last five years. How many Spirit Stones will it cost?"

The old man raised his cloudy eyes to stare at Song Wen, answering in a low, gravelly voice.

"Lately, plenty of people have come seeking information on the Corpse Demon Sect's Foundation Establishment cultivators. I didn't expect a little brat at the seventh layer of Qi Refining to join in the fray as well."

At present, Song Wen had altered his appearance to resemble a young rogue cultivator at the seventh layer of Qi Refining.

"Over the past five years, seven individuals within the Corpse Demon Sect have successfully established their foundations. To obtain the details on these seven people will cost you two thousand Spirit Stones."

Song Wen's expression shifted slightly. "So expensive?"

The old man let out a mocking chuckle. "With so many people buying this information lately, the price naturally goes up. There are some matters that a minor Qi Refining cultivator like yourself should not meddle in."

There was an underlying meaning hidden within the old man's words.

Song Wen did not dwell on it, firmly believing that these affairs had nothing to do with him and requiring no further scrutiny.

He retrieved two thousand Spirit Stones from his Storage Bag and handed them over to the elder.

The old man cast a peculiar look at him, seemingly astonished that a mere seventh-layer Qi Refining cultivator could produce two thousand Spirit Stones without even blinking.

The elder tossed a jade slip across the counter to Song Wen, then lowered his head, falling silent once more.

Song Wen took the jade slip, turned, and walked out of the black market.

He could faintly sense that the atmosphere within the black market had become entirely abnormal. It would be wise to frequent this place far less in the days to come.

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