The Corpse Dismemberer

Generally speaking, once a cultivator passed the age of sixty, their blood vitality would gradually decline. Reaching Foundation Establishment required a cultivator to raise their essence, Qi, and spirit to the absolute peak possible for a human, breaking through the body's physical limits to trigger a metamorphosis. This was a fundamental evolution of life itself, granting far greater power and longevity.

In other words, after the age of sixty, the probability of successful Foundation Establishment became extremely low, steadily dropping as one grew older.

Although Wu Sheng was only sixteen years old, he had no choice but to risk everything at this age to amass more cultivation resources, all for the sake of Foundation Establishment and a much longer life.

Though proud, Wu Sheng possessed clear goals and plans for his cultivation path. For the most part, this was due to the teachings of his deceased father-one of the greatest legacies his father had left him.

After receiving his Corpse Catcher token, Wu Sheng respectfully stepped aside.

This sight left a deep impression on the five people behind him, especially Song Wen, who was living his second life.

It seemed the cultivation world was not just about fighting and killing. Just like the mortal realm, it was still driven by worldly wisdom and human relations, even within a demonic sect notorious for its cruelty and bloodshed.

Next came the four-man group of newcomers to choose their tasks.

Perhaps they had discussed it beforehand, as all four unanimously chose to become spiritual planters in the Spirit Medicine Hall.

Cultivators of the Corpse Demon Sect required a vast quantity of pills for their training, and refining these pills required various spiritual herbs and poisonous grasses. It was impossible to gather all of these from secret realms or the wilderness; the vast majority were cultivated by the sect's own Spirit Medicine Hall.

A spiritual planter's duty was to nurture these spiritual herbs and poisonous grasses within the Hall. It was one of the least dangerous positions in the Corpse Demon Sect, with almost no risks aside from the occasional venomous insect appearing in the spiritual gardens.

Naturally, the compensation for a spiritual planter was relatively poor. But for these four, whose temperaments were still immature and who knew next to nothing about cultivation and the ways of the demonic path, it was undoubtedly an excellent choice.

Finally, it was Song Wen's turn to choose.

"I choose to go to the Blood Refining Hall to be a Corpse Dismemberer."

Members of the Corpse Demon Sect required massive amounts of human blood essence to refine various pills and Magical Artifacts, and this blood essence was primarily supplied by the Blood Refining Hall.

Since human blood essence was contained within every part of the body, the position of Corpse Dismemberer existed to extract it to the absolute maximum. It was essentially no different from a secular butcher; a Corpse Dismemberer needed to separate the flesh, bones, and internal organs of human bodies to provide the raw materials for the Blood Refining Hall to refine blood essence.

Upon hearing this, the old man stared at Song Wen with a strange expression, asking with a hint of surprise and suspicion, "Are you certain you want to be a Corpse Dismemberer?"

The compensation for a Corpse Dismemberer was exceptionally high, mainly because the Corpse Dismemberment Cave was located deep beneath the Corpse Demon Mountain. Due to years of continuous dismemberment, the cave was filled with a dense, choking blood miasma, interspersed with traces of corpse energy and resentment.

These various turbid energies of heaven and earth blended together, severely destabilizing the local spiritual environment. It was no longer fit for long-term human habitation. Even cultivators of the Corpse Demon Sect who primarily practiced corpse-related arts would easily have their Magic Power contaminated if they stayed inside too long, leading to Qi Deviation.

The Corpse Dismemberment Cave was typically a place of exile for disciples who had committed crimes, or a destination for late-stage Qi Condensation cultivators whose hopes of Foundation Establishment were bleak and who sought an extreme environment to stimulate their own potential.

It had been many years since a newly initiated disciple had actively requested to go to the Corpse Dismemberment Cave.

These factors were precisely why the old man found it so unexpected.

Wu Sheng and the four-man newcomer group also looked at Song Wen in astonishment. They had all gained a general understanding of the sect from the regulations and recognized the horrors of the Corpse Dismemberment Cave to some degree.

Yet Song Wen replied with a calm face, "Yes, I want to go to the Corpse Dismemberment Cave to be a Corpse Dismemberer."

The moment he heard that the cave was short-staffed, he had selected it immediately.

A Corpse Dismemberer needed to personally dissect a massive number of corpses, which perfectly allowed his golden finger to devour blood essence. Surely, a slight shortage of blood in a cave containing countless corpses would not attract anyone's attention.

Having witnessed the power of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Song Wen burned with an intense desire for strength. In this dog-eat-dog world, only when one's own power was absolute could they truly control their own destiny.

Seeing Song Wen's resolute answer, the old man said nothing more.

If someone wanted to go to the Corpse Dismemberment Cave to court death, he was not about to stop them.

Perhaps some of the pills he consumed next month would even contain blood essence contributed by this boy's body. The Corpse Demon Sect searched the world for the blood essence and corpses of cultivators, and they certainly would not pass up the corpses of fellow disciples who died untimely deaths.

The old man tossed a token engraved with the words 'Corpse Dismemberment' to Song Wen.

Bearing their respective tokens, the six of them exited the External Affairs Hall.

Zhang Xiaofan opened his mouth to speak to Song Wen, but in the end, he said nothing, merely letting out a deep sigh.

In his eyes, Song Wen, as a rogue cultivator, was just like them-mortals who had never practiced cultivation and had been forcibly abducted, all forced to become disciples of the Corpse Demon Sect.

He originally wanted to advise Song Wen to choose a safe, stable duty like them to scrape by within the Corpse Demon Sect. Perhaps one day they might find an opportunity to escape the sect and live a free life once more.

He found it entirely incomprehensible that Song Wen would choose to become a highly dangerous Corpse Dismemberer.

On the other hand, Wu Sheng, who had mocked Song Wen several times before, actually looked at him properly for once.

"I didn't expect you to be a ruthless character too, actually daring to join the Corpse Dismemberment Cave. I hope you'll still be alive to walk out of there in five years."

The risks of the Corpse Dismemberment Cave were immense, but the Corpse Catcher path Wu Sheng had chosen was no different.

Song Wen's choice inevitably stirred a sense of shared plight within Wu Sheng; both were risking it all for that elusive chance at longevity.

After the group split up, Song Wen held his dismemberment token and headed straight toward the base of the mountain.

The entrance to the Corpse Dismemberment Cave lay at the foot of the mountain.

At the northwestern base of Corpse Demon Peak, a massive, ten-zhang-tall cave mouth appeared before Song Wen's eyes.

The interior was pitch-black without a single glint of light, resembling a fierce beast crouching upon the ground, opening its bloody maw to swallow everything nearby.

From time to time, gusts of ghostly wind blew out from the cave, sending shivers down one's spine.

Above the cave entrance, three large characters were inscribed: Corpse Dismemberment Cave.

Song Wen steadied his mind, held up the dismemberment token, and stepped into the cave mouth.

The moment he crossed the threshold, he clearly sensed himself passing through a formation. This was the defensive array of the Corpse Dismemberment Cave. If anyone rashly intruded without a token, they would not only fail to enter but would also be attacked by the formation, alerting the cultivators of the Corpse Demon Sect.

The path inside sloped continuously downward. It was not entirely pitch-black like it appeared from the outside; faint patches of fluorescence flickered on the stone walls from time to time, looking like clusters of ghostly fire rising from a graveyard in the dead of night.

Song Wen walked deeper and deeper. After traveling a distance of nearly a thousand meters, the view ahead suddenly opened up.

A massive underground cavern spanning a thousand meters in diameter appeared before him, and a highly foul, nauseating stench of blood and decay rushed straight at his face.

Around the cavern, pale, ghastly flames burned one after another, making this place-already dense with Yin energy and corpse miasma-appear even more eerie and terrifying.

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