Chapter 139: Enlightenment, Refinement

Chapter 139: Enlightenment, Refinement

The second Huis qi passed through the coffin walls, it faded away. Startled, Hui yanked back his tendril of qi and found it dying, as if infected with death qi. He severed the tendril, leaving it to shrivel up into darkness.

Right! That waters dangerous. If I want to examine it, Ill have to use death qi.

Actually as a death cultivator, shouldnt I only have death qi? He peeked open an eye to see if Fa Chuyou had noticed, but she stood in the corner, busily working on some project. Blood gushed, splattering across the hallway. She delicately leaped out of its way, made a quick gesture, and stemmed the flow of blood, then stepped back in to continue working as if nothing had happened.

Hui closed his eyes again. Shes busy. I doubt she noticed. New novel chapters are published on

He reached out again, this time with a tendril of death qi. His qi passed through the coffin walls and pressed into the water. A chill struck him instantly, along with a strange, empty feeling. The tendril slowed, and Hui frowned. What am I doing? Why am I

He furrowed his brows, forcing himself to focus. The corpse. Find the corpse! Im trying to resonate with the corpse. Remember that, the corpse! Dont let the Yellow Spring waters influence wash away your memories of what youre doing!

The death qi connected to something, an object hanging in the empty water. A void of sensation rushed up to meet him. Focusing, he spread his qi throughout the entire corpse, searching. Nothing nothing

Ah, there!

A faint spark. The barest memory of a technique. He reached out to it, and it faded. Startled, Hui drew back. Right, death qi! If I touch her qi with it, Ill kill whatever little is left of it. He hovered close, unwilling to touch.

The tiny trace of remnant qi fluctuated. Quietly, Hui watched, recording the fluctuation in his death qi. Slowly, he matched his qi to the remnant qi, fluctuating in time with it.

As he did, he reached out his hand toward the chest. Using another scrap of death qi, he copied the fluctuations again, hovering them over the objects in the chest. The objects fluctuations clashed with the fluctuations of his death qi. He flicked his finger. A piece of silver leaped from the chest and clattered a small distance away, its clashing fluctuations gone. Again, and again, flicking away the most clashing items one at a time into a neat pile a meter away from the chest. At last, three items remained: the dark amber, a shard of bone, and a thin gold wire.

He drew the three items toward him. They whooshed through the air and hovered over his open palm, slowly rotating.

The bone hummed, slightly off tune, but the death aura in it drew out the corpses death aura, creating an additive power. The amber gave a clear resonance, pure and dark. Although the resonance wasnt perfect, the clash was so small as to be barely noticeable.

Finally, the wire. It vibrated in his hand, clearly off-resonance. And yet he furrowed his brows. And yet, its also perfect. Perfect, and not perfect, as if as if theres two different resonances!

He returned his attention to the corpse and the scraps of qi inside of it. Suddenly, the one resonance hed been sensing split into two. One, dark and placid, pulsed with almost a heartbeatthe black blood. The other glowed a brilliant green, lively and aggressive.

Hui stared. Thatsthats the remnants of the puppet techniques qi! Its still inside the corpse? Then could I use that puppet qi through the corpse? If I can resonate with both

Turning back to the items in his hand, he focused again. The dark amber pulsed with the same slow beat as the black blood, while the wire writhed with the lively energy of the puppet techniques qi. The black bloods resonance was stronger, leading the wire to stand off-resonance more obviously, but both fit the remnants of the qi inside the corpse.

Ive decided. The answer is these two! He sent the scrap of bone into the pile with the rest of the rejected materials, then opened his eyes, releasing his meditative state. The amber and the wire fell into his palm, clattering against one another. He waved at the small pile, and the items lifted into the air and settled back into the chest.

Hui stood, looking down at the corpse in the coffin. Only her face floated above the dark liquid, a pale death mask looming from the gloomy dark. He pressed the amber and the wire against her forehead and circulated his death qi through them. Reaching out, he used the resonance of the wire and the amber to call out to the scraps of qi inside the corpses body. They shuddered, then leaped to his call, rushing toward the materials. At the same instant, the amber and wire melted into the corpses body, leaving no mark.

Oh well. Im used to working long hours. I should be able to make it work!

But its worthless for saving Xixing. Dammit! What am I supposed to do, then?

Fa Chuyou nodded. With this corpse I think it should be able to absorb this much fluid within a week. Come back then, okay? I should have some leftover second stage materials you can try for the next refinement.

Hui nodded. I cant rely on her materials. I should find my own, if I can.

Argh, Xixing would be so much help for that! But shes trapped

I need the corpse to save Xixing, I need Xixing to help refine the corpse. What should I do?

He furrowed his brows, lost in thought.

Fa Chuyou tilted her head at him. Whats wrong?

Could she help? Well its worth asking. Hui looked at her. Elder Sister, theres one of our Elder Brothers recently caught a famed pill cultivator from a righteous sect. Our sect doesnt have pill refining, but isnt pill refining similar to corpse cultivation? Do you think we could ask them to loan us the pill cultivator for a while so we can er, seek enlightenment from her?

Seek enlightenment? From a pill cultivator? Fa Chuyou frowned. Pill cultivators ought to seek enlightenment from us, not the other way around.

Ah thats true, thats true, Elder Sister, but this small cultivator is but on the first step on the path of corpse cultivation. Elder Sisters methods are too mysterious and deep for this cultivator to understand. By studying pill cultivation as a stepping-stone on the way to the true path of corpse cultivation, I hope to grow half a step closer to Elder Sisters comprehension, Hui replied, giving her an adulating look.

She nodded, putting a hand on her chin. That is a good thought. I wouldnt want you to deviate from the true path of corpse cultivation, though

Hui shook his head and slapped his chest. Elder Sister, have no fear. This small cultivator has absolutely no ability to cultivate pills! I dont even know how to turn on a pill furnace!

Oh! Well, in that case, of course! Fa Chuyou said, beaming. Do you know who captured the pill cultivator? I could ask Master Jing to help us negotiate with their Master to borrow the pill cultivator for a while.

Master Jing! Right, he had an eye on me. And I need a Master to sponsor me so I can enter the trials zone. This is a chance to not only help Xixing, but also to show my skills before a potential sponsor! He nodded, then hesitated. I dont actually know their names, though. Er I know which vertebra theyre in.

Thats fine, thats fine. We can figure it out from there, she said, nodding.

I believe it was Vertebra 46?

She furrowed her brows, then nodded. Ill speak with Master Jing. We should be able to negotiate something!

Hui bowed. Thank you, Elder Sister!