My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

He went into the inner secret room.

The place is simply furnished, yet it exudes a sinister atmosphere.

Instead of the Three Pure Ones statues, the altar was adorned with a small, black statue with a blurred face and an eerie aura.

Several bulging burlap sacks lay under the table, emitting a smell of dirt and a faint stench of decay.

He untied one of the burlap sacks, and inside were several tattered clothes covered in mud and mottled with dark red stains—the very clothes worn by the corpse that was "burned" today!

The body itself has long since disappeared.

Master Yunhe took out a palm-sized, dark bell, neither gold nor wood, covered with twisted runes—the Corpse-Driving Bell—from his bosom.

He shook it gently; the bell's sound was low and hoarse, not crisp, but it carried a strange penetrating power, as if it could directly strike the spiritual senses of some kind of filthy being.

The bell rang in the secret room for a moment, and then a faint rustling sound came from the shadows near the back wall.

Immediately afterwards, a tall, stiff figure shrouded in a faint black aura slowly "slid" out of the shadows.

Its eyes were tightly closed, its skin was a deathly pale blue, and its nails were black and long.

It was his "master" who bestowed upon him the "Iron Corpse" for self-defense and action.

"Let's go to the usual place."

Master Yunhe whispered instructions to the iron corpse, while hanging a small pottery jar with a talisman attached to it on its stiff hand.

"Be careful, don't let anyone see."

The iron corpse made a "gurgling" sound in its throat as a response, then turned around, disappeared underground, and fled towards the mountains and forests.

Once a zombie becomes a walking corpse or even an iron corpse, it has a chance to acquire innate supernatural abilities, but the probability is very small.

This iron corpse was quite lucky, as it acquired an earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a type of magical ability) that allows it to move freely underground.

Its whereabouts are extremely secretive, which is why it was bestowed upon Master Yunhe.

Master Yunhe sat down on the futon in front of the incense table and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.

He had no cultivation, so driving the iron corpse and maintaining the weak connection with its master were both quite mentally taxing.

He was actually only twenty-two years old, but the long-term use of these magical artifacts had already made him look prematurely aged.

But it's all worth it. As long as the master succeeds, he will be able to embark on that great path, and then he will live forever and be able to go anywhere.

His face, however, held an almost fanatical anticipation.

"Corpse King...breakthrough..." he murmured, his eyes flashing with a mixture of greed and fear.

……

Outside the town, a few miles inward from the edge of Wild Boar Forest, lies a shady mountain hollow.

The trees here are sparse, the soil has an ominous dark red hue, and not a single blade of grass grows here.

Yet it was permeated with a thick, nauseating stench and a strange, damp atmosphere.

The corpse that the iron corpse had brought out from the secret chamber of the Zhou mansion was now lying upright in this dark red soil, with only the neck and above exposed.

A small hole was made at the top of the corpse's head, and the area around it was smeared with a thick, black paste that emitted a mixture of fishy, ​​sweet, and putrid odors.

The iron corpse mechanically removed the small earthenware jar, opened it, and poured out some grayish-white, fine-as-dust spore powder.

Sprinkle evenly on the small hole on the top of the corpse's head and the surrounding black paste.

Having done all this, the Iron Corpse quietly retreated into the shadows, like the most loyal guard.

Time passed in deathly silence.

This is not the only new "plant" here; at a glance, there are actually twenty or thirty!

These are all young and middle-aged people who recently died from illness or accident in Heishan Town and nearby villages.

They were half-buried in the soil in various twisted postures, and most of them no longer had empty holes on top, but had grown strangely shaped fungi!

These fungi are pale white or dark gray in color, and their shapes are distorted. Some look like shrunken human ears, some like tightly clenched ghost claws, and some like tumors that constantly ooze black fluid.

Without exception, they all exuded a strong sense of yin energy, and the surface of the caps even faintly shimmered with phosphorescence, making them particularly eerie in the dark.

This is the "corpse yin fungus," an extremely yin evil creature that grows on the soil of corpses and nourished by the qi of corpses, yin qi, and fearful thoughts.

The spores sprinkled on the newly planted corpse began to germinate at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Absorbing the essence of the corpse's remains and the dense yin energy around it, a pale white mycelium emerged, wriggling and beginning to grow slowly.

The iron corpse's empty eye sockets seemed to glance at this mushroom field that exuded an ominous vitality.

Then he silently turned around and disappeared underground again, heading towards Black Mountain Town.

Inside Ningbi Pavilion, Master Yunhe, who was meditating, seemed to sense something. A strange smile appeared on his lips as he muttered to himself.

"Another seed has been planted... Master, the 'resources' you need will soon be sufficient. Corpse King... Hehe..."

……

The largest restaurant in Heishan Town, "Zuixianlou," has lost its former liveliness.

Only two or three tables of guests were scattered around the hall, all with their heads down, eating and drinking, with little conversation or laughter, creating a somber atmosphere.

Only in the private booth by the window on the second floor, a young man in his early twenties, dressed in a brocade robe, was drinking alone in silence.

The few delicate dishes on the table were barely touched, and his brows were furrowed with an unyielding melancholy.

This man was Zhou Wenxuan, the eldest son of the Zhou family and the only son of Zhou Yongfu.

Unlike his father, who was a wealthy and shrewd businessman, Zhou Wenxuan was handsome with delicate features and a scholarly air about him. However, at this moment, his eyes were gloomy and he looked somewhat haggard.

He really didn't want to stay in the mansion.

Ever since that Master Yunhe arrived, the entire Zhou residence has become strange and peculiar.

The stench of talismans and ritual implements everywhere, his father's almost fawning worship of the immortal, and the fearful yet blindly obedient expressions on the faces of the servants when they talked about the immortal all made him feel uncomfortable.

What chilled him to the bone even more was that he had occasionally caught glimpses of the real man's eyes when no one was around. They were cold and sinister, showing no trace of the compassionate and otherworldly demeanor of a monk.

It's like... like those evil Taoist priests in traditional operas who practice sorcery!

He had also privately warned his father that this Taoist priest was probably of dubious origin and acted with an evil air.

But his father not only ignored him, but also flew into a rage, scolding him for disrespecting the immortals and being ignorant. He even suspected that the immortals were jealous of his favor and almost resorted to family discipline.

Zhou Wenxuan was both angry and anxious, but there was nothing he could do.

Now, the father is in charge of the household, and the servants all treat the master as a god. As for the eldest son, no one listens to him anymore.

Filled with resentment and doubt, he sought refuge in a tavern to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

Just as I was feeling annoyed, I heard footsteps coming from the stairwell, and two people came up.

Leading the group was an old Taoist priest with gray hair and beard, wearing an old robe, a wine gourd hanging from his waist, and a somewhat cynical smile on his face.

Following behind was a younger Taoist priest in blue robes, whose face was calm and whose demeanor was quite composed.

It was Chi Yangzi and Ye Qingfeng.

The two sat down at an empty table diagonally opposite Zhou Wenxuan, and Chi Yangzi casually called out to the waiter.

"Hey buddy, bring me two jugs of your best wine, and a few of your signature snacks! And quick, please!"

The voice was loud and clear, sounding somewhat out of place in the quiet restaurant.

The guests at several tables looked up and saw that they were two inconspicuous Taoist priests. They then lowered their heads again, assuming that they were just two freeloaders.