Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

【Name: Soul-Capturing Bell】

[Category: Spiritual Artifact]

[Description: An item made from the remaining materials from the refining of the Whispering Bell; it has the ability to control and absorb the souls of living corpses, and refine their physical bodies into corpse puppets.]

The souls stored within the bell can be used as raw materials for related spells.

The message from the magical artifact reflected in the silver mirror had already made Yan Cheng realize how dangerous the golden bell in the black-robed girl's hand was to the living corpses.

As long as Yan Cheng remains in this half-dead state, the girl in black robes can use the Soul-Seizing Bell at any time to steal his soul and refine him into an ignorant and mindless corpse puppet.

Fortunately, Jinling's control over the living corpses that have not yet been refined into corpse puppets does not seem to be very strong, so much so that Yan Cheng was able to deal with the attacks from the Qi Refining female corpse.

It's also possible that the girl in black robes didn't realize Yan Cheng had become a cultivator and didn't believe he had the ability to fight against the female corpse.

He had to take action, no matter what.

As the stiffness that had gripped his legs receded like a receding tide, Yan Cheng did not hesitate for a moment. He stepped forward to meet the female corpse that was lunging at him and slammed a heavy punch into her stomach!

Neither of them had learned any physical martial arts techniques, but the quality of Yan Cheng's spiritual energy far surpassed that of his opponent. In an instant, the difference in strength and speed determined the winner.

The Qi-cultivation female corpse, struck by a heavy punch, fell forward. Taking advantage of the situation, Yan Cheng stepped forward and stomped her head hard on the ground!

Although the "Yin Shi Xing Sha Jue" is a technique that focuses on physical cultivation, the female corpse who is practicing Qi cultivation has not been practicing for very long.

More importantly, Yan Cheng was practicing the original version of this method, the authentic method used by ancient cultivators to bring the dead back to life.

The power of the Yin Star Qi on his body was far greater than that of the Yin Corpse Fiends cultivated by the corpse cultivators before him!

With a crisp, clean click, it was a delightful sound.

The head of the Qi Refining female corpse was actually crushed by Yan Cheng's stomp!

Ignoring the blood and flesh mixed with red and white at his feet, Yan Cheng simply looked up and met the eyes of the black-robed girl hidden behind the clouds.

The main hall fell into an eerie silence.

The corpse of the woman who had just died was nothing in the eyes of the immortal sect.

But he was one of the first among the corpses to cultivate spiritual energy and was granted the status of a disciple. How could he be killed so easily?

Just as all the corpses thought the black-robed girl was about to lightly shake the golden bell and capture the soul of this audacious madman before them, they heard her giggle:

"What a ruthless child! He should be a disciple of my immortal sect."

"Now that this wretch has died at your feet, her heart, liver, spleen, and lungs will be kept for you, to be swallowed whole when your yang fire turns against you in the future."

"From this day forward, you will be a disciple of my Immortal Sect."

……

From beginning to end, the girl in black robes never asked Yan Cheng's name, just as she had never remembered the name of the woman whose body had been trampled to death.

Yan Cheng silently followed her out of the Hall of Longevity and into an inconspicuous pavilion outside the hall, where a corpse puppet handed him paper, pen, and a register to write down his name.

The girl in black robes leaned forward and asked with interest:

"Your name is Yan Cheng? That's a good name. Yan was the royal surname of the Yan state in the south."

"My name is Huang Tong, and I am the direct disciple of the Lord of the Longevity Hall of the Immortal Sect."

"Whenever a person with exceptional talent dies in the palace, I am responsible for receiving them."

Yan Cheng glanced at the burly corpse puppet standing not far behind her, but did not respond.

Huang Tong didn't take it seriously, but the look in his eyes behind the thick black mist was playful:

"Now that you are a disciple of my Immortal Sect, your life is guaranteed."

"As long as you haven't reached the point where your path is completely blocked and there's no way to progress, I won't casually turn you into a corpse puppet."

"Hehe, Zongli has always placed the greatest emphasis on the sustainable development of its talents."

Yan Cheng barely managed to suppress the urge to roll his eyes and respectfully replied:

"Senior Sister Huang has a far-sighted vision that is beyond the reach of ordinary people."

Huang Tong waved his hand:

"It's just a rule set by the higher-ups."

"Now that you have become a cultivator, it is no longer appropriate for you to live in the main hall like those mortal corpses. I will have the dead prepare a morgue on the second floor for you to live in."

"If you cultivate diligently in the future and submit a wisp of Yin Corpse Fiend to the hall every month, you can retain your status as a disciple."

"If you, junior brother, are exceptionally talented and have cultivated enough malevolent energy, you can use it to exchange with the hall for various techniques and spiritual items needed for cultivation."

"This naturally includes the heart and liver of the living corpse, which are used to suppress the backlash of the yang fire in the body."

Yan Cheng asked:

How many fellow disciples die each year due to the backlash of Yang Fire?

Huang Tong smiled and said:

"Not much, maybe six or seven tenths."

"But junior brother need not worry. If you suffer a backlash, I will immediately refine you into a corpse puppet and store your soul in the bell, so that you will not be scattered along with your physical body when it dies a second time."

"Didn't I say that as long as one is in the Immortal Sect, whether one lives or dies, there will always be ways to contribute to the sect?"

Yan Cheng blinked after hearing this.

Thinking to myself, how could you say something like that, something that should be hung up like a street lamp, without batting an eye?

No wonder the Hall of Longevity established rules to prevent true disciples from arbitrarily turning living corpses with room for improvement into corpse puppets.

In order to maintain their status as registered disciples, cultivators must diligently cultivate and practice without stopping, producing Yin Corpse Fiends to be handed over to the emperor.

However, handing over the Yin Corpse Fiend, which he had painstakingly cultivated, would affect his progress in cultivating the "Yin Corpse Fiend Technique".

In order to improve cultivation efficiency, more baleful energy must be surrendered in exchange for cultivation resources...

Yan Cheng secretly shook his head. This wasn't the path of immortality they were cultivating; it was clearly the path of cattle and horses.

Now he truly understood the meaning of "only the material is useful." It turned out that as long as one was in the Immortal Sect, not an inch of his skin or flesh could escape being completely exploited by the sect.

The worst part is that the other party doesn't even intend to spare his soul... At that point, there won't even be a chance to gamble on whether he can travel through time again!

But he has no other choice, at least not for now.

Huang Tong seemed oblivious to the change in his expression, or perhaps she simply didn't care, and said only:

"In addition, the sect has prepared a Qi-condensing pill and a golden paper crane for each junior disciple who has successfully become a registered disciple."

"The former is used to assist living corpse cultivators in condensing Yin Corpse Qi, while the latter is used for internal communication among sect disciples."

"As an entry reward for becoming a nominal disciple, I will not charge you this time. Please accept it with gratitude, junior brother."

She handed Yan Cheng a small bottle and a piece of yellowish-brown talisman, her alluring eyes gleaming.

"In addition, I have another gift for my junior brother as a reward for an outstanding junior."

As he spoke, a phantom image of a scripture appeared before Yan Cheng's eyes:

The Technique of Gathering Yin and Condensing Evil Qi

A dense stream of messages flooded Yan Cheng's mind, explaining how to gather the spiritual energy of the Yin Coffin through the black coffins inhabited by the living corpses, and then absorb it into his body to condense the Yin Corpse Fiend!