Surviving in the Demonic Sect, one begins cultivation by retrieving corpses.

The large ship of the Zhenhe Division sailed into the lake, immediately attracting a lot of attention.

"Gong Yuzhou has finally arrived?"

"His nose is incredibly sensitive. He's been so slow this time; we've been here for two days, and he's only just arrived!"

A lukewarm voice came from another official boat of the River Guard.

The speaker was a middle-aged Taoist priest wearing a Taoist hat and with his hair neatly combed.

This man was named Sun Chan, and he was also a guard of the Zhenhe Division.

He was of the same rank as Gong Yuzhou, but was a bit older.

Someone whispered a reminder from the side: "Senior Brother Sun, don't underestimate him."

"Gong Yuzhou is the most cunning. Last time, it was his idea that he used corpse retrievers to retrieve a black coffin containing a Xuan corpse. The department highly praised him for this."

Sun Chan smiled faintly and straightened his Taoist hat: "How dare I underestimate him?"

"When I was his age, I hadn't even become a junior officer."

"Now, he is on equal footing with me."

Someone nearby stepped forward and whispered the message delivered by the scout.

Upon hearing this, Sun Chan frowned slightly: "What is Gong Yuzhou planning?"

"The corpse retrievers he brought this time are not only of low cultivation level, but they were all gathered from the Dingzi District. Could it be that he has no intention of participating in this competition?"

He immediately shook his head in denial: "Impossible. The conditions Si Li offered this time are so difficult for me to refuse, how could he give up so easily?"

"Keep a close eye on him."

A man crept closer, his voice low and sinister as he said, "Envoy Sun, why don't we wait until Gong Yuzhou's corpse retrievers go into the water, and then we can take advantage of the situation..."

His voice trailed off, "These corpse retrievers are worthless anyway, so if they die, they die."

Sun Chan slowly smoothed out the wrinkles on his sleeves, and smiled.

"Indeed, the Yinshui River has always been dangerous; who can guarantee that everyone will be safe and sound?"

"Keep your hands and feet clean, and don't do it too roughly, lest you make things difficult for me."

The man quickly smiled apologetically: "They're just a few menial laborers and corpse retrievers. Someone like Commander Gong wouldn't take them seriously."

Sun Chan took a sip of tea and looked at the large ship opposite him. "Gong Yuzhou, you've had it too easy these past few years."

"It's time to learn a lesson."

"Otherwise, would the other departments laugh at us, saying that the Yinshui River can really produce people with such great fortune?"

The middle-aged cultivator wearing a Taoist crown changed the subject and asked again:

"How's Sun Qian doing?"

Sun Qian was another guard from the Zhenhe Division, and he was also in the lake dam at this moment.

The subordinate quickly replied, "Envoy Sun is currently speaking with the prefect of Tianzhu Prefecture."

Sun Chan spat a mouthful of tea onto the deck, licked his lips, and said, "That slut Sun Qian, she's supposed to be a guard of the Zhenhe Division, yet she's shamelessly licking the crotch of a commander of the Tianzhu Prefecture."

"If she hadn't instigated it, how could that Heavenly Pillar have gotten involved in this matter?"

He rubbed his temples again. "And then there's the Patrol Hall, which is constantly opposing our Zhenhe Division."

"Alright, you can go now."

Sun Chan waved his hand and said, "If the body retrievers we hired are disobedient, we can do whatever we want with them. I'll take responsibility if anything goes wrong."

The crowd responded and withdrew.

There was only one person left in the boat, Sun Chan.

He reclined on the deck chair, gazing at the misty lake, and murmured softly, "A Foundation Establishment treasure... after all these years, it should be mine, Sun Chan's, now."

Before he could finish speaking...

Three wisps of strange energy quietly swirled around him, the three colors of precious energy—pale pink, tender green, and grayish-turbid—flowing slowly without interfering with each other.

As a cultivator in the Qi Refining Realm, he was able to simultaneously contain three kinds of precious Qi. The cultivation technique he practiced was clearly a superior Qi Gathering Profound Technique of the ninth rank or above.

"In the struggle for the path, who can stop me?"

"I will kill whoever comes my way!"

~

On the deck of the official ship where Gu Zhao was.

Yuan Shao silently supervised the group of corpse retrievers.

"Time to get in the water."

"Search this entire lake area thoroughly. If you find any coffins, corpses, or unusual objects, report it immediately."

"Did you all understand?"

The group of corpse retrievers readily agreed.

Jiang Xiubao paced back and forth on the deck, holding his magical artifact, clearly indicating that he did not want to go into the water.

Yuan Shao walked straight over and said, "You go down too."

Jiang Xiubao's face was bitter. As a supervisor, he had not set foot in the Yinshui River for many years, but he dared not disobey and had no choice but to agree.

Gu Zhao looked towards the stables and whispered, "Brother Ma, be careful."

Ma Fang nodded solemnly. He had worked in the corpse retrieval workshop for many years and was only one year away from completing his seven-year term as a foreman before returning to his hometown. He was always more cautious than others in his actions.

"Splash—"

Gu Zhao leaped into the lake dam. The moment he entered the water, he felt a bone-chilling cold, several times stronger than that of ordinary Yinshui Rivers. The water was also much deeper than he had imagined.

He did not circulate the "Corpse Water Blue Wave Scripture," but instead channeled his inner energy into the water-avoiding mirror in front of his chest.

This is a ritual implement given to me by Gong Yuzhou.

The mirror immediately lit up with a faint magical light, and a layer of light covered the body, resisting the invasion of the surrounding cold.

Even so, a chill still seeped into my body through my pores.

"As expected, it cannot be completely isolated; it can't even block half of it."

Gu Zhao thought to himself, "This water-avoiding mirror is ridiculously expensive. It's said to cost two thousand magic coins, but it can only last for a few days before the Yin Water River drains its spiritual energy."

Since the water-avoiding mirror cannot completely isolate the cold and dampness.

Gu Zhao stopped pressuring him and began to circulate the "Corpse Water Azure Wave Scripture".

The true qi within the dantian then spontaneously circulated, condensing into a layer of qi film on the body surface, instantly blocking out the biting cold surroundings.

He swam slowly forward, drawing in the true qi of Qian Yuan into his eyes.

The underwater view, which was originally turbid, green, and difficult to discern, suddenly became open and clear.

One can clearly see a distance of ten zhang (approximately 33 meters).

Gu Zhao looked down and saw that the bottom was still unfathomable even ten zhang below, making him feel as if he were standing on the edge of an abyss.

It seemed as if some enormous creature was lurking within, poised to devour its prey, about to burst forth.

Gu Zhao stopped looking down and started swimming forward, encountering many corpse retrievers along the way.

They were all unfamiliar faces whom I had never seen before in the T-zone, each one a skilled swimmer, moving nimbly like a fish in the water.

Gu Zhao kept an eye on several of the corpse retrievers. As soon as his gaze fell on them, they seemed to sense something and suddenly turned around.

Gu Zhao immediately channeled his inner energy into the soles of his feet, accelerating his movement as he swept past.

The man only showed a hint of doubt.

Gu Zhao thought to himself, these corpse retrievers are no ordinary people.

Even from such a distance, he could be detected simply by being within eye contact.

Moreover, the other party is not like himself, possessing such wondrous Qi as Qian Yuan Zhen Qi.

Indeed, heroes from all over the world are as numerous as carp crossing a river; they should not be underestimated.

Even this small morgue is like this.

An hour later.

The eight corpse retrievers that Gu Zhao brought with them found almost nothing.

Only a few of the lowest-grade corpses were retrieved from this lake dam.

There weren't even any black zombies.

It makes sense, considering they arrived two days late. With so many body retrievers taking turns searching, the bottom of the lake had probably already been thoroughly searched.

Gong Yuzhou and the other two seemed to have anticipated this, and did not urge them on.

Gu Zhao boarded the boat and rested for a moment before leaping back into the water.

He swam calmly in the water, a faint jade-colored light shimmering in his eyes.

"Hmm? That's...?"

Nine zhang away, a corpse lay exposed in the distance.

It has a human shape, but its skin is purple.

Gu Zhao's heart skipped a beat.

Purple Corpse! ?