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

The corpses in the Yinshui River are divided into five categories from bottom to top: wandering corpses, black zombies, purple corpses, black corpses, and even undead bones.

Gu Zhao had been working at the morgue for over half a month, but had never seen a single purple corpse.

This is the first time.

He slowly swam toward the corpse.

He had previously retrieved seven or eight black zombies, all of which had black hairs like steel needles on their bodies. They were still able to maintain a human shape, and although their clothes were rotten, they could still be sent to the tailor shop for repair.

The wandering corpses couldn't even maintain their human form.

The Yinshui River is extremely cold and damp; even magical artifacts and physical bodies immersed in it cannot escape corrosion and decay.

But this purple corpse was completely different from the ordinary ones.

He had heard from the stables that the purple corpse's skin and flesh were not decayed, only its whole body was purple, and its face was still clearly recognizable.

The stables had been in the morgue for six years, and had only ever retrieved three purple corpses. Each one looked like a living person who had sunk into the water, with a deep purple complexion.

Gu Zhao swam closer, getting no more than three or four zhang away from the purple corpse.

Upon closer inspection, it was indeed the case.

The purple corpse was that of a middle-aged man, wearing a black armor whose color was no longer discernible, and he was tall.

The features are clearly visible.

It had a square face and closed eyes, but its arms didn't resemble human hands; they looked more like claws.

If it weren't for its purplish skin and its strange posture as it floated on its back in the water, it would have looked quite serene.

Gu Zhao moved closer, patiently awaiting the reaction of the Great Cauldron of the Heart Sea.

really.

The black gold cauldron trembled, and runes flowed across its body.

[A spiritual object has been detected near the cauldron master, available for sacrifice... the corpse of a Queshui demon.]

[To offer a sacrifice? Sacrifice duration: ten breaths.]

The great cauldron, which had been silent for several days, finally began to tremble again.

This purple corpse can actually be used as a sacrifice.

Gu Zhao had originally planned to observe for a while and didn't want to stand out.

But since it is possible to offer a sacrifice, there is no need to hesitate.

[Sacrifice.]

Ten breaths later.

The master of the cauldron has already offered sacrifice to the corpse of Que Shuiyin.

[Reward: Lubricating Water from the Earth, available to claim in six hours.]

It became.

As soon as the sacrifice ended, Gu Zhao noticed several corpse retrievers swimming rapidly toward the location, clearly having also discovered the purple corpse's whereabouts.

"That's fast."

He was slightly startled.

From the discovery of the body to the completion of the sacrifice, only a little over ten breaths passed before the nearby corpse retrievers noticed.

"These body retrievers we hired are indeed extraordinary."

"I don't know what method they used to find the body."

Gu Zhao touched the golden headband on his head.

The large ship that had been accompanying them reacted instantly, throwing down a grappling hook to drag the purple corpse aboard.

The experienced swimmer who swam over looked slightly surprised upon seeing this: "A purple corpse?"

Gu Zhao didn't reply and swam onto the large ship.

More than two hours had passed on the second floor where Gong Yuzhou and the other two were.

The body retrievers below found almost nothing, only pulling up a few floating corpses.

"Senior Brother Gong, did we choose the wrong person this time?"

Yuan Shao spoke up, "I just saw Sun Chan, that smiling tiger. They've already pulled several black zombies out of their ship."

"Some of the corpse retrievers are already at the seventh level of the Fetal Movement Realm. Their water-based skills are truly impressive. They might actually be able to advance to the outer sect in the future."

Yang Yueqi chimed in, "Sun Chan is a veteran of the Zhenhe Division, and his cultivation has reached the late stage of Qi Refining."

"He served as the envoy for over ten years. This time... he's most likely after the Foundation Establishment treasure promised by the Director."

She glanced at Gong Yuzhou and said, "Everyone in the department is saying that Sun Chan secretly harbors a great deal of resentment towards Senior Brother Gong."

"But we've never had any dealings with him before, and we've always kept to ourselves. That's strange, isn't it?"

Gong Yuzhou teased the white snake with his right hand and laughed, "On the path of cultivation, if you don't fight for it, others will. This is the struggle for the path."

"Moreover, Foundation Establishment is not that simple. Although he has reached the late stage of Qi Refining, it will probably be extremely difficult for him to establish his foundation."

"How many Foundation Establishment cultivators do we have in our company?"

He steered the conversation back to Yuan Shao, saying, "No rush. They arrived two days earlier and still found nothing, didn't they?"

Yuan Shao still felt something was amiss; the corpse retrievers they had hired were all too weak in cultivation.

Especially that guy named Gu Zhao, when he fished out the black coffin last time, he always thought it was just luck.

Just then!

Suddenly, shouts of alarm rang out from the ship: "The purple corpse! Someone has pulled out the purple corpse!"

Gong Yuzhou smiled slightly: "Look, here I am."

A purple corpse was quite rare in this lake dam, and it was worth the three of them going downstairs to investigate.

On the deck, the purple corpse had been wrapped in a shroud.

"It really is a purple corpse."

Yang Yueqi took out a magical artifact and carefully searched the corpse from top to bottom, but the artifact did not react at all.

She shook her head, somewhat disappointed: "It seems not."

Yuan Shao unleashed a burst of magical power, which landed on the oversight mirror of the corpse retriever to check who had retrieved the body.

A familiar name came to mind.

Gu Zhao.

It's him again?

The other body retrievers nearby already knew that it was Gu Zhao who had pulled it up, and they couldn't help but whisper among themselves, "It's Gu Zhao again."

"Zhao-ge'er is really good at retrieving corpses."

Upon seeing this, Gong Yuzhou laughed and said, "Generally, the corpse retrieval office will give a reward for retrieving a purple corpse."

"Today you are working even harder for me, so your reward will be doubled."

"Yuan Shao, reward Gu Zhao with one thousand legal coins."

Yuan Shao nodded in agreement. This matter was special, and a thousand coins was nothing.

Gong Yuzhou ordered the soldiers of the Zhenhe Division to take away the purple corpse.

Gu Zhao received the reward money again.

There were a full thousand coins.

He calculated in his mind: adding the two thousand coins deposit from the rich young woman Pei Xiaoxiao, and the rewards he had received over the past few days, he would wait until the corpse retriever's wages arrived next month.

The cost of living in the immortal's abode for half a year was raised, with a little surplus.

Gu Zhao smiled. Money really does give a hero courage. When he was always short of money, the stables would call him to Shuiyuanju, but he would pretend not to hear them several times.

He went back into the water.

~

A ship that retrieves corpses.

Sun Chan had already received news from his spies.

"What?"

"Gong Yuzhou managed to retrieve a purple corpse?"

"Yes, sir. Just less than a quarter of an hour ago, a purple corpse was pulled up, but thankfully it wasn't the thing the director was talking about."

Sun Chan's face was gloomy. Gong Yuzhou had only been there for two hours, yet he had already retrieved the purple corpse that they hadn't seen for two days.

The guards of the Zhenhe Division, though unaware of what their commander intended to retrieve from this location, remained silent.

But naturally, they understood that the higher the grade of the corpses or objects retrieved, the better.

The director couldn't possibly go to such lengths to retrieve a wandering corpse.

The person who came to report was a corpse retriever. He hesitated for a moment, then spoke.

"Envoy Sun, I've heard of the man who pulled out that purple corpse in the Dingzi District. He manages to pull out black zombies almost every day under Deacon Cen Pan's command."

Sun Chan did not react. He had never cared about such lowly menial tasks as retrieving corpses.

The corpse retriever added, "Not only that, if I remember correctly, the same person retrieved the black coffin that Gong Weishi retrieved last time."

Sun Chan finally frowned: "It's him too?"

The body retriever nodded quickly: "That's right."

Sun Chan looked at the other person beside him: "Go investigate."

A moment later.

"Reporting to Senior Brother, we have confirmed that the person who retrieved the purple corpse and the black coffin was indeed the same person."

Sun Chan narrowed his eyes: "What's his name?"

This time, it was the corpse retriever who answered: "Your Excellency, this man's name is Gu Zhao."

"Once or twice is just luck, but if it happens every time... Gu Zhao must have some extraordinary skills in retrieving corpses."

Sun Chan straightened his Taoist hat and said in a calm tone,

"Then this person cannot be allowed to live."

"Let him die in this Yinshui River."