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

Gu Zhao went into the water again.

The blue waves rippled.

After his cultivation improved, he was able to stay underwater for longer periods of time.

He swam slowly, and taking advantage of the wide field of vision, he discovered that a black zombie was floating about seven or eight zhang away from the large ship.

I couldn't help but wonder, how come the body retrievers didn't notice us when we were so close to the boat?

There are quite a few black zombies in this lake dam; I've already encountered four today.

Gu Zhao had just fished out a purple corpse today and didn't want to waste any more effort.

He swam in that direction for a while, but saw that the cauldron in his mind's sea did not react at all.

There were no spirits within this black zombie.

Then they changed direction and went somewhere else.

As soon as Gu Zhao left, two people swam out from behind the black zombie, looking surprised.

They whispered in the water: "This man is very cautious. He must have discovered that black zombie just now."

"I've tried three times already, and each time I only swam halfway before turning back."

"Moreover, this person refused to leave the vicinity of the body retrieval boat."

"Did he sense something?"

Another person asked, "What should we do?"

"We have no choice but to obey the orders of Commander Sun."

"If he doesn't die, we'll be the ones who die."

"What should we do then?"

"A direct attack to kill."

Go and fetch the water net.

The two left again.

Gu Zhao climbed onto the boat, a vague feeling of unease creeping into his heart.

The black zombie that appeared near the corpse retrieval boat already says the story.

He is cautious by nature.

What is the best solution in this situation?

Having made up his mind, Gu Zhao went straight up to the second floor.

Wait until we come down from the second floor.

Gu Zhao went into the water again.

This time, he swam away from the vicinity of the large ship and slowly drifted into the distance.

The water rippled, and looking up from the bottom, all that could be seen was the huge shadow cast by the large ship.

Two pairs of eyes were fixed on this place.

"What's going on? Gu Zhao actually agreed to come out?"

"Isn't this perfect?"

"This will save us from taking action near the Zhenhe Division's large ship and displeasing that Commander Gong."

"In this underwater world, after we kill someone, we just dump the body, and who will know?"

The other person frowned.

They had tried to lure Gu Zhao with black zombies several times, but he hadn't taken the bait.

Now he's come out on his own.

Something's not right?

But the opportunity was right in front of them, and they really couldn't bear to give it up.

"Let's get started."

Gu Zhao swam slowly, diving to a depth of three or four zhang (approximately 10-12 meters) for the first time, which was already deep water.

He circulated the "Corpse Water Blue Wave Scripture," channeling his inner energy to the soles of his feet to propel himself forward.

Just then—

Suddenly, a violent rushing sound rang out in the mist-shrouded Yinshui River.

A figure darted past Gu Zhao with incredible speed, like a large fish swimming swiftly.

A fishing net came flying towards us.

Following closely behind was a sharp dagger that had been slashed diagonally into his waist from the water.

The two worked together seamlessly: one cast the net and pulled, while the other immediately handed over a dagger.

However, before the bright red blood could seep out of the fishing net...

Instead, it was the man with the dagger who let out a scream first.

A white snake was wrapped around his wrist, biting him tightly and refusing to let go.

The venom spread throughout his body via his veins in an instant, and the man's face turned ashen.

He then stopped breathing and sank to the bottom of the water, dying instantly.

Upon seeing this, the man who had cast the net's expression changed drastically. He immediately fled into the water at an astonishing speed, disappearing from sight in just a few breaths.

Good thing!

A flying sword that had been lying in wait pierced through his chest in an instant, killing him instantly, and then leaped out of the water.

Gu Zhao reached out and pulled off the water net covering his body. The white snake that had been hiding on his body was now gone.

That was a precious energy condensed from Gong Yuzhou's body, which could actually transform into a white snake.

The person who attacked just now died from this precious Qi.

"So, among the myriad treasures of the world, there is one that can be used to counteract poison."

He then recalled that the person had swum incredibly fast, even faster than on land, covering three or four zhang in the blink of an eye.

No matter how fast you swim, how can you outrun a flying sword?

The flying sword just now was Ni Shengyan's sword control technique.

As for why the two of them could do this...

It was only after Gu Zhao went up to the second floor that he revealed all his worries.

He thought Gong Yuzhou and Ni Shengyan would think he was overthinking things, but to his surprise, the two immediately agreed.

Gong Yuzhou had even guessed the identity of the guard.

"Sun Chan?"

Gu Zhao silently memorized the name.

Two body retrievers were dispatched, seemingly intending to put themselves in a deadly situation.

Gu Zhao couldn't help but sigh, "This place truly lives up to its reputation as a demonic sect; its traditions are impeccable."

He was preparing to move upstream.

Sudden--

The black gold cauldron in his mind suddenly trembled.

[A spiritual object has been detected near the cauldron owner, available for sacrifice... a fragmented water-element talisman.]

[Sacrifice or not? Sacrifice duration: three breaths.]

Gu Zhao was taken aback: Are there spiritual beings around?

He looked around and saw a corpse floating in front of him, which was the corpse retriever who had just escaped.

Gu Zhao took a closer look and found it to be true.

The runes on the cauldron shone even brighter.

[Should a sacrifice be made?]

Gu Zhao did not hesitate and immediately offered himself as a sacrifice.

Three breaths later.

The cauldron trembled, and a yellow talisman was pulled out from the corpse in front of it and slowly disappeared into the cauldron.

The cauldron's owner has already offered a sacrifice to the incomplete water-based ritual implements.

[Reward: A complete Minghua Water Escape Talisman, available to claim in two hours.]

Gu Zhao was overjoyed, not expecting that two things would be sacrificed today.

He gradually figured out some of the tricks of the trade.

Offering sacrifices to corpses in the Yinshui River seems to yield "natural treasures" or similar items.

Today's offering is a magic talisman, and the reward is a magical treasure.

In addition, the higher the quality of the item, the longer the sacrifice time is required, the longer the wait to receive the reward, and the richer the reward.

This incomplete water-element talisman has the shortest acquisition time.

It seems that even the large tripod doesn't think it's very valuable.

Gu Zhao snapped out of his reverie, watched the two corpses slowly sink to the bottom of the river, and shook his head.

We're all corpse retrievers, why make things difficult for other corpse retrievers?

He ignored them and swam straight back to the large ship, going up to the second floor to report back.

"Thank you, Envoy Gong, and Fairy Ni."

Li Wanwan, Chen Mu, and the others never expected that someone would actually attack and kill Gu Zhao.

Is it really necessary to make such a fuss over a menial corpse retriever?

Gong Yuzhou said, "This Commander Sun likes to use underhanded tactics. He cares about his reputation, so he'll keep quiet for a few days after this."

"Gu Zhao, you still need to be careful underwater."

"Junior Sister Ni and I will also keep an eye out for you."

Gu Zhao thanked him and left the second floor.

Ni Shengyan asked curiously, "Senior Brother Gong seems to treat this corpse retriever differently."

Gong Yuzhou smiled and said, "Junior Sister Ni, isn't it the same?"

Ni Shengyan stopped speaking.

Gu Zhao went down to the second floor and began to regulate his breathing. Whispers could be heard around him.

After a while, the stableman climbed onto the boat and brought news.

"Zhao-ge'er, do you know?"

"The body retriever from District A, that infamous 'Water Arrow,' is dead."

An arrow in the water?

The stableman gestured and said, "It's the one I mentioned this morning, the one with amazing underwater skills who once escaped with his life from the water monkey."

"He's dead."

"He was just discovered by the corpse retrievers, stabbed through the chest with a sword, and the corpse retrievers are in an uproar."

Gu Zhao thought for a moment, could it be that the person who was killed by Ni Shengyan's flying sword and then sacrificed was the "Water Arrow" from District A?

Oh, this time the Black Zombie King won.