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

Gu Zhao jumped into the water.

When the "Corpse Water Azure Wave Technique" is activated, the pure Yang Qi rotates according to the method, instantly covering the entire body.

After entering the water, all that could be seen was a deep, somber blue, and vision was blurred, with only a distance of about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) clearly visible.

A thought suddenly occurred to him: he remembered the wonderful effect of injecting pure Yang Qi into his eye sockets earlier.

Would it still work underwater?

He did the same.

A wisp of pure Yang Qi slowly flowed into his eyes, and the hazy blue waves before him actually parted layer by layer.

As the fog dissipated and the clouds cleared, the field of vision suddenly opened up, and everything within five zhang (approximately 10 meters) could be seen clearly.

Like wiping away the moisture from your eyes, you feel a moment of clarity and transparency.

"Much clearer."

However, this kind of energy circulation also leads to faster energy depletion, so it is necessary to board the ship as soon as possible to regulate one's breathing.

But the results were astonishing.

Ordinary corpse retrievers have a visual range of no more than two meters underwater.

Only outer disciples who have entered the Qi Refining Realm can see further.

However, outer disciples who have refined their Qi would never easily go into the water.

The Yin River is malevolent; the higher one's cultivation level, the stronger the river's corrosive effect on one's foundation.

Gu Zhao took advantage of the situation and swam underwater, avoiding the spot where the water monkey had just fallen into the water.

He thought to himself: Could this water monkey be the same one from last time?

The last time he fell into a coma so quickly that it was impossible to recognize him.

Just as he was pondering this, a wandering corpse suddenly appeared in his field of vision, about five zhang away.

It was entirely black, covered with a layer of coarse, long hair, and still maintained a human shape, but it had no head, making it impossible to distinguish between male, female, young, and old.

Gu Zhao did not feel the fear he expected; instead, he became more curious.

In the corpse retrieval room, the corpses in the Yinshui River are divided into five categories: wandering corpses, black zombies, purple corpses, black corpses, and immortal bones.

The finest immortal bones have not been found in the entire T-zone for decades.

The lowest class are the floating corpses, whose flesh is rotten and mostly just skeletons, with no clothes left. They are the most common sight in the river.

The next level up is the Black Zombie, whose body is not decayed and still retains its human form, but its skin is pitch black.

Such corpses often still retain their ritual robes, and their skeletons can be sent to places like bone-grinding rooms and sewing rooms for other uses.

The body before us is a black zombie.

Normally, each corpse retrieval ship has a quota of tasks to retrieve black zombies.

Gu Zhao observed for a moment but did not rush forward to cast his line.

Thanks to the pure Yang Qi within his body, his eyesight was able to see five zhang away, and he could see clearly at a glance. None of the corpse retrievers around him noticed the black zombie.

At that moment, the sacrificial cauldron in his mind trembled slightly, and lines of text appeared on its surface:

[A spirit object has been detected near the cauldron master that can be sacrificed... a headless, ghostly corpse.]

[The cauldron master can be captured and sacrificed!]

Gu Zhao looked at the inscription on the cauldron, then at the black corpse, and made his decision.

The pure yang qi obtained from the first sacrifice already had many wonderful uses. Now that we have finally encountered a spiritual object again, we absolutely cannot miss it.

He slowly approached the headless, black zombie by following the current.

Only when you get closer can you see clearly that the black zombie is covered with thick black hair all over its body. Its chest, arms, and even between its fingers are covered with a dense layer of dark hair, like steel needles.

Gu Zhao did not disturb the corpse retrieval boats on the water. He did not know whether the [Sacrificial Cauldron] would directly swallow the black zombie when it was offered as a sacrifice.

If the grappling hook on the ship is lowered and the black zombie disappears into thin air, it is difficult to explain.

He approached quietly, and only when he was very close did the cauldron finally react.

[Should we offer a sacrifice to the headless corpse? Sacrifice duration: eight breaths.]

Gu Zhao agreed without the slightest hesitation.

He silently counted to eight breaths, and the sacrificial cauldron trembled once more.

An invisible suction force pierced through the black zombie's body, forcibly extracting one of the moon-like substances and drawing it into the cauldron.

[The cauldron master offered a sacrifice to a headless, ghostly corpse.]

[Reward: Two drops of Mystic Essence Dew.]

[You can claim it in three hours.]

Upon seeing this, Gu Zhao pondered: This sacrifice reward doesn't seem to have any special characteristics; it's more like a random gift.

However, since only two items are being offered at present, the underlying principles are still unclear.

Moreover, each reward has a time limit for claiming; it is not immediately available.

He wasn't impatient. Seeing that the black zombie was still intact and unchanged, he felt relieved.

In this way, today's performance can be considered as meeting the target.

If a corpse retriever can retrieve one black zombie a day, it will be more than enough to handle the tasks assigned by the supervisor.

Gu Zhao lightly touched the golden headband on his head, and immediately a beam of light shone out.

Just then, a rope was lowered from the body retrieval boat on the water. He reached out and took it, hooking the small hook on the rope securely onto the black zombie's belt. He gave it a gentle tug to confirm it was firmly in place.

In the secular world, there are many rules for retrieving corpses, such as the body must be face down and cannot be put back into a boat after being taken out of the water. But on this Yinshui River, whatever is convenient can be done.

Once Gu Zhao had secured the rope, he touched the golden hoop again, and the rope immediately snapped upwards.

The headless, black zombie was dragged straight out of the water.

"It's quite intelligent!"

Gu Zhao also broke out of the water, having been underwater for a long time, it was time for him to show himself.

As soon as he surfaced, he heard shouts of alarm from the boat.

"The shipment's out! Who snagged the black zombie?"

"What a great start to the day!"

The stableman also popped his head out, climbed onto the boat, and said with a frustrated look, "Today is really strange, we haven't run into even half a corpse."

Upon hearing that someone had fished out a black zombie, they were immediately filled with envy.

I just don't know who scooped it up.

Normally, the stables only encounter one every four or five days, so today's situation makes the black stag even more precious.

Cen Pan's expression softened slightly when he saw that what was being dragged up was a black zombie.

The several corpse retrieval boats under his jurisdiction had gone completely empty-handed all morning, as had the nearby deacons.

Such a result is already extremely impressive.

Cen Pan channeled his magic power into the magical artifact in his hand, and a name immediately appeared on it.

He saw the two words clearly and his eyes narrowed slightly.

Gu Zhao!

Is it him?

The ship's supervisor stepped forward and wrapped the black corpse in a red cloth, at which point a boy immediately called out its name in a loud voice:

"Gu Zhao, you've retrieved one black zombie!"

Everyone then came to their senses, but the name was completely unfamiliar.

"Who is Gu Zhao? Why does that name sound so familiar?"

"Oh...it's Gu Zhao, the one who ran into the water monkey a few days ago but miraculously survived!"

The stable was also taken aback: it was Zhao Ge'er.

The boy announced loudly again, "The steward has rewarded Gu Zhao with three hundred coins!"

Everyone was startled upon hearing this.

Cen Heilian actually offered to give money? This is an extremely rare occurrence, one in a hundred.

The stable was filled with envy; three hundred coins was enough to go to "Shuiyuanju" outside the gate for a good meat feast.

Cen Pan coughed lightly and said in a deep voice, "Everyone, perk up! We're finally opening for business today, so get to work!"

Gu Zhao accepted the money offered by the boy and bowed to Cen Pan, saying, "Thank you, sir."

Cen Pan simply nodded indifferently and then looked away from him.

Gu Zhao looked down at the coin in his hand; it was round on the outside and square on the inside, and had a faint spiritual aura about it.

It resembles an ordinary copper coin, but in the center it bears the inscription "Qingxuan Tongbao".

He weighed it in his palm, but the cauldron in his mind seemed to have no reaction.

It seems that Ah Ding doesn't "eat" everything.

Three hundred coins have covered my expenses for the past few days.

That should last a few more days.