Oh no! I've been reincarnated as a corpse!

After walking along the bluestone path for a short while, a wide square suddenly appeared in front of us.

The square was paved with large bluestones, which were worn smooth and shiny by the constant footsteps of the monks coming and going.

In the center of the square stood a huge wooden sign, about two or three zhang tall, like a notice board magnified several times.

The wooden sign was covered with densely packed papers, some of which were newly pasted on; others were already yellowed and curled at the edges, rustling in the night wind.

Lu You leaned closer, somewhat curious.

Perhaps because of his study of the "New Moon Qi-Inducing Chapter" during this period, he has gained a basic grasp of the writing system in this world.

Although he read the words on those bounty posters slowly, he could generally understand them.

He scanned them one by one.

"Collecting five 100-year-old Crimson Sun Grasses, payment negotiable. Posted by: Aoki Valley External Affairs Hall."

"Looking to buy one Tier 2 water-type demon core, quality doesn't matter, urgent. Posted by: Zhao Yi"

"Escorting a caravan through Black Wind Gorge requires cultivators of the second realm or above. Generous rewards. Posted by: Wanbao Merchant Guild."

"To eliminate the first-realm demonic beast that is harming people in Gusong Village, you need to have combat strength of at least the late first realm. Posted by: Demon Suppression Division of Xiyang Town."

"..."

Most of the bounties are routine tasks such as collecting materials, escorting caravans, and eliminating monsters.

Lu You watched with great interest, as if he were browsing a quest forum in another world.

However, his gaze quickly swept over one of the bounty posters, and the leisurely expression on his face instantly froze.

"Bounty: Find a living corpse. Characteristics: Suspected of possessing invisibility abilities or mastering secret techniques to conceal its movements. A reward of one hundred spirit stones will be given for any valid clues. Posted by: Wang Yixin of Baiyun Temple."

A huge question mark slowly appeared in Lu You's mind.

The undead can become invisible.

This description seems increasingly familiar...

He looked down at himself.

Zombies, that's right.

It's true that he can become invisible; when he's draped in a dark veil, no one can see him.

Could this be referring to him?

No, how could a law-abiding, living corpse who spends his days cultivating in a cave be wanted by someone?

What did he do to deserve this?

Lu You's gaze shifted to the "Publisher" section, and her face immediately darkened.

Baiyun Temple, Wang Yixin.

Baiyun Temple!

It really was those guys who control corpses!

The surname is Wang... Is he the same Senior Brother Wang from before?

Good, good, he had almost forgotten about those cultivators from Baiyun Temple.

But these guys, instead of forgetting him, actually put a bounty on his head?

A reward of one hundred spirit stones is offered!

Just to find clues about him!

Does he think Lu You has no temper?

Lu You made a deep note of it in her mental notebook.

Once he broke through to the Iron Corpse Realm, the first thing he did was to go to the entrance of Baiyun Temple and stake out the place.

Lu You cursed inwardly for a while, losing all interest in continuing to look at the bounty missions.

He turned and walked across the square toward another cobblestone path on the opposite side.

That direction was also brightly lit, and rows of neat storefronts could be seen from afar.

Perhaps because we've gone deeper into the core area of ​​the market, the number of roadside stalls has decreased significantly, replaced by well-established shops.

The shops all have fairly large storefronts.

Some have imposing plaques hanging at their entrances, some have luminous spirit stone signs inlaid on their lintels, and others have stone piers carved with mythical beasts standing on either side of the entrance.

Through the open shop door, you can see that the goods inside are neatly arranged, and the quality is much better than the haphazardly piled-up miscellaneous goods on the street stalls.

It was soon discovered that these shops were basically opened by various factions.

Some are from aristocratic families, some from sects, and some are even shops opened by the Great Yan military.

Along the way, Lu You listened to the cultivators' conversations and gained some understanding of the area he was in.

The area where he was located was Nanling County of the Great Yan Dynasty.

As for how big the Great Yan Dynasty was and how many prefectures it had, he hadn't heard anyone talk about it yet.

The military and the Demon Suppression Division of the Great Yan Dynasty both have a considerable number of cultivators.

The main job of these official monks was to deal with the demons and monsters that appeared in various places.

The two most important tasks are to cleanse the Yin Realm and suppress the Corpse Demon Tide.

Lu You was particularly sensitive to the term "Yin Domain," since his ritual to break through to the Iron Corpse required him to enter the Yin Domain to be cleansed by Yin Sha.

He deliberately lingered near several cultivators from the Yin Realm for a while, gathering some useful information.

There are two Yin Realms in this area.

One of them was near the mass grave where he first awoke.

It is said that the place is overrun by corpses and filled with malevolent spirits.

Even cultivators at the second level have to be extremely careful when entering, as they could easily be trapped by the corpse demons inside if they are not careful.

Lu You secretly kept this news in mind.

He planned to scout out the vicinity of that Yin Domain after his cultivation reached the Perfection of Living Corpse, in preparation for the breakthrough ceremony.

Although there's no rush now, it's always good to know in advance.

After visiting five or six shops, Lu You finally found what he had been longing for in one of the shops that specialized in selling materials for monsters.

The armored centipede's shell!

A black plaque with gold lettering hung at the entrance of the shop, which read "Xuanying Sword Sect - Monster Material Shop".

The store was much larger than the ones we had visited before.

The shelves inside were filled with all kinds of monster materials, from common items of the first realm to rare varieties of the second realm, a dazzling array of everything.

Just by glancing at it, you can tell that this shop has considerable backing and influence.

Without sufficient resources, it's impossible to support such a large supply of goods.

The armored centipede was, after all, just a first-level demon beast, and its shell wasn't a particularly precious material, so it was casually placed on a wooden shelf against the wall.

It was placed together with several other pieces of tortoise shells and scorpion shells from the same region.

Lu You stood in front of the wooden frame, his gaze fixed on the completely black carapace.

The surface of the carapace was covered with fine lines, like naturally formed scales, which gleamed with a faint, cold light under the illumination of the lamp.

It is exactly the same as the armored centipede shell described in the "New Moon Qi-Inducing Chapter".

that's it.

Lu You quietly looked around.

There weren't many customers in the shop; they were scattered in twos and threes in front of the various shelves.

Some were looking down at their desks selecting materials, while others were asking the shop assistants about prices.

There were two shop assistants, both young monks dressed in matching black robes.

They were currently busy explaining the materials to two guests.

Behind the cashier sat an elderly man with gray hair, his chin resting on his hand, his eyelids drooping, staring blankly at the ledger on the counter, with an expression that seemed to say, "When will I get off work?"

The wooden shelf he was standing on was in a corner of the shop, and there was no one there.

A golden opportunity!

Lu You immediately reached out and silently took the armored centipede shell off the wooden shelf, stuffing it into his storage bag.

The movements were fluid and seamless, without making a sound.

Then he took out a handful of spirit stones from the mountain of spirit stones in his storage bag and placed them on the wooden shelf where the shell had originally been.

He had previously seen others buy materials from first-tier demon beasts for about ten spirit stones.

This should be enough spirit stones.

Delivery upon delivery, payment upon exchange.

Fair trade, no deception of the young or old.

As for the fact that the shopkeeper couldn't see him, that's a technical issue and not something he could consider.

After succeeding, Lu You's heart began to race uncontrollably.

He then furtively glanced around to make sure no one had noticed anything unusual about the corner before quickly walking out of the shop and heading towards the outside of the market.

No sooner had Lu You left than a young cultivator wearing a faded Taoist robe happened to wander into this corner.

He had originally come to look at the tortoise shells on the shelf next to him, but when his gaze casually swept over the wooden shelf next to him, he froze.

On the wooden shelf, a small pile of spirit stones was neatly stacked, radiating a warm glow under the light of the spirit lamp.

The light was soft and alluring, like a small pile of star fragments left behind on earth.

A question mark slowly surfaced in the young cultivator's mind.

what's going on?

Are spirit stones being sold in the materials section?

But spirit stones are money!

He subconsciously counted the number of spirit stones in that small pile.

One, two, three... a total of fifteen!

His throat involuntarily bobbed.

Fifteen spirit stones!

As a rogue cultivator, even risking his life to take on missions, he might not be able to accumulate this much in a month!

It's right here, so blatantly displayed, and there's nobody around.

The young cultivator felt a slight itch in his hands, as if an invisible thread was pulling his fingers, slowly guiding them toward the pile of spirit stones.

His hand hovered above the spirit stones, his fingertips less than an inch away from the topmost one.

Then, he slapped his own hand hard.

Snapped!

Wake up!

This is a shop belonging to the Xuan Ying Sword Sect!

Xuan Ying Sword Sect!

The top sects in Nanling Prefecture!

What's the difference between stealing here and sticking your head into a tiger's mouth?

They could easily send out any inner disciple and crush him, a mere Qi Refining cultivator, into dust.

He took a deep breath, pulled his hands back into his sleeves, cleared his throat, and shouted, "Boss! Why are you selling spirit stones here? What kind of new rule is this, putting spirit stones on the shelves?"

His voice was full of energy, and everyone in the shop looked over.

The two shop assistants who were serving customers looked up, and the drowsy old man behind the cashier also suddenly opened his eyes, a glint of light flashing in his cloudy old eyes.

The old man frowned and gestured with his chin toward the two shop assistants.

The two shop assistants quickly walked towards that corner.

When they saw the neatly arranged pile of spirit stones on the wooden shelf, the two looked at each other, their faces filled with confusion.

"Strange... How come there are spirit stones here? There weren't any when I passed by just now?"

"What materials were originally placed in this spot?"

One of the shop assistants glanced down at the label on the wooden shelf and his face immediately darkened.

"The armored centipede's carapace! A whole piece! I remember it clearly; I even personally placed it there when it was put into storage yesterday!"

Another shop assistant's lips twitched, and he reached out and picked up the pile of spirit stones, counting them carefully one by one.

After he finished counting, the expression on his face became strange.

"...Fifteen in total."

Upon hearing this, the old man behind the cashier jumped up, his movements so swift that he seemed nothing like an old man who had just been dozing off.

"Which bastard took it?!"

His voice was powerful and resonant, making the spirit lamps in the shop flicker: "The shell of the Ironclad Centipede is worth thirteen spirit stones! You're taking it for fifteen? Who's the fool who did this?!"

He angrily started counting on his fingers, feeling more and more distressed the more he counted.

The price was set at thirteen spirit stones, but that person only kept fifteen... Wait a minute!

The old man's fingers paused.

Fifteen minus thirteen equals two.

Two more were added.

His expression changed from anger to confusion, and then from confusion to deep bewilderment.

So... that person not only paid the money, but also gave two extra coins?

What kind of approach is this?

If you're going to steal something, why are you asking for extra money?

Why don't you just buy it directly?

The old man's expression changed several times before finally settling into a cold snort.

His cold gaze swept over all the customers in the shop, and everyone whose gaze fell upon him subconsciously shrank back.

The guests looked at each other, their minds filled with questions.

They really don't know anything!

…………

Lu You was naturally unaware of the minor incident that had occurred at the Xuan Ying Sword Sect's monster material shop.

He's very excited right now.

I've also got the armored centipede's carapace!

This means that all the materials needed to break through from a living corpse to an iron corpse have been gathered.

We have the Netherworld Cold Iron; it was smuggled from the wolf demon's treasure vault, and its quality is quite high.

I found a whole piece of the century-old Xuanbing fragment, picked up from the aftermath of a fight between three powerful figures.

We have the black iron ore powder; we found it in Qin's storage bag, and the quantity is sufficient.

The fragments of the Yin Soul Stone were found in Qin's storage bag.

The Ironclad Centipede Shell Powder just arrived, fresh and hot.

All materials, not a single one missing.

And he hasn't even reached the peak of his cultivation as a living corpse yet!

This progress was many times faster than he had expected.

He originally thought it would take several months just to collect the materials, but he didn't expect to finish it so quickly.

After that, as long as you cultivate steadily and push your cultivation level to the peak of the Living Corpse realm, you can find an auspicious day to go to the Underworld to hold a breakthrough ceremony.

Lu You walked briskly out of the market gate, past the two guards who still kept their eyes fixed straight ahead, and stepped into the night outside.

Before leaving the market, he stopped and looked back at the brightly lit area one last time.

Multicolored lights intertwined in the night, forming a dazzling curtain of light.

The shouts of vendors, the conversations of monks, and the occasional sounds of bargaining mingled together, creating a lively atmosphere like a night market that never ends.

He must memorize the location of this market.

Breaking through to the Iron Corpse realm is only the first step; there are Corpse Demons, Cursed Corpses, and even higher realms to come.

Every breakthrough requires corresponding rare and precious materials, and we'll probably have to come here to find them eventually.

He turned around and ran towards Qinglin Mountain.

I've been out for several hours now.

If we don't hurry back, it'll be dawn soon.

He doesn't really like being active during the day.

The sun feels very uncomfortable on my skin.

Lu You quickened his pace, his figure completely blending into the night.