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

Lu You did not rush to put away the formation and leave; he first conducted a thorough self-examination.

After a breakthrough, you need to carefully understand what changes have occurred in your body and what abilities have been enhanced, so as not to be unaware of your own limitations.

After a careful examination, Lu You gained a general understanding of the situation after the breakthrough.

The most important improvement for Iron Corpses, like for Living Corpses, lies in their physical bodies.

Lu You's physical defense strength has more than doubled compared to before his breakthrough, and his strength has increased even more dramatically, more than doubling.

On the contrary, the improvement in flexibility and speed is relatively small. Compared with the zombie era, there is only a certain degree of improvement, which is far less significant than the improvement in strength and defense.

Lu You wasn't too surprised by this.

The name "Iron Corpse" sounds like it belongs to a rather fierce and powerful type.

Starting with the character "铁" (iron), the main idea is to be straightforward and head-on.

In addition to the increase in physical strength, Lu You's Yin energy also underwent a qualitative change.

Although the Yin energy during the zombie era was pure, it was still essentially in the form of "qi"—light, diffuse, and not solid enough.

After breaking through to the Iron Corpse realm, the Yin energy within his body became noticeably more condensed, shifting from "Qi" to "liquid".

At Lu You's heart, the Yin energy condensed and transformed into liquid, with its density and purity increasing by more than one level.

Unfortunately, even at the Iron Corpse Realm, it is still difficult to learn Yin-type spells.

Lu You searched through the records about the Iron Corpse stage in the "New Moon Qi Induction Chapter" in his mind and found that there were very few spells he could learn, and they were all extremely simple and crude types—such as condensing Yin Qi into a ball and throwing it, or attaching Yin Qi to his fist to increase its power.

It is essentially still a melee combat approach, and is far removed from true magic.

However, the Iron Corpse Realm does come with a unique innate spell.

Cold Iron Transformation!

After activating the Cold Iron Transformation, the Iron Corpse's physical body can be transformed into Cold Iron.

In this state, the strength and defense of the physical body will be greatly enhanced.

Moreover, during close-quarters combat, the body transformed into iron will emit an extreme chill.

A punch not only deals physical damage, but also freezes the target.

The area struck will be invaded by the cold air, causing blood to stagnate, muscles to stiffen, and movements to become sluggish. If the opponent is weak, they may even be frozen into an ice sculpture with a single punch.

Lu You attempted to activate the Cold Iron Transformation.

With a thought, the Yin runes on the surface of his heart lit up slightly, and a cold, silvery-gray current flowed from his heart, surging along the network of blood vessels to his right arm.

Starting from his fingertips, a layer of silvery-gray metallic luster emerged from the pale skin of his right hand.

The luster flowed like mercury, spreading from the fingertips to the palms, from the palms to the wrists, and finally stopping at the mid-forearm.

A bone-chilling cold emanated from this iron-like right hand, causing even the surrounding air to turn slightly white.

With his current cultivation level after his breakthrough, the Cold Iron Transformation cannot cover his entire body yet; at most, it can only cover one arm, or other areas of the body of roughly the same size.

Iron Transformation, being an innate talent of the Iron Corpse, does not consume much Yin energy.

Lu You kept his right hand in its cold iron state, quietly sensing the rate at which the Yin energy within his body was being consumed.

With his current total amount of yin energy, it could easily last all day.

This doesn't even include the fact that the withered branches of the laurel tree and the fragments of the Taiyin disc are constantly absorbing the Yin energy and Yin evil energy from the outside world, transforming them into Taiyin energy to replenish his consumption.

If this supplement is included, Lu You feels that he can maintain the cold iron state of this right hand for the rest of his life.

In general, after breaking through to the Iron Corpse realm, Lu You's stats on paper more than doubled compared to before the breakthrough.

Adding the combat power boost from the transformation into cold iron, he could easily crush his pre-breakthrough self.

Based on this calculation, Lu You felt that he should have no major problems fighting against someone in the mid-to-late stages of the second realm.

Of course, it's still far inferior to the Three Realms.

Facing the Three Realms head-on, without using the Taiyin Huishuo Sha, he probably wouldn't even be able to escape.

The difference between the third and second realms feels like heaven and earth; the gap in strength is too great.

After completing the self-test, Lu You nodded with satisfaction.

The breakthrough had an even better effect than he had anticipated.

Although the fragments of the Taiyin Disc and the withered branches of the Laurel Tree could not directly enhance his combat power, the pure Taiyin energy they provided made his foundation far more solid than that of ordinary corpse cultivators.

The more solid the foundation, the greater the improvement after a breakthrough.

He arrived at the array plates, where defensive and trapping array plates were placed side by side on a flat, grayish-white boulder, the spirit stones embedded in them having dimmed considerably.

The continuous operation for three days and three nights consumed a lot of spiritual energy.

However, the formation itself remained intact, and the runes on the array plate continued to flash with a steady light.

Lu You reached out and pressed his hand on the array plate, shutting down the array. The runes on the array plate extinguished one by one.

The surrounding layer of gray-black, semi-transparent light shield shattered silently like a bubble, turning into countless tiny specks of light that merged into the gray fog.

The black mist swirling inside the light shield also lost its restraints and was swept away by the gray mist in the Yin Domain, quickly dissipating without a trace.

With a flick of his wrist, Lu You pulled all twelve array flags from the sand and they flew back into his hand, enveloped in a silvery-gray aura.

The five sides of the defensive formation and the seven sides of the trapping formation were neatly stacked together.

This is also one of the abilities gained after breaking through to the Iron Corpse level.

After breaking through to the Iron Corpse realm, both the quality and quantity of Yin energy improved significantly. Although it was still difficult to cultivate true magic, simple long-distance manipulation of objects became possible.

He can even use yin energy to fly, just like the second-realm demons use demonic energy to fly.

As Lu You deactivated the formation, the surrounding gray mist receded, once again shrouding the area in a hazy veil.

The four guardians, who had been guarding the formation for three days and three nights, turned around in unison when they sensed that the formation's fluctuations had disappeared.

Four pairs of cloudy, grayish-white eyes pierced through the gray mist and landed on Lu You.

They staggered toward Lu You.

However, when they got within three or four steps of Lu You, the four zombies stopped in their tracks.

They stood there, their cloudy eyes staring blankly at Lu You, a clear fear surfacing in their empty gazes.

Especially the female zombie with the highest intelligence, her body was trembling slightly.

Lu You looked at his four protectors, who all seemed to have seen a ghost, and felt completely innocent.

He clearly didn't do anything.

Why are you so afraid of him?

Could it be because my aura has become stronger after my breakthrough?

Are your four guardians afraid?

Thinking about it carefully, that must be the reason.

After all, when he was still a living corpse, the four guardians seemed to obey his orders.

Although he was stronger than them at that time, they were all in the same realm and were considered to be of the same kind in some ways.

Now that he has broken through to the Iron Corpse realm, his life level has undergone a qualitative leap. In the perception of these living corpses, it's probably like a rabbit encountering a tiger.

The other party hadn't done anything, but just that aura was enough to make their legs go weak.

Looking at the four guardians' trembling expressions, Lu You hesitated for a moment.

Although these four guys were far inferior to him in strength and their intelligence was questionable, they had at least protected him before.

Should we take them with us when we leave the Underworld?

This thought swirled in Lu You's mind several times.

If we take them out, at the very least we'll have a few more servants in the caves of Qinglin Mountain.

They don't need to clean up or stand guard.

The four guardians stood at the cave entrance, their presence and imposing manner were quite impressive.

But Lu You was also a little worried.

Within the Yin Realm, the land was a desolate expanse of gray and white, shrouded in a pervasive gray mist. Apart from Yin Sha monsters and the occasional intruding cultivator, there were hardly any living beings.

But if you go outside the Yin Realm, the situation is completely different.

The outside world is teeming with life—the forests are home to wild beasts and low-level monsters, the plains to farmland and villages, and the roads to the road to travel with travelers and caravans.

His little nest was not far from Xiahe Village, where several hundred ordinary people lived.

Although these four zombies were not very intelligent, their bloodthirsty instincts were ingrained in their bones.

What if he's not watching them closely one day and they smell the aroma of living flesh and blood? Would these guys just rush into the village and start a massacre?

He felt he might not be able to control these four guys who weren't bloodthirsty.

The zombie's bloodlust is part of his inner demons, and even he himself has to spend a lot of energy suppressing it, let alone these four guys.

Of course, even if she could keep them under control, Lu You felt that it was too much trouble to keep them under control all the time.

Every day I have to keep an eye on the four of them to make sure they don't sneak out, make sure they don't suddenly go crazy in the middle of the night, and clean up all the messes they make.

Another reason is that these four zombies are not very intelligent. If they encounter any demons or cultivators, they will not only be of no help, but will also be a hindrance.

He can come and go freely by himself, draped in the veil of darkness, and no one can catch him.

After much deliberation, Lu You decided to leave them there.

He flipped his hand and took out a large pile of things from the storage bag.

He has a hundred-year-old mysterious ice, dark and cold iron, mysterious iron ore, and some other auxiliary materials. He can't use them all for his breakthrough, so it's fine to share some with them.

With the appearance of these breakthrough materials, the four guardians became somewhat restless.

Their cloudy eyes stared intently at the materials, and for the first time, a longing appeared in their empty gaze.

The male zombie let out a low growl, the old zombie straightened its hunched back a little, and the little sister zombie clenched its fists.

Although the female zombie's body was trembling, her eyes were also fixed on the pile of treasures that exuded a yin aura.

Despite their restlessness, they still dared not take a step forward.

Lu You glanced at them and smiled slightly.

He divided the materials into four portions, and carefully packed each portion into a small cloth bag.

Then he threw the four cloth bags in front of the four zombies.

He said softly, "Brothers and sisters, you have all done a good job protecting the Dharma. Take these materials and use them for your breakthroughs. Consider it an opportunity for you."

When Lu You said this, his tone was very calm, as if he were talking about a trivial matter.

But in reality, if these materials were sold in the cultivator market outside, they could definitely fetch a large sum of spirit stones.

Lu You thought to himself, if they were lucky enough to break through to the Iron Corpse realm, they might have a chance to meet again in the future.

By then, their intelligence should have improved, at least they won't be like they are now, calling each other "Dad" as soon as they meet.

Of course, Lu You didn't have much confidence in their ability to break through.

The four zombies became agitated when Lu You threw the cloth bag in front of them.

They looked down at the cloth bag on the ground, then looked up at Lu You blankly, and no one reached out to pick it up.

Lu You smiled and said, "Take it. It's for you."

The four undead remained silent for a long time.

Ultimately, the female zombie was the first to make a move.

She bent down and carefully pinched the corner of the cloth bag with her fingers, her movements very gentle.

"Thank you... Brother..."

Lu You nodded with satisfaction: "You're welcome."

He felt that among these four, the female zombie was the most likely to break through, since she was quite intelligent.

As Lu You was thinking, the other three zombies finally finished their long reaction time.

They bent down, picked up the cloth bag from the ground, and then said, "Father!"

The three voices rose and fell, exceptionally clear in the silent, gloomy realm.

Lu You's face darkened: "..."

Forget it.

He gave up.

You can't teach it.

He waved his hand dismissively: "That's it. I'm leaving now. The four of you can help each other out; the collective strength is great."

After saying that, he turned around and strode towards the direction outside the Yin Domain.

He plans to go back to his apartment and rest for a few days.

After all, the breakthrough ceremony is really tiring.

Then he would have to seriously consider the other fragments of the Taiyin Treasure.

However, Lu You had only taken a few steps when he heard footsteps behind him.

His face darkened, and when he turned around, he saw four zombies carrying their own cloth bags, swaying and following behind him.

They kept a distance of about three or four steps, and when they saw Lu You stop, they stopped as well.

Lu You took a deep breath, waved his hand, and said, "Don't follow me. I'll come to the Underworld again if I have the chance. Go on."

Upon hearing Lu You's words, the four guardians stood still for a long time.

Finally, the female zombie let out a low growl.

Then she turned around, clutching the cloth bag in her arms, and walked into the depths of the gray fog.

The other three zombies silently turned around, each clutching their own cloth bags, and followed her unsteadily.

Lu You shook her head, turned around, and continued walking out.