Wild Dogs

"Master, the bodies are all here."

"Okay, come on, follow me up the mountain, we're going to refine corpse puppets."

With that, Xue Ming led Yang Fan up the mountain.

Yang Fan didn't know what Xue Ming was up to, but seeing how anxious Xue Ming was, he could only obediently do as he was told.

Upon arriving at the mountain, several disciples were already crafting corpse puppets inside the Corpse Refining Hall.

All of these people were driven away by Xue Ming.

Immediately afterwards, Xue Ming led Yang Fan inside to refine the corpse.

"You'll assist me from now on. We have to finish refining all these corpses today, no matter what."

"By the way, you should also learn the art of corpse refining."

Xue Ming gave Yang Fan some pointers.

Yang Fan nodded hurriedly.

Xue Ming then began to refine corpse puppets.

These Foundation Establishment stage corpses are all quite good; they were carefully selected by Yang Fan.

While refining the corpse, Xue Ming praised Yang Fan.

"Yang Fan, it seems you've learned quite a bit in the Skinning Cave. You can now recognize all the corpses. You're a promising student."

Yang Fan gave an awkward smile; this wasn't exactly a good thing.

He could only honestly say a few words about his master's excellent teaching.

Then, Xue Ming immediately began to speed up the refining of the corpse puppet.

By midnight, all the corpse puppets had been completed.

Then, Xue Ming waved his hand and collected all the corpse puppets.

Seeing this, Yang Fan looked at Xue Ming with curiosity.

"Master, why are you making so many corpse puppets?"

"Of course it's useful."

A strange light flashed in Xue Ming's eyes as he glanced at Yang Fan.

He spoke calmly.

"No need to rush, these corpse puppets will come in handy soon."

"Alright, let's go back."

"Go back and cultivate diligently. Before you leave, you must cultivate to at least the second level of the Qi Refining stage."

"Otherwise, don't blame your master for being impolite."

Xue Ming glanced at Yang Fan and urged him on.

"Yes, Master, rest assured, your disciple will certainly not let you down."

Yang Fan's heart skipped a beat, and he quickly replied.

And so, Yang Fan and Xue Ming immediately descended the mountain.

Yang Fan then returned to his cave dwelling.

Back in his cave, Yang Fan pondered what to do next.

After thinking for a moment, Yang Fan did a quick calculation.

It will be nearly twenty days before the Gu worms fully hatch.

However, given Xue Ming's urging, he had to raise his cultivation level.

He hasn't officially reached the second level of the Qi Refining stage yet.

It seems I must fake my cultivation level to the second level of Qi Refining in the next few days, so that Xue Ming won't keep pressing me.

With that in mind, Yang Fan pretended to cultivate.

A few more days passed, and Yang Fan disguised his cultivation level as the second level of the Qi Refining stage.

He ran to Xue Ming's cave with a look of surprise and delight.

"Reporting to Master, this disciple has broken through to the second level of the Qi Refining stage."

"Oh, not bad, you certainly haven't disappointed your teacher."

Xue Ming was very excited to see Yang Fan's cultivation break through to the second level of the Qi Refining stage.

He gave Yang Fan some words of encouragement with satisfaction, and then tossed him a few porcelain bottles.

"Alright, hurry up and cultivate in the remaining days. I estimate it won't be long before it's too late."

Upon hearing this, Yang Fan quickly raised his head.

"Master, what happened?"

Upon hearing this, Xue Ming nodded.

"Yes, something really serious has happened in the Great Xia Kingdom. The reinforcements they called in are very powerful."

"We suffered a great loss in the Great Xia Kingdom, and now the front lines are in dire need of help."

"From what I understand, the order to transfer me to the front lines should arrive in about half a month."

"You need to improve your cultivation level as quickly as possible within the next two weeks."

"Before you reach the front lines, you must raise your cultivation to the third level of the Qi Refining stage to have the ability to protect yourself."

"Yes, disciple will certainly work hard."

Yang Fan spoke hurriedly and carefully.

"That's good."

"Also, you'll be skinning as many people as possible in the skinning cave these next few days."

"Prepare a few more of the best corpses for me."

Yang Fan didn't understand what he meant, but he still nodded obediently in agreement.

In any case, for him, if he delays any longer, the Gu worms will hatch.

This gives him another trump card.

And just like that, more than half a month passed by in a flash.

The Gu worm that Yang Fan had been waiting for finally hatched.

He cautiously approached the cave he had buried.

After crawling inside, Yang Fan dug out the large urn.

At this moment, the severed limbs in the large urn had long since disappeared, leaving only a few Gu worms moving around inside.

Looking at these Gu worms, Yang Fan was very satisfied.

He carefully took out the worm breeding bag.

Then, he carefully placed the worms inside.

He then took out the ancient scripture and compared it with the descriptions in the scripture to see how to raise these Gu worms.

Once the Mind-Capturing Gu has hatched, it must be controlled with essence and blood.

Thinking of this, Yang Fan immediately dripped his essence blood onto the Mind-Controlling Gu.

As the essence and blood merged with the mind-controlling Gu.

Yang Fan could sense a faint connection between himself and the Mind-Capturing Gu.

These Gu worms were originally extremely hostile to Yang Fan.

However, after the blood essence dripped down, they immediately became much closer to Yang Fan.

But Yang Fan just couldn't get close to these insects.

He carefully put away the worms and then checked the area around the cave again.

After confirming that no trace had been left, they quietly left.

Now that the Gu worm has been successfully refined, he can try to control the puppet.

Before returning to his cave, Yang Fan found Xiao Hei again.

After thinking for a moment, Yang Fan patted Xiao Hei's head.

"Xiao Hei, I don't know if I'll ever come back after leaving the sect this time."

"So, to be on the safe side, you should leave the Blood Fiend Sect first."

Although it couldn't understand Yang Fan's words, Xiao Hei naturally understood that Yang Fan wanted to drive it away.

Seeing this, Xiao Hei clung tightly to Yang Fan's feet, showing no intention of leaving.

After growing for some time, Xiao Hei is now nearly two zhang long.

If you put it outside, it would definitely be considered a dog demon.

But it was incredibly close to Yang Fan and showed no intention of leaving at all.

Seeing this, Yang Fan rubbed Xiao Hei's head.

"I don't want to be separated from you either, but it's really not safe for you to be here."

After thinking for a moment, Yang Fan gently patted Xiao Hei's head.

"Alright, since you really don't want to leave the Blood Fiend Sect."

"Then hide somewhere far away so they don't find you."

"If I manage to get away safely, I will come looking for you."

"If you can't get out safely, you'll have to live here on your own."

With Xiao Hei's strength, surviving will definitely not be a problem.

Although Xiao Hei couldn't understand Yang Fan's words, it could sense the determination in them.

It nuzzled against Yang Fan gently, then trotted away.

After seeing Xiao Hei off, Yang Fan sighed and returned to his cave.

Now that the Gu worms have been refined, we can try to control the puppet.