During his anxious waiting, Wen Jiu's mind raced with countless thoughts. What if, at any moment, a cultivator kicked open the door, stormed in with a blade flashing in and out of its sheath, and interrogated him about the whereabouts of the Soul-Devouring Blood Pearl? In short, the excitement of obtaining the pearl was matched only by his unease.

Sometimes, having an overactive imagination was pure torment.

After a long while, Wen Jiu finally calmed down. Once he did, he immediately reopened his personal status panel, staring blankly at the remaining reserves of death energy and cultivator blood essence. He wasn't sure exactly how much blood essence the white ghoul had absorbed to reach its limit, but one thing was certain—this surplus of over a thousand units of cultivator blood essence would be more than enough to upgrade his Blood Metamorphosis Body to the second tier. After all, it only required 500 experience points to reach full capacity.

Next, his gaze landed on the Yinzhou Corpse-Nurturing Art, intending to test whether he, too, had an absorption limit.

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[Technique: Yinzhou Corpse-Nurturing Art (Tier 1 – 300/1000)]+

[Technique: Yinzhou Corpse-Nurturing Art (Tier 1 – 999/1000)]+

Thanks to the passive ability of corpse nurturers, Wen Jiu had no daily absorption limit.

He immediately allocated all 834 points of death energy into the Yinzhou Corpse-Nurturing Art, pushing the experience of the first tier to its maximum.

The technique panel changed accordingly.

[Technique: Yinzhou Corpse-Nurturing Art (Tier 2 – 4/2000)]+

Along with this change, his dantian also underwent a transformation. A massive surge of yin spiritual energy rushed into it, instantly filling the once-empty space. A bone-chilling cold followed, but rather than discomfort, Wen Jiu felt an indescribable sense of pleasure and satisfaction.

Soon after, the yin spiritual energy began a silent transformation—this was the process of converting yin spiritual energy into true mana.

Once the transformation was complete, he would officially step into the first stage of Qi Refinement.

Moments later, all the yin spiritual energy had been successfully converted, everything falling into place seamlessly. A hundred strands of mana now resided within his dantian.

With the emergence of mana, Wen Jiu's body and perception also began to change.

Physically, the difference was subtle—his body felt lighter, and his strength increased slightly.

The most noticeable change, however, was in his perception. Previously, he could only feel the wind brushing against him. Now, his senses expanded outward.

Within a range of ten feet—

Every blade of grass, every tree—

Even with his eyes closed, it was as if they were right in front of him.

At the same time, he could clearly sense the spiritual energy around him—yin energy, and various other auras.

"So this is divine sense?" Wen Jiu immediately recalled the concept of spiritual perception described in the Yinzhou Corpse-Nurturing Art.

The effect and sensation matched perfectly.

At this moment, he was immensely grateful for his earlier decision to return the Soul-Devouring Blood Pearl to the corpse's mouth under the cover of night.

Had he left it inside the white ghoul's body, even Wang Nian's divine sense might have detected it.

Once his relief passed, excitement took over.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

After all, he was now officially a cultivator.

A side-path cultivator, sure—but who said soy sauce wasn't still sauce?

However, a new problem arose. While it wasn't an urgent or life-threatening issue, it was still a problem nonetheless—he only had the first two tiers of the Yinzhou Corpse-Nurturing Art, and nothing beyond that.

Buy it? He couldn't afford it.

Find someone selling it? No one had it for sale.

Without the third tier of the technique, he would be stuck at the second stage of Qi Refinement, unable to advance.

"The only solution I can think of right now is to focus on cultivating a black ghoul. If I can use it to take down an enemy, I might be able to become a probationary disciple ahead of schedule."

Once he became an official disciple, he would likely gain access to the higher tiers of the technique.

In his previous life, he had never even killed a chicken.

Yet now, he felt no hesitation at the thought of taking a life.

Perhaps it was the influence of the original body's memories.

——

The next morning, Wen Jiu gathered with the others at the Dead Grounds.

They stood in small groups of three or five, though most people clustered around three particular individuals, treating them as their leaders.

Those three stood with an air of arrogance, as if they truly saw the other corpse buriers as their underlings, with themselves as the bosses.

Watching this scene, Wen Jiu sighed and shook his head.

What a bunch of idiots.

This wasn't the martial world—it was the cultivation world.

What was the point of playing these petty power games?

Wouldn't it be better to spend their time studying cultivation techniques instead?

Very quickly, Wang Nian arrived.

With the surrounding yin energy thin and sparse, Wang Nian didn't even bother to look around before shouting angrily, "Hurry up and get to work!"

As soon as he spoke, the corpse buriers immediately sprang into action.

But just as Wang Nian's gaze swept over Wen Jiu, who was about to leave, his eyes froze. He stared at Wen Jiu in disbelief.

"Wen brat!"

Wen Jiu stopped in his tracks.

Wang Nian hurriedly waved him over. "Come here, come here…"

Wen Jiu didn't understand what was going on but still walked over. He followed Wang Nian as they moved to a more secluded spot.

"You've stepped into the first level of Qi Refinement?" Wang Nian asked, despite having already confirmed it several times with his divine sense. He still found it hard to believe.

Wen Jiu was startled for a moment.

He felt even more fortunate about his decision last night.

If Wang Nian could sense his cultivation level this quickly, then the Soul-Devouring Blood Pearl would have been even more obvious.

"Just a stroke of luck," Wen Jiu replied.

Wang Nian grinned from ear to ear. "Humble, aren't you! Reaching the first level of Qi Refinement in just a month—if that's luck, then what does it say about me, taking two years to reach the same level?"

Wen Jiu quickly explained, "Senior, I practice an unconventional method, so it's naturally faster."

"Not this fast, though."

Wang Nian sighed again, rifling through his memory for the fastest cultivator he had ever heard of reaching Qi Refinement.

Ten years ago, there was a direct disciple of the elders on Deadman's Peak.

A superior-grade wood spirit root.

Reached the first level of Qi Refinement in two months!

And yet, that was still a full month slower than Wen Jiu.

Wen Jiu fell silent, realizing that no matter how he explained it, it wouldn't make a difference. He couldn't help but wonder if he had been too high-profile this time. But before he could reach a conclusion, Wang Nian suddenly invited him, "Wen brat, don't call me 'senior' in private anymore… I'm only ten or so years older than you. Just call me Brother Wang when it's just us."

"Hm?"

Wen Jiu was taken aback by the sudden change in attitude.

But he quickly understood the reason.

It was definitely because of his cultivation speed.

He let out a wry chuckle in his heart.

How realistic.

...

Three hours later, Wen Jiu led the white ghoul in search of wandering spirits.

With his divine sense active, he could perceive every movement within three meters, significantly improving their efficiency in tracking down yin souls.

Before long, Wen Jiu's divine sense caught a trace of a wandering spirit.

This was the first time he had truly and clearly perceived the presence of a yin soul—it was cold, carrying a tinge of resentment. Within the resentment was a faint aura of death, and within the deathly aura were traces of negative emotions.

"There!"

Wen Jiu immediately pointed the white ghoul in the right direction.

The soul-attracting force had drawn the yin soul into a small burrow ahead.

With a fierce roar, the white ghoul lunged forward. In mere moments, the feeble yin soul, weak under the daylight, had been devoured whole.

As it swallowed the spirit, the white ghoul's aura grew stronger.

Wen Jiu watched with satisfaction, feeling an unexpected sense of joy and accomplishment—like watching his own "child" grow stronger step by step.

"Raising a corpse… The more I do it, the more it feels like raising a pet," Wen Jiu chuckled to himself and continued his search for more yin souls.

Unfortunately, he couldn't find another newly formed spirit.

As dusk approached, Wen Jiu withdrew from the Dead Ground.

Seeing the dirt smudged on Wen Jiu's face, Wang Nian casually tossed him a handkerchief.

"How did it go?"

Wen Jiu answered truthfully as he caught the handkerchief and wiped his face without hesitation. "Senior, I got one."

Since this was a business deal, he couldn't keep claiming he found nothing.

Hearing that, Wang Nian nodded in satisfaction.

Once the burial team had mostly finished their work, Wang Nian was the first to leave.

Wen Jiu was about to depart as well.

But unexpectedly, three figures stepped in front of him, blocking his way.

It was none other than the Black Veil Trio!