Hui drew out the segment of gold wire he’d cut earlier and the lighter of the two pieces of amber. He circulated them above the corpse, injecting his qi into them. They began to resonate, fluctuations merging into the corpse. The corpse resonated back, the remnant scraps of qi calling out to the materials. Hui pressed his hands down, and the materials passed through the corpse’s chest and entered its empty qi passages. As they passed, they melted, and the materials began to merge with the corpse. The corpse drew on the Yellow Springs water’s death aura, drawing it down. As they merged, the water reduced by a quarter.

Hui sent his death qi to follow the materials into the corpse. He merged his death qi with the materials, and they finally dissipated, merging completely with the corpse.

The corpse shuddered. Its skin went from pale to slightly ruddy, and its body changed as well. The chest grew a tiny bit flatter, and the face went from round to slightly long. The corpse’s shoulders broadened by half a centimeter, and its hips grew more narrow by the same amount.

Hui smiled. Now, while I’ve got momentum! He gestured, drawing out the tiny wire and the dark amber. He sent them flying over the corpse. Gold and smoky amber swirled above the corpse, emanating even stronger fluctuations than the previous materials. Matching fluctuations emanated from the corpse. The fluctuations grew stronger as they synced. Gold light and dark amber light merged, spilling through the air. Hui surged them downward, into the corpse.

The second the materials touched the corpse, they flew to their remnant qi scraps. By now, the remnant qi made up far more than a scrap. Each scrap made up a pool, a stagnant pool that sat thickly in their respective portions of the body’s qi passages. The pools greedily sucked up the materials. At the same time, they swallowed up the death aura from the water. In the space of a breath, the water reduced by half.

“Fa Chuyou!” Hui called. He reached out with his death qi to feed the metamorphosis. The corpse swallowed up his death qi, an unfathomable pit that desired ever more resources.

Fa Chuyou rushed to his side. She passed him a bottle, and he dumped it into the coffin. Shockingly, even with the bottle pouring water inside, the water level still continued to fall. Soon, the water barely splashed into the coffin before the corpse absorbed it.

“What did you do?” Fa Chuyou gaped.

“I… just… refined the corpse!” Hui replied, shrugging.

Fa Chuyou glanced at the corpse, then ran off. She returned with a pitcher and dumped it into the coffin. Black water poured inside. At last, the water splashed down into the bottom of the coffin and began to fill it. Only by continuously pouring the water could they match up with the corpse’s draw.

Under the water, the corpse’s body changed. All the changes from before became stronger, the corpse now visibly mostly male, its skin a pale but healthy color. The two puddles of qi roiled, growing stronger with every passing moment. Hui reached inside the corpse and slowly, carefully guided the two types of qi into the corpse’s dantian. There, he began to circulate them, guiding the qi to chase one another. They swirled slowly, then began to circulate on their own. Both types of qi began to emanate a strong aura of death. Their colors darkened, going from a glow to a shadow.

Hui’s eyes widened. Did… did the types of qi… just become types of death qi? It’s possible to have all the different types of death qi as one can have normal qi? I—had never considered this!

The corpse’s eyes opened. Milky white eyes stared up at Hui.

Hui and Fa Chuyou both retracted their pouring. They stared at the corpse. Hui held his breath.

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I—succeeded!

She tilted her head, staring at Hui expectantly.

Fa Chuyou nudged Hui. “Give her a name.”

Hui hesitated, thinking. He looked at the girl. “Jin… Xian?”

“Gold wire?” Fa Chuyou asked, furrowing her brows.

“Er… I’m, I’m not good at names,” Hui replied. Self-consciously, he pet Zhubi.

“It’s important to give her a good name. She’s your companion now, you know,” Fa Chuyou lectured him.

“I understand. Er… Elder Sister, would you prefer a different name?” Hui asked the corpse.

“She won’t understand,” Fa Chuyou sighed.

The corpse girl stared at him. She tilted her head, then slowly shook her head.

“Then, it’s good to meet you, Jin Xian,” Hui said, bowing. Standing up again, he ran a critical eye over her. The body isn’t far from mine, and her hair is long enough. I’ll have to tie it up, but that’s easy enough.

The biggest step left to take… is to use a talisman to evolve her from a ghoul to a jiangshi. But… I don’t want the talisman to be visible. After all, it ruins my whole plan if she’s visibly an undead. I need her to take my place and stand in as my dead body!

A talisman that can’t be seen… Hui stepped forward and ran his hand over Jin Xian’s face, tracing the marks of the jiangshi talisman. A thoughtful expression passed over his face.

“Yes, she’s beautiful. You did a great job for your first time!” Fa Chuyou said, stepping up beside him to admire Jin Xian.

Hui stepped back sharply, embarrassed. Elder Sister, you misunderstand! I was lost in thought, I wasn’t… caressing her!

“No need to be embarrassed! You’re also a ghoul, it’s very natural, isn’t it?” Fa Chuyou said. She smiled at him and nodded. “I’m so very glad I finally have a companion who also understands the beauty in ghouls. Though I have to say, your taste is rather… vanilla. We should try adding something next time. Maybe some wyvern scales? Ooh, or… I have these lovely eyes here that can turn low-level cultivators to stone, maybe those!”

Hui backed away slowly. “Elder Sister, please, I’m… I have my own goals.”

“Oh, I understand, I understand, but just a little modification? She doesn’t have to look like a woman!” Fa Chuyou replied.

Clearing his throat, Hui bit his lip, then glanced at the ground and back at Fa Chuyou. “Er… Elder Sister has misunderstood a great many things about myself…”

“No, no, I have nothing against you. All love is beautiful,” Fa Chuyou declared. She glanced all around her and let out a deep sigh.

A shiver crawled up Hui’s spine. He took another step back. “Elder Sister…”

“So! I’ve helped you out enough, so it’s time for you to pay me back! Give me your body! I must study that mysterious body of yours!” Fa Chuyou declared. She pounced, hands out to grab.

Hui collapsed backward, playing dead. Fa Chuyou’s eyes glittered, and she sped up midair, pouncing even faster. “Perfect, perfect! Give in! Let me refine you!”

Before her hands could close, a black blur passed between Hui and Fa Chuyou. Fa Chuyou’s hands closed not on Hui’s shoulders, but on Jin Xian’s.

“E…eh?” Fa Chuyou asked, startled.

Jin Xian bared her teeth at Fa Chuyou, standing over Hui protectively.

Lying on the ground, Hui blinked. Er, wait… isn’t this backward? Aren’t I supposed to be the one doing something while Jin Xian takes my place and plays dead?

“Eh? Jumping in line? Don’t worry, I’ll refine you as well. But Xie Hao first!” Fa Chuyou said.

Hui broke out of playing dead and sat up. “Fa Chuyou, please. You can refine my body, but… not now! And no modifications.”

“No… modifications?” Fa Chuyou pouted.

Hui grimaced. He grit his teeth. When you ride a tiger, it’s truly… hard to get off! “M…maybe one… small modification? Nothing too obvious?”

Fa Chuyou beamed. “Xie Hao! Of course.”

Jin Xian looked over her shoulder at Hui and tilted her head.

“It’s fine. I’m not in danger,” Hui said.

She blinked her milky eyes and relaxed.

She protects me on instinct? And she’s at third stage? What a valuable companion I’ve gained! He beamed at Jin Xian. At this moment, I can already consider my battle power as twice a third stage cultivator. Once I add the jiangshi talisman, how strong will she grow?

Jin Xian tipped her head at him.

Hui nodded to himself happily. Once I get back to my vertebra, I can start working on making her jiangshi talisman. I’d rather work in peace. If Fa Chuyou stands over my shoulder the whole time… the danger’s too great!

“How long until I can refine you?” Fa Chuyou asked.

Jolted back to reality, Hui blinked. “Give me… a few days.” Long enough to draw Jin Xian’s jiangshi talisman. And make sure Xixing is somewhere safe for however long it takes for her to refine my ghoulskin again.

She nodded, eyes glittering. “I’ll be waiting!”