"By the way, there's one more thing?"

Cao Yi recalled that the system had just rewarded him with a method for corpse refining.

A black vortex spun rapidly more than ten feet away, shooting out a beam of golden light that entered Cao Yi's canvas bag at his waist.

Cao Yi immediately felt the book of talismans next to his body inside the bag heat up.

"What's going on?"

Cao Yi reached into the bag, pulled out the first volume of the talisman collection, and opened it. The first page was no longer a talisman but a piece of paper filled with tiny, dense writing.

The first line read: **Method for Refining Corpses.**

**Step One: Select a Corpse.**

Choose a corpse with a fate of yin, which has passed away during the breaking day or at yin time.

**Step Two: Preserve the Corpse.**

Place the selected corpse in a coffin, usually for four to six days; in colder seasons, it can be left longer. If there's no strong odor after the period is over, it indicates a high-quality corpse.

**Step Three: Bathe the Corpse.**

Use natural water to cleanse the selected corpse.

**Step Four: Nourish the Corpse.**

Select a place of four yin—an area without sunlight, characterized by decay and death in feng shui, categorized as a death ground in the Eight Doors. After selecting the location, burn talismans, chant spells, dig a three-foot-deep pit, place the corpse inside, take a rooster, kill it, and sprinkle its blood on the corpse. Then place a yin eight trigrams on the corpse's heart to aid in absorbing yin energy. Cover with soil, ensuring the surface does not rise above the ground.

**Step Five: Refine the Corpse.**

After completing the fourth step, burn talismans three times daily, killing a rooster at noon when yang energy is strongest. After forty-nine days, the corpse will become a zombie.

**Step Six: Connect with the Corpse.**

Use fresh blood, jade marrow, spirit energy, and yellow talismans to create a spirit communication talisman to establish a connection with the zombie, prepared with a corpse-restraining talisman to prevent loss of control.

"Yelü Zhigu has been a zombie for a thousand years; we can start directly from the sixth step."

After reading, a thought flashed through Cao Yi's mind.

At the same time, as if completing a task, the black vortex a foot away vanished.

"Daoist Priest, how did it go?"

"Daoist Priest, Daoist Priest…"

The shouts of Hu Bayi and others came from above.

Cao Yi stored the first volume of the talisman collection back in the canvas bag and climbed up the rope.

For an ordinary person, climbing a rope would be very difficult, but for Cao Yi, it was child's play. He emerged from the crevice in just two or three minutes.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Seeing Hu Bayi, Wang Kaixuan, and Shirley Yang, all bruised and panting on the ground, Cao Yi felt a sense of emotion!

All the dozens of people from Ying Caihong's group had perished, while these three had only sustained minor injuries—truly the lucky protagonists.

"Daoist Priest, did you obtain the other shore flower?"

Wang Kaixuan stood up eagerly, asking as soon as he saw Cao Yi return.

Seeing Wang Kaixuan's wolf-like expression, Cao Yi frowned slightly and said, "I got it."

"Can you give it to me?"

Wang Kaixuan's face was full of hope.

The other shore flower represented both his promise to Ding Sitian and a glimmer of hope to resurrect her.

"I can't give it to you; the other shore flower is of great use to me."

Cao Yi firmly refused.

Not to mention it was a system task, even if he gave it to Wang Kaixuan, with his limited ability, he would only end up harming himself and others.

Wang Kaixuan clenched his fists, his eyes wide with an intent to snatch it.

"Kaixuan!"

"Wang Kaixuan!"

Hu Bayi and Shirley Yang quickly stepped in, one on each side to restrain Wang Kaixuan.

They had already witnessed how powerful Cao Yi was when dealing with the thousand-year zombie.

Not to mention Wang Kaixuan, even the three of them together wouldn't be a match for him.

Wang Kaixuan's clenched fists relaxed; he knew he wasn't a match for Cao Yi, but he couldn't control himself.

"Daoist Priest, I apologize on behalf of Kaixuan."

Seeing Wang Kaixuan give up, Hu Bayi quickly apologized to Cao Yi.

In terms of social grace, Hu Bayi was much more mature than Wang Kaixuan.

"It's fine; Wang is just deeply attached to his deceased girlfriend!"

To prevent further entanglement from Wang Kaixuan, Cao Yi intentionally pointed out their melodramatic relationship.

This comment left Hu Bayi looking very awkward, and after a long pause, he said, "Daoist Priest, you've got it wrong; Xiaotian was my girlfriend."

Cao Yi pretended to be surprised and looked at Wang Kaixuan.

Wang Kaixuan, feeling flustered under the gaze, said, "I—I didn't know Xiaotian liked Lao Hu."

Cao Yi replied with an "oh," deliberately showing disdain.

Wang Kaixuan grew even more flustered and wanted to explain further.

Cao Yi interrupted him directly: "Alright, your feelings for your sister-in-law, or rather, your feelings for Ding Sitian, have nothing to do with me; you should explain to Hu Bayi."

Wang Kaixuan looked at Hu Bayi, whose face was still extremely awkward, and said apologetically, "Old Hu, I'm sorry."

"It's fine; we're brothers!"

Hu Bayi forced a smile.

This matter wasn't a big deal between him and Wang Kaixuan, but if it got out to outsiders…

Cao Yi shook his head; the dynamics between the three actually had a lot to do with Hu Bayi's indulgence. In a normal society, someone like Wang Kaixuan, who constantly pined for a deceased girlfriend, would have fallen out with even the best of friends long ago.

"Daoist Priest, where's your magical item?"

Shirley Yang, who had been silent, spoke up.

Cao Yi knew she was trying to ease Hu Bayi's awkwardness, so he smiled and pointed to his ear.

"Your ear?"

What had been a casual question to ease the situation left Shirley Yang confused.

How could something be hidden in an ear? Had Daoist Priest injured his brain when collecting the other shore flower?

Cao Yi flicked his finger in his ear, and a gourd smaller than a grain of rice appeared in his hand.

"What's this?"

Shirley Yang leaned in to take a closer look.

Boom!

The purple-golden red gourd suddenly expanded enormously.

Shirley Yang was so startled that she fell onto the ground.

"Yang, my apologies!"

Cao Yi hadn't expected the gourd to do that and quickly apologized.

"It's—it's fine," Shirley Yang stammered.

"Shirley."

"Yang, Advisor."

Seeing the scene, Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan quickly rushed over to help Shirley Yang.

"Look at what Daoist Priest has in his hand?"

Shirley Yang pointed out to the two.

"How did a gourd suddenly appear?"

"Am I in another illusion?"

Hu Bayi and Wang Kaixuan both looked astonished.

Cao Yi smiled slightly, holding the purple-golden red gourd, walked to the suspension bridge, opened the lid, and aimed it at Yelü Zhigu: "Collect."

A force of attraction emanated from the gourd, causing Yelü Zhigu's body to uncontrollably rise and shrink, being drawn into the gourd.

"Collect."

The giant axe on the ground was also drawn in.

Hu Bayi, Wang Kaixuan, and Shirley Yang watched in disbelief.

After a while, Wang Kaixuan came back to his senses and swallowed hard, saying, "Daoist Priest, is this gourd the same as the one from *Journey to the West*?"

The old version of *Journey to the West* had started filming in 1982, with its first 11 episodes airing on CCTV during the 1986 Spring Festival and the remaining 25 episodes in 1988.

Now it was the late 1980s, just when the old version was extremely popular.

"It works similarly."

Cao Yi said, waving his hand; the gourd shrank down to smaller than a grain of rice.

He tapped it to his ear, and it vanished.

"Monkey King!"

Wang Kaixuan suddenly knelt down on the ground.