Chapter Eighty-six: Driving Corpses and Chasing Forms

  After doing all that, Chu Hao threw down his sword and took out two tiger tendon pills. He sat cross-legged on the ground and began to regulate his breath.

  The power of Hunyuan Ding was beyond his expectation, but the cost of using Hunyuan Ding was also astonishing, almost exhausting all the internal energy in his body, leaving him weak and limp, without a single thread of strength.

  As a sixth-grade artifact, the former Tongling-grade treasure, Hunyuan Ding's current attack is single-minded and can only be like a heavy object colliding, but the force and the contained spiritual energy, as well as the surface made of unknown materials, are not something that a mere Post-Heavenly cultivator can withstand!

  But on that day, Lu Ruhua, if not for the innate, had pierced through the posterior fontanelle, and as a cultivator of the Qi Refining stage who had sensed the aura of heaven and earth, would have absolutely been unable to withstand the impact of the Hunyuan Ding!

  Of course, with Chu Hao's cultivation, using the acquired energy to operate the Hunyuan Cauldron was extremely strenuous. If it weren't for him having long ago shed blood to acknowledge its master, and with Chen Honghong's assistance as the cauldron's innate spirit, he wouldn't have been able to move the Hunyuan Cauldron even a single thread. Of course, even so, a sixth-grade artifact that could make one invincible in this world was still unable to exert even a tenth of its power in his hands.

  "The Purple Dragon Flame is a superior flame, but it has an excess of yin and a lack of yang. If the Fierce Phoenix Flame can be used, then the yin and yang can complement each other, and after being injured, even if relying on the vessel fire, some damaged breath can be restored." Chu Hao thought to himself for a moment before standing up. He had no doubt that the four people were already dead, and that Lijie and the two purple-robed youths had been killed by the Hunyuan Cauldron, with no possibility of survival. As for the Refining Skin stage warrior, although his skin was strong and resilient, his throat was still the weakest link in a warrior's body, and after being pierced by Chu Hao's sword, he absolutely would not have made another sound."

  Chu Hao didn't show any signs of difficulty, and naturally walked over to Lie Jie's side, taking down his storage bag.

  Among the four disciples of Ziyunmen, only this person has the highest strength, and also owns a storage bag, so his identity is definitely not simple. However, Chu Hao dared to kill them, so he's not afraid of them coming to make trouble. Moreover, Tao Ranju had a two-year agreement with Ziyunmen, but it didn't specify that they couldn't find trouble for the disciples of Ziyunmen themselves.

  Besides, after I've eaten it all up, who would know that I made it?

  Killing these arrogant little fish and shrimp can also be considered as collecting a bit of interest from the Purple Cloud Sect in advance.

  Chu Hao held the storage bag in his hand, looked at it repeatedly, and decided to use his spiritual sense to try and open it. Storage bags were something that Chu Hao had also used in his previous life, although they were a type of item that required a special technique to use, but they were too low-grade and belonged to the category of special items, and couldn't be considered as a magical tool.

  In his past life, Chu Hao looked down on this kind of thing. Because the storage space of the treasure pouch was too small, and there were restrictions on what could not be put in, such as not being able to store tamed spiritual beasts or artifacts with penetrating properties. It could only hold some materials, spirit stones, and spirit symbols, and the space was very small, so it couldn't hold too much.

  So, the storage rings that Chu Hao had before were all made by himself. Although they were only mid-tier items in the Susu Mianzi's craftsmanship, they were much better than these storage bags. In fact, some magical artifacts themselves have the function of Susu Mianzi, such as the Hunyuan Ding, which has a huge internal space. However, with Chu Hao's ability and the damage to the Hunyuan Ding, this space cannot be used much, at most only a dozen or so square meters of space can be utilized.

  But like storage bags, they are only the most basic storage items. With Chu Hao's current cultivation level, he can also make them. However, due to the scarcity of materials for making storage equipment, he is unable to display his alchemy skills, and a skilled woman cannot cook without rice.

  Of course, the reason why storage bags are classified as inferior is not only because of their small storage capacity and many restrictions on what can be stored, but also because they are not secure enough.

  In a storage bag that's only the size of a palm, attached to one's waist, it's fundamentally impossible to engrave any defensive formations or arrays. The only option is to use one's own spiritual sense to create a seal. Therefore, no matter whose storage bag it is, as long as it falls into someone else's hands and that person's spiritual sense is stronger than yours, sorry to say, the things inside are theirs.

  Although Lijie's cultivation is close to the Pre-Heavenly stage, he is still just a Post-Heavenly peak warrior. Even if he has one foot in the Pre-Heavenly stage, he is still a Post-Heavenly cultivator. To be honest, with his current level of cultivation, he doesn't qualify for something like a Storage Bag in any sect. That's why Chu Hao thinks Lijie's identity is extraordinary and that he shouldn't just be an ordinary disciple of the Purple Cloud Sect. Listening to those bootlickers flattering him, maybe he's even a disciple from some big family with great influence.

  But these were not what Chu Hao needed to consider now.

  Because Lijie was only acquired later, there was no innate aura, and it was impossible to set a ban on the storage bag. After Chu Hao scattered his divine thoughts, he easily opened this storage bag.

  Chu Hao's heart was delighted when he saw what was inside.

  Two pieces of low-grade spiritual stone, a Heavenly Void Symbol, and various miscellaneous materials and secret manuals. There was even a second-rate flying sword, but Chu Hao lost interest after taking one look at it, which wasn't as good as the ones he crafted himself. However, once Liu Li and others reached the Later Heaven Great Perfection stage, they could be given to them.

  Chu Hao took out those skills, which were some fierce family swordsmanship and fist secret books. As for the pre-heavenly period's qigong method, there was one volume, but it was very ordinary, called "Huang Xuan Gong". Chu Hao looked down on it and felt disappointed in his heart.

  He had originally planned to take a look at whether there were any "Zi Yun Men Gong Fa Da Quan", "Zi Yun Da Fa Ji Xiang", "Zi Yun Men Bai Ban Shen Tong He Ji" and "How to Teach You to Defeat Zi Yun Men Xiao Chen" and other such things, and then spread them around the world, bringing benefits to the people. But now it seems that this great idea is going to be ruined.

  Chu Hao has always thought of himself as a selfless and kind person who dares to make sacrifices, but unfortunately, the rules of this world force good people to become prostitutes.

  However, even without these things, the Ling Stone and some miscellaneous materials were enough to make him slightly satisfied. Adding the Yu Kong symbol he had just snatched, he now had a total of two Yu Kong symbols and two pieces of low-grade Ling Stone.

  Ling stone is a natural stone produced by the condensation of the essence of heaven and earth, with abundant spiritual energy inside. Whether it's used to enhance the innate Qi of practitioners in the Qi-refining stage or the spiritual power of foundation-building practitioners, it's very useful.

  A piece of low-grade spirit stone is also extremely precious in this world, otherwise, how could Xiao Chen have exchanged a five-piece treasure for only 100 pieces of low-grade spirit stones. Although the 100 spirit stones can actually exchange for only one fourth-grade lower-tier artifact, the preciousness of the spirit stones does not need to be said.

  However, Lai Jie had just deceived himself, saying that there was only one low-grade spirit stone, which made Chu Hao recall at this moment, feeling quite annoyed, and secretly thought that this kid lied repeatedly, deserving to die.

  If Lijie knew Chuhao's thoughts, he would definitely be furious. These two pieces of spiritual stones were not awarded by the masters of Ziyunmen, but were a few low-grade spiritual stones from the Lijia family, specifically given to him, the second son of the Lijia family.

  As long as Lie Jie can break through the Innate and obtain the true Disciple's identity, relying on the spiritual energy of the Purple Cloud Sect mountain, plus absorbing the spiritual energy from the low-grade spirit stone, the speed of cultivation will be quite terrifying. And the Lie family attaches so much importance to cultivating Lie Jie, precisely in order to let him break through to the Innate Fifth Layer as soon as possible and increase the Lie family's weight in speaking within the Purple Cloud Sect.

  So even if it meant using two pieces of low-grade spirit stones as payment, they thought it was worth it.

  However, Ren Lijia's family calculated and planned, but they couldn't have predicted that all of this would be used to benefit others. These two rare low-grade spirit stones were indeed a bargain for Chu Hao, who had murdered and stolen them.

  The Ling Stone and Ling Symbol were both put back into the storage bag. Although there weren't many things, just these two items were enough to satisfy Chu Hao.

  "This guy is not simple, you have to be careful in the future." Chen Honghong's voice echoed in Chu Hao's mind.

  "Alright, I'll be careful." Chu Hao had already thought of this and nodded, saying: "However, how to use this spirit stone, I still don't know. Chen Honghong, what else can this thing do besides being a transaction item between cultivators?"

  " Ignorance." Chu Hao's shameless inquiry gave Chen Honghong her confidence back, and she said: "This spirit stone is the essence of the spiritual energy between heaven and earth, divided into five types: lower grade, middle grade, upper grade, extreme grade, and absolute grade. The spiritual energy contained in a lower-grade spirit stone is equivalent to the amount of spiritual energy absorbed by a low-level cave heaven blessed land in one month. Of course, this spiritual energy is useless for high-ranking cultivators, only useful for those below the Great Circle of Foundation. When you reach the Golden Elixir stage, you need to absorb even more spiritual energy to increase your spiritual power, so you must use middle-grade spirit stones. The spiritual energy of a single middle-grade spirit stone is equivalent to that of one hundred lower-grade spirit stones, and the ratio of spiritual energy for upper-grade spirit stones and above is similar."

  Chu Hao nodded slightly, thinking that this thing was indeed quite good and could be compared to some of the best elixirs.

  Of course, this ultimate product is just based on the standards of this world.

  "Right, you asked me to keep the corpses of these people intact earlier. What's the use of that?" Chu Hao put away the storage bag at his waist. These things were a pretty good windfall for a cultivator who had come out of this poor district with nothing.

  "Do you want to know?" Chen Honghong's voice sank, still with a hint of sinister smile: "These four are all post-heavenly martial artists. I happen to have a secret method here called 'Driving Corpses and Chasing Forms' that can refine corpses. However, this secret method must be learned in the pre-heavenly period."

  Refining corpses, "Driving Corpses and Shaping Forms"? Chu Hao felt a chill run down his spine as he heard these two names, and asked: "What is that thing?"

  "Haha, this secret technique was originally practiced by a sect called the Corpse-Chasing Sect. Later, it was destroyed by that old scoundrel Che Xuan-Yan, and naturally, the technique fell into my hands." Chen Hong-Hong's laughter was very sinister, and Chu Hao felt a chill run down his spine. His own ancestor from the Foundry Sect had indeed been a troublemaker, destroying other sects' Jianghu doors and then going on to destroy other cultivation sects. No wonder even his Spirit-Communicating Treasure, the Spirit Tool Chen Hong-Hong, was so restless.

  But what's with this "Corpse Herder" business? It's a pretty strange name, and it sounds ominous just hearing it.

  Chen Honghong saw that Chu Hao didn't continue to ask questions, and dissatisfied, she snorted: "Impolite little brat." She couldn't help but continue: "This Corpse Chasing Sect, in the Five Heavens' position thousands of years ago, was really something. It stirred up a bloody storm, if Che Xuanxiao didn't have the intelligent and wise Lingtong treasure's spirit, he wouldn't have been able to deal with those guys."

  "So powerful?" Originally, Chu Hao thought that the Corpse Refining Sect was just a small sect of True Cultivation based on Chen Honghong's calm tone earlier. But after hearing Chen Honghong's next words, it seemed not to be the case. As for Chen Honghong's boasting, he directly ignored it.

  "Nonsense, back then the Corpse Refining Sect was considered the number one demonic sect in the Five Elemental Heaven Realm. Even the orthodox first-rate sect, Qingxia Gate, wasn't their match. Just think about how powerful they were at that time." Chen Honghong spoke with a self-satisfied tone, as if it was he who had defeated the Corpse Refining Sect instead of Che Xuanxiao. "This sect is extremely evil, and their innate experts are extremely rare. Their foundation-building experts are even fewer in number, and as for Golden Core experts... there might be only one or two. In the Five Elemental Heaven Realm, this kind of sect wouldn't even qualify as third-rate. However, their strength doesn't come from their own abilities, but rather from their cultivation method - a divine technique called 'Corpse Driving Shape Shifting' that defies the heavens!"

  "How terrifying!" Chu Hao had roughly understood the hierarchy of the Nine Heavens world from Chen Honghong. In this Second Heaven Realm, for example, the Golden Elixir stage was the strongest, and even a first-level Golden Elixir cultivator could enter a higher realm, or choose to stay behind, depending on their own will. However, once a cultivator reached the second level of the Golden Elixir stage, unless they hid their true strength, they would be forcibly promoted to the upper realm by the cultivators in the Nine Heavens Tower. Similarly, the higher the realm, the more superior the cultivation methods, achievements, and standards of the True Immortal Realm would be, each surpassing the previous one by a whole level.

  Like the Fivefold Heaven world, Chu Hao is also one of the top ten sects, the Refining Aperture Sect's great disciple. Those who interact with him are all Foundation Establishment Dan stage cultivators. This level of cultivator can make the earth shake by just stomping their foot in this world, but for the Fivefold Heaven cultivators, it's extremely ordinary and common. Even those at the Yuan Infant stage are not few in number. Only the Yin-Yang stage cultivators stand at the peak of that world.

  So, when Chen Honghong said that the Corpse Refining Sect only had one or two Golden Dan period cultivators, and yet was still the number one demonic sect, he was thoroughly shocked. After all, this was a high-end world of Five Elements Nine Heavens!

  "How did they do it? What's so special about 'Driving Corpses and Chasing Forms'? Can you even call it a divine art that defies the heavens?" Chu Hao deliberately emphasized the two words "defy the heavens", he knew that the strength of the Corpse Driving Sect must be inseparable from this divine art, otherwise Chen Hong would not have brought it up so solemnly.

  "The disciples of the Corpse Refining Sect, although their own strength is not great, they can use powerful corpse refining techniques to enhance their own strength!" Chen Honghong said solemnly: "The 'Corpse Driving and Shape Shifting' technique is precisely such a divine art."

  "In the Corpse Refining Sect, every disciple has a cultivator's corpse, whether it is a postnatal or prenatal one, or even a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator who died. They can all utilize them, using the Corpse Driving Technique to refine them into tools for their own use, and then slowly cultivate them. This cultivation requires injecting a large amount of materials every day, such as spiritual beasts, or what could be called puppet treasures. It's an extremely evil practice."

  Chen Honghong's voice became even more solemn as she spoke: "Being able to use a treasure in the prenatal period, in the five-heaven world, only the Corpse Driving Sect that has cultivated the 'Corpse Driving and Shape Shifting' technique can achieve this! In the early days of the sect's establishment, the ancestor of the Corpse Driving Sect was a golden elixir cultivator named Corpse Driver. He alone had grasped the method of using thirty-six corpse puppets, those corpse puppets, the highest could rival the fifth level of the yin-yang period, and the lowest was also at the third level of yuan infant, to put it bluntly, with just him alone, he could lead the corpse puppets to destroy an entire sect!"

  "At that time, he was even more revered as the number one person in the Fivefold Heaven, leading a group of corpses, invincible wherever they went. It was also because of his existence that the Corpse Sect gradually grew stronger and eventually dominated alone, with no one daring to provoke them in the Fivefold Heaven, tyrannizing for a time!"

  Chu Hao had never heard of such a tyrannical and heaven-defying cultivation method before, and an image involuntarily appeared in his mind: in the sky, an old Daoist with a hunched back and a skull-like face floated, accompanied by thirty-six little brothers. He let out a loud shout "Go!" and instantly, this group of little brothers rushed forward, annihilating all the sects below!

  This is also too against the heavens! I originally thought that my handsomeness was already unbearable to the natural order, but it turns out there's still this kid's existence!

  Chu Hao's heart wavered at this moment. This Corpse Refining Sect was so powerful, then how powerful was Che Xuan-Yan who could destroy them?!

  However, this must also be inseparable from Hunyuan Ding. It is uncertain whether the damage to Hunyuan Ding is related to this.

  Of course, this is just Chu Hao's speculation.

  "Just because the Corpse Herding Sect's techniques were too overbearing, developed too quickly, and had a demonic nature that was too heavy, at that time, whether it was the Demonic Path or the Righteous Path, both had an extremely strong sense of rejection and fear towards this sect! In the end, it was because of this that everyone used the excuse of being devoid of all conscience and humanity to bring about the calamity of the sect's destruction." Chen Honghong fell silent for a moment, not detailing the shocking battle, but instead said: "That great war was when Che Xuanji, that old scoundrel, finally broke into the Corpse Herding Sect, exterminated the Corpse Hereding Sect's ancestor, and obtained the techniques. It was also because of this war that the Metalwork Gate rose to prominence, becoming one of the top ten sects in the Five Heavens."

  Chu Hao was hearing the history of his own Chu He Men for the first time, and upon hearing it, he secretly cursed to himself. Chen Honghong's words had only reached halfway, leaving his heart hanging in suspense, extremely uncomfortable: "You just said you have this skill, what do you mean? Are you going to teach me?"

  If I could master this magical skill, in the future when going out, bring a large group of younger brothers, how mighty it would be. If someone is not pleasing to the eye, number one and two go up, directly blast and kill.

  Chen Honghong saw through Chu Hao's thoughts and sneered: "Do you think refining a corpse is that easy? This kind of divine ability can achieve such a heaven-defying degree, but it's extremely difficult to cultivate. Moreover, the corpse used for refinement must have a spiritual root, and it needs to undergo countless experiments and soaking. The consumption of materials is enormous! And during the refinement stage, if you don't cultivate for even one day, no matter how you refine it, the corpse will not improve at all."

  Chen Honghong continued: "However, people with spiritual roots are all blessed by heaven, and the Corpse Driving Skill uses the bodies of those with heavenly blessed spiritual roots to eliminate human souls. It's too cruel. Otherwise, both the Orthodox and Devil paths wouldn't have such a grand excuse to hunt down and kill the Corpse Driving Sect."

  Chu Hao hesitated after hearing this. After all, refining corpses was indeed against the norms of human nature. Refining them would provoke heaven's wrath and public outrage. It was a matter that would anger both gods and humans for anyone to have their corpse used by others after death.

  Killing is not a big deal, after all, life and death are just part of the grand cycle. However, using a person's corpse to create an inanimate puppet is something that even the demonic path cannot tolerate. The Hurried Corpse Sect's technique is indeed extremely sinister!

  Chu Hao is not a gentleman, but he is not completely devoid of conscience either. If he really wanted to refine corpses, he probably still couldn't do it.

  "Since that's the case, what's the point of saying all this?" Chu Hao said discontentedly: "You want me to keep the whole corpses of these four people, are you planning on having me cultivate that thing called corpse driving? But you've already said it's so terrifying, why would I still practice? As a great man, I'm supposed to have a majestic image in front of beauties, not be followed around by a group of corpses all day. Forget it, I won't practice."

  "Are you sure you won't practice anymore?" Chen Honghong smiled mischievously.

  "Of course, the ideal I uphold has always been to rely on myself to strive."

  "Alright, originally this technique was modified by Che Xuan-Yan that old scoundrel and became two types: 'Body Outside Driving Shape Technique' and 'Primordial Spirit Driving Shape Technique', which have become much more benign. After cultivating these two techniques, it's just a matter of making one's clone or primordial spirit, not like those corpse puppets that bring heavenly wrath and human resentment." Chen Hong-Hong nodded and said: "Since you don't plan on cultivating anymore, then forget it, destroy the corpses of these four little ones."

  Chu Hao was stunned and didn't make any movement.

  Then he fell silent for a moment, before twisting and turning, his face flushing with embarrassment as he said: "Chen Honghong, you're really too much... actually... this isn't something that can't be negotiated..."