Chapter 96 – Furnace
The moment that loud voice spoke out, the sound transformed into violent wind that caused the balls of fire in the surroundings to dim. Loud sounds echoed in the cave, giving off the feeling of divine punishment.
Wang Lin took a deep breath. He clasped his hands and respectfully said, “Greeting, senior Ye.”
The figure slowly became solid and turned into a 40 or so year old man. This person was very handsome. His eyes sparkled like the stars and his skin was as smooth as jade. He looked at Wang Lin with no emotion on his face and said, “Mu Rong, you can leave.”
Mu Rong, who was kneeling on the ground, quickly stood up, charged toward one of the caves, and disappeared without a trace.
Ye Zi waved his left hand and a curtain of light suddenly appeared and surrounded them. He sighed and said, with a sense of melancholy, “ Wang Lin, you are not a disciple of the Corpse Sect. There is no need to lie. My junior apprentice brother Wu Yu must have met with some trouble. Wang Lin, there is no 3rd person here, so tell me.”
Wang Lin straightened his back. He had already thought about it on the way here. There was no way he would be able to lie to a Nascent Soul cultivator like Ye Zi, so he decided to tell the truth.
After pondering a little, Wang Lin recounted everything that happened in the ruins.
Ye Zi silently listened and didn’t say a word. He sighed after Wang Lin finished speaking, then closed eyes his and thought, “What this Wang Lin said should be true. When brother Wu Yu left, he did say that his corpse puppet was about to advance and what Wang Lin said matches his personality. A corpse puppet rebelling. Alas, junior apprentice brother, how could the rebelling of a mid stage Nascent Soul corpse puppet be as easy to deal with as you stated? Even if I go, I can’t help you at all.”
“Since you made Wang Lin deliver the message, you must have other ideas…” With that, Ye Zi spread out his divine sense and was shocked. The method this Wang Lin cultivated was very close to the corpse sect’s. He was filled with Yin energy. After pondering for a while, Ye Zi understood Wu Yu’s intention.
This was Wu Yu’s way of sending a distress call while sending the corpse sect a disciple. After scanning Wang Lin, he looked at Adai. After he pondered for a bit, he completely understood Wu Yu’s intentions. Adai’s body was built for cultivating the corpse sect’s cultivation method.
After Ye Zi withdrew his gaze, he slowly asked Wang Lin, “He is Adai, who accompanied my junior apprentice brother for all these years?”
Wang Lin nodded.
Ye Zi took a deep breath and decisively said, “Wang Lin, I checked out your spiritual energy and it contains a lot of Yin property. If you were to cultivate here, you would have a much easier time. Wang Lin, are you willing to become a disciple of the corpse sect?”
Wang Lin already guessed everything that could happen on the way here. Ye Zi’s recruitment was within his expectations, so he respectfully said, “Disciple is willing.”
Ye Zi nodded again and said, “Fine. Since you had the luck of meeting my junior brother Wu Yu, then you might as well become his real disciple. From now on, you are the corpse sect’s second generation disciple.”
With that, he pointed at Adai and said, “I’ll be taking Adai with me.” He saw Wang Lin’s uncertainty and said, “Don’t worry. He has such a deep relationship with my junior brother, I won’t dare to hurt him. I’m going to take him as my personal disciple.”
With that, he waved his right hand and threw out a dark blue jade. Then, he grabbed Adai with his hand. Adai let out a scream as they disappeared into the caves.
Wang Lin caught the jade. He scanned it with his divine sense and his expression became strange.
There were only some simple techniques and not a trace of the corpse sect’s cultivation method. This must be because Ye Zi was worried, so Wang Lin didn’t mind.
As he was checking out the jade, Mu Rong peaked out from one of the caves and walked out. After he found that Ye Zi had left, he flew to Wang Lin and was about to speak when he noticed the jade in his hand. He was shocked and quickly took a few steps back as he said, “Disciple Mu Rong greets ancestor.”
Wang Lin was shooked and stared at the jade as he said, “Brother Mu, there is no need to be like this. Does the color of the jade mean anything?”
Mu Rong looked a the jade in Wang Lin’s hand with envy as he bitterly smiled and took out a light blue jade and said, “Ancestor, you didn’t have a jade before, so we could talk to each other as if we were peers, but now that you have your jade, the corpse sect has strict rules regarding ranks, so how would I dare to call you brother Wang again…”
“Look at the color of my jade. The jade is the only form of identification in the corpse sect. The first ancestor’s jade is green, ancestors’ jades are dark blue, elders’ jades are light blue, and all disciples’ jades are white.”
Wang Lin put away his jade and was just about to speak when the balls of fires on the pillar suddenly flashed a few times, releasing green smoke.
Mu Rong’s expression changed a bit. His hand formed a seal and he said, “Gather!”
The green smoke quickly came toward Mu Rong and entered his forehead.
Mu Rong closed his eyes. Shortly after, he reopened them and said, “Ancestor, first ancestor Ye Zi has arranged a room for you. I’ll take you there shortly.”
Wang Lin was very surprised about the techniques of the corpse sect. Just like the technique that just now used smoke to transmit a message. He rubbed his chin and nodded.
Mu Rong flew toward one of the caves. Wang Lin jumped and followed behind.
The two moved quickly through the caves as Mu Rong talked to Wang Lin about the corpse sect. Along with the youth’s explanation, Wang Lin now had a certain understanding of the corpse sect.
The corpse sect was one of the four demonic sects of Zhao. They had over one thousand disciples and they all lived underground. Each had their own cultivation room. Everyone other than the few disciples that would go out to purchase things while everyone else was cultivating in their rooms.
Although, calling them a demonic sect wasn’t really fitting compared to the Tian Dao Sect’s demonic flame, He Huan Sect’s evil Yin, and Wu Feng Valley’s murderous aura. Though the corpse sect had corpse puppets, everyone there were really just cultivation maniacs.
Every disciple cultivated like a madman and the reason for this was because of the cruel requirements the corpse sect had. If one doesn’t reach reach the 10th layer of Qi Condensation in 10 years, doesn’t reach Foundation Establishment in 30 years, or doesn’t reach Core Formation in 100 years, they will be refined into a corpse puppet.
This cruel system was like a whip that caused all of the corpse sect disciples to cultivate like crazy.
Every year there were several people that were refined into corpse puppets, and every time, all of the disciples watched the process.
Similarly, every year, there were disciples that were sent out to find fitting mortals to replenish those lost disciples.
It’s not that the disciples didn’t want to rebel, but all of the disciples that were accepted would have part of their soul removed and sealed into a jade. The jades were split into 4 ranks. The first ancestor’s green jade could control any disciple in the sect. The ancestor’s dark blue jade also had a similar effect, and then the elder’s light blue jade.
Under layers of control, no one dared to rebel. Mu Rong also told Wang Lin that this corpse sect was only a branch of the real corpse sect. He once saw a messenger from a rank 5 country. Even that messenger’s slave was at least at the Nascent Soul cultivation level.
The more Wang Lin heard, the more shocked he was. He wondered why when Ye Zi gave him the jade, Ye Zi didn’t seal part of his soul in it.
The same question came from Ye Zi’s body after he returned to his own cave.
“Why didn’t you seal part of his soul into the jade?” Asked a hoarse voice that sounded like two iron plates rubbing together.
Ye Zi slapped his palm on Adai’s forehead and sealed his senses. Then, he turned around and sat cross legged on the black bed. He pointed at his forehead and his body shook as an illusionary figure appeared next to him.
This figure was very blurry. One couldn’t clearly see what he looked like. He floated around Adai, observing him, then he reached out his hand toward Adai’s head.
Ye Zi frowned. He waved his right hand and coughed out a mouthful of blue Yin fire. After the Yin fire appeared, it formed a wall that blocked the figure’s hand.
Ye Zi coldly said, “Luo Sha, this person is my junior apprentice brother’s personal disciple. You can’t hurt him.”
The figure let out a laugh. He floated in the air with his arms hugging his own shoulders and said, with a high pitched voice, “Ye Zizai, you and your junior apprentice brother are only furnaces for us. Your brother left early, before Lord Zi could awaken, and now he is calling you for help. He is really throwing himself into the net. Ye Zizai, since you already know his location, why aren’t you going to help Lord Zi devour Wu Yu?”
Ye Zizai’s face was gloomy. He stared at the figure and sneered. “Before you completely devour me, don’t think I will listen to any order from you. As for Lord Zi, I won’t go to help him or my junior apprentice brother. Whether he could devour my junior apprentice brother, it’s all up to himself.”
The figure let out a creepy laugh. He didn’t seem to mind and said, “If you don’t want to go, I won’t force you, but the next wave of bodies has been prepared by a rank 5 country. This time, there are 10 people. You must pick your furnace carefully. Remember, you are only an outer disciple of the corpse sect. Also, what are you going to do with this brat Adai?”
Ye Zizai pondered for a while and secretly let out a sigh. 400 years ago, he entered the corpse sect and, thanks to his talent, he was able to reach the Nascent Soul stage in 400 years, but just at that moment, his corpse puppet gained a sense of self and started to devour his consciousness. This process was very slow and this allowed him to learn of some of the corpse sect’s secrets.