The Corpse Immortal

Very soon, Su Min arrived at the Prince Yong's Manor.

Her reason for coming was simple—over the past twenty years, this place had accumulated a considerable amount of incense offerings. She needed to slowly refine that energy while cultivating her Great Sun Tathāgata Sutra.

Naturally, it made sense to return here.

However, at the sight of the black-clad woman silently following behind Su Min, the Prince Yong couldn't help but feel an unshakable discomfort creeping over him.

Su Min, despite her usual stern exterior, wasn't truly hard to get along with—her aloofness was more an act to avoid unnecessary trouble. But the woman behind her was different.

Perhaps it was unfamiliarity, or perhaps it was the chilling yin aura she carried... Even just standing near her made one's skin crawl. Su Min could ignore it because she possessed Nanming Lihuo within her, and her cultivation level was already formidable. But for the Prince Yong, it was a different matter entirely—he was already starting to tremble slightly.

"Prepare a room for me. I'll be in seclusion for a while. Make sure no one disturbs me—and gather information on this location for me."

As she spoke, Su Min exuded a faint golden radiance that pushed away the oppressive chill in the air. Prince Yong exhaled in relief, wiping the sweat from his brow. "Of course. Miss Su's room has been kept clean and ready."

He cast a grateful glance at her, then another wary one toward the veiled woman behind her. Only then did he feel somewhat at ease. He had heard of this mysterious woman's origins—after all, it had been some time since the commotion over that ancient ruin.

No one dared speak carelessly about her. Aside from that blind fool of a crown prince, she hadn't killed a single soul during the entire ordeal.

"Just... the location you've chosen..."

But when he saw the place Su Min pointed to on the map, his expression changed visibly.

"What's wrong?" Su Min asked, a little puzzled by his reaction.

"Miss Su may not know, but… this is not a good place."

"Oh?"

Seeing her confusion, Prince Yong sighed and spoke with some hesitation, as if recalling something dreadful.

"Before Great Wei unified the land, during the fall of the previous dynasty, the last emperor held a horrifying ritual there in a desperate attempt to ascend to immortality. No one knows how many were sacrificed—the dead were piled high, their severed heads forming literal hills. In the end, the emperor even sacrificed himself in the center of it all. From that day on, no grass grew in the area, and any who wandered too close inevitably fell ill and died."

"A Corpse Demon?"

Before Su Min could say anything, Xie Yingying suddenly gasped.

"So I wasn't mistaken... I've always felt something strange about that place," she said.

Su Min nodded in agreement, though in truth, she had no idea what exactly had happened there. She only knew some kind of monster was about to emerge. She could remember the main plotlines, but not every little side story.

No wonder it was a side quest. It was probably just buried in the lore.

"A what?" Prince Yong asked, bewildered.

"A Corpse Demon at the Golden Core stage is taking shape there," Su Min said calmly, pointing at her map.

Prince Yong's brows twitched violently, and then his face turned pale. Cold sweat beaded on his back. The creature's location was barely 100 kilometers from their current position. For a Golden Core cultivator, that was nothing. If a monster of that level appeared nearby, how could he possibly remain calm?

"Can it be destroyed before it matures?" he asked anxiously.

"You'd best not try that," Xie Yingying answered before Su Min could. "If you forcefully break its cocoon before it finishes absorbing the toxic energies, the residual poison would turn everything within a thousand kilometers into a living hell. The safest course is to wait until it finishes the transformation—once it has converted 99% of the toxins into cultivation energy, then we kill it."

Su Min let out a subtle breath of relief. She hadn't wanted to come up with a reason herself. After all, if the creature never matured, she wouldn't be able to claim its demon core.

"Very well. Then keep people watching it—but discreetly," Su Min instructed. "If I weren't at the Foundation Establishment stage and an alchemist, I wouldn't have sensed it either. But until I'm ready, no one can know."

With that, Su Min turned and left the room. She needed to enter seclusion and refine the faith energy. Without doing so, even with Xie Yingying's support, her condition wouldn't improve by much.

~Edit and rewritten by Rikhi, Reiya_Alberich, ReiNyam~

Besides, if that monster really did awaken, she would have a strong advantage in the fight. Nanming Lihuo, a Heavenly flame, was the bane of all demonic or corrupted beings. Not to mention the Great Sun Tathāgata Sutra, a Buddhist scripture of immense yang force—perfect for purging evil.

"A Corpse Immortal... It really must be eliminated," Xie Yingying said gravely as they left the hall.

"Hmm?" Su Min turned to glance at her, a hint of curiosity in her eyes.

Xie Yingying didn't keep her in suspense. "Entities born from such blood-drenched rituals—when slain—grant the killer an elusive form of merit. To most, it's useless, but for cultivators, it can be used to shield oneself during heavenly tribulations. The earlier you slay it, the more merit you gain."

"I see..."

Su Min nodded thoughtfully but said nothing more. Soon, the two arrived at a quiet side hall. Su Min sat cross-legged and settled into meditation.

"I need to cultivate in seclusion for a while. Do as you please in the meantime. At my current early Foundation Establishment level, I can't yet refine that pill for you."

She didn't bother hiding anything from Xie Yingying. At this stage, the only way to rapidly increase her soul power was to break through. And she had already spent over twenty years on her Foundation—her roots were exceptionally solid. Her advancement would be faster than most. And she had... other means as well.

Xie Yingying didn't respond. For cultivators, seclusion was normal.. But as soon as Su Min closed her eyes, something startled her. A towering golden Buddha, ethereal and radiant, manifested around Su Min like a divine apparition.

"That's a Buddhist technique... but she doesn't look like one of those monks," Xie Yingying muttered. "And this is a modern Buddha's golden form… She's practicing Great Thunder Temple's techniques."

She shook her head, sighing, and quietly left the chamber. She wasn't in a rush to cultivate and decided to act as Su Min's protector for now. Once Su Min sensed she had gone, she relaxed fully and immersed herself in her cultivation.

"The Ancient Lamp Monastery, Great Thunder Temple, Future Maitreya Mountain… The three great Buddhist sects have already extended their reach here."

Outside, Xie Yingying stared out at the bustling Prince Yong City, lost in thought. Another unit of soldiers had arrived and begun sealing off the region. Clearly, the Prince Yong wasn't taking any chances—he didn't want anyone stumbling into that cursed zone.

"How boring. I guess I'll go cultivate too… but somewhere far away from her."

With that, Xie Yingying's figure vanished like mist.

Her yin-aligned cultivation clashed too harshly with Su Min's pure yang energies. Cultivating together would do more harm than good—for either of them.