Chapter 3

The ring looked simple and unremarkable, but Qin Ziling knew it was the most precious item on Li Mo, the leader of the Corpse Demon Sect, the Corpse Nurturing Ring.

This Corpse Nurturing Ring and his severed finger had fallen into the ancient well, a deliberate act when he self-destructed and escaped with a wisp of his soul. Even though his wisp of soul ultimately failed to possess a body and was instead fused with Qin Ziling, this scene was deeply imprinted in Qin Ziling's consciousness, causing him to have the same nightmare for several consecutive nights.

"Li Mo not only used the most common blood sacrifice method to refine this Corpse Nurturing Ring but later added a higher-level divine imprint. Even if someone else took this Corpse Nurturing Ring, they wouldn't be able to open it using the blood sacrifice method. However, since I have fused with Li Mo's wisp of soul, I wonder if I can use the blood sacrifice method to open it." Qin Ziling thought, bit his finger, and dripped a drop of fresh blood onto the ring.

The fresh blood seeped into the ring and disappeared, and at the same time, a stronger sense of blood connection surged in Qin Ziling's heart. Then he felt a momentary dizziness, shivered all over, and found himself "in" a space as large as a soccer field, nearly a hundred meters high, filled with pitch-black, extremely cold black gas and a decaying aura.

In reality, Qin Ziling was aware that his body was still in the same place, and his eyes could still see the mountains and water outside, the ancient well of the Taoist temple.

"Truly amazing, this is like a virtual space that can be entered through the brain, but it is actually a real space." Qin Ziling marveled in his heart as he began to observe the space as large as a soccer field.

In this vast space, not only did pitch-black, extremely cold black gas float everywhere, but there were also twelve coffins of various sizes on the ground.

The coffins were carved with strange runes, which emitted a faint light. Each time the light flickered, it would draw a wisp of the floating yin-sha black gas.

Of the twelve coffins, nine were empty, and three contained corpses.

Two of the corpses resembled apes but were much larger than ordinary apes, standing about three meters tall, with a cold, bronze luster that gave the impression of being made of copper and iron, extremely hard and powerful.

The third coffin contained a huge, four-headed bird, which also emitted a cold, bronze luster, but its wings were severely damaged.

Each corpse was covered with runes that corresponded with the runes on the coffins. Each time the runes on the coffins flickered, a wisp of the black gas they gathered would float into the runes on the corpses, giving the impression that the corpses were breathing.

Moreover, as the black gas continuously seeped into the runes on the corpses, the metallic luster on the corpses became purer, and the damaged wings of the four-headed bird were subtly being repaired.

When Qin Ziling "looked" at these three corpses, they seemed to sense his presence and suddenly stood up from the coffins, their hollow eyes staring at Qin Ziling, with greenish light flickering in them.

The sight was as eerie as it could be, making one's hair stand on end.

More eerily, Qin Ziling found that he did not feel any fear when facing these three suddenly standing zombies; instead, he felt a sense of mental connection and familiarity, even a slight urge for bloodlust and killing.

This bloodlust and killing urge did not come from Qin Ziling's own consciousness but from the three zombies.

"This..." Qin Ziling struggled to move his throat, trying hard to recall the chaotic scenes and fragmented knowledge left from the fusion of Li Mo's wisp of soul.

"Zombies, like martial arts, have different levels. The ordinary ones are black zombies, followed by iron zombies, bronze zombies, silver zombies, and gold zombies. I can't remember the rest for now. A wisp of soul is a wisp of soul, with fragmented and chaotic memories, but it's also a good thing. If it were a complete soul, I probably wouldn't be able to maintain my true nature!"

"Whoa, the combat power of bronze zombies is comparable to that of a martial artist at the strength realm. The hall master is also a martial artist at the strength realm and is already a well-known and respected expert in the county. If I can control these three bronze zombies, it would be like having three martial artists working for me?" After a series of recollections and thoughts, Qin Ziling gradually pieced together some information, feeling both surprised and delighted, his heart racing.

"It seems that the other zombies in this Corpse Nurturing Ring are at the silver and gold levels. In the pursuit and killing of Li Mo, they were all released to resist the attacks. I wonder what level of cultivation Li Mo had, and what level of cultivation those who pursued him had. These three bronze zombies didn't even have the qualifications to help resist the attacks."

"The strong in this world are much more powerful than I imagined. I must be low-key and quickly improve my cultivation. Otherwise, if I encounter a strong person like Li Mo, I might not even know how I died." As he continued to recall and think, Qin Ziling felt a deep sense of fear and unease.

Thinking about quickly improving his cultivation, Qin Ziling soon looked at the three bronze zombies with renewed enthusiasm.

For him now, these three bronze zombies were world-class experts.

If he could control these three bronze zombies, it would be like having three strength realm experts working for him, not only ensuring his personal safety in this chaotic world but also solving the problem of lacking meat and medicinal supplements.

The question was, how could he control these three bronze zombies?

Qin Ziling fell into deep thought again.

Images flashed through his mind of black-clothed people holding bells or banners, shaking them and using hand seals to control the zombies.

Qin Ziling's heart stirred, and he looked around but found no bells or banners. Instead, he noticed a small box in the corner of a large empty coffin.

When Qin Ziling saw the small box, his head ached as if he had forgotten something very important, but he couldn't remember what it was.

Qin Ziling didn't bother to strain his brain to recall and took out the small box and opened it.

Inside the box was a palm-sized, ancient triangular token made of an unknown material, and a scroll of scripture.

Qin Ziling couldn't recall any related memories when he saw the ancient triangular token, but when he saw the scroll of scripture, his heart suddenly jolted, and he quickly picked up the scroll and opened it.

The scripture was extremely thin, and when opened, it was filled with dense text. In the middle of the scroll was a star river diagram.

At first glance, the star river diagram seemed ordinary, but when he focused, it expanded infinitely, as if it became a vast, boundless universe, making him feel insignificant, not even a speck of dust.

Countless suns, moons, and stars revolved, converging into a river that had existed since ancient times, vast and majestic.