Chapter 76

The next day, Uncle Kiu took Chiu Shing and Man Choi to survey a new grave site for Old Master Ren. Jiang Chen did not join them, and Uncle Kiu did not insist on bringing him along. With his extensive experience, how could he not see that Jiang Chen was currently in a period of vigorous advancement, and could not afford any delay?

Indeed, this was the case. With 360 strands of magical power condensed into his spiritual root, Jiang Chen had just crossed the threshold of cultivation. Without any bottlenecks to hold him back, his cultivation progressed rapidly. He naturally did not want to miss this great opportunity for cultivation, even though this cycle of the world was already in the era of the decline of the Dharma. Still, he could clearly feel his magical power advancing steadily during his cultivation.

Absorbing the purple qi of the rising sun and drawing on the spiritual power of heaven and earth, after condensing his spiritual root, Jiang Chen found that the practice of the Supreme Clarity Daoist Technique was more than ten times smoother than before.

Absorbing, refining, and accumulating magical power, an hour was enough to match the efforts of several days in the past. Such rapid and visible progress in cultivation naturally made one feel unable to stop.

However, it was a pity that the purple qi of the rising sun was limited by the time of day and could not last long. It would completely dissipate in the world within an hour after the sun rose, only to reappear the next day when the sun rose again.

After the purple qi of the rising sun dissipated, the speed of cultivation dropped significantly. The sudden drop immediately woke Jiang Chen from his meditative state.

He did not continue to meditate. In everything, excess is as bad as deficiency. Instead, he practiced martial arts for a while, then began to practice drawing talismans. For this, he went to the street and bought a lot of cinnabar, yellow paper, and brushes. Since he remembered that someone might get injured when dealing with zombies, he also bought a lot of glutinous rice.

Drawing talismans was not as simple as it looked. To draw a good talisman, one needed to control magical power with great precision, and there could be no error in any stroke. Fortunately, Uncle Kiu had already given him many pointers yesterday, and with his powerful divine soul, he learned quite quickly.

Of course, at the beginning, it was inevitably clumsy. However, after practicing for some time, Jiang Chen became familiar with the techniques. His strokes became smoother, and he could easily draw talismans, his brush moving like a dragon or a snake.

Gradually, Jiang Chen became immersed in it, forgetting to eat lunch. It wasn't until the sun set that a wisp of green smoke rose from a pattern on his left forearm, transforming into a beautiful woman in white, who said with concern, "Young Master, it's getting late. You should rest."

This woman in white was none other than Dong Xiaoyu, the female ghost Jiang Chen encountered the previous night. Without personal experience, even if one knew beforehand, encountering a ghost for the first time was really terrifying. However, Jiang Chen was not an ordinary person. After obtaining the power to subdue ghosts, his fear naturally dissipated.

After Dong Xiaoyu submitted, Jiang Chen used the contract token obtained from completing the second附属 task to bind her, making her his assistant. The contract token, originally a palm-sized token, transformed into a pattern on Jiang Chen's left forearm after binding Dong Xiaoyu, becoming the place where she rested and nurtured her soul.

It must be said that the contract token was far more magical than Jiang Chen had imagined. According to Dong Xiaoyu, there was a strange space inside it. After being bound, she could live in it, nurture her soul, and cultivate, completely free from the influence of her remains.

"Alright, I understand." Waking from his immersion, Jiang Chen immediately stopped writing and smiled at Dong Xiaoyu, "This is my senior brother's mortuary. It's best if you don't come out. After dinner, I'll go to the mountain to retrieve your remains, so there won't be any future隐患."

"Thank you, Young Master." Although the contract token had freed Dong Xiaoyu from the influence of her remains, it was still a隐患. Jiang Chen's willingness to help her resolve it made her very happy.

The green smoke reappeared and merged into the pattern. Jiang Chen looked at the many talismans he had drawn and couldn't help but smile. Among these talismans, some were basically useless, belonging to the category of failed talismans; some were half-finished and had little effect; but the last part had considerable power, capable of subduing ordinary ghosts and zombies. Even if Uncle Kiu had drawn them himself, they would not have been much better.

Putting the useless failed talismans and half-finished talismans in the room, Jiang Chen then categorized and stored the useful talismans in his wristwatch space. With these powerful talismans, he would undoubtedly have more combat power when facing various ghosts and monsters.

Leaving the room, he saw that it was already very late, and Uncle Kiu, Chiu Shing, and Man Choi had not returned. Jiang Chen knew that since they were helping Old Master Ren survey the grave, Ren Fa would naturally invite them to dinner. So, he had to solve his own food problem.

Fortunately, his cooking skills were decent, and the mortuary was not short of firewood, rice, oil, and salt. In no time, he prepared two hearty dishes and satisfied his hunger.

After dinner, Jiang Chen waited for a while, but seeing no sign of Uncle Kiu and the others returning, he decided to take his tools and head out to the mountain to retrieve Dong Xiaoyu's remains.

Not long after he left, Uncle Kiu and Man Choi returned to the mortuary. They had dinner at the Ren family's house in town, and after the meal, Chiu Shing went directly to his aunt's house.

"Hey, where's Junior Uncle?" Entering the mortuary and not seeing Jiang Chen, Man Choi asked with a hint of confusion.

"Go to sleep first. I'll go look for him outside." Uncle Kiu said, then took a lantern and went out of the mortuary to search for Jiang Chen. Although he knew that Jiang Chen's martial arts were strong and his foundation of magical power was almost on par with his own, he was still concerned that Jiang Chen had only just started cultivating and might run into trouble.

"Bang, bang......"

Strange sounds echoed in the empty room of the mortuary. The coffin kept shaking, as if something terrifying was trying to break free.

Outside the coffin, the ink lines imbued with magical power crisscrossed like a large net, covering the entire coffin. Under the impact of strange forces, they continuously emitted power, glowing red in the darkness of the night, forcibly suppressing the thing inside the coffin.

However, the thing inside the coffin was extremely fierce. Despite the suppression by the ink lines, it continued to impact the coffin walls one after another. The red glow of the ink lines flickered, gradually showing signs of failing to hold.

"Boom"

Finally, the coffin, which had been buried for twenty years and was already somewhat decayed, could no longer withstand such violent impacts. It immediately fell apart, scattering the paper figures and horses placed around it. Then, a stiff figure jumped up straight.

Old Master Ren

The one who jumped up was none other than Old Master Ren, who had been dead for twenty years. At this moment, Old Master Ren no longer looked like he did when the coffin was opened.

His face was covered in pus-filled sores, as if it were rotting, but in reality, he was shedding his stiff old skin to grow a harder outer layer. His ten fingers glowed with a purplish-black cold light, filled with the most intense corpse poison. His eyes emitted a bloodthirsty glow, and his entire body exuded a cold, bloodthirsty, and violent aura.

"Roar"

Like a wolf or a tiger, he let out a low roar, and a foul-smelling black smoke spewed from his mouth. With the release of this black smoke, Old Master Ren seemed to fully regain his vitality. The mysterious bloodline influence spurred his bloodthirsty instincts, and he jumped out of the room where the body was stored.

Moonlight fell, and the yin qi of the world gathered, adding to the ferocity of Old Master Ren. Following his instincts, he quickly leaped toward the Ren family residence. With each leap, he inhaled and exhaled, emitting a sinister black mist, his eyes lifeless but filled with bloodthirsty light......

The zombie, had escaped.

...