Ye Wuji hovered silently above the fortified district, his eyes narrowing as he surveyed the scene below.
At the center stood a once-majestic building, now weathered by time yet still radiating a faint spiritual pressure. Though eroded and tainted by death, it unmistakably bore the aura of a place steeped in cultivation, likely an ancient sect hall.
"Interesting…" he murmured, voice low. "So, this world had sects too. There might be disciples, elders, patriarchs, and even ancestors, perhaps."
Descending slowly, his flying shuttle vanished into his storage bag. As his feet touched the cracked, grey path, he cautiously looked around him, checking his surroundings.
There were no signs of normal living beings. But plenty of zombie cultivators.
Dozens of dormant zombie cultivators roamed the outskirts of the ruined sect grounds, staggering like puppets on broken strings. Their tattered robes hinted at their former status within the sect: trial disciples, outer disciples, and even a few inner disciples. But none resembled elders or patriarchs, let alone an ancestor.
"Still manageable," Ye Wuji muttered, eyes glinting. "All of them are no stronger than late-stage Qi Refining. Perfect."
He reached into his storage bag and retrieved one of his hard-earned Qi Refining talismans, etched with sinister blood runes. With a flick of his fingers, it dissolved into a crimson mist that swirled around him, forming a glowing spell circle beneath his feet.
"Binding Technique—Blood Net!"
His Qi surged. Dozens of crimson threads shot out from the circle, latching onto nearby zombies. Those struck began to tremble violently.
One by one, the weaker ones collapsed, unable to endure the force of the spell's binding.
But two endured.
Ye Wuji approached with care. From his storage bag, he retrieved a small furnace and injected his Qi into it. The artifact instantly expanded, growing tenfold in size.
The Nine Nethers Corpse-Refining Furnace, an item he had obtained from his sect's trading center.
He tossed both zombies inside and sealed it shut. Then, gritting his teeth, he began pouring his Qi into the furnace. Sweat soon drenched his robes.
After what felt like an eternity, he finally opened the furnace, breath ragged and quickly placed his hands on both zombie heads. With a final burst of Qi, he implanted a control seal into their skulls.
It was a crude method, but at his current level—still in the Qi Refining realm—this was the best he could do. Once he reached Nascent Soul, he'd be able to use far superior imprints, like mind imprints.
Still, it worked for now.
The moment the seals took hold, both zombies dropped to their knees, heads bowed in reverence. Proof that they had been successfully converted into his corpse soldiers.
Ye Wuji nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. Both were at the fifth stage of Qi Refining when they were alive and even after the corpse refining, they still managed to remain at least on the fourth stage."
"Truly not bad," he added happily.
"Guard me," he ordered. "Don't let anything approach me. I need to recover my Qi."
The two corpse soldiers immediately moved into position beside him, vigilant.
Ye Wuji pulled out several blood essence crystals and began to absorb them, his breathing gradually calming as his Qi recovered.
After a while, he opened his eyes and stood up, his Qi fully replenished. He turned his gaze toward the central structure.
The towering sect hall loomed ahead like a tombstone over a graveyard of broken buildings. Its gates stood slightly ajar, and though the ancient characters carved above were partially eroded, he could still make out a few and guess what was written there:
"...Heaven...Blood...Sect."
Ye Wuji raised an eyebrow. "A blood-focused sect? Then this place might be even more valuable than I thought."
He stored the corpse-refining furnace back into his bag and summoned his flying shuttle artifact again. With a quick leap, he boarded it and motioned for his corpse soldiers.
"Clear the path ahead," he commanded. "Kill anything that moves. And I want every blood essence crystal collected."
The two corpse soldiers obeyed immediately, moving forward like hounds unleashed.
Ye Wuji followed calmly, collecting blood essence crystals from the dying zombie cultivators his minions left in their wake. Thanks to the spiritual imprint in the control seals, a portion of the spirit fragments naturally flowed into him, though a small portion was absorbed by the corpse soldiers first.
But he didn't mind.
The stronger his corpse soldiers became, the more reliable they'd be in battle. And the spirit fragments would surely somehow empower them too, so it was a win-win situation.
As they advanced through the ruined sect grounds, slowly closing in on the Heaven Blood Sect's main hall, Ye Wuji continued absorbing crystals with practiced ease.
|>>======|✦|======<<|
Finally, they arrived at the towering gate, still slightly ajar.
But oddly, throughout the entire path here, not a single Foundation Establishment zombie cultivator had appeared.
Ye Wuji frowned, puzzled.
"That's strange," he muttered. "Foundation Establishment cultivators aren't exactly rare… even in my world, let alone in this kind of cultivation paradise one."
He glanced around the devastated landscape.
"Maybe I got lucky and stumbled into some lesser sect that never had many Foundation cultivators… or perhaps this is just some backwater corner of this world."
Still, he wasn't about to let his guard down.
"This hall… even in ruins, it could still be hiding something dangerous like arrays or other defenses."
He raised his hand and pointed at the gate. "You two. Scout ahead. If you see anything strange, do not engage. Just return and report to me."
The corpse soldiers nodded and slipped through the gate into the depths of the Heaven Blood Sect.
|>>======|✦|======<<|
After a few minutes, the corpse soldiers returned.
"No signs of danger," Ye Wuji muttered as the mind report flowed into his consciousness. "At least not in the first chamber."
He frowned slightly. His control range was still limited, just another reminder of his current weakness in the Qi Refining realm.
Still, after a brief pause, he gave a nod.
"Fine. Let's go inside."
With the two corpse soldiers flanking him protectively from two sides, Ye Wuji stepped through the gates of the ancient sect hall.