115: Chapter 115 The Corpse at the Array's Core

Ye Jing's mind cleared instantly; no wonder the Corpse Person had reacted so violently when he destroyed the first two Formation cores.

It turned out that the Foundation of the entire Blood Soul Vein-Extinguishing Array was tied to him; as long as this Foundation Establishment Corpse Person was dealt with, this Formation that had plagued this place for so long would completely collapse.

However, Ye Jing was only a Qi Refining Sixth Layer Cultivator at this time, while this Corpse Person possessed a full Foundation Establishment cultivation. Facing its pressure, Ye Jing found it difficult to even move, let alone kill it!

Moreover, he had no experience dealing with Corpse People; acting rashly would be no different from seeking his own death.

The Corpse Person seemed to have sensed Ye Jing's aura. In desperate need of Blood Qi, its struggles grew increasingly violent, and a crimson light flashed within its hollow eye sockets, as if it couldn't wait to swallow Ye Jing alive.

Ye Jing did not strike recklessly; instead, he carefully observed the spreading blood patterns beneath it.

Two of the blood patterns beneath it had broken, corresponding to the two Formation cores Ye Jing had destroyed. Ye Jing naturally noticed that several of the chains binding the Corpse Person had also snapped, allowing it to struggle continuously while standing on both feet.

From this, it was evident that if the remaining two Formation cores were destroyed, the Corpse Person would lose its restraints and escape.

Ye Jing hesitated. He knew clearly that this was a risky move; if he destroyed the other Formation cores, he would have to face this Corpse Person directly.

Even a heavily injured Corpse Person was absolutely no match for Ye Jing.

Thinking of this, although Ye Jing felt unwilling, he decided to retreat first. He was no fool and would not fight a battle for which he was unprepared.

With that thought, Ye Jing quickly rushed out of the stone building and left the valley.

Along the way, he thought about how the people from the Xuanyou Sect were so persistent about this Spiritual Vein; this Corpse Person had to be dealt with immediately.

But he couldn't do it alone; would his two grandsons have to deal with this Corpse Person as well?

Ye Jing began to hesitate at the thought.

He recalled the words the black-robed Cultivator said before dying: "Just you wait! Though I die here, my Lord Xuanming will soon arrive. When that time comes, this place will be bathed in a river of blood!"

Time waits for no one!

By the time Ye Jing reached home,

He saw Ye Tianhao holding a sword, practicing the Chaotic Flower Sword Technique. Although this sword technique was merely a martial art, when combined with spiritual power, every move and stance truly carried the air of a Cultivator.

The younger ones—Ye Tianyao, Ye Tianxue, and Liu Xianglan's twin infants, Ye Tianchi and Ye Tianfeng—were playing under the corridor.

Seeing Ye Jing return, he immediately stopped his sword technique: "Grandfather."

Ye Jing nodded. Ye Tianhao was currently the person with the highest cultivation in their family, but lacking a suitable Cultivation Technique to match him made Ye Jing feel somewhat helpless.

"How is your practice coming along?" Ye Jing asked.

Ye Tianhao replied, "Grandfather, I am about to break through to the Qi Refining Eighth Layer."

"So fast?!" Ye Jing was startled. Looking at the calm expression on Ye Tianhao's face, he couldn't help but marvel at his extraordinary talent.

Such cultivation would be an existence that absolutely could not be underestimated even in the Qingyun Sect!

Ye Jing nodded with satisfaction and chatted with Ye Tianhao about cultivation matters. During their talk, Ye Tianhao mentioned that the effect of the spiritual power supplied by the jade at home was becoming smaller and smaller.

Everyone in the family was now relying on Spirit Stones to Cultivate, and the Spirit Stone reserves were becoming critically low.

Therefore, Ye Jing knew their family had to secure the Spiritual Vein; relying solely on jade among Mortals was no longer enough.

He thought about how Liu Xianglan had been studying Corpse People and the alchemy scripture recently, so he said to the five- or six-year-old Ye Tianxue who was playing nearby: "Xue'er, where is your mother?"

Ye Tianxue replied crisply, "Grandfather! Mother is in the backyard performing Alchemy!"

"Oh?" Ye Jing was pleasantly surprised. He had bought the alchemy scripture for Liu Xianglan earlier; was she already attempting Alchemy?

The backyard, bordering the mountain forest, had abundant spiritual energy and was quite secluded.

At this moment, Liu Xianglan was sitting cross-legged in front of a glowing red Cauldron. This Pill Furnace used spirit fire transformed from spiritual power, which gathered within the Cauldron.

Several simple Spirit-Inducing Runes were carved around the Cauldron; these allowed the medicinal ingredients inside to gather spirit fire during the refinement process and lock in the medicinal potency.

On the stone table in front of Liu Xianglan, the alchemy scripture was spread open. The pages were densely packed with her notes, and some places even had crooked drawings of herb diagrams.

She was focused, with fine beads of sweat already seeping from her forehead, her eyes staring intently at the Pill Furnace with solemnity.

The Hand seals she performed were extremely unrefined and clumsy; for every adjustment, she had to glance down at the records in the alchemy scripture, and the heat control of the spirit fire was even harder to master.

Just as she accidentally injected too much spiritual power, a puff of black smoke billowed from the mouth of the furnace, startling her into a frantic reduction of spiritual power.

But it was a step too late; the black smoke from the Pill Furnace was thick and pungent, and the medicinal ingredients inside were completely ruined.

Liu Xianglan sighed in defeat, extinguished the spirit fire in the furnace, and looked exhausted.

"What medicine are you refining?" asked Ye Jing, who had been waiting patiently for her to finish.

This gave Liu Xianglan a start. She turned and saw it was Ye Jing, then hurriedly stood up: "Father? You're back?!"

She was surprised that Ye Jing had been standing silently behind her for so long, and then, thinking of the embarrassment of her failed Alchemy, her face flushed red.

"Father, I'm still unskilled at refining medicine; I didn't manage to produce anything."

Ye Jing smiled and said, "It's fine. Practice makes perfect; just keep at it."

He stepped forward and saw the charred remains inside the Pill Furnace, along with many piles of ash nearby, showing that Liu Xianglan had failed many times.

Liu Xianglan wasn't actually refining pills yet; she was practicing the most basic part of Alchemy: Herb refinement to extract and concentrate their essence.

Since a single pill required the refinement and Fusion of several herbs, each requiring a different level of heat, a moment's inattention would ruin the entire batch.

Thus, Alchemy was extremely difficult.

Liu Xianglan nodded and then asked Ye Jing, "Father, do you have something for me?"

Ye Jing knew that although his second daughter-in-law appeared delicate, she possessed an exquisite mind, so he didn't hide anything and told her all about the Foundation Establishment Stage Corpse Person in the valley.

This startled Liu Xianglan: "Father, you mean there's a Corpse Person with strength close to the Foundation Establishment Stage in that valley?!"

Ye Jing nodded, his face serious. "Xianglan, I came to ask how your control over the two Corpse People I brought you earlier is going."

Hearing this, Liu Xianglan summoned her Lifebound Treasure—the soul-inducing lamp. The lantern, glowing with a purple light, emitted a faint chill in her hand.

She waved the soul-inducing lamp with her slender hand. Sensing its master's spiritual power, the lamp burst with a cold light, and two withered Corpse People staggered over from the backyard.

Their faces were covered in purple patterns, their expressions vacant, and their steps incredibly slow.

Liu Xianglan was currently only at the Qi Refining Level 3, and her control over the two Corpse People was still unrefined.

Those Corpse People could only move slowly and were quite weak.

With a slight movement of her spiritual power, the purple light on the soul-inducing lamp brightened. The Corpse People stopped, turned stiffly, and bowed slightly to Ye Jing.

They were as sluggish as rusted puppets.

Once she withdrew her spiritual power, the Corpse People stood rigidly in place, motionless. She spoke with some embarrassment, "Father, as you can see, with my current cultivation, I can only manage this much."

This was what Liu Xianglan had learned from 'Corpse Puppet Refining.' Corpse People had no souls or consciousness; spiritual power could be injected to forcibly control the corpse, which would then execute simple commands from the master.

Ye Jing gazed at the two rigid Corpse People, thinking of the one in the valley that might have reached the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Ye Jing suddenly had an idea.

"Xianglan, if I find a way to capture that Foundation Establishment Corpse Person, would you be able to control it?"

As soon as he said this, Liu Xianglan's breathing became erratic.

"Father! You aren't joking, are you?!"