Taking advantage of the night, Chu Xuan returned to Black Devil Peak. His first task was to inspect the storage bags of the Nascent Soul cultivators. However, the foundations of these cultivators were far below his expectations—pitifully so. One might have mistaken them for Golden Core cultivators masquerading as Nascent Soul cultivators.
Aside from Jin Zhao, the combined contents of the other five Nascent Soul cultivators' storage bags weren't particularly impressive, merely expanding Chu Xuan's reserves of spirit stones a bit, which would be convenient for setting up future formations.
Their magic treasures and spells did not particularly impress Chu Xuan; some Nascent Soul cultivators were even using Golden Core-level spells, which was not surprising given they were only at the first layer of the Nascent Soul stage.
"Ah, this person's storage bag..."
Chu Xuan examined Jin Zhao's storage bag, and he was genuinely surprised. This person had a substantial reserve of spirit stones, talismans, and medicinal pills. Some talismans and pills clearly did not originate from the Northern Cold.
"There's also a map of the Corpse Yin Sect's grand formation. It seems he indeed had support from a higher power."
Suddenly remembering something, Chu Xuan quickly found Shangguan Hao's storage bag and after a brief comparison, he understood.
"These are talismans and pills from the Majestic Sword Sect; the style is exactly the same."
Chu Xuan stroked his chin, thoughtful. The Majestic Sword Sect would certainly not assist a fourth-tier sect on Mystic Azure Star without reason. It must have been the Reincarnation Divine Church that ordered the Majestic Sword Sect to intervene.
This was quite intriguing. The Feather Transformation Heaven Palace was the overlord of Mystic Azure Star and closer to the Golden Phoenix Sect. Why didn't the Reincarnation Divine Church order them to assist the Golden Phoenix Sect but instead directed the Majestic Sword Sect to help?
Could it be that the Reincarnation Divine Church no longer trusted Feather Transformation Heaven Palace?
"Feather Transformation Heaven Palace's Spirit Feather True Person was once single-handedly suppressed by an Astral Projection ancestor from the Reincarnation Divine Church. Perhaps because of this, Feather Transformation Heaven Palace might harbor resentment towards the Reincarnation Divine Church."
Recalling a past incident, Chu Xuan suddenly saw things more clearly. The Northern Cold, Southern Wilderness, Eastern Border, and Western Land all had sects intervening to enforce unity—likely at the behest of the Reincarnation Divine Church.
He had yet to see any movements from the Heaven Shaking Divine Church. However, Chu Xuan felt that the Heaven Shaking Divine Church would probably directly approach Feather Transformation Heaven Palace.
With this, the situation became clear.
"I disrupted the Northern Cold's unified front. This matter will surely attract the attention of certain individuals. Presumably, someone will soon come knocking, right?"
Chu Xuan chuckled lightly.
The Heaven Shaking Divine Sect would certainly not miss this opportunity.
"This 'Five Ghosts Life-Seizing Method' is quite remarkable; it uses one's lifespan to refine Life Ghosts, which not only enhance the power of spells but also allow the Life Ghosts to plunder others' lifespan to nourish oneself."
He found a jade slip containing the technique in the corner of Jin Zhao's storage bag and nodded in satisfaction.
"It's time to refine a corpse puppet; Jin Zhao practiced body-refining techniques in his lifetime, which are perfect for creating a corpse puppet."
Chu Xuan retrieved Jin Zhao's corpse from the Corpse Preservation Tower.
In his earlier days of modest cultivation, he used living bodies for corpse refinement.
Such practices imbued deep resentments, and the resulting corpse puppets were naturally more formidable.
But now, as a Nascent Soul great cultivator, he no longer needed to use living bodies.
Jin Zhao's corpse was an excellent material for corpse refinement.
"Now, I have quite a few corpse refining techniques at hand, and there's no shortage of Nascent Soul cultivators' corpses. It's the perfect time to choose a unique method and experiment."
Several corpse-refining techniques flashed through Chu Xuan's mind.
He eventually settled on a technique called the Heavenly Yin Gu Corpse Technique. He had obtained this method after slaying Leng Hanshuang and looting her storage bag, likely a trophy from Leng's victories over demonic cultivators.
This technique creatively combined gu worms with corpse puppets. The resulting corpse puppet, also known as a Gu Corpse, was indeed formidable.
However, the demonic predecessor who created this technique had only initiated it in part. Due to limited knowledge of gu worms, he hadn't fully perfected it.
Chu Xuan was undeterred. He was well-versed in both gu worms and corpse puppets and saw this as an opportunity for further trials.
With plenty of Nascent Soul corpses available, even a few failures were acceptable. But a successful creation of a gu corpse was what truly excited him.
"Unwittingly, I find myself as enthused as when I was buried in my studies of esoteric arts at the Infinite Sect."
Chu Xuan chuckled softly, then connected with the Mirror through his thoughts and returned to the Blue Star, burying himself in the study of the Heavenly Yin Gu Corpse Technique.
The disappearance of Nascent Soul cultivators like Jin Zhao, Ling Su, and Luo Hua was finally noticed by the righteous sects. Golden Core cultivators frantically sent messages to their masters.
These messages, however, vanished like stones sinking into the ocean, without any response. Nascent Soul cultivators were like stabilizing pins in the sea. They also represented the pinnacle of combat power.
Once the Nascent Soul cultivators were gone, collapse was only a matter of time.
On the side of the Three Demonic Sects of the Wu Country, Zheng Ji, Guan Tong, and Wan Hun also noticed the anomalies and began to launch probing attacks.
They worried whether the righteous alliance was playing a novel strategy, focusing on a disappearance. Just waiting for them to take the bait.
Chu Xuan paid little heed to the aggressive advances of the Three Demonic Sects. In any case, it was only a matter of time before he could flatten them. He was still focused on refining the gu corpse. The first two gu corpses he attempted to create had failed.
Either the gu worms devoured the corpse puppet, or the compatibility between the gu worms and the corpse puppet was so poor that the powerful physical body of the corpse puppet ended up killing the gu worms.
A perfect fusion of gu worms and corpse puppet had yet to occur.
Chu Xuan sighed softly. The gu worms he possessed now were almost obsolete.
The Blood Bee Queen was still decent. Its offspring—soldier bees, poison bees, fire bees, and hidden bees—were somewhat useful.
As for the Blood Steel Wire, Qi Sea Seed, and Thought Nurturer, their provided enhancements were now minimal. If there was no transformation, they would inevitably be phased out in the future.
"The path of gu worms is not superficial..."
Chu Xuan gave a wry smile. His previous thoughts had indeed been somewhat arrogant.
The 'Heavenly Yin Gu Corpse Technique,' which even a Demonic Cultivator in the Deity Transformation stage had not been able to fully improve, how could he perfect it?
"Enough, I shall use the 'Vajra Corpse Refining Technique' to refine Jin Zhao into a corpse puppet for now."
Chu Xuan followed the previous procedures, quickly preparing the corpse-refining elixir, and then submerged Jin Zhao's corpse in it.
His earlier experiments with the 'Heavenly Yin Gu Corpse Technique' had used the corpses of other Nascent Soul cultivators.
Jin Zhao's body was particularly robust and rare, which was why he had kept it.
Chu Xuan's thoughts shifted, and he extended his spiritual sense into that third world. As expected, he was still inside that dimly lit cave dwelling.
During this period, he had often cast his gaze there, but unfortunately, as years went by day after day, the fated lucky one had never arrived.
"Huh? What's that noise?"
Chu Xuan suddenly heard a rustling sound. He projected his spiritual sense and looked toward the nearby area.
There he startlingly discovered a peculiarly shaped... creature.
This creature was no bigger than a potato, had six slender legs, was covered in a reddish-brown hard shell, yet it also bore gray fur and a slender tail.
It looked remarkably like...
Chu Xuan was astounded. The little thing was quite uniquely formed.
Chu Xuan was actually pleased. His calls had finally been answered.
"Little fellow, come here, there's something tasty for you!"
Chu Xuan extended his spiritual sense, trying his best to produce some sounds.