Chương 20: Ren Qingquan The (Fake) Necromancer

After I reprimanded Ren Qingquan, the carriage silently returned to the Ren family residence. On the way, Ren Qingquan had been busy planning his next move. By the time the carriage arrived, Ren Qingquan had decided to venture into the peripheral, or even the inner area of the Endless Mountain to kill stronger beasts. That's why not long after he left the carriage, Ren Qingquan motioned to Xiao Cai, "I have thought about it and felt it's time I stop visiting the market.

I am planning to focus on doing martial arts for the next few months." Xiao Cai nodded, "Then, I'll tell the master about it." Xiao Cai accompanied Ren Qingquan to his courtyard before preparing to leave. But Ren Qingquan immediately stopped her.

"Over the past few months, I can feel my strength has increased, and I plan to go to the Endless Mountain's peripheral area to test it." I saw Xiao Cai glare at Ren Qingquan when she heard he wanted to visit the Endless Mountain. While Xiao Cai glared at Ren Qingquan, I think there is some weird energy probing around Ren Qingquan's body. Soon, Xiao Cai's expression eased, and she nodded.

"I'll report it to the master. Young master, when are you planning to enter the Endless Mountain?"

"I am not sure yet, but I'll notify you when I plan to enter the Endless Mountain." After hearing Ren Qingquan's replies, Xiao Cai nodded and left. Ren Qingquan went to his courtyard to take a quick bath before lying in his bed.

'Now then, which technique should I practice?' I saw him open the System Library and start looking through the techniques. At last, he stopped at the books on corpse refining and read them. The more he read, the more his eyes gleamed with excitement. I've read the corpse refining books, and I must say Ren Qingquan has bullshit luck. At first, I ridiculed his wish to become a necromancer in a cultivation world. But for now, it's the best choice for his plan to gather souls by hunting beasts.

First, unlike casting techniques, which cost spirit qi every time they're cast, corpse refining only requires a one-time spirit qi cost, which is when the user refines the corpse and brings it under their control. After refining the corpse, the user must charge the corpse with spirit qi or another energy, depending on the type of corpse they want to refine, before it can be used. Here's the neat part.

Among the corpse refining techniques that are stored in the system library, there's a method to refine a corpse called Lunar Yin Corpse and Ferocious Blood Corpse. When successfully refined, the Lunar Yin Corpse can absorb the energy of moonlight or use spirit qi as its propelling force. It can also absorb spirit qi and moonlight simultaneously to become even stronger. Meanwhile, the Ferocious Blood Corpse can absorb blood or use spirit qi as its propelling force.

Just like the Lunar Yin Corpse, it can use spirit qi and blood at the same time to become even stronger. Both of them are basically a moonlight-powered zombie or a fucking vampire! Except for the spirit qi used to refine them, they can be used as long as Ren Qingquan dries them under the moon or collects some animal blood as fuels. It seems Ren Qingquan has also read the part introducing the Lunar Yin Corpse and Ferocious Blood Corpse, as I can hear him laughing madly in his monologue.

Then I saw him seriously studying the two corpse-refining methods.

Since Ren Qingquan is busy studying corpse refining, I paid some attention to the area around Ren Shiluo. I am kind of curious what Xiao Cai is going to report to Ren Shiluo. Currently, Ren Shiluo is in his study as usual. A lit candle brightens his surroundings as he finishes some paperwork. Occasionally, he sips tea from the cup set nearby before returning to his work. It doesn't take long before the [Scan] I left on Ren Shiluo detects the sound of the door opening, followed by Xiao Cai's voice.

"Greetings, I am here to report the young master's progress."

"I guess I'll take a little breather," Ren Shiluo says, nodding and stopping his scribbling. Xiao Cai immediately started his report, "Young master said he plans to focus on training and wishes to stop visiting the fish market." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

"Well, it's indeed about time for him to get bored. It's also a good thing that he's starting to focus on his training. After all, the situation in the empire seems to be growing tumultuous. I've been hearing about suspicious movements among some families lately. Although I'll always keep some guards to protect him, a mishap might still happen, and raising his own strength is still the best." Ren Shiluo answered Xiao Cai's report with endless yapping before getting to the point.

"I'll handle his resignation. Just tell him to focus on his training." Xiao Cai nodded, "Young master also said he wanted to train in the peripheral area of the Endless Mountain soon."

"What?! Didn't he know that the Endless Mountain isn't a place to play around? Even in the peripheral areas, ferocious beasts at grandmaster level can be found. Even if I add some guards around him, there's still a chance he'll meet an extremely strong beast pack and get injured!" Ren Shiluo shook his head before sipping his tea. After tapping his finger on the wooden table for a few seconds, Ren Shiluo sighed, "I'll let him go, but I want you to accompany him along with a few guards." Xiao Cai nodded.

Then, she added another report, "Actually, I think it's safe for the young master to wander in the peripheral area. I've checked his strength with my divine sense technique and found he has actually reached the Qi Refining realm."

"Pffffttt." Ren Shiluo spat a mouthful of tea and looked incredulously at Xiao Cai.

"Qi Refining? How long has it been since we found him start cultivating?" Ren Shiluo and Xiao Cai continued to talk. But I have stopped focusing on them. Instead, I have something else in mind. Just now, Xiao Cai mentioned divine sense. I've read some books and know that divine sense is a cultivator's newly awakened sense that appears once they reach the Qi Refining realm. From what I read in the book, the way it works should be pretty similar to my [Scan].

That's why I initially didn't think the divine sense technique is all that useful. Especially since I already got [Scan]. But Xiao Cai mentioned observing Ren Qingquan's realm with a divine sense technique, which made me think of something. If Ren Qingquan indeed wishes to use the corpse refining technique as his main way to harvest souls. The Corpse Refining book said he would need a strong divine sense to control the corpses.

From the corpse refining book I've copied, there are three most common methods for controlling a refined corpse. The first method, and also the crudest, is to use the scent of certain items to make the corpse attack or not attack a target. By adding an extra step in the corpse-refining process, one can instill certain instincts in the corpse. As for the weakness, there is a higher chance the corpse will go out of control, and the cultivator also can't command the corpse in detail.

But the most critical weakness is that once the special smell has been leaked, it can be used by others to control the refined corpse as well. The second method is to separate a portion of the divine sense from the cultivator and transfer it into the corpse. The divine sense will suppress the corpse's instinct and make it move according to the command embedded in that divine sense, much like adding a computer program to a robot. Like the first approach, this method also has weaknesses.

Because the divine sense imbued in the corpse will dissipate over time, the user needs to recharge the divine sense in the corpse periodically, or the corpse will be free and the user might be backlashed. Furthermore, like a robot, the corpse will only follow a fixed command and lack flexibility. There is also a limit to how complicated the command can be. The third method is to use divine sense to control them directly. It lets the user control every refined corpse within the range of their divine sense.

It also allows extremely flexible control, provided the cultivator has sufficient multitasking ability. This method also has a glaring weakness, namely, the range of the divine sense and the user's multitasking skills. I am not too sure about the higher realms, but in the Qi Refining realm, the range of a cultivator's divine sense is only about 10 meters around them. Among the three methods for controlling a refined corpse, two require divine sense.

That's why, if Ren Qingquan indeed wishes to use corpse refining as his main skill, I would need to check whether a technique capable of strengthening divine sense is among the books I've copied. I immediately got to work and looked through the books on divine sense. Midway through the search, I paused as a brilliant idea struck me. Based on its description, divine sense should be similar to my [Scan]. Could Ren Qingquan use my [Scan] as his divine sense?

That way, the range at which he can control a corpse would depend on [Scan]'s range rather than his 10-meter divine sense. If this works, it'll be a good way to force Ren Qingquan to spend points and upgrade my [Scan]'s range! Mwahahahaha! I am indeed a genius! ＼⁠(⁠°⁠o⁠°⁠)⁠／ While I am busy praising my own genius idea, I heard Ren Qingquan calling me.

'System, I want to learn this corpse-refining technique,' Ren Qingquan said, pointing at the system screen displaying the technique. I considered the price and decided on 100 points to help Ren Qingquan learn all the corpse-refining methods in the Qi Refining realm I have scanned. For context, corpse-refining techniques are divided into levels, just like cultivation levels. Higher-level techniques allow the user to refine stronger corpses and grant corpses better special abilities.

Of course, the final level of the refined corpse also depends on the materials and technique used. As I recalled the corpse-refining technique, I heard Ren Qingquan's urging voice. It seems I have been thinking for too long and leaving Ren Qingquan alone. So, I immediately sent him a new screen. [Do you wish to spend 100 points to learn the corpse refining technique (qi refining level)?]'Yes!' [Please read the qi refining section of the corpse refining technique.] Ren Qingquan read the book while I used [Calculate] to guide him in understanding the technique. Soon, he successfully learned the technique.

'Now then, should I start with refining the corpse of a small animal?' With his newfound knowledge, I could feel Ren Qingquan's impatience as he immediately looked around the room for his first target. After failing to find a target in his room, Ren Qingquan opened the map to widen his search range. Soon, I saw him looking at a dot before leaving his house and staring at a certain part of his courtyard. There, a squeaking noise could be heard.