Tsukimi Mountain, Tomomaru.
During the day, farmers worked diligently in the fields. Now returning home, their houses were filled with laughter and joy, as well as hopes for the future.
This was naturally due to Wu Ming’s policies. He had also ordered the use of money to purchase farming tools for distribution, and even lent sufficient grain to support families until the autumn harvest, charging only a ten percent interest!
With so many beneficial measures implemented, Wu Ming naturally gained immediate respect and affection. Moreover, with his Heaven-Sight ability, he could see the stabilizing fortune—an omen that the people’s hearts had already been won.
Of course, as a cost, money flowed out like water, but Wu Ming did not even frown.
While cleaning up Tomomaru, they discovered the hidden treasury of Shuten-doji, and from it, wealth equivalent to ten thousand kan was retrieved.
With such resources, no matter how extravagantly he spent, there was always enough in reserve!
Even the stored armor, swords, spears, bamboo bows, and other weapons were more than sufficient to equip five hundred warriors!
This was naturally not something the people of Tomomaru could accumulate—it was the wealth of the former demons! Since it had come so easily, Wu Ming used it without any regret.
However, as with any light, shadows inevitably followed.
Behind the flourishing and promising appearance of Tsukimi Mountain and Tomomaru, many secrets lurked in the dark.
Wu Ming held an oil lamp and descended into the dungeon.
The mansion he resided in had originally belonged to Shuten-doji and many other demons. Though grandly built, it exuded an aura of slaughter and horror. Even after purification, it remained a place people dared not approach.
As a great demon, Shuten-doji’s dwelling was naturally not so simple.
Underneath the mansion lay a vast underground prison, where women and children had once been imprisoned. Now, however, it was mostly empty.
Around the edges were scattered chopping boards, blood-stained large knives, hair, clothes, and other remnants, enough to make anyone shudder at the sight.
“Comrades, it’s time for you to make your contribution!”
Deep within, several Tsuchigumo warriors were separately imprisoned.
These individuals bore distinctive features—extremely fierce killing intent, broad shoulders and powerful builds, tall and strong, and due to their prolonged association with demons, their bodies were heavily tainted by demonic energy.
In the dim light, their eyes glowed green like ghosts.
These warriors were naturally the elite of the Tsuchigumo, specially captured and selected by Wu Ming.
If someone like Shota or Kenichi from the lower ranks might have been deceived or coerced, these higher-ups had willingly allied themselves with demons and served them.
“A samurai like a god or ghost… Are you going to make us commit seppuku?”
A leader with green flames burning in his eyes chuckled, his expression a strange mix of madness and calmness: “Even if I become an evil spirit, I will come to eat your flesh… Hehehe…”
“Have you even lost the most basic reason?”
Wu Ming opened the cell door and took a step forward. The leader immediately let out a scream, howling like a wounded beast.
“When did you forget your respect for the strong?”
His wooden sandal stepped on the leader’s face, nearly burying his head into the ground. Wu Ming mercilessly pressed down until the leader fainted, then dragged him out.
Nearby, there was a place that looked like a slaughterhouse. Now it had been transformed into a large purification chamber, with a stone table placed in the center.
On the side tables were numerous bottles and jars, as well as ceramic basins and pestles specially used for crushing and grinding.
On the surfaces of several large ceramic jars were talismans that occasionally emitted flashes of light.
Wu Ming placed the Tsuchigumo leader on the dark red stone table, seemingly soaked in blood, and looked toward the jars, his eyes flickering.
The Tian Gong Ring emitted a glow, and a strange manual appeared in his hand.
The twisted characters on the surface of the manual and the fierce image of a night demon were particularly noticeable.
“The Yin Corpse Refining Method!”
Wu Ming murmured, reading the name of this manual he had once obtained from an old Taoist priest of the Zhou family.
This cultivation technique was a secret transmission of the Corpse Refining Sect, capable of refining corpses with the Qi of the underworld, transforming them into impervious puppets capable of flying and burrowing, invincible in all directions. It was divided into five stages: Bronze Corpse, Iron Corpse, Silver Corpse, Golden Corpse, and Flying Night Demon.
Of course, the manual was incomplete, only detailing up to the Silver Corpse stage, and Wu Ming had not spent merits to complete it.
However, although Wu Ming had obtained this technique long ago, he had always kept it on a shelf. One reason was that he already had the foundational method, the “Huangting Yin Fu Jing,” and thus looked down on this technique. Another reason was that this method violated the natural order and would inevitably invite criticism.
However, in the land of Fusang, even if there were public criticisms, what of it?
Are there not countless samurais and miko who make deals with demons for power, not to mention the onmyoji?
In times of chaos, only power determines strength; everything else is worthless!
As for the backlash from violating the natural order? Perhaps he had some concerns before, but now as a True Man, he could easily withstand it, even purifying any resentment casually.
“These warriors have been tainted by demonic energy, half-human and half-demon, but they are not corpses, so there’s no need to strictly follow the corpse refining method…”
Wu Ming gazed at the test subject on the stone table with a hint of pity.
What he intended to do was use the Yin Corpse Refining Method as a guide, transforming the corpse refining technique into a living body cultivation method, and combine it with the use of demonic energy.
This was naturally no easy task, but with his True Man’s insight, half of the Yin Corpse Refining Method as a reference, and these test subjects contributing, he should be able to work out the basics.
Once this technique was completed, it would naturally be used for his subordinates.
“After all… I must also enhance the strength of my followers! Now there are only two like Shota and Kenichi, which is really not enough…”
A slight smile appeared on Wu Ming’s lips: “It’s difficult to mass-produce warriors, so I’ll focus on elite troops… In the future, how can my subordinates not earn titles like ‘Four Heavenly Kings,’ ‘Six Man Group,’ or ‘Seven Spears’?”
A powerful physical body combined with the use of demonic energy would inevitably create warriors like gods and demons.
Perhaps reaching the level of a swordsman capable of slaying a thousand men might be difficult, but achieving the feats of slaying ten or a hundred men would be effortless. According to the customs of the Fusang continent, they could certainly be given famous titles.
“And besides… if we stack up numbers, hundreds or even thousands forming a legion, even swordsmen or sword sages would have no choice but to turn and flee, right?”
Since reaching the level of a True Man, Wu Ming felt his cultivation progress had come to a sudden halt.
Of course, in reality, he was still making daily progress, but compared to the previous rapid growth fueled by fortune, it was nothing, like a snail crawling, which gave Wu Ming the illusion that his cultivation had stagnated.
“Now that my reserves are used up, if I want to increase my strength, I can only rely on external forces…”
He was actually quite aware that at under twenty years old, reaching the level of a True Man in the Taoist sects was practically a “cheating” existence.
According to Wu Qing, and the rumors he had heard, a cultivator who could achieve the True Man status before fifty was already considered a rare genius with extraordinary talent. So why should he not be satisfied now?
As for reaching the level of a Celestial Master, without external assistance, it would take at least sixty years of hard cultivation!
“For now, besides not stopping daily cultivation, gradually accumulating and solidifying the foundation, I can only quietly develop my domain and use the method of simulation for enhancement…”
Wu Ming approached the large jar and waved his hand, causing the talisman on it to fall off.
A flash of white light, and after losing its seal, thin black mist began to rise from the mouth of the jar, even revealing the illusion of a demon’s skull: “Blood… I want to eat more human blood and flesh!”
“Tsk! A dead demon dares to cause trouble?”
A flash of lightning passed over Wu Ming’s fingers, instantly shattering the black mist. He then reached into the jar and pulled out a piece of dark blue flesh.
The flesh had writhing blue veins and even pulsated like a heart, displaying astonishing vitality.
“After killing Shuten-doji and a bunch of other demons earlier, the collected flesh has proven quite useful…”
He casually cut open the unconscious leader’s chest and placed the flesh on it.
Gurgle!
The flesh quickly absorbed the blood, then writhed and sank into the leader’s chest.
Immediately, a network of dark blue veins spread from the heart across the entire body, making the leader’s face appear even more hideous, like a demon.
“It’s time!”
Wu Ming’s eyes sharpened. He dipped a brush in blood-red cinnabar and drew talismans on the leader’s body.
Sizzle!
As the red brush touched the skin, it emitted a burning sound and even released white smoke.
One by one, black talismans, as if branded, deeply appeared on the leader’s body.
After inscribing a talisman on the forehead representing control and destruction, Wu Ming put down the brush, formed a mystical hand seal, and all the talismans began to glow one after another:
“Yin illuminates the underworld, the Qi of the nine depths, the ghosts and monsters, heed my command, now!”
Boom!
Thin strands of black mist immediately rose, enveloping the leader’s entire body.
Crunch! Crunch!
Horrifying sounds continuously came from the stone table.
The black smoke was as thick as liquid. Wu Ming barely managed to see through this layer, witnessing the strange transformation inside.
Under the influence of the demon’s power and the talismans, the leader’s body underwent another growth spurt. His skin cracked and was continuously repaired.
The chill in the stone chamber grew increasingly intense. After being forged by the Qi of the nine depths, the test subject’s skin first displayed a rich copper color, then turned iron-gray, with streaks of silver in between.
The silver became denser and denser, finally seeming to possess its own life, constantly spreading, as if trying to cover the entire skin.
But Wu Ming’s face showed no sign of joy.
Suddenly, he waved his hand, and an invisible force wrapped around the silver corpse, flew into a black hole, and the stone door automatically fell.
Boom!
A muffled sound came through, and Wu Ming’s face also showed depression: “Failed again…”
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