Cultivation is just so scientific!

After spending some time researching the "Xuanming Corpse Refining Chapter," Li Shiming was no longer an outsider to Corpse Refining.

First, Corpse Refining could be seized. As long as the owner of the corpse refining had fallen and the corpse was still in the corpse bag, it could be annexed for personal use through special methods.

Moreover, the subdued corpse would not experience any decline in strength, but could even continue to enhance its power.

This perfectly matched the characteristics of the Xuanming Sect, which emphasized seizing resources for personal use. Corpse Refining was essentially creating resources from resources, which could also be seized.

However, under the same level of cultivation, a cultivator who possessed a refined corpse could easily defeat other cultivators. Attempting to seize it was not easy.

Not to mention, it also required that during the killing of the cultivator, the refined corpse was in the corpse bag.

Most of the time, before their demise, Xuanming Sect cultivators would either cause their refined corpses to self-destruct or go completely berserk, losing the possibility of being refined again.

Li Shiming was fortunate enough to obtain the corpse bag, due to his good fortune and the misfortune of that Xuanming Sect cultivator in Central Capital.

That Xuanming Sect cultivator had snatched a single spirit root seed in Xuanming Sect territory and then turned it into a refined corpse.

Afterwards, discovered by the Xuanming Sect, to enforce strict discipline, and more importantly, because this Xuanming Sect cultivator did not have strong backers to protect him, he was wanted by the Xuanming Sect.

The Xuanming Sect cultivator escaped, secretly killing people along the way and harvesting blood to nurture his refined corpse.

Until he arrived under the jurisdiction of the Sky Sea Sect, where he shockingly found that the secular cities concentrated a large number of Qi Refining Loose Cultivators.

This was like hitting a jackpot; those Qi Refining Loose Cultivators in the city had no defensive arrays and weak powers, making them the best resources for refining corpses for a Xuanming Sect cultivator.

Even in Central Capital during this period, his demands on commoners increased significantly; only those born at inauspicious times were worthy of blood extraction by the refined corpses.

Loose Cultivators being drained by refined corpses was partly Li Shiming's fault.

Had not Li Shiming exterminated the Hao Family, many Loose Cultivators would not have gathered in Central Capital, and there would have been no attacks on Loose Cultivators by Xuanming Sect cultivators.

If Xuanming Sect cultivators had not attacked Loose Cultivators in Central Capital, then Gu Jia, a stationed cultivator of Sky Sea Sect, would not have concerned himself with the well-being of Loose Cultivators.

Everything seemed fated, combined with the extermination of the Hao Family outside the city, which made Gu Jia suspect the existence of a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, leading to the encounter with the Sky Sea Sect cultivators. He then reported to the sect, which finally led Junior Master Cui to arrive.

When the Xuanming Sect cultivator faced Junior Master Cui's flying sword, under that terrifying suppressive power of the Foundation Establishment Stage, the Xuanming Sect cultivator had no opportunity and did not even think of summoning his refined corpse.

An Iron Corpse facing a Foundation Establishment Cultivator was merely a matter of a streak of sword light.

When Junior Master Cui's sword light shattered the escaping body of the Xuanming Sect cultivator, the corpse bag also fell along with the shattered body, later picked up by Li Shiming at a bargain.

Li Shiming memorized the pattern for subduing the refined corpse repeatedly, facing the temptation of an Iron Corpse, how could he resist.

Based on the situation in Central Capital, this Iron Corpse had at least the upper strength of the Qi Refining Middle Stage.

He was currently only at the third Level of Qi Refining and had no idea how long it would take to advance to the fourth Level of Qi Refining, let alone enhance his strength to the Qi Refining Middle Stage.

It could be said that seizing the Iron Corpse would greatly boost his combat power at once.

If he had not encountered the attack by the Xuanming Sect, he might still have hesitated about this choice, as after all, it was the Corpse Refining Skill of the Xuanming Sect.

But having experienced the sensation of being on the verge of death, he knew that his own strength was most crucial. He did not want to rely on luck for his fate ever again.

He took out the corpse bag and, taking Fiery Flame Sword in hand, made a cut on the tip of his finger, then summoned a drop of blood with the Spiritual Power within his body.

A drop of essence blood left his body, causing spiritual energy fluctuations all around.

Li Shiming felt extremely weak. He had extracted the essence blood using the method depicted in the "Mystic Refining Self Chapter," but he had not anticipated such severe consequences.

Had he not practiced the "Five Elements Qi Absorption Technique" on the Flying Boat for several days after his recent advancement to the Qi Refining Third Level, this extraction might have caused his level to fall back to the Qi Refining Second Level.

"I should have known that the cultivation techniques of the Xuanming Sect always have their quirks!" he muttered helplessly.

At this point, he had no way back.

Under his control, the drop of essence blood connected to his spirit transformed into a complex pattern.
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He sent the pattern into the corpse bag, controlling the essence blood pattern to fly towards the copper corpse's forehead.

The moment the essence blood pattern touched the copper corpse's forehead, the corpse's eyes suddenly opened within the corpse bag, showing a crazed struggle.

If the copper corpse had not been restrained in the corpse bag, its madness wouldn't have been confined to just its eyes.

Li Shiming's brain buzzed; his vision blurred, and he saw countless bloody figures. These figures included men and women, old and young, all floating a few inches off the ground and drifting toward him.

They were accompanied by a heart-shuddering shriek, a mournful howl, and a bizarre whisper.

Already significantly weakened by the extraction of a drop of essence blood, Li Shiming involuntarily collapsed to the ground.

"Detecting 8 Hz low-frequency sound wave,

detecting 219 dB lethal sound wave,

detecting 0.5 Hz low-frequency sound wave…" The IBMz15 in his vision frantically refreshed with warning messages.

His senses were connected to the IBMz15, and he had created an alert program to warn him of dangers.

"Play the 'Great Compassion Mantra'!" he commanded with the last bit of clarity.

The sound of the "Great Compassion Mantra" resonated, occupying all his senses, immersing his body and mind in the baptism of the Buddhist Scripture.

The terrifying influence transmitted from the copper corpse through the essence blood pattern could no longer affect him.

"I knew it, I knew it!" Li Shiming said regretfully after he regained his composure.

During the process of extracting essence blood, he had suspected that the cultivation techniques from the Xuanming Sect would have a significant impact on him.

Yet he had been greedy. Owning a copper corpse even in the early Qi Refinement stage, regardless if it had the combat power of the Qi Refinement Middle Stage or the late-stage Qi Refining Stage, along with a pile of materials for Corpse Refining available, he could enhance the cultivation of his corpse to the peak of copper corpse strength.

More importantly, with the nurturing method of the "Xuanming Corpse Refining Chapter," he only needed to find three more materials to possibly elevate the copper corpse to an iron corpse.

What was an iron corpse? That was a combatant of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Recall how Jiang Bing from the Xuanming Sect could fight against two opponents without falling at a disadvantage during his Foundation Establishment Stage, and how he managed to escape even when Junior Master Cui joined the fray, all thanks to the aid of an iron corpse.

Greed cost him his usual caution and led him to become somewhat lost.

"But it was worth it!" Li Shiming sensed the response from the copper corpse, fell on the ground in the shape of a large "X," and burst into laughter.

The copper corpse was successfully subdued by him and became his refined corpse.