CHAPTER 226: THE CORPSE IS ACTUALLY ME

"Patriarch, Tianlu has arrived!"

Seeing that Chen Tianlu had come alone, Chen Xingzhen asked puzzledly

"What about the Liu family martial artist we captured?"

Chen Tianlu replied with some embarrassment:

"Patriarch, he accidentally died."

Chen Xingzhen froze for a moment, then asked

"How did he die?"

"After interrogating him that day, I locked him in a newly dug tunnel, planning to starve him for a few days. But when I went to deliver food today, I found that he had killed himself by smashing his head against the wall. I haven't had time to report it yet."

"... "

"Forget it then."

Chen Xingzhen didn’t say much more. After all, they had already killed plenty of Liu family members—one more wouldn't make a difference.

It's a pity they didn't manage to extract any more information about the Liu family.

For a martial artist to smash his head against a wall and die... Their skulls are much tougher than those of ordinary people. What kind of torment must he have endured to resort to that? This thought prompted Chen Xingzhen to investigate further.

Chen Tianlu, looking somewhat aggrieved, quickly explained

"I truly only kept him locked up for a few days, Patriarch. I didn’t lay a hand on him—you have to believe me!

It's just that the tunnel might've been a bit small and dark. There was no light at all. Maybe he was afraid.”

Hearing this, Ji Yang, who had just arrived, froze for a moment.

Locked in a pitch-black, cramped tunnel? That’s torture!

But Ji Yang didn’t dwell on that. His consciousness swiftly detached and drifted toward the tunnel Chen Tianlu had mentioned.

Earlier, he hadn’t ignored the intruder who came to spy on the clan. He had simply been focused on performing rites for a wandering soul and hadn’t paid attention to the intruder.

However, the soul was too fragmented, which made it impossible for Ji Yang to complete the ritual. He needed a new, intact soul.

Now, with the dead Liu family martial artist, he had the perfect subject for his experiment.

Soon, Ji Yang arrived at the tunnel he had mentioned earlier, only to find that the soul wasn’t there. He spread his consciousness outward and soon discovered a fresh and complete soul behind the clansman dragging the corpse.  ɽã𐌽Ổ₿ËṨ

At that moment, the soul's gaze was vacant, yet it clung to its body, unwilling to let go, as if it were deeply attached.

Ji Yang’s will stirred. He drew the soul closer and immediately began channeling his divine ability. Transcendence.

The next instant, countless wisps of white vapor rose within Ji Yang’s consciousness. They were imperceptible to the naked eye. This was not Yin qi, but Soul qi.

The Soul qi surged into the spirit's body before him.

With every strand absorbed, the soul’s eyes grew brighter.

After absorbing a certain amount of Soul qi, Liu Yingxian’s gaze regained its clarity and became vivid and alive once more.

His eyes darted left and right, scanning his surroundings. When he saw where he was, his face lit up with excitement and he shouted aloud,

“Wonderful! I’ve escaped! I’ve escaped!”

Realizing he had shouted too loudly, Liu Yingxian quickly clamped a hand over his mouth. His expression turned wary as he glanced around.

When he confirmed that no one had noticed him, Liu Yingxian finally let out a sigh of relief.

But soon, a trace of doubt flickered in his eyes. Why couldn’t he remember who had rescued him? Where were his clansmen?

He seemed completely unaware that he was already dead. Instead, he carefully followed the clan's familiar paths, inching toward the outer perimeter.

Along the way, he kept a sharp eye on the sentry posts.

Soon, he spotted two men carrying a corpse ahead.

Seeing this, he became extremely cautious. Then, he shifted his gaze slightly and began tailing the two men, hoping to find a way out of the clan grounds.

He was "lucky"—no one had noticed him, and he had soon reached the outskirts of the clan grounds.

Once outside, he still didn’t see any of his clansmen. The fact that he had escaped on his own filled him with wild joy.

Yet, when he turned his head and saw the corpse that the two men were carrying, his expression froze.

Why does that body look so familiar?

Driven by the need to resolve his growing doubt, Liu Yingxian continued to follow the two men.

The more he looked at the corpse, the more familiar it seemed. His heart couldn't help but speculate:

Could this be one of my clansmen who came to rescue me, only to be captured by the Chen family?

That thought compelled him to follow. If the corpse belonged to one of his clansmen, he had to bring it back to the family, no matter what.

When the two men ahead of him finally set the body down to bury it, Liu Yingxian caught sight of the corpse’s face.

The moment he saw it, he froze completely. A torrent of memories struck his mind—

Scenes of his birth, cradled in the arms of clansmen...

Scenes of his rise as a martial artist, basking in glory.

Scenes of his clan’s downfall and of fleeing in utter misery.

Then, the final image appeared.

He saw another version of himself.

It was him—the one who couldn’t bear the overwhelming loneliness and darkness of the tunnel. He had gone mad, smashing his head against the stone walls.

That crazed expression, that uncontrollable despair...

In the end, this corpse was his own.

He remembered now. He was already dead.

But then...what is happening to me now?

Liu Yingxian’s soul drifted forward, trying to grasp his body, but it was futile.

As if he had finally comprehended the truth of his death, he ceased struggling. Strands of white light radiated from his form, and within that glow, his soul began to dissolve.

When the last wisp of his spirit faded, two streams of pure, pristine gray-white energy remained in the air, different in hue.

Once the two streams of energy appeared, they quickly merged into Ji Yang’s consciousness.

At that moment, he felt different.

The gray energy was pure Yin qi, which was of little use to him but an immense boon for the clan’s fallen members.

The white energy, on the other hand, was pure Soul essence. When he absorbed it, Ji Yang sensed a faint improvement in his consciousness.

The enhancement was minuscule yet undeniable.

So this is the effect of Soul qi—it can strengthen spiritual awareness. Until now, I thought only the totem could do that.

Moreover, Ji Yang realized that the qi he used for Transcendence seemed to come from his own Soul qi. Yet, what he expended was replenished twofold.

When a soul received enough of this energy, it could experience a brief resurgence and regain memories from its life.

This held little practical value for the clan’s deceased members, but it meant that Ji Yang could extract vital information from these souls, which was a remarkable advantage.

However, if a soul was too fragmented, Transcendence could not restore it.

…

“Patriarch, I’ve returned!”

“Ziming, what’s the situation?”

In a low voice, Liu Ziqi asked

"Patriarch, it seems the Chen family is rebuilding their compound. When I went over, they had already finished building the outer wall. I was about to climb over and take a look inside when I sensed one of their Innate Realm martial artists nearby.”

Liu Ziqi's brows furrowed slightly.

“You didn’t use the bamboo leaf Lord Qingshan left behind?”

"That's exactly why I wasn't discovered! If I hadn't used it, they would've found me for sure!"