In an instant, the entire Capital City was in turmoil.
Emperor Jingxing was greatly enraged and immediately ordered the investigation of all rumor-mongers. Anyone caught would have their tongue cut out, paraded through the streets, and beheaded after autumn!
At the same time, he instructed the Clan Office to repair the Imperial Mausoleum immediately and choose an auspicious day for a grand ritual at the Heavenly Sacrifice Platform to ensure the nation's stability.
Meanwhile, in the Baisha River basin, Xu Qing had already shaved off the corpse hair, boarded a light boat, and was heading towards the Jin Sect.
The Imperial Mausoleum was adjacent to the Capital City, and this time the thunder tribulation was so immense that it would inevitably attract many onlookers. So, Xu Qing decisively left Zhaoshi Mountain as soon as the disaster concluded.
Standing at the bow of the boat, Xu Qing's spirit was unprecedentedly high. The sunlight shining on his skin even gave it an amber-like, glossy sheen.
Compared with his previously pale and bloodless face, if he claimed to be a dead man now, no one would believe him.
The category of Wandering Corpse ultimately belongs to the Mortal Corpse level. By now, Xu Qing has spent over a hundred days cultivating in isolation at the Imperial Mausoleum, not only achieving the status of a Golden Armored Corpse but also pre-selecting the evolutionary path of Hidden Corpse.
Zombies are naturally close to the earth, as Iron Armor, Silver Armor, and Golden Armor Zombies do not require a chosen path; they naturally possess the attributes of Earth's heaviness and Metal's severity.
Only Fur Corpse, Black Corpse, and Fire Corpse have to autonomously choose to cultivate in accordance with the mountains and forests, waters and marshes, and flames.
Among all zombies, when change occurs, they become Hidden Corpses.
Xu Qing secluded himself for several months, experiencing changes daily. From the moment he emerged, he was both a Golden Corpse and a Hidden Corpse.
The Three Corpse Transformations, each transformation unlocks a General Knowledge. Xu Qing had initially opened the Eye Recognition; if he were a regular Hidden Corpse, he might already be able to choose a bone and aim for the Undying Bone state.
Undying Bone means refining a part of the bone. This portion of the bone is the source of the zombie's immortality; as long as it exists, even if flesh and blood decay, they can be reborn from a single bone.
When Xu Qing consulted "Corpse Talk," there was a story that said, ten thousand years ago, a cultivator's partner exhausted her lifespan, so he cultivated her into a zombie and nurtured her hand bone into an Undying Bone.
Later, when the secret was revealed, it triggered an outcry from fellow cultivators.
Oddly enough, though the zombie had lost its original memory, it obeyed the cultivator enormously.
The cultivator candidly admitted that he never indulged in using the zombie to harm; she was just like his shadow, following wherever he went, that's all.
But at that time, raising zombies was deemed original sin, no matter how obedient one's zombie was, even if it amassed great merit, like helping an old grandmother across a river—it was still deemed demonic!
And the only fate for demons and villains was execution!
The cultivator knew he couldn't escape the condemnation of the crowd. Before his zombie wife was executed, he preemptively removed a piece of her hand bone.
That piece of bone was the Undying Bone.
The crowd, having killed the anomaly, no longer troubled the cultivator.
Afterwards, the cultivator found a secluded place where he daily simmered a broth of animal and bird bones to soak the wife's hand bone.
Over time, the wife's hand bone gradually grew skin, muscle, and membrane, then an arm, head, and torso.
The story of nurturing his wife into a zombie came to an abrupt halt here in "Corpse Talk," and Xu Qing didn't know the ultimate fate of this couple who transcended the boundary between life and death.
However, the story indirectly illustrated two points: one, the importance of the Undying Bone to zombies; the other, about the preconceptions of the human heart.
Not just humans, even the prejudice in Heaven's mind is a great mountain.
Xu Qing still remembers the divine thunder meant to strike him. Without those merits to fend it off, he would likely just be a wisp of corpse ash floating over Zhaoshi Mountain now.
"Why that cultivator chose to refine his wife's hand bone is unknown, and 'Corpse Talk' gives no explanation; otherwise, I could have taken it for reference."
Xu Qing certainly intended to refine the entire skeleton, but he hadn't decided which bone to start with.
It wasn't until the boat docked and Xu Qing noticed the boatman's hands while he was cooking fish soup that he came to understand.
"Of course, human hands are the most dexterous. Even if a zombie dies, as long as its hand remains, it can walk freely and even hunt to nourish the body. But if it is any other bone, it wouldn't be so convenient."
The Three Corpse Transformations, each one unlocks a General Knowledge. After Xu Qing unlocked the third transformation, his Tongue Recognition, Nose Recognition, and Ear Recognition were fully understood.
Including the Eye Recognition independently unlocked when he first acquired the Yin Pupil, he had become a Hidden Corpse with four General Knowledges unlocked.
Humans have nine senses, yet even in a lifetime, they might not unlock one.
Now that Xu Qing has unlocked four senses, what he hears and sees differs greatly from the past.
The ears are for the ability to hear spiritual sounds, both celestial and mortal; those with rich spirituality can interpret foreign sounds, communicate with birds, beasts, and insects.
Xu Qing, who already knew the languages of birds and beasts, reached a level of rich spirituality without needing any cultivation after opening the Ear Recognition.
The nose is for the ability to discern breath density and changes, remembering every fine detail. No matter in any domain, ghostly or godly, it discerns flavors of prayers and evil alike, smelling the unseen as though directly viewing.
Xu Qing felt that even a dog's nose wasn't as effective as his. If he notes a person's scent now, he can trace it within a thousand miles.
The tongue is for the sense of taste, discerning the flavors of all things, celestial delicacies, or evil poisons, merging as one to identify and know all.
Hidden Corpse is a demarcation of zombies; dietary intake has no taboo, and with the increasing Tongue Recognition, he no longer needed to gnaw on candles daily.
The boatman fetched fresh fish from the fish tank and soon stewed a pot of delicacy.
What was termed delicacy was essentially freshly slaughtered fish meat with some ginger and salt.