After the Undying Bone comes the Flying Corpse, also known as the Flying Yaksha and the Black Evil.
Xu Qing had set himself a twelve-year deadline. Before the emergence of the Sky Fox in the White Cloud Cave, he aimed to refine at least one of the last three main bones in his body into one.
As long as one main bone could connect with the other two hundred and three bones, he could attempt to use a thousand years of cultivation as a foundation to take the crucial step toward becoming a Flying Corpse.
Now six years have passed, and he has obtained the opportunity to refine the second main bone. This is undoubtedly an extremely encouraging event for Xu Qing.
"Thank you, old neighbor, thank you Yin Erosion Dharma King, thank you for the gift of the Yin River."
Xu Qing remained committed to his original aspiration, deciding to work harder in corpse collection, striving to expand and strengthen the Yin River's worldly corpse collection business, aiming for progress in both areas!
In the tomb chamber, Xu Qing looked at the skeleton of the Yin Erosion Dharma King. The bones before him, each joint seemed to be crafted by divine craftsmanship, practically perfect in texture.
Perhaps it was due to the Yin Erosion Dharma King nurturing his physique with witchcraft and divine water since childhood, or perhaps due to the reason of the King and Pu Nian sharing a body, that the skeleton before him was evidently more visually striking than that of the Multiple Calamities Ghost King.
Additionally, with the omnipresent shamanic runes on the bones, the entire skeleton was filled with a wild aura that was unique to the Wilderness.
If the Multiple Calamities Ghost King was dignified and graceful, embodying the grandeur of a great house in its every move, then the Yin Erosion Dharma King was wild and bold, laden with exotic allure from a foreign land.
Xu Qing found it hard to say which skeleton he preferred, only that they were like the orchid and the chrysanthemum, each possessing its own fragrance.
"The Yellow Court Skull sits in the Jade Capital, where the Mud Ball Palace is located. Once refined, it ensures wisdom remains unswayed, never influenced by resentful evil Qi..."
Xu Qing currently only had the Yellow Court Skull and the North Sea Sacrum yet to be refined. The Yellow Court governed wisdom, the North Sea governed harmony.
According to Xu Qing's original plan, he would definitely refine the skull first. As long as his head remained, no matter how severe his injuries, he could rely on the remaining head to wander around, slowly rebuilding his body.
But when Xu Qing recalled the pitiable intelligence of the Pangzan Dharma King, he ultimately decided to refine the sacrum first.
The North Sea Sacrum is considered an immortal bone by practitioners and is the most difficult part to refine in the cultivation of the Undying Bone.
The North Sea Immortal Bone conceals the mysterious Female Enclosure. Xu Qing, if wanting to pass through the Celestial Fire tribulation, must harmonize Yin and Yang, using the Female Enclosure to refine true essence.
Extreme Yin gives birth to Yang, extreme Yang gives birth to Yin.
Residing in the cavern with the richest Yin evil energy, Xu Qing embraced Yin and nurtured Yang, attempting to concentrate the Yin Qi within to its utmost, to generate a trace of true essence for transforming the immortal bone.
Meanwhile, outside the tomb chamber.
The well-fed and warm Golden Simurgh took a nap for the first time and had a good sleep. When it opened its eyes, half a month had passed.
Stretching its claws and wings, the Golden Simurgh was about to follow its natural instinct to crow at dawn but suddenly remembered the two-legged creature meditating in the tomb chamber.
Clicking its beak, the Golden Simurgh decided to act as the Guardian General, striding back and forth with its head held high outside the chamber door.
After around three to five days, the bored Golden Simurgh decided to go for a walk. Xu Qing had stated clearly that beneath this bone temple, except for the northern passage, the rest of the area was open for its activity.
Reaching the intersection of the passage, the Golden Simurgh looked at the two unknown branches before it, intending to lift its claw and proceed but suddenly showed a puzzled expression.
In terms of this subterranean Yin River, which direction was north again?
After hesitating for a moment, the Golden Simurgh had a flash of inspiration, immediately turning back to the mouth of the chamber, pecking a mouthful of grain from the rice bag, and returning to the intersection.
Spitting out a handful of grains in the middle of the path, the Golden Simurgh pecked a grain and placed it at the left passage for a while, then pecked another grain for the right passage. When the last grain pointed to the right, the Golden Simurgh revealed a confident expression.
It had seen Xu Qing tossing shoes to ask for directions, so now it applied the knowledge and also learned this divination technique, "pecking grain to seek the path!"
The Golden Simurgh, whose intelligence was not much higher than the Pangzan Dharma King, strutted forward with bold steps, seeming to patrol its territory, onto the corridor leading to the Shrine of the True Monarch of the Dark Altar...
...
Outside in the secular world, the seasons change, but in the Yin River, it remains unchanged.
Without knowing how much time has passed, when the skeleton of the Yin Erosion Dharma King emitted the crisp sound of jade shattering and became covered with cracks, the young man enveloped in extreme Yin energy within the tomb chamber, devoid of any vitality, suddenly radiated a scorching, dazzling light from the location of the sacrum!
That light, within the zombie's physique where Yin evil energy almost solidified into reality, was like a rock in a raging storm, always remaining stable and immovable!
Moreover, as time passed, that vigorous Yang energy grew even stronger, and from its initial thread-like appearance, it swelled to the size of a fist.
When it reached its zenith, the fist-sized orb of light suddenly contracted!
Only the young man understood this was not a contraction, but a compression and refinement.
The young man's brow furrowed, all Yin and Evil Qi in his body pressed toward that orb of light, until a clear sound of a water drop falling echoed from within him, the bright orb of light had been refined to the size of a droplet, which then fell on the sacrum and merged into it!
Lonely Yin does not give birth, solitary Yang does not grow long. Now that Xu Qing held a single point of true essence hidden within the Female Enclosure, he had indeed touched upon the key to a zombie's path to enlightenment.
When he opened his eyes, a captivating gleam flashed briefly, and behind Xu Qing, the dual-gendered Dharma King skeleton, too, collapsed into a heap of dry bones.
Thus, Xu Qing's body had now refined two hundred and five pieces of the Undying Bone, with only the Yellow Court yet to be completed.
Looking across the three realms and six paths, perhaps only the four types of zombie progenitors could rival Xu Qing.