Yuan Ming glanced at the iron nails, then quickly ignored them and looked at the last piece of jade slip.

He used his divine sense to enter it and his face showed joy. He finally found something useful.

This jade slip recorded a cultivation technique called “Ghost Spirit Technique”. According to the introduction, it was a profound inheritance of the Black Fire Sect. The jade slip contained all the cultivation methods from the Qi Refining stage to the peak of the Foundation Establishment stage, which was of great value.

At the end of the “Ghost Spirit Technique”, there were also some secret techniques and insights on controlling corpses. It should have been written by the Bone Diagram. There were many exquisite details, which greatly broadened Yuan Ming’s horizons and gave him a preliminary understanding of the Black Fire Sect’s corpse-controlling techniques.

Strictly speaking, the Black Fire Sect’s corpse-controlling techniques were similar to the Death Moon method’s corpse-controlling abilities. Both involved sealing a part of their own divine soul in a corpse to manipulate the other party.

However, the starting point of the Death Moon method’s corpse-controlling abilities was high. It required cultivating the Death Moon method to the second level and having an exceptionally strong divine soul to display them.

On the other hand, the threshold for the Black Fire Sect’s corpse-controlling techniques was relatively lower. As long as the divine soul was not too weak, anyone could cultivate them.

Although the entry threshold for the Black Fire Sect’s corpse-controlling techniques was low, it took a long time to refine and adapt to control a corpse. In the initial stage, it was extremely prone to backlash and was far less convenient than the Death Moon method, which could be immediately controlled.

At this moment, Yuan Ming didn’t have time to study it in detail. After putting away the jade slip, he checked the storage bags of Sang Yan and the others.

Sang Yan and the others were all Qi Refining cultivators and seemed to have no powerful background in the Black Fire Sect. They used low-grade spiritual tools, which were not very powerful. The only thing that stood out was Sang Yan’s black gloves.

These gloves were different from ordinary spiritual tools. They contained a space of about ten feet and were filled with black mist, which was rich in corpse energy and highly toxic.

Yuan Ming had seen Sang Yan use these gloves before to release corpse energy and attack enemies.

The structure of the black gloves was quite similar to storage tools, but unlike storage tools, the glove’s space was very fragile and could only store gas, smoke, and other substances. This glove could be used well, but the toxicity of the corpse energy inside was too weak. It would need to be completely released and filled with Black Toad Poison Mist.

Yuan Ming then checked the storage tools of Sang Yan and the others, using his divine sense to inspect them.

None of the four of them were wealthy. The total amount of spiritual stones added up to less than three hundred, and the other things in the storage tools were also quite ordinary.

Suddenly, Yuan Ming’s expression changed. He found a palm-sized gray bag in Sang Yan’s storage tool. The bag was woven from a special material and surprisingly had no trace of spiritual energy. It was filled with something.

He untied the hemp rope at the mouth of the small bag, and a white mineral the size of an egg rolled out. It emitted a faint white light, and inside the mineral, there was a flame-like light shadow suspended. It could be clearly seen from the outside, which was quite magical.

Yuan Ming’s face showed joy. Could these minerals be the White Flame Essence Gold mentioned by the Third Elder?

Judging from their appearance, it was very likely. The Third Elder said that Sang Yan had obtained them during the previous White Deer Summit, so it was not surprising that she had them now.

Yuan Ming specifically put away the White Flame Essence Gold and gathered the belongings of the other three people before starting to check their corpse storage bags.

The corpse storage bags of the black-clothed woman, the sword-browed youth, and the burly man were all ordinary corpses. Their combat power was only comparable to a mid-stage Qi Refining cultivator and had no great value compared to the two Qinggang corpses in the Bone Diagram.

Yuan Ming took Sang Yan’s corpse storage bag and used his divine sense to enter it. However, his expression suddenly changed. Inside the corpse storage bag was a corpse about ten feet tall, covered in green fur, resembling a human.

Nine talismans were attached to the green-furred corpse, and judging from its aura, they should have a similar effect to the Spirit Sealing Talisman.

However, the green-furred corpse had an exceptionally strong aura, obviously surpassing the Foundation Establishment stage. These talismans couldn’t completely seal it.

Yuan Ming was shocked. Could this green-furred corpse be the corpse of a Foundation Establishment cultivator? Was it related to Sang Yan and the others infiltrating the Snake King Valley and breaking the formation in that ancient castle?

Now, combining all the previous performances, it made some sense. The Black Fire Sect was a sect that specialized in refining corpses, and what they valued were only some corpses with powerful forces.

Yuan Ming examined the green-furred corpse and suddenly looked at its forehead with his divine sense. There was a thumb-sized blood hole there, and the scalp next to it was stained with dark greenish-black fluid.

This wound…

He took out an object from his hand, which was the iron nail spiritual tool that had the dark greenish-black fluid on it. The size of the iron nail and the fluid on it matched the green-furred corpse. Could it be that this nail was previously inserted into this Foundation Establishment corpse?

At this moment, the aura of the green-furred corpse suddenly began to increase, and a strong corpse energy surged out like a raging wave. The nine Spirit Sealing Talismans floated and fluttered, and the runes on them flickered and quickly dimmed. It seemed that they wouldn’t last much longer.

The control methods applied to the green-furred corpse were all done by Sang Yan. Now that she was dead, those methods naturally became ineffective. Relying solely on the nine Spirit Sealing Talismans couldn’t suppress this green-furred corpse.

Yuan Ming felt anxious when he saw this and quickly took out the jade slip from the Bone Diagram, quickly browsing through the content about corpse control, hoping to find a solution.

However, the Black Fire Sect’s corpse-controlling techniques were profound and unfathomable. Yuan Ming couldn’t fully understand them in a short time, and many corpse-controlling techniques required external assistance, of which he had none.

The aura emitted by the green-furred corpse became stronger and stronger, and the nine Spirit Sealing Talismans were on the verge of collapse.Yuan Ming gritted his teeth slightly, deciding to take a chance. He threw a soul crow into the corpse bag, which then entered the green-haired corpse’s brow, using the corpse control technique.

The aura of the green-haired corpse immediately paused, quickly converging, and its tightly closed eyes slowly opened, revealing a pair of dark green pupils.

Yuan Ming was both shocked and delighted. The corpse control technique of the Death Moon method was so mysterious. He had only tried it with a testing attitude, but he didn’t expect to actually control this Foundation Establishment stage corpse!

He made a hand seal, and the green-haired corpse flew out of the corpse bag, landing on the ground, motionless.

Yuan Ming circled around the corpse twice, then stimulated it with a thought.

The green-haired corpse let out a beast-like low growl, and its green-black fist covered in green hair pounded forward.

The air in front exploded, a visible fist wind erupted, easily tearing apart the barrier laid down by the four-sided sealing talisman, and hit the cave wall.

With a “boom”, a huge pit about a meter deep appeared on the mountain wall, and spider-web-like cracks spread from the pit to the entire cave, with small stones falling down.

Yuan Ming opened his mouth slightly. He knew that this Foundation Establishment stage corpse contained astonishing power, but he didn’t expect it to be so terrifying, almost collapsing the cave with a light punch.

After the surprise, joy surged in his heart.

After the soul crow possessed the body, he had already investigated clearly. This Foundation Establishment stage corpse had transformed into something similar to a human ghost, unable to use any magical powers, only physical strength remained.

Even so, this corpse was still a great combat power.

Yuan Ming closed his eyes and operated the corpse control technique, familiarizing himself with various situations of the green-haired corpse for future use.

Time passed bit by bit, and a quarter of an hour passed quickly.

Yuan Ming was still sensing the situation of the green-haired corpse, not noticing that a surge of evil energy suddenly emerged from the depths of the corpse, entwining the soul crow, and invading Yuan Ming’s sea of consciousness along with the soul crow.

Yuan Ming’s body shook violently, and a bloodthirsty and murderous thought suddenly rose, several times stronger than the backlash of the fur technique.

He was shocked, and while operating the Death Moon method to suppress the bloodthirsty thoughts, he also recalled the soul crow.

However, the evil energy in the green-haired corpse was like tentacles, holding onto the soul crow and not letting go. Yuan Ming used all his strength to barely pull the soul crow out, and the bloodthirsty and murderous thoughts immediately dispersed.

However, without the soul crow controlling it, the aura of the green-haired corpse exploded again, and all nine corpse suppression talismans shattered.

The green-haired corpse broke free from all restraints, its aura surged wildly, and its originally hollow eyes seemed to regain their luster.

Yuan Ming was both shocked and anxious, and was about to grit his teeth and use another soul crow to control the corpse again.

At this moment, a “buzzing” sound suddenly came, it was the black iron nail in his hand.

The black iron nail vibrated and pointed at the head of the green-haired corpse.

Seeing this, Yuan Ming decisively inserted the iron nail into the blood hole in the forehead of the green-haired corpse.

The erupting aura of the green-haired corpse immediately subsided and quickly disappeared.

A few breaths later, the powerful aura of the corpse was completely dissipated, leaving only a tiny bit of residue, not much stronger than an ordinary ghost.

Yuan Ming breathed a sigh of relief. This iron nail was indeed used to seal the green-haired corpse, and judging from the old aura on the nail, it should have been on the corpse originally, not something done by the people of the Black Fire Gate.

He became interested in this green-haired corpse. Such a powerful corpse could not have appeared out of thin air.

Yuan Ming took Sang Yan and Gu Tu’s storage artifacts and carefully checked them. He quickly found a broken map from Sang Yan, which showed the terrain of Snake King Valley, and there were some words written on the back of the map.

After reading the map and the words, he finally understood the origin of the corpse. This corpse was originally called “Celestial Snake Ascendant”, no wonder it chose to be buried in Snake King Valley.

There were many secrets in Snake King Valley, the ancient castle, and the black stone pillar deep in the Snake King Cave were all very strange.

However, he had no intention of exploring these for the time being.

Yuan Ming put the corpse of the Celestial Snake Ascendant into Gu Tu’s corpse bag, turned around and walked outside, quickly arriving near the entrance of Snake King Valley.

“Gulp”.

Inside the spirit beast bag, the black toad made a series of anxious calls, conveying a thought of not wanting to leave this place.

“Do you want to stay here to cultivate?” Yuan Ming communicated with the black toad through his divine sense.

After the black toad broke through to the second level, its intelligence increased a lot, and it nodded repeatedly.

Yuan Ming looked at Snake King Valley. This place was warm and humid, indeed a suitable environment for the black toad. Although the two Snake Kings had fallen, there were still many Golden Flower Poisonous Pythons in Snake King Valley, which were all great supplements for the black toad.

And with the black toad’s current divine powers, there was no need to worry about safety.

“Alright, you can stay here for a while, and I’ll come to pick you up when you need it.” Yuan Ming said, letting the black toad out.

The black toad croaked at Yuan Ming a few times, then hopped into Snake King Valley, its figure quickly disappearing into the thick miasma.

Yuan Ming didn’t stay long either, and flew towards Bi Luo Cave.