The art of corpse refinement involves turning a deceased body into a mindless puppet.
In a sense, these puppets are humanoid weapons.
However, as these puppets grow stronger, they may develop new intelligence and evolve into zombies!
Zombies are extremely terrifying creatures, existing outside the six realms and beyond the five elements.
But cultivating a puppet into a zombie is incredibly difficult, a one-in-a-million chance.
Moreover, once a puppet gains intelligence and becomes a zombie, the first thing it might do is devour its master!
Therefore, corpse refiners strive to control their puppets, preventing them from evolving into zombies.
Occasionally, some corpses in the world may transform into zombies on their own, without any external influence.
But this probability is even lower!
In summary, while there may be many puppets in the world, true zombies are exceedingly rare, as rare as a phoenix feather.
This is all about the corpse refinement branch of the Soul Refining Sect.
As for the soul refinement branch, it involves capturing souls after people die for cultivation.
Waiting for others to die is inefficient.
Thus, most soul refiners actively kill people to harvest more souls!
In comparison, the third branch, infant refinement, is the most sinister.
Zhao Binyuan belongs to this branch.
The corpse refinement branch only needs bodies, causing the least harm.
Bodies can be preserved for a long time, even up to a year, and still be used.
The soul refinement branch requires souls, causing more harm than the corpse refinement branch!
Unlike bodies, which can be found even in remote areas, souls dissipate completely seven days after death.
The stringent conditions force many soul refiners to kill for souls!
As for the infant refinement branch, it needs no further explanation.
"This Soul Refining Sect is one of the most malevolent and sinister sects in the demonic path!" Meng Fan frowned, muttering to himself.
Righteous and evil paths have always been at odds, unable to eliminate each other.
When one rises, the other falls, and vice versa.
However, while the righteous path can't eradicate the entire demonic path, destroying a single demonic sect is not a big problem.
A sect like the Soul Refining Sect shouldn't exist in this world.
Meng Fan planned to report this to the Shu Mountain Sword Sect upon his return.
Given the sect's hatred for evil, they wouldn't ignore the Soul Refining Sect.
The Soul Refining Sect had only risen in the past two years, acting like rats in a sewer, sneaky and hidden.
So, it's understandable that the righteous sects hadn't noticed them.
But as the Soul Refining Sect's actions became more outrageous, their exposure was inevitable.
This time, Meng Fan would report to Elder Lin, who would take it from there.
With Elder Lin's status, the Shu Mountain Sword Sect would surely take this seriously!
Meng Fan had only encountered the Soul Refining Sect once, but his impression was extremely negative.
He eagerly hoped the Shu Mountain Sword Sect would destroy the Soul Refining Sect!
In fact, given the sect's foundation, destroying a demonic sect wasn't difficult.
Meng Fan shook his head, pushing these thoughts aside.
He would deal with this after returning to Shu Mountain.
He organized the letters and information related to the Soul Refining Sect and placed them in his storage ring.
Once back at the Sword Pavilion, he would hand everything to Elder Lin and leave the rest to him.
After leaving the room, Meng Fan swung his sword, destroying it completely.
Instantly, he felt relieved.
He had been feeling a destructive urge since earlier, and destroying the room finally satisfied him a bit.
If that black-robed man Zhao Binyuan hadn't died, Meng Fan would have slashed him to pieces.
Just beheading him wasn't satisfying enough.
Dealing with such scum required complete annihilation to vent his anger!
Meng Fan walked to Ye Qingyu, silently watched her for a while, then closed his eyes and began cultivating.
He was focusing on "Fu Xi's Visualization Techniques" to enhance his divine sense and mental strength.
Today, he deeply felt his lack of divine sense.
Without Hong Qi, he couldn't have resisted the black-robed man's Ghost Infant Banner attack.
Ultimately, his divine sense wasn't strong enough; otherwise, the Ghost Infant Banner wouldn't have affected him!
Moreover, he couldn't open the storage ring obtained from the black-robed man without spending a day and night breaking the restriction.
It all came down to his weak divine sense!
Having suffered twice in one day due to his divine sense, he knew he had to prioritize its cultivation.
Meng Fan reflected on this, realizing his combat strength was already formidable, his sword techniques rivaling those of Condensation Pill Realm sword cultivators.
But in terms of divine sense, he couldn't compare to Condensation Pill Realm cultivators.
Such a disparity needed to be addressed!
Indeed, Meng Fan had neglected his divine sense cultivation recently, and it was time to catch up.
Fortunately, he had "Fu Xi's Visualization Techniques," a unique advantage in the Shu Mountain Sword Sect!
If he diligently cultivated his divine sense, he could achieve a Divine Soul before reaching the Condensation Pill Realm.
Then, he could easily perform sword soul techniques without relying on Hong Qi, solely by himself!
***
Three hours later, Meng Fan sensed movement nearby.
"You're finally awake!"
He opened his eyes, seeing Ye Qingyu stirring, and helped her up.
"Thank you!" Ye Qingyu's voice was still weak.
Having suffered from the Ghost Infant Banner's attack, her mental strength was damaged, and she would feel pain for a while.
Thinking of this, Meng Fan couldn't help but feel grateful to Hong Qi.
Without Hong Qi, even if he had killed Zhao Binyuan, he would have been affected by the Ghost Infant Banner, in no better state than Ye Qingyu.
Of course, these were hypothetical scenarios.
And meaningless ones at that!
After all, he had Hong Qi.
"Where's that demon?" Ye Qingyu sat cross-legged, looking around weakly.
She had fainted during Zhao Binyuan's Ghost Infant Banner attack and didn't see his end.
Meng Fan took Xiao Qing out of his pocket and tapped its belly with his finger.
"That demon is right here!"
Proofreader & Editor: Peter Pan