Chapter 137: Three Years of Harvest

For three years of seclusion, Qin Feng had almost never stepped outside his door.

The only time he emerged was for Fan Liu.

Fan Liu had accumulated enough sect contribution points to be eligible for a life-bound corpse. Originally, Qin Feng had no intention of interfering, but the boy’s aptitude was truly exceptional, and Qin Feng did not want to see such potential wasted.

After pleading with the fat deacon of the Thirty-First Myriad Corpse Cave to keep an eye out for an Earth-grade life-bound corpse for Fan Liu, he retreated behind closed doors once more and did not venture out again.

An Earth-grade life-bound corpse—how precious it was!

For this, Qin Feng had paid a heavy price, sacrificing nearly his entire stock of profound stones to please the fat deacon of the Myriad Corpse Cave.

The fat deacon had always held Xing Bing in high regard, and having received the benefits, he naturally did his utmost to help.

In the past, Qin Feng would have disdained such methods.

But with the current situation being so volatile, Qin Feng had no choice but to be flexible.

Yet, this shortcut proved to be well worth the effort.

The fat deacon had actually managed to secure a Great Asura Corpse for Fan Liu.

The Great Asura Corpse, the king of Asura corpses and the finest among Earth-grade corpses, allowed its master to wield the power of the Great Asura upon possession. It had long been hailed by the disciples of the Earth Corpse Sect as the "God of War Corpse."

Qin Feng was astonished; the fat deacon was truly incredible!

It seemed his own sacrifice of a hundred blades previously had not been in vain; even among ruthless men, there existed a sense of mutual appreciation.

Qin Feng was left somewhat speechless by the thought.

After obtaining the Great Asura Corpse, Fan Liu’s cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds. Following Qin Feng’s lead, he also began a period of secluded training. However, while Qin Feng’s cultivation had remained stagnant for the past three years, Fan Liu, aided by the corpse-flesh pills, had successfully advanced to the Human-Gang Realm.

The reason Qin Feng had made no progress was that he dared not.

Ever since he reached the Human-Gang Realm, his cultivation had been skyrocketing at a violent pace. Especially after his time in the Yin-Yang Blood Pool, where he had surged forward by three levels, with his Dharma-cultivation also entering the Human-Gang Realm, Qin Feng had to be cautious. To avoid any physical mishaps, he prioritized stabilizing his foundation.

Thus, this stabilization took him a full three years.

Yet, these three years were not without gains.

First, his body-cultivation had basically stabilized, and his body showed no abnormalities, which greatly reassured Qin Feng. Now that his bloodline soul had evolved into one with three heads, its cultivation speed was comparable to an Earth-grade dragon soul, leaving Qin Feng quite satisfied. It was better to follow the plan: consume less human flesh and focus more on cultivation. As for his Dharma-cultivation, Qin Feng had never taken it too seriously; whether it was high or low mattered little to him. However, since he had already reached the Human-Gang Realm, he still needed to cultivate it, but lacking a suitable technique at hand, it had remained stagnant.

However, the Heavenly Demon suggested he not be too anxious; when the opportunity arose, the right technique would naturally appear.

Qin Feng rolled his eyes at this.

Then there was Xing Bing. Stimulated by the flesh-blood pills, he progressed rapidly, reaching the Corpse-Transformation stage—the equivalent of the human Human-Gang Realm. Qin Feng cared little for the rest and simply kept feeding him the pills. After all, his current identity was only temporary, and he could not hide in the Earth Corpse Sect for a lifetime. He didn't care if excessive consumption of the pills would cause any adverse effects on Xing Bing; it was, in a sense, an experiment to see if the pills had any major side effects, using Zhan Bai as a test subject as well.

But Qin Feng’s worries were unfounded.

The flesh-blood pills, derived from the purest essence of flesh and blood and refined by the Heavenly Demon using his own coffin body, had astonishing effects. At the very least, after consuming a large quantity, Xing Bing’s corpse-body had reached the third level of the Corpse-Transformation stage without any anomalies.

Only then did Qin Feng feel completely at ease and began to supply them to Zhan Bai freely.

Zhan Bai’s corpse was of higher quality, requiring more pills, and the effects were even more profound. Stimulated by a large amount of flesh-blood pills, Zhan Bai’s cultivation soared, pushing the corpse body directly to the Great Perfection of the Corpse-Transformation stage.

That was equivalent to the Great Perfection of the Human-Gang Realm.

At this point, Qin Feng stopped.

It wasn't that he wanted to, but he had no choice.

Currently, his supply of flesh-blood pills was exhausted. Furthermore, the pills he possessed were at most Grade Five, and he only had three of them. After feeding two to Zhan Bai, although his aura became more formidable, there was still no sign of advancing to the Corpse-Dan stage.

Feeding the final Grade Five pill would be meaningless, so Qin Feng put it away for now.

In his spare time, Qin Feng studied the black egg he had obtained from the Demon Cave. Since it had fallen into his hands, it had remained in its egg form. For three years, he had studied it repeatedly, and it had never changed, making him so anxious he almost tried to burn it with fire. But he held back, and the Heavenly Demon told him that for the egg to hatch, it likely required a specific catalyst.

Qin Feng understood the concept of a catalyst; rather than blindly guessing, it was better to wait patiently.

Therefore, he tossed the egg into his storage ring and paid it no further heed.

As for the four ancient talismans, Qin Feng had replaced the four Yellow-grade living corpses Xing Bing had procured with Profound-grade ones; that was the best he could manage at this stage.

After all, Earth-grade living corpses were too difficult to find; they were one in ten thousand.

While Profound-grade were a bit lower, they were at least barely acceptable.

After reapplying the corpse-suppression talismans to the four Profound-grade corpses, he had spent three years nurturing them.

After three years, these four profound corpses had undergone significant changes. What was strong about them was not their cultivation or grade, but a strange, unfathomable aura.

Qin Feng was very satisfied with this.

He believed that in the future, as long as he took care to collect more powerful corpses, it would not be difficult to turn these four mysterious talismans into an incredibly powerful killing technique.

Having been in seclusion for three years, it was time to emerge; otherwise, lingering too long would inevitably arouse suspicion. Moreover, he needed to go out and test the winds to see if Li Xingjian was still hunting him as relentlessly as before.

Opening the long-sealed door, Qin Feng pulled out a Ground-Communication Talisman and pressed it into the earth.

Then, he waited patiently in his quarters.

The Ground-Communication Talisman was a specialized communication tool for Earth Corpse Sect disciples, developed by the sect’s high-ranking members specifically for the underground world. Since the underground space was so vast, it was too troublesome to walk back and forth to summon people, hence the creation of these talismans.

Before long, Fan Liu knocked and entered, appearing before Qin Feng.

Upon seeing Qin Feng, he knelt without a word.

Fan Liu’s temperament had changed significantly; perhaps influenced by the Great Asura Corpse, his features had become more resolute, and his physique more upright and sturdy.

More importantly, he radiated confidence!

This was something naturally gained through the improvement of his strength.

Qin Feng nodded.

Fan Liu was now at the second level of the Human-Gang Realm.

This was due not only to the Great Asura Corpse but also to Fan Liu’s own efforts. Qin Feng was very satisfied; Fan Liu was truly promising. If cultivated properly, he would undoubtedly become a capable right-hand man in the future.

Fan Liu stared at Qin Feng, his expression complex, but filled mostly with gratitude.

He didn't care about the origins of the man before him, nor what he had done in the past.

Fan Liu only knew that without this man, he would already be a dead man. Moreover, from the day he entered the Earth Corpse Sect, he had never dared to dream that he could obtain an Earth-grade life-bound corpse. The Great Asura Corpse had been a distant dream, but all of that had changed because of the man before him.

Fan Liu was sharp and intelligent, but he valued gratitude above all else.

Especially after advancing to the Human-Gang Realm with the help of the corpse-flesh pills provided by Qin Feng, the way he looked at Qin Feng held a hint of fanatical worship.

This look did not escape Qin Feng.

With a wave of his hand, a small black snake crawled out from Fan Liu’s ear and flew back into Qin Feng’s palm.

Fan Liu was stunned, then overjoyed, immediately kneeling to kowtow to Qin Feng.

Qin Feng smiled and gestured for him to stand.

In truth, Qin Feng still harbored a trace of hesitation in withdrawing the Demon Snake avatar. But Fan Liu was a promising sprout, and Qin Feng needed absolute loyalty from him, not forced obedience. Therefore, he ultimately decided to withdraw the avatar, giving Fan Liu a chance, and giving himself one as well.

Whether Fan Liu could grasp this opportunity remained to be seen.

Perhaps in the future, Fan Liu would grow, and since relying on himself alone to carry out his plan to take revenge on Li Xingjian was clearly unrealistic, it was better to plant a seed now. Who knew, one day this seed might grow into a towering tree.

Leading Fan Liu to a secluded spot, Qin Feng checked that there was nothing unusual around before asking, "How is the wind blowing lately?"

The first thing Qin Feng asked was, naturally, about the bounty on his head. Fan Liu knew his true identity, so Qin Feng had simply entrusted him with keeping an eye on the matter.

Fan Liu’s face darkened, a flash of worry in his eyes as he replied, "It’s not good. The bounty has been raised to two hundred superior profound stones, plus a personal favor from Li Xingjian himself. A large number of righteous, younger disciples are searching for your whereabouts throughout the Yunqi Kingdom, all under the banner of 'eliminating demons and upholding justice.'"

"Eliminating demons and upholding justice?"

Qin Feng sneered. So they were just greedy for wealth and hiding behind a mask of righteousness; how hypocritical.

"I am a demon? What is a demon? Do they even understand?"

Qin Feng merely smiled at this.

What truly worried him was the favor promised by Li Xingjian. A favor from a Heaven-Gang Realm cultivator was enough to tempt even those in the Earth-Gang Realm.

Perhaps even drive them to madness!

If that were the case, he had to be exceptionally careful.

If he were truly recognized by an Earth-Gang Realm expert, a bitter battle would be unavoidable, and even if he managed to escape by luck, he would be in no good state.

Constant hiding was not a solution; he had to find a way to slip out of the Yunqi Kingdom sooner rather than later.

However, before that, he had to visit that mysterious place to see if there was any chance of obtaining the Nine-Heart Profound Soul Saliva. Although Qin Feng believed the chances of success were slim, he would be unwilling to give up without at least making the attempt.