I, a cultivator, have ended up in the world of tomb raiding.

With his five fingers forming claws, he countered the corpse puppet's neck, which was condensed with yin energy, and a faint sinister look appeared in Li Yue's eyes.

At this moment, a slight thought stirred within him, and a pale blue illusory light screen appeared before his eyes.

[Unknown malevolent entity detected...]

[Analyzing... Yin energy concentration 13%... Death energy 6%... Evil energy 5%... Malevolent energy 2%...]

[Source: The resentment formed from a dense accumulation of dead bodies]

[Quality: Inferior tonic]

[Effect: Can be directly absorbed and converted into one's own cultivation level]

[Should we choose to devour it?]

Li Yue chuckled inwardly.

"It's really like a tonic delivered right to your door."

According to the original text, only six-winged centipedes dwell in this place, and there is no trace of this corpse puppet.

It is likely that the large number of the Unloading Ridge bandits, along with the fierce blood and murderous aura of these soldiers and outlaws, caused evil spirits to instinctively fear them and thus remain dormant.

Now, realizing he was all alone, and seeing the eerie aura surrounding him...

They mistakenly believe it to be prey with depleted qi and blood and a lack of yang energy, and thus appear to devour its soul and seize its body.

Little did he know that his chilling aura was not due to a weak constitution, but rather a result of the shared Yin path in his cultivation methods.

For Li Yue, this voluntary appearance was like a lamb pouncing on a tiger, courting death.

Li Yue silently recited the command to confirm the devouring.

The corpse puppet struggling violently under his palm suddenly froze, its previously ferocious movements ceasing.

The next second, extreme fear surged across its empty face, and its blurred features twisted violently, no longer able to maintain its human form.

He struggled desperately, but could not break free at all.

It only sensed that the death energy it had condensed was rapidly dissipating, and the gray mist around its body was constantly peeling away and dissipating.

Its instinctive fear caused it to open its nose and mouth wide, yet it remained completely silent.

Only a cloud of yin energy, like a gray mist, gushed out from his throat.

However, its grotesque, twisted, and chaotic appearance revealed the extreme fear and pain the corpse puppet was in at that moment.

At this moment, the corpse puppet's entire face was not neat in any way, and even the edges of its body outline were rapidly melting and fading.

It was as if it were immersed in fog, drifting in large swaths toward the hand that was binding its neck.

In just three breaths, the gray fog that filled the sky was completely stripped away.

Watching the corpse puppet star points disappear silently, Li Yue slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air.

However, before he could even catch his breath, an unexpected situation suddenly occurred that surprised him.

The Yin Death Qi that had been continuously peeled away from his palm was completely absorbed into his body, bypassing the refining process.

The cold, gloomy energy swirled and surged within his dantian, causing the already saturated barrier to suddenly loosen and break through.

The accumulated Yin energy in his body merged and unified, allowing him to steadily step into the fifth level of Qi Refining.

Faced with this sudden and somewhat unexpected breakthrough, Li Yue was both surprised and amused afterward.

Throughout his cultivation journey, every breakthrough he has achieved has been safely and peacefully accomplished in a secluded chamber or cave.

Breaking through in such an awkward, in-between situation as an underground cave is truly unprecedented.

He absorbed all the remaining Yin energy and turned his gaze back to the depths of the dark cave.

The corpse puppet's form disintegrated, turning into specks of eerie blue ash that drifted gently down with the air currents of the underground cave, sinking into the dark depths below, where it remained silent until the last sound.

[The devouring is complete]

[Panel Level: Tier 2 (78/100)]

Li Yue withdrew all his palm force, his downward momentum slightly paused, and he raised his hand to gently pat the bamboo basket behind him, soothing the spirit bird inside.

The recent fierce battle and the surrounding surging evil spirits made the angry rooster in the basket restless and agitated.

Soothed by him, it gradually calmed down, its bristling feathers tucked away, and it quietly lay dormant again.

Li Yue once again lowered his eyes and looked down into the deep darkness.

Using the faint, flickering light from the rock face, we looked into the distance and, once again, coordinated our hands and feet to calmly descend the steep cliff.

This well is dozens of feet deep, with straight walls as if cut by a knife. Yin energy constantly surges upwards, carrying a strong stench of corpses and medicinal stones, making it exceptionally strange.

After an unknown amount of time, my feet finally touched solid ground, landing on the chaotic earth.

Li Yue looked around the bottom of the well and saw a complete mess.

The vast underground space was filled with coffins piled up like mountains, so numerous that their number was countless.

There are noble lacquered coffins inlaid with gold and jade and adorned with exquisite patterns, as well as commoners' cypress coffins that are worm-eaten and rotten.

Pottery urns containing skeletons were scattered everywhere, with burial objects from the poor and the rich mixed together in a chaotic pile.

"Those who are noble and lowly in life are different, but after death their bones are buried together. This can be considered a kind of equality for all living beings."

As his gaze swept over the corpses and coffins scattered across the ground, Li Yue sighed inwardly.

He knew the breeding rules of corpse puppets. These kinds of evil creatures preferred to occupy extremely yin dead places where there was no sunlight, water, or mountains of corpses and seas of blood where resentment abounded.

Although this place is filled with countless corpses and heavy with yin energy, it is chaotic and scattered, not enough to nurture such evil spirits. It seems there must be some other mystery deep underground.

Recalling the original plot, he knew that there was another hidden paradise beneath this Danjing Well.

But looking at the layers of coffins and remains that were piled up and obscured, he couldn't help but frown slightly.

The six-winged centipede that has been entrenched here for years is greedy for medicinal stones and often stirs up the bottom of the well, making countless coffins and corpses messy and disorderly.

To find the entrance to the secret room, one would have to clear away these old, decaying objects, a thought that filled me with frustration.

The corpse puppet was devoured too hastily. If its life were spared for the time being, perhaps some questioning could be conducted.

He used his eyesight to penetrate the surrounding darkness and mist, taking in the entire scene around him.

The well wall is riddled with cracks and holes, all formed by the sloping terrain of Ping Mountain in earlier years.

However, no airflow entered, so it was completely airtight.

Li Yue guessed that all the cracks must be hanging downwards, covered and blocked by the rock strata.

This is precisely why the six-winged centipede can easily move back and forth through various gaps and use this place as a hiding place and nest.

He recalled the original plot, and according to the original story, the six-winged centipede hibernated here after being severely injured by the Angry Rooster in the Wuliang Palace.

He also used the yin energy in the coffin and the medicinal powder at the bottom of the coffin to heal his wounds and stop the bleeding, and spat out pearls to heal his wounds.

Partridge Whistle, who had stumbled upon this place, was hiding among the corpses and seized the opportunity to steal the demon core.

This caused the six-winged centipede's demonic power to dissipate, resulting in its severe injuries and death.

"It's such a mess, this six-winged centipede really knows how to cause trouble." Li Yue looked at the mess around him and was somewhat speechless.

My gaze swept over the piles of bones and layers of coffins, finally settling on the center of the pile of coffins.

A massive bronze alchemy furnace stands majestically.

The furnace body is thick and mottled with bronze rust, and the outer wall is engraved with ancient inscriptions and mythical beasts, exuding a sense of antiquity and vastness.

Even when buried among filth, it still stands out conspicuously.

A glint flashed in Li Yue's eyes, and his mind suddenly became clear.

This place was originally the alchemical well used by the royal family in ancient times. The refining of Yin elixir required a deep pool to gather evil spirits and for the alchemical fire to rise, hence the location was chosen here.

The coffins scattered everywhere were all obtained by alchemists who looted ancient tombs in the past, specifically for refining yin elixirs.

Ancient sorcery and heretical beliefs held that the incorruptibility of a corpse was due to the absorption of the earth's dragon energy. This dragon energy was elusive and difficult to capture, and only by refining the so-called "fragrant" corpse could the essence of the dragon energy be extracted.

The coffins are made of various materials such as gold, wood, jade, and stone. Buried deep underground for many years, they all contain the spiritual energy of the earth's veins. Burning them can harmonize the fire of alchemy and assist in the alchemy process.

Thinking of this, Li Yue couldn't help but sigh at the absurdity and unpredictability of ancient sorcery.

This heretical and unorthodox path is no less virtuous than the cultivation world.

The royal palace is the legitimate alchemy palace, yet it secretly engages in such insidious and filthy acts, using any means necessary to refine elixirs, which is truly despicable.

It was precisely because this plot was so shocking that he remembered it so clearly.

The place is currently in disarray, but this alchemy furnace stands out in the center, its extraordinary design clearly indicating that it is a core and important artifact.

The hidden entrance is most likely located at the bottom of the furnace.

He then leaped down from the high coffin mound.