Surviving in the Demonic Sect, one begins cultivation by retrieving corpses.

Upon closer inspection, everyone on the boat recognized the familiar faces.

The boy who emerged from the water was none other than Gu Zhao.

Cen Pan leaned against the ship's railing, the steel ball in his hand cracking again as he muttered, "Interesting..."

Gu Zhao climbed onto the boat.

The stableman rushed over, "Zhao-ge'er, are you alright? Your face is frighteningly pale."

Gu Zhao shook his head. "It's nothing."

Seeing this, the stableman's heart settled down, and he laughed, "I knew it, Zhao-ge'er, you've survived a great calamity, you're bound to have good fortune in the future."

Another body retrieval boat.

Chen Mu was somewhat surprised by this and clicked his tongue lightly, "He survived."

"It must have been Sheng Yan's sword control technique that saved him at the crucial moment."

Ni Shengyan thought for a moment and gestured, "Let's move closer."

"He deserves credit for what happened today, so he deserves a reward."

The woman in the palace dress, Li Wanwan, immediately objected, "Just a menial servant..."

Ni Shengyan said, "When we go out to do business, we are not only from the outer gate, but also represent the reputation of Xunshan Hall in the outside world."

Chen Mu laughed and said, "Sheng Yan is right."

The blond, burly hero also chimed in.

Li Wanwan reluctantly nodded.

In fact, the matter was already settled the moment Ni Shengyan spoke.

Chen Mu spoke up out of consideration for Li Wanwan.

It had become a habit for the four of them to be led by Ni Shengyan.

A moment later.

Ni Shengyan and his three companions arrived at the corpse retrieval boat where Gu Zhao was located.

The group of corpse retrievers on the shore stopped curiously, peering out at these distinguished guests from the Patrol Hall.

When facing Ni Shengyan and the other three, Cen Pan did not act as obsequiously as he did when facing the Zhenhe Division.

He took the steel ball from their hand and greeted them with a forced smile: "Four sirs, you just killed the water monkey, eliminating a great threat to our morgue..."

Chen Mu was clearly impatient with this formality and raised his hand to interrupt, "Steward, summon the corpse retriever who lured out the water monkey earlier."

A hint of hesitation flashed across Cen Pan's face, and he hesitated, "This..."

Ni Shengyan explained, "This person has rendered meritorious service, and we have come specifically to reward him."

"Deacon, you need not worry about it."

Cen Pan then turned around and instructed the boy to bring Gu Zhao.

He smiled and said, "You four are very kind."

The group of corpse retrievers immediately gathered around, all glancing at the scene.

Before long, the young man slowly walked onto the deck and bowed to the four people.

"I have met several officials."

Ni Shengyan was originally going to leave after dropping off the reward money, but she took a few more glances at the young man in front of her.

Unlike other corpse retrievers, the young man had a somewhat otherworldly air about him.

It's rare.

He stood out from the crowd, especially among the corpse retrievers.

"What's your name?"

"The morgue, Gu Zhao."

Ni Shengyan nodded, looking him over. "You managed to escape unscathed from the encounter with the water monkey. Most people would have been terrified, but you remained calm in the face of danger, which is rare."

Gu Zhao bowed and said, "If it weren't for your intervention, sir, I would be dead. I am very grateful to you."

The woman in the palace dress, Li Wanwan, snorted coldly, "You know that's good..."

Ni Shengyan frowned. "Wanwan!"

Li Wanwan didn't dare to say more, "I understand, Sister Shengyan."

Seeing the young man's composed demeanor, Ni Shengyan nodded slightly and called out, "Junior Brother Haojie."

Upon hearing this, the blond, burly man from the side handed over seven hundred coins.

Gu Zhao accepted it with both hands, bowed, and said, "Thank you, sir."

The four heroes turned around and prepared to leave.

Ni Shengyan turned around again, glanced at the boy, and said, "My surname is Ni, Ni Shengyan."

After saying that, he boarded the ship and left.

When Chen Mu heard her take the initiative to introduce herself, his brows furrowed imperceptibly, and he felt a slight displeasure, but he ultimately did not show it.

After the four members of the Mountain Patrol Hall had sailed away, the people on the body retrieval boat were still repeatedly thinking about that name. Someone whispered:

"Ni Shengyan..."

Cen Pan dispersed the crowd gathered around him: "What are you looking at? Have you finished your work for today? Go back to work, all of you."

Seeing his grim expression, the body retrievers dared not linger and jumped back into the water.

here.

Only Cen Pan and Gu Zhao remained.

Gu Zhao lowered his head, and all he could hear was the soft, continuous sound of steel balls being twirled by his fingertips.

An invisible pressure suddenly descended on my shoulder, cold and piercing.

It's like walking deep into the mountains, and suddenly looking up, you see a magnificent tiger crouching on a rock, its eyes fixed on you, ready to devour you.

He suddenly felt a tightness in his chest, his heart pounded like a drum, and he could hardly breathe.

Fortunately, the pure Yang Qi within his dantian circulated slowly on its own, and a wisp of warmth spread out, dispelling the suffocating feeling of oppression.

This is the power of a Qi Refining Realm cultivator—

Killing a cultivator at the Nascent Soul stage is effortless; the mere pressure of their aura is already terrifying.

A moment later, Cen Pan raised an eyebrow slightly.

Gu Zhao felt the heavy pressure around him vanish, and his whole body felt light.

Cen Pan straightened his black cloak and walked up to the second floor of the corpse retrieval boat. "Gu Zhao, let's go down."

Gu Zhao bowed in response.

He raised his eyes and looked at Cen Pan's tall back, his brows furrowing even deeper.

A steward at the Qi Refining Realm is definitely not someone I can handle right now!

Once you're in the Demonic Sect, you're no longer in control of your own destiny.

Fortunately, there is still time.

Gu Zhao returned to his original meditation spot and sat cross-legged.

He weighed the magic coins in his hand; a full seven hundred coins. Although not as generous as the reward given by Envoy Gong last time, it brought him one step closer to his goal of raising enough money for his immortal abode.

but,

The real greatest gain from this trip was not the money.

Rather, it was when he was on the verge of death underwater that he was forced to use the wisp of Jade Pivot Thunder-Slaying True Qi within his body.

Even if a water monkey swims very fast, it can't avoid it at this distance.

The azure arc of electricity suddenly magnified in his eyes.

The water monkey screamed in agony.

After Gu Zhao unleashed that bolt of lightning energy.

The thunderous energy did not dissipate; instead, it returned along its original path, flowing through the meridians back into the dantian, where it lay dormant.

Gu Zhao dared not delay for even a moment and immediately pulled back several feet.

The next instant, a cold light darted in—it was the flying sword—and pierced straight through the water monkey's chest.

Gu Zhao couldn't tell whether it was the power of the Jade Pivot's Thunderous True Qi or the effect of Ni Shengyan's sword control technique.

He waited quietly in the water for a moment.

Seeing that the water monkey made no further move, he prepared to leave.

At this time.

The sacrificial cauldron, which had been silent for seven days, suddenly trembled.

[A spirit has been detected around the cauldron master... a water monkey, which can be offered as a sacrifice.]

[Should we sacrifice the water monkey? Sacrifice duration: ten breaths.]

Gu Zhao stood in the water, thought for a moment, and made a decision.

[Sacrifice!]

Ten breaths later.

The cauldron's owner has already offered a sacrifice to the water monkey.

[Reward: Three strands of pure Yang Qi, available to claim in eight hours.]

[Note: Four strands of pure Yang Qi can be combined to form Qian Yuan Qi.]

It became.

Gu Zhao was overjoyed upon seeing this.

Pure Yang True Qi has such wonderful uses; I wonder what Qian Yuan True Qi is, which is composed of four strands of Pure Yang True Qi.

What kind of wonders will it be?

Gu Zhao waited for the water monkey to be pulled out by Ni Shengyan and others before it surfaced.

Only then did the subsequent events occur.

Gu Zhao slowly regained his composure; the water monkey was dead.

This can be considered revenge for the original owner.