After the path was cut off

On the rocky beach, Zhang Guoren was stumbling and fleeing.

It wasn't so much an escape as being dragged forward by instinct. He clearly had many other ways to escape: escape techniques, his trump card—the Yin Corpse technique, a secret method that overdraws his lifespan… any one of these would have prevented him from ending up in such a sorry state.

But at this moment, he couldn't use any of them.

His soul felt as if it were being gripped by something. His thoughts were terribly slow, and his spiritual energy flowed with intermittent stiffness. His escape speed decreased more and more, until finally he involuntarily stopped beside a boulder.

Zhang Guoren turned around and looked at the approaching reddish-brown shadow, his face gradually turning ashen.

Regret surged up like a tide.

He was filled with regret at that moment. He regretted cultivating that secret technique of splitting the body.

His master had warned him before that he should not cultivate this method unless he was determined to completely abandon the split soul. Otherwise, once the split soul was controlled by someone, his original body would also be implicated and manipulated.

But he clung to a sliver of hope.

He always felt that he might have a chance to reclaim his divided soul and continue on the path of cultivation in the future. Therefore, he never completely severed the connection between himself and his divided soul.

Looking back now, I am filled with unspeakable regret.

A few breaths later, the purple earthworm stopped in front of the rocky beach. Li Qinghan landed gracefully. She didn't rush to draw her sword, but quietly watched Zhang Guoren.

Zhang Guoren swallowed hard and forced out a smile that looked more like a grimace.

"Fairy..."

"Misunderstand."

"It's all a misunderstanding."

In Li Qinghan's cold eyes, a mirror-like reflection quietly rotated.

The mirror's light shone through her eyes, illuminating the evil cultivator's soul before her. Black and white reflected in the mirror, finally settling into a fixed state.

Seventh negative consequence.

Sixteen good deeds.

This person's good deeds outweighed the bad consequences.

The killing intent in Li Qinghan's eyes faded somewhat.

"Your method of controlling corpses is quite interesting."

Zhang Guoren was taken aback. Then, as if grasping at a straw, he quickly said:

"Interesting! Absolutely interesting!"

"The fairy's eyes are truly discerning!"

"My method is called the 'Hundred Bones Connecting to the Netherworld' Technique, a secret method passed down from my ancestors. It is incredibly wondrous! Absolutely not an evil technique!"

"It differs from ordinary corpse refining techniques. It does not require a complete corpse. As long as there is still death energy in the remains, it can be pieced together and used."

He spoke extremely quickly, as if afraid that if he slowed down even a little, the sword would fall.

"Regardless of whether it is human or animal, or any part of the body."

"Bones can be joined together, and tendons can be connected."

"It can create flying corpses, powerful corpses, poisonous corpses, underground corpses... it can create any kind of corpse!"

"It also consumes far less energy than orthodox corpse refining techniques."

As Zhang Guoren spoke, he carefully observed Li Qinghan's expression.

Seeing that there was no murderous intent in her eyes, he became a little bolder.

"Fairy, I am willing to offer up my magic technique in exchange for my life."

"I only became a henchman of the evil cultivators out of necessity; I really haven't harmed anyone."

Li Qinghan's heart skipped a beat.

She originally intended to kill this person.

However, the mirror master sent a message saying that this person was still useful, and further used the mirror's reflection to show the person's good deeds and bad deeds.

Li Qinghan was seeing this kind of divination method for the first time, and she wasn't entirely convinced. Who knew if the Mirror Master was trying to keep this person and was deliberately deceiving her?

After hearing Zhang Guoren's words and thinking about those troublesome Yin Corpses from earlier, she ultimately suppressed her killing intent for the time being. Putting aside everything else, just in terms of chasing enemies and traveling, the flying Yin Corpses he had created were currently more useful than the Purple Earthworm.

"lead the way."

"Go find the remaining heretical cultivators."

Zhang Guoren was overjoyed; simply leading the way was too easy. He nodded eagerly.

"Yes, yes, yes."

"Rest assured, fairy, I will definitely lead the way!"

Li Qinghan raised his hand and tossed the few pieces of silver bone fragments he had just collected in front of him.

"Let's build one that can fly."

Zhang Guoren looked at the few pieces of bone, a glint of surprise flashing in his eyes.

These bone fragments were of extremely high quality, clearly among the most valuable pieces in his corpse array. Li Qinghan's ability to pick them out from the pile of broken corpses at a glance suggests he possessed a secret method for identifying objects.

He dared not think too much, and quickly made hand seals while chanting incantations.

A flash of light appeared in his sleeve, and a large amount of dismembered corpses, broken bones, and tattered tendons poured out and fell to the ground.

Zhang Guoren gritted his teeth again and took out two pieces of dark wing bone from his pocket.

The wing bone emanated a faint demonic aura, its edges sharp as knives, clearly indicating it was no ordinary object.

"These are the wing bones of a second-tier demonic bird."

He explained with a forced smile:

"I risked my life to retrieve it on the battlefield."

"It is their good fortune to be able to serve the fairies today."

Li Qinghan did not respond.

Zhang Guoren chuckled dryly, not daring to utter another word.

He mixed the two wing bones into the broken bones, his ten fingers moving rapidly.

Soon, the bones, tendons, and flesh on the ground seemed to be drawn by an invisible force and began to wriggle.

Click.

Click click.

Bones joined together, tendons intertwined, and rotten flesh filled in.

A moment later, a long-bodied flying corpse with black wings on its back stood up on the rocky beach.

It had no complete face; its head was merely a smooth bone surface. Its wings, when spread, stretched for several feet. Although the Yin energy was heavy, it was tightly bound by some kind of splicing technique, preventing much from leaking out.

Li Qinghan glanced at it.

"Ninth level of Qi Refining?"

Seeing that she had become interested, Zhang Guoren quickly said:

"Fairy, I dare not boast about how powerful this Yin Corpse is, but its speed has definitely reached the limit of the first rank."

"With it, and relying on the sharpness of the Fairy Sword, there is nothing below the Foundation Establishment stage that cannot be cut down."

After saying that, he quickly lowered his head and added:

"Of course, even if the fairy doesn't ride it, she can still cut it down."

Li Qinghan frowned.

She found Zhang Guoren's chatter and flattery very unpleasant.

In the past, when I encountered evil cultivators, I would either kill them with a single sword strike or they would flee at the mere sight of me. I had no chance to come into contact with such people.

The people of Baixi Town mostly treated her with kindness and respect. Even Qingfeng's occasional teasing was never so slick.

But she didn't say much, lest the evil cultivator think she was good-tempered.

Li Qinghan climbed onto the newly assembled corpse, sat cross-legged, and began to gather his sword energy once more. He seemed completely indifferent to Zhang Guoren behind him.

Zhang Guoren, standing behind, felt extremely uncomfortable.

"Falling into the hands of such a ruthless and cold-blooded swordsman, my life is over."

"What on earth has gotten into me? Even if my divided soul is under control, I shouldn't be here waiting to die like this."

No matter how turbulent his mind was, he dared not slack off in the slightest, and obediently controlled the flying Yin Corpse, flying towards another place where he knew of the evil cultivator.

Zhang Guoren was clearly a quick-witted person who couldn't keep his mouth shut. He felt very uncomfortable if he didn't ask his questions.

This is due to human emotions, desires, and a sense of wishful thinking. Unless a knife is at your throat, your vigilance diminishes considerably.

After the flight stabilized, he finally mustered his courage and cautiously said:

"Fairy, my name is Zhang Guoren."

"Could you tell me how the fairy managed to stop me just now?"

Li Qinghan did not turn around.

But the reflection of the mirror in her eyes slowly emerged, hovering quietly above her head.

Zhang Guoren's face turned completely pale after just one glance.

He saw a wisp of a soul in the mirror. The soul was extremely faint and fragmented, yet it was clearly of the same origin as himself.

Zhang Guoren's throat was dry. It wasn't that he couldn't walk; it was this mirror that was holding him back.

A prayer was transmitted to Li Qinghan through divine thought.

"read."

After reciting the prayer in his mind, Zhang Guoren's face turned pale.

He wanted to slap himself right then and there. He hated his own sharp tongue; why did he have to bring up such a sore subject? Wasn't this just handing himself over to someone and becoming their slave?

But he had no other choice.

So he lowered his head, his voice trembling, and read aloud, word by word:

"The three lights descend, and the five elements gather spirit."

"I humbly beseech the Master of the Mysterious Mirror, whose vessel embodies profound mystery, whose power and virtue extend far and wide."

"Zhang Guoren, the humble servant, bows and prostrates himself, having offended the mirror and ritual vessels; he shall be subject to the soul-summoning ceremony."

"Now I will split my seven souls to form a bridge, and offer my three spirits to receive the seal, so that they may serve me forever."

"If anyone disobeys, their soul will perish and they will be forever condemned to the netherworld."

As the last word fell, a glimmer of light shone down from the mirror.

Zhang Guoren felt a sudden emptiness in his soul. It was as if something had been pulled from his life and hung in that mirror.

His body went limp, and he almost collapsed onto the flying corpse's back.

What is this?

One wrong move, and you're a slave for eternity?

Xuan Li naturally didn't put much effort into treating such a minor cultivator. He simply recorded Zhang Guoren's soul name in the mirror, made a brief note, and that was it. As for bestowing supernatural powers, that was out of the question.

"Tch, you should be secretly happy. If it weren't for the fact that I have plenty of empty seats here, and your cultivation technique is somewhat interesting, I wouldn't have bothered accepting you even if you were begging to be included. And if I hadn't secretly been trying to influence my little maid, would you still be alive today?"

Xuan Li silently complained, then unabashedly began to peruse Zhang Guoren's memories. These memories were also transmitted to Li Qinghan through the mirror image.

The reflection returned to Li Qinghan's eyes.

In that instant, she could clearly feel that Zhang Guoren's true spirit had been captured in the mirror.

Unlike that tall, thin, and wicked cultivator.

The tall, thin, and wicked cultivator appeared in the film after his death.

Zhang Guoren was alive when he appeared on camera.

Once a person is alive and captured on camera, their life and death, thoughts, and even memories no longer seem to belong entirely to them.

Soon, fragmented images began to appear in the mirror.

Zhang Guoren's memories are gradually revealed.

Looking at these memories, Li Qinghan frowned.

She saw a familiar place.