Uncle Nine: You were supposed to drive corpses, so you summoned the Monkey King!

the next day.

The midday sun shone on his face as Lin Chen was awakened by the noise from the courtyard.

"Oh, my sword! My Crimson Bronze Greatsword!"

Master Simu called from outside.

Lin Chen pushed open the door.

Master Four Eyes, wearing a borrowed, wide robe, sat on a stone bench in the middle of the courtyard, howling as he held the bronze greatsword that had been reduced to scrap metal.

"This is a top-grade magic artifact mixed with Crimson Flame Copper! I didn't even get half of my cost back, and it's all ruined like this! That old turtle from Southeast Asia, he even tricked me after he died!" Master Four Eyes beat his chest and stamped his feet in frustration.

Uncle Nine stood under the eaves with his teacup in hand, too lazy to pay him any attention.

Just then, footsteps could be heard outside the gate of the mortuary.

Master Ikkyu, dressed in a monk's robe, stepped across the threshold, twirling his prayer beads.

"Amitabha, this humble monk heard you wailing from afar. Out with the old, in with the new. You should sell this piece of junk to the blacksmith in town. Maybe you can get a couple of bowls of vegetarian noodles for it." Master Ikkyu was a sarcastic old man from the very first word.

"Shut up, you old bald monk!" Master Four Eyes jumped up, pointing at Yixiu's nose and cursing, "Why aren't you in Qingshan Town beating your broken wooden fish? What are you doing in Renjia Town? Believe me, I'll ask the patriarch to come down and beat you again!"

Lin Chen watched the two old rivals bickering.

"Amitabha, monks do not lie. The yang fire in your sword has all died out. Why keep it as a fire poker?" Master Ikkyu was not angry at all.

Beside him, Jiale, completely ignoring his master's life or death, was holding a plate of washed apples and circling around Jingjing behind Yixiu.

"Jingjing, you must be thirsty after coming all this way. Try this, I just chilled it with well water."

Jingjing rolled her eyes at him, but didn't refuse. She took the apple and took a bite.

Seeing this, Si Mu gritted his teeth in anger: "You unfilial disciple! Your master is heartbroken, and you still have the nerve to fawn over me!"

"Master, stop howling." Lin Chen walked to the stone table, grabbed the fifty-pound broken sword with one hand, and easily lifted it up.

Lin Chen wiped his hand on the dark spine of the sword.

It felt icy to the touch, and my mental energy detected that there was still a trace of fire deep within the sword.

"The Crimson Flame Copper has a solid base, while the Southern Ocean Blood Curse only sealed the surface." Lin Chen slammed the greatsword back onto the stone slab. "Spend some time and magic power, and run it through the true fire again; it can be quenched back."

Master Four Eyes' eyes lit up, and he grabbed Lin Chen's arm: "Really?"

"Why would I lie to you?" Lin Chen shook off his hand. "I can't fight these few days anyway, so I'll just treat it as practice."

Master Ikkyu stopped smiling and looked Lin Chen up and down a few times.

"Nephew Lin, your qi and blood..." Yixiu was somewhat surprised, "Peak of the Taoist realm? You've only been down the mountain for a short time, and your cultivation speed is so fast that even the past patriarchs of Maoshan would have to return to secular life."

Lin Chen didn't respond. He pulled over a bench, sat down, and picked up an apple to eat.

Uncle Nine carried a teacup out of the main room and glanced at Ikkyu.

"Monk, you didn't come to my mortuary instead of staying in Qingshan Town. You certainly didn't come here just to see my junior brother make a fool of himself."

Ikkyu sighed, his expression turning somber.

Ikkyu reached into the sleeve of his monk's robe, pulled out a string of broken prayer beads, and placed them on the stone table.

The originally round Bodhi seeds are now half grayish-white, with some beads having silver spots on them.

Uncle Nine put down his teacup and looked at the few silver spots.

He extended his index finger and used his magic to touch one of the beads.

"laugh!"

Black smoke billowed from where the fingertips touched the beads.

Uncle Nine withdrew his hand and frowned. "The corpse poison of the silver-armored corpse."

The courtyard fell silent.

Master Simu stopped howling and took a closer look at the string of Buddhist beads.

"You old monk, you've encountered a silver-armored corpse? You're still standing here unscathed, you're really lucky."

Ikkyu ignored the sarcasm from the four eyes and pulled out a bench to sit down.

"The night before last, lightning struck a century-old locust tree on the back mountain of Qingshan Town, revealing the entrance to an underground palace," Yixiu said. "A group of reckless southern tomb raiders went inside, and ended up losing their lives."

"I sensed a strong aura of death rising from the back mountain. When I rushed over, I happened to see that thing coming out of the underground palace."

"You didn't stop it?" Four Eyes asked.

Ikkyu gave a bitter laugh: "What can I use to stop it? I threw my blessed Buddhist beads at it, and it didn't even make a sound. I risked taking a hit from the corpse poison and hit its back with my vajra, but it didn't even break its skin. Instead, it ruined my Buddhist beads."

Uncle Nine paced around the courtyard for a couple of steps.

"Ordinary bronze-armored corpses can already withstand magical artifacts, but silver-armored corpses have become jade-like, impervious to water and fire. Even with my current peak master level, I wouldn't be 100% confident in holding it back in a one-on-one fight."

Uncle Nine stopped and looked at Ikkyu. "It didn't kill you?"

"That's the strange thing." Master Ikkyu frowned. "That monstrous creature had silver scales all over its body, so it should be very ferocious. After it broke out of the coffin, it just casually waved its hand to drive me away, without even glancing at me, and went straight down the mountain."

"Down the mountain?" Lin Chen swallowed the apple in his mouth. "Where did they go?"

Master Ikkyu raised his hand and pointed in the direction outside the gate of the mortuary.

"Heading east, we're heading straight for Renjia Town."

The courtyard fell silent.

Master Four Eyes scratched his head: "Coming for Renjia Town? What's it doing here?"

Lin Chen thought for a moment.

The silver-armored corpse doesn't drink the blood of living people; instead, it travels with a specific purpose in mind.

This means that it either retains its consciousness from its previous life or is being controlled by someone.

"Master, what kind of clothes was that silver-armored corpse wearing?" Lin Chen asked.

Ikkyu recalled: "It wasn't the official robes of the previous dynasty. It looked like a sacrificial robe from the Miao region. It was a very dark color, and he seemed to be holding a dark iron plaque in his hand."

Lin Chen and Uncle Jiu exchanged a glance.

That heretical monk from Southeast Asia in Blackwater Town practices black magic and blood curses.

The silver-armored corpse was wearing a Miao sacrificial robe and holding an iron plaque, making it hard not to connect the two events.

"Uncle-Master, the earliest form of Nanyang black magic originated from the Gu magic of Miao territory," Lin Chen said.

Uncle Nine nodded, his face grim: "That evil cultivator in Blackwater Town possessed a corpse before he died, merging himself with the earth's yin energy. If he has fellow disciples or a master behind him, this silver-armored corpse is most likely here to seek revenge."

Master Four Eyes sneered, "Seeking revenge? Perfect timing! My greatsword was destroyed, and I was just looking for a place to vent my anger. If it dares to come, I'll ask my patriarch again to strip off its silver skin!"

"Junior brother, don't be impulsive." Uncle Nine pressed down on Four Eyes's shoulder.

"Your meridians have just been expanded by the Ancestral Master's magic power, so you can't use the Summoning Technique for a while. Qianhe suffered internal injuries and hasn't recovered yet. Lin Chen forcibly bore the divine fire, so he can't use his internal energy or magic power for the next few days."

Uncle Nine counted on his fingers the current fighting strength of the mortuary.

The only ones who could act without hesitation were him, a peak-level master, and the Ikkyu Master beside him, who disliked killing.

It's too risky for the two of them to take on a silver-armored corpse by force.

"Master, don't panic."

Lin Chen tossed the apple core into the basket and pulled over a piece of burlap to wipe his hands.

"Since it's walking here, it won't be too fast, so we have time to prepare."

Uncle Nine looked at Lin Chen: "What's your idea?"

Lin Chen glanced at the scrap metal greatsword on the ground.

"Since it has a silver skin and an iron body, ordinary magical artifacts can't break through its defenses, so let's prepare something different for it."

Lin Chen stood up and walked up to Simu: "Master, how much secret savings do you have left?"

His eyes narrowed warily as he clutched the cloth bag at his waist: "What do you want? You're even eyeing my life savings?"

"Buy the materials," Lin Chen said matter-of-factly.

"I plan to rent that abandoned blacksmith shop in the north of the town. I want to reforge this greatsword, so I need to go to the provincial capital to buy some good stuff. I not only need to repair it, but I also need to upgrade it."

Upon hearing that he could upgrade his account, Si Mu gritted his teeth, took out three gold bars from his bag, and slammed them on the table.

"Spend wisely!"

Lin Chen tucked the gold bars into his pocket and was about to go back to his room to get a purple bamboo pen to make a materials list.