Dao of The Demonic Cultivator

Chu Xuan surveyed the Zombie Matriarch from his elevated position and stated coolly, "Your duty is to produce castrated versions of minor zombies. These diminutive creatures neither feed nor move; they are devoid of thought. They shall serve as the soil of this farm, understand?"

The Zombie Matriarch nodded vigorously. Having endured the prior battle, it had completely abandoned any thoughts of resistance. Survival was its only concern now, and it was willing to do whatever was necessary.

Soon, sufficiently nourished, the Zombie Matriarch began to lay eggs at full capacity. One by one, the zombie eggs were carefully placed into pits by the corpse puppets. After four to five days, the eggs would hatch.

The flesh of the lesser zombies would then become a nurturing ground for spiritual plants. Thus, plants like Earth Evil Fruit and Blood Fang Fruit could be mass-produced. The strength of the corpse puppets under Chu Xuan's command would also rapidly advance. Moreover, each time a young zombie was drained of energy by the spiritual plants and died, he would gain a measure of merit.

Chu Xuan stood on the rooftop, looking over the thriving zombie farm, a satisfied smile playing on his lips.

"This is what should be done!"

Soon, he entered the Yin Evil Soul-Snatching Array and sat down to commence the refinement of the Blood Evil Shadows.

The key to crafting the Blood Evil Shadows was a painstaking effort. It required both blood essence and Yin Evil Qi.

Chu Xuan estimated that it might take another year to fully refine three Blood Evil Shadows. Fortunately, he was located on this planet, where time flowed at only one-tenth the rate of Mystic Azure Realm. Although two years had passed here, only just over two months had elapsed in the Mystic Azure Realm.

For a cultivator, a little over two months of cultivation was but the blink of an eye. What did a bit more time matter?

Time passed day by day.

Chu Xuan's daily tasks were simple. By day, he refined the Earth Evil Pills and other such medicines; by night, he worked on the Blood Evil Shadows.

One year later, Chu Xuan was still seated within the Yin Evil Soul-Snatching Array. His shadow stretched long and seemed to contain some bizarre, sinister spirit.

"The third Blood Evil Shadow is also refined. With this, I now have thrice the means to withstand lethal attacks. Often, I can rely on the Blood Evil Shadows to trade injury for injury, life for life."

Chu Xuan revealed a satisfied smile.

At that moment, three roars echoed from not far away. It was Long, Hu, and Bao. Feeling the end of Chu Xuan's cultivation, they immediately rushed over from various locations.

Before long, the trio stood before Chu Xuan. Each of the three distinct corpse puppets now exuded an exceptionally formidable aura.

Long, a bald brute was robust in stature. Skilled in both physical combat and spellcraft, he was equally formidable in either arena, a true dual adept of magic and close combat.

Hu, a towering giant, was even larger than Long. A true behemoth like a tank.

Bao, lean and gaunt, was enveloped in a faint black glow. He resembled a dagger walking through the night, ever ready to harvest the lives of his enemies.

However, the rat tail hanging from his mouth, not yet fully swallowed, somewhat dimmed the sharpness of this nocturnal blade, lending him a slightly foolish air.

"No more junk food," Chu Xuan scolded.

Bao hastily spat out the rat tail and shrank his neck to show he understood.

Chu Xuan glanced over and noticed that all three corpses had successfully advanced to the level of Corpse Generals.

Long was at the highest level, a second-tier Corpse General. Hu and Bao followed, both first-tier Corpse Generals.

Before long, more corpse puppets gathered from all directions. These were the first batch of corpse puppets casually refined by Chu Xuan.

Their levels varied, with the highest being the eighth-tier and the lowest at the fifth-tier.

Chu Xuan held no particular expectations for their advancement, allowing them to roam freely.

They only needed to be somewhat useful at critical moments.

"Three Corpse Generals, almost equivalent to three Foundation Establishment stage cultivators. If I were still in the Mystic Azure Realm without the support of Earth Evil Pills, I couldn't have so easily cultivated three Corpse Generals."

Chu Xuan smiled satisfactorily. Every visit to this zombie planet made him stronger, amassing more aces up his sleeve.

Upon his return to the Mystic Azure Realm, he would no longer be the minor Foundation Establishment cultivator he once was. This time, he had three Corpse Generals to assist, the Corpse Refining Blood Fire, and the Blood Evil Shadows.

His life-bound magical tool, the Evil Soul Chain, had been fully transformed and manned by Huikong. He also possessed the Merit Bell, a top-grade defensive weapon!

"However, the efficiency of this Yin Evil Soul-Snatching Array is now rather low. The Yin Evil Qi it produces daily must support my cultivation and the consumption of the Evil Soul Chain, which is slightly insufficient."

Chu Xuan surveyed his surroundings. He immediately noticed that the Yin Evil Qi within the array had significantly weakened. If he continued to cultivate here, in no more than three months, the array's ambience would shift from an eerie ghostliness to birds chirping and flowers blooming. That would be unacceptable.

Thus, Chu Xuan needed to expand and strengthen the Yin Evil Soul-Snatching Array. However, his current mastery of array techniques was insufficient to modify the Yin Evil Soul-Snatching Array by himself.

The only option was to replace the array. Upon his return to the Mystic Azure Realm, his most crucial task would be to acquire a new array.

Ideally, he would also purchase some array manuals to study and comprehend on his own. Secondly, the search for a second Gu insect was his next task. This pursuit offered two methods.

The first was to directly seek a Gu insect of superior aptitude. However, given the vastness of the world, this method could take decades and likely would not yield results without considerable effort. Most likely, he would need to make a purchase.

Already in possession of a second-transformation Gu insect like Gangsi, Chu Xuan could no longer be satisfied with inferior first-transformation Gu insects. He would need to buy at least a second-transformation Gu, along with the necessary methods for its feeding and reproduction. This would not be cheap.

The second method involved finding a Gu that could mate with Gangsi and produce offspring. After consuming the strange blood, Gangsi had been enhanced to a second transformation, with significantly improved aptitude. If it could mate with another second-transformation or even a third-transformation Gu, the offspring could potentially be stronger. This method was somewhat cheaper than the first. However, it was akin to a blind box; one could never predict what kind of offspring would result.

Chu Xuan planned to try both methods, not wishing to miss any opportunities.

After ensuring all his affairs were in order, Chu Xuan, accompanied by Long and Bao, and having plucked the soul of the python from the Array, activated the Blood Mirror and vanished from sight.

...

Inside the Water Curtain Cave, strange lights flowed and Chu Xuan materialized out of thin air. Upon appearing, he did not move but immediately calmed his mind to survey his surroundings. He detected no abnormalities. The array he had previously set up showed no signs of damage or activation, which eased his mind.

Chu Xuan then took out the soul of the two-headed Python, integrating it into the array. Having been transformed into a malicious soul after such a long period and already thoroughly subdued by Huikong, the python was very obedient. The process of refining the main soul of the array went smoothly, taking just one day.

A day later, the python roared to the heavens, officially becoming the main soul of the array. Henceforth, when Chu Xuan was not in the Water Curtain Cave, the python would guard the place. Bolstered by the local array and its inherent Yin Evil Qi, the python was capable of withstanding the onslaught of a sixth-layer Foundation Establishment cultivator.

Having completed these tasks, Chu Xuan left with peace of mind. After so many days of secluded cultivation, it was indeed time to observe the changes in his surroundings.