Corpse Trade

Yaan left Ghu Nadda's corpse-filled basement some time later, returning to his temple whilst lost in thought. Although Nadda hadn't explained any of his clan's real secrets, Yaan was still able to learn more about the nature of this demonic clan.

The Ghu Clan was an extremely demonic clan, where only 1 in every 1000 members would survive to the age of 20. Every year, tens of thousands of clansmen were born, but at the age of nine, they were taken away and thrown into a massive arena, then forced to fight to the death, until their numbers were whittled down from 1,000 to 100.

This was only the very first stage of the brutal process that was used to remove those who lacked the heart to pursue the demonic path. Only those children with an extreme resolve were able to survive to maturity in the Ghu Clan.

According to Ghu Nadda, the Fiend Transformation Technique was freely available in the Ghu Clan's mortal children settlements. This technique was taught to any child that wanted to learn it. The technique wasn't transmitted directly into their minds like how Yaan had acquired it from Rui though. Instead, the children needed to study the texts and comprehend the technique for themselves. Apparently, only one in every hundred children was able to do this, and very few of those would even go through with using it, whilst even fewer would actually survive the transformation.

Generally speaking, nobody would use the Fiend Transformation Technique unless they were truly on the verge of death, since undergoing this transformation was extremely dangerous. Anyway, the chance of succeeding with the transformation was actually greater when on the cusp of death. The mortal Ghu Clan children would only ever attempt this transformation when they were on the verge of death.

Besides the fiend race, members of the ghoul race and vampiric race were also present in the Ghu Clan. These demonic race members were created using the Ghoul Transformation Technique and the Vampiric Transformation Technique respectively.

The ghoul race cultivated by devouring human flesh, whilst the vampiric race drank human blood to grow stronger.

Yaan was beginning to understand why there was so much enmity between righteous cultivators and demonic race members. Righteous cultivators relied on talent to cultivate via the orthodox route, steadily refining Spiritual Energy into their own Innate Qi over a long period of time. Demonic race beings were the opposite of this. Demons disdained the concept of talent, throwing away their supposed 'fate' whilst taking cultivation into their own hands. Killing and stealing were normal parts of their cultivation. Demonic race members were the embodiment of the demonic path itself.

Six days later, Yaan returned to the Bloody Arena at the agreed time. He flashed his title plate to the guards, and with a single glance, they stepped aside and allowed him to pass through.

Within the basement, Ghu Nadda was waiting for him with twelve corpses laid out on separate tables in the centre of the basement.

Yaan was shocked when the ghoul stated that the total value of these corpses should be around 110 Rank 3 recovery pills, but it made sense when it was explained that three of these corpses were at the 1st Layer Qi Temple Realm. If someone were to refine one of these corpses into a corpse slave or a puppet, they would have the additional power of a 1st Layer Qi Temple Realm cultivator at their disposal.

"Deliver this spatial ring to the shopkeeper…you can bring back the payment next week…" Ghu Nadda smiled eerily. Even though his smile was visually jarring, Yaan felt the good intentions behind it.

Yaan blinked in surprise. He realised that Ghu Nadda was trusting him to keep the full payment for an entire week, rather than demanding that he bring it back right away. This was probably Ghu Nadda's way of showing his trust to develop their relationship.

In Nadda's eyes, postponing a single week of payment was well worth it to develop a friendly relationship with someone like Yaan. Even if Yaan took the money and ran, he wouldn't see it as a huge loss. If anything, doing this would allow him to see whether or not Yaan was trustworthy to this extent. So, rather than trusting Yaan, it was more of a calculated risk.

Most Qi Temple Realm cultivators could afford a spatial ring, and Ghu Nadda was no ordinary person. He was well versed in business and had accumulated plenty of wealth over the years. A single spatial ring was nothing to him.

Of course, Yaan wouldn't take the money within the ring…because he couldn't even open the ring. His dantian was crippled and he was unable to produce any Innate Qi, so all spiritual treasures were totally useless in his hands! Still, he appreciated the sentiment and clasped his hands in thanks before leaving.

The fact that he was unable to operate the spatial ring wasn't a big issue. Ghu Nadda placed the corpses into the ring, then the shopkeeper removed them after Yaan returned to the store and delivered the spatial ring.

The shopkeeper evaluated the corpses as being worth 112 Rank 3 recovery pills. As per the agreement, Yaan accepted the shopkeeper's price on the spot, since it was higher than Ghu Nadda's asking price. If the shopkeeper had stated a lower price, then Yaan would repeat Nadda's asking price and they would go from there.

The following week, when Yaan returned the spatial ring which now contained the 112 Rank 3 recovery pills and no corpses, Ghu Nadda showed an expression of surprise. He looked up at Yaan and stared at him, not hiding the confusion from his gaze.

"Is something wrong?" Yaan asked uncertainly.

"I didn't expect you to return more than my asking price…if you had taken the additional two pills, I wouldn't have known…honestly, I didn't even say that you couldn't do this…two Rank 3 recovery pills should be worth a lot to you, right…?"

Yaan sighed bitterly. Indeed, two Rank 3 recovery pills was a huge sum to him right now. Seeing Yaan's odd expression, Ghu Nadda felt even more confused.

"Could it be that you don't know how to use spiritual treasures..?" He asked doubtfully.

Yaan choked…did Nadda really think that he was so ignorant? Yaan was about to deny this and brush it off as a 'complicated matter', but as he thought of something, he hesitated.

It was a slim chance, but what if this Ghu Clansman knew a method to restore his crippled dantian? Yaan felt his heart thump at this possibility. He didn't want to reveal this weakness of his, but if it paid off, then…

He decided that it was worth the risk.

"My dantian is crippled." He looked at Nadda seriously and stated his problem directly.

Ghu Nadda's tired eyes widened slightly, but he quickly calmed down and showed a thoughtful expression.

"Mind if I check…? I know that some pills can recover a damaged dantian…maybe I can fix it…"

Yaan, now unable to control his racing heart, swallowed slightly and nodded. After pulling apart his robe, he allowed the ghoul to place his pale palm onto his stomach. Nadda closed his eyes and injected a slither of dark Innate Qi into Yaan's dantian. He opened his eyes a moment later with a sigh, then looked at Yaan apologetically.

"Your dantian isn't only slightly damaged, it's completely obliterated…if it wasn't for your strong body, you wouldn't even be able to live like this…sorry, there's nothing I can do…"

"It's fine." Yaan sighed, fixing his robe up as he shook his head. He had somewhat expected this already, but it was still disappointing.

He knew that if there was such an easy method of recovery, then Rui probably would have mentioned it. Even so, he couldn't help but get his hopes up.

"Your fiend race really is something though, cultivating the body alongside Innate Qi…even without Innate Qi, you still have the power of an Innate Qi Realm cultivator…" Ghu Nadda wasn't an expert on these things, but he understood that there were multiple different paths of cultivation. Most cultivators at his level would be ignorant to this fact, but as a Ghu Clansman, he was quite knowledgeable in various matters relating to cultivation.

He didn't think any less of Yaan now that he knew about Yaan's injury. In fact, he felt even more admiration towards him, because it was truly impressive that Yaan was able to persevere through something like this. Many would have lost heart after suffering such a debilitating injury.

The righteous admired talent and background, but the demonic admired resolve and wit.

And so, Yaan settled into his new job quickly.

Transporting corpses actually wasn't as grim as he had expected. After he became accustomed to spending time in the morgue, it was only a matter of delivering a spatial ring to the shopkeeper, then bringing the payment back to Ghu Nadda the following week.

The number of corpses that he delivered varied week by week, as did their overall value. The corpses were always at the Innate Qi Realm or Qi Temple Realm, with the latter being worth many times more than the former.

Now that he was earning a wage of 13 Rank 2 recovery pills each week, Yaan was able to purchase more of resources that he needed to cultivate his body. He didn't overspend however. He actually only spent around half of his income on ordinary materials like demonic beast hearts and bone marrow. As for the other half, he was saving it for a certain pill.

Progress was slow but steady. Yaan also continued to practice his Agile Sword Arts. Finally, four months after his arrival in North Ghu City, he mastered the first stage of this art.

Whoosh!

In his temple, Yaan's body seemed to move slowly, yet he covered the distance of ten feet with a single step. His figure was a blur, making it difficult to keep track of his actual position along his path.

Swoosh! Whoosh!

He repeatedly moved at strange angles, turning smoothly yet suddenly every couple of seconds. His body was like a leaf in the wind, whilst his sword stabbed out like a series of sharp thorns, creating a mesmerising pattern as the blade darted back and forth.

Chi!

A sharp sound echoed as the sword pierced the air. Yaan came to a stop and smiled to himself, very content with his current ability.

Despite the fact that his dantian was crippled, meaning that he could only rely on the power of his body, Yaan had finally caught up to the level of power that he had possessed during the nine faction tournament, before he was crippled and lost his Innate Qi. Back then, he had the ability to defeat Mid Innate Qi Realm cultivators and could hold his own in a battle against those at the late stage. Now, he was very close to reaching the Late 2-Star Realm as a body temperer, and his sword arts allowed him to make up for his lack of spells.

Back when he possessed both a demonic body and Innate Qi, defeating single path cultivators at higher stages was only normal. Now though, Yaan's cultivation held no advantage over any other cultivator. It should also be remembered that unlike Qi refiners, he couldn't use spells or spiritual treasures. As a body temperer, he could only rely on his talent in sword arts to match up to their spells and treasures.

Sword arts were often split up into stages, but this varied from art to art.

The Agile Sword Art was one of the Heavenly Path Sect's highest level martial arts, it would remain effective even for Spirit Core Realm elders. There were three stages to this art, but Yaan had only practised the very 1st stage. With that said, mastering the 1st stage at just 12 years of age was completely unheard of in the Heavenly Path Sect!

Unfortunately, Yaan was never taught the 2nd stage. He had no teacher and no manual to assist his practise now. From here on, he would be forced to practice based on his own intuition. It was possible to deduce the latter stages of a martial art based on mastery of the 1st stage, but something like this was extremely difficult and very few people were able to do so.

Yaan knew this, but he was determined to at least try, after all, he knew that his talent in sword arts was quite good. He felt that so long as he was diligent and put in the work, he would definitely succeed eventually!

His life experiences until now had taught him to always push forwards, no matter how difficult the path ahead might seem. He would keep pushing on, even if right now, he wasn't entirely sure why he was fighting.