The war continues. However, it has little to do with Lu Xuan anymore.
Beijing.
In a courtyard house, Lu Xuan and several disciples were busy at work.
Before them lay a tall body bound by dozens of iron chains. It was the corpse king from the Yuan Dynasty tomb at Ping Mountain, ten years ago.
This item had been kept by the Chen family for many years. It wasn't until Lu Xuan returned that it was sent to Lu Xuan's courtyard house in Beijing.
"Over the years, we've been feeding it small amounts of pig's blood to keep it somewhat active." These words came from Chen Yulou, now one of China's top pharmaceutical tycoons. He has long since completely cleaned up his name and has no connection to the former Xieling faction.
Lu Xuan gently placed his right hand on the Corpse King's forehead. A wisp of vital energy was slowly channeled into it. Over the past ten years, while researching the auxiliary equipment for Adam, Lu Xuan had also reached a considerable level of mastery over his own vital energy.
Over the past ten years, the three disciples, along with Hong Gu, and with Lu Xuan's help, have successively established small cycles. Based on their combined combat strength, even if this Corpse King were to fully awaken now, the five of them would be more than capable of suppressing it.
However, Lu Xuan didn't intend to take such a dangerous step. What he was doing now was trying to infiltrate the Corpse King's consciousness and then take control of him.
Chinese Taoist magic, especially Maoshan magic, has a long history of using corpse-refining techniques. Moreover, it is considered orthodox Maoshan magic.
According to traditional zombie classifications, this one, while hailed as a zombie king, is actually a bit short. It should be considered a bronze-armored zombie (zombie classification is very complex, with various different interpretations; this is my own summary).
Traditionally, these bronze-armored corpses possess steel-like bones and are impervious to weapons. They dislike sunlight, but can no longer be directly killed by it.
Below it are the hairy zombies, green zombies, white zombies, and purple zombies. Above that are the silver-armored, gold-armored, and flying zombies. Above that are the legendary Four Great Zombie Kings: Jiang Chen, Hanba, Ying Gou, and Hou Qing. However, these four are unique, considered deities among zombies, and incomparable to other zombies.
However, in this era, a zombie of the bronze-armored level is already extremely terrifying. Ordinary gunpowder weapons are unlikely to kill it. To ordinary people, it is the zombie king.
Ten years of tempering had diminished much of the ferocity and savagery that the bronze-armored corpse had brought from its grave. This was why Lu Xuan was only now taking action.
The bronze-armored corpse's rank was clearly not high enough to possess independent consciousness. Its sea of consciousness was nothing but chaos.
Lu Xuan had come prepared this time. He had combined various Taoist methods of soul-capturing and corpse-controlling, summarizing his own unique method. He would use this weakened bronze-armored corpse to practice his skills.
The basic procedure for controlling zombies involves creating a personal imprint within the zombie's chaotic consciousness. This imprint then allows the user to manipulate the zombie's every move. Since most zombies have a chaotic consciousness, this process isn't actually difficult.
However, this bronze-armored corpse had been specially raised using a Yin-gathering formation. It was more troublesome than a regular zombie.
Soon, Lu Xuan found what he was looking for in his chaotic consciousness.
It was a spiritual imprint. Just as Lu Xuan had predicted, this thing belonged to its owner. A spiritual imprint had long been planted on it. However, with the passage of time, this imprint had become very weak.
Incidentally, Lu Xuan neglected his spiritual cultivation in the early stages of his training. Ultimately, this was because the Ape Strike Technique lacked a corresponding method. He had to figure it out himself. It took him nearly ten years to develop a suitable method for visualizing and refining his spiritual power.
Having tempered his soul, Lu Xuan now had the confidence to face the mental imprints left by others. Of course, the strengthening of his soul also brought another important effect: Lu Xuan felt that the final volume of the Ape Strike Technique, the one involving absorbing the essence of the sun and moon, was no longer so unbearable.
Daily training, moonlit training. Absorbing the essence of the sun and moon to strengthen himself, even unleashing it against enemies. This was the image of cultivation in Lu Xuan's mind. It took a great deal of effort to suppress the urge to start cultivating immediately. Lu Xuan decided to deal with the bronze-armored corpse first.
This was a battle within the sea of consciousness. Lu Xuan's consciousness frantically washed over the remaining spiritual imprint. About half an hour passed. Finally, the imprint shattered. Lu Xuan also felt his spirit instantly and completely flood into the bronze-armored corpse's sea of consciousness.
Now, he can build his own spiritual imprint.
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Chapter 120 Officially Begins Cultivation (Please Subscribe)
The Japanese have already moved into Beijing.
However, Beijing was a complex city with various factions. The Japanese had not yet established absolute control over it. The decline of the Qing government forced many of Beijing's original nobles and aristocratic families to withdraw from the historical stage. The Japanese were busy supporting the remnants of the old regime in Beijing and even dreamed of moving the capital to Beijing, making it their base of operations. Therefore, the city did not suffer too much damage.
At this moment, Lu Xuan seized the opportunity to acquire an entire street of courtyard houses at a low price. Many of these houses had once been residences of Qing Dynasty princes and high-ranking officials. Now, they were all in Lu Xuan's possession. He acted as a major shareholder of the American Eternal Group. No one dared to stop him.
He established multiple laboratories in these private locations to test his various hypotheses and conduct experiments. Simultaneously, he continuously researched the curse afflicting the Partridge Whistle clan.
With the completion of the first small cycle, his three disciples were no longer feeling the negative effects of the curse. The oldest, Partridge Whistle, was thirty-eight years old, very close to the Zaglama tribe's age limit of forty. However, he showed no symptoms of the curse taking effect.
The only pity is that their methods ultimately cannot be applied to the entire clan. Lu Xuan could painstakingly initiate his own disciples, helping them establish their first small cycle. But no matter how many people there were, he was powerless to do so.
Partridge Whistle and the others were naturally deeply grateful for Lu Xuan's tireless help. Their lives were practically in Lu Xuan's hands. Lu Xuan didn't need to take their lives; he simply wanted a few companions on his journey.
Having subdued the bronze-armored corpse, Lu Xuan, after numerous attempts and training sessions, began to gradually restore its body. Putting everything else aside, the initial goal was to restore it to the state it was at when it broke free of its coffin.
Reviving a zombie is simple. Just let it suck blood, especially human blood. And right now in Beijing, there's plenty of human blood available for free.
That evening, Partridge Whistle and his men kidnapped a man: Zhu Qianlong, the director of the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau—a traitor who made no attempt to conceal his allegiance to the Japanese.
Influenced by Lu Xuan, his disciples naturally harbored extreme hatred for traitors. Therefore, their first thought was to sacrifice this scoundrel.
However, a small accident occurred during this operation. Zhu Qianlong's martial arts were quite good, but he was no match for Partridge Whistle and his group of Qi cultivators. Even without cultivating immortality, Partridge Whistle alone could take him down. Crucially, they noticed that someone else was secretly monitoring Zhu Qianlong.
Li Tianran awoke from his coma, a chill running down his spine. He vaguely recalled everything that had happened. While monitoring Zhu Qianlong, he had noticed someone attempting to harm him. Zhu Qianlong was someone his father had instructed him not to touch for the time being.
So he immediately took action to try and disrupt the group. But this action had disastrous consequences; he was shocked to discover that his opponents far surpassed him in individual combat skills, teamwork, and even special operations tactics. He was utterly defeated the moment he showed himself. Now, he was in the hands of those unidentified individuals.
“Open your eyes if you’re awake. Nobody here is afraid you’ll look.” A male voice rang out in front of him. Li Tianran opened his eyes and saw Partridge Whistle standing in front of him. He knew that this was the leader of the trio from tonight.
The other side swiftly dispatched Zhu Qianlong's dozen or so guards, as easily as slicing vegetables. They were able to kidnap one of Beijing's most powerful traitors without a sound. Their strength was undeniable. The crucial point was that Li Tianran couldn't figure out which side these people were on.
"Tell me, why are you stopping us from arresting Zhu Qianlong? You don't look like a traitor."
"Zhu Qianlong cannot die yet. We are trying to use him to deal with Genmoto Ichiro. Although Zhu Qianlong has sided with the Japanese, he values his own power highly. He is not entirely of one mind with Genmoto Ichiro, and we can take advantage of this..."
Just as Li Tianran was excitedly recounting their plan to use Zhu Qianlong to deal with Genmoto Ichiro, the door opened, and the old foreigner, along with Hua Ling and Xiao Hua, dragged in a man dressed in a kimono.
Li Tianran's story came to an abrupt end. Because the one who was dragged in was none other than Genmoto Ichiro.
"You...do you know that doing this will anger the Japanese? They might carry out a massacre in Beijing in retaliation for your actions."
“That’s true. But the plan you just mentioned has given me a hint. Having Zhu Qianlong kill Genmoto Ichiro to sow discord between the pro-Japanese forces in the capital and the Japanese side is a good idea. It’s just a pity that while your idea is good, your execution is too weak.”