Longevity: Starting as a menial servant in the Green Wood Sect

The dawn in Broken Soul Valley brought no hope, but instead, with the faint light of day, it unveiled a scene of utter devastation.

Last night's seemingly fierce attack receded like the tide. The green-haired zombies of the Corpse Puppet Sect mysteriously vanished into the mist before dawn, leaving behind only a mess and dozens of torn or inexplicably dead corpses.

A nauseating sweet and fishy smell permeated the air, mixed with the stench of burning, forming a thin layer of yellowish-green mist that enveloped the entire logistics camp.

"Cough cough... This fog... is poisonous..."

A rogue cultivator who was clearing the rubble suddenly coughed violently. His face turned ashen at a visible speed, and a deathly bluish-black tinge appeared beneath his once rosy skin. Within a few breaths, he clutched his throat and collapsed to the ground, his eyes bulging, black blood flowing from his seven orifices, his body convulsing and falling silent.

"Corpse poison! It's a corpse poison outbreak!"

The terrified screams instantly ignited the crowd.

The group, who thought they had survived a calamity, then discovered that the Corpse Puppet Sect's attack the previous night was a feint. Their real purpose was to release "plague corpses" that had been refined into their own.

The corpses lying on the ground were rapidly expanding like fermenting dough, and then with a soft "poof," they exploded, spraying out large amounts of poisonous powder that were indistinguishable to the naked eye.

"Shut up, all of you! What's the panic about!"

A loud shout quelled the commotion.

A burly man in dark brown leather armor, with a fierce face, led a team of law enforcement officers wearing gas masks as he strode in. Although he also covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief soaked in medicine, his large, bell-like eyes were filled with ferocity.

"It's just some low-level corpse poison; it won't kill anyone!"

Manager Ma kicked aside a corpse blocking his path, his gaze sweeping coldly over the trembling rogue cultivators and laborers around him. "The most urgent task now is to clean up these sources of pollution! If the poisonous gas is allowed to spread to the core warehouse and contaminate the pills and spirit grains urgently needed at the front lines, I'll throw you all into the corpse-refining furnace!"

He casually pointed around, and those were a dozen or so of the lowest-ranking and most insignificant rogue cultivators, including Gu An.

"You, you, and that guy named Lu Guan, you lot, go and carry these blown-up corpses to the crematorium! Go now!"

Upon hearing this, the faces of the rogue cultivators who had been named turned deathly pale.

These corpses were in the area where the poison was most concentrated, and there were no protective measures in place. This was tantamount to making them hold a red-hot iron with their bare hands.

"Manager Ma...Manager Ma," a timid old rogue cultivator knelt down tremblingly, "This...this corpse poison is too potent. Could you please give me some antidote pills, or a protective suit...?"

"Snapped!"

A crisp sound.

Manager Ma's long, barbed whip lashed the old man's face, instantly tearing his skin and drawing blood.

"You shameless bastards! What are you rogue cultivators doing here? Aren't you just here to risk your lives for a few spirit stones? Now that we're asking you to do some work, you're making excuses!"

Steward Ma's eyes flashed with murderous intent as he pointed his long whip at the crowd. "Either go and move the corpses, or you're treated as deserters and killed on the spot!"

Behind him, the law enforcement disciples drew their long swords in unison, their blades gleaming coldly.

In this world of cultivation, the law of the jungle prevails. Behind this chaotic battlefield, the lives of a few rogue cultivators are truly worth less than weeds.

Gu An huddled in the crowd, a barely perceptible cold glint flashing beneath his lowered eyelids.

But he quickly raised his head, his face bearing that signature look of cowardice and greed, and was the first to rush out.

"My lord, please calm down! I'll go! I'll go right away!"

While bowing and scraping, Gu An deftly pulled a dirty rag from his pocket and covered his face, looking comical. "As long as these spirit stones... as long as there aren't too many small ones..."

Seeing that someone had taken the lead, Steward Ma snorted coldly, his expression softening slightly: "You old codger, you're smart enough to know what's good for you. Once you've finished the work, everyone will get an extra half a spirit stone. Now get back to work!"

Seeing this, the other rogue cultivators knew that whether they stuck their necks out or not, they would all be killed. They could only grit their teeth and follow Gu An toward the corpses that emitted green energy, either by covering their mouths with their sleeves or by sucking on inferior antidote herbs.

……

The process of moving a corpse is a hellish ordeal for others.

The sticky, foul-smelling corpse fluid, once it touched the skin, immediately caused a burning pain. Before long, two rogue cultivators with the lowest cultivation levels collapsed from the poison and were dragged away by Manager Ma's men like dead dogs.

But for Gu An, it was a feast for the senses.

"call……"

Gu An carried a corpse that was emitting green smoke on his back, staggering towards the incineration pit. From an angle where no one was watching, his hands gripped the corpse's back tightly, his palms pressed against the festering flesh.

Inside the body, the "Sheng Sen Yi Mu Jue" is like a sophisticated pump, quietly operating at its maximum capacity.

The deadly corpse poison and wood evil that would be fatal to ordinary people flowed continuously into Gu An's meridians through the pores of his palm.

Yi wood represents vitality, but also decay.

This corpse poison is essentially a mutation of wood-attribute spiritual energy under the rules of death. Gu An's cultivation technique is extremely domineering; not only does it not reject it, but it regards it as a great tonic. After being crushed and purified by the blue-green spiritual liquid in his dantian, it transforms into a torrent of pure spiritual power.

"Cool!"

Gu An almost couldn't help but groan out loud.

Although the concentration of this poison gas is not as high as that of Shen Wan's "living-nurturing" high-level poison, it has the advantage of being plentiful and filling!

One, two, three...

Gu An was like a tireless old ox, going back and forth between the pile of corpses and the cremation pit time and time again. Although his face was still disguised as sallow and covered in sweat, his eyes were getting brighter and brighter, with a faint blue light flowing in their depths.

Half an hour later.

When Gu An threw the last remaining limb of the green-haired zombie into the fire pit, he felt a slight rumble coming from his dantian.

The turquoise liquid suddenly contracted, then expanded dramatically, its color becoming even deeper, resembling a flawless piece of imperial green jade.

Qi Refining Level 3, Peak!

He was just one step away from breaking through to the fourth level of Qi Refining! However, this fourth level of Qi Refining was no ordinary level; it was far more profound than the previous fourth level of Qi Refining he had advanced to.

The more solid the foundation in cultivation, the further one can achieve in the future.

Seeing the increasingly solidified spiritual power, Gu An was overjoyed. This spiritual power, comparable to the fifth or sixth level of Qi Refining, already gave him the right to challenge Zhao Feng.

If those inner disciples who toil away meditating within the sect knew about this cultivation speed, they would probably be so ashamed they'd want to smash their heads against a block of tofu.

However, poison is poison after all, and inhaling too much will also put some burden on the body.

"Phew...that was close. If I had inhaled any more, my meridians might not have been able to withstand the backlash from the poison."

Gu An wiped the sweat from his forehead and looked at his hands, which had turned slightly black from absorbing too much poison gas, and thought to himself.

He calmly circulated his spiritual energy, forcing the remaining toxins to his fingertips, preparing to expel them when the opportunity arose.

Just then, a low murmur of conversation reached his ears.

Gu An was standing in a blind spot of the incineration pit, separated by a collapsed earthen wall from a makeshift tent area.

"Brother Ma, this batch of goods is of good quality."

A fawning voice rang out, "Among those rogue cultivators, a few are quite wealthy. Especially that one-eyed dragon who just died; he actually had two mid-grade spirit stones hidden in his storage bag!"

"Hmph, that one-eyed guy is also involved in the black market, so naturally he makes some money."

That was Steward Ma's voice, tinged with greed and smugness. "Put all these storage bags away. Find some excuse later, say they were destroyed by corpse poison while cleaning up the battlefield, and report it as a loss. As for the contents... hehe, the old rule, split them 30/70."

Gu An held his breath and looked through the cracks in the earthen wall.

Manager Ma was sitting in a grand chair, toying with several blood-stained storage bags in his hands. At his feet was a pile of miscellaneous magical artifacts and pill bottles, obviously taken from the bodies of the dead or the rogue cultivators he had forced to their deaths.

This is what is known as "cleaning up the battlefield".

A cold glint flashed in Gu An's eyes.

He didn't care that Steward Ma was embezzling; the world was full of shady dealings. But he noticed an account book in Steward Ma's hand.

It was a blue-covered, thread-bound book that looked ordinary, but Gu An noticed with his sharp eyes that there was an extremely subtle secret mark printed on the cover of the account book.

The hidden mark was seven parts similar to the pattern on the "Corpse Puppet Sect" waist token he had seen in the underground ruins before!

"Why are there Corpse Puppet Sect's secret marks on the Green Wood Sect's logistics ledgers?"

Gu An's heart skipped a beat, and a bold guess came to mind.

Could this person also be a mole?

Moreover, he was a high-ranking mole!

Manager Ma is not only embezzling the money from the dead, he is likely taking advantage of the war to profit from both sides!

"This old geezer can't be kept alive."

Gu An withdrew his head, his killing intent already made up.

If this Steward Ma continues to live, he might sell me off as cannon fodder one day. Moreover, that account book... could very well be one of the "clues" that Old Ancestor Qi asked him to find.

More importantly, this Manager Ma currently possesses the wealth of several rogue cultivators.

Gu An's eyes flickered, finally settling on his fingertips.

There, a drop of "high-concentration bone-corroding poison" was being extracted from Shen Wan's body and nurtured by his internal poison techniques.

This poison is colorless and odorless, but as soon as it comes into contact with the skin, it will instantly invade the bone marrow. Even a cultivator in the late stage of Qi Refining will turn into a pool of blood in a short time if he is not prepared.

Gu An glanced around and, after confirming that no one was paying attention, did not rush in.

He straightened his clothes, pretending to have just finished work and was going to report, and walked towards Steward Ma's tent.

"Manager Ma! Manager Ma!"

Gu An stood outside the tent and shouted loudly, his voice tinged with eagerness to claim credit, "The corpses are all disposed of! Look at those spirit stones..."

The conversation inside the tent abruptly stopped.

A moment later, the obsequious attendant came out, waving his hand impatiently: "What are you shouting for! Steward Ma is busy checking supplies and doesn't have time for you, you poor wretch! Get out of here and wait!"

"Yes, yes, yes."

Gu An nodded repeatedly, but he did not go far. Instead, he took advantage of the moment when the attendant turned back to the tent, slipped, and "accidentally" bumped into the tent's doorpost.

His right hand seemed to frantically grab the animal-hide-covered doorknob of the tent, as if to steady himself.

In fact, that drop of deadly venom on the fingertip had been silently smeared on the most frequently gripped spot on the doorknob.

"How clumsy! Get lost!" the attendant cursed, without suspecting anything.

Gu An retreated meekly to a dead tree a dozen feet away, squatted on the ground like a pitiful worm waiting for pay.

But his eyes, narrowed to slits, were fixed intently on the tent.

He was waiting. Waiting for that greedy fat man to come out.

About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea has passed.

The tent flap moved.

Manager Ma seemed to have finished tallying the spoils and was in a good mood, humming a little tune as he walked out. He held his belt in one hand and, with the other, very naturally grasped the doorknob and pulled hard.

"This awful weather is unbearably hot. I need to get some chilled plum juice..."

As he spoke, Steward Ma released the doorknob. He didn't feel anything unusual. The venom was extremely mild upon entering his body, like a drop of water seeping into a sponge.

Gu An squatted in the distance, silently counting in his mind.

three.

two.

One.

"ah--!!!"

A bloodcurdling scream suddenly burst from Steward Ma's mouth.

The sound was so shrill that it was almost inhuman, and it instantly spread throughout half of the camp.

Suddenly, Manager Ma froze on the spot. His right hand, which had just gripped the doorknob, was turning into a strange purplish-black color at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Immediately afterwards, the purplish-black color, as if it were alive, spread wildly upwards along the arm.

"My hand...my hand! Ah! What is this! Help! Help me!"

Manager Ma frantically waved his arms, trying to scratch with his left hand, but the moment his left hand touched it, it was instantly infected as well.

The flesh began to melt away, revealing the stark white bones beneath, which then began to soften and turn black.

"Poison! Assassin! Help!"

The attendant beside him was terrified. He sat down on the ground and scrambled backward, not daring to step forward to help.

The surrounding rogue cultivators and law enforcement disciples were also stunned by this terrifying scene, and they all gathered around, but only dared to watch from a few feet away.

"Make way! Make way, everyone! I'm a doctor! I have an antidote!"

Just then, a figure pushed through the crowd and rushed in.

It was Gu An. His face was filled with "anxiety" and "loyalty," and he rushed towards Steward Ma, who was rolling on the ground, holding the dirty porcelain bottle in his hand.

"Manager Ma! Hang in there! I'll give you the antidote right away!"

Gu An rushed to Steward Ma's side. At this time, Steward Ma could no longer even scream. Bubbling sounds came from his throat, and half of his body had turned into pus and blood.

His eyes, filled with fear and resentment, were fixed on Gu An, as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out.

"Open your mouth! Open your mouth now!"

Gu An supported Steward Ma's only remaining good shoulder with one hand, seemingly feeding him medicine, but in reality, under the cover of his body, he very discreetly swiped Steward Ma's waist with his left hand.

The storage bag containing a large number of spirit stones and the crucial ledger disappeared instantly from his sleeve.

At the same time, his right fingertip trembled slightly, and a stream of pure Wood elemental energy rushed into Steward Ma's body. However, it was not to save him, but to instantly catalyze the outbreak of the poison, giving him a final, swift death.

"puff!"

Manager Ma didn't catch his last breath, and his entire body turned into a pool of foul-smelling blood, leaving not even a trace of bone.

Gu An plopped down on the ground, still holding the empty porcelain bottle in his hand, his face full of "grief" and "regret".

"Manager Ma...Manager Ma! Don't fall asleep!"

He beat his chest and stamped his feet, crying with such genuine emotion, "I...I'm too late! That damned Corpse Puppet Sect! This poison is too vicious!"

Those around who saw the pool of blood felt their scalp tingle and gasped in horror.

No one doubted this "loyal servant" who risked his own safety to save the steward. Everyone assumed that this must be some extremely vicious trick left behind by the Corpse Puppet Sect.

"Investigate! A thorough investigation is necessary!"

An elderly enforcement captain, who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, looked at the marks on the ground with a livid face and roared, "Seal off the scene! No one is allowed to approach!"

Amid the chaotic crowd, Gu An lowered his head, wiping away non-existent tears as he quietly retreated to the outer perimeter.

His fingers gently caressed the storage bag he had just acquired inside his sleeve, a cold smile curving his lips.

To kill someone with a borrowed knife, the knife remains unstained; to fish in troubled waters, the fish are unaware of their own actions.

Now that we have the ledger, the next step is to go to that abandoned mine and see what tricks the Corpse Puppet Sect and the traitor are up to.