Five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Chu Xuan slurped down a steaming bowl of shrimp and fish cake instant noodles. It hit the spot. Eat instant noodles every day, and they become repulsive. Go without them for long enough, and the artificial MSG flavor becomes a craving. For Chu Xuan, who had transmigrated into the Cultivation world decades ago, the cheap, savory broth tasted like pure nostalgia.

A brazier crackled fiercely in front of him. After draining the last drops of the noodle broth, he waited for the flames to die down to glowing embers. Using two makeshift wooden tongs, he fished an object out of the ashes.

The Blood Mirror.

It bore no scorch marks. If anything, its crimson luster was even more vibrant than before. Chu Xuan peered into the glass. The reflection showed clear skies, a bright sun, and pristine mountains—the exact location he had fled from in the Cultivation world. Currently, about a fifth of the image glowed with clarity. Once the entire scene lit up, he could cross back.

He had already deduced the mirror's mechanics: it passively absorbed ambient energy from heaven and earth to recharge. And it wasn't picky. Spiritual Qi, baleful aura, Yin energy, or even mundane bio-energy, thermal, light, and electrical energy—it devoured it all. Tossing it into the brazier was simply a way to feed it heat. At this rate, it would be fully charged in a month.

A low, excited growl echoed from down the hall. Moments later, his Corpse Soldier lumbered into view, a heavy gasoline can clutched in each hand. It had just returned from a hunting run. Chu Xuan had recently programmed it to scavenge for fuel. It had been a bit slow on the uptake initially, but after some rigorous "training," the undead brute finally understood the command.

Chu Xuan eyed the Corpse Soldier's increasingly robust, heavily muscled frame with clinical satisfaction. "Good job, Little Tiger."

Hearing this, the hulking undead immediately bowed its head in utter subservience, allowing Chu Xuan to pat its rotting scalp. "Little Tiger" was a name Chu Xuan had, of course, spent hours agonizing over. He definitely hadn't just lazily ripped a syllable from the zombie's pre-death nametag.

Definitely not.

Over the past two days, Little Tiger had systematically purged the local Xiaorunfa supermarket of its undead infestation. The energetic, high-quality zombies were dragged back alive to be bled. The plump, meaty ones were butchered as premium feed for his Blood Steel Wire. As for the sluggish, lethargic disappointments? They were simply devoured on the spot to nourish the Corpse Soldier.

By day three, the Corpse Soldier had expanded its hunting grounds, clearing out the surrounding shops and apartments. In just five days, it had evolved from a level two to a level three Corpse Soldier. In terms of raw cultivation realm, it was only equivalent to a third-layer Qi Condensation cultivator. However, factor in its unnatural, brute-force musculature and the suffocating miasma of resentment it radiated, and any average third-layer Qi Condensation novice would be torn to shreds in close combat.

"But what am I going to do with you? You're cocooning way too early." Chu Xuan looked down at the sluggish Blood Steel Wire coiled around his wrist, a helpless smile tugging at his lips.

The little glutton had gorged itself on too much zombie flesh. When Chu Xuan woke up this morning, he noticed the Gu worm was already showing signs of entering its pupal stage. Cocooning meant the Blood Steel Wire was about to awaken an innate spell, triggering a massive spike in its lethality. This was objectively fantastic news.

However, the Blood Steel Wire was a common Gu insect. Its natural ceiling was low; it could only cocoon twice in its lifespan. Each cocooning was a rebirth, earning it the classification of a Two-Turn Gu, meaning it could learn a maximum of two innate spells.

Of course, a Gu insect's limits weren't absolute. If it encountered a Fated Chance and devoured the right heavenly treasures, it could break its genetic shackles and continue evolving. The problem was, Chu Xuan hadn't even begun cultivating any heavenly treasures yet.

"Go fetch me two lively ones," Chu Xuan ordered with a dismissive wave.

*Roar!*

Little Tiger grunted eagerly, its massive frame vanishing out the door in a few bounding leaps. Less than ten minutes later, it returned. Pinned beneath each of its tree-trunk arms was a thrashing, snarling Zombie. They snapped their jaws and struggled wildly—excellent vitality.

Chu Xuan nodded in approval. "Gag them, tie them up, and toss them in the corner."

The Corpse Soldier clumsily executed the command. Once the two undead were securely bound, Chu Xuan strode over. Drawing a small scalpel, he clinically carved deep, bloody divots into their arms, legs, and torsos. Next, he retrieved a breeding pouch from his Storage Bag, extracting a handful of crimson seeds no larger than grains of rice. He pressed them into the open wounds.

The moment the seeds tasted dead flesh and coagulated blood, they took root.

Within seconds, one-centimeter-long red sprouts erupted from the zombies' flesh. Their leaves were sharp, triangular, and a sickly, sinister crimson. Swaying gently in the draft, they looked exactly like the jagged fangs of a Demon Beast. It was a chilling sight.

This specific spiritual plant was known as the Blood Demon Fang. It despised Spiritual Qi, thriving exclusively on a diet of raw flesh and blood. It took a full month for them to flower and bear fruit. The resulting harvest, the Blood Fang Fruit, was the exact heavenly treasure required to optimize a Blood Steel Wire's cocooning phase.

Consuming it would permanently enhance the Gu worm's speed and tensile strength. More importantly, it introduced a chance to awaken a premium innate spell. The more Blood Fang Fruit it consumed before pupating, the higher the probability of rolling a Top Grade ability. Having spent years meticulously studying the Gu Control Art, Chu Xuan had this data memorized down to the decimal.

***

A month flew by.

Thanks to the enthusiastic, hospitable, and entirely selfless contributions of the local zombie populace, Chu Xuan's cultivation had effortlessly broken through to the sixth layer of Qi Condensation. Little Tiger had also put in the work, evolving into a formidable level five Corpse Soldier.

"Finally ripe."

Chu Xuan approached his two living planters, a satisfied smile gracing his lips as he eyed the heavy, swollen fruits hanging from the Blood Demon Fang vines.

Over the past month, he had carefully rationed out chunks of low-grade zombie meat to these two hosts every other day, ensuring they didn't expire prematurely. It was a delicate balance to maintain their viability as nutrient pumps for the parasitic plants. Even with the supplemental feeding, the two zombies had been reduced to emaciated, skeletal husks. Every drop of marrow, blood, and bio-energy in their bodies had been ruthlessly siphoned dry by the Blood Demon Fangs.

Chu Xuan deftly harvested the Blood Fang Fruits. The two shriveled husks were then tossed to Little Tiger for waste recycling.

*Crunch, snap.*

Little Tiger squatted in the corner, happily gnawing on its crunchy lunch.

Chu Xuan inspected the ten thumb-sized, ruby-red fruits resting in his palm, clicking his tongue in marvel. Back when the Wuji Sect was still standing, they had dedicated agricultural specialists cultivating these. Naturally, the monopoly made them exorbitantly expensive—a single fruit cost twenty sect contribution points. On the black market, that translated to at least eighty low-grade Spirit Stones. As a struggling disciple, he could never afford such a luxury.

Yet here they were, ten pristine Blood Fang Fruits resting casually in his hand. Their total market value was a staggering eight hundred Spirit Stones. That sum dwarfed Chu Xuan's entire net worth from his previous life.

"An inexhaustible supply of flesh vessels... this world truly is a paradise."

Chu Xuan sighed with genuine emotion. He brought the fruits to the Blood Steel Wire's waiting maw.

*Chomp. Chomp.*

It swallowed them whole, one by one. In seconds, the Gu worm had devoured all ten Blood Fang Fruits. Almost immediately, it fell into a profound, comatose slumber. No matter how Chu Xuan prodded it, the creature remained entirely unresponsive. A thick, brownish-red crust began to secrete from its pores, rapidly enveloping its body in a hardened blood cocoon.

The pupation phase had officially begun. In ten days at most, the Blood Steel Wire would tear its way out, reborn as a One-Turn Gu armed with a brand-new innate spell!

"Once it hatches, it'll be time to head back and take a look around," Chu Xuan mused. "I need to restock my spiritual plant seeds and liquidate some assets into Spirit Stones to set up Formations."

A predatory glint flashed in his eyes. "Looks like I'll have to track down my dear Senior Brothers and squeeze some oil out of them."

Chu Xuan opened his Storage Bag, gazing at the hundreds of crimson Blood Beads piled inside, a cold smile spreading across his face. This was his daily harvest—the purified essence of zombie blood, refined using his Blood Transformation Spell.

Blood Beads were highly potent cultivation supplements. To the surviving rats of the demonic sects, they would be an absolutely irresistible temptation.

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