The Rich Cultivator

Chapter 763. Mysterious Corpse

After returning to his cave, Tyler immediately sealed the stone door and placed the glass coffin in the center of the room. The cave became quiet once again. The faint light from the lamps illuminated the sleeping girl inside the coffin, making her look less like a corpse and more like someone taking a peaceful nap.

Tyler sat down beside the coffin and took out the introductory manual on corpse control. The contents were simple. Most of it explained basic corpse refinement methods suitable for outer disciples who had only recently stepped into the Qi Refining Realm. After reading through it once, Tyler roughly understood the process. For beginners like him, the easiest method was to establish a connection through a Corpse Seal. As long as the seal was successfully formed, he would be able to control the corpse with spiritual sense and spiritual energy.

Putting away the manual, Tyler opened the coffin.

The moment the lid was lifted, a faint fragrance drifted into his nose.

Tyler froze.

He lowered his head and looked at the girl again.

The more he looked at her, the stranger he felt. This was the first time a corpse had smelled better than most living people.

"Is she really dead?"

He couldn’t help wondering.

Leaning forward, Tyler placed his palm against her chest and quietly checked for signs of life. There was no heartbeat. No pulse. No breathing. Only bouncy. Cough. Everything indicated that she was indeed dead. Yet when his fingers touched her skin, his brows immediately furrowed.

It was Warm. The warmth wasn’t an illusion. He touched her wrist. Then her neck. The result was the same.

"This can’t be normal."

Tyler sat there for a moment before recalling the senior sister’s words. Freshness spells, preservation techniques, corpse refinement methods... perhaps one of those was responsible. In the end, he stopped dwelling on the matter. The Dark Forest Society was filled with strange things. Compared to skeleton horses and corpse markets, a warm corpse wasn’t the strangest thing he had encountered.

Soon, Tyler decided to begin forming the Corpse Seal.

The manual recommended drawing it directly onto the corpse using blood and spiritual energy. After some thought, he chose the area between her shoulder blades. It would be hidden from view and less likely to be damaged accidentally.

Supporting the girl carefully, Tyler lifted her into a sitting position. He then bit his fingertip and allowed a drop of blood to emerge. Spiritual energy flowed through his meridians and gathered at his finger before he began drawing the complicated seal onto her back.

At first everything went smoothly.

Then Tyler’s expression gradually changed.

His spiritual energy was disappearing far faster than expected.

A simple Corpse Seal shouldn’t consume this much qi.

Before half the seal was completed, nearly a third of his spiritual energy had already vanished.

"What kind of corpse did I buy?"

Tyler muttered under his breath.

Fortunately, he had prepared beforehand. Taking out a low-grade spirit restoration pill, he swallowed it immediately and continued drawing. The spiritual energy from the pill spread through his body and barely kept up with the seal’s consumption. Even then, Tyler still felt his qi draining continuously as though the corpse itself was absorbing it.

After nearly half an hour of work, the final stroke was completed.

The blood-red seal flashed briefly before sinking beneath the girl’s skin.

A faint connection instantly formed between them.

Success.

Tyler finally let out a breath of relief.

The process had consumed much more energy than expected, but at least it was finished.

After dressing her again, he carefully placed her back inside the coffin. The girl returned to her original sleeping position, looking no different than before.

Tyler glanced at the coffin one last time before returning to his bed. Whatever mysteries this corpse held could wait until tomorrow. The moment his head touched the pillow, sleep overtook him.

---

The next morning, Tyler woke up feeling refreshed.

After washing up, he immediately remembered the corpse inside the coffin. Yesterday’s experiment had only established the connection. Today he wanted to see if the corpse could actually move.

Walking toward the coffin, Tyler suddenly slowed his steps.

Something felt off. The girl was still lying inside. However, her position seemed different.

Tyler frowned.nHe was almost certain he had placed her with both hands folded neatly over her abdomen. Now one arm rested beside her body. "Did I leave her like that?"

For a moment, Tyler couldn’t remember. Maybe he was mistaken. Maybe not.

While thinking about it, his gaze shifted toward a cloth bag resting beside the coffin.

This time he was certain..That bag hadn’t been there yesterday.

"Huh?"

Tyler picked it up and opened it. Several spirit stones were inside. After counting them twice, his expression became strange.

"Why do I feel like there were more spirit stones yesterday?"

He counted again. Nearly half were missing.

Tyler stared at the bag for a long while.

Eventually, he rubbed his forehead.

Perhaps he had used them while cultivating and forgotten about it. He had been busy these past few days, and his memory wasn’t perfect. He never really counted money since getting the infinity copper pot.

In the end, he stopped thinking about it.

The cave was sealed. Nobody should have been able to enter.

Returning his attention to the coffin, Tyler activated his spiritual sense and connected to the Corpse Seal hidden beneath the girl’s skin.

The connection immediately responded.

A faint smile appeared on his face..Then he issued a command.

"Arise."

The corpse moved.

Slowly, the girl’s upper body sat upright.

Tyler’s smile widened. It worked.

Unfortunately, before he could celebrate, a terrifying amount of spiritual energy left his body.

His face immediately turned pale.

The connection became unstable.

The girl lost all movement and fell back into the coffin.

Bang.

Tyler nearly stumbled backward.

"Damn."

His body felt completely drained.

That single command had consumed nearly all of his spiritual energy.

For a long time, Tyler sat cross-legged and recovered while staring at the sleeping girl.

The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that this corpse wasn’t ordinary.

A mortal corpse shouldn’t require this much energy.

Even a low-level corpse puppet shouldn’t consume this much.

Whatever secret the ancient ruins held, it seemed he had unknowingly brought part of it back with him.

After recovering slightly, Tyler decided not to experiment further for now. Leaving the coffin where it was, he exited the cave and headed toward the Study Hall.

Not long afterward, he met Maximus, Lee, and Louch on the way.

The moment they saw him, Maximus blinked.

"Boss, why do you look so tired?"

Tyler laughed.

"You really started calling me Boss?"

"Of course."

Before Maximus could continue, a familiar voice suddenly sounded nearby.

"Oh? Tyler."

The group turned around.

A pale-skinned inner disciple was walking past them.

The moment Tyler saw her, his heart sank.

It was the senior sister who sold him the corpse.

The woman’s eyes immediately swept over Tyler’s slightly exhausted appearance. Then a knowing smile appeared on her face.

"Oh my. Looks like you had quite an exciting night yesterday."

Lee’s eyes widened. Louch looked impressed. Even Maximus stared at Tyler with admiration.

After all, this was an inner disciple speaking to him so familiarly.

Meanwhile, Tyler’s face twitched.

"It’s not what you think—"

Unfortunately, before he could finish explaining, the senior sister had already burst into laughter and floated away.

Tyler stood there speechless, "There goes my reputation..."