My Cell Prison-Chapter 1192 - 1191: Corpse Collection

To covertly "transport" a corpse to the refinery for sale was not as straightforward as Han Dong had imagined.

Zhang Xiliang, although a local boss of sorts, still used conventional means for the transportation of corpses... after all, once discovered by the Ministry of Punishment, one would be branded with the crime of human trafficking.

At best, one would be demoted to locksmith; at worst, one’s body would be refined into "corpse oil."

The so-called conventional means was a form of Body Transportation.

Due to the unique nature of a zombie’s body, which no longer required maintaining organ integrity or blood vessel connections like humans, it only needed a special heart to function normally.

Therefore, one could dismantle the corpses to be transported into small pieces and swallow them to carry to the refinery.

Stuffing someone else’s body full could cause one’s own body to swell unbearably, thus necessitating a cloak to cover the entire body.

However, with Han Dong present, the transportation process was much easier.

After swallowing the dismantled corpse, he approached the alleyway near the refinery directly with Void techniques... not far ahead was the back door of the branch factory where Zhang Xiliang worked.

Just getting close to the refinery made him feel sticky all over.

He even felt that if he stood still for too long, his body would solidify on the spot like a wax figure.

"What a tough working environment... seems being born in the Demon World isn’t so bad."

As Zhang Xiliang stated his purpose, he was immediately greeted at the back door with quite a respectful attitude.

After all, they were to draw off half of the corpse oil as a processing fee, and it was a fifty-fifty split only because of Zhang Xiliang’s local influence—typically, it’s a thirty-seventy split for those delivering contraband.

After weighing the corpses, two small barrels of corpse oil were exchanged for Zhang Xiliang at the "standard oil extraction rate."

Now that the corpse oil was secured, there was no further dallying.

"Mr. Han, do we head straight back, or?"

"Let’s go back first... something just occurred to me."

"Something?"

When they returned to the dilapidated house,

Han Dong scrutinized Zhang Xiliang’s body from head to toe.

Compared to a typical Corpse Handler, he had an additional ability to gather and control toxins, in other words, Plague Control.

"You can absorb toxins from the air and then express them in various forms... Is this a natural ability for you?"

"Yes... From the start, I’ve been able to condense my Dantian through breathing, and later, through studying the ’Corpse Collection,’ gradually employed it in different parts of my body, even attaching it to weapons."

"’Corpse Collection’? Can you tell me more?"

This question threw Zhang Xiliang for a loop, for he had thought Han Dong to be a mysterious person from the Court of the Seventh Division - Secret Department; why would he ask such a basic question... but out of respect, he answered meticulously.

"The ’Corpse Collection’ is a great compilation created by generations of emperors, not referring to a single book, but generally to books that guide Corpse Handlers in their cultivation, mainly managed by the Ministry of Officials.

Any Corpse Handler can create related books; as long as the book passes the approval of the Ministry of Officials, it will be included in the ’Corpse Collection.’

Of course, the difficulty in doing so is extremely high, beyond the reach of ordinary Corpse Handlers.

Due to the different creators, the ’Corpse Collection’ varies in quality, level, and value. The one I’ve studied is a lower-grade Corpse Collection that can be bought directly at the marketplace, named the ’Detoxification Heart Sutra.’

However, even being low-level and direct purchase, it is still very expensive for us.

This book requires almost fifteen small barrels of corpse oil to exchange."

"Oh! A compilation of great works? That’s quite a decent management method."

Hearing this, Han Dong grew more interested in the Corpse Handlers’ method of cultivation and decided to obtain a high-quality ’Corpse Collection’ to practice with; after all, the body wasn’t his own, so he could do whatever he pleased with it.

"Can I take a look at your Corpse Collection?"

"Of course."

A quaint little booklet was handed to Han Dong, the cover stamped with the [Corpse Collection Seal] acknowledged by the Ministry of Officials, accompanied by the book title and author.

It took only ten minutes to read through.

In summary, it was a rather rough book yet with merit that could be used for reference. It also mentioned that by cultivating the "Detoxification Heart Sutra," one could at most reach the Black Zombie rank, and to progress further would require the replacement with a "Corpse Collection" of the same kind.

Naturally, this also led to the discussion of the various zombie ranks, named according to changes in their hair, aura, and color during different stages of progression.

The lowest rank of zombie was the White Zombie, which was Han Dong’s current state.

To advance, a White Zombie would need to transform all the accumulated energy inside its body into high-density ’green energy’, which signified the next rank, [Green Zombie].

Taking a step further, completely purifying and compressing the green energy to form a Black Elixir within the body would mean achieving [Black Zombie] rank.

Though it was merely a change in color, the internal difference was quite substantial.

As long as one became a Green Zombie, they would gain much more freedom and could choose to assume some positions in local institutions, or apply to participate in the imperial selection competition.

As for the higher rank, Black Zombies, they could be directly employed by the court.

"Come here for a moment."

"Oh..."

Zhang Xiliang had just hopped over to Han Dong when a hand was placed on his abdomen.

Learning from Dumps’ previous method of adjusting Magic Circuits for Han Dong, Han Dong began to modify the [Circuit] in Zhang Xiliang’s body, allowing the inhaled poison to circulate more efficiently throughout the body.

Though Zhang Xiliang was somewhat afraid, after all, there were Tentacles drilling back and forth inside his own Body.

However, as time passed, he felt his body becoming lighter and exceedingly unobstructed.

"Now, quickly run the ’Detoxification Heart Sutra.’"

"Okay..."

Zhang Xiliang proceeded to circulate the internal breathing-style exercise as he usually did while cultivating.

Yet this time, the sensation was completely different.

With his body’s channels thoroughly unblocked, the circulation of the heart sutra faced no impediments... in an instant, a type of [Inner Circulation] mentioned in the heart sutra was fully achieved, and the energy housed at the Dantian area deepened and turned increasingly green.

Even the area within five meters around Zhang Xiliang sprouted poisonous fungal patches.

When he reopened his eyes, green hairs were floating off his body, and a green light emitted from his pupils.

"I... I’ve actually advanced!"

In the moment Zhang Xiliang realized this, he immediately pressed his body to the ground.

"Thank you, Mr. Han. Without your help, I don’t know how long it would have taken me to achieve this stage..."

"It was just a little bit of help. If your subsequent performance is good, you might even have a chance to advance to Black Zombie."

"I am willing to follow you for life, Sir!"

Han Dong gazed at this utterly devout Green-haired Zombie and couldn’t help but smile at himself sarcastically... This method felt very similar to that of Demons, deepening the faithful’s absolute worship by occasionally bestowing Blessings.

In truth, Han Dong had simply acted on a whim, wanting to see how a Corpse Handler advanced and the changes that occurred during the process.

’Not only does it increase control over toxins, but the combined attributes of the body are also comprehensively strengthened, particularly in terms of [Solidity].

It seems that the greatest Special Trait of zombies in the Tomb World is [Solid], no matter what path of cultivation they take, the hardness of the body continues to grow.

Truly an impressive attribute... If it can be applied to my Corpse Eating Ghost Body, it could indeed be quite effective.’