"This is no hallucination!"
Li Zhiming slapped himself in pain, but the words before his eyes were still there.
"Heaven has not forsaken me!"
Overwhelmed with excitement, Li Zhiming nearly cried out.
He never expected that at his most desperate moment, a cheat system would descend from the heavens.
"Status Reset!"
Discarding any concern about data loss, Li Zhiming selected the status reset without a single moment of hesitation.
[Resetting physical status... Please wait.]
[Status reset successful.]
As the words before his eyes vanished, the Heart-Devouring Gu inside Li Zhiming's body magically disappeared!
His physical injuries were instantly repaired, returning him to his original condition.
Once the pain vanished, Li Zhiming leaped up, feeling his undamaged body—his vision was clear, his mind refreshed, and his spirit at ease.
The only pity was that his cultivation was gone.
Yet he was already well-satisfied. For him, recovering his physical body was enough; as for his realm and cultivation, he could simply cultivate them back.
"Tian Yaoyao, Qi Yang!"
"When I get out of here, I will kill every last one of you!"
Li Zhiming muttered to himself, a surge of fierce hostility flashing in his eyes before quickly fading away.
[Host: Li Zhiming]
[Realm: None for now]
[Age: Sixteen]
[Lifespan: 89]
[Fortune: 59]
[Charm: 66]
[Cultivation Technique: None]
[Martial Art: None]
[Secret Technique: None]
[Enhancement Points: 0]
A game-like data panel floated before Li Zhiming, allowing him to directly view his current status.
Li Zhiming clenched his fists, realizing his strength was not insignificant.
This must be the foundation accumulated over all his years of cultivation. Though his cultivation was entirely lost, a portion of his physical fitness remained.
With this, his rate of improvement during re-cultivation would be much faster.
The system required corpse-collecting to obtain rewards, and within Xuyuan Prison, corpses were the one thing in least short supply.
Too many imprisoned individuals died within the prison walls, and the duty of their guards was to patrol designated areas daily and clean out vacant cells. The task of removing and disposing of the corpses within them also fell upon the guards.
"Even though my body has healed, the Yin Demonic Dead Qi will not simply vanish. Without sufficient strength and the support of corresponding pills, the Yin Demonic Dead Qi will erode my body sooner or later."
Li Zhiming's expression turned solemn; he was in urgent need of growing stronger.
For only by reaching Rank Nine could one cultivate True Qi to ward off the Yin Demonic Dead Qi.
The Martial Dao possessed clear-cut grade divisions, beginning with Unranked.
Unranked was further divided into three stages: Blood-Moving, Body-Refining, and Bone-Tempering.
When physical fitness reached a certain degree, one could sense and absorb the spiritual qi of heaven and earth for personal use. Only then could one truly step into the Martial Dao, a stage commonly known as Qi Refining.
Above Unranked lay Rank Nine, Rank Eight, Rank Seven... all the way to First Grade. Above First Grade existed the Grandmaster Realm and the Great Grandmaster Realm.
Legend had it that cultivating to the Great Grandmaster Realm allowed one to touch upon the mysteries of the extraordinary and longevity.
Yet those who could cultivate to First Grade were exceedingly rare, while super experts of the Grandmaster Level were as rare as phoenix feathers and unicorn horns.
As for anything above the Great Grandmaster Realm, ever since Li Zhiming had arrived in this world, he had never even heard of anyone achieving such a state.
Naturally, his ignorance did not mean it did not exist; after all, this world was unimaginably vast.
The Dongxuan Domain was merely a part of the Yingzhou Continent, and furthermore, there were six continents in total like Yingzhou. Beyond them lay the Central Continent, rumored to be the center of the world and the apex of the Martial Dao.
At this thought, Li Zhiming reined in his wandering mind.
Xuyuan Prison was heavy with Yin Demonic Dead Qi and thin in spiritual qi, making it entirely unsuitable for cultivation.
If he wanted to grow stronger rapidly, he still had to rely on the Corpse-Collecting System.
Just as Li Zhiming was pondering where to collect corpses, clear footsteps sounded from outside.
Accompanying the footsteps came the whispered murmurs of two people.
"Have you heard? A short while ago, the demonic woman of the Hehuan Sect was captured by the Inner Sect and locked away on the fourth floor!"
"You mean Ji Ling'er, the peerlessly gorgeous heavenly pride of the Hehuan Sect born with seductive bones?"
"That's her... If a man could be with a woman like that, tsk tsk..."
"Are you out of your mind? You dare say such things? ...She would suck you dry until not even slag is left!"
"What do you know? To die beneath the peony flower, even as a ghost one remains romantic!"
"It's just a pity—given the sheer strength of the seal and barrier on the fourth floor, she's likely already become a corpse."
"A Hehuan Sect demonic woman..."
"The fourth floor... a corpse?!"
"Interesting."
Hearing this, a smile surfaced on Li Zhiming's lips.
He had caught the crucial piece of information.
He had indeed heard of Ji Ling'er, a peerless talented woman of the Hehuan Sect with extraordinary innate talent, regarded as the future of her sect. He never expected she would be captured by their Zhenyuan Sect; it was somewhat unexpected.
Should a genius of such caliber not be carefully protected by her sect?
Li Zhiming pushed the thought aside. Regardless of the circumstances, this was a good thing for him.
What kind of rewards would he obtain from collecting the corpse of an expert at that level?
Li Zhiming narrowed his eyes, a plan forming in his mind.
"Li Zhiming, time to work!"
Suddenly, a voice reached his ears as the two men who had been whispering earlier arrived at the interrogation room where Li Zhiming lived.
The speaker was a young man clad in a black robe, with a black token hanging from his waist.
He was no ordinary jailer, but a Patrol Disciple of higher rank.
A Patrol Disciple received a monthly salary of five hundred gold coins, supplemented by ten spirit stones and five vital pills.
By comparison, ordinary jailers were beasts of burden among beasts of burden.
"What work?"
"Two cells are empty. Go clear out the corpses inside and clean up the cells while you're at it," the Patrol Disciple instructed.
"Understood."
Li Zhiming followed the Patrol Disciple, moving forward along the corridor as the whimpering sound of the wind echoed intermittently in his ears.
The entire Xuyuan Prison was built into the rock walls surrounding a giant sinkhole, the immense pit in the center plunging endlessly downward into pitch-black darkness, resembling an abyss.
It was said that not even the patriarchs of the Zhenyuan Sect back then had been able to descend to the very bottom; no one knew what kind of sight lay at the deepest depths of Xuyuan.
"Those two rooms ahead. Two corpses in total. They're yours."
The Patrol Disciple patted Li Zhiming on the shoulder.
"Good."
Li Zhiming pushed the door open and stepped inside, a faint stench rushing over him.
All the cells were bound by seals; the deeper one went, the stronger the seals and the greater their number. The cells suppressing great demons and fiends even possessed seals exceeding five layers in depth!
Once an inmate imprisoned within a cell lost all signs of life, powerful elders would come to verify it. Upon confirming their death, the matter would be handed over to the patrols for disposal.
Most patrol guards delegated the tasks of clearing the cells and handling the corpses to the jailers under their command.
The first floor of Xuyuan Prison, where Li Zhiming was stationed, mostly held human beings: sect traitors, captives from rival sects, and the like.
The corpses inside the cells had already grown rigid, covered in livid postmortem spots. Insects hovered around the bodies, preparing to scatter their seed.
Li Zhiming unrolled a straw mat, placed one of the male corpses upon it, tidied the deceased's lapels and hair, and then pressed his palms together, murmuring a brief blessing.
"May the Bodhisattva bless you; may your next life be happy and joyful."
With the simple ceremony concluded, Li Zhiming rolled the person's remains up in the straw mat and bound it tightly with rope.
[Congratulations to the host for completing your first corpse collection. You have obtained a surprise grand gift bag.]
[Collected the corpse of sect traitor Cai Kun. Lifespan +1 year, Enhancement Point +1, Blood-Qi +999.]
[Surprise grand gift bag opened: Fortune +30, Charm +30, Lifespan +20 years, Enhancement Points +99, True Qi Value +1500, Huang-grade martial art: Falling Blossom Palm.]
[Blood-Qi value has reached the threshold, successfully breaking through the physical limit.]
[Congratulations to the host for stepping into the Rank Nine realm of the Martial Dao.]
[True Qi value has broken through the threshold, reaching Mid Rank Nine.]
[Lifespan +10 years]
Li Zhiming felt the changes within his body; his blood-qi and strength surged explosively, propelling him directly into Rank Nine of the Martial Dao.
Simultaneously, spiritual qi gathered toward him, combining with the True Qi value rewarded by corpse collection to shove his realm straight up to Mid Rank Nine!
"This feels incredible!"
Li Zhiming felt his vision clear and his mind sharpen, his entire body growing lighter than ever before!