My Cultivation Techniques Upgrade Automatically

Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Demon Corpse

"It wasn’t those two treacherous apprentices..."

"It was Demon Corpses. I was wounded by those mindless Demon Corpses."

In response to Wu Chen’s question, Liu Linshan, his face completely drained of color, answered weakly.

"Demon Corpses?" Wu Chen searched his memory. The term felt familiar, but he couldn’t quite place it at the moment.

"They’re the refugees who fled the famine... the ones who ate human flesh..."

Liu Linshan’s expression was bitter. "They mutated."

At this, understanding dawned on Wu Chen.

They were the very same things he had seen when he first arrived in this world—those bizarre refugees with green eyes, devoid of all reason!

A chill ran down Wu Chen’s spine as he recalled waking up surrounded by them.

But after his Martial Arts had improved and he had broken out of the encirclement, he had relied on his strength at the third layer of the Body Tempering Realm to focus solely on traveling, and he hadn’t seen any more Demon Corpses along the way.

He never expected that upon reaching this place, not only would Demon Corpses reappear, but they would have also become extremely powerful.

So powerful that even an old Martial Artist like Liu Linshan was no match for them.

"The Demon Corpses are that strong?" Wu Chen’s gaze turned solemn.

"They are."

The medicine in Liu Linshan’s stomach began to take effect, and a hint of color returned to his face.

He sighed deeply and said,

"If it were just the common folk, it wouldn’t be so bad. They weren’t strong to begin with, so they pose little threat even after turning into Demon Corpses. The real problem is the ones who practiced martial arts."

"Some of them were already lawless and killed wantonly in normal times."

"Now, on the road as refugees, they act with even less restraint. When hungry, they devour flesh and blood, eventually losing their minds and degenerating into Demon Corpses."

"After becoming Demon Corpses, their bodies become like those of wild beasts—incredibly powerful and difficult for ordinary people to handle."

Fear still lingered in Liu Linshan’s eyes as he recalled the scene, but then he seemed to remember something and quickly grew smug.

"However..."

He puffed out his chest slightly, looking rather proud.

"These Demon Corpses are by no means invincible. This wound of mine is from a moment of carelessness yesterday, after I killed three of them."

An unusual flush spread across his face as he recalled the exhilarating battle.

But when he thought about what happened after he was injured, his mood visibly sank, and the pride of having slain Demon Corpses vanished from his face.

The atmosphere instantly grew heavy.

Just by looking at Liu Linshan’s expression, Wu Chen knew what had happened next: the betrayal of his two apprentices.

But he didn’t say anything.

Business was business.

He was only responsible for escorting them, not for being their counselor.

From a lone wolf to a three-person team.

With a weak girl and an injured old hunter, their pace was bound to be slow.

The trio traveled at a leisurely pace, and in the blink of an eye, five days passed.

To Wu Chen’s amazement, Liu Linshan’s complexion improved more and more over just a few short days.

Although their pace was still slow, Liu Linshan no longer needed support to walk. The wound on his abdomen had begun to heal, and his spirits were no longer so listless.

This left Wu Chen slightly stunned.

’A Martial Artist’s constitution really is different!’

After carefully observing him and seeing no signs of his eyes turning green or any overly intense craving for flesh and blood, Wu Chen quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

’No wonder my predecessor was so poor he’d sell the pot and melt the iron just to practice martial arts.’

Watching Liu Linshan, whose spirits were steadily improving and who was becoming more talkative, Wu Chen was not only inwardly amazed but also gained a new understanding of the Martial Arts.

His predecessor had practiced martial arts not only to seek protection and avoid being bullied by powerful neighbors, village tyrants, or local thugs as a lone individual,

but had been more drawn in by the storytellers from all corners of the land, who spoke of Martial Artists with the power to sever rivers and halt their flow.

But just how strong a Martial Artist could be, and whether they truly possessed such magnificent power, was something a village boy could never know.

Not until he saw how quickly Liu Linshan’s injuries were healing. Compared to his listless state from five days ago when he was gravely wounded, he was like a completely different person.

Although the small, earth-brown medicinal pills he took daily certainly helped, the root cause was Liu Linshan’s own solid constitution.

This made Wu Chen’s desire for the Martial Arts grow even stronger.

He had a faint feeling that regrowing flesh on bare bones or being reborn from a single drop of blood might not be impossible after all.

’Combined with my own cheat ability, speedrunning this otherworld seems like it’s just around the corner.’

But a glance at his panel was like a bucket of cold water, and he quickly calmed down.

[Deep Red Host] Wu Chen

[Martial Arts Realm] Body Tempering Realm, Sixth Layer

[Martial Arts & Techniques] Long-Armed Fist (Great Success), Spiritual Snake Step (Great Success)

Looking at his completely unchanged realm and his pitifully few Martial Arts, Wu Chen said to himself,

’If I want to reach the point of being reborn from a drop of blood, of being immortal and indestructible, it looks like I still have a long way to go.’

During these five days, Liu Linshan had not given the Martial Arts Manual to Wu Chen, causing Wu Chen’s strength to stagnate.

However, Wu Chen understood. Liu Linshan was worried that he would take the Martial Arts and then break his promise and run off, leaving the father and daughter to wait for death.

Wu Chen didn’t make a fuss about it.

After all, it was just a matter of a day or two sooner or later.

No matter when he got his hands on the Martial Arts, he would be able to...

Instantly master it!

He didn’t have the new Martial Arts yet, but Wu Chen didn’t choose to set off alone because of it. After all, there was no guarantee of a path forward, and it was even less likely that other Martial Arts would just be waiting for him.

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. Following Liu Linshan was the safer bet.

Besides, aside from his Martial Arts, Liu Linshan had other skills.

Over the past few days, Wu Chen learned from their casual conversations that Liu Linshan had originally been a country hunter.

He lived off the land, gathering herbs and hunting, and had amassed a small fortune.

That was how he could afford to support a daughter who could read and study medicine, as well as his two apprentices.

But then the great drought swept through Qingzhou, bandits and rogue soldiers caused chaos, and fiends of the Evil Path ran rampant, forcing him to leave his home.

As an old hunter with over forty years of experience, he had special means of survival, even in the face of a great disaster.

As the blazing sun began to set in the west,

Wu Chen and the father-daughter duo, Liu Linshan and Liu Wei, stopped beneath a withered tree.

The bark had been completely stripped away, and the trunk was covered in a crisscrossing web of bite marks, a testament to the hardships of the journey.

"Young Master Wu!"

Liu Linshan cupped his hands toward Wu Chen. Over the past few days, they had exchanged names, so they knew who each other was.

Hearing Liu Linshan’s voice, Wu Chen immediately understood his meaning. He stood guard to the side, saber in hand.

Liu Linshan and his daughter went to the base of the withered tree and began to dig with their steel knives.

After a great deal of effort, they chiseled nearly two feet into the ground and found a fist-sized hole.

Following the tunnel, they dug a little more, and soon, dusty but plump, round grains of wheat and soybeans appeared before them.

"This drought came on strangely and swiftly, affecting a vast area. Even the most clever little critters living underground didn’t have time to react, so they couldn’t take their stored grain with them and left it all behind."

"The soil here is firm, so rainwater doesn’t easily seep in."

"And since the terrain is a bit higher, during heavy rains, the water comes and goes quickly without flooding, making it a perfect place for these little critters to store their food..."

Liu Linshan had already dug up a mouse hole yesterday and explained the reasoning for finding grain underground to Liu Wei then.

He tirelessly explained it to his daughter again today, worried that he might not survive the journey ahead and hoping she could use this skill to stay alive.

They carefully picked up the excavated grains one by one and placed them in a cloth sack.

Liu Linshan weighed it in his hand. It felt like about two pounds, and he was overjoyed.

He walked over to Wu Chen, pointed at the bulging sack of grain in his arms, and whispered excitedly,

"Young Master Wu, we’ve got food for the next five days!"

"Mm."

It was a good haul, but Wu Chen didn’t even glance at it, his expression showing no excitement whatsoever.

He was gazing into the distance, his expression grave.

Nearly an hour had passed since they started digging at the base of the withered tree, and the sky had already grown dark.

None of the passing refugees dared to cause trouble for a trio armed with steel knives, even though the grain Liu Linshan had found was exceptionally tempting.

However, just because no refugees were causing trouble didn’t mean the group was safe.

Wu Chen’s gaze was locked on the wilderness in the distance.

The twilight was vast and dim, making it difficult to see. As the great sun sank, the distant horizon melted into inky blackness.

And yet, within this deep, inky blackness, green will-o’-the-wisps flickered and danced restlessly.

The rhythm of their flickering was like the opening and closing of eyes, giving off an indescribably eerie feeling.

They were like eyes hidden in the darkness, coldly peering out at the world.

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