"Let's begin."
Li Hu's eyes burned with the flames of revenge. Since he couldn't avenge himself, he would have others help.
He then entered the coffin and bit into the poison pill he had swallowed beforehand.
Before long, the poison took effect.
Li Hu endured the struggle until the end, dying with his eyes wide open.
At that moment, he was finally freed.
As death came, a Corpse Preserving Talisman was affixed to Li Hu's forehead, and a Spirit Stone was placed on his chest.
"Open the gates to the Heavenly Court, grant eternal life, Three Souls and Seven Spirits, return to the spirit and revert to the infant state, Three Souls reside on the left, Seven Spirits reside on the right, listen quietly to the divine edicts, also inspect the inauspicious, unseen by others in motion, unknown by others at rest, hurry like law and decree!"
While shaking the Corpse Driving Bell, Xu Xuan chanted incessantly.
The Spirit Stone slowly emitted a light, clearly indicating that the corpse was rapidly absorbing the spiritual energy.
Days passed, and the corpse's hair grew as usual, fangs sprouted, nails lengthened, and its skin emitted a metallic luster.
The light from the Spirit Stone became somewhat dim.
Xu Xuan continued to chant scriptures every day.
...
Elsewhere, in Chenxi County, Xu Yong was making a name for himself.
He massively recruited refugees to build workshops. The liquor, glass, medicinal herbs, paper, and soap they produced were sold everywhere, and wealth flowed as if it were inexhaustible.
Since Xu Xuan was always cultivating, Xu Yong took the initiative to hand over only a small portion of the profits.
This greatly pleased Xu Guangting.
The very idea of Xu Xuan becoming a Taoist priest was so absurd that it had been completely dismissed by Xu Guangting.
Instead, Xu Yong had caught Xu Guangting's eye.
Meanwhile, Xu Feng's illicit salt business was only moderately successful.
The Xu Residence, where Xu Feng's quarters were located.
"Mother, I can't stand it anymore! Father has been increasingly strict with me lately and seems to favor the bastard sons Xu Yong and Xu Xuan!" Xu Feng complained to the Li Clan lady.
The Li Clan lady looked as old as ever, her expression unchanged and not the slightest bit surprised.
"Don't worry. Xu Xuan has left to be ordained, and Xu Yong is young. You have an advantage."
"What advantage?"
"You can enter into a marriage alliance and produce the first grandson, securing at least half the victory."
"Marry whom?"
"The daughter of the Jiang Family, with whom you conduct your illicit salt trade—the daughter of Commander Jiang of Yiyang!"
Yiyang has a garrison of probably more than three thousand men, and Jiang He is the Commandant there.
Xu Feng's illicit salt operation gave Commander Jiang a cut of thirty percent.
The Li Clan lady laid out a vicious plan, "You've said before that Commander Jiang covets the Chenxi trade. The recipes for the glass and liquor are provided by Xu Xuan. You could use that information in exchange for an alliance with the Jiang Family and then, from within and without, divide the profits of the Chenxi Trade Caravan."
"Good, good, good!"
Several days later, the two families were allied by marriage.
That morning,
Xu Xuan walked out of his room bleary-eyed, carrying the swaying chamber pot to the woods to "fertilize" them.
He followed this by going to the creek to brush his teeth and wash his face, also taking the opportunity to rinse out the night pot, and then prepared to carry two buckets of water back.
He hadn't yet reached the level of Purity and Tranquility without impurity, and his body still metabolized normally like that of an ordinary person.
All of this could have been done by a servant.
But Xu Xuan thought better of it.
Have you ever seen an Immortal defecating and urinating? If others are constantly in contact with such things, naturally, they'll lose their reverence in their hearts.
Ancient emperors' ministers and eunuchs never regarded them as divine as outsiders did, because they saw them up close too often and knew that, like everyone else, emperors also ate, drank, and excreted.
After breakfast, Xu Xuan went to check on the coffin in the rear hall again.
The Zombie inside the coffin lay quietly, the Spirit Stone had been retrieved.
Until today, the Corpse Driving Technique could be considered initially completed.
The product of this process was called a Zombie. Walkers were the lowest level of Zombies, but even so, they possessed a colossal strength of three thousand jin, like superhumans clad in Armor, tireless and indefatigable.
In this Magicless World, if a Walker charged into a crowd, one truly wouldn't know how to subdue it.
Xu Xuan was considering whether to fit it with a set of Armor.
Next, he would craft more Walkers.
At this moment, the sound of a bell rang out from not far away.
Someone had come up the mountain.
"Heavenly Master, Commander Jiang of Yiyang is here to visit and requests to stay at Tianwen Palace this afternoon. Do you have any instructions?" Wu Xiong came up the mountain to ask.
"Fine, let him come up." Xu Xuan was indifferent, as one does not visit a temple for no reason. If they were to do business in good faith, all would be well, but if they were not to be trusted, then they could not blame him for what would follow.
In the afternoon, Xu Yong brought up a potbellied middle-aged man, along with a handful of attendants.
"Jiang He, Commandant Jiang. This is my elder brother Xu Xuan," Xu Yong introduced the two men.
"I've long heard about you."
"Pleased to meet you!"
The two exchanged pleasantries.
As they clinked glasses, Jiang He said, "The nobles in the city are very fond of your glazed crystal. If you're willing to double the supply, we can increase the price by twenty percent."
"Good, it's a deal!"
The two parties amiably reached an agreement.
At the banquet, Jiang He and his two deputies exchanged secretive glances.
The purpose of their visit was simple: get the brothers drunk, steal the glazed crystal formula, a business worth tens of thousands of taels.
If all else failed, they would kidnap Xu Xuan to force the formula out of him.
Moreover, there was another objective—delaying time.
The Chenxi Trade Caravan had already set off, and Xu Feng was arranging for someone to carry out a robbery, attacking the traders. By cutting off Chenxi's trade routes, the workshop would have no choice but to cooperate with them in the future.
While everyone was feasting, Jiang He's personal troops sneaked up the mountain by a back path to lay in ambush, ensuring that nothing would go wrong.
Jiang He was brimming with satisfaction, continually urging others to drink more.
Xu Yong's face was flushed red from drinking, and he was tipsy. Before they had come, Xu Xuan had already instructed him to drink freely, to lull the visitors into a false sense of security, while the matters to come would be handled by his elder brother.
As the sun set, the banquet concluded, and Xu Yong was guided down the mountain with the help of the other guests.
Jiang He and his entourage went to rest in the side hall, while Xu Xuan also retired to get some rest.
In the room, the candle was not yet extinguished.
Jiang He's hazy eyes grew sharp, and the two deputies sneaked in.
"Superior Officer, everyone is in place! Xu Xuan's room has been scented with sleeping incense, he won't wake up tonight," they reported.
The men boldly opened the door.
Outside the palace, more than thirty masked figures stood, each holding a torch.
"Search!"
After searching for a while, including Xu Xuan's room, they found nothing.
"Sir, the door to the back hall is locked!" one reported.
Jiang He's eyes brightened, murmuring to himself, "It must be here then, smash it, just smash it open!"
"Yes, sir!"
After a series of loud noises, the hall door was smashed open.
A thick scent of incense hit them as they entered, and by the firelight, they could see that it was a mourning hall with a jet-black coffin in front, pasted with talisman paper.
The dark night outside the hall, the candles inside eerily glowing green in the breeze, stood in stark contrast to the still coffin.
"Playing ghosts and gods, the Xu Family likes to use Corpse Driving to cover up smuggling. The things must be here! Search!"
Everyone entered the hall and surrounded the coffin, the subordinates opening the coffin.
Inside lay a pitch-black corpse, but aside from the body, there was nothing.
There was indeed a corpse inside!
A chill rose in everyone's hearts.
Then, the sound of a bell came from outside.
"Do you need my help to find it?"
Jiang He turned abruptly, to see Xu Xuan holding a bell, gently shaking it.
"Seize him!"
With a sudden lift of his hand, Xu Xuan pinched two pieces of talisman paper, which turned to ash. Two fireballs quickly exploded, leaving only the lower bodies of the two guards at the door.
Bang!
He strode forward and closed the door.
As he kept shaking the bell in his hand, cries of alarm came from inside.
"Sir! Sir! The corpse has risen!"
Following that, there were successive sounds of pounding on the door, screams, pleas for mercy, and the chilling sound of grinding teeth.
Xu Xuan slightly smiled and said, "Casting spells to kill, a zombie's first taste of human blood, double happiness arrives at the door! Old man Li Hu, your day of revenge is near."
Under the mighty and extraordinary power of spells, all schemes lost their ground to take root.
All notions of royalty, nobility, barbarians from beyond the borders—all were false.
Gradually, the screams grew fainter, and then they ceased altogether.