Translator: Cinder Translations
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"Who are you? How did you break into the Corpse Dissection Cave?"
Just as Song Wen was surveying the cave from all sides, a sudden voice interrupted his observations.
A man covered in a strong stench of blood and filth appeared before Song Wen, his eyes showing a hint of caution. However, noticing Song Wen's weak cultivation, the man did not react aggressively.
Song Wen clasped his fists in greeting, "Reporting to senior, I am a newly recruited outer disciple, here to work as a Corpse Dissector."
As he spoke, Song Wen also showed the 'Corpse Dissector' token in his hand.
The man carefully examined the token and quickly confirmed its authenticity, but he still looked somewhat suspicious.
"With your low cultivation, why were you assigned to the Corpse Dissection Cave? Did you perhaps offend a Foundation Establishment elder's lover?"
A bitter smile appeared on Song Wen's face, "Senior, please don't jest. Junior is just..."
Song Wen was about to explain further when the man interrupted him.
"Enough, once you've arrived at the Corpse Dissection Cave, you're already a fallen person. There's no need to explain the specific reasons. You also don't need to call me senior; I'm just an outer disciple in the late Foundation Establishment stage. My name is Yuan Cheng, you can call me Senior Yuan."
"I am Ji Yin, nice to meet you, Senior Yuan."
Yuan Cheng nodded, "Follow me."
Under Yuan Cheng's guidance, Song Wen arrived at a small cave entrance to the left of the main entrance of the underground cavern.
Yuan Cheng entered the cave and searched on a stone table inside, then pulled out a bone-cleansing knife and tossed it to Song Wen.
"This is the exclusive tool provided by the sect for Corpse Dissectors, a lower-grade spiritual weapon."
"Today's allocation of bodies to be dissected has already been completed. You won't be dissecting any corpses today. Instead, you should wander around inside the Corpse Dissection Cave, observe and learn the essentials of dissecting corpses."
"Between the hour of Chen and Si tomorrow, come back here to receive the bodies and officially begin dissecting the corpses."
TL Note: The time between the hour of Chen (辰) and the hour of Si (巳) would be from 7 AM to 11 AM.
Song Wen suddenly realized that although Yuan Cheng didn't explicitly say it, from the information revealed in his words, it was clear that he managed the operations of the Corpse Dissection Cave on a daily basis.
Yuan Cheng would be his direct supervisor for the next five years.
"Thank you for your guidance, Senior Yuan. I will definitely follow your teachings carefully. Please take care of me in the future."
Yuan Cheng waved his hand, indicating that Song Wen could leave.
Song Wen bowed again respectfully before turning to leave.
As he walked away, he examined the bone-cleansing knife in his hand.
He hadn't expected the sect to issue spiritual weapons to Corpse Dissectors. Although it was only a lower-grade spiritual weapon, it suited Song Wen's current cultivation level well.
Contrary to Song Wen's initial expectations, obtaining a spiritual weapon was not easy. Even Ji Yin, who possessed the legacy of Huang Shang, only had one alchemy furnace, which was also a lower-grade spiritual weapon.
Huang Shang, who had wandered the cultivation world for decades as a wandering cultivator, had only managed to accumulate one lower-grade spiritual weapon, the alchemy furnace, which spoke volumes about the rarity and value of spiritual weapons.
In Song Wen's estimation, the danger in the Corpse Dissection Cave mainly came from the dense blood energy and slight corpse and resentment energies. His physical body could absorb blood energy, and his techniques could refine corpse and evil energies, giving him strong immunity to the chaotic earthly impurities in the Corpse Dissection Cave.
As expected, from the moment he stepped into the Corpse Dissection Cave, he sensed his body slowly absorbing the cave's blood energy, replenishing the qi and blood deficiency caused by a month of practicing the Corpse King Blood Refining Technique.
This discovery caused Song Wen's heart to tremble involuntarily. From the current situation, it seemed that his choice to become a Corpse Dissector was correct.
Just as Song Wen was pondering this in his heart, he walked near another Corpse Dissector.
He saw that Corpse Dissector wielding a bone-cleansing knife, swiftly dissecting the corpse of an adult woman.
Under the Corpse Dissector's control technique, the adult woman's corpse was dismembered into pieces in just a few minutes.
Like a skilled butcher.
The entire process was smooth and uninterrupted, as if he had dissected countless human bodies before and knew the human anatomy inside out.
The corpse was completely separated into bones and flesh. There was hardly any blood or flesh left on the bones of the female corpse; it was cleaned very thoroughly.
The blood from the female corpse flowed into a large blood pool not far away through the blood trough on the dissecting table.
The Corpse Dissector packed the flesh, bones, and organs of the female corpse separately into storage bags.
Watching the Corpse Dissector's smooth actions made Song Wen feel somewhat nauseous.
The dismemberment of corpses had a profound impact on him. Although he had mentally prepared himself beforehand, witnessing this scene firsthand still made it unbearable to watch.
However, Song Wen forcibly suppressed his discomfort and forced himself to stare without turning away.
He couldn't afford to show any weakness. Since he had joined the Corpse Demon Sect, delved into the demonic path, and entered the Corpse Dissection Cave, he had to be as tough as nails; otherwise, he wouldn't survive long in the Corpse Demon Sect.
Weakness was the mark of the weak, and the weak deserved to be bullied.
After the Corpse Dissector finished with the female corpse, he took out a male corpse, preparing to start a new round of dissection.
The bone-cleansing knife's sharp edge sliced down from the neck of the male corpse all the way to its ankles.
Instantly, the clothes on the male corpse were all slashed open, yet not a single bit of skin was harmed. This scene left Song Wen stunned; the Corpse Dissector's skill was truly extraordinary.
After removing the clothing from the male corpse, the Corpse Dissector began dissecting step by step from the head.
Half an hour later, after dissecting all the corpses scheduled for today, the Corpse Dissector briefly cleaned up the dissection table and headed towards Yuan Cheng's cave.
Song Wen watched as the Corpse Dissector approached from his direction and hurriedly greeted him respectfully.
"Respects to Senior, I am a new outer disciple. Please take care of me in the future."
Song Wen hoped to establish a familiar relationship for future consultation when encountering things he didn't understand during dissections.
However, the Corpse Dissector replied coldly, "Move aside!"
The Corpse Dissector's icy tone snapped Song Wen out of his thoughts. Where he currently stood was the infamous Corpse Dissection Cave within the Corpse Demon Sect; not every Corpse Dissector was as easy to talk to as Yuan Cheng.
Song Wen quickly stepped back to make way, watching as the Corpse Dissector walked past him towards Yuan Cheng's cave, carrying three storage bags filled with flesh, bones, and organs respectively.
There were over a hundred dissecting tables in the Corpse Dissection Cave. When Song Wen first entered, there were only forty-three people dissecting corpses; the other tables were empty.
As Song Wen observed the Corpse Dissector's recent dissection, several others finished their tasks for the day and left the Corpse Dissection Cave.
At this moment, there were only about a dozen Corpse Dissectors still dissecting corpses in the cave.
(End of the Chapter)