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The Imperial Capital.
Barely three days later, an emergency meeting was held within the Immortal Suppression Department.
Li Chang'an sat off to the side, observing the grave expressions of the numerous high-ranking officials.
Li Chang'an's brows were also tightly knit.
He had been summoned to the Ancestral Space earlier.
The three grandfathers of his family were as audaciously reckless as ever.
To think that over these years, they had actually infiltrated the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems and even risen to become Purple-Robed Elders.
The moment he entered the Ancestral Space, the three grandfathers had given him a harsh dressing-down.
Though they weren't exactly scolding him—mostly, they were cursing... the people sitting around him right now.
According to the three grandfathers, they had gone to great lengths to find such a fine "private school."
They hadn't even finished mastering the curriculum yet, and now the Immortal Suppression Department was coming to cause trouble for them.
"To think of learning skills at the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems... they really are one of a kind."
Li Chang'an rested his forehead in his hand.
That was a faction that had claimed countless lives over the past sixty thousand years—a place steeped in bloodshed and terror.
Meanwhile.
The "troublesome good-for-nothings"—as the three grandfathers had called them—were currently passing a jade slip amongst themselves, discussing matters with grave expressions.
"Is this intelligence actually reliable?
The Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems possesses ten thousand Purple-Robes. Every single one of them controls 'Ghastly Corpses' passed down through generations.
There are even instances where a single person controls over a thousand of them."
"The four White-Robes are all at the Void Refinement Realm: Taotie, Zhenwu, Huangui, and Lingxu.
They possess corpse-refining techniques inherited over tens of thousands of years, as well as refined aberrations.
It is entirely possible that each of them controls multiple Void Refinement-level 'Divine Corpses,' meaning a single one of them is equivalent to several Void Refinement cultivators."
"The most powerful entity, the True God, is elusive and mysterious—like a divine dragon that reveals its head but never its tail.
Circling above the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems is a Divine Corpse at the Integration Realm, refined from various bodies and shaped like a dragon."
"This is the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems?!!"
As the intelligence delivered within the jade slip came into view, everyone's heart skipped a beat in terror, yet they also felt a distinct sense of relief.
He Hao, sitting beside Li Chang'an, let out a long breath.
"I wonder which high expert provided this guidance? Otherwise, had we rashly marched upon the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, it would have been an absolute catastrophe."
Wu Neng frowned tightly.
Ever since this intelligence had arrived, the way his subordinates looked at him had become somewhat peculiar, causing him exceptional displeasure.
Are these fools holding a grudge against me? Do they think I was trying to get them killed?
He immediately snorted coldly.
"Sixty thousand years ago, when we suppressed the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems, they vanished without a trace.
Back then, they possessed no more than two Void Refinement cultivators.
Who could have imagined they would be so utterly deranged as to use corpse stitching to grow to this extent?
However, you all had best consider this carefully: where did this intelligence come from?
How does this person in the shadows know the details of a situation that even we could not uncover?
And why was this intelligence delivered only a few days after we decided to march on the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems?"
"Which one of you couldn't keep a leash on your family members and leaked the news?!"
Upon hearing this, everyone's expression changed.
Li Chang'an rubbed the iron fan covered in engravings in his hand, secretly thinking to himself that his three grandfathers were absolutely right.
This Wu Neng was truly incompetent. Even at a time like this, he was still putting on official airs and trying to shift the blame.
"I fear that hidden in the shadows, there is a massive faction attempting to cloud our judgment, waiting to swoop in and reap the spoils while we do the fighting!"
"...."
Li Wei manifested from the Ancestral Space.
He slowly walked up to Wu Neng, who had just stood up, and viciously raised his middle finger right in the face of this "leader."
"What a fucking moron."
At this moment, Li Wei was certain of one thing: as long as this fellow Wu Neng was around, the "Immortal Suppression Department Group Co., Ltd." would go bankrupt sooner or later and become nothing but a relic of the past.
...
While the Immortal Suppression Department was caught up in their dilemma regarding the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems.
Inside the Ancestral Space.
The descendants had been gathered together for several days.
Knowing that the corpse stitching technique from the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems could refine powerful corpses, and seeing the results of Li Tianyi's years of research, everyone's eyes were already gleaming with desire.
After years of developing the family, they couldn't care less about worldly judgment or the distinction between orthodox and heretical paths!
As the two family members most adept at studying unorthodox paths, Li Yaotie and Li Yaoqing were currently deconstructing the secret arts that Li Tianyi had brought back.
"This method works by eliminating the rejection between bloodlines to facilitate the connection of limbs.
This is what allows different limbs and bloodlines to fuse together—it shares the exact same underlying principle as my puppetry!"
Li Yaotie's face was beaming with excitement.
"If I apply the corpse stitching technique of the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems to my Spirit Puppets, it will be of great benefit in refining new ones.
The breakthrough to the Grade 4 Spirit Puppet Technique is right before my eyes!"
"The issue of rejection during corpse fusion can actually be resolved with medicine.
Spirit herbs and spiritual fluids can be used to nurture the corpse, achieving the effect of strengthening the physique."
Li Yaoqing squatted on the ground, resting her chin in her hands.
"Since they are corpses anyway, specific parts can be tempered with poison. The resulting power would be astonishing."
Li Dalong nodded slightly.
"There is no wall in this world that blocks the wind entirely.
If we were to experiment using humans and demon beasts, it is inevitable that someone would seize upon that as leverage against us.
We would end up targeted by the world, just like the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems.
"I can send over evil ghosts and zombies from the Underworld.
They are dead things to begin with; who knows, they might even prove more useful than the living humans and beasts used by the Mountain of Esoteric Stratagems."
Hearing this, Li Kuanghua spoke up.
"There are corpses of the Wu Tribe on the Western Border battlefield.
Usually, they are incinerated to prevent plagues, but over the years, I've secretly stashed away hundreds of thousands of them that can be used.
My Buddha-Demon Plate has eaten its fill. Since it is fundamentally an artifact of flesh and blood, it has already reached the bottleneck at the peak of the Fifth Grade.
If this method truly works, the Buddha-Demon Plate should be able to break through to the next level."
"There are also demon beast corpses in the Northern Region."
"If heavenly materials and earthly treasures are required, the Hall of Heavenly Principle and my Merchant Lineage can devise a way to acquire them."
"The Silver Moon Lineage has access to special mineral ores."
Amidst the discussion, the clansmen were all in high spirits. Who cared about some great war outside?
Let them fight! The family was busy researching!
They could clearly sense that this was a monumental opportunity—a chance for the family's strength to take another massive leap forward!