Cultivation Simulator: Starting From The Empress' Palace

In the dark depths of the cave, flickering flames illuminated the stone chamber. A woman in a red dress, holding an iron cage, stared at them with hollow eyes and a terrifying expression.

The moment she turned around, the temperature in the entire stone chamber dropped by several degrees.

The white fox in the iron cage let out a piercing cry, adding an eerie air to the atmosphere in the space.

Chen Mo took out some hair from the victims and used a Daoist technique to sense it; all the traces pointed to this place.

”Senior Sister, she’s the malevolent spirit committing the crimes.”

Chen Mo pointed at the woman in the red dress.

Zhao Fujin furrowed her brows. Although she had only glanced briefly at the bodies in the mortuary, the death scenes were still vivid in her mind.

At the gate of the county government office, so many people had lost their parents, sons, wives...

Despite Zhao Fujin’s kind nature, knowing the mastermind now, she was infuriated. She immediately shouted, ”You bold demon, daring to commit such atrocious crimes, you shall not be spared.”

The longsword unsheathed, Zhao Fujin thrust directly at the woman in the red dress.

Chen Mo stood aside, not interfering.

After all, this task was meant to be a training exercise for Zhao Fujin.

Seeing Zhao Fujin charging in, the woman in the red dress let out a sinister laugh, tossed the iron cage aside, and in an aged voice, said, ”To think... more fresh blood comes knocking.”

Then, with a flick of her head, the long hair draped over her shoulders suddenly shot out like iron spikes, dispersing toward Zhao Fujin, and at the moment of the flick, the hair even lengthened.

A sword strike slashed at it, surprisingly sparking like metal clashing, emitting a crisp sound.

But Zhao Fujin’s skill was superior, as she turned mid-strike, the sword hilt struck hard against the woman in the red dress, sending her flying against the stone wall with a dull thud.

The woman in the red dress’s expression changed, realizing that she was not a match for the opponent in front of her. She opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of blood mist, blood-red and extremely thick, with a foul stench, rushing toward Zhao Fujin.

Zhao Fujin snorted coldly, held her sword with both hands, the tip pointed to the ground, her fingers quickly formed a seal, and a sudden whirlwind blew the blood mist away inside the stone chamber.

Yet, the woman in the red dress disappeared from Zhao Fujin’s view.

Just when Zhao Fujin was taken aback.

A loud bang was heard.

A figure flew past Zhao Fujin and slammed against the wall fiercely—it was the woman in the red dress.

This outcome was even more severe than when Zhao Fujin had hit her against the wall earlier, as if her entire skeleton had shattered.

”Trying to escape.” Chen Mo shook his wrist, then looked at Zhao Fujin and smiled, ”Senior Sister, continue...”

Seeing this, the woman in the red dress suddenly widened her eyes. Their opponent clearly had the strength to quickly end her, yet let that woman handle her.

What was this about?

The woman in the red dress felt insulted.

”Ah...” The woman in the red dress screamed, going mad. Her red dress exploded, leaving her naked in front of them, but her body was not arousing in the least.

One side of her body was all decaying flesh, while the other half, though similar to a normal human’s body, looked like it had been frozen for a long time, without a trace of blood.

At the same time, her ten fingernails lengthened, her hair exploded, moving without wind, like a crazed ghost from a horror movie, rushing at Zhao Fujin.

Zhao Fujin was somewhat frightened too, but she didn’t lose her composure. She let go of her sword, and her hands quickly formed seals.

Her right index and pinky fingers overlapped with her left index and pinky fingers, and the middle and ring fingers met side by side, her voice resonated powerfully:

”Electric Lord, Thunder Mother, descend swiftly with your divine techniques, join me to eliminate pain... Thunder, come!”

As Zhao Fujin’s last word fell, a bolt of lightning emerged from her palm, striking fiercely at the woman in the red dress.

With a rumble, the woman was knocked to the ground, twitching once before losing all signs of life.

Zhao Fujin raised her brows, then picked up her sword, cautiously approached, and poked the woman in the red dress with it; the body was already incomprehensibly stiff.

She let out a long breath, wiped the light sweat from her forehead, and smiled, ”Junior Brother, how was that?”

”Senior Sister’s performance was naturally masterful.” Chen Mo gave her an approving look.

He then approached, carefully examining for a while, before frowning: ”Senior Sister, do you remember the corpse puppet described in the Shenxiao Sect’s Dao Scripture?”

”I remember, what’s up?” Zhao Fujin replied.

”Then Senior Sister, look, doesn’t it resemble a corpse puppet?” Chen Mo pointed to the woman in the red dress’s body and said.

Zhao Fujin’s expression changed, then she bent down and examined with her sword closely, muttering, ”The body’s stiff, it does match somewhat, but corpse puppets don’t speak...”

A corpse puppet is a kind of puppet made from a corpse, according to Daoist techniques, used by masters with corpses not deceased for more than a hundred days. It can be controlled, and though it has life, it feels no pain, roaming like a ghost.

Just now, the behavior of the woman in the red dress, aside from the body stiffness, didn’t match the characteristics of a corpse puppet at all.

”But what if it was made using a living person?” Chen Mo suggested.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Fujin trembled violently, her expression shifted.

If the previous method of making a corpse puppet warranted moral condemnation at most,

then using a living person to create a corpse puppet would incur heavenly retribution.

The Dao Scripture of the Shenxiao Sect records that making a corpse puppet from a living person is a forbidden technique.

Because this not only violates human ethics but is also an abomination.

Corpse puppets made this way require the absorption of live human blood to sustain ”life” and increase strength.

The more blood absorbed, the stronger the corpse puppet becomes, potentially transforming into a living dead, eventually being able to cultivate independently, indistinguishable from the living.

Historical records state that during the battle against the Witch Kingdom in the previous dynasty, a corpse puppet drained the blood of tens of thousands within less than two months, reaching First Grade in power.

It caused considerable casualties for the army of the previous dynasty.

”No wonder the victims were all drained of their blood.”

Zhao Fujin’s face turned grim.

In this sense, the woman in the red dress was not truly the mastermind.

The real perpetrator was likely whoever created this corpse puppet.

”Junior Brother, what should we do now?” Zhao Fujin looked at Chen Mo.

Chen Mo shook his head: ”Corpse puppets are made through special methods. ’Immortal’s Guidance’ is of no use, and the person behind this is unknown in identity and power. Even if we knew their location, we can’t act rashly.

It’s better to report this and let specialized personnel handle it.”

Upon hearing this, Zhao Fujin considered for a moment, realizing it was their best option.

Then, her gaze shifted to the white fox in the iron cage: ”What a beautiful fox!”