Since you immortals have already tasted the benefits, what comes next...

"I know I cannot keep this thing."

"So... I am willing to share the immortal's remains with all of you, esteemed cultivators."

Lord Anyang's voice carried a perfectly measured tone of resignation.

Like a defenseless mortal guarding a mountain of gold, he had made the wisest compromise.

"However..." His tone shifted abruptly as he swept his gaze across the courtyard, taking in the varied expressions of the cultivators present. His face twisted into an even more bitter smile. "There are far too many esteemed cultivators here, and only one set of immortal remains... How am I to decide, my lords?"

The moment these words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the courtyard turned tense.

The cultivators exchanged glances, their eyes now filled with suspicion.

The man from the Joyful Union Sect couldn't help but curl his lips into a cruel smirk.

A bloody struggle seemed imminent.

Just as the tension reached its peak, a cold, clear female voice abruptly shattered the oppressive silence.

"Such a clumsy attempt at sowing discord, Lord Anyang. Don’t you find it beneath you?"

The speaker was Li Xi.

She had remained still throughout, untouched by the wine and dishes on the table. Now, she slowly lifted her head, her calm, unreadable eyes locking onto Lord Anyang at the center of the courtyard.

All eyes instantly turned to the two of them.

Caught red-handed, Lord Anyang’s smile didn’t waver. Instead, it grew even more approving.

"The lady sees through everything. It seems I’ve overplayed my hand."

He showed no embarrassment, admitting it outright.

"However..." His tone shifted again, a dark glint flashing in his otherwise gentle eyes. "For discord to work, there must be something to exploit, no?"

"My esteemed cultivators, aren’t you curious about what you just drank?"

The entire courtyard erupted in shock.

"You poisoned the wine?!" The Joyful Union Sect man roared, slamming his palm onto the stone table before him, shattering it as he leapt to his feet.

He immediately checked his meridians, only to find his spiritual energy flowing normally, his soul untouched.

The other cultivators paled, hastily examining themselves—only to find the same results.

"Poison?" Lord Anyang burst into laughter, as if hearing the most ridiculous joke. "You are immortals, my lords. How would a mere mortal like me dare poison you?"

His laughter faded, replaced by a near-manic mockery.

"The wine isn’t poisoned."

He spread his hands, as if to demonstrate his honesty.

"I merely wished to share one of the wondrous uses of that immortal’s remains."

"That wine was brewed by steeping it in the immortal’s corpse."

A deathly silence fell over the courtyard.

Many of those present turned visibly sick.

They had killed countless times—but drinking corpse water?

This was a first.

The Joyful Union Sect man’s fists clenched so tightly his knuckles cracked.

Yet he didn’t dare move.

Because he could feel it—an inexplicable heat rising uncontrollably from his dantian, spreading like wildfire through his limbs.

This wasn’t spiritual energy. It was something far more primal, far more insidious, twisting his very being.

In a corner, Su Ji patted his chest in relief.

Thankfully, he’d only pretended to sip the wine before discreetly pouring it out.

Su Jiu’s face was also pale.

Even without drinking, her stomach churned with disgust as she glared at Lord Anyang.

Brewing wine with a corpse...

This was beyond madness. It was abomination.

Just as the crowd seethed with fury, Lord Anyang suddenly grabbed a half-man-high wine jar beside him. With a deranged grin, he hurled it violently to the ground!

Crash!

The jar shattered.

A thick, putrid stench instantly flooded the courtyard.

Foul black liquid oozed from the broken shards, pooling on the ground—identical to the filth they’d seen earlier in the city streets.

But this time, those who had drunk the wine felt something different.

Amid the revolting stench... was a faint, almost imperceptible trace of fragrance.

This fragrance carried a deadly allure, worming its way into their nostrils, tugging at the deepest corners of their souls.

Every cultivator who had drunk the wine found their breathing turning ragged, their eyes tinged with an unnatural red.

Especially the Joyful Union Sect man.

His gaze locked onto the black filth, his Adam’s apple bobbing uncontrollably.

Reason screamed at him—this was liquefied corpse filth, something even touching would defile him.

Yet the hunger clawing from within was like an invisible hand around his throat, choking him.

He wanted to step back, but his feet seemed rooted.

He wanted to look away, but his eyes were magnetized.

"No... impossible..."

A guttural groan escaped him, veins bulging on his forehead as he fought the unnatural craving.

But his body betrayed him.

Under the horrified stares of the crowd, this once-proud sect prodigy slowly bent his proud spine.

His knees buckled.

Thud.

He dropped to the ground.

Then, like a dog, he crawled on all fours toward the black pool.

Beside him, his pristine white jade puppet flickered with a faint red light in its hollow eyes, whispering, "Don’t..."

Yet he reached the filth.

Staring at the repulsive liquid, his expression twisted into something disturbingly rapturous.

His tongue darted out, wetting cracked lips.

Then—under the collective disbelief of the courtyard—he plunged his face into the black water, slurping greedily.

A late-stage Golden Core expert, reduced to lapping up corpse sludge like a beast?

But the next moment—

Boom!

An overwhelming aura erupted from him without warning!

An invisible shockwave blasted outward, sending nearby cultivators flying.

The shackles on his cultivation shattered instantly.

The full pressure of a late-stage Golden Core expert blanketed the courtyard!

Everyone stood frozen.

A single lick of that filth... had restored his cultivation?

And it didn’t stop there.

His power, now fully recovered, didn’t stabilize—it skyrocketed!

Late-stage Golden Core peak!

One step from Great Perfection!

Breaths hitched as all eyes locked onto the figure still hunched over the pool.

Then, after two more frenzied gulps—

The spiritual energy within his body finally surged to a critical point, and that overwhelming momentum abruptly halted.

Then, with a faint sound like something shattering—

The bottleneck that had constrained him for decades shattered with a thunderous crash!

Golden Core Perfection!

A pressure nearly twice as powerful as before erupted into the sky, tearing apart the clouds above the city lord's manor!

The man slowly raised his head from the ground.

Black liquid still dripped from the corner of his mouth, yet his handsome face was now filled with disbelief.

He could feel the unprecedented power surging within him, the flawless Six-Petal Golden Core—now elevated to Seven-Petals under the enveloping black water!

His entire being descended into a state of frenzied euphoria.

"Hahahaha… I broke through! I finally broke through!"

He roared with laughter, the sound brimming with decades of pent-up relief.

For this day, he had sacrificed untold effort, expended countless resources—yet that threshold had always remained as insurmountable as a chasm.

Who could have imagined that today, in such a manner, his wish would finally be granted?

Humiliation?

Disgust?

Before absolute power, all of it seemed utterly insignificant!

At this moment, the gazes of every cultivator in the courtyard who had drunk the wine shifted toward that pool of black water.

Fear, revulsion, wariness…

All those negative emotions, after witnessing such an inconceivable breakthrough, transformed into the most primal, most naked greed!

Gulp.

Someone swallowed hard.

Then, like a spark igniting gunpowder—

A disciple of the Blood Fiend Sect, unable to restrain his desire any longer, lunged forward with crimson eyes, howling as he pressed his face into that foul black water.

Where one led, others followed.

Disciples of the Joyful Union Sect, rogue cultivators…

One after another, they threw themselves at that stinking black pool as if possessed, as though it were not filth but an immortal elixir leading to the Great Dao.

The courtyard descended into pandemonium.

"Senior Brother…"

Su Jiu watched the grotesque scene before her, a wave of nausea rising in her throat. Instinctively, she clutched Su Ji's sleeve.

"Don't look."

Su Ji pulled her behind him, shielding her from the sight.

Lord Anyang stood at the center of the courtyard, his smile widening as he observed the spectacle. He clapped his hands in satisfaction.

"Excellent, excellent…"

"Now that you esteemed cultivators have tasted its benefits, let us proceed…"

"There is only one corpse."

"And only I know the method to refine this immortal dew."

"My heart yearns for the Dao, yet I lack the fortune to join an immortal sect."

"Even with such a treasure… I merely guard a mountain of riches in vain."

"I seek a cultivation technique."

"In exchange, I am willing to share this immortal corpse…"

"As for whose technique is superior… this humble lord fears his judgment is lacking."

"But surely, you esteemed cultivators can discern the best among yourselves, no?"