Yun Jiuge collected the various items and headed over to the room where she would be staying as a secondary disciple in the Yin Corpse Sect.

The room was quite big, but all the furniture in it was old. There was even a moldy smell in the air.

Nonetheless, Yun Jiuge was still pleased with the room that she had been given. At first, she worried that she would have to sleep in the same room as a bunch of other male disciples, and she was happy to discover that this was not the case.

Coincidentally, the Liu Sisters were staying in the room adjacent to Yun Jiuge’s. The two of them were crammed into a single room.

For the moment, their room was deadly quiet, and their door was tightly shut. No one knew what they were up to behind closed doors.

Zi Shang clicked his tongue and teased Yun Jiuge, “What’s with that look on your face? You look just like a pervert lusting after a beautiful woman.”

“Tsk. I only lust after handsome men, okay?” Yun Jiuge directed her gaze away from the door leading to the Liu Sisters’ room.

“Handsome men! Do you mean someone like him?” Zi Shang’s eyes drifted to the side.

A fat boy walked out of the room to Yun Jiuge’s right. He was wearing the same set of gray clothes that Yun Jiuge had received earlier. They were extremely tight on his body, which was as round as a ball.

“May I ask your name, Senior Brother? My name’s Jin Lin. We’ll be neighbors from here on out. I’ll be in your care.” Little Fatty Jin Lin broke into a smile, and two deep dimples formed in his plump cheeks as his lips curled upward. He looked adorable.

Yun Jiuge ignored Little Fatty’s greeting and slammed the door in his face.

“That was rather rude of you,” said Zi Shang. He realized that Yun Jiuge was becoming more and more reclusive ever since she’d been poisoned.

“If you are so polite, then why don’t you go and greet him?” Yun Jiuge had decided that she was going to be cold and anti-social during her time at the Yin Corpse Sect. She was not going to become chummy with any of the other disciples.

Zi Shang fell silent.

Obviously, he was not able to show himself in front of Little Fatty right now. Even if he could, his face would be devoid of expression, and he would be unable to speak a word. He couldn’t greet Little Fatty, even if he wanted to.

“Oh, that’s right. I don’t remember seeing Little Fatty during the secondary disciples’ examination earlier, do you?” Yun Jiuge asked Zi Shang.

She knew that Zi Shang was very good at identifying people. He was able to discern a person’s true identity without even looking at their physical appearances.

“He definitely wasn’t at the examination site earlier,” replied Zi Shang, nodding.

“Then, does that mean that he was selected to come here because he passed the other examination?”

Yun Jiuge remembered the hordes of people who had queued up earlier to sign up for the Yin Corpse Sect’s entrance examination.

Little Fatty must be relatively skilled if he was able to be promoted to a secondary disciple so quickly. He was definitely someone she should keep her eye on.

“Don’t think about such useless things. The most important thing you have to do now is to train,” Zi Shang urged.

Yun Jiuge fished out the book that detailed the basic techniques used in the Yin Corpse Sect and studied it alongside Zi Shang.

The way the cultivation stages were categorized in big, powerful sects like the Yin Corpse Sect was very different from how they would be classified by Spiritual Practitioners.

In the Yin Corpse Sect, each cultivation stage was differentiated by the strength of the spiritual energy possessed by the cultivator. The very first stage was the Qi Refining stage, followed by the Foundation Establishment stage, Core Formation stage, Nascent Soul stage, and lastly, the Soul Formation stage.

If one were to correspond those five stages with the different realms of a Spiritual Practitioner, then one would end up with: Beginner Level Spiritual Practitioner, Spiritual Master, Great Spiritual Master, Spiritual King, and Spiritual Emperor.

There were ten layers within the Qi Refining stage. When one completed all ten layers, then they were offered the chance to become a Proper Disciple of the sect.

If they were able to enter the Foundation Establishment stage, then they would be regarded as an Elite Disciple.

If they managed to enter the Core Formation stage, then they would be eligible to become an Elder.

As for the Nascent Soul and Soul Formation stages, only oddballs ever thought about pursuing them. Those people would most likely not stay in the sects long. They would usually move to higher-ranked Spiritual Cities to find an opportunity to enter those stages.

Zi Shang carefully looked through the techniques listed in the book and said, “You can practice this technique listed here. There are no issues whatsoever.”

The technique might not be as good as the Yin Corpse Bone-controlling Technique, but it still suited Yun Jiuge’s capacity and needs at the moment.

“Then I’ll start right away,” Yun Jiuge said.

She took out the bottle of Yin Qi Pills that she had received from Su Junqing earlier as a reward. The Yin Qi Pills might be of low rank, but she did not have any other suitable Yin Qi Pills on her right now. She had to make do with what she had.

“Go ahead. I’ll cast a protective spell over you,” Zi Shang responded.

Yun Jiuge took one Yin Qi Pill before she crossed her legs and sat on the bed. She then followed the instructions listed in the book and began to absorb the Yin Qi from her surroundings.

A whiff of gray Yin Qi rose from her Elixir Field, and the poisonous gas created by the Nine Stages of Fractured Bones began to circulate throughout her body.

Yun Jiuge felt as though an army of ants was crawling all over her skin. Her nerves tingled with pain.

This pain was one of the mildest effects brought about by the poisonous gas. If she could not even endure this level of pain, then she would never be able to get rid of the toxic gas inside of her.

Yun Jiuge gritted her teeth and persevered. When she was done, she realized that she was drenched in sweat and smelled a little bad.

“How do you feel?” Zi Shang asked with concern as he gripped a red paper doll.

“What on earth is that?” Yun Jiuge looked at the paper doll in Zi Shang’s hand. It resembled a human being, with its tiny arms and legs flailing.

“It’s just a tiny little bug that wants to pry information from us,” answered Zi Shang.

Using Yin Qi to manipulate paper dolls was one of many spells used in Trick Magic. It was not surprising that someone here would know how to cast this sort of spell. They were currently at a place that practiced Black Magic, after all.

“Let me see it.” Yun Jiuge stretched out her hand.

Zi Shang passed the red paper doll over to her.

Yun Jiuge touched the doll. It felt moist, cold, and extremely disgusting. She immediately gave it back to Zi Shang.

“Does it belong to the Liu Sisters or Little Fatty?” Those three people were the only ones living next to her. It was highly likely that one of them had planted the doll.

“It most likely belongs to the Liu Sisters.” Zi Shang had come to this conclusion after considering the direction from which the doll had arrived.

“They are certainly skilled.” Yun Jiuge knew the Liu Sisters were not as innocent as they appeared.

“How skilled they are is none of your business. Hurry up and achieve the first layer of the Corpse Controlling Technique! After that, I want you to learn Puppet Magic.” Zi Shang rubbed his fingers together, and the red paper doll was burned to a crisp.

Zi Shang was personally going to refine the Xuan Yin White Bone Monkey for Yun Jiuge, but she would need to learn Puppet Magic before she could manipulate it.

“Do you even know how to refine puppets?” Yun Jiuge could not help but be in awe of Zi Shang’s abilities.

Zi Shang would always pretend to be weak, but Yun Jiuge had a feeling that there was nothing in this world that could faze him.

“Well, I am a thousand-year-old teacher, after all!” Zi Shang smiled. The longer one lived, the more knowledge one came to possess.

“Oh yeah. I’m sure you have lots to teach.” Yun Jiuge rolled her eyes.

“I’ll teach you a thing or two tonight. Then you’ll know just how good I am as a teacher,” retorted Zi Shang while winking at Yun Jiuge flirtatiously.

Now that they were in the Yin Corpse Sect, things had become slightly more complicated for the two of them to be alone together. They were only able to perform dual cultivation once over the past three days. Not only that, but each session had also ended very quickly. They’d only done the bare minimum to prevent Yun Jiuge’s Elixir Field from exploding.

“Scram!” Yun Jiuge did not want to be teased by Zi Shang. She took out the Corpse Controlling Bell and attempted to control the White Bone Spur.

There is a Chinese saying that goes, “An item can change its appearance a million times, but its fundamental properties will always still stay the same.”

The Corpse Controlling Bell and the Lightning Snake Magical Whip might look like two completely different objects, but there was actually not much difference in the way they were used.

Yun Jiuge quickly transferred her spiritual energy into the Corpse Controlling Bell before she shook it. The runes on the White Bone Spur lit up before it slowly rose into the air.

“Go!” Yun Jiuge pointed at the decrepit table in the room. The White Bone Spur transformed into a flash of light and flew over where she had indicated. It then pierced the table, leaving behind a hole.

Its might definitely could not rival that of the Lightning Snake Magical Whip, but Yun Jiuge was still pleased with the damage that it was able to inflict.

Yun Jiuge continued to make the White Bone Spur fly about the room for a while. She only stopped when she had used up all of the Yin Qi in her body. Then, she went back to training.

By the time she had finished half of the bottle of Yin Qi Pills that she had been given, Yun Jiuge was able to attain the first layer of the Secondary Disciples’ Yin Skill. She could be regarded as a cultivator now.

At Zi Shang’s urging, Yun Jiuge headed over to the Chuan Gong Hall at the main peak to inquire about the technique that would allow her to refine puppets.

When she arrived, the main peak was bustling with life. She made her way directly over to Chuan Gong Hall.

Chuan Gong Hall appeared very imposing on the outside. Its doors were made of stone and approximately ten yards tall. Chuan Gong Hall was extremely spacious, but the disciples were not allowed to step inside.

There was a small window that had been left open in the middle of the hall. An elderly man dressed in gray sat behind the window.