Rebirth as a Demonic Cultivator: Starting with a Zombie Planet

Chapter 22: Foundation Building Blood Pill, Soul-Nourishing Flower

When Righteous cultivators attempted to shatter the Bottleneck to the Foundation Establishment stage, nearly all of them relied on a Foundation Establishment Pill. Only a vanishingly small number of peerless geniuses could liquefy their spiritual power naturally.

But the pills were notoriously difficult to acquire.

The primary hurdle was the main ingredient: a Foundation Establishment stage spiritual herb known as the Dao Ling Flower. On the open market, a single stalk commanded a staggering price of ten mid-grade Spirit Stones. Add to that the seven to twelve supplementary Qi Condensation stage herbs—depending on a sect’s specific recipe—and the cost was astronomical.

Even with the ingredients secured, alchemy was a fickle art. A pill master who could successfully yield four batches out of ten was already considered highly accomplished.

Demonic Cultivators, however, were far more pragmatic. They bypassed the Dao Ling Flower entirely, substituting it with the Soul-Nourishing Flower—a parasitic bloom that sprouted directly from the living souls of powerful creatures. They also swapped out the rarer Qi Condensation herbs for easily obtainable alternatives, drastically slashing the cost of production.

The resulting concoction was known among Demonic Cultivators as the Foundation Building Blood Pill.

Since Chu Xuan lacked the means to forage for orthodox spiritual herbs, he had planned to refine the Foundation Building Blood Pill from the very beginning.

“Back to work,” Chu Xuan muttered. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and resumed refining the large Blood Bead in his palm.

…

A month bled away in the blink of an eye.

Atop the roof of the Haotai Hotel, Chu Xuan sat in silent meditation. Because he had yet to achieve Inedia, he was forced to pause his cultivation after absorbing each large Blood Bead just to eat. By now, he had chewed his way through nearly the entire food stockpile looted from the Spirit Dog Gang’s warehouse.

Fueled by an uninterrupted supply of large Blood Beads, his cultivation base had skyrocketed over the past month. He now stood at the absolute peak of the eighth layer of Qi Condensation.

Only a razor-thin threshold separated him from the ninth layer.

However, his stockpile was completely depleted. He held the very last large Blood Bead in his hand, yet that final barrier refused to budge.

“Shatter.”

Chu Xuan initiated the absorption of the final Blood Bead. A torrent of boiling blood energy flooded his meridians. He let out a low, guttural growl, the veins pulsing violently against his temples.

A cultivator’s sheer willpower could act as a battering ram against the limits of their cultivation. Perhaps Chu Xuan’s will was simply that tyrannical, or perhaps the Providence clinging to him was just that potent.

In that moment, the Bottleneck between the eighth and ninth layers of Qi Condensation gave way as naturally as water bursting through a dam.

*BOOM!*

His aura exploded outward. A shockwave of spiritual pressure blasted across the hotel rooftop, scouring the concrete completely free of dust and debris.

Nearby, Xiao Bao and the six Yin Corpses had been standing guard in dead silence. The sudden, violent eruption of Chu Xuan’s aura sent Xiao Bao into a frenzy of terrified whimpers, its undead mind gripped by absolute dread. The other six Yin Corpses simply collapsed, prostrating themselves against the concrete, too paralyzed by fear to even lift their heads.

It was only long after Chu Xuan had retracted his suffocating presence that they finally dared to stagger upright, peering at him with the cautious curiosity of frightened toddlers.

Chu Xuan exhaled a long breath of turbid air and slowly opened his eyes.

“Ninth layer of Qi Condensation.” A cold, satisfied smile touched his handsome features. “Now, I just need to fill my Qi Sea to the brim, and I’ll be ready to assault the Foundation Establishment stage.”

“Roar! Roar!”

A chorus of guttural snarls echoed from the distance, rapidly closing in. A few blinks later, the Corpse Soldiers Xiao Long and Xiao Hu vaulted onto the rooftop, each dragging a dead Spirit Dog by the neck.

Upon seeing Chu Xuan, Xiao Hu didn’t hesitate for a fraction of a second, immediately bowing its head in deep reverence. Da Huang and Er Huang followed suit. Though they hadn’t been formally bound by a blood contract, their undead instincts had thoroughly submitted to Chu Xuan as their master.

Xiao Long, however, paused. It stood tall for a second too long before finally lowering its head.

Chu Xuan’s eyes narrowed, his gaze turning glacial as it locked onto the Zombie. After a brief, silent appraisal, he sneered. “No wonder you hesitated. Reached the eighth level of a Corpse Soldier and suddenly feel like you’ve grown fangs?”

He let out a cold snort. Without lifting a finger, he unleashed a crushing wave of spiritual power, dropping it onto Xiao Long like a physical mountain.

Unable to bear the sheer weight of the suppression, Xiao Long crashed to both knees.

*Crack.*

The sharp sound of fracturing bone echoed from its kneecaps. Xiao Long let out a miserable, rattling shriek, but it didn’t dare attempt to stand. It remained kneeling, trembling. Its primitive mind finally registered the truth: its master’s strength was still an insurmountable abyss. Defiance was a fatal miscalculation.

“Hmph. Rebellious trash,” Chu Xuan muttered, his tone entirely indifferent.

Yin Corpses were never just mindless killing machines; they often retained fragments of their living temperaments. This Xiao Long was clearly born with a defiant streak.

He turned his attention to the other Zombie. “Xiao Hu has already reached the seventh level. Good. Here is your Reward.”

Chu Xuan flicked his finger, shooting a purified Blood Bead through the air. Xiao Hu’s dead eyes flared with ravenous excitement, and it snapped its jaws shut around the bead. For a Yin Corpse, tearing into raw flesh was a horribly inefficient way to gather energy. Naturally, it craved the hyper-concentrated Blood Beads refined by Chu Xuan’s Blood Transformation Spell.

“Roar, roar!” Xiao Hu reached out, clumsily tugging at the hem of Chu Xuan’s robes, clearly trying to convey something.

Intrigued, Chu Xuan established a mental link with the Zombie. A moment later, he deciphered the crude flashes of intent.

“You found a den of giant wolves? And they actually coordinated to ambush you?”

Chu Xuan’s interest was instantly piqued. Just as humans who survived the baptism of psionic energy evolved into Espers, flora and fauna could also mutate into Supernatural Plants or Mutant Beasts. For a pack of giant wolves to orchestrate an ambush meant they possessed a terrifying degree of intelligence.

The ambient psionic energy had clearly hyper-accelerated their evolution. For the desperate human survivors of Donghu City, this was a nightmare.

But for Chu Xuan? It was a godsend. Highly intelligent, physically powerful beasts? They were the absolute perfect living resources—premium flesh vessels to cultivate the Soul-Nourishing Flower.

“Before I return to the Cangxuan Heaven and Earth, I’ll prepare the breeding ground,” Chu Xuan murmured, a predatory smile spreading across his face. “By the time I come back, the Soul-Nourishing Flower should be ripe for the harvest.”

He looked down at Xiao Hu. “Where is this wolf den?”

Xiao Hu grunted, pointing a rotting finger toward a small mountain to the north.

Chu Xuan nodded. “Xiao Long, Xiao Hu, and the other six, you’re coming with me. Xiao Bao, stay here and guard the base.”

“Roar! Roar! Roar!” The Zombies growled in acknowledgment, though Xiao Bao let out a pathetic, aggrieved whine.

“Fine, Da Huang and Er Huang will stay behind to keep you company,” Chu Xuan said, waving a hand dismissively.

Xiao Bao immediately perked up, looking for all the world like a lonely child who had just been given playmates.

With a thought, Chu Xuan swept Xiao Long, Xiao Hu, and the remaining Yin Corpses into his Corpse Nurturing Tower. Stepping onto his flying sword, he shot into the northern sky like a streak of cold light.

…

Meanwhile, at the Black Vanguard Security Company.

Wang Gangjian wasn’t playing video games today. Instead, he sat behind his general manager’s desk, his face pale and deeply lined with stress. Wang Yong sat on the sofa opposite him, mirroring his boss’s grim expression.

“I called you in here to brainstorm a solution, not to sit there and mope with me!” Wang Gangjian snapped, slamming a hand on the desk.

Wang Yong offered a strained, awkward smile. “It’s… a bit difficult, boss. A monster that a six-man squad from the Linjiang Army couldn’t even handle? Our entire Black Vanguard only has four Espers, and we’re all just Level One…”

The excuse only fueled Wang Gangjian’s fury. “I told you to crush a Psionic Core and swallow it, but you refused! With your talent, if you were a Level Two Esper right now, do you think we’d be sitting here completely helpless?!”

Wang Yong’s smile turned even more bitter.

Consuming a raw Psionic Core was a massive gamble. The odds were split evenly into thirds: success, failure with no effect, or violent death. It all came down to a person’s physical constitution. If a survivor’s body was resilient enough, eating a raw core was a viable path to power.

But Wang Yong? He simply didn’t have the guts to play Russian roulette with his life.