At the island's center stood stone towers, and within the heart of those towers lay an even larger graveyard, featuring three open caverns that provided direct access to its depths.

Shi Yan and Xia Xinyan followed the disciples of the Corpse God Cult and the Yin-Yang Grotto behind them, winding through one graveyard after another until they reached the island's core.

Many disciples from the Yin-Yang Grotto were housed in the surrounding stone towers. Others were led by members of the Corpse God Cult to nearby graveyards, visiting the cult’s critical sites for refining corpses.

Li Zhuang and Sui Yueru, the two protectors from the Yin-Yang Grotto, accompanied by high-ranking martial artists from the Corpse God Cult, entered one of the stone towers, seemingly to negotiate terms of their reward.

Li Wei mingled with several Corpse God Cult disciples, all possessing Hundred Tribulations Realm cultivation. They stood alongside the two protectors from the Yin-Yang Grotto, their gazes cold as they watched Shi Yan and Xia Xinyan.

Shi Yan and Xia Xinyan were temporarily confined to a stone room within the tower—a windowless space containing only a stone door.

Outside the stone door stood several formidable masters from both the Yin-Yang Grotto and the Corpse God Cult, maintaining a quiet, defensive watch.

A few Corpse God Cult disciples descended into the central graveyard, busy with unknown tasks.

Others began moving strange stones and eerie, dark wooden blocks from nearby towers, alongside numerous vials filled with poisonous insects.

It seemed the Corpse God Cult disciples were preparing materials for corpse refinement.

Unaware of the activity outside, Shi Yan and Xia Xinyan only knew they had been temporarily imprisoned.

Inside the stone room, Shi Yan remained utterly composed, his eyes chillingly alert, maintaining constant vigilance.

Somehow, Xia Xinyan knew that within three of the graveyards in this Burial Grounds lay Water Corpses.

According to her, Water Corpses were incredibly potent once submerged in water, but on land, they were surprisingly easy to eliminate. If enveloped by flame, a Water Corpse’s body would rapidly dissolve.

Water Corpses were unlike the Thousand-Year Corpse Kings, which understood the application of the Five Elements. Corpse Kings not only resisted flames but could also extinguish fire with water currents, possessing the ability to wield flame themselves.

The Corpse King was the most unique and powerful of the corpse slaves. Water Corpses were restricted to swimming, lacking the ability to manipulate water currents, and harbored an extreme fear of fire.

On the way over, Xia Xinyan had subtly pointed out the three graveyards housing the Water Corpses to Shi Yan.

Shi Yan committed the locations to memory, waiting for the right moment. Once an opportunity arose, he was determined to eliminate those three Water Corpses first before venturing out to sea.

Deep in the night.

Sporadic screams of terror echoed from the various graveyards across the Burial Grounds.

Many of the Yin-Yang Grotto disciples visiting the graveyards with the Corpse God Cult members were experiencing it for the first time. In the silent night, faced with the gruesome, terrifying corpse slaves, fear inevitably erupted into screams.

One cry would trigger a chain reaction; disciples in other graveyards, hearing the panic, would also begin screaming.

For a time, sounds akin to ghostly wails and wolf howls drifted across the island.

Shi Yan listened to the nearby screams with a cold expression, frowning. By analyzing the screams, he could gauge where the Yin-Yang Grotto disciples were most densely gathered.

In his mind, Shi Yan ceaselessly calculated—if a fight broke out, from which direction would escape be easiest?

“You two, come out,” Li Wei’s voice drifted from outside in the latter half of the night.

Shi Yan snorted inwardly. He and Xia Xinyan emerged from the stone room, glancing at the assembled Yin-Yang Grotto and Corpse God Cult disciples at the door. “Li Wei, what is this stunt?”

“The materials for refining Living Corpses are ready. We’ll take you to see,” Li Wei replied, his eyes filled with malicious intent. He was visibly excited as he spoke, unconsciously rubbing his hands, as if impatient for what was to come.

Shi Yan’s expression tightened slightly. “We have no interest in watching the refinement of Living Corpses. If you’re interested, go yourself.”

“You don’t get a choice,” Li Wei sneered. “You’re going whether you like it or not! Take them!”

Two Yin-Yang Grotto martial artists at the Protector level positioned themselves on either side of Shi Yan. Five Corpse God Cult disciples, all at the Hundred Tribulations Realm, stepped forward, their eyes radiating sinister anticipation for the forthcoming 'living corpse' ritual.

Two Protectors, five Hundred Tribulations Realm Corpse God Cult disciples, plus Li Wei—this force was already formidable. Furthermore, Li Zhuang and Sui Yueru, both Nirvana Realm experts, were inside the surrounding stone towers. If a fight erupted here, Shi Yan and Xia Xinyan would have virtually no chance of survival.

Quickly assessing the risks and gains, Shi Yan suddenly grinned. “Fine, we’ll go take a look. Lead the way.” The five Corpse God Cult disciples remained expressionless, showing no particular emotion, and slowly began walking toward a cavern in the center of the stone tower complex.

“Go in!” Li Wei shouted sharply from beside the two Protectors.

A chill ran down Shi Yan’s spine. His gaze flickered over Li Wei as he took a deep breath and slowly followed them.

This was a vast subterranean mausoleum.

The tomb occupied an immense area, segmented into numerous stone chambers. In the center of many chambers rested coffins of bizarre designs. Numerous iron pipes extended from the stone walls, piercing into these coffins.

Each coffin was affixed with five or six iron pipes as thick as a man’s arm, one end submerged in the coffin, the other disappearing into the wall.

The pipes were filled with a peculiar miasma of death and corpse energy, flowing with faint energy fluctuations. These coffins seemed to function as energy hubs, channeling the strange energies from the gullies of the graveyard into the coffins to supply the corpse slaves with adequate power.

There were perhaps over twenty stone chambers, large and small, in the underground tomb. Each chamber housed three or four coffins, and within every coffin lay a corpse slave.

In the absolute center of the mausoleum was the largest chamber, about twice the size of the others, yet it contained only two coffins.

These two coffins were also several times larger than the standard ones, riddled with iron pipes through which the mixed energies of death and corpse essence surged inward.

Upon descending, Shi Yan glanced at those two coffins, and his expression drastically changed.

The other coffins showed no internal fluctuation; the corpse slaves within possessed no discernible aura.

However, within the two immense central coffins, there was a subtle ripple—the corpse slaves inside seemed not entirely devoid of awareness, possessing perhaps a flicker of cognitive ability.

Heavenly Corpses!

Shi Yan recoiled internally. According to Xia Xinyan, Heavenly Corpses over a thousand years old were stronger than they had been in life and possessed rudimentary consciousness. When engaging in combat, they even knew how to deploy appropriate martial techniques, often executing their former skills better than they had while living!

Generally, any Heavenly Corpse reaching the millennium mark must have been a martial artist of the Nirvana Realm before death. Only the remains of Nirvana Realm warriors would warrant the Corpse God Cult expending such immense resources to transform them into Heavenly Corpses.

Heavenly Corpses were extremely precious, reserved only for the most important figures within the Corpse God Cult.

Every Heavenly Corpse was officially recorded by the cult, and a key figure seeking ownership required the Sect Master’s explicit approval to become its master.

Two Heavenly Corpses!

Shi Yan stared at the coffins, inwardly