Ashen God
Chapter 360 - 359: Young Female Corpse

Speaking of which, what on earth is this ’grave digging, then stumbling upon a beautiful female Awoken’? I never even had such a thought, okay. And something about ’giving up on hitting on her’, I didn’t have that thought either, alright.

But no, my focus should still be on the Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures, the Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass; just the name alone sounds mighty impressive. Since it has such a powerful name, it should significantly boost my stamina limit, right?

So now, here comes the dilemma. I definitely need to increase my stamina limit, but why would Multiple Choice give me this Sky Demon Crimson Crystal Grass that can also surely replenish my energy when I need to spend a lot of stamina to fall asleep?

Forget it, after all, it’s a Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures that can increase my stamina limit. I should take it. Can’t miss out on the big picture because of the small details."

Although he had already seen the tempting Heavenly Material and Earthly Treasure in the first Option, Zhang Yanhang still carefully started to examine the other two Options.

"What the heck was I thinking with this second Option? Knowingly releasing a Death Wave with someone in the grave, and to make things worse, this female Awakened is going to join the government and become an Imperial Civil Servant in a few days, then personally issue a warrant for my arrest.

If I choose this Option, I’m afraid there’d be no place for me within the vast territory of the Empire, except for fleeing abroad. Staying in Qin Island City would likely result in being immediately captured and sent to Ashen World to pioneer new lands—an utterly miserable fate."

If Zhang Yanhang had Third Tier strength, he might have been able to resist somewhat, but at Second Tier, he was really not up to par. Facing the groups of Empire Awakened and their accompanying Reconnaissance System Awakened, it wouldn’t take long at all for him to be apprehended.

Of course, this is all presuming Zhang Yanhang would honestly stay in Qin Island City. If he were to escape right away, merely using Alchemy to alter his facial features and physique before diving into some deep mountains and forests, he could easily evade the majority of the pursuit.

In fact, aside from the deep mountains and forests, Zhang Yanhang had an even better place to go – Ashen World. As long as he stayed hidden in Ashen World, the government’s pursuit and warrants would naturally become ineffective.

So, if it really came down to a do-or-die situation, Zhang Yanhang could be ruthless and simply go into secret cultivation in Ashen World. After all, his Limitless Universe Skill could automatically grant him the follow-up cultivation techniques on advancement.

In this way, he could remain in secret cultivation in Ashen World until he reached Fifth or even Sixth Tier and achieved Divine Skill. Then he could return to the Empire. By then, the Empire’s pursuit would be a joke to him.

But, if possible, Zhang Yanhang still wanted to enjoy life as much as possible. After all, life isn’t just for the sake of living. Once the conditions for survival are met, one naturally starts to seek enjoyment from life.

If he were to stay in Ashen World and cultivate to Fifth or even Sixth Tier, it’s quite likely that Zhang Yanhang, who would be stuck in an endless loop of Slaughter and dormancy, might deteriorate into a killing machine. Once in that state, he’d be close to Deviation.

The Empire’s provided cultivation techniques are quite safe, but since he has stepped onto the path of Cultivation, Deviation is inevitably a risk. Thus, when Awakened fall into extreme emotional states, their chances of Deviation significantly increase.

This kind of case was more common in the Early Stage of Spiritual Qi Recovery, but there has been a decrease lately. Even though it has decreased, considering the Empire’s immense population, even a one in a hundred million chance of Deviation would result in twenty Deviations a day. Hence, such reports had long become nothing unusual.

Therefore, unless it was for something extremely important, Zhang Yanhang would certainly not choose the path of attacking an Imperial Civil Servant. Besides, if he did attack, he would need to destroy all traces thoroughly, which would significantly reduce his chance of being detected.

In other words, in a situation where he could gain no benefit but only incur great harm, Zhang Yanhang would definitely not choose this second Option. Just like the adjective in this Option, if he did that, his brain would indeed be malfunctioning.

"Moreover, aside from the second Option being unreliable, the third Option is also quite unreliable. I wouldn’t gain any benefit, but instead, I would lose a Xuanyin Fruit for nothing."

Although the Option mentions that he could secure a permanent job position as an Imperial Civil Servant, Zhang Yanhang didn’t feel that was a benefit. With his rate of progression in strength, going to the government agencies would only delay his development due to the various tasks he’d be assigned, making it more of a disadvantage than an advantage.

"Plus, I’m only 20 years old, what the heck would I do as a civil servant at such a young Age? I mean, even though the minimum Age requirement is 18, I haven’t even graduated from college yet. Becoming a civil servant right now doesn’t seem quite right."

After carefully reviewing the third Option, Zhang Yanhang felt it was slightly more reliable than the second. It could help him find a job before graduation to avoid becoming an unemployed drifter or idle member of society right after graduation. But he was only a sophomore; it was indeed a bit too early to look for a job right now.

"So, I choose Option One, ignoring this Third Tier Awakened buried in the graveyard!"

As Zhang Yanhang made his choice, the Time Pause immediately dissipated, but he didn’t head straight for the neighboring hilltop. Instead, he stood still and observed the female Awakened buried in the graveyard for a moment.

"From the patterns of her cultivation techniques and related characteristics, she should also be practicing the Empire-standard Limitless Universe Skill, not some technique inherited from a Sect. But why would she be practicing in a graveyard?"

Zhang Yanhang usually only absorbed regular Spiritual Energy when he practiced, but this Awakened person in the grave seemed to be using Limitless Universe Skill to absorb the abundant Yin Qi in the graveyard, which was quite puzzling. After all, under normal circumstances, Yin Qi isn’t part of what the Limitless Universe Skill would absorb.

It was precisely because she continually absorbed Yin Qi for her practice that Zhang Yanhang initially mistook her for a ’young female corpse’, suspecting that she might be some strange Zombie that had shifted from some unknown place.