Death Pathway/Advancement

OverviewAbilitiesAdvancementList of BeyondersRelated GroupsMisc

Sequence 9: Corpse Collector

• Overview
• Formula
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

Blackish corpse fluid reeking of decay.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

Pale leather covered in rotting black spots.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• A desiccated mature Black-spotted Frog.
• Cloth-wrapped Person's Crystal.

Or
• A Corpse Collector Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 80 milliliters of repeatedly distilled liquor.
• 10 drops of Black-spotted Frog mucus.
• 10 drops of Black Lily hydrosol.
• 1 used burial shroud.

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Acting Method

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Sequence 8: Gravedigger

• Overview
• Formula
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

Dark green liquid streaked with blood.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

A blood-stained eye.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• Death-Calling Crow's eyeball.
• 1 Cemetery Blood Rose.

Or
• A Gravedigger Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 100 milliliters of pure alcohol.
• 3 Death-Calling Crow feathers.
• 5 Cemetery Blood Rose leaves.
• 9 drops of Corpse-scented essential oil.

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Acting Method

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Sequence 7: Spirit Medium

• Overview
• Formula
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

Transparent liquid with psychedelic hues.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

Semi-real semi-illusory mirror surface concealing indescribable entities.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• Phantom Cat's forepaw.
• 1 piece of Spirit World Crystal.

Or
• A Spirit Medium Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 80 milliliters of a Phantom Cat blood.
• 10 grams of Spirit World Crystal-contaminated soil.
• 5 milliliters of brain matter from an evil spirit possession victim.
• 1 leaf blessed by a natural spirit.

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Acting Method

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Sequence 6: Spirit Guide

• Overview
• Formula
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

Yellowish-green liquid with intense corpse stench.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

• Pale stone encircled by numerous shadows.
• A pale-white right eye veiled in darkness.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• Shadow of Death.
• Soul of a Pale Lich's.

Or
• A Spirit Guide Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 100 milliliters of decomposing fluid from the dead.
• Fragmented bones of Pale Lich.
• Object inhabited by Shadow of Death.
• 1 lingering Wraith.

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Acting Method

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Sequence 5: Gatekeeper

• Overview
• Formula
• Ritual
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

Illusory liquid with dark vortices extending to the bottle's bottom.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

A shattered skull, housing a dangerously illusory gate.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• Skull of an Underworld Wanderer.
• Crystal core left by a Thousand-Armed Wraith.

Or
• A Gatekeeper Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 100 milliliters of water tainted by aura of death.
• 1 piece of rotten flesh from Underworld Wanderer.
• 10 grams of residual powder of a Thousand-Armed Wraith.
• 10 drops of deep crimson Red Spider Lily essential oil.

Advancement Ritual

Find a place where the aura of the Underworld leaks through, make contact, and survive.

Ritual Essence

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Acting Method

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Sequence 4: Undying

• Overview
• Formula
• Ritual
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

A pale potion that remains perfectly still—no ripples, even when exposed to wind or shaken.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

Hollow, blackened, and greenish serpent skin.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• Gallbladder of a Decaying Feathered Serpent.
• Molt of the Immortal Cicada.

Or
• A Undying Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 90 milliliters of bodily fluid from the Decaying Feathered Serpent.
• 9 pieces of bark from the tree where the Immortal Cicada once resided.
• One Eternal Darkness Stone.
• One Pale Red Spider Lily.

Advancement Ritual

Locate an underground river tainted by death. Hold a genuine funeral by its banks, then bury yourself and the potion there for sixty days. If you fail to survive or retain sufficient sanity after sixty days, the ritual fails.

• Note 1: Failure invariably results in the birth of a dangerous "Corpse King."
• Note 2: Many Western Continent cultivators misunderstand this ritual’s true purpose. Lacking Beyonder characteristics, they instead focus on the "failure" outcome, believing it to be the true success—a chance to refine terrifying zombies.
• Note 3: Some cultivators have modified this ritual, creating immortality techniques akin to Supreme Yin Body Refinement (太阴炼形, Tàiyīn liàn xíng). The "Supreme Yin" essence represents the moon’s purity, the water’s brilliance, the far north’s intent, winter’s zenith, and the duality of yin and yang. The flaws and root causes of this method’s issues… well, I don’t need to elaborate further, do I?

Ritual Essence

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Acting Method

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Sequence 3: Ferryman

• Overview
• Formula
• Ritual
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

Dark and deep; even falling dust sinks swiftly into the liquid and vanishes.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

A core-like object stained with pale yellow grease, containing a dim, pus-like essence.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• Pus Core of a Styx Servant.
• Or the brain of an adult Feathered Serpent.

Or
• A Ferryman Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 90 milliliters of your own blood.
• 9 drops of pus from a Styx Servant (Or 9 feathers from an adult Feathered Serpent).
• One undead being from the depths of the Underworld (both Styx Servants and Underworld undead can be summoned via a personal Underworld Gate).
• A flower blooming from your decayed flesh.

Advancement Ritual

Step through a self-summoned Underworld Gate, ingest the potion, and die within.

• Note 1: From then on, the Ferryman becomes part of the Underworld and death itself.
• Note 2: Before the Phoenix Ancestor established the Underworld and before the First Blasphemy Slate appeared, this ritual didn’t exist.
• Note 3: In the Western Continent, whether in the Haoli Realm, the Yellow Springs, or the Netherworld, each serves as a counterpart to the Underworld.

Ritual Essence

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Acting Method

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Sequence 2: Death Consul

• Overview
• Formula
• Ritual
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

A deep black liquid formed from the condensed aura of death, radiating an overwhelming presence, with countless numb faces protruding from it.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

A crown made of black bones.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• Skull of an Ancient Feathered Serpent.

Or
• A Death Consul Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 90 milliliters of fluid from an Ancient Feathered Serpent.
• A coffin that once held your own body.
• A crown that once symbolized royal authority.
• A pale object from the depths of the Underworld.

Advancement Ritual

Become the ruler of one layer of the Underworld or transform an entire nation into a land of the dead, then anchor the Underworld Gate within it.

• Note 1: For descendants acknowledged by the God of Death, the first method is straightforward.
• Note 2: Death Consuls hold authority to judge the dead. In the Western Continent, figures like the Ten Yama Kings (十殿阎罗, Shí diàn yánluó) and Five Ghost Emperors (五方鬼帝, Wǔ fāng guǐ dì) share similar duties.
• Note 3: The Western Continent's Netherworld also holds authority over reincarnation.

Ritual Essence

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Acting Method

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Sequence 1: Pale Emperor

• Overview
• Formula
• Ritual
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

Absolute paleness, absolute silence—no other color, no other trace.

Beyonder Characteristic Appearance

A throne formed from pale bones.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• The left claw of Gregrace.
Or
• The right eye of Salinger.

Or
• A Pale Emperor Beyonder Characteristic.

Supplementary Ingredients

• 9 drops of Underworld River water (this river is a branch of the River of Eternal Darkness that emerged in the Underworld).
• 1 Angel corpse (without Beyonder Characteristics).
• 1 Inverted Mausoleum.

Advancement Ritual

Ensure your name becomes synonymous with death and the afterlife, remembered and recited by most sentient beings in your domain.

• Note 1: Due to the Barrier, the Northern and Southern Continents are isolated from the outside world, and are therefore treated as a separate domain in mysticism—otherwise, completing this ritual would be far harder.
• Without the Barrier, the range required for this ritual is a Star System.
• Note 2: The same applies to the Western Continent.
• Note 3: Figures like the Fengdu Emperor (酆都大帝, Fēngdū dàdì) and the Buddhist Ksitigarbha possess comparable authority and status there.
• Note 4: Since the God of Death is still widely regarded as the embodiment of death in the Northern and Southern Continents, "His" descendants can borrow "His" name to shape themselves and complete the ritual. The drawback? They grow increasingly similar to the God of Death—until they become "Him".

Ritual Essence

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Acting Method

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Sequence 0: Death (Eternal Sleeper)

• Overview
• Formula
• Ritual
• Backlash
• Acting Method

Potion Properties

Illusory scepter woven from grease-stained feathers and entwined serpents.

Potion Formula

Main Ingredients

• The Death Uniqueness.
• All other Pale Emperor Beyonder Characteristics apart from one's own.

Supplementary Ingredients

• An area polluted and influenced by a tributary of the River of Eternal Darkness.

Advancement Ritual

Create or merge with a true final destination for the dead, ensuring all deaths in the domain lead there.

• Note 1: Even the Phoenix Ancestor, who seized death without rituals, was driven by instinct to fulfill this—it is the authority’s inherent desire.
• Note 2: The usual state of the Haoli Sect’s leader is at this level, slightly weaker. In outbursts, they briefly reach a half-Great Old One’s power.

Ritual Essence

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Acting Method

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