"Go this far?
"Senior Brother Yuan, you jest. We belong to different factions. Why the pretense? Do you truly think I'm unaware of your relationship with Liu Jinxian?!"
Wang Yu narrowed his eyes. The Nether Spirit Iron Chains shot out from his sleeve, rapidly extending as they coiled towards the man's waist.
This Senior Brother Yuan, in the green robe and jade crown, was one of Liu Jinxian's lovers. Back when Wang Yu was associated with Gu Zhengshun, they had chatted almost daily on the way to Profound Bone Mountain.
He wasn't just familiar with Liu Jinxian's side; he also knew quite a bit about Si Tu Hong's faction.
He asked, and Gu Zhengshun answered. This was supposed to be another cornerstone of trust for their cooperation. Unfortunately, the other party abandoned him first, even making him a target.
Betraying a companion—that's just how it was.
Liu Jinxian's features were actually quite good, but she lacked a nose, making it hard to see her as a beauty. This was likely a side effect of cultivating gu techniques. Her temperament was violent, tyrannical, and she was insecure about her appearance.
Therefore, she used gu insects to control several inner disciples of the Gu Poison Peak, keeping them as male favorites for her daily... enjoyment.
This was definitely true. This fellow disciple surnamed Yuan was one of the more favored ones.
How could Wang Yu let him go?
Just as the Nether Spirit Iron Chains were about to entangle Yuan's calf, his expression turned fierce. "I know I'm no match for you, but you are too arrogant!"
He flicked his sleeve, throwing the pair of jade balls he constantly fondled towards the mysterious corpse at the entrance. Mid-flight, they exploded, releasing two small, jade-like insects.
They entered the corpse's nostrils, one from the left, one from the right.
Yuan landed beside the corpse, a look of joy on his face.
"It's actually the corpse of a peak Core Formation cultivator! Hahahaha, fate hasn't abandoned me! My life is not meant to end here!
"Male-Female Possession Gu, arise!"
Wang Yu, his left hand still controlling the iron chains, watched with a grave expression, preparing for a fierce battle.
The result was... utter silence.
Nothing happened. Now, the Yuan fellow began to panic again: "W-Wang... Brother Wang... I am willing to serve you as—"
Before he could finish, six ice crystal walls closed in on him from all directions. Horrified, he hurriedly activated a high-grade magical instrument resembling a whip-blade, lashing out around himself.
The blade-edges, shaped like moss leaves, shot out numerous golden flying daggers that embedded themselves uselessly into the ice crystal walls.
The ice coffin formed. Ice spikes erupted.
The entrance to the Scripture Depository was instantly adorned with a bloody, hedgehog-like ice sculpture. Vitality rapidly faded.
These three were easier to deal with than expected, partly due to the advantage of surprise and close proximity. Otherwise, it wouldn't have been so simple.
Another windfall. He had just collected three storage pouches but hadn't had time to check them yet.
*Ahem—*
A light cough made Wang Yu leap back abruptly. The corpse on the reclining chair sneezed, expelling the Male-Female Possession Gu from its nostrils.
They fell to the ground, their crystalline limbs trembling slightly twice, then died!
The corpse slowly stood up. Two clusters of gray-white flame ignited in its eye sockets. The aura of a Core Formation cultivator washed over Wang Yu, the pressure immense, nearly forcing him to his knees.
Alive?
No... that's not right... The flesh had rotted to this state; it couldn't possibly be alive. Yet the Core Formation aura felt genuine.
The next instant, the corpse vanished, reappearing right in front of him. A withered, skeletal hand swatted towards Wang Yu.
He blocked with his left arm. The Nether Spirit Iron Chains wrapped around the outermost layer groaned and shattered, scattering in all directions.
However, the inner layer of mountain-ridge iron armor remained undamaged.
Wang Yu was sent flying backward, his back slamming against the black stone stele. He spat out a mouthful of blood.
It looked serious, but it was actually just a minor injury.
Although the corpse possessed a Core Formation aura, its true strength was likely around the early Foundation Establishment stage. Otherwise, a single slap would have crushed him, not just caused a minor injury.
"So—it's a Corpse Demon!"
Mountain spirits, essence, and strange beings—anything can become a demon. So-called [Corpse Demons] are the corpses of powerful cultivators that suddenly gain sentience one day. They possess fragmented memories from their former lives but are entirely different entities.
They are close relatives of Jiangshi and are often mistaken for the same thing.
But Corpse Demons, from the moment they gain sentience, possess the intelligence of a three or four-year-old child. This intelligence grows over time, gradually allowing them to attain power comparable to their former selves in life.
The conditions for a corpse to gain sentience are extremely苛刻 (harsh). It was unclear how this one had come into being, but it probably hadn't been long; otherwise, its cultivation wouldn't be merely at the early Foundation Establishment stage.
Even so, being trapped in the underground palace with it made this a dangerous place.
It was best to leave quickly. No opportunity or treasure was more important than his life.
Losing the will to fight, Wang Yu swallowed a top-grade Spirit Restoration Pill and a top-grade Healing Pill. His figure flickered, instantly splitting into ten phantom copies that charged out in all directions.
The phantom copies, which should have been indistinguishable from the real one, appeared differently in the Corpse Demon's eyes.
Its eyes were lit by soul fire, its vision monochrome.
Although Wang Yu's phantoms had physical substance and his aura, there was only one soul. The Corpse Demon pinpointed Wang Yu's true body almost instantly.
Its withered, sharp claws swept out, unleashing five streaks of漆黑 (pitch-black) claw-light that shot horizontally towards him.
Wang Yu, mid-air and stepping on his Black Silk, gritted his teeth and summoned the bronze bell for defense. But the claw-light was ferocious, tearing the bronze bell apart.
Two of his three refined high-grade magical instruments were now destroyed.
The residual force struck his chest, leaving three deep gashes that reached the bone. Flesh was torn open, blood flowed, yet he felt no pain.
His attempt to break out of the Scripture Depository had failed.
Wang Yu frowned in thought. The 'Death Qi' unexpectedly cultivated through the Corpse Demon Secret Art was supposed to be his trump card, but it was only effective against old cultivators nearing the end of their lifespan.
It wouldn't be very effective against a Corpse Demon.
In other aspects—strength, speed, defense—he was completely outclassed. Although the Strength Corpse arm was second-grade, his own realm was only the fifth level of Qi Refining, far inferior to the Corpse Demon.
After much thought, only one strategy seemed feasible: he must break out of the Scripture Depository, then use the Night Concealment Charm to hide. That might allow him to escape!
As he pondered,
the Foundation Establishment Corpse Demon slowly advanced. On its ugly, withered face, he surprisingly caught a trace of a mocking smile, like a cat playing with a mouse. It was enjoying the hunt.
Wang Yu's gaze sharpened. As he observed, he noticed that within the Corpse Demon's tattered, nearly disintegrated robe on its chest, there was a black jade slip.
It was held protectively against its chest, seemingly very treasured.
His eyes swept the surroundings. The first floor of the Scripture Depository, aside from the central stele, contained only dust. Nothing else remained. He wondered what the second and third floors held.
Which meant he would likely return empty-handed from this trip.
That was utterly unacceptable.
Si Tu Hong and Gu Zhengshun hadn't shown themselves yet. Combined with Liu Jinxian, the three would most likely clash at the [Condensing Moon Palace] at the top of the underground palace. If he could make it in time, fine. If not, he would truly be in a predicament.
"Corpse Demon, prepare to die!"
With a low shout, Wang Yu adopted a desperate stance and charged at the Corpse Demon, his left fist already drawn back, aiming directly for its face.
The creature seemed annoyed by the prey's resistance and similarly swiped with a claw, intending to meet force with force.
The result was the two figures passed each other.
The Illusory Form Step was fundamentally a close-quarters movement technique for evasion and positioning; creating phantoms wasn't its only use. Feigning a direct clash, he slipped past at the critical moment.
In the peril of battle, retreating at the crucial moment came at a cost.
Now, his relied-upon Strength Corpse arm was grotesquely twisted, the fingers to the forearm bent into three segments—completely crippled.
But his right hand was unharmed. It had even managed to grab that black jade slip. Inscribed on it were the characters—[Lunar Nether Pupils]!
**(End of Chapter)**