Chapter 992: Soul Killing Silk

At that moment, a red light flashed, and a red needle strangely appeared beside the giant wolf. With another flash, the flying needle transformed into a red thread and pierced the corpse wolf's protective green flames.

With a "puff," the unusually sharp red thread cut through the green flames.

Startled, the giant wolf desperately shook its head, but the red thread still pierced the corpse wolf's neck, emerging from the other side.

With a pained roar, black gas erupted from the corpse wolf's four legs, and it shot away, instantly vanishing into the gloomy wind.

Upon seeing this, the old man and the others were naturally overjoyed.

"Chase!" someone shouted. Spiritual light flared around the group as they prepared to fly off in pursuit.

But at this moment, a cry suddenly came from Han Li's waist. The sound was not loud, but Han Li's expression changed drastically. With a flick of his wrist, several streaks of green sword energy shot out horizontally and vertically, striking fiercely at the ground more than ten zhang away.

With a series of rumbles, a faint glow flashed on the ground. Several dark human hands strangely emerged. With a movement of their fingers, they easily deflected the sword lights. Then, a fierce gloomy wind swept through the area. Three swaying figures faintly appeared from within. They were precisely the three desiccated corpses that had appeared once at the crossroads.

It was unknown what their intentions were. They had managed to bypass the formation at the crossroads, tailed the group all the way here, and remained cleverly hidden. However, just as Han Li and the others were about to leave, one of the desiccated corpses inadvertently leaked some aura. This was detected by the Soul-Cryer Beast in Han Li's spirit beast pouch, forcing them to reveal themselves.

Although these desiccated corpses were all similarly emaciated, their heights and builds varied slightly. With Han Li's exceptional memory, he naturally recognized one of them at a glance as being unusually familiar—it was clearly one that should have been reduced to ash.

Han Li's expression couldn't help but change slightly. Meanwhile, the black-clad beautiful woman, the old man, and Bai Yaoyi nearby also simultaneously let out exclamations of surprise.

"How did these desiccated corpses come back to life? When I found them, they were completely inanimate." It was the black-clad beautiful woman's surprised voice. It seemed she had found another one in a different cave.

Bai Yaoyi's surprise, of course, stemmed from the same reason as Han Li's, a trace of shock appearing on her face.

"What? You recognize these specters? Never mind that now; catching the Yin Ganoderma Horse is more important. Fellow Daoist Han, Junior Martial Sister Chang, you two stay behind to deal with these specters. The rest of us will go pursue the spiritual creature. If it hides again, it won't be easy to find." Although the old man surnamed Fu was equally surprised by the appearance of these three desiccated corpses, his sole focus was on capturing the Yin Ganoderma Horse.

He thought that there would be no problem whether Han Li and his junior martial sister dealt with these three strange refined corpses, or if the three of them handled the corpse wolf. The others indeed had no objections.

After the black-clad beautiful woman assented and Han Li nodded, the old man surnamed Fu and his two companions no longer hesitated. They transformed into streaks of escape light, soaring into the air and flying off, directly pursuing the corpse wolf until it vanished into the gloomy wind.

After retrieving his crystallized flying needle, Han Li stood side by side with the black-clad beautiful woman, coldly gazing at the desiccated corpses.

Although ghost cultivation arts were inherently strange, it was truly incredible that corpses, once destroyed by the Divine Thunderbolt of Exorcism, could reappear. Therefore, while Han Li's expression remained calm, he naturally became a few shades more cautious internally. As an elder of the Nine Nether Sect, the beautiful woman was well-versed in demonic and spectral cultivation methods and likewise dared not underestimate these desiccated corpses. Although the dazzling red giant sword hovered above her head, she showed no intention of rashly making a move.

Han Li and the woman remained composed, but the desiccated corpses opposite them, seeing the other three depart, could no longer hold back. The largest of the three suddenly took two steps forward, and at the same time, it opened its mouth and spat out a thin gray thread, which shot directly towards the beautiful woman.

"Courting death!" the beautiful woman's expression darkened as she coldly snorted. With a flick of her sleeve, more than ten fireballs shot out in succession. She then pointed at the giant sword above her head. The giant sword cleaved through the air, and a crimson sword qi also slashed down fiercely.

In her estimation, this inconspicuous thread was at most condensed corpse qi, which fire-attributed cultivation arts could easily counter. However, a startling scene unfolded!

With a series of "puffs," the gray thread pierced through all the fireballs as if they weren't there. Then, with a flash of fire, all the fireballs vanished into thin air, instantly absorbed completely by the thin thread. The crimson sword light that followed was no more effective than the fireballs when it struck the object. After the tenacious gray thread swayed slightly, it too was absorbed without a trace. The thread arrived in front of the black-clad beautiful woman without the slightest pause.

Startled, the beautiful woman flicked her sleeve, and a small green shield emerged. Amidst flashing light, the shield rapidly expanded several times in size, blocking her front. Almost simultaneously, the giant sword in the air flashed and instantly slashed down directly. Spiritual energy spells might be absorbed, but an attack from a magic treasure's physical body would certainly not result in the same situation again. This was the black-clad beautiful woman's immediate thought.

Indeed, just as she imagined, when the giant sword struck the gray thread, it instantly paused the thread, causing it to halt. Overjoyed, the beautiful woman was about to activate the sword's divine ability when the gray thread suddenly blurred, miraculously transforming from one into hundreds of gray threads. The threads twisted and instantly wrapped tightly around the giant sword.

Then, a layer of strange gloom appeared on the threads. As soon as the sword's red light touched the gloomy light, it began to wither and turn from red to black, looking as if it was being defiled. The spiritual connection between the woman surnamed Chang and her sword immediately became sluggish and unresponsive.

At this, the black-clad beautiful woman's heart sank. Without thinking further, she slapped her storage bag, and a treasure resembling a dharma wheel appeared in her hand. But before she could unleash it to free her flying sword, she suddenly heard a clap of thunder beside her, and a dazzling golden arc shot out, striking precisely on the giant sword. Thunder boomed loudly, and the gray threads broke inch by inch in the golden light. The giant sword regained its freedom!

"Many thanks for your assistance, Fellow Daoist Han!" The beautiful woman exclaimed happily, hastily thanking him. Then, with a quick incantation, her flying sword immediately transformed into three streaks of red light, shooting back and disappearing into her sleeve.

After Han Li's single strike freed the woman, he didn't bother with pleasantries. Instead, he stared at the mid-air, his brows tightly furrowed. Because with a low roar from the desiccated corpse opposite, the previously dispersed gray threads surprisingly re-condensed, returning to their original fine thread shape in moments. At this point, the other two desiccated corpses also swayed and walked closer, appearing ready to attack together.

Upon seeing this scene, the black-clad beautiful woman's expression naturally turned grim. However, after her gaze lingered on the gray threads for another moment, a flash of insight suddenly struck her.

"Spirit-Fiend Threads! These aren't corpse qi; they're Corpse Fiend Qi!" she cried out, her face instantly turning exceptionally pale.

"Corpse Fiend Qi?" Han Li found the name somewhat familiar. After a brief thought, he immediately recalled that this substance had been mentioned in the Grand Evolution Scripture he had recently read. As soon as he recalled the description, his expression immediately turned somber.

This substance was one of the great ghost cultivation divine abilities rarely known to cultivators. Corpse Fiend—as the name implies, its original form is fiend qi. However, it's not ordinary fiend qi, but a strange substance formed when the fiend qi of a person who originally possessed it combines with corpse qi before fully dispersing after their death.

It is said to be extremely difficult to form, requiring at least the corpse of a Core Formation cultivator and numerous unknown conditions to form by chance. But once Corpse Fiend Qi is formed, it is indestructible, can absorb Five Element spiritual energy, and specializes in defiling all kinds of magic treasures and artifacts. It is truly extraordinary, one of the highest-tier divine abilities of ghost cultivation.

As for Spirit-Fiend Threads, although he hadn't heard of them, they appeared to be a divine ability unleashed using Corpse Fiend Qi. No wonder they were so troublesome. It seemed that even if his Divine Thunderbolt of Exorcism could disperse this substance, it couldn't completely eradicate it.

Just as Han Li had quickly thought all this through, the three desiccated corpses simultaneously extended their hands, curled and flicked their fingers, and strands of gray threads shot out from their fingertips. The black-clad beautiful woman took a deep breath and immediately brought out the dharma wheel in her hand, simultaneously muttering incantations.

After the dharma wheel spun in the air, it suddenly emitted multi-colored spiritual light, forming a protective light barrier that enveloped both Han Li and her.

"Seven-colored spiritual light! A Buddhist magic treasure!" Han Li had originally raised his hand, golden arcs already flickering in his palm, but upon seeing this, he couldn't help but pause, a hint of surprise on his face.

Those Spirit-Fiend Threads were incredibly fast, striking the seven-colored light barrier in the blink of an eye, yet they were blocked outside, unable to pierce through. Han Li wasn't surprised. Buddhist cultivation methods inherently countered ghost cultivation divine abilities. Even if the Spirit-Fiend Threads were sharp, they couldn't instantly break through Buddhist spiritual light. What did surprise Han Li was that this beautiful woman, an elder of a demonic sect, actually possessed a Buddhist treasure.

Seeing that the Spirit-Fiend Threads were not immediately effective, the three desiccated corpses did not stop. Instead, their fingers twitched, and countless gray threads instantly materialized around them, then wrapped layer upon layer around the seven-colored light barrier, seemingly intending to trap the two completely inside.

A cold glint flashed in Han Li's eyes. He rubbed his hands together, then simultaneously raised them. Two thick golden arcs shot out from his palms, striking the light barrier. After a loud crackling sound, a layer of golden electric net formed on its surface, instantly reducing the outer gray threads to gray mist, rendering them invisible.

The three desiccated corpses, seeing this, remained unconcerned. They continuously sprayed out new Spirit-Fiend Threads from their hands, and the dispersed gray mist also re-condensed and recovered.

"Fellow Daoist Chang, let us out!" Han Li said curtly.

As thunder rumbled, a pair of silver wings suddenly materialized behind him. When the black-clad beautiful woman heard Han Li's words, she was initially startled and about to dissuade him. But upon seeing this phenomenon from Han Li, she immediately swallowed her words, pointed at a spot on the light barrier, and a narrow crack instantly appeared. At the same time, with a flap of his wings, Han Li vanished in a flash of silver light.

The three corpses, whose spiritual intelligence had awakened, instinctively paused their movements and couldn't help but look around. However, in the next instant, several zhang behind them, a silver arc flashed, and Han Li's figure reappeared. Without hesitation, the three corpses flicked their fingers, sending dozens of gray threads shooting straight towards Han Li. Han Li did not dodge at all. Instead, he opened his mouth, and three streaks of golden light continuously shot out, directly attacking the three corpses.