Chapter 173: Corpse Poison Enters the Body

In Baiyun Shanren's mustard seed pouch, Qin Sang also found an unexpected item: half a tiger corpse from the mid-stage Demon Spirit phase!

Before entering the catacomb, they had split into two groups. Senior Sister Qingting, along with Baiyun Shanren and others, took a different route. They encountered a black tiger in the Demon Spirit phase and jointly killed it. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a demonic tiger in the mid-stage Demon Spirit phase.

No wonder it took them so long.

Besides this, there were various other miscellaneous items, all of which were collected.

By this point, Qin Sang had almost finished his study of the prohibitions on the heavy dark iron gate. He summoned the Five-Element Spell-Breaking Sword to break the prohibitions and forcefully pushed open the heavy dark iron gate.

Unexpectedly, beyond the heavy dark iron gate was only a stone path. Unlike the winding paths before, this one stretched straight downwards at an angle, with bends ahead, making its end invisible.

The spiritual energy in the stone path was richer than outside, only slightly inferior to Qin Sang's own cave dwelling.

It was worth noting that his cave dwelling consisted of only one small stone chamber.

It was unclear how much deeper they needed to go to reach the core of the Heavenly Corpse Sect's sub-altar. Given that such a large area was like this, the spiritual energy at the core would undoubtedly be even more astonishing, making it a rare, top-grade cave dwelling, possibly even containing a spiritual spring.

The stone path was deep and secluded, but Qin Sang's speed was not slow. After mastering the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, he was no longer very afraid of living corpses. Along the way, there were a few bends, and Qin Sang found only one stone chamber, which was also empty.

After traveling some distance, Qin Sang suddenly paused, his expression slightly serious as he looked ahead, tilting his head to listen. Faintly, he heard vibrations and roars coming from the front.

Someone was fighting a malevolent corpse!

Qin Sang immediately sped up. The further he went, the clearer the sounds became. The roars were indeed coming from a malevolent corpse, and the battle seemed very fierce, but he couldn't determine how many people were involved as he heard no voices.

After some more progress, Qin Sang suddenly stopped, his figure emerging from the shadows. He frowned, looking at the tightly closed stone door ahead.

No wonder the sounds had been so muffled just now.

He had planned to quietly go ahead and assess the situation, but the stone door blocked his way. From the sounds, the battle was happening behind it, and opening the door would immediately reveal his presence.

However, Qin Sang didn't hesitate for long. He directly commanded the Five-Element Spell-Breaking Sword to blast open the stone door. Behind it, as expected, was another grand hall, even more magnificent than the previous ones, though its furnishings were largely similar.

Qin Sang quickly scanned the hall, his gaze settling on the two parties locked in fierce combat. As expected, one was indeed a malevolent corpse, a living corpse at that, while on the opposite side stood only Senior Sister Qingting.

At this moment, Senior Sister Qingting was sitting on the ground, her expression solemn as she controlled a green jade Ruyi scepter. The Ruyi scepter trailed green light, launching illusory attacks continuously at the living corpse. What was surprising was that the jade Ruyi was actually a Talisman Treasure.

Behind Senior Sister Qingting lay a corpse corroded by corpse poison, identifiable as Liu Jiang, one of the Liu brothers, which greatly surprised Qin Sang.

Qin Sang's sudden appearance and the blasting open of the stone door startled Qingting.

Seeing Qin Sang enter, Qingting's face turned pale with urgency, and she spoke in an extremely weak voice, "Junior Brother Qin, this malevolent corpse is ferocious. I can't hold on much longer. Quickly break the prohibitions and leave!"

Hearing this, Qin Sang focused his gaze, carefully examining Senior Sister Qingting's condition, and his heart immediately sank.

Her robes were completely stained with blood around her chest and abdomen, showing several distinct claw marks left by a ghost-like entity. She also had several intersecting knife wounds, deep enough to reveal bone, and even her internal organs appeared to have been damaged by the claw, leaving them in a mess.

The flesh at the wounds was writhing, indicating Qingting had clearly taken healing elixirs, but they were ineffective. The wounds were permeated by lingering malevolent earth energy and corpse poison, preventing recovery, and the corpse poison, like maggots clinging to bone, was steadily eroding her body.

Severely wounded, Qingting's aura was extremely weak. She could only fully channel the Talisman Treasure to resist the malevolent corpse, unable to suppress the corpse poison within her. Her internal organs were already stained dark green by the poison, a truly horrifying sight.

Witnessing this, Qin Sang unhesitatingly activated his Ebony Sword. The sword, carrying a whistling surge of sword energy, fiercely pierced towards the malevolent corpse, relieving most of the pressure on Qingting.

"Senior Sister, quickly suppress the corpse poison and heal your injuries!" Qin Sang called out, then launched a full-force assault on the malevolent corpse. Attracted by Qin Sang, the malevolent corpse immediately turned and charged towards him.

Just then, the jade Ruyi, transformed by the Talisman Treasure, suddenly glowed intensely with green light, firmly trapping the malevolent corpse in place.

Qingting's face grew even paler. She coughed violently, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood, and urged bitterly, "Junior Brother Qin, don't worry about me. The corpse poison has already invaded my heart meridian; there's nothing that can be done. While I still have the strength to activate the Talisman Treasure and stop this malevolent corpse, quickly go and break the prohibitions on the door to escape this place. I will help you reseal the iron door's prohibitions. This malevolent corpse is not only powerful, comparable to a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, but it can also use spells. Junior Brother Qin, you can't withstand it alone. Leave quickly!"

In their brief exchange, Qin Sang had already grasped the living corpse's capabilities. Its strength was even greater than those they had encountered before, and it could also use spells. Instead of the "Xuanhuang Armor," it used a spell that condensed qi into blades. However, its other spell was the same evasion technique, which was unpredictable and hard to guard against, explaining Qingting's severe injuries.

Due to the living corpse's unique refinement method, after being refined into a corpse, it could retain the spell it was most proficient in during its life. Additionally, the corpse refiner could infuse it with a spell they had mastered, using the Heavenly Corpse Talisman.

This suggested that the strange evasion technique was likely a secret transmission spell of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

However, for Qin Sang, this living corpse was actually easier to deal with than the previous one.

The previous living corpse had been encased in the Xuanhuang Armor, like a turtle's shell. They had besieged it for a long time, shattering most of its Xuanhuang Armor before Qin Sang could finally deal with it so easily.

Baiyun Shanren, without having personally seen the "Heavenly Yin Corpse Art" and being unaware of the Heavenly Corpse Talisman's true effects, similarly dared not face a full-strength living corpse alone. Otherwise, he wouldn't have needed to feign weakness and delay his move until the very end.

This living corpse was more aggressive but had significantly weaker defenses. As long as it wasn't allowed to get close, killing it wouldn't be difficult. Qin Sang estimated that Qingting must have been suddenly ambushed by the malevolent corpse and failed to react in time, leading to her severe injuries and the irreversible situation.

Qin Sang did not choose to open the heavy dark iron gate. For him, the living corpse was not a threat. Qingting was not someone with malicious intentions, and it would be best if he could save her.

"Senior Sister, don't overthink it. Let's kill this fiend first!" Qin Sang said softly.

"Whoosh!"

The Ebony Sword unleashed powerful sword energy, swiftly attacking the living corpse alongside the jade Ruyi scepter. Simultaneously, Qin Sang silently activated the Heavenly Corpse Talisman's secret art to influence the living corpse. Its movements indeed became sluggish, and it took several sword strikes, causing the malevolent earth energy surrounding it to fluctuate violently.

Seeing this, Qingting took a deep breath, her spirits greatly boosted. She said aloud, "Good! To be able to avenge myself before death, I can die in peace. Thank you, Junior Brother Qin, for making this possible!"