Chapter 583

"Look out!"

Cloud Wanderer also noticed the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's abnormal behavior and urgently warned him. However, he was too far away. He had already unleashed the full power of the Demon King's Blood Seal and the Flawless Orb to trap the Shadow-Devouring Leopard, completely exhausting his spiritual energy. Though willing, he was powerless to intervene.

How could the Sky-Stealing Yaksha betray him? Qin Sang was stunned. He could clearly sense that his soul imprint within the Sky-Stealing Yaksha was still intact and undamaged. Furthermore, Yu Hua's consciousness had been completely erased during the process of refining the living corpse. Logically, the Sky-Stealing Yaksha should be incapable of betrayal; otherwise, it would have turned on him the moment it was fully refined.

The Sky-Stealing Yaksha's sudden rebellion came without the slightest warning. Qin Sang had moved back to avoid the lingering effects of the Void Heaven Thunder, so the distance between them was minimal. When the Sky-Stealing Yaksha abruptly turned violent, it was already upon him by the time Qin Sang registered the anomaly. Caught completely off guard, Qin Sang's first instinct was to activate his soul imprint, attempting to forcibly control and halt the Sky-Stealing Yaksha.

The Sky-Stealing Yaksha's movements abruptly froze, and it let out an extremely bizarre shriek. Its usually lifeless and expressionless face, with its green skin and fangs, contorted abnormally, revealing a look of agony and struggle, much like a living being. It was actively resisting Qin Sang's control!

Simultaneously, Qin Sang felt an unprecedented force surge within the Sky-Stealing Yaksha, violently assailing his soul imprint. This power was hidden so deeply that, despite having controlled the Sky-Stealing Yaksha for so long, Qin Sang had never detected its presence before. It felt utterly alien and peculiar, emanating an unsettling, eerie aura, yet it was distinctly different from the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's corpse energy. This was definitely not the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's inherent power!

After that brief pause, the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's figure lunged forward again, its face contorted with malevolence. Its movements were like those of a wraith, and a wave of putrid corpse energy washed over him.

Qin Sang realized his soul imprint was being suppressed by this unknown force, and the Sky-Stealing Yaksha had completely broken free from his control! Yet, Qin Sang did not panic. That brief moment of struggle had bought him enough time. Though he no longer possessed the Void Heaven Thunder, he still had his Corpse Core.

As he swiftly retreated, the Corpse Core in his Qi Sea finally unfroze. A surge of potent True Essence instantly circulated through his body, completing a full cycle. An exquisitely brilliant sword light then erupted between him and the Yaksha. The sword energy shimmered like a rainbow, accompanied by a thunderous roar. The Ebony Sword had finally unleashed its divine power as a magical artifact once more!

With the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's unexpected betrayal, Qin Sang, though bewildered, dared not hold back. His Ebony Sword shot directly towards the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's crucial weakness: its glabella. Having personally refined the creature, he knew its vulnerabilities intimately. The Sky-Stealing Yaksha's primary weakness lay in its primordial spirit; destroying the Heavenly Corpse Talisman and consequently its primordial spirit would ensure its demise.

To his surprise, despite the Ebony Sword's incredible speed, the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's reaction was equally swift. With a bizarre howl, it swung its spectral hands to block just in the nick of time. Both of its palms were severely wounded by the Ebony Sword, but it had successfully shielded its vital point, narrowly escaping death.

Immediately afterward, the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's figure rapidly retreated, and a surprised cry echoed from within its body: "Corpse Core?" Hearing the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's startled exclamation, Qin Sang's face became ashen.

He had long suspected that the Sky-Stealing Yaksha could not betray him without cause. The only explanation was that a wandering spirit had somehow bypassed his senses, infiltrated the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's body, and usurped control. After careful consideration, only one location came to mind: the Earth-Sinking Cave! After capturing Yu Hua and until the Sky-Stealing Yaksha was fully refined, Qin Sang had kept it constantly by his side, making it impossible for anyone to have bypassed his perception and invaded the creature. The only window of opportunity would have been after the defeat of the Dove-Robed Daoist, when the Sky-Stealing Yaksha was severely wounded and recuperating in the Earth-Sinking Cave, a period during which Qin Sang was not present. It was then that an intrusion might have occurred.

That piercing scream confirmed his suspicions. For some inexplicable reason, the voice struck Qin Sang as vaguely familiar, as if he had heard it somewhere before.

The urgency of the situation left Qin Sang no time for further contemplation. Having failed in its sneak attack, the Sky-Stealing Yaksha abruptly turned and lunged toward the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit. A blue light flared on its chest, propelling it forward with astonishing speed, even surpassing the Ebony Sword imbued with Sword Qi Thunder Sound.

Cloud Wanderer was too exhausted to intervene, and Qin Sang, acting in haste, was also too late to intercept it. In a flash, the Sky-Stealing Yaksha soared over the lake and landed directly in front of the Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit tree. Its palm faced the tree, and strands of corpse energy wrapped around both the trunk and the ripe Crimson Cloud Purple Fruit.

It then turned, its black eyes radiating a chilling glint as it stared coldly at Qin Sang. "Dare to move an inch, and I'll destroy it immediately!"

Qin Sang landed on the water, his face turning ashen. He had now recalled where he'd heard that voice and recognized its owner. "Yi Tiannie! You're still alive!"

Yi Tiannie, the Sect Master of the Kuiyin Sect. Years ago, it was Yi Tiannie who planted the Heart-Devouring Insect Gu in Qin Sang's primordial spirit, forcing him to infiltrate the Yuanzhao Sect as a spy, leading to a cascade of misfortunes. He was the first truly ruthless villain Qin Sang had encountered against whom he was utterly powerless, left completely at his mercy.

Back then, Yi Tiannie was already at the end of his lifespan. In a desperate gamble, he stole the Yuanzhao Sect's ultimate treasure, the Nine Illusory Heavenly Orchid, only to be reportedly annihilated without a trace when the Yuanzhao Sect Master triggered a grand formation to kill him. Qin Sang had assumed he was long gone, consigned to hell, yet here he was, still alive, having seized the Sky-Stealing Yaksha and ambushed him.

The Sky-Stealing Yaksha's face writhed for a moment, then indeed morphed into Yi Tiannie's countenance. It was a face Qin Sang would recognize even if it were reduced to ashes!

"'To dare to refine yourself into a corpse and establish a Corpse Core as your external core—that's truly ruthless!' Yi Tiannie let out a strange, cackling laugh, then spoke with a sudden surge of emotion. 'To think such a figure would emerge from my Kuiyin Sect! Even an old man like myself can be mistaken. The young man I personally dismissed as worthless has turned out to be a truly formidable individual. Hiding among the righteous, cultivating demonic arts, then single-handedly obliterating my entire Kuiyin Sect, using corpse refining techniques on himself, and disrupting my plans. It would be difficult to find another like you in the cultivation world; no wonder you've come this far!' A note of genuine admiration laced Yi Tiannie's voice.

Qin Sang felt no honor; his chest was now consumed by a towering rage, like a volcano poised to erupt. "Has your primordial spirit been hiding within Yu Hua's body all this time?"

The revelation that Yi Tiannie was the one possessing the Sky-Stealing Yaksha's body instantly brought clarity to Qin Sang's mind. All his previous lingering doubts suddenly made sense. He recalled his initial encounter with Yu Hua. In Wuyagu Valley, Yu Hua had pursued him because he had sensed Qin Sang's location via the Heart-Devouring Insect Gu. However, at that time, Qin Sang was already using the 'Void Origin Seal' to suppress the insect's fluctuations, confining them to a limited range, meaning others could only detect him if they were within that specific area. Yi Tiannie, as the master of the Heart-Devouring Insect Gu, would have been the only exception. It was highly probable that it wasn't Yu Hua who sensed him back then, but Yi Tiannie himself! Moreover, Yu Hua's understanding of the Kuiyin Sect remnants far surpassed what a typical Foundation Establishment stage disciple should possess. He not only knew the movements of those Kuiyin Sect survivors but also had precise knowledge of the Dove-Robed Daoist's background and hiding place.