Chapter 258: Flying Darkness Daoist

“What have you found?”

While Chen Mobai was looking at Yan Jinye’s reply, Shan Hongyi also asked his apprentice.

“Reporting to Master, Junior Uncle Chen and I asked some cultivators nearby. According to them, a century ago, Lonely Soul Ridge was once the cave dwelling of a Foundation Establishment cultivator named Daoist Fei Ming.”

“He was skilled in array formations and corpse-herding techniques. Before his mysterious disappearance, he had a mid-Foundation Establishment cultivation level and even had a record of fighting a late-Foundation Establishment cultivator and retreating unharmed. Among rogue cultivators, he was considered a notorious figure.”

“Although this place has a second-tier spiritual vein, it was once an ancient battlefield and graveyard. Corpse energy polluted the earth’s meridians, so after Daoist Fei Ming disappeared, few cultivators were willing to explore it.”

After Yu Lian finished reporting the information he had gathered, Shan Hongyi nodded and looked at Chen Mobai and Bi Yiyuan.

“Do either of you junior brothers have any suggestions?”

“We’ll follow your lead, Senior Brother.”

Chen Mobai repeated the same phrase, and Bi Yiyuan also nodded in agreement.

“Hmm, if Daoist Fei Ming was at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage during his life, then after transforming into a zombie, he would at most recover to the Foundation Establishment realm within a mere hundred years. The three of us working together should be more than enough to suppress him.”

The implication of Shan Hongyi’s words was that the next step was to charge in.

“Exactly. There are also two junior sisters inside. With five Foundation Establishment cultivators acting together, unless Daoist Fei Ming has evolved into a Golden Armored Corpse, he’ll simply become a whetstone for my body tempering.”

Bi Yiyuan spoke with great confidence.

Among the three, only Chen Mobai smiled silently.

“You stay outside. If there’s truly an unexpected situation, for example, if we don’t come out for a long time, immediately return to the sect and report it.”

Before entering, Shan Hongyi asked Yu Lian to stay behind, and the latter was naturally willing. After all, he hadn’t reached Foundation Establishment yet. If he were caught in the aftermath of a fight between Foundation Establishment cultivators, he could easily be injured.

“I’ll lead the way.”

Bi Yiyuan decisively charged into the cave entrance first, with Chen Mobai following second.

In the Heavenly River Realm, night-luminescent pearls were used for illumination. Although they were supreme treasures to mortals, they were merely common spiritual items to cultivators.

As soon as Chen Mobai entered the cave entrance, he felt a chilling aura. Frowning slightly, the Scarlet Cloud Smoke Luo on his wrist spread out, forming a faint cloud of mist that enveloped the three of them.

Bi Yiyuan and Shan Hongyi were momentarily stunned by this sight.

“Junior Brother, we aren’t very familiar with each other’s spiritual artifacts and divine abilities. Just protect yourself.”

Hearing this, Chen Mobai realized that this was the prevailing atmosphere in the Heavenly River Realm. He couldn’t help but sigh internally, lamenting the lack of trust even among fellow sect members. However, he was quick to adapt and immediately retracted the smoke and cloud mist back to himself.

Bi Yiyuan’s entire body glowed with a bronze light, and he emitted a faint warmth of vital energy. Wherever he passed, the chilling aura dissipated, making Chen Mobai and Shan Hongyi, who followed behind him, feel very comfortable.

The three soon encountered a fork in the path. Conventionally, they might have had to split up. But Shan Hongyi sent out another communication talisman.

“Follow this talisman, and you’ll find Junior Sister Yan.”

Before he even finished speaking, Bi Yiyuan had already charged into the left cave entrance. Chen Mobai frowned slightly as he began to smell a faint stench.

Are they nearing the Silver Armored Corpse’s lair?

“Beast!”

Just as he followed into the cave, he suddenly heard Bi Yiyuan shout angrily, followed by a flash of bronze light, and a rotting skull wearing a helmet flew towards them.

Red light flickered. As Chen Mobai’s thoughts raced, the smoke and cloud mist on his body transformed into a paddle, batting away the zombie head that Bi Yiyuan had struck.

“It seems this is a natural corpse-nurturing ground.”

Shan Hongyi’s voice came from behind. At the same time, a burst of firelight ignited, forming a crimson fire serpent that reduced the three zombies awakening from the cave’s inner wall to ashes.

“Did Junior Sister Yan truly pass through here?”

Chen Mobai activated his Void-Piercing Spiritual Eyes, observing the surroundings of the cave. He found no recent traces of battle.

“It seems we need to be careful. Since Daoist Fei Ming was skilled in array formations during his life, he might have altered the pathways to his lair. Communication talismans only follow the shortest path to Junior Sister Yan. This rigid weakness could easily be exploited.”

As Shan Hongyi spoke, Chen Mobai also flung out two Scarlet Flame Three Sword Talismans. Six streaks of sword energy crisscrossed, accompanied by flashing purple fire sword light, thoroughly clearing out the zombies that had reanimated on both sides of the cave.

“What now? Do we push forward or retreat?”

Ahead of the two, Bi Yiyuan was not to be outdone. At some point, he had pulled out a refined iron wolf-tooth club from his storage pouch. With each swing, several zombies were smashed into bone fragments.

“Charge! With our strength, we can flatten this cave dwelling!”

Shan Hongyi’s eyes sharpened. Seeing the faint glow of the communication talisman about to disappear from sight, he immediately made a decision.

“Alright, keep up!”

Upon hearing this, Bi Yiyuan violently swung his wolf-tooth club, directly smashing away the six zombies blocking his path. His entire body glowed with bronze light, advancing like a charging bronze statue.

Chen Mobai and Shan Hongyi simultaneously flung out talismans. After the fire serpents and sword energy cleared the way, they followed at top speed.

Thump, thump, thump!

The three walked and fought along the way. Amidst the grating sound of shattering bones, firelight and sword energy intertwined. The air was filled with a mixture of corpse stench, burnt smells, and earthy odors, causing all three to instinctively switch to internal breathing.

They didn’t know how many they had killed. After crossing approximately a hundred meters, no more zombies appeared.

Chen Mobai subtly exhaled in relief. Although they had only used talismans, and their spiritual power consumption was negligible, the sheer number of zombies was simply too much. He felt that he had, at the very least, sent fifty or sixty of them to the afterlife.

“These are the lowest-grade zombies, Iron Corpses. They can be refined by burying fierce and wicked individuals in a corpse-nurturing ground. a Qi Condensation Stage 7 cultivator can easily deal with them.”

Shan Hongyi explained. Just as Chen Mobai wondered why he was explaining this, a dull thudding sound resonated.

Suddenly, with a whoosh! The wolf-tooth club, which Bi Yiyuan had thrown, suddenly flew back, striking the cave wall and making the entire mountain seem to shake.

Chen Mobai’s Smoke and Cloud Mist spread out, deflecting the falling dust and rocks.

“Oh, this Bronze Armored Corpse is well-refined, quite strong.”

Bi Yiyuan’s voice came, and then two crimson eyes glowed in the dust. Another burst of golden bronze light erupted, accompanied by a crackling sound like bronze and iron violently colliding, assaulting Chen Mobai’s eardrums.

With a tearing sound! Accompanied by the sound of flesh and bone being torn apart, Chen Mobai’s Void-Piercing Spiritual Eyes operated, and through the dust, he saw Bi Yiyuan tearing a Bronze Armored Corpse into two halves.

“Generally speaking, a Bronze Armored Corpse is equivalent to a late Qi Condensation Stage cultivator. With their bronze skin and iron bones, they are immune to ordinary spells and possess immense strength. Even a peak Qi Condensation Stage sect true disciple might not be able to defeat one.”

Shan Hongyi’s voice sounded beside him, and Chen Mobai nodded slightly. The fact that it could exchange a few blows with a body-tempering Foundation Establishment cultivator before being torn apart showed how formidable a Bronze Armored Corpse was.

Just then, two more crimson eyes lit up in the dust. Another Bronze Armored Corpse! On Chen Mobai’s right, sensing his spiritual aura was weakest, it moved like the wind, its hands like sharp claws, and charged towards him.

With a light pat on his storage pouch at his waist, a green flying sword shot out like a swimming fish, lightly slicing across the Bronze Armored Corpse’s neck. In an instant, the Bronze Armored Corpse that had charged before Chen Mobai was decapitated.

Its body, still moving from inertia, crashed into the Scarlet Cloud Smoke Luo, colliding with the scorching fire jade crystal fragments, sparking bursts of flames. It then burst into fierce flames, emitting a strong corpse stench.

Meanwhile, Shan Hongyi released a Clear Wind Talisman, blowing the dust in the cave into a swirling mass, clearing the visual obstruction. However, once they could see, their hearts sank instead.

At some unknown point, ten Bronze Armored Corpses had surrounded them. Their eyes open, crimson gazes burning with a desire for flesh and blood, they stared coldly at the three.

“Junior Brothers, don’t hold back anymore. Junior Sister Yan might be in great danger.”

Upon seeing this, Shan Hongyi’s previously relaxed demeanor became slightly grave. He took out a crimson flying sword from his storage pouch. Since Daoist Fei Ming had twelve Bronze Armored Corpses, he must have also possessed Silver Armored Corpses during his lifetime. Furthermore, he had transformed himself into a Silver Armored Corpse. It was impossible for Yan Jinye and Mei Jingjun, both early Foundation Establishment cultivators, to have survived here for half a year.

Boom!

The three Foundation Establishment cultivators of the Divine Wood Sect attacked simultaneously. Even though the ten Bronze Armored Corpses had formed an array and absorbed the Yin Qi of Earthly Fiends to boost their ferocity, they were utterly defeated once all three cultivators unleashed their artifacts.

Bi Yiyuan, re-gripping his wolf-tooth club, smashed three Bronze Armored Corpses into bone fragments. Meanwhile, Chen Mobai and Shan Hongyi simultaneously unleashed the Scarlet Flame Sword Art with their two flying swords. Overwhelming crimson sword light filled the air, transforming into a rainbow of sword energy that covered all remaining zombies.

After the torrent of sword energy subsided, only grayish-black marks were left on the cave walls.

Once the three stopped holding back, nothing could obstruct them anymore. Following the most recently activated communication talisman, they broke through three cave walls, killing at least a hundred Iron Corpses, finally reaching a massive, open cavern four to five hundred meters underground.

“Three Senior Brothers, over here!”

As the three landed, they heard a voice filled with pleasant surprise. Looking around, they found that at the very center of the cavern was a clear pool of water. In the middle of the pool, a white jade altar was erected, upon which rested an ebony coffin. The coffin should have been nailed shut, but it had been opened by someone, with the lid half-lifted, revealing a corpse dressed in a shimmering silver robe, with eyes closed.

A yellow paper talisman with cinnabar markings, likely a Corpse Suppressing Charm, was affixed to the corpse’s forehead. Beside its head lay a five-colored lotus lamp, but unfortunately, its wick seemed to have burned out, offering no light.

“This is Daoist Fei Ming’s corpse. He refined himself into a zombie. Fortunately, Madam Guo has a second-tier Gold Jade Axe, otherwise, we might have been in dire straits.”

Beside the coffin on the altar, three female Foundation Establishment cultivators were seated. It was Yan Jinye who spoke. She and another female cultivator had their hands extended, injecting spiritual power into the talisman on the Silver Armored Corpse’s forehead, suppressing the zombie’s awakening. The last person, a voluptuous beautiful woman wearing a veil, was manipulating an artifact, disrupting the flow of Yin Fiend Qi towards the altar.

Only after Chen Mobai and the other two landed did they see a jade axe embedded in the Silver Armored Corpse’s chest. However, no blood was visible from the wound; only gleaming white bone and overturned flesh could be seen.

“Junior Brother Chen, you help them deal with this Silver Armored Corpse. Leave the rest to Junior Brother Bi and me.”

Shan Hongyi assigned the task, and Chen Mobai nodded slightly.

“The rest? Are there other Silver Armored Corpses?”

Those who could cultivate to the Foundation Establishment realm were not easily fooled. With just a single phrase, the beautiful woman deduced their conjecture.

“Yes, within this cave dwelling, besides Daoist Fei Ming himself, there should be another Silver Armored Corpse that he refined during his life.”

As he spoke, a sneering laugh emanated from the coffin.

Chen Mobai and the other two changed their expressions and simultaneously attacked Daoist Fei Ming. However, the five-colored lotus lamp lit up with a burst of firelight, transforming into a wall of light that blocked all their attacks.

“Who would have thought, my small underworld could attract five Foundation Establishment cultivators.”

Another voice came from above. Streaks of silvery-gray light descended from the sky, transforming into numerous zombies, which then slammed down around a tall, helmeted general wielding a broad-bladed battle sword.

Undoubtedly, this was a Silver Armored Corpse. Only a Silver Armored Corpse could possess intelligence akin to that of a normal person.

“Who are you? Do you think you stand a chance against the six of us?”

Shan Hongyi stroked his beard, probing with his words while taking out a compass-shaped artifact from his storage pouch.

“Me? You came to my cave dwelling? And you don’t even know who I am?”

The Silver Armored Corpse, wielding the battle sword, uttered words that made everyone frown.

“You’re Daoist Fei Ming? That’s impossible!”

“Hehehe, nothing is impossible. You know nothing about the Yellow Springs Great Law.”

The one speaking was the suppressed Silver Armored Corpse inside the ebony coffin. Although it couldn’t move, its abdominal cavity vibrated, producing sound.

“Oh no, let go quickly!”

Just then, Shan Hongyi seemed to realize something and shouted loudly at Yan Jinye and Mei Jingjun, who had been continuously injecting spiritual power into the talisman on the Silver Armored Corpse’s forehead.

But it was already too late. The Corpse Suppressing Charm ignited from the center, turning into ashes in an instant.

The silver-robed corpse in the ebony coffin grinned widely, its tightly closed eyes opening to reveal pupils faintly tinged with dark gold, causing everyone to slightly tremble. An incredibly terrifying aura erupted from the coffin!

Yan Jinye and the other two female cultivators, already on the verge of exhaustion, immediately vomited blood and were sent flying backward.

“This is bad! He must have swallowed a Golden Armored Corpse’s Corpse Pearl during his life. That’s why he was able to transform his body within a mere hundred years, already possessing some characteristics of a Golden Armored Corpse.”

Upon seeing this, the knowledgeable Shan Hongyi’s expression changed drastically.

“Old man, you know quite a lot, don’t you!”

The Silver Armored Corpse, floating in mid-air and gripping its battle sword, couldn’t help but look at Shan Hongyi with surprise.

“Junior Sisters, retreat!”

Shan Hongyi made a decisive decision, throwing two bottles of pills to Yan Jinye and Mei Jingjun. He then flung a handful of talismans towards the white jade altar and immediately flew upwards.

However, just as he flew up, he was intercepted by a battle sword that slashed horizontally through the air.

Meanwhile, Bi Yiyuan made a move that Chen Mobai hadn’t expected. He swung his wolf-tooth club, fiercely striking Madam Guo, whom he had just saved from the white jade altar.

Clang!

A jade-handled golden axe flew out. Although it blocked Bi Yiyuan’s attack, Madam Guo still vomited blood, staining a large part of her veil crimson.

“Senior Brother Bi, what are you doing?”

Yan Jinye’s face was filled with shock. Just as she was about to dissuade Bi Yiyuan from delivering a killing blow, Mei Jingjun, who was beside her, pulled her back.

“Don’t you understand yet? There’s something wrong with her.”

Chen Mobai, who had been completely bewildered, frowned upon hearing Mei Jingjun’s words and quietly began to look for an escape route.