The miasma blocked the view of the outside world from the inside, severing all sight. All that could be heard was the clear, crisp clang of metal colliding, the “zheng zheng” sound.
Initially, it was still possible to distinguish two figures battling like dragons and snakes, their movements a blur of upward thrusts and downward swoops, appearing and disappearing. But soon, their vision was completely obscured, like watching from a distant shore, unable to see anything clearly.
“This is a demonic miasma created by the dark energy within the Flying Corpse. Its toxicity can confuse the mind. Everyone, hold your breath and retreat quickly!” Elder Jiu Li flicked his sleeve, fanning away the mist and shouting urgently.
The disciples of the Da Yan Sect heard him, their understanding partial, but influenced by Elder Jiu Li's tense tone, their hearts fluttered. They scrambled away from the miasma in unison.
Danyan was standing with Gu Yi, but was momentarily distracted by the miasma exhaled by the Flying Corpse, Zhang Tuwei Zheng. When she came back to her senses, Gu Yi was nowhere to be seen.
“Ah Yi?”
He couldn’t help but take a few steps forward, venturing deeper into the miasma, and called out, concentrating his breath, “Gu Yi—”
He suddenly remembered she was a mortal, with poor resistance to toxins. Could she have been lured inside by this miasma?
He called out several times, but received no response. Unease and a suffocating discomfort washed over him.
Should he abandon her?
After a moment of hesitation, his steps defied rational resistance. With a pale, sickly complexion, he advanced instead of retreating, covering his breath with spiritual energy and entering the edge of the miasma…
“Zombie Deception Technique – Six Scrolls, Art One, Shadow Corpse Transformation.”
In a short time, Gu Er had already used two Zombie Deception techniques, clearly intending to end the battle quickly.
The "Zombie Deception Technique" comprised seven scrolls, from seven to one, with depth increasing. For the profound arts of the first, second, and third scrolls, he couldn’t even begin to decipher them. Currently, he had only practiced three techniques from the sixth and seventh scrolls: “Chanting Butcher,” “Ghost Crying Miasma,” and “Shadow Corpse Transformation.”
In fact, combining the seventh scroll’s “Ghost Crying Miasma” with the sixth scroll’s “Shadow Corpse Transformation” could double their power.
Upon activating the “Shadow Corpse Transformation” technique, Gu Er’s hair faded back to silver-white. The paper-white skin on his body gradually darkened. It was as if someone had used a fine brush dipped in pale gold paint to trace intricate patterns across him, like dragons and snakes.
He didn’t know that if others cultivated the “Shadow Corpse Transformation” from the Zombie Deception Technique, the demonic patterns on their transformed bodies would be the ominous blood-red of malevolent spirits. However, his patterns had turned pale gold due to the merit points Gu Junshi had bestowed upon him.
Six Jiang Fusheng’s eyes narrowed as he saw the Flying Corpse’s demonic transformation, but his expression remained calm and collected.
He knew he didn't have much combat experience, but his advantage lay in his steady, measured approach. Moreover, during his closed-door cultivation, he had honed excellent reflexes in the darkness to break through his nightmarish state of mind, and his body had long since memorized thousand-hammered, refined responses.
The transformed Flying Corpse had a slender, lean physique filled with muscle, strength surging through every fiber. It was as resilient as adamantine stone, and after the corpse transformation, his strength and speed had both drastically increased.
A black shadow shot upwards like lightning. One moment it was moving, the next it had shifted from its original position with blinding speed.
*Bang—*
The Flying Corpse, fingers clasped together, shattered the swirling mist and lunged towards the spine of Six Jiang Fusheng.
He twisted his supple waist to evade, kicked away the Flying Corpse’s outstretched arm, and with an “Swallow’s Flight” stance, his sword slashed out like flowing light, emitting a *ci ci* sound.
However, the Flying Corpse did not dodge. It grabbed the sword body with a palm. *Chii—* Black smoke and char marks appeared on the sword as his dark skin was corroded, but it was stuck in his bone, unable to be cut any further.
“Is this all you’ve got?” Gu Er spoke as if he couldn’t see his own flesh burning and melting. He stared into Six Jiang Fusheng’s eyes.
In response, Six Jiang Fusheng’s fair lips tightened into a straight line. He said nothing, drawing his sword horizontally and quickly performing hand seals on the hilt. The immortal sword was also angered, its spiritual power rapidly surging.
“Eight Directions and Six Harmonies Art – Profound Star Sword Rain!”
In the secret passages of Laishan Ravine, Six Jiang Fusheng’s cultivation had advanced, and he had comprehended an upgraded version of the previous sword rain move – the Profound Star Sword Rain.
In the next second, more than a dozen circular sword formations appeared around the Flying Corpse. Unlike the previous large-scale sword formation swarms, this move was tightly concentrated like a giant palm, designed to annihilate a single target.
Six Jiang Fusheng quickly formed hand seals, his robes billowing, his expression solemn.
The surging spiritual energy converged towards their location. The light of the sword formations reflected a dazzling silver, making one’s eyes ache. Simultaneously, a powerful killing intent condensed into a tangible form—
Gu Er’s pupils dilated.
He had no heartbeat, but a bursting sound detonated in his mind, signaling danger.
Therefore, he decisively released his grip, kicked off the ground, and retreated rapidly. However, the sword formations locked onto him like sniper shots. No matter where he went, they followed.
Six Jiang Fusheng watched coldly and uttered a single word: “Destroy!”
The killing intent finally coalesced. Countless frost-like light swords from within the sword formations stabbed towards Gu Er, from all directions, leaving him with no way to dodge or evade—
No matter how solid Gu Er’s iron-bronze black skin was, it couldn’t withstand repeated slashing and hacking. In an instant, the smell of blood wafted through the air. His skin was torn and gaping, his entire body covered in dark green “blood.”
The Flying Corpse did not; it was inaccurate to call this “blood.” It was merely a form of corpse fluid.
Six Jiang Fusheng, who had drawn out a large portion of his spiritual energy to unleash his ultimate move, drew back his stance and observed the situation ahead with a slight pant.
He saw that even though the Flying Corpse was mangled and not a single piece of its skin remained intact, it still hadn’t fallen. Zombies’ pain perception was always numb; they weren’t afraid of bleeding or missing body parts. As long as it wasn’t completely destroyed in one go, it could regenerate.
Gu Er thought to himself.
That was close.
It was fortunate he had listened to his sister and hadn’t deliberately held back his strength, using the “Ghost Crying Miasma” and “Shadow Corpse Transformation” all at once. Otherwise, he wasn’t sure if he could have withstood that previous attack.
While absorbing Yin energy to fill his ravaged corpse, the green fluid dripping from his body hissed as it fell onto the ground, corroding small holes. His injuries, however, were recovering at a speed visible to the naked eye.
“Even cultivators at the Nascent Soul stage couldn’t harm me, but you managed to do it.”
A remark, whether praise or mockery, came from his mouth. Six Jiang Fusheng felt the opponent’s fighting spirit blaze, as if he were about to launch a fierce assault in the next second.
As expected, a blur of afterimages appeared before him. Six Jiang Fusheng’s eyes widened slightly. He blocked the sword with his weapon, staggering back more than ten meters.
His attack speed was several times faster than before.
But it didn’t stop there. The black shadow approached again. His speed was so fast that even the miasma surrounding them was a beat slower in its panicked retreat. Six Jiang Fusheng had no time to swing his sword when a heavy blow struck him— *crack!*
His chest cavity fractured.
His strength had also increased exponentially.
The intense pain, like a sharp knife, coursed through his entire body, making it almost impossible to breathe.
His body turned ice-cold, breaking out in a cold sweat. Enduring the rush of blood, he twisted his wrist. As his long sword drew near, the shadow had already dissipated like a toxic miasma.
After his missed attack, he slumped down powerlessly, finally propping himself up with his sword, and vomited a mouthful of thick blood.