At that moment, a red flash streaked by as a crimson needle eerily materialized beside the giant wolf. In another flicker, the needle transformed into a red thread that pierced through the green flames shielding the corpse wolf. With a soft *pfft*, the red thread effortlessly penetrated the green flames.
The giant wolf, startled, frantically shook its head, but the red thread still managed to pierce its neck and emerge from the other side. Letting out a pained roar, the corpse wolf immediately sprouted black mist from its four limbs and shot away, vanishing into the howling yin winds. Witnessing this, the old man and the others were naturally overjoyed.
“Chase it!” someone shouted, and the group immediately flared with spiritual light, preparing to pursue.
But at that moment, a faint cry suddenly came from Han Li’s waist. Though the sound was soft, Han Li’s expression changed drastically. He flicked his fingers backward, sending several streaks of azure sword energy shooting out, striking the ground a dozen zhang away. With a series of rumbling explosions, eerie glows flickered on the ground as several pitch-black human hands eerily emerged. With a flick of their fingers, they effortlessly deflected the sword beams.
Then, a fierce yin wind erupted from the spot, revealing three staggering figures—the same desiccated corpses that had appeared once at the crossroads. Somehow, they had bypassed the formation there, secretly tailing the group and hiding until now.
Just as Han Li and the others were about to leave, one of the corpses carelessly leaked its aura, alerting the crying soul beast in Han Li’s spirit beast pouch and forcing them to reveal themselves. Though all three corpses were similarly withered, their heights and builds varied slightly. With Han Li’s exceptional memory, he immediately recognized one that looked eerily familiar—one that should have been reduced to ashes.
Han Li’s expression darkened slightly, while the black-robed beauty, the old man, and Bai Yaoyi simultaneously gasped in shock.
“How are these corpses alive? When I found them, they were completely lifeless!” the black-robed beauty exclaimed in astonishment—apparently, she had encountered another one in a different cave. Bai Yaoyi’s shock mirrored Han Li’s, her face paling slightly.
“You recognize these things? Never mind that now—we must chase the Yin Zhi Ma first! Fellow Daoist Han, Junior Sister Chang, you two stay and deal with these corpses. The rest of us will pursue the spirit creature. If it hides again, finding it will be difficult,” the wealthy old man said. Though equally surprised by the corpses, he was fixated on capturing the Yin Zhi Ma. He believed that whether it was Han Li and his junior sister handling the corpses or the three of them dealing with the corpse wolf, there would be no issue. The others voiced no objections.
After the black-robed beauty and Han Li nodded in agreement, the wealthy old man and the other two wasted no time, transforming into streaks of light and chasing after the corpse wolf as it disappeared into the yin winds.
Han Li retracted his crystallized flying needle and stood shoulder-to-shoulder with the black-robed beauty, coldly eyeing the corpses. Though ghostly techniques were inherently bizarre, the idea that corpses destroyed by divine lightning could reappear was beyond belief. Thus, while Han Li’s expression remained calm, he grew even more cautious.
The beauty, a high-ranking elder of the Nine Serenities Sect, was well-versed in demonic and ghostly arts and dared not underestimate these corpses. Though the massive red sword hovering above her shone brilliantly, she refrained from acting rashly.
While Han Li and the beauty remained composed, the corpses, seeing the other three depart, grew restless. The largest one in the middle suddenly took two steps forward and spat out a thin gray thread, shooting straight toward the beauty.
“Seeking death!” the beauty sneered, flicking her sleeve to release a dozen fireballs in rapid succession. She then pointed at the massive sword above her, which slashed downward, unleashing a crimson sword beam. She assumed the seemingly insignificant thread was merely condensed corpse energy, easily countered by fire-based techniques.
But what happened next was shocking. With a series of *pfft* sounds, the gray thread effortlessly pierced through all the fireballs, which then vanished in a flash, completely absorbed by the thread. The crimson sword beam fared no better—though it made the thread tremble slightly, it too was absorbed without a trace. The thread continued unimpeded toward the black-robed beauty.
Startled, the beauty flicked her sleeve, summoning a small azure shield that rapidly expanded to block the attack. Simultaneously, the massive sword in the air slashed down directly.
She reasoned that while spiritual techniques might be absorbed, a direct attack from a magic treasure would not suffer the same fate.
As expected, when the massive sword struck the gray thread, it halted momentarily.
Just as the beauty prepared to activate the sword’s power, the thread suddenly blurred, splitting into a hundred strands that entangled the sword in a dense web. A sinister glow spread across the threads, and as it touched the sword’s red light, the latter began to wither, turning from red to black as if being tainted. The connection between the beauty and her sword grew sluggish.
Her heart sank. Without hesitation, she slapped her storage pouch, summoning a dharma wheel-like treasure.
But before she could use it to free her sword, a thunderous crack sounded beside her as a dazzling golden arc shot out, striking the sword. Amidst the thunder, the gray threads shattered into pieces, freeing the sword.
“Thank you, Brother Han!” the beauty exclaimed gratefully, quickly retracting her sword as three red streaks flew back into her sleeve.
Having helped her, Han Li wasted no time on pleasantries, instead frowning as he stared into the air. The corpse let out a low growl, and the scattered gray threads reformed, quickly restoring their original shape. The other two corpses also stepped forward, clearly preparing to attack together.
The beauty’s expression darkened, but after a moment of scrutiny, realization dawned on her.
“Soul-Severing Threads? These aren’t corpse energy—they’re corpse-soul energy!” she cried, her face turning deathly pale.
“Corpse-soul energy?” Han Li found the term familiar. After a brief thought, he recalled reading about it in the Great Divination Scripture.
His expression darkened instantly. This was one of the rarest and most formidable ghostly techniques, known to very few cultivators.
Corpse-soul energy, as the name suggested, originated from malevolent energy—specifically, the lingering resentment and corpse energy of those who died with unresolved grievances. It was said to form only under extremely rare conditions, requiring at least a Core Formation cultivator’s corpse and other unknown factors. Once formed, it became nearly indestructible, capable of absorbing spiritual energy and corrupting magic treasures—a pinnacle ghostly technique.
As for Soul-Severing Threads, though Han Li hadn’t heard of them before, they were clearly a technique derived from corpse-soul energy, explaining their formidable nature. Even his Divine Devilbane Lightning could only scatter them temporarily, not destroy them completely.
As Han Li processed this, the three corpses simultaneously extended their hands, fingers flexing as dozens of gray threads shot from their fingertips.
The beauty took a deep breath and activated her dharma wheel, chanting incantations. The wheel spun midair, releasing a seven-colored radiance that formed a protective barrier around Han Li and herself.
“Seven-Colored Radiance? A Buddhist treasure?” Han Li, who had been about to unleash golden lightning, paused in surprise. The Soul-Severing Threads struck the barrier at blinding speed but were repelled, failing to penetrate.
Han Li wasn’t shocked—Buddhist techniques inherently countered ghostly arts. Even the formidable Soul-Severing Threads couldn’t easily breach Buddhist light. What surprised him was that a demonic sect elder possessed a Buddhist treasure.
Seeing their threads ineffective, the corpses didn’t relent. Instead, their fingers twitched, conjuring countless more threads that coiled around the barrier layer by layer, intent on trapping the two inside.
Han Li’s eyes flashed coldly. Rubbing his hands together, he unleashed two thick golden arcs that struck the barrier. With a crackling roar, a golden lightning net formed on the surface, instantly reducing the outer threads to dissipating gray mist.
The corpses remained unfazed, continuing to spew new threads while the dispersed mist reformed.
“Fellow Daoist Chang, let me out!” Han Li said tersely. With a thunderous rumble, a pair of silver wings materialized on his back.
The beauty, initially startled and about to protest, swallowed her words upon seeing his transformation. With a gesture, she opened a small gap in the barrier.
Simultaneously, Han Li’s wings flapped, and he vanished in a flash of silver light.
The three corpses, now sentient, paused and glanced around warily.
A moment later, silver lightning crackled behind them as Han Li reappeared several zhang away. Without hesitation, the corpses shot dozens of gray threads at him.
Han Li didn’t dodge. Instead, he opened his mouth and spat out three golden streaks, each targeting a corpse.
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