Heavenly Sword Sect

"That's right, he's also in this mountain. We even saw him over an hour ago," Jie Ming said.

"If he's appeared around here, then it's possible our people were killed by him," Chen Luo said.

It seems the murderer and Jiang Chen are the same person.

"If that's the case, then he should be nearby," Chen Luo said.

"Very good. Since we both have the same target, are you willing to cooperate with us to find him?" Jie Ming asked.

This is essentially giving an order.

"Of course, there's no problem with that. We already have a grudge against him. We couldn't ask for more than to act with you," Chen Luo said.

There's no other choice. The Bloodfire Mercenary Group isn't as strong as the Yinluo Sect, so they have to cooperate. Besides, there are certain benefits to working together.

"That's the best attitude. Alright, you will listen to our command in all actions. If we capture him, we won't shortchange you on the rewards," Jie Ming said coldly.

These mercenaries usually risk their lives for spirit stones and will do anything. Robbery is commonplace, all for spirit stones and resources.

Promising them some benefits will make them work harder.

If the Demonic Soul Blade isn't recovered, these people won't have a good outcome.

Thus, the two teams cooperated and began searching the Great Desolate Mountain Range for Jiang Chen separately.

This was unfortunate for some second and third-tier Demonic Beasts. Being discovered by such a powerful human team meant almost certain death.

The Yinluo Sect didn't hog all the valuable parts from the Demonic Beast corpses. They split them 70/30, with the Yinluo Sect taking 70% and the Bloodfire Mercenary Group taking 30%.

This actually made Chen Luo and the others feel a bit better.

Jiang Chen arrived at a small stream and was about to take a drink when he suddenly heard sounds of fighting not far away.

"Hmm? Someone else?" Jiang Chen felt a little puzzled.

Jiang Chen wondered if it might be people from the Bloodfire Mercenary Group.

The Bloodfire Mercenary Group often entered the Great Desolate Mountain Range, and many cultivators would detour to avoid them.

But Jiang Chen was different. If he could kill them, he would do so directly. Since they already had a feud, meeting meant a fight to the death.

Jiang Chen even wanted to destroy the Bloodfire Mercenary Group. Letting them continue to exist was also a menace.

Jiang Chen crept closer and saw over thirty masked figures in black surrounding and attacking two young people.

These black-clothed figures were all Martial Master Realm experts, with the strongest being at the Ninth Level of the Martial Master Realm.

As for the two young people, one male and one female, the woman was extremely beautiful, and the man was also handsome, a dashing young master.

Both were at the Seventh Level of the Martial Master Realm, with considerable strength.

It seemed these two young people were about the same age as Jiang Chen, yet they were already at the Seventh Level of the Martial Master Realm. Could they be genius disciples from some major power?

These black-clothed figures exuded wisps of demonic energy. These were actually people of the demonic path.

Facing so many attackers, the two young people were starting to struggle.

Even if their strength was formidable, what good was it?

They were outnumbered.

"Pfft..." The woman was struck by a palm from a black-clothed figure and sent flying.

"Junior Sister He..." The man's expression changed.

As a result, the man was momentarily distracted and was struck by a sword, sustaining a bleeding sword wound on his arm.

"Ah..." The man cried out in pain and immediately retreated.

"To get distracted in a fight to the death, you're truly courting death," a black-clothed figure said coldly.

These two young people were indeed formidable. Although they were at the Seventh Level of the Martial Master Realm, their combat power was comparable to ordinary Ninth Level Martial Master Realm experts, or even Tenth Level Martial Master Realm experts.

As expected of geniuses from the great Heavenly Sword Sect, they are difficult to deal with.

At this moment, the people from the Yin Corpse Sect had surrounded He Yushi and Li Ji.

"You people from the Yin Corpse Sect will not have a good end. Your evil deeds deserve to be punished by everyone," He Yushi cursed.

He Yushi and Li Ji were both disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

The Heavenly Sword Sect was one of the four major sects of the Great Zhou Dynasty, on the same level as the Chaohai Sect.

As for the Yin Corpse Sect, it was a demonic force, extremely cruel.

A thousand years ago, the Yin Corpse Sect was besieged by major powers and eventually wiped out.

However, there were still many remnants, establishing branches in various places and developing secretly.

The Heavenly Sword Sect received news of traces of the Yin Corpse Sect in Beihai Prefecture, suspecting it might be the lair of Yin Corpse Sect remnants.

They then assigned missions for disciples to investigate.

Several small teams had gone to Beihai Prefecture. He Yushi's team originally had five people; the other three had already been killed by the Yin Corpse Sect. Now, only the two of them remained.

He Yushi and her companions discovered the whereabouts of the Yin Corpse Sect and pursued them. They were then discovered by the Yin Corpse Sect, and a great battle ensued. The Yin Corpse Sect had superior numbers, and the Heavenly Sword Sect disciples were no match. They fought and retreated, resulting in the deaths of three people. Now, He Yushi and the others were also injured by the Yin Corpse Sect and were surrounded.

If nothing unexpected happened, the two of them would also die tragically.

"You disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect are incredibly bold to dare provoke our Yin Corpse Sect. A thousand years ago, your Heavenly Sword Sect was nothing more than ants in our eyes," sneered the leader of the black-clothed men.

"Hmph, your Yin Corpse Sect is utterly wicked and has committed countless atrocities. Everyone should strike you down," He Yushi said, her hostility towards the Yin Corpse Sect undiminished despite her injuries and dire situation.

The Yin Corpse Sect enjoyed slaughtering humans and using their blood to refine powerful corpse puppets, enhancing their combat prowess.

The Yin Corpse Sect could also be described as a sect that controlled corpses.

They enjoyed collecting the corpses of powerful individuals, or killing them, to refine potent corpse puppets.

A thousand years ago, the Yin Corpse Sect reached its peak, stirring up a bloody storm across the entire Southern Region. Everyone lived in fear, never knowing when they might be killed by the Yin Corpse Sect and turned into a corpse puppet.

Therefore, back then, the major powers of the Southern Region joined forces to deal with the Yin Corpse Sect. That battle lasted for over a decade before the Yin Corpse Sect was finally eradicated.

However, although they were said to be eradicated, many remnants went into hiding.

Over the years, remnants of the Yin Corpse Sect occasionally surfaced in various places.

Once such a situation was discovered, the major powers would directly eliminate these remnants.

But the Yin Corpse Sect remnants were also very good at hiding, making their strongholds difficult to find.

"Haha, you won't live to see our future. Everyone, attack! Kill them all!" the leader commanded, ordering the other black-clothed men to attack.

Suddenly, several sharp arrows flew towards them.

Caught off guard, several black-clothed men were hit directly.

The attacker was Jiang Chen, who had also coated the arrowheads with anesthetic. Anyone hit would be paralyzed and rendered powerless for a short period.

The sudden turn of events startled everyone. Who could it be?

At this moment, they saw a masked man appear, continuing to shoot arrows.

However, now that they were on guard, they could dodge the arrows.

Seeing that someone was helping them, He Yushi and Li Ji were overjoyed. They seized the opportunity while the Yin Corpse Sect members were stunned and broke through their encirclement.

"We can't let them escape!" the Yin Corpse Sect members exclaimed in alarm.

Jiang Chen, eavesdropping from the shadows, learned that He Yushi and the others were disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

That was one of the Four Great Sects. And these people were from the Yin Corpse Sect.

Jiang Chen had certainly heard the rumors about the Yin Corpse Sect – a sect notorious for all sorts of evil deeds.

He hadn't expected remnants of the Yin Corpse Sect to appear near Qingyue Town. This was not a good sign.

With this thought, Jiang Chen decided to intervene and save these two disciples of the Heavenly Sword Sect.

"Let's kill these Yin Corpse Sect members together! Don't leave yet!" Jiang Chen shouted.

"Huh?" He Yushi and Li Ji were greatly surprised.

Jiang Chen actually intended to kill the Yin Corpse Sect members?

They knew that the Yin Corpse Sect had over thirty people, while they, including Jiang Chen, were only three.

However, Jiang Chen quickly showed them the answer.

"Hegemonic Blade Art." The Silver Moon Blade in Jiang Chen's hand flashed out instantly.

Countless blade lights slashed towards the Yin Corpse Sect members before them.

"Pfft, pfft, pfft." Instantly, three Martial Master Realm experts from the Yin Corpse Sect were slain.

"Such powerful strength, such formidable blade techniques!" He Yushi and Li Ji were greatly shocked.

Jiang Chen was currently exuding an aura of only Martial Master Realm, First Level. How could he wield such astonishing blade skills?

The lethality was immense. Martial Master Realm experts were killed with a single strike, demonstrating the power of this blade technique.

This Hegemonic Blade Art was taught to Jiang Chen by Elder Huo. Now that Jiang Chen had reached the Martial Master Realm, First Level, he could naturally practice the five stances of the Martial Master Realm blade techniques.

With this, Jiang Chen had mastered ten blade techniques, making it much easier to deal with enemies and naturally resulting in such powerful lethality.

"Let's attack together too." He Yushi and Li Ji exchanged glances and decided to join forces with Jiang Chen to slay these Yin Corpse Sect experts.

Jiang Chen's strength was so formidable that the leader of the black-clothed men was enraged. He drew his long sword and charged at Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen employed Traceless Steps, easily dodging the opponent's attacks.

"Damn it, you killed so many of our people! You're asking for death! Come out, Faceless Corpse!" The leader of the black-clothed men instantly summoned a corpse puppet.

This corpse puppet was named Faceless Corpse. Its original appearance was indistinguishable, and its face had no features, hence the name Faceless Corpse.

The Faceless Corpse was a Fourth-Tier refined corpse, emitting a foul stench that made one want to vomit.

Of course, for the Yin Corpse Sect members, who were accustomed to dealing with corpses, this was child's play. What unpleasant smells hadn't they encountered?

Seeing their leader summon a refined corpse, the others also summoned their own.

Instantly, the Yin Corpse Sect side gained over a dozen corpse puppets, none of them weak.

These were low-tier corpse puppets, some even with decaying flesh on their surfaces.

They looked utterly disgusting.

These corpse puppets charged towards He Yushi and Li Ji, putting them in a very passive position. Corpse puppets felt no pain, and their defense was far superior to cultivators of the same level.

Even if a wound is inflicted on a corpse puppet, it won't feel pain and can continue to attack.

This is also why the Yin Corpse Sect dominated the Southern Region a thousand years ago.

It's precisely because their corpse puppet legions were too powerful.

The two were forced to retreat repeatedly.

"Don't fight the corpse puppets. Deal with the people. Once the people are dead, the corpse puppets won't be much of a threat," Jiang Chen shouted.

Hearing Jiang Chen's words, the two suddenly realized and found it reasonable. They then bypassed the corpse puppets and directly dealt with the people from the Yin Corpse Sect.

The people from the Yin Corpse Sect were entangled by He Yushi and others, unable to focus their minds on controlling the corpse puppets, which hindered the puppets' movements.

As for Jiang Chen, facing the Fourth-Order corpse puppet before him, he already had an idea.

"Draw Sword Slash." The Silver Moon Blade in Jiang Chen's hand began to gather power.

"Attack!" The leader of the black-clothed men controlled the Fourth-Order corpse puppet and charged at Jiang Chen.

He believed that no matter how strong Jiang Chen was, he couldn't possibly be a match for a Fourth-Order corpse puppet.

The corpse puppet charged towards Jiang Chen at extreme speed.

The long saber in Jiang Chen's hand instantly unleashed a stunning blade light.

Moreover, Jiang Chen had also used the Sky Annihilation Strike, with a tenfold power amplification.

The blade light struck the Fourth-Order corpse puppet, instantly shearing off its entire shoulder.

Originally, Draw Sword Slash had five times the original power, and with the tenfold amplification from Sky Annihilation Strike, it became fifty times the power.

This kind of power was enough to break through the defense of a Fourth-Order corpse puppet.

The corpse puppet's movements faltered. Having lost an entire shoulder, one of its hands was gone.

This scene also caused the leader of the black-clothed men to turn pale with shock.

This Faceless Corpse was something he had painstakingly refined, his trump card, with astonishing combat power.

He never expected that in one exchange, Jiang Chen would lop off one of its hands.

To repair it and restore its combat effectiveness later would require a lot of resources.

"Ah, you dare to destroy our corpse puppet! Die, die!" The leader of the black-clothed men was furious.

Then, he used a secret technique to make the Fourth-Order Faceless Corpse even more berserk.

The Faceless Corpse instantly rushed in front of Jiang Chen and clawed at him with its remaining hand.

This hand had sharp, black, and dry nails, and it aimed to rip out his heart.

Jiang Chen's expression changed, and he quickly blocked with the Silver Moon Blade in his hand.

"Clang." The Silver Moon Blade collided with the corpse's hand, sparks flying.

Jiang Chen was also repelled by the immense power.

"Such powerful strength," Jiang Chen marveled.

As expected of a Fourth-Order refined corpse, its strength was indeed extraordinary.

Next, Jiang Chen and the Faceless Corpse engaged in a fierce battle. After more than ten exchanges, Jiang Chen was ultimately no match and was struck in the chest by the Faceless Corpse.

"Pfft..." Jiang Chen couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

Jiang Chen also wanted to deal with the leader of the black-clothed men, but the Faceless Corpse's strength was too formidable.

It blocked him, forcing Jiang Chen to fight the Faceless Corpse.

Fortunately, Jiang Chen was wearing Snake Scale Armor, which blocked the Faceless Corpse's sharp claws.

Otherwise, that strike would have definitely pierced his chest.

Even a one-handed Faceless Corpse was not something Jiang Chen could easily deal with.

"It's not dead?" The leader of the black-clothed men was also shocked by Jiang Chen's strength.

He had fought the Faceless Corpse for so long and taken a hit, only spitting out blood, seemingly unharmed.

One must know that the combat power of the Faceless Corpse was significantly stronger than that of the leader of the black-clothed men.

After all, it was a Fourth-Order refined corpse, possessing the strength of a Martial Grandmaster Realm expert.

A First-Level Fourth-Order refined corpse was indeed incredibly powerful.