"Earth Yin Blood Talisman!"
Liu Xiao and another Night Patrol Division steward recognized the talisman at once. Its reputation had once been viciously fearsome. Even years later, it remained a nightmare for many Qi Refining cultivators.
Among the Corpse Peak disciples who had died beneath this talisman, there had been at least a thousand, if not three thousand. Many others had been left with lifelong disabilities.
Most terrifying of all, even a first-grade, low-quality talisman could threaten a Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator. For someone at the Qi Refining Third Layer, encountering one was practically a death sentence. Neither a Yang Talisman nor a Yin Talisman could achieve such a thing.
There was only one reason: the Earth Yin Blood Talisman was powered by lifespan.
Activating one could cost a year or two at best.
At worst, it could cost eight or ten.
For an old man in his twilight years like Chen Feng, even using just one would probably leave him with only a few years to live.
So the moment Chen Feng pulled out the Earth Yin Blood Talisman, Liu Xiao and the other steward realized that he intended to take them down with him.
"Fall back!"
Liu Xiao swept his spear behind him, and the force sent him hurtling backward. The other Night Patrol Division steward hurried after him.
But Chen Feng pursued them with a vicious grin, determined not to let them escape. He clenched the Earth Yin Blood Talisman in his hand, and a moment later, a torrent of blood poured from his palm into it.
In the blink of an eye, Chen Feng seemed to age seven or eight years.
Liu Xiao and the other steward's expressions changed dramatically. When Chen Feng hurled the Earth Yin Blood Talisman, they frantically threw out the magical artifacts in their hands and pulled seven or eight defensive talismans from their Storage Bags, activating them at once.
The next moment,
a deafening boom shook the heavens.
Boom—
A vast surge of Earth Fiend Yin Energy and Blood Qi erupted from the Earth Yin Blood Talisman, spreading outward as a ring of blood-red light.
Wherever the blood-red ring passed, whether it was demons, members of the Chen family, or Night Patrol Division disciples,
they were instantly reduced to ash.
They didn't even have time to react.
When the ring of blood-red light faded, nothing remained within a hundred zhang. Everyone but Liu Xiao and the other steward had been wiped out.
The two of them had survived, but at a steep price. They had destroyed their magical artifacts, exhausted every defensive talisman they had, and suffered a heavy shock. They had less than a third of their strength left and were close to gravely wounded.
"Too bad... It was only a mid-grade, first-grade, low-quality Earth Yin Blood Talisman..." Chen Feng said regretfully when he saw that Liu Xiao and the other steward were still alive.
The instant the words left his mouth,
he spat out a mouthful of blood.
His aura weakened further, while the madness twisting his face grew even more savage.
The next moment,
Chen Feng abruptly turned and fled beyond the Chen family grounds, using a magical artifact to fly.
He was astonishingly fast, clearly using some kind of talisman again.
Liu Xiao had wanted to pursue him, but the nearby Night Patrol Division steward stopped him. "Don't chase him. If we catch up, he'll very likely take us down with him. Deal with the demons below first. If we wait any longer, more people will die!"
Liu Xiao glanced down at the Night Patrol Division disciples still battling the demons. He felt his own Mana in disarray and his body on the verge of grave injury. With no other choice, he gave up and let Chen Feng escape.
The other Night Patrol Division stewards had seen what happened too. None dared pursue him, and they all chose to deal with the demons first.
A powerful enemy was nothing to fear.
What was frightening was an enemy who didn't care whether he lived or died.
What if he had another Earth Yin Blood Talisman?
With no commander present, anyone who pursued him would die.
However,
Wen Jiu, watching from the red maple grove, was dumbfounded.
Damn!
He was coming this way!
"What terrible luck!"
Wen Jiu had only hidden in the red maple grove to lie low and avoid the storm.
How had the strongest and most unhinged man in the Chen family ended up heading straight for him?
Wen Jiu didn't hesitate. He immediately used Three Rivers Ghost Concealment, ready to lie low and let Chen Feng pass. After all, that Earth Yin Blood Talisman had been far too terrifying, and it had left him deeply wary.
However,
Chen Feng had barely been in the red maple grove for a few breaths when he toppled to the ground. Clearly, he could no longer fly using his magical artifact.
As he fell, his body hunched over, and he spat out another mouthful of blood. The savage, frenzied aura he had shown moments earlier had dwindled to less than a tenth.
When Wen Jiu saw Chen Feng take several Swiftness Talismans from his Storage Bag, he instinctively glanced at the Black Zombie beside him.
At that moment,
he and the Black Zombie were only three zhang away from Chen Feng.
A surprise attack might work.
If things went wrong, he could still escape with Blood Corpse Escape.
The Black Zombie understood at once. Surging with a chilling ghostly aura, it pounced on Chen Feng.
"A ghost!"
Chen Feng was startled.
But the Black Zombie was only three zhang away. With its Three Rivers Ghost Concealment speed, Chen Feng had no chance to cast a spell and stop it.
In his panic, Chen Feng pulled out a talisman. It wasn't a blood talisman, but an ordinary first-grade, low-quality Yin Talisman.
Its quality, however, was top-notch!
The Yin Talisman activated, and a huge, ghastly ghost face suddenly appeared, lunging at the Black Zombie as it sped toward him.
In an instant, the ghost face clamped its jaws around the Black Zombie.
Chen Feng's face brightened.
But the very next moment, his expression changed dramatically.
The Black Zombie tore the ghost face apart with a single swipe, as easily as ripping thin paper. In an instant, it was right in front of him.
Squish—
Two hands wreathed in chilling ghostly energy plunged into Chen Feng's chest. Chen Feng was already at the end of his rope, with no strength left to activate another talisman and protect himself. He could only stare in disbelief as the Black Zombie tore him apart.
Wen Jiu was genuinely shaken by the sight. The Black Zombie was at the upper stage, and with Blood Transformation Body and Three Rivers Ghost Concealment, it was this powerful!
A top-quality, first-grade, low-quality Yin Talisman—an attack comparable to the full power of an Unorthodox Path cultivator at the Qi Refining Third Layer—had been ripped apart just like that.
"If it evolves into a walking corpse... how strong will it be?"
Wen Jiu couldn't help looking forward to it.
Could it tear apart a Qi Refining Fourth Layer cultivator with its bare hands?
Putting those thoughts aside, Wen Jiu glanced toward the edge of the red maple grove. A Night Patrol Division steward had already noticed the commotion.
Wen Jiu didn't hesitate. He swept his Spiritual Sense over the area, took Chen Feng's Storage Bag, and vanished into the forest with the Black Zombie.
All that remained was a corpse and a chilling ghostly aura spread across the ground.
Just like when he had killed Fang Zheng and the other two.
A few dozen breaths later,
Wen Jiu was in a dense forest three li away.
It was quiet all around.
There wasn't even a birdcall or insect chirp.
Only the roar of spells and magical artifacts carried from the Chen family's direction, rising without end from below the earth.
Wen Jiu had planned to find somewhere to calm down and check what he had gained from looting the corpse. But as soon as he stopped, he felt a vast surge of Blood Qi pouring out from the Chen family's direction. He turned and saw a beam of blood-red light shoot skyward from the underground tunnel.
The surging Blood Qi, its sheer density, left Wen Jiu momentarily dazed. The Black Zombie grew so excited it practically trembled.
Two thoughts sprang into his mind.
How much Blood Qi could there be down there?
Why did it feel like there was even more than in Dead Corpse Land?
Though excited, Wen Jiu forced himself to calm down. A sudden surge of Blood Qi was hardly normal.
"What happened down there..."
After thinking it over,
Wen Jiu decided he would go back later and follow the main force underground to see what was happening.
If it was dangerous, he could always use Blood Corpse Escape to get back out.
The tunnel might be deep, but surely it couldn't go down twenty li.
Blood Corpse Escape could cover five li each time.
With the abundant corpse energy inside the Black Zombie, it could still use the technique three times.
By the time Wen Jiu had circled around the back of the Chen family's mountain and returned to the battlefield from the other side, the demons had all been dealt with. When he saw Mu Canglong and Si Kongbai at the Chen family grounds, he understood everything.
When Wen Jiu appeared, Mu Canglong, Si Kongbai, and Liu Xiao all turned to look at him.
The weight in Mu Canglong's eyes seemed to ease when he saw Wen Jiu, perhaps because he had thought Wen Jiu was dead. Si Kongbai, meanwhile, wore a cold expression, and Wen Jiu could faintly sense hostility from him.
Clearly,
he still remembered what had happened with Li Ye.
And he held a grudge.
Wen Jiu didn't care.
As long as Mu Canglong was there, Si Kongbai wouldn't dare lay a hand on him.
When Wen Jiu approached, Liu Xiao quickly got up from where he'd been sitting cross-legged to recover. Delighted, he called, "Wen Jiu!"
"Brother Liu."
Wen Jiu walked forward. He was holding the severed thumbs of those Chen family disciples. As he bowed to Mu Canglong and Si Kongbai, Liu Xiao came over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Not bad, not bad. You're safe, and you even killed a few of them."
"Just lucky."
Wen Jiu answered modestly.
Then he looked around.
There were many demon corpses.
But there were plenty of Night Patrol Division disciples' bodies too.
They had already been arranged neatly in an open space. There were more than thirty of them.
Wen Jiu felt a jumble of emotions as he looked at them.
At the same time, Mu Canglong gave Wen Jiu an approving look, but his gaze eventually settled on the Black Zombie. Something felt off. He probed it with his Spiritual Sense and still sensed that something was wrong, though he couldn't say what.
But he had a hunch.
The Black Zombie had grown stronger.
Perhaps it was nearing the upper stage.
This kid!
This kid's talent in the Unorthodox Path was truly terrifying!
He was even more talented than the one who had created the Yinzhou Corpse Raising Method!
Mu Canglong looked at Wen Jiu with delight and other complicated emotions, but said nothing outright.
"All right. Take what you can carry and leave the rest here. With me around, no one will dare steal the Night Patrol Division's spoils!" As he spoke, Mu Canglong turned and looked at the bottomless underground tunnel behind him.
"Everyone."
"Prepare to enter!"
As the words fell,
Wen Jiu's gaze shifted from the corpses to the tunnel, where Blood Qi was pouring out.
Even at this close distance, the Blood Qi leaking from the tunnel was as dense as that at the heart of Dead Corpse Land.
If they went deeper,
he couldn't imagine how much more there would be.
He couldn't help wondering what the Blood Robe Tower remnants had been doing underground.
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