Steward Liang, the target, let out a loud shout. Eerie red light flared across his body as he swung the longsword in his hand.
The other black-robed men raised their weapons and joined forces to meet the golden blade arc in midair.
After several muffled crashes, four figures were sent hurtling dozens of meters backward, slamming more than a foot into the surrounding mountainside.
Su Ye looked on in surprise. The black-robed men before him were abnormally weak. He should have had to spend quite a bit of effort to take them down, yet they had proved utterly incapable.
He walked up to Steward Liang, who was embedded in the mountainside. His flesh was already torn open, and jagged, broken bones gleamed through his wounds.
"You're in the late stage of Meridian Opening. Why are you here? Have we already been exposed?"
Steward Liang's face was stricken with fear. In Linshan County, over the past twenty years, there had been so few Meridian Opening Martial Artists that you could count them on two hands, let alone anyone in the late stage.
What was more, this man was so young, yet had already reached the late stage of Meridian Opening. The Demon Suppression Division in Yunzhou must have long since noticed something amiss here.
At that thought, Steward Liang asked despondently, "Are you that commander from the Demon Suppression Division? Could you at least let me die knowing the truth?"
Su Ye understood. The man before him had clearly mistaken him for that commander from the Demon Suppression Division.
The Demon Suppression Division had a strict hierarchy. Promotion from Demon Execution Guard to Captain, Commander, and then Chief Commander all required corresponding merit.
The black-robed men had discussed the Ironclad Corpses earlier as if this was far from their first time doing such a thing. Su Ye's expression remained calm as he said, "My identity doesn't matter. I'm curious where you've hidden the Ironclad Corpses."
"How do you know about them? Were you eavesdropping just now?"
Steward Liang's face darkened. Falling into the hands of the Demon Suppression Division could only end badly; he might even be left wishing for death.
Then he relaxed and said, "As a commander of the Demon Suppression Division, you should know our cult's Secret Technique. Whatever I can tell you, I will. I only ask that you grant us a quick death afterward."
He pointed toward the opposite mountainside. "There's a cave over there. The Ironclad Corpses are inside."
"You're sensible."
Su Ye called Big Black over and ordered him to investigate the cave across the way.
Then he turned his gaze back to Steward Liang. "Tell me why you came to Linshan County, and what you need so many Ironclad Corpses for."
Steward Liang considered this for a moment before answering. "The Ironclad Corpses are needed by the cult to refine Golden Armored Corpses. As for any other purpose, I don't know."
"If you don't know, then answer this: what's the relationship between you and the Linshan County magistrate, as well as the Qin and Cai Lineages?"
At those words, Steward Liang's expression changed abruptly. The Lineages and the magistrate Su Ye had mentioned had all been cultivated by the Corpse Demon Cult at great expense.
As for their plans, a minor steward like him could hardly know the details. The Demon Suppression Division had probably already investigated the situation in Linshan County thoroughly.
After a long silence, Steward Liang spoke in a hollow voice, like an eggplant battered by frost. "They are indeed connected to the cult, but I don't know what they've been doing. I only—"
"I once overheard something... the Blood... Tablet."
His voice cut off abruptly. Though he had been gravely wounded, Steward Liang suddenly contorted in pain. He clutched his head with his broken arms and rolled about frantically.
Su Ye hurriedly reached out to examine him, but a sudden change erupted. Three figures in the distance writhed in agony just like Steward Liang. After only a few breaths, all four men suddenly stopped moving.
"Boom... boom, boom!"
The blast sent Steward Liang's corpse tumbling. From the moment the strange change began to the instant all four heads exploded, barely a blink had passed. Su Ye hadn't even had time to act.
Steward Liang and the other three were all members of the Corpse Demon Cult, yet this had happened to them almost simultaneously, one after another, as though someone were controlling them from behind the scenes.
Could the Corpse Demon Cult's Secret Technique really sense the presence of their companions from several yards away?
"What a domineering restriction."
He had just barely heard the words "Blood Tablet." Could they have been after some kind of stone tablet? What could it be that would make the Corpse Demon Cult abandon Linshan County, which they had spent years cultivating?
Muttering to himself, Su Ye crouched beside the black-robed corpse on the ground and searched it. Unfortunately, he found nothing of value.
"It's a shame these four members of the Corpse Demon Cult didn't die by my hand. That's two hundred or so Assistance Points down the drain." He shook his head in regret.
Big Black flew over from the distance.
"Boss, there really is a cave across the way."
Then his gaze swept over the four corpses on the ground. Seeing how gruesomely they had died, he couldn't help looking at the tall figure with some trepidation.
Noticing Big Black's look, Su Ye didn't explain. He simply cleaned the blood off himself.
Following Big Black toward the opposite mountainside, he found a sheer cliff with a narrow path jutting out from it. The path was so small that only one person could pass at a time.
It would have been difficult to spot from either above or below the mountain. Only by walking right up to it could someone notice anything unusual.
After walking a hundred paces or so, they came upon a pitch-black cave. It was so small that Su Ye had to bend over to squeeze inside.
After five turns, a glimmer of light appeared ahead.
The narrow passage gradually widened as they went farther in.
Before long, a natural cavern opened up before them. The ground seemed to have been cleared and was quite level.
Ten black coffins stood in a row against the rock wall on the left. On the right, a platform several meters wide had been carved into the stone, covered with jars and bottles.
Su Ye stepped closer and picked up a white bottle. There was no label or anything like that on its surface.
Before he even opened the porcelain bottle, the air was already thick with a stinging, pungent smell. It must have been left behind earlier and still hadn't dissipated.
He carefully pulled out the bottle's wooden stopper. A nauseating stench immediately struck him in the face.
Only after Su Ye plugged the porcelain bottle again did Big Black stop retching.
"Boss, what is this stuff? It stings the nose, and it's disgusting, too."
"Probably some of the materials used to refine Ironclad Corpses. Be careful not to break anything." After warning Big Black to handle the items carefully, Su Ye went to the coffins and stopped before them. He slowly lifted one lid.
He had already prepared the Ghost Head Saber in case anything unexpected happened. The coffin lid hit the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
Inside lay the corpse of a man, his body blue-black from head to toe. His lips were a bizarre, vivid red, and two foot-long fangs protruded from them.
So this was an Ironclad Corpse.
He wondered how many Assistance Points one would be worth.
His blade roared with wind and thunder as it swept down from above. The Ironclad Corpse, which had kept its eyes shut, seemed to sense the danger. Its eyelids twitched violently, as though it might awaken at any moment.
Su Ye had no intention of asking for trouble. He cleanly severed its blue-black neck.
Killed [Ironclad Corpse]. Gained 31 Assistance Points
Su Ye had been keeping a close eye on the panel, and delight welled up in him. There was no difference between these ten Ironclad Corpses and a free gift. More than three hundred Assistance Points had practically been delivered to his doorstep, and he couldn't hold back any longer.
He quickly opened the remaining nine coffins. In less than the time it took to burn a stick of incense, he had beheaded all nine Ironclad Corpses inside.
Host: Su Ye Realm: Meridian Opening, Sixth Layer Cultivation Methods: [Body Tempering Initial Solution · Mortal Grade High Rank] Not Initiated [Dragon-Tiger Body Tempering Art · Yellow Tier Mid-grade] Mastered [Fierce Sun Art · Yellow Grade Low Rank] Mastered Martial Arts: [Black Fiend Saber Technique · Mortal Grade Middle Rank] Mastered [Meteor Hammer Technique · Mortal Grade High Rank] Not Initiated [Demon Subduing Fist · Mortal Grade Middle Rank] Mastered [Sky Rending Leg · Mortal Grade Middle Rank] Mastered [Mountain Splitting Saber Technique · Unranked] Mastered [Jingtao Art · Mortal Grade High Rank] Mastered Movement Technique: [Wandering Dragon Step · Mortal Grade Middle Rank] (Mastered) Assistance Points: 385
He opened the system. At this point, every Martial Art on the panel had reached mastery except for [Meteor Hammer Technique], which he hadn't even initiated. Finding higher-grade Martial Arts had become an urgent necessity.
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