Corpse Refiner

The night deepened, and the drizzle fell like silk.

Dozens of torches were lit inside the stone cave, casting light upon faces that were twisted and malicious.

There were forty-seven bandits in total, each clutching a steel blade.

Under the flickering torchlight, the bandits' expressions were complex, a mixture of tension and unease.

"Second Master has likely met his end; the Falcon Spirit Monster went in a moment ago and hasn't come back out."

"Could they really have tracked us here? Brother Leopard, aren't you making a mountain out of a molehill?"

"If they truly have come, and they are people Second Master couldn't handle, there's no way we can stop them by guarding this place."

Although the forty-seven bandits knew they might well lose their lives tonight, none dared to flee without permission.

They feared the Grand Master far more than the opponents tracking them down.

If they had to choose a way to die, they would rather be hacked to death quickly than ever face the Grand Master.

As the bandits whispered among themselves, black specks appeared beneath the torchlight on the stone walls—they were, shockingly, Gu insects.

"They're here!" The bald bandit was the first to spot the insects and roared to warn the others.

The remaining bandits glanced over, but in the time it took them to turn their heads, the black specks had multiplied.

There were countless Gu insects at a single glance, and the hearts of the bandits turned cold in an instant.

Just then, a youth walked up to the cave entrance. After a quick look, he remarked, "They don't look like walking corpses."

Forty-seven pairs of eyes fixed upon the youth. Just as they hesitated over whether to charge, two more figures appeared at the entrance.

"Fourth Junior Brother, they are yours."

"There are some capable fighters among this lot. Keep a dozen or so alive to host the Gu; we'll need them later to find Eldest Senior Brother."

As these words were spoken, the Gu insects on the stone walls multiplied several times over, forming a swarm.

Visible to the naked eye, a blue-black poisonous mist thickened from a thin haze, sealing the cave entrance in the blink of an eye.

The scene at the entrance changed drastically in an instant—swarming Gu, rolling toxic mist—all shifting in a mere moment, and this was solely due to the arrival of the three.

"Second Master was killed by a Gu Master!"

At this moment, the faces of all forty-seven men turned deathly pale. They had heard the words "host the Gu" from the newcomers clearly.

From within the rolling toxic mist, another figure darted into the cave.

The figure hung suspended in mid-air, moving rapidly on eight insect legs, darting past the three men in front.

"Squelch, squelch..."

The humanoid insect flashed by; six bandits were still dazed when their waists were sliced open by the insect legs, carving a bloody path.

Following closely behind were two young men—one wrapped in dense green vines, the other as burly as an Ape Spirit from the mountains—both swept past.

The remaining forty-one bandits stared blankly at the six corpses on the ground, realizing that the three men's target was not them; they were merely passing through.

They turned their heads with great difficulty to face the lone youth left behind.

"It's just him alone. Kill this brat!"

The youth here was naturally Liu Feng. He watched the bandits charging toward him in a desperate struggle, his Mind Eye Technique unfolding, causing every figure in his line of sight to slow down.

"Keeping fourteen alive to host the Gu will suffice."

The Gu swarm descended like a black net, and Liu Feng grabbed the Split-Tooth greatsword from his back, his expression devoid of emotion.

Deep within the winding tunnels, two men and one Medicine Slave arrived in a stone cave.

As Shen Yushu and Zhu Li reached this spot, both pairs of eyes focused on a small pool beneath the cave wall.

The blood-medicine inside was like mud, with wisps of blood mist permeating the air.

At this moment, an elderly man with white hair revealed his upper body within the blood mist and slowly opened his eyes.

"It truly is a Corpse Refiner that has come into its own. Third Junior Brother, come and guide Li Si." Shen Yushu did not hesitate; as he spoke, his figure was submerged by a mass of green vines.

Zhu Li stepped back twice, clutching a Nightmare Gu Larva in his palm, while the Medicine Slave Li Si stood in front to block the way.

Their target was solely the white-haired old man; as for the Falcon Spirit Monster hanging on the cave wall, they ignored it entirely.

"A dignified Second Realm martial artist, reduced to such a state—neither human nor Gu. Truly pathetic."

Within the blood mist, the white-haired old man made no move to rise. His eyes, glowing with a bloody sheen, stared at the two juniors.

His gaze shifted, first landing on Shen Yushu, who was submerged deep within the green vines.

He didn't need to look long; based on his own senses as a Corpse Refiner, he knew clearly that the Second Master's internal organs had been gouged out by this junior's vine-wood essence.

As for the blood crystals accumulated in the Second Master's body over the years... thinking of this, the white-haired old man looked toward the burly figure that resembled a humanoid spirit.

"Just two first-generation Gu Masters, truly ignorant of life and death."

"Years ago, before I became a corpse, I heard many rumors about Gu Masters. Scarcely one in ten survives, and they are all as greedy by nature as Gu insects. The rumors are indeed well-founded."

By the time he finished speaking, the white-haired old man's voice had turned icy. Had the Medicine Person not been blocking his path, he would have torn the two juniors into ten thousand pieces.

"We don't know life from death? What a boastful, shameless lie!"

Shen Yushu's cold sneer echoed from within the mass of twitching green vines. A vine coiled with two crimson Gu insects shot out, instantly forcing the insects into the mouth of the Medicine Slave, Li Si.

"A fine gift my master gave me before I departed; I shall use you to test its power."

Accompanied by Shen Yushu's excited laughter, the already terrifying appearance of the Medicine Slave, Li Si, became even more grotesque.

After those two crimson Gu insects entered his body, his dazed eyes became bloodshot, crawling with crimson veins.

The insect carapace on his back popped open its two wings to shield his chest, as if he were donning a suit of black insect armor, while eight spear-like insect legs sprouted from his back.

"Go." At this moment, Zhu Li pinched the Nightmare Gu Larva and gave it a slight push forward.

Li Si, as if sleepwalking and knowing nothing of fear, vanished from in front of Zhu Li on the spot.

The instant he flashed out, Li Si struck with a palm in mid-air, pressing down toward the white-haired old man in the blood pool.

The white-haired old man's expression was cold and stern; he braced one hand against the edge of the blood pool and struck upward with the other.

With a "Bang," a wave of air exploded above the blood pool.

Immediately following, that white-haired figure swept out from the blood pool, clashing with the insect-legged Li Si in the blink of an eye.

As the two figures crossed, the sound of refined iron striking iron rang out through the stone cavern with every collision of their fists and feet.

Shen Yushu was not about to sit idle, using the massive amount of vitality he had just obtained to urge more vine branches to sprout.

The dense, tangled green vines were like a swarm of scattered snakes, crazily occupying the interior space of the stone cavern, seemingly intent on forging a cage to let the Medicine Person and that Corpse Refiner slaughter each other.

On the cavern wall, the Falcon Spirit Monster saw that the green vines were about to completely seal off the exit of the Stone Chamber, so it spread its wings and dove out.

Zhu Li, who was pinching the Nightmare Gu Larva, saw this and exerted force through his feet, preparing to leap into the air.

"No need to mind it; it cannot escape death." Shen Yushu sneered as he continued to urge the growth of the vines, paying no heed to the Falcon Spirit Monster that had seized the gap to fly out.

The green vines within the Stone Chamber grew more and more numerous; looking in from outside the Stone Chamber, it was difficult to see the scene within.

In the passageway, the Falcon Spirit Monster flapped its wings in a panic, moving through the winding tunnel with a heart full of terror.

Before long, firelight shone ahead.

Just as it thought it might escape alive, the sight under the firelight plunged it into fear once more: a young figure was blocking the way.