Yin Corpse

Chapter 35: Yin Corpse

It was said that a great battle had once taken place in the Demon Prison, claiming countless cultivators' lives. On top of that, many Myriad Demon Sect disciples had later perished there. After their bodies were steeped in Yin energy for years on end, faint wisps of consciousness would eventually emerge from their lingering souls, allowing them to cultivate into ghostly creatures.

This time, twelve ghostly creatures had appeared. Eight of them hovered around the Early Xiantian Realm, while the remaining four were at the Peak Houtian Realm.

Perhaps because they were ghostly creatures, the Death Energy in their bodies was far more concentrated than in ordinary living beings. Every Xiantian Realm ghostly creature that died brought Chen Lin more than 230 points of Death Energy, while each of the four at the Peak Houtian Realm gave him over 50 points.

This wave alone brought Chen Lin a massive haul of 3,261 points of Death Energy.

Added to the three previous waves of ghostly creatures, in less than two hours, Chen Lin's Death Energy points—which had been running low after he corrected his cultivation technique—were replenished. In fact, they reached an unprecedented high: 8,937 points of Death Energy!

And whenever a ghostly creature died, he would painstakingly condense its lingering soul and rapidly cultivate the Soul-Devouring Soul-Refining Scripture. But this practice clearly wasted a great deal of time, earning him displeased looks and even complaints from the other three.

As long as you still need me, what do I care if you're unhappy?

Chen Lin rolled his eyes inwardly, ignored their displeasure, and continued condensing lingering souls as he pleased.

As he felt the Death Energy points inside him rising at a breakneck pace, Chen Lin kept his expression unchanged, though inwardly he was overjoyed. At this rate, even if he failed to complete the main quest, he could still gather 3,000 Death Energy points to erase the penalty for failure. At least his life would be secure.

But that hope was soon dashed. After killing two more waves of ghostly creatures, they finally reached the location of their mission target.

They had arrived at a place with a gloomy mountain cave, surrounded by uneven hills. Taking cover behind a hill nearly a hundred meters from the cave, they quickly discussed their plan.

"According to the disciple, the spirit herb grows in the deepest part of the cave. Three Yin Corpses wander inside, so sneaking around them to steal the herb is clearly impossible. We can only kill them to obtain the herb and complete the mission." Situ Kong sighed helplessly.

Chen Lin's gaze flickered. "By the way, Brother Situ, I still don't know what spirit herb we need for this mission."

"It's a spirit herb called Shadow Moon Poison Leaf. It's nourished by the corpse fluids of Yin Corpses and grows only in places steeped in Yin energy. It flowers and ripens once every thirty years. Presumably, some elder in the sect who cultivates sinister immortal arts needs it, which is why the mission was posted."

"Then, since the reward is such a precious pill as the Sea-Breaking Pill, why didn't any highly skilled personal disciple take the mission? How did it end up falling to us?" Chen Lin nodded, then asked.

"The Sea-Breaking Pill holds no appeal for the sect's personal disciples. When they break through to the Sea-Opening Realm, the sect gives them one. And a Sea-Breaking Pill only works the first time it's taken. Taking more won't have any effect. So naturally, a mission like this is left to registered disciples."

Han Shuitong gave a soft laugh beside them and answered for him.

Chen Lin nodded, understanding dawning on his face.

"Enough talk. Let's replenish the spiritual energy we spent in the earlier battles. We'll make our move in an hour."

With that, Situ Kong patted the Storage Bag at his waist and took out four talismans. A flash of pain crossed his eyes as he kept one for himself and handed the others to Chen Lin and the remaining two.

Chen Lin accepted the talisman, puzzled. He didn't know what it was for.

"This is a mid-grade spirit talisman, a Qi-Concealing Talisman. It can hide the blood energy on our bodies for an hour." Situ Kong glanced at Chen Lin and explained, "Since this is your first time in the Demon Prison, you might not know that the ghostly creatures here are extremely sensitive to beings with vigorous blood and qi. With this hour, we can safely restore our spiritual energy."

Chen Lin nodded. Seeing the other three activate their talismans and confirming there was nothing wrong with them, he finally activated his as well. He immediately felt the aura around him weaken considerably. Situ Kong and the others were still beside him, but their auras had grown faint and elusive, too.

As the other three sat cross-legged with their eyes closed, holding Spirit Stones and rapidly replenishing their spiritual energy, Chen Lin's gaze flickered.

In the battles just now, he had fought the ghostly creatures using only his physical strength. On top of that, he cultivated the Mysterious Ancient Scripture, Dao Heaven, and the spiritual energy in his body was exceptionally pure. His energy expenditure had been negligible, so there was no need for him to recover. But he naturally gave nothing away. He simply closed his eyes as well and settled into silence.

An hour later, everyone opened their eyes. Their gazes gleamed, and they had clearly returned to peak condition.

Situ Kong glanced at the group and said gravely, "It looks like everyone has recovered. Let's complete the mission as quickly as possible. Anything can happen in the Demon Prison, and the sooner we finish, the safer we'll be."

Everyone nodded. Naturally, no one objected.

"Brother Chen, of the three Yin Corpses, the strongest one—the Yin Corpse at the Sea-Opening Realm—has tremendous physical strength. You'll have to hold it off for now while Daoist Liu, Daoist Han, and I deal with the other two. Then we'll help you kill it together. Do you have any objections?"

As he spoke, Situ Kong's expression turned solemn.

Chen Lin sighed inwardly. Fighting a Yin Corpse at the Sea-Opening Realm alone was naturally extremely dangerous, but for the sake of the main quest, he could only grit his teeth and go for it.

"I can do that. But if I can't handle it, I'll have to put staying alive first."

Chen Lin nodded and replied expressionlessly. His thinking was simple: if he couldn't beat it, he wouldn't risk his life. At worst, he could spend some time killing more ghostly creatures and gather enough Death Energy points to save himself.

"Of course." Situ Kong nodded, then turned to Liu Han. "Daoist Liu, you can give Brother Chen the Immortal-Descending Formation Flags you borrowed from Senior Brother Nie. That should buy us plenty of time."

"Hmph!" Liu Han gave a cold snort and reluctantly patted his Storage Bag, taking out four flag-shaped Dharma Artifacts and handing them to Chen Lin. He said coldly, "These Immortal-Descending Formation Flags are no ordinary treasure. They can briefly seal off the spiritual energy in the surrounding area and form a wondrous formation, keeping the Yin Corpse at the Sea-Opening Realm from flying so it can only fight you on the ground."

Then, as though he'd just remembered something, Liu Han gave Chen Lin a sinister smile and threatened him. "These formation flags are top-grade Dharma Artifacts, incredibly precious. I borrowed them temporarily from Senior Brother Nie Wuyuan, a personal disciple of the Blood Hand Lineage. I advise you to use them carefully. If you damage them... heh, even a few more lives wouldn't be enough to sate Senior Brother Nie's fury!"

Since they were top-grade Dharma Artifacts meant to save his life, Chen Lin naturally wouldn't refuse. Ignoring Liu Han's threat, he accepted the flags with a chuckle and said nothing. I've still got five flying swords, all top-grade Dharma Artifacts. If I showed them off, wouldn't they blind your titanium-alloy eyes?

After several more quick rounds of discussion, they reached a decision, rose to their feet, and swiftly crept toward the nearby cave.

"Awrooo!"

"Roar!!"

When they were less than thirty meters from the cave, the Yin Corpses inside seemed to sense something. A series of eerie, furious roars rang out from within, followed by the heavy, chaotic sound of footsteps.

Under the hazy starlight, three indistinct figures of different shapes darted out of the cave.

Chen Lin's expression tightened as he looked closely.

Two of them were tall Yin Corpses resembling ferocious beasts. One looked like a tiger-lion, while the other resembled a giant ape. They were clearly transformed from the corpses of Demon Race members who had died here. Their auras were terrifyingly sinister, and both had reached the Peak Xiantian Realm!

Chen Lin only glanced at them before fixing all his attention on the seemingly weakest and most unremarkable Yin Corpse in the middle.

It was a withered Yin Corpse, barely five feet tall. Its body was so shriveled it seemed to contain not a drop of moisture, its skin clinging tightly to its bones. It looked particularly horrifying.

His face was badly twisted, and foul yellow pus streamed down it. Blue veins, like a nest of stinking worms, lay coiled across his face. His lips had rotted away, mingling with unidentifiable scraps of flesh and disgusting, sticky fluid.