Slaying the Golden-Armored Baleful Corpse, Unlocking Divine Power: Rainbow Transformation

The puppet master wailed, tears and snot streaming down his face, yet she remained unmoved.

His gaze turned vicious, and he began shouting at the top of his lungs. "Doesn't your Demon Suppression Bureau have a Containment Faction?! Didn't you say capturing people alive counts toward merit?! If you slaughter us all, aren't you afraid of breaking the system's rules?!"

Meng Yao glanced down at him and sheathed her sword. "If backbone were any use, you wouldn't have hidden in the shadows controlling yin creatures to harm people. Rules are for people, not evil cultivators who eat people."

She took some wound medicine from her robes and hastily treated the black-blooded wound on her shoulder. Then she crushed a communication talisman and reported their location and the battle situation to Yan Tao.

The message had barely been sent when hurried footsteps sounded from the other end of the passage, perfectly matching the route Yan Tao had taken after receiving the urgent report.

"Meng Yao! Are you all right?!" Yan Tao rushed in first. Seeing the puppet ashes scattered across the ground and the puppet master collapsed there, his steps faltered. His gaze quickly landed on Xu Jin, and his expression grew complicated.

"I'm fine." Meng Yao shook her head. "Thanks to this brother here."

Wang Lei hurried to Xu Jin's side. Only after looking him over and seeing that he was completely unharmed did he let out a breath of relief.

Lin Yue, meanwhile, drew out talismans and began clearing the residual yin baleful poison from the passage.

"There's no time to waste." Xu Jin grabbed the half-dead puppet master by the back of his collar. "Midnight is almost here. Wang Defa is waiting beneath the altar to refine the Baleful Corpse."

Yan Tao's expression sharpened. "That's right. The main altar is the key. Brother Xu, lead the way. We'll follow your command."

Having witnessed his methods of killing Elder Ge and crippling the puppet master, no one could treat him as an ordinary trainee anymore.

The group said no more and headed deeper into the heart of the mountain.

The farther they went, the heavier the yin energy became.

No longer did broken stones and dirt lie beneath their feet, but layer upon layer of shattered armor and snapped swords. Poisonous insects glowing faintly crawled along the bases of the surrounding walls, scattering in every direction at the slightest movement.

This was the site of the central command tent from an ancient battlefield of the previous dynasty, as well as the core where the yin energy of the earth veins converged. Wang Defa had indeed picked the right place to refine a Baleful Corpse here.

At the very deepest point stood a narrow stone cave in the center of the mountain wall. Twisted formation patterns covered the stone walls on both sides of its entrance. They were the patterns of the Baleful Qi-Gathering Soul-Nurturing Formation, several times more intricate than those at the mass graveyard.

"The core formation eye is inside?" Yan Tao pressed a hand to his sword hilt, raising his astral energy to its peak. "Should we charge straight in?"

"What's the rush?" Xu Jin swept his gaze over the pitch-black entrance, a flicker of dark light flashing in his eyes.

Even with the Yin-Soul Eye operating at full force, he could see only several yards beyond the cave entrance. The depths were completely obscured by black Sha Qi. It was plainly an invitation for them to walk into the urn.

If they were ambushed in this cramped terrain, then even if he could escape, the formal demon slayers behind him might not be able to withstand it.

He lowered his gaze to the puppet master dangling from his hand, the corner of his mouth curving up.

Wasn't there a ready-made stone to test the path right here?

Before anyone could react, Xu Jin flicked his wrist and hurled the puppet master deep into the stone cave.

"Ah—!"

A shrill scream echoed out from the cave, only to cut off halfway through, as though something had forcibly strangled it.

Then came heavy footsteps from within the cave—thud, thud, thud—accompanied by the howls of yin soldiers. A stench of corpses and black Sha Qi, several times thicker than that outside the entrance, surged out from the depths.

Everyone's faces changed at once.

It was here.

Within the black Sha Qi, a towering figure slowly emerged.

Its entire body was covered in dark-gold armor plates, black corpse oil seeping from the gaps between them. A jet-black Baleful Gathering Crystal Core was embedded in the center of its chest, slowly turning as it continuously absorbed the surrounding yin energy.

Its eye sockets were hollow, with two balls of ghostly green fire dancing within. Black Sha Qi around its body had condensed into near substance. Merely standing there made it hard for people to breathe.

It was the Golden-Armored Baleful Corpse, on the verge of being fully refined.

"It's not midnight yet. It only lacks the final step," Meng Yao said softly, tightening her fingers around a talisman. "If it finishes refining, even a Grandmaster might not be able to take it down."

Before her words had faded, the Golden-Armored Baleful Corpse abruptly raised its head, its hollow eye sockets locking onto everyone at the cave entrance.

It threw a punch, and a fierce wind carrying black Sha Qi and corpse poison rushed toward them. Even the air gave off a sizzling sound of corrosion.

Xu Jin stepped forward, his crimson-gold sword light slashing head-on into the fist wind.

Clang—!

The sharp ring of metal striking metal made everyone's eardrums ache.

The sword light struck the armor plate on the Baleful Corpse's shoulder, leaving only a faint scorch mark. It had not even split the armor plate, while Xu Jin himself was jolted half a step back.

"Interesting." He raised a brow. Rather than fear, his eyes gleamed with excitement.

He had crushed everything in his path so far. At last, he had met something that could take a couple of hits.

"You all fall back and clear out any yin soldiers lurking nearby."

Xu Jin tossed out the order, and crimson-gold sword qi transformed into a fan-shaped curtain of blades several yards wide, sweeping across both sides of the stone cave.

Cleave Mount Hua!!!

More than a dozen yin soldiers hiding in the shadows had yet to pounce when the sword curtain swept over them, instantly reducing them to flying ash.

It struck the Baleful Corpse as well, forcing it back two steps.

Now!

Xu Jin spat out a lead pellet. It rolled into his palm and transformed into a tiny sword just over an inch long. Firelight flickered from its tip, like a snake flicking out its tongue.

With a point of his finger, the white light instantly flew to the Golden-Armored Baleful Corpse's side.

"Break for me!"

It circled the Golden-Armored Baleful Corpse once.

Crack—!

The Golden-Armored Baleful Corpse instantly froze in place. Its heavy upper body swayed, then crashed to the ground, kicking up dust.

The cave fell silent in an instant. Yan Tao and the other two stared blankly at the fallen Baleful Corpse, unable to recover for a long while.

That was a Golden-Armored Baleful Corpse!

Profound Yin Hall's trump card, plotted over half a year. Even if it had not been fully refined, it still possessed the combat power of a peak monstrous creature. An ordinary Intent-Comprehension Realm cultivator could not even break through its defenses.

Yet it had just... been cut in two by a streak of white light circling it once?

Wasn't that a little too absurd?

The few of them looked at one another, each seeing the same shock in the others' eyes.

This was no newcomer. He was clearly a monster.

Just as everyone stood stunned, the Compendium of Divine Powers within Xu Jin's sea of consciousness reacted.

[Golden-Armored Baleful Corpse slain. Obtained Demon Fragment ×36]

[Divine Power unlocked: Rainbow Transformation (Perfected)]

A profound and mysterious sensation flooded into his mind. It was as though he had been born knowing it; every secret of flight and escape techniques became instantly clear.

Though he had previously been able to fly on a sword, he had ultimately relied on the flying sword to support him. Turning and maneuvering were all limited by the sword itself, so it could not be considered a true escape technique.

Now that the divine power Rainbow Transformation had directly reached perfection, a thought was all it took for his body to turn into a rainbow and streak away. His four shortcomings—long-range attacks, close combat, scouting, and mobility—had now been completely filled.

As Xu Jin felt the wonders of Rainbow Transformation, the upturned corner of his mouth could not be pressed down.

This haul... this haul was a bloody steal.