Plans of the Three Clans

"Old Daoist Qi, I paid a hefty price to hire your Five Ghosts of Yin Mountain, so don't you dare slack off."

Among the Sea Wheel Realm warriors, Wei Guangming stared at the ragged old Daoist beside him with an unfriendly look.

Old Daoist Qi smiled, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. "Though the Five Ghosts of Yin Mountain don't have the best reputation, we still have to keep our word when making a living in the martial world.

Don't worry. With me taking action this time, I guarantee you'll seize more spirit pills than anyone else here.

Speaking of which, Sect Master Wei, you've really struck it rich this time. Before, I only vaguely heard from those local informants that one of the Three Demon-Sealing Clans was seeking a marriage alliance.

I never expected the one seeking marriage to be such a gorgeous clan head. Tsk, tsk. If this old Daoist weren't uninterested in women, even I'd be tempted."

Wei Guangming shot him a sidelong glance. "Even if you were tempted, could that thing of yours still work?

They're looking for a husband who can produce heirs, not a chopstick.

Besides, I'm doing this for the future of the Iron Garb Sect, not for women.

Cut the nonsense. You've taken more than a decade's worth of the Iron Garb Sect's savings. If this fails, you know the consequences."

Most of the martial artists present had only learned today that the Bai Family was seeking a marriage alliance, but Wei Guangming had long ago received some information from local informants.

However, he had not known then that the one seeking marriage was actually the clan head. He had only known that the dowry included the Bai Family's cultivation method.

The Iron Garb Sect's Iron Chain Across the River Method had too many limitations. For a hard-body technique, reaching Wei Guangming's level was essentially the limit.

If he had another cultivation method to complement it, Wei Guangming was confident he could raise the Iron Garb Sect to another level.

Thus, he had used nearly half of the Iron Garb Sect's savings to hire the Five Ghosts of Yin Mountain, five expert independent cultivators, to help him compete for spirit pills. It was all so he could successfully marry into the Bai Family and obtain their cultivation method.

Now that he had seen Bai Xuewei's appearance, it was an unexpected bonus.

"Oh, right. Tell your four brothers to remember those two. Find an opportunity to kill them inside Demon-Sealing Valley.

Don't act too early. Wait until they've gathered plenty of spirit pills, then kill them. That way, you can seize even more pills."

Wei Guangming looked toward Chen Yuan and Luo Shisanlang, unconsciously revealing a trace of killing intent.

Among the Five Ghosts of Yin Mountain, the eldest, Phantom Yin Adept Daoist Qi, was in the Sea Wheel Realm and would travel with him.

The other four were all in the Qi Forging Realm, making it likely that they would run into Chen Yuan and the others.

Having them deal with Chen Yuan and Luo Shisanlang would kill two birds with one stone. He could avenge himself while also seizing more spirit pills.

"Don't worry. They're just two country bumpkins from Yanzhou. When the time comes, we'll let them taste the methods of the Five Ghosts of Yin Mountain."

Old Daoist Qi gave a sinister chuckle, exposing two rows of large yellow teeth.

Then he took out a skull and tapped it, sending out an invisible sound wave that carried a message to his four brothers.

Wei Guangming nodded. He gave the Iron Garb Sect's warriors the same instructions.

There was no need to rush into killing anyone. They would wait until their opponents had seized enough spirit pills before acting.

Success or failure depended on this one move. If he could marry into the Bai Family and obtain their cultivation method, the Iron Garb Sect's strength would surely soar.

By then, in the ancestral hall of the Iron Garb Sect, the name Wei Guangming might even be displayed above that of the sect's founding patriarch!

After everyone had entered the passageway, Zhao Xuanxin and the other two stepped forward, activated Demon-Sealing Valley's formation, and closed the entrance.

"Do you think this group can make it to the deepest part?"

Xie Tianyun suddenly asked.

"There shouldn't be a problem. There are several times more people at this Demon-Sealing Conference than usual, and we've even put our junior sister forward. They'll work even harder to kill Corpse Monsters and push toward the deepest area."

A mocking smile appeared on Zhao Xuanxin's lips. "That Wei Guangming from the Iron Garb Sect has even brought out the savings his sect accumulated over more than a decade. That shows just how attractive you are, Junior Sister. But a fool like Wei Guangming should take a look at himself. Is he even worthy of one of your toes?"

Bai Xuewei chuckled softly. "Senior Brother, don't speak of him that way. The information we released never mentioned me. He came for the cultivation method."

After saying that, Bai Xuewei looked at the two of them, her expression solemn. "Senior Brothers, there is no turning back once the arrow has left the bow. Since we have already committed the act of betraying our master and ancestors, we must see it through to the end! This is our only chance, and our final chance."

The two men also nodded solemnly, then turned and entered the upper region of Demon-Sealing Valley as well.

In an instant, the formation above Demon-Sealing Valley activated, and gray mist engulfed the entire valley.

Inside Demon-Sealing Valley, Chen Yuan and Luo Shisanlang had walked along the central passage for half an hour before they finally saw some light ahead.

Of the more than one thousand martial artists present, Blood-Shifting Realm warriors naturally made up the largest group, numbering over seven hundred.

There were also quite a few Qi Forging Realm warriors, around two hundred.

The remaining several dozen were all Sea Wheel Realm experts.

After opening the Sea of Wheels, true qi circulated endlessly within the dantian. Their endurance was more than ten times that of Qi Forging Realm warriors, and several dozen people were enough to sweep through a large area.

After leaving the passageway, Chen Yuan saw a desolate land shrouded in gray mist.

The earth was withered yellow, dry and hardened into clumps. Some places were still stained with broad patches of dark red blood.

Occasionally, broken weapon fragments lay scattered across the ground. Some did not appear particularly old, while others had ancient designs vastly different from the weapons used in the martial world today.

Many of the martial artists present were not attending the Demon-Sealing Conference for the first time.

The moment they left the passageway, they immediately vanished into the mist.

Chen Yuan and Luo Shisanlang also entered the fog. The moment he stepped inside, Luo Shisanlang covered his nose and said, "What's that smell?"

"This place was originally an ancient battlefield. Because of the demonic creatures, the entire battlefield was turned up to the surface.

The stench of things rotting and fermenting for thousands of years naturally won't smell pleasant."

Chen Yuan scanned his surroundings as he walked.

Visibility in the mist was only a few meters. Most of the time, they had to rely on their senses.

Just then, two roars suddenly rang out.

From Chen Yuan and Luo Shisanlang's left and right came sounds like the growls of wild beasts.

The next moment, two humanoid monsters darted out at incredible speed and lunged at them, snapping and biting.

The two humanoid monsters wore tattered armor and looked like dried corpses. The flesh on their bodies had not decayed but had instead turned into black, knotted strips of dried meat.

Their faces were hideously warped, barely retaining any human form. Their mouths split almost to the backs of their ears, packed with sharp fangs and teeth.

Luo Shisanlang was startled by the sight.

He had been through countless battles and had even witnessed bloodier scenes on the battlefield.

But Corpse Monsters were clearly beyond his imagination.

Still, Luo Shisanlang reacted quickly. His Mystic Flood Dragon Spear shot out, piercing straight through the creature's chest.

Yet the Corpse Monster seemed unaffected. Even with a huge hole punched through its chest, it continued to bite wildly at Luo Shisanlang.

"Smash its head and dig out the spirit pill from its dantian."

Chen Yuan slashed down with his blade, tearing the Corpse Monster's head apart.

Then he twisted the tip of his blade and dug a pitch-black pill from the Corpse Monster's dantian.

Luo Shisanlang pulled out his Mystic Flood Dragon Spear and brought it down with a crushing blow. Its head and nearly half its body were smashed into pulp.

Yet the Corpse Monster continued to writhe on the ground. Only after Luo Shisanlang took out a dagger and dug the pill from its dantian did it finally stop moving.

"So this is a Corpse Monster? It's ugly as hell."

Luo Shisanlang curled his lip.

"That's because you haven't seen anything uglier."

Chen Yuan said, "The Corpse-Driving Sect, a major unorthodox sect in Tanzhou, specializes in refining all sorts of corpses. They even stitch different corpses together, creating things so evil they're hard to describe.

The Corpse-Driving Sect was originally the Corpse Demon Cult, a monstrous demonic force. They were even more insane. They dug up the ancestral graves of countless sects and families, used their ancestors' bodies to refine corpses, and eventually provoked public outrage and were wiped out."

"That really was asking for death."

Luo Shisanlang clicked his tongue in amazement.

At the same time, Luo Shisanlang felt that Chen Yuan knew an awful lot.

He knew how to kill Corpse Monsters, and he even knew about the Corpse-Driving Sect and the Corpse Demon Cult.

Tanzhou was in the south, and he had never even heard of those forces.

But Luo Shisanlang was simple-minded and had never liked thinking too much.

After spending this time together, he had subconsciously decided that Brother Chen was simply that knowledgeable. Chen Yuan was smart, so of course he knew such things.

"So this is the spirit pill? The demonic qi is pretty heavy."

Luo Shisanlang examined the black pill in his hand and frowned slightly.

Non-demonic martial artists could not refine something with such extreme properties. Even most demonic martial artists could not directly refine it.

That was because the pill contained not only demonic qi, but also corpse qi.

"That's why you need to purify it with inner force. Only after removing the demonic qi can you refine it."

Luo Shisanlang curled his lip. "Then what's the point? Judging by its spiritual energy, it's only at the level of a low-grade pill. You still have to spend time and effort purifying its demonic qi. Isn't that exhausting?"

Low-grade pills could be refined by ordinary alchemists. Although they required quite a few medicinal ingredients, none were particularly rare.

The Nine-Turn Nourishing Origin Pill from Medicine King Valley that Chen Yuan had refined before, on the other hand, was a high-grade pill and could not be mass-produced.

"You come from the Day-Changing Alliance. You can conquer a city and obtain endless pill resources, so naturally you think this stuff is nothing.

But for small sects, small families, and independent martial artists like me, these are treasures.

A sect at the level of the Iron Garb Sect can't even afford to support an alchemist. They can't refine even low-grade pills."

Chen Yuan did not mind these spirit pills filled with demonic qi.

He could purify them with inner force while cultivating. Though it was troublesome, constantly expending and recovering inner force also counted as cultivation.

Besides, small gains added up. If he refined a hundred spirit pills at once, the effect would still be considerable.

"Then let's kill more of these Corpse Monsters. All the spirit pills will go to you, Brother Chen."

Hearing that Chen Yuan was interested in the things, Luo Shisanlang immediately became enthusiastic and began venturing deeper into the mist to kill Corpse Monsters.

The advantage of these Corpse Monsters lay in their hard bodies and their lack of fear toward true qi. Their heads had to be smashed apart and their spirit pills removed before they could die.

Normally, in a one-on-one fight, even a Blood-Shifting Realm martial artist would not find it too difficult to kill one.

But if a group of Corpse Monsters rushed out at once, things became troublesome.

If one was not careful, even a Qi Forging Realm warrior could be overwhelmed to death.

Thus, the biggest difference between the three areas of Demon-Sealing Valley was the number of Corpse Monsters.

However, with Chen Yuan and Luo Shisanlang working together, they feared no number of Corpse Monsters.

Chen Yuan's Azure Dragon Blooddrinker and Luo Shisanlang's Mystic Flood Dragon Spear were both top-grade Mystic Weapons. They could easily tear through the Corpse Monsters' hard bones and flesh.