The old man from the Yinshan Sect glared resentfully in the direction Bai Yi had fled. A Sword Cultivator at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, even if he had some talent, would be easy for them to crush once they had a free hand.
The Dao Seal in his hand shifted again and again. Black mist surged behind the old man from the Yinshan Sect, gathering into a black cocoon that wrapped around the White-Haired Stiff Corpse.
Amid its howls, the White-Haired Stiff Corpse was slowly refined into blood by the black mist. Then, merging with the mist, it surged back into the old man from the Yinshan Sect's body.
Roar!
The whites of the old man from the Yinshan Sect's eyes gradually turned pitch-black. Four spike-like fangs thrust out through his flesh, his body swelled, and strands of white hair sprouted from his pores.
His formerly hunched frame became exceptionally burly in an instant. Yin Qi erupted ceaselessly from within him, and he charged at the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains like an iron block wrapped in Yin Qi.
The Corpse Refining Blood Transformation Great Art required feeding a Yin Corpse one's own Essence Blood for more than a decade, causing its bloodline to change and become one's own.
This allowed one to seize the Yin Corpse's bloodline and refine oneself into a half-human, half-corpse. Once the technique began to operate, there was no turning back.
Seeing the old man from the Yinshan Sect reveal his final means, the old man from the Blood Demon Sect hardened his resolve. He plunged the Demonic Artifact in his hand deep into his own abdomen. Strange Demonic Runes appeared, and the blood pouring from his wound seemed to have a mind of its own as it enveloped him.
As the blood churned, howling Living Souls circled around him, swarming toward the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains.
It seemed the dense demonic aura had stirred the consciousness lingering in the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains' body. A trace of faint, indistinct hatred flashed in its pitch-black eyes.
When he urged his Yin Qi, the White Bone Artifact in his hand strangely floated into the air, several strands of pitch-black Sword Qi coiling around it.
"Slash!"
A hoarse, unpleasant voice leapt from the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains' throat. The White Bone Artifact flew through the air, cleaving apart the Ghost Shadows filling the sky. Under the astonished gaze of the old man from the Yinshan Sect, it slashed at the Corpse Qi claw he had condensed.
With a ripping sound...
The Corpse Qi claw was severed. In his panic, the old man from the Yinshan Sect's body began to crack. He desperately spat out a stream of Origin Corpse Qi to block the White Bone Artifact.
He immediately leapt away to evade the attacks that followed. Relying on his powerful half-human, half-corpse body, he dodged back and forth, baiting the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains into unconsciously unleashing its Sword Art.
Taking advantage of this, the old man from the Blood Demon Sect transformed into Ghost Shadows and split into several figures. One after another, blood shadows encircled the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains. Whenever it was caught off guard, a blood shadow solidified and tore at its rotting flesh with a vicious claw.
Then he seized the flesh and cast a series of spells. The White Bone Mirror immediately spun into the air and came to rest above the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains.
The crimson mirror light enveloped the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains. Wherever the blood-colored light shone, its flesh melted rapidly like snow beneath the sun.
"Hmph, my Blood-Melting Soul-Burning Art has pinned you down. Unless you rise from the dead, don't even think of breaking free."
Seeing that his Magic Art had succeeded, the old man from the Blood Demon Sect gritted his teeth as he spoke. Like Old Man Li's Corpse Refining Blood Transformation Great Art, this Blood-Melting Soul-Burning Method used one's own blood as lamp oil, igniting it to refine the enemy into blood.
Once successful, he could devour the resulting blood to replenish himself and reduce his losses.
But even if he refined the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains into blood, he wouldn't dare absorb it into his own body. After using this technique, he would likely have to recuperate for several years, and devour the Essence Blood of many cultivators, before he could replenish himself.
"First, I'll deal with that Sword Cultivator ant!"
The old man from the Blood Demon Sect thought bitterly. Beneath the blood-colored mirror light, the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains roared frantically, and the White Bone Artifact fell along with it.
With his hands free, the old man from the Yinshan Sect also joined the attack, repeatedly blocking the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains as it tried to break out of the mirror light.
As the flesh of the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains continued to dissolve under the Blood-Melting Soul-Burning Method, the two old devils finally breathed a sigh of relief. At this rate, it would take less than half a quarter-hour to refine the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains completely into blood.
Just as the two old devils relaxed, a sword cry suddenly rang out from the entrance to the cave abode.
In the dimly lit mansion, a phantom sword blade took shape from a streak of Sword Light, surrounded by a dazzling sword rainbow. As Dao Resonance patterns moved with Clearwind, the Sword Light—
Sword Light slashed viciously at the White Bone Mirror above the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains' head, beneath the two old devils' faces, twisted to the utmost with fear and fury.
With a bang.
A barrier of bloodlight rose around the White Bone Mirror and clashed with the Sword Light, then knocked it away.
"Slash again!"
With a low cry, the Heart-Questioning Sword, knocked away, gathered Sword Light once more. Sword Qi compressed into a rainbow, and two strands of Dao Resonance intertwined to form a phantom sword blade. It circled once, then slashed again at the barrier of bloodlight around the White Bone Mirror.
Crack...
The White Bone Mirror was already suppressing the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains without any outside help. Faced with two Sword Lights condensed to such a degree, its blood-colored barrier trembled, then shattered.
The Sword Light surged straight through, slashing directly at the White Bone Mirror's smooth, polished surface, fashioned from a skull.
"No!"
"I'll kill you!"
The old man from the Blood Demon Sect's face turned pale, and he suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood. The blood shadows around him vanished rapidly, and his aura weakened to the extreme.
Outside the mansion
Feeling the old man from the Blood Demon Sect's aura weaken, Bai Yi clenched his hand tightly, a hint of delight appearing between his brows.
Earlier, after sensing the Sword Mark on the wall, he had guessed that even if a Sword Cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Realm had been refined into a corpse, two old devils at the Qi Refining Eighth Layer wouldn't be able to suppress it easily.
So, after enduring the force of the old man from the Blood Demon Sect's claw, he had concealed himself outside the mansion, holding his breath while he treated his injuries and waited for an opportunity.
Later, when the two old devils brought out their ultimate techniques, he knew his chance had come.
Once the two old devils had no strength left to continue, he would unleash both Sword Arts to their limits and, with the boost of Swordlight Transforms into a Rainbow, shatter the old man from the Blood Demon Sect's final means in a single strike.
"Today, it's still anyone's guess who'll die."
Bai Yi's gaze was icy. The Heart-Questioning Sword's Sword Light turned into Rainbow Light and slashed toward the old man from the Blood Demon Sect, whose Spiritual Power was dissipating.
Facing the Sword Light coming straight at him, the old man from the Blood Demon Sect forced down his turbulent Spiritual Power. His bloodlight transformed into a skeleton that met the attack without the slightest fear.
"Arrogant ant! Just because you blocked my hurried claw, you think you can shake a mountain?"
"Today, I'll show you what it means to be strong!"
The old man from the Blood Demon Sect gritted his teeth and sneered. If he hadn't been careless earlier, that claw would have slapped the ant to death.
The instant the bloodlight skeleton met the Sword Light, the Heart-Questioning Sword's rainbow exploded, transforming into hundreds of torrents of Sword Qi that stabbed fiercely at the skeleton's surface.
They were locked in a stalemate for only a moment. Against the White Bone Soul-Extraction Art cast by the old man from the Blood Demon Sect at less than a tenth of his strength, the Sword Light smashed the bloodlight skeleton. Under the old man from the Blood Demon Sect's disbelieving, horrified gaze, it slashed down.
"Old Man Li, save me!"
Hearing the old man from the Blood Demon Sect cry for help, the old man from the Yinshan Sect, who was being firmly suppressed by the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains, took a sword strike on his back. He leapt dozens of meters and, his bluish-purple palm covered in corpse spots and mixed with Yin Qi, struck the edge of the Heart-Questioning Sword.
With a muffled thud, Bai Yi's face flushed red and he spat out a mouthful of blood. He hurriedly controlled the scattered Heart-Questioning Sword and sent it wobbling back to him.
"So this is the Qi Refining Eighth Layer. Even when he's nearly spent, he can still scatter my Sword Light with a single palm strike."
Bai Yi marveled inwardly. Little did he know that the two old devils inside were even more shaken.
The gap between the Qi Refining Fifth Layer and the Qi Refining Eighth Layer was more than several times over. Yet this unknown Sword Cultivator had endured two attacks from them without dying.
His refined Sword Light had even shattered and broken through the old man Blood's White Bone Soul-Extraction Art. If Old Man Li hadn't taken a strike from the Foundation Establishment Corpse Remains, that sword would likely have taken the old man Blood's life just now.