Desire Corpse?

Xiao Li and the others were on their way. In the time they had spent running since leaving town, they had already covered nearly a hundred li.

"We can reach Flowing Light Prefecture Academy today. Let's rest in the town there tonight and head out to explore tomorrow."

Of the several prefecture academies in the East River Realm, Flowing Light Prefecture Academy was the closest to native territory.

Most who came out to temper themselves stopped there to rest and recuperate.

"We really need to be more careful this time. Last time, we ran into an eighth-grade cultivator from the other side before we'd even killed a few. It was far too dangerous."

Hearing this, Li Yunshu could not help complaining to Xiao Li.

"Hahaha, what's there to fear? How could those natives compare to us?

"Even if we encounter one of their eighth-grade cultivators, the four of us might not be able to win, but escaping definitely won't be a problem."

Xiao Li chatted animatedly with his dao companion beside him, paying no attention to Xiao Sheng and Li Shun behind them.

The two exchanged glances, seemingly also feeling that they were far enough from town.

After nodding to each other in confirmation, Li Shun suddenly took something out of his Storage Law Artifact.

Activating it with Law Power, he hurled it at Xiao Li.

Though Xiao Li was chatting, he had remained alert, being out in the wilderness.

The instant Li Shun activated his Law Power, he reacted.

He cast a spell to knock the incoming object away, then glared at Li Shun.

"Li Shun, what are you doing?!"

Li Yunshu reacted as well, immediately moving closer to Xiao Li while demanding an explanation.

Meanwhile, Xiao Sheng seemed startled by Li Shun's actions too. He turned his Spirit Beast around, avoiding Li Shun as he approached Xiao Li and Li Yunshu.

Both were focused entirely on the treacherous Li Shun. How could they have been on guard against Xiao Li's own younger clansman?

Li Shun chuckled.

"What am I doing? You'll find out soon enough."

As he spoke, his eyes roamed brazenly over Li Yunshu beside Xiao Li, looking her up and down without stopping.

Under that openly lecherous gaze, Li Yunshu trembled all over with rage.

She had always been proud and haughty. How could she tolerate such insolence from Li Shun, someone she considered a nobody?

Just as she was about to activate her Talisman Paper and attack Li Shun, Xiao Sheng, who had drawn close behind them, finally struck.

Two spirit talismans struck them in quick succession.

Xiao Li and Li Yunshu shuddered, then looked back at Xiao Sheng in disbelief.

Whatever these spirit talismans were, neither could muster even a trace of the Law Power in their bodies.

Their normally powerful bodies had also become limp and weak.

Wearing a smug smile, Xiao Sheng cast out two Beast-Taming Ropes, binding their Spirit Beasts.

By then, Xiao Li and Li Yunshu had already fallen to the ground.

They had not a scrap of strength left, and could not even speak. They could only question him with their eyes.

Li Shun approached and clapped his hands smugly at the sight of them.

"Don't look at me like that, Fellow Daoist Xiao. What I'm doing today is actually bringing the two of you a fortunate opportunity."

"To tell you the truth, an important person has taken a liking to you both. He intends to take you in so you can enjoy a life of comfort under him."

Xiao Li ignored him, looking only at Xiao Sheng.

Under his unrelenting stare, Xiao Sheng initially felt somewhat guilty. Then he raised his head and viciously kicked Xiao Li's powerless body.

"Stare! What are you staring at?! You get the lion's share of the clan's resources! Why?!

"You'd rather give them to Li Yunshu, someone with another surname, than to me! Then don't blame me for being ruthless!"

"Enough, enough. The High Person still needs them. We won't be able to answer for it if you damage them."

Li Shun raised a hand to stop Xiao Sheng's beating.

Yet a look of regret appeared on his face as he turned toward Li Yunshu, whose face was covered in tears.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. What a pity. High Person Yushi asked for the two of you by name, so I won't have the good fortune to enjoy you today."

He crouched and brought his face close to Li Yunshu's until their noses touched.

"But I can still indulge my hands a little. Hahahaha."

Powerless, Li Yunshu felt those large hands squeezing her body hard and closed her eyes in despair.

Beside her, Xiao Li's eyes nearly split with rage. He wished he could tear Li Shun into ten thousand pieces.

"Stop wasting your strength. The ink on these talismans was made with Mana-Devouring Gu venom. Even someone in the upper ninth-rank realm wouldn't be able to move, much less you."

As Xiao Sheng mocked him, he actually began walking toward Li Yunshu as well.

Just as he was about to join in, Li Shun, whose face had been full of rapture, suddenly stiffened.

His hands stopped moving. Then he toppled rigidly onto the ground and began convulsing, clutching his head.

As he convulsed, he let out agonized screams warped by pain.

"What is this? The Curse-Subduing Technique?! Who did you offend?"

Seeing this, Xiao Sheng did not approach Li Shun. Instead, he retreated several steps, scanning his surroundings warily.

Li Shun rolled across the ground, the veins on his head bulging as though about to burst. How could he possibly open his mouth to speak?

As Jiang Yan drove a Silver Needle into the second Straw Figure,

the veins on Li Shun's head bulged even more prominently. Then his entire head abruptly exploded!

His Clear Wind Horse Spirit Beast died just as he had, its head exploding.

Red and white matter splattered everywhere, mixed with a few stalks of straw from who knew where.

Lying nearby with nowhere to dodge, Xiao Li and Li Yunshu were coated evenly from head to toe.

Before they could recover from their despair, they saw Xiao Sheng stiffen as well.

Then the veins on his head bulged, exactly as Li Shun's had.

But the Xiao Household had some reserves, after all, and Xiao Sheng carried a safeguard against curse-subduing assassination.

A Ring on his finger glowed faintly, as though resisting something.

Elsewhere.

Jiang Yan looked at the Straw Figure before him, somewhat surprised.

As far as Jiang Yan knew, Xiao Li should have been the only one in this group of four to have broken through to the ninth-rank lower realm.

Xiao Sheng had yet to break through and possessed at most a single strand of Law Power, making him only slightly stronger than Li Shun. How was he still alive after two Straw Figures had been pierced?

Li Shun had died the moment the needle entered the second Straw Figure.

Watching the faintly trembling Straw Figure, Jiang Yan gritted his teeth, took out a Spirit Stone, crushed it, and sprinkled the powder over the figure.

Then Jiang Yan bit his finger and dripped his own blood onto it.

After absorbing Jiang Yan's blood, the red thread wound around the Straw Figure writhed and tightened further.

Even the straw touching the red thread seemed to become suffused with red.

Then Jiang Yan gathered all his remaining Law Power, poured every bit into the Silver Needle, and drove it viciously into the final Straw Figure!

One more needle. I refuse to believe you won't die this time!

The moment the Silver Needle pierced it, the Law Power within surged wildly.

The head of the Straw Figure bearing Xiao Sheng's portrait was instantly riddled with holes, and dark red liquid seeped out.

Seeing that the Straw Figure had stopped moving, Jiang Yan silently recited the talismanic script and learned the result through the Dao Art's feedback.

Xiao Sheng was dead. Only then did he nod in satisfaction and begin cleaning up.

Had his Law Power not been so abundant, he might have let the man escape this calamity.

He had killed them with curses from afar, so presumably Xiao Li would not know who had done it.

Even if Xiao Li wanted revenge, he would have no way to pursue it.

Even if he truly suspected Jiang Yan, it would merely take another needle when the time came.

Having thought it through, Jiang Yan felt he had overlooked nothing. Only then did he sit cross-legged on the bed and begin restoring his Law Power.

He was not overly excited about having killed Li Shun and Xiao Sheng with curses.

The one Jiang Yan feared most was still Desire Corpse Daoist, who was in the seventh-rank realm.

Back where Xiao Li was, Xiao Sheng had initially seemed on the verge of resisting the curse-subduing assassination.

The two of them had been frantic, wishing they could get up immediately to help.

Who could have known that, in the blink of an eye, more than a dozen holes would open in Xiao Sheng's head, sending him after that bastard Li Shun? His Spirit Beast collapsed as well.

In the wilderness, only Xiao Li and Li Yunshu remained lying on the ground, covered in filth.

Beside them were two tightly bound Spirit Beasts.

Farther away lay four corpses that had died gruesome deaths.

Fortunately, this place still belonged to Dao Realm territory. The Dao Army had swept through it many times, so there were no Demon Beasts or evil ghosts, nor did anyone pass by.

They lay there for over two hours before the effects of the Talisman Paper finally wore off.

After getting up and freeing their Spirit Beasts, the two looked at each other.