It was clear that Han Li’s golden light was far faster than the grey threads. In sharp gusts of wind, the three small golden swords pierced through the corpses’ abdomens.
At nearly that same moment, the Ghostfiend Threads had arrived in front of Han Li and were about to strike him.
However, Han Li let out a shout and a ring of seven-colored light suddenly appeared around him. When the threads touched it, they became disconnected from the world.
When the black-robed woman saw this seven-colored light, she was stunned.
Han Li then expressionlessly pointed at the three dried corpses in the distance.
Three bolts of lightning escaped from the small swords, followed by loud pangs of thunder, each of them covering the three corpses in a net of lightning.
Before the corpses could even let out a groan, the lightning turned them into clouds of black dust, continuing to tear at the dust clouds and prevent them from reforming, but it appeared that the corpses were undying in the face of the Divine Devilbane Lightning.
Han Li frowned at the sight of this.
The black-robed woman rejoiced upon seeing him restrain them and happily put away her light barrier. She flew over and proposed, “These refined corpses had fused Baleful Corpse Qi with their own bodies. I fear we won’t be able to kill them. We’ll have to use restrictions to seal them for the time being.”
“There is no need to waste such effort, it is unknown what strange abilities these ghosts have. Common restrictions might not be able to seal them. Rather, let’s just finish them off.”
“Finish them off?”
The black-robed woman wore an odd expression, and before she realized what he meant, Han Li slapped his storage pouch and a streak of black light flew out, circling once around him before revealing itself to be a small monkey, the Weeping Soul Beast.
It was awakened by the smell of corpse Qi and immediately reveled in excitement. It let out a snort with its large nose without any command, releasing a hazy light that easily absorbed the clouds of dust from within the net of lightning and brought it into its mouth.
After a few eager gulps, it held its hands on its stomach with satisfaction and joy.
The black-robed woman was dumbstruck by these events.
There were only a few spirit beasts in this world that were capable of devouring ghosts, but she had never heard of a small monkey capable of consuming such powerful ghosts. The closest thing that came to mind was the Jade-eyed Ape, but its appearance didn’t match in the slightest.
As the black-robed woman mulled, Han Li was relieved to find that the Weeping Soul Beast wasn’t negatively affected by absorbing the three dried corpses.
But rather than immediately withdrawing the beast, he beckoned to, promptly having it obediently jump on his shoulder.
Han Li glanced at the black-robed woman and said, “Let’s go, perhaps Brother Fu has already finished capturing the Umbra Yin Horse.”
Suppressing her curiosity towards the monkey, she smiled, “Most likely, that Corpse Wolf has already been injured by you and shouldn’t be able to run far.”
Han Li returned the smile but before he could say anything, he felt his body tremble. The two of them exchanged bewildered glances, and each summoned a formation plate in their hands.
Han Li took a deep breath and solemnly asked, “Fellow Daoist Yuan’s marker is gone. Fellow Daoist Chang, do you know what’s going on?”
“My marker on Fellow Daoist Yuan is also gone. How could something have happened after only a short time separated!” The black-robed woman spoke with disbelief.
“I’m not sure,” Han Li answered, “It is possible that the others encountered a formidable enemy, or that Fellow Daoist Yuan was careless and became trapped in a restriction.”
“In that case, we must hurry. Their markers show them to be nearby,” the black-robed woman said with a trace of worry.
Han Li indifferently nodded and the two set off in streaks of light.
...
After flying for about five kilometers, they encountered a large spacious area filled with piles of ore refuse.
The two then slowed down and carefully examined the area.
After another three hundred meters, the piles disappeared and opened into a large room.
The place had a huge spell formation that nearly covered it all and a giant bamboo tree growing at its center, reaching all the way to the top of the cave. There were also a dozen giant stone pillars intermittently placed, each with a pitch-black dried corpse chained to it, exactly the same as the three Han Li had seen before.
But what shocked Han Li was a silhouette covered in green hair next to the bamboo. It was sitting there absorbed in munching on a headless body. From its clothes, there was no doubt that was Cultivator Yuan’s corpse.
Next to the monster was a huge figure, the Corpse Wolf they fought from before. The wolf was gnawing at something underneath its claw, Cultivator Yuan’s huge tortoise. It lacked an aura, clearly indicating it’s death.
As for the Umbra Yin Horse, it was still perched on top of the Corpse Wolf’s head, unmoving.
The black-robed woman’s face paled and she hurriedly glanced around before shouting in terror, “Senior Martial Brother Fu!”
Han Li followed her gaze and saw two figures floating in midair, wrapped in cocoons spun from grey threads. It was clearly the Ghostfiend Threads they had seen previously.
However, the density of the threads were far beyond what the dried corpses could produce.
Thunderous explosions continuously sounded out from the two with traces of dazzling light occasionally escaping from within.
It appeared that Old Man Fu and Bai Yaoyi still lived.
In only a short moment, one of three mid-Nascent Soul cultivators were killed with two of them trapped. Han Li managed to maintain a calm appearance in spite of this but he was thoroughly aghast.
As for the black-robed woman, she was worried for Old Man Fu, but knew this wasn’t the time to save him. She shook her sleeve and summoned the dharmic wheel into her hand before turning her attention elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the green-furred monster hadn’t paid any attention to them and was focused on eating with a lowered head.
Strange cracking sounds came from the monster as it tore off the arm of Cultivator Yuan’s corpse and quickly ravaged it.
When Han Li caught sight of the mutilated body, he narrowed his eyes as blue light shined from them.
Then the Weeping Soul Beast on his shoulder let out a high-pitched cry, and the fur on its back stood straight. It glared at the green-furred monster, assuming a position to attack.
But from the Weeping Soul Pearl within his body, Han Li could sense that that the monkey mostly felt fear as if it had encountered its nemesis.
The monster heard the Weeping Soul Beast’s scream and its feasting came to a sudden halt. It flung away the corpse in its hand and flew sixty meters towards the two cultivators before landing on the ground.
Han Li’s and the black-robed woman’s face warped upon sensing its powerful aura.
The green-furred monster simply stood in place as it watched them.
At that moment, Han Li was finally able to clearly see the monster’s appearance. Its face appeared very much like that of a monkey, with blood brimming in its mouth and razor fangs several inches long. Its eyes sparkled with sharp silver and lacked irises, making for a rather odd appearance.
But what especially caught Han Li’s eye were the two protrusions from its back wrapped with flesh.
The green-furred monster swept its gaze past the cultivators with indifference and locked eyes on the Weeping Soul Beast perched on Han Li’s shoulder. Then its face revealed an odd expression resembling bewilderment.
When the Weeping Soul Beast met the green monster’s gaze, it leaped ten meters in front of Han Li and pounded its chest with all its might, causing black light to surge all around it.
In the blink of an eye, it grew thirty meters tall to become a vicious ape that had the image of a malevolent crimson ghost on its back that appeared to move with life.
The green-furred monster seemed to sense something from the Weeping Soul Beast’s transformation and hastily took several steps back. At that same time, the bags of flesh protruding his back trembled and tore apart, revealing two three-meter-long wings that shined a dazzling silver.
“Silver-winged Nightfiend!”
The black-robed woman shouted out its name with a faceful of terror and his complexion paled.
In the mortal world, Silver-winged Nightfiends were refined corpses that were capable of flight and were seconded only by Gold-clad Lunar Corpses. They were a fearsome existence that were said to be superior to even late-Nascent Soul cultivators.
Not only were they a natural prodigy of wind and earth-attributed movement techniques, it was nearly invulnerable, incredibly strong, and quite skilled in illusion and bewitchment.
As these thoughts quickly flashed from Han Li’s mind, he tightly pursed his lips.
Light flashed from the beast’s wings, and its fear of the Weeping Soul Beast immediately disappeared. It loudly uttered, “I didn’t expect more would come to find me. It’s been quite some time since I’ve had...fresh meat. You will all make quite a meal.”
These words were spoken as clearly as a human’s voice.