Chapter 980

Several people followed the eastern passage, searching through each cave one by one.

To prevent accidents, three people typically entered a cave to explore, while others guarded the passage to stop the Yin Zhi Ma from escaping.

Not long after, they reached the spot where the Yuan clan giant had discovered the Yin Zhi Ma—a small, modest cave.

This time, the black-clad beauty and Bai Yaoyi remained outside, while Han Li and the old man entered to investigate.

As soon as they stepped inside, they noticed something unusual: the interior’s yin wind was extremely weak, even carrying a warm sensation.

In addition to finding soft, sandy soil, they discovered several rare warm jade ore fragments piled in a corner of the cave. The air still carried a faint, sweet fragrance—partly medicinal, partly sandalwood, as if blended.

Glancing downward, they clearly saw scattered hoofprints on the ground, resembling those of a horse but shrunk to a fraction of their normal size.

“Indeed, it’s definitely the Yin Zhi Ma!” The Fu elder circled the prints twice, sniffed the air, then rubbed his hands together, his excitement evident.

“If Brother Fu says so, then it’s certainly true. Let’s pursue it immediately. This passage isn’t wide—it’s likely a branching path. We’ll follow it step by step and force the creature out.” The Yuan giant’s face flushed slightly as he spoke.

“Hmm, that makes sense. Let’s—” The Fu elder nodded, but his words were cut short as a thunderous rumbling erupted, and all three men lost their footing as the entire cave shook violently.

A series of terrifying roars echoed from outside the cave, as if the source was just nearby.

Startled, all three instantly flared spiritual light and transformed into three streaks of light, fleeing the cave.

In an instant, they reappeared in the passage, where the two women stared ahead in shock.

There, heavy footsteps rang out one after another—something immense, each step causing the entire passage to tremble violently. The terrifying roars also came from the same direction, clearly from the same creature.

They exchanged glances; no one needed to warn them—they immediately summoned their magic treasures, faces grim.

While others were blocked by the black yin wind and couldn’t see far, Han Li’s pupils had already glowed blue, revealing a ghostly creature over a hundred zhang away.

He involuntarily drew in a sharp breath.

It was a massive wolf, its entire body covered in green fur.

The wolf stood on all fours, standing nearly three zhang tall, its head as large as a small house, its eyes blood-red, its four claws jet-black and razor-sharp like blades.

But what startled Han Li most was that as the giant wolf roared, clusters of green corpse-fire spewed from its mouth; when these green vapors brushed against the icy walls on either side, deep, uneven grooves instantly formed, glowing emerald and melting.

“Corpse Wolf!”

The name flashed instantly in Han Li’s mind—but ordinary Corpse Wolves were common ghosts; even if larger, they never reached such extremes. This Corpse Wolf’s size far exceeded any recorded description. Moreover, the aura radiating from it was nothing like that of a common ghost.

Han Li was about to warn the other four, but his gaze shifted and caught a partially hidden object atop the wolf’s head—he gasped in surprise.

“That’s… the Zhi Ma!”

“What? What did you say, Brother Han?” The Fu elder turned his head slightly, startled.

“A powerful ghost is approaching—the Yin Zhi Ma is with it,” Han Li replied briefly.

“Yin Zhi Ma?”

At this, the others’ faces lit up with joy.

At last, the Corpse Wolf’s massive form became faintly visible through the yin wind. Though its true appearance remained unclear, its enormous silhouette instantly made the Fu elder and the giant stiffen, their smiles vanishing.

The black-clad beauty’s expression darkened; she flicked her ten fingers rapidly, launching over a dozen white orbs from her fingertips. But the orbs didn’t strike the wolf—they arced upward and exploded in midair.

A blinding white light flooded the area, illuminating everything clearly—the wolf’s grotesque, terrifying form now fully visible to all.

All four faces changed.

They were all seasoned cultivators; the wolf’s danger was instantly apparent.

Yet in that instant, they also spotted a pale, fuzzy object crouched atop the wolf’s head.

Though its lower body was entirely buried in green fur, the exposed portion was unmistakably a pure white, delicate horse’s head, its emerald eyes fixed rigidly on them.

Now, their emotions surged with both shock and delight.

“Be careful—don’t let the Yin Zhi Ma slip away! This Corpse Wolf is likely a mutated ghost. Though troublesome, five of us, all Nascent Soul cultivators, can easily kill it. Bai, you focus solely on capturing the Yin Zhi Ma.” The Fu elder spoke, then patted his waist pouch; a chain-like treasure emitted dark light and shot out like a venomous serpent, flashing toward the giant wolf.

The others, hearing this, immediately acted.

The black-clad beauty shook her sleeve, releasing three crimson flying swords; the giant tapped the jade tablet before him, summoning several winged monstrous scorpions that lunged forward; Han Li blew gently from his lips, and several flying swords blazed with spiritual light, transforming into sheets of golden light that swept forward.

Simultaneously, Bai Yaoyi flipped her palm, revealing a semi-transparent silk net. She gave it a light shake; a flash of cold light transformed the net into a veil of white mist, directly covering the Yin Zhi Ma atop the wolf’s head.

Though this was their first joint attack, the combined assault of their treasures was formidable.

The Yin Zhi Ma, clearly intelligent, panicked at the assault and pressed itself deeper into the wolf’s fur, refusing to show itself again.

Seeing so many attacks, the Corpse Wolf’s eyes flashed with fury, its roar cut off, and it opened its mouth wide—continuous streams of emerald corpse-fire erupted, instantly forming a towering green wave to meet the incoming treasures.

For a moment, green flames and treasure lights clashed and entangled.

Whether Han Li’s flying swords or the others’ treasures, all were blocked by the corpse-fire, unable to approach the wolf’s body even a step. The winged scorpions summoned from the jade tablet, unable to dodge, were instantly engulfed by the green flames and turned to blue smoke—clearly, the corpse-fire was potent.

The white silk net, meant for the Yin Zhi Ma, was likewise lifted by the green flames and couldn’t descend. Seeing this, Bai Yaoyi couldn’t help but let out a cold snort.

The Northern Night Xiaji Palace was naturally located in icy, snowy lands; this woman’s treasures and techniques were all ice-based, and she utterly despised this mere corpse-fire.

Before Han Li and the others could react, she swiftly formed hand seals, uttered a sharp cry, and suddenly blazed with spiritual light—a layer of white mist surged forth. A dazzling crystal radiance surrounded her, making her appear like a celestial ice maiden, ethereal and graceful.

The temperature in the surrounding air plummeted instantly. Han Li and the Fu elder were unaffected, but the black-clad beauty and the giant, caught off guard, shivered involuntarily.

The Corpse Wolf sensed danger and inhaled deeply, then unleashed even more corpse-fire from its mouth.

Almost simultaneously, Bai Yaoyi spat out her ice fan, which spun once before landing in her jade palm.

Her entire body blazing with cold light, she gently fanned downward toward the Corpse Wolf.

This time, the wind that roared from the fan was not the yellow wind Han Li had seen before—it was a bone-chilling snowstorm laced with countless ice crystals, sweeping toward the enemy.

Emerald and white light blazed fiercely, drowning out all other treasure radiance; continuous explosions erupted from their collision.

The Corpse Wolf’s corpse-fire was indeed extraordinarily sharp—even against specialized ice-based spiritual arts, it held its ground. Seeing this, Bai Yaoyi’s face flushed slightly, and she grew furious. She flicked her ice fan, and it instantly doubled in size; the wind it emitted naturally grew far more powerful.

Meanwhile, the old man and the others, having tested the Corpse Wolf, would not let Bai Yaoyi fight alone.

The old man pointed at his previously summoned chain; instantly, a black flame erupted along its length, roaring fiercely. The chain trembled and multiplied into dozens of identical fiery chains, forming a massive fire net that hovered above the wolf’s head and crashed down like a heavenly net.

The black-clad beauty chanted incantations; her three crimson flying swords trembled violently, then merged into a single giant sword, over a zhang long, its sword qi slashing fiercely downward.

The Yuan giant remained expressionless, retrieved his jade tablet and pulled out a blue gourd instead, from which poured a thick, dense purple mist that drifted slowly toward the enemy—its effects unknown.

Seeing the others unleash their full power, Han Li’s eyebrows twitched slightly; he casually shook his sleeve, and a red thread flashed out and vanished.

With so many attacks converging at once, even the mighty Corpse Wolf began to falter. As the fiery chains and crimson giant sword joined the assault, the corpse-fire was immediately pushed back. The purple mist was also nearly upon it.

Though the Corpse Wolf lacked high intelligence, its innate wolf instincts sensed danger. Instantly, its body glowed green, shrinking slightly, while the coarse hairs on its back bristled upright. With a low roar, it unleashed a dense shower of green light, each beam firing rapidly—covering all five of them.

This caught the others off guard, but they didn’t dare underestimate it; they immediately activated their spiritual arts to block the green beams, their attacks slowing. In that brief pause, the mutated Corpse Wolf suddenly turned and bolted back the way it came.

This stunned the old man and the others.

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