Chapter 1280

The Green Yao Mountains, a swamp of poison and venomous gu.

The barbarian soldiers of the Gao Tu tribe had wrinkled skin, their bodies covered in one poison spot after another, like toads.

This was the result of the martial art passed down through generations in their tribe.

After cultivating this kind of martial art, their skin merged with venom, allowing them to breathe even in the poison swamp, and even absorb surrounding toxins for their own use.

This was a highly cunning, obscure, and venomous barbarian lineage.

At this moment, these Gao Tu barbarians lay hidden within the poison swamp, blending seamlessly with their surroundings.

Only the Gao Tu tribe's Jin Dan barbarian generals, relying on their deep cultivation, stood barefoot atop the green swamp water, their faces grotesque, coldly watching the Zhu Que Mountain barbarians.

The leader had the most poison spots on his body and the most venomous gaze. His profound cultivation and poison arts fused into one—even his breath seemed to carry a deep green poison.

This man was the Gao Tu tribe's great general, named Gao Du.

The Gao Tu tribe's chieftain was foolish and had not waged war for a long time; now, the great general Gao Du was the strongest in the Gao Tu tribe.

Gao Du stood atop the poison swamp water, his cultivation resonating with the foul and toxic miasma around him, his aura terrifying.

Opposing Gao Du was the Zhu Que Mountain tribe's great chieftain, Lord Lugu, clad in battle armor.

Behind Lord Lugu stood a host of Zhu Que Mountain barbarians, most of whom belonged to the Shu Gu tribe.

The Shu Gu tribe was, under Mo Hua's command, the most trusted force besides the Divine Slave tribe.

At this moment, Mo Hua, serving as the Divine Oracle, stood far from the battlefield, surrounded by guards and protected closely by the Great Pixiu, watching all this from afar.

Gao Du's gaze, filled with wariness, swept over Mo Hua, then turned to his most troublesome enemy—Lord Lugu.

Gao Du sneered, "Defeated dog, dare you come to fight again?"

Lord Lugu's gaze was icy as he said coldly, "Gao Du, you hide in this swamp like a toad—what kind of skill is that? If you come ashore, I'll kill you within five hundred rounds!"

Gao Du sneered, "Then why don't you come down? If you enter this poison swamp, I'll poison you to death within five hundred rounds, you worthless fool!"

The two exchanged more insults.

Lord Lugu had no patience for his words and said, "I advise you: surrender early, worship the Divine Lord, and submit to the Divine Oracle, my lord."

Gao Du sneered, "I know of no Divine Lord."

Lord Lugu's tone was reverent: "The Divine Lord is the master of all gods of the Great Wilderness, his body golden and jade-like, radiating ten thousand rays of divine light, possessing the horns of the Great Pixiu, the body of an Azure Dragon, wielding mighty divine powers, able to pluck stars from the heavens, shape sacred runes with a flick of his fingers, condense sword-light with his eyes, capable of slaying all heretics and ruling over all gods of the Great Wilderness…"

Gao Du frowned, thinking: This Lugu really knows how to bullshit.

Lord Lugu continued, "The Divine Oracle, my lord, is the personally appointed representative of the Divine Lord, wielding the Divine Lord's authority, destined to save the barbarian wilderness from calamity and rescue all living beings from fire and water…"

Gao Du pointed far at Mo Hua and said, "That's your Divine Oracle?"

Lord Lugu said, "Yes."

Gao Du sneered, "I thought you meant some great figure… Do we barbarians need him to save us? Self-important fool. What does he think he is? Calling himself a Divine Oracle? Ridiculous. I say he's just a brat with no beard, some kid who picked up a tiger demon and is putting on airs, pretending to be something he's not!"

Lord Lugu's eyes flashed with deadly intent: "To insult the Divine Oracle, my lord, is death!"

Before his words had faded, he drew his Demon-Slaying Bone Blade and slashed at Gao Du with terrifying might.

Gao Du, though speaking scornfully, had not lowered his guard; he immediately summoned a pair of serpent-bone daggers and blocked Lord Lugu's Demon-Slaying Blade.

The two struggled, their forces colliding, causing the surrounding swamp to boil and the poison miasma to recoil.

Gao Du was clearly at a disadvantage.

Gao Du knew he could not match Lord Lugu in direct combat; he immediately sank his body into the poison swamp, using the swamp's deadly toxicity to restrict Lord Lugu.

Lord Lugu had no choice; despite the swamp's deadly poison, he pressed forward, battling Gao Du within the mud.

Fortunately, before battle, he had taken many Poison-Repelling Pills and coated his body in a layer of poison-repelling herbal juice, granting him some resistance.

Thus, the two great chieftain and great general clashed in fierce combat.

This was also a custom in tribal warfare:

When two armies met, their great generals first fought to the death.

The victor's morale surged, gaining advantage in the battle.

And if one could kill the enemy's great general first, the enemy troops would naturally flee—this battle could be won without further casualties.

The current situation demanded that the great generals fight first.

The poison swamp blocked the way, and the Gao Tu poison soldiers lay in ambush; the Zhu Que Mountain barbarians could not yet attack.

And both Lord Lugu and Gao Du were at the late stage of Jin Dan cultivation, extremely powerful.

If they truly fought at full strength, no one else could approach without risking severe injury or death from collateral damage.

Thus, both sides could only stand in stalemate, watching their great generals fight.

The outcome between the great generals would nearly decide the battle's direction.

Between the poison swamps, late-stage Jin Dan power surged wildly, the toxic waters boiled to the sky, rotting wood turned to ash, the entire terrain reshaped.

All toxins and toxic waters were churned together into a vortex; no one dared approach.

After seven or eight hundred rounds of combat, Lord Lugu could no longer endure.

His raw strength surpassed Gao Du's, but in the poison swamp, he could not unleash his full cultivation.

Conversely, Gao Du thrived in the swamp—"like a fish in water"—his Hundred Viper Poison Art was even more venomous and ruthless.

The potency of Lord Lugu's Poison-Repelling Pills was nearly spent; if he fought on, he would truly be worn down and poisoned to death by Gao Du.

Lord Lugu gathered a vast surge of power and slashed at Gao Du, attempting to break away and retreat.

Gao Du had anticipated this—knowing Lord Lugu could not withstand his poison's drain—he did not retreat but advanced as Lord Lugu slashed.

A cruel grin spread across his face as he charged straight into Lord Lugu's blade, as if he had no regard for his life.

Lord Lugu frowned in surprise—just then, Gao Du's body twisted like a serpent, his human face becoming a serpent's head, slithering along the edge of Lord Lugu's blade, reaching right up to his face.

Like a venomous snake spitting its tongue, fangs coated in poison, the serpent-like Gao Du bit Lord Lugu's neck with terrible force.

This was the terrifying power of his barbarian martial art, the Hundred Viper Poison Art, at its highest level.

His entire flesh and blood contained deadly poison and could twist and deform at will, like a viper.

Lord Lugu, caught off guard, fell for his treacherous trick; instantly filled with rage, he spun and slashed at Gao Du with his knife.

Gao Du's body shifted again from serpent to human, evading the blow, retreating swiftly to a distance, where he stood coldly staring at Lord Lugu.

Lord Lugu stepped back several paces, halted, and swallowed several Spirit-Defying Pills, only to realize the poison had already seeped into his meridians—his face turned instantly ghastly.

Seeing this, Gao Du's expression turned venomous. "You, mere Chief of Shu Bones, are nothing. In the end, you're still my defeated subordinate."

"What's wrong?" Gao Du smiled. "Didn't your Divine Invoker promise to protect the Great Wilderness? How can you not even protect yourself?"

Lord Lugu's gaze burned with boundless fury, fixed unblinkingly on Gao Du, longing to kill him on the spot.

Gao Du, under Lord Lugu's stare, wore a smug grin.

But after a moment, Lord Lugu saw something—his pupils sharply contracted.

This subtle change did not escape Gao Du's eyes.

Gao Du had assumed Lord Lugu was putting on an act, but the next instant, he suddenly felt an inexplicable, chilling sensation on his back—something that sent shivers through his soul.

Something stood behind him.

Gao Du's heart jolted. He kept his body still, twisted his head like a serpent, looked back—and saw two pitch-black, hollow eye sockets, and within them, a strange blue glow.

Gao Du's heart clenched violently.

How could something have slipped behind him unnoticed in the chaos of battle—and emit not a single trace of living qi?

What is this?!

While Gao Du was stunned, he realized his body was being crushed by iron-like arms, clamped tightly around him.

The strength was so immense, even a late-stage Jin Dan cultivator struggled to bear it.

Gao Du gasped in shock and immediately counterattacked—he reused his old trick, activating the Hundred Viper Poison Art, transforming his body into a giant python, and bit down on the attacker's neck.

But as his teeth sank in, it felt as if he'd bitten into a cold corpse—or a block of hardened steel.

His venom seeped through his fangs—but seemed utterly useless.

Gao Du's mind screamed:

"Dead man? Iron Corpse? Bronze Corpse? No… what the hell is this thing?"

While he was reeling in shock, this corpse-like entity continued squeezing his flesh with unyielding force, as if trying to crush him in half.

In dire peril, Gao Du no longer hesitated—he pushed the Hundred Viper Poison Art to its limit, splitting his body into three venomous serpents that slithered free from the corpse's grip.

Once escaped, the three serpents merged back into one, reforming into Gao Du.

Only then did Gao Du carefully study the "enemy" before him: its body towered, its aura terrifying—human yet not human, corpse yet not corpse, faint blue light drifting from its form, utterly unidentifiable, nothing like anything from the Great Wilderness.

From its physical strength alone, it appeared to be at the late-stage Jin Dan realm.

Yet it emitted not a single trace of cultivation energy.

Gao Du's face darkened.

Far away, Lord Lugu stared at the towering "corpse," his expression vacant, whispering softly:

"Brother…"

After a moment, Lord Lugu turned his gaze farther, toward Mo Hua—his eyes filled with complex emotion.

Mo Hua sat high above, expression cold, a strange blue light flickering briefly in his eyes.

At the same moment, the corpse of "Shi Gu" let out a deafening roar, its bones glowing with eerie blue light, unleashing a terrifying aura like a monstrous beast.

"Damn it!"

Gao Du gasped and immediately retreated.

But the next instant, venomous water splashed around him, a dark shadow flashed—and the massive Shi Gu closed the distance with impossible speed, its spirit-bone-driven fist slamming forward with chilling force.

Gao Du had no time to dodge—he raised his arms to block, but could not withstand the blow. He was hurled backward, crashing into the swamp, sending up waves of toxic water several zhang high.

Gao Du struggled to rise, but both arms hung limp—his arm bones had shattered.

"Fuck, what kind of freak thing…"

Gao Du cursed inwardly, channeling his technique—his arms transformed into long serpents, repositioned themselves, and reconnected his broken bones.

Then, a cold, foul wind surged—Shi Gu's spirit-bone flickered, and it attacked again.

Gao Du had no choice—he gritted his teeth and met Shi Gu head-on.

Gao Du's greatest strength lay in poison arts, known for their cunning cruelty; direct combat was never his forte. Facing Shi Gu's corpse, he was immediately on the defensive—within fewer than a hundred exchanges, three more of his bones cracked.

The outcome seemed clear.

But as the battle dragged on, Gao Du gradually adapted.

He was a seasoned general, battle-hardened—he quickly noticed this "corpse" possessed immense strength but extremely limited techniques, repeating the same few moves over and over, with clumsy, awkward transitions.

It was as if a man resurrected from death had not yet learned to control his own body—his movements were rigid, mechanical.

For a master like Gao Du, this was the greatest flaw.

Gao Du slowly exhaled.

Now that he understood the pattern, he grew increasingly at ease.

Soon, he noticed an even greater weakness in this corpse:

High energy consumption.

Though he didn't know the mechanism, Gao Du could sense that with every punch, faint blue light flickered within the corpse.

Clearly, some strange "spirit-force driving" method was at work.

And since the corpse's strength was immense, its spirit-force consumption must be enormous.

High spirit-force drain meant it couldn't sustain prolonged combat.

As the fight continued, its power indeed began to weaken.

Seeing these flaws, Gao Du exhaled again.

This was simple now…

Gao Du thought that by stalling with this "corpse," he could drain its Qi until it became useless.

Gao Du patiently began to wear down the corpse of Shi Gu.

In the entire poison swamp, only Gao Du was fighting the corpse of Shi Gu.

The barbarian soldiers of Zhu Que Mountain dared not enter the poison swamp.

The barbarian soldiers of Gao Tu Clan also dared not interfere in this battle.

Gao Du bore alone the pressure brought by the corpse of Shi Gu.

The corpse of Shi Gu had thick skin and tough flesh, felt no pain, feared no injury, was immune to poison, and feared no peril of the poison swamp—it was purely a "fighting" tool, fighting fiercely without fear of death, with no flaws except rigid techniques and massive Qi consumption.

Gao Du, facing it head-on, was also greatly strained.

But even so, because of these two "major weaknesses"—rigid techniques and enormous consumption—the tide of battle gradually became clear.

Indeed, after half an hour, the blue light on the corpse of Shi Gu dimmed gradually, and its movements slowed considerably.

This was a sign that its Qi was nearly exhausted.

But Gao Du's condition was no better.

He had first fought Lord Lugu, sustaining mutual injuries, then been ambushed by the corpse of Shi Gu, and had been fighting ever since—even several times overextending the Hundred Viper Poison Art, exhausting nearly all his shamanic power and qi.

Seeing that Shi Gu's blue light was nearly gone and it could barely move,

Gao Du, also on the verge of collapse, said to the several Gao Tu Clan Jin Dan barbarian generals beside him:

"You all come over—join forces and subdue this half-dead thing. I'm going to cut open its chest and see what this thing really is…"

"Yes, General!"

Two Gao Tu Clan Jin Dan generals bowed and obeyed, then struck together—one wielding a blade, the other a chain—along with Gao Du; the three Jin Dan warriors joined forces and quickly subdued the corpse of Shi Gu.

This was deep within the poison swamp.

Gao Du had reinforcements.

But on the Zhu Que Mountain tribe's side, no one could aid Shi Gu.

They could only watch helplessly as Shi Gu's corpse was bound by chains, a blade held at its throat, motionless and subdued by the Gao Tu Clan.

Lord Lugu wore a solemn expression.

In the eyes of Shi Gu's corpse, the blue light vanished completely.

Seeing this, Gao Du finally exhaled in relief.

This strange corpse had finally run out of power and stopped moving.

Next, all he needed to do was…

Gao Du took a light breath, and for an instant, lowered his guard.

In that single instant, a sudden warning flared in his heart—his hair stood on end—and as he turned his head, he saw that in the hollow eye sockets of Shi Gu's corpse, the once-extinguished eerie blue light had suddenly reignited, glowing again.

Gao Du's eyes widened sharply.

"No! Quick—"

Before Gao Du could finish, a wet "puch" rang out, and a burst of blood sprayed before his eyes.

The chains binding Shi Gu snapped—its fist drove straight through the abdomen of one Gao Tu Clan Jin Dan barbarian general.

This Gao Tu Clan barbarian general had only mid-Jin Dan cultivation; caught off-guard, Shi Gu closed in and killed him instantly—he had no time to react.

"You fucking treacherous—"

Gao Du roared in fury, but before he could finish cursing, he saw an even more horrifying sight:

Shi Gu's corpse, after punching through the barbarian general's abdomen, reached inside and, with a single yank, tore out—flesh, sinew, and all—a blood-smeared, radiant, living… Jin Dan from three inches below the general's dantian.

Before anyone could react, the corpse of "Shi Gu," before all eyes, placed that blood-and-Qi-infused living Jin Dan into its mouth, crunched it with a "crunch,"

then… swallowed it.

In that instant, everyone's faces turned ashen with shock.

(End of Chapter)