Chapter 120: Struggle!

Water and Fire Already in Balance!

The Five Elements mutually restrain; water overcomes fire, but water and fire are not completely incompatible.

When fighting Xiao Qiyuan at the ruins of the Heavenly Insect Sect, Yunhe faintly sensed a trace of the law of water-fire compatibility.

Relying on the enlightenment granted by the Three Tribulations Bodhi Seed and the secret art 'Invert Five Elements Technique' from the Great Longevity Great Five Elements True Scripture, he perfected this method completely.

This can be considered Yunhe's first truly self-created secret technique.

Although it is built upon a certain existing secret technique of the cultivation method, it also represents his deeper understanding of the Dao of the Five Elements.

And this is also Yunhe's first time using this method.

Judging by the current results, the effect seems not bad, and the power is not insignificant.

It's no wonder Hei Mu was shocked.

After all, the strongest point of this Silver Armor Corpse, a top-tier refined corpse, is its tough flesh and silver armor defense, but under 'Water and Fire Already in Balance,' its defense seemed as if nothing.

However, Hei Mu, after all, is a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator rich in combat experience; after the initial surprise attack, he quickly calmed down.

"He's actually only Foundation Establishment mid-stage."

At this moment he finally sensed Yunhe's cultivation base.

Just now he actually feared a Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator?

If Wu Ying and the Blood Phoenix Pavilion found out, they'd probably laugh at him to no end.

A hint of anger rose on Yin Yi's face.

He fiercely slapped his storage bag, throwing out three black thin needles, not to attack Yunhe, but directly sinking them into the Silver Armor Corpse's body.

"Roar!!"

For a moment, the Silver Armor Corpse roared again, its aura surging suddenly.

After doing that, it still wasn't enough; Hei Mu's deathly pale face flushed with an eerie red as he spat out a mouthful of pure corpse qi, which fell upon the Silver Armor Corpse.

The damaged silver armor recovered at a visible speed, and even its bodily defense and speed gained a certain degree of improvement.

"Kill you!"

With a low shout, the Silver Armor Corpse faced the Li Fire Pearl and the Black Tortoise Bracelet, actually charging straight forward without dodging or fleeing.

Both arms trembled slightly.

Sharp, hard nails protruded from the fingertips one after another.

They came with overwhelming force!

But Yunhe not only showed no fear, he instead gave Hei Mu a somewhat strange look.

That gaze made Hei Mu's heart jolt, his vigilance greatly increased, full of guard.

Then Yunhe lightly formed a hand seal.

The next second.

Hei Mu suddenly felt his divine sense and soul struck as if by a heavy blow, followed by intense pain originating from his soul, as if a worm were gnawing at his soul.

"Heart Worm Technique!"

Yunhe's divine sense was already strong; after cultivating the 'Thousand Gu Myriad Insects Art,' his divine sense was further strengthened, already suppressing Hei Mu, a Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivator, on the level of divine sense.

Now, by turning the divine sense gap into an attack via the secret technique, the effect is remarkably outstanding!

Although Hei Mu endured the soul pain at top speed, tolerating the discomfort as if hundreds of ants were gnawing at his soul, he came to.

After regaining his senses, Hei Mu's heart was filled with shock.

It was actually a divine sense attack!

But in their kind of duel, any moment of dazedness will bring unpredictable changes.

Just then, in his shocked gaze, a Li Fire Bird rushed toward him, rapidly enlarging.

"No!!"

He hadn't even deployed his various secret techniques, hadn't taken out his prepared trump card, and even the Silver Armor Corpse had just finished its strengthening.

"Die."

The only reply to him was a single word.

Yunhe expressionlessly cast the final seal; the Black Tortoise Bracelet also bypassed the Silver Armor Corpse, heading straight for Hei Mu.

"Crack!"

The Corpse Yin Shield protecting Hei Mu, which should have been a decent defense, was easily shattered by this blow.

As Yunhe calmly pressed down his palm, Hei Mu didn't even have time to utter a miserable scream; his form was ground to powder in the intertwining of water and fire.

But Yunhe did not fully relax his guard, for although Hei Mu was dead, that Silver Armor Corpse had not completely ceased its movements.

"Roar!!"

Then came its inhuman roar; Yunhe thought it would attack again, but it ignored him and rushed into the stone chamber.

Mixed with a bright silver-black shadow, its speed was not slow at all, disappearing from sight in the blink of an eye.

"Huh?"

Yunhe was slightly surprised.

Logically, unless it's a living corpse, once the corpse controller dies, the refined corpse should lose its ability to move, right?

This Silver Armor Corpse.

"Half-living Corpse?"

Thinking back to when he launched the sneak attack, the Silver Armor Corpse's autonomous protective behavior made some sense.

However, without the corpse controller, a mere Silver Armor Corpse with only simple consciousness is nothing to fear.

Especially.

Yunhe looked toward the heavy stone coffin left behind after Hei Mu's death.

Corpse Sect cultivators generally leave sufficient means to restrict refined corpses.

He didn't casually walk over; instead, he waved his hand, and the Lihuo Pearl again rolled up surging flames, scorching the entire stone chamber.

Liu Tianhong's oddness, as well as the oddness of the few red-ringed gold-spotted hornets that flew in, all indicated that there was a trap set by the opponent inside this stone chamber.

As expected, after the flames quickly scorched, strands of corpse qi floated up in the stone chamber out of thin air, finally dissipating into nothingness.

After finishing these, he finally walked over to Liu Tianhong's side.

A sweep of his divine sense confirmed its condition.

「Fortunately。」

Yunhe slightly relaxed his breath; the opponent merely controlled Liu Tianhong using special means.

Perhaps it was to lure him here.

It might also be to turn Liu Tianhong into a refined corpse; this can be inferred from the faint corpse spots appearing on her arm.

After checking Liu Tianhong's condition, Yunhe then walked over to the stone coffin and carefully scanned it up and down with his divine sense again.

Moments later.

He walked to the back of the stone coffin, raised his palm, circulated his mana, and gave a light pat.

Swish swish swish—

A large number of black needles, as fine as cow hair, shot out, sinking into the stone walls and turning into pitch-black holes, exuding a strong corrosive aura.

After doing these, Yunhe finally placed his hand on the stone coffin, circulated his mana, erased the black wood's mana imprint, and left his own mana mark.

Upon taking control of this stone coffin, he faintly sensed the location of the fleeing silver-armored refined corpse.

Open the stone coffin.

He saw various items placed inside.

For Corpse Sect cultivators, storage bags are not as safe as their stone coffins.

Among them, the most eye-catching is undoubtedly a palm-sized six-sided copper bell; inside there is no bell striker, but after infusing mana, it can manifest a bell striker via mana.

「Corpse-Control Bell。」

With this, he could influence or even control that silver-armored corpse.

This stone coffin and the 「Corpse-Control Bell」 are both top-grade Spiritual Artifacts.

It can be seen that this person likely holds some status in the Corpse Sect as a late Foundation Establishment cultivator, possibly even a disciple of a certain Corpse Sect Supreme Elder.

He flipped through again.

He found several Jade Slips.

Among them were the opponent's cultivation method, as well as a series of methods, spells, and secret arts including corpse refining, corpse nurturing, and corpse control.

A quick glance made Yunhe's eyes brighten slightly.

He certainly would not abandon the 「Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture」 to practice this demonic sect's technique, and moreover it is only a fragment that can be cultivated up to mid Golden Core.

「Heretical side-door method. »

But some of the corpse control methods mentioned above sparked Yunhe's interest.

After all.

At present, there is still a Heavenly Capital Insect Corpse lying on his body.

He has now cultivated the 「Thousand Insects Myriad Insects Art」 to the second layer; his divine sense and insect control techniques have strengthened considerably, but it is still insufficient to let him control that Heavenly Capital Insect Corpse which is barely comparable to a Golden Core cultivator.

But if he adds this corpse control method, combining insect and corpse control in a dual approach, there might actually be a slim chance.

「Just how I feel that insect control, corpse control, and beast soul banner seem to be going further and further down the demonic path. »

Yunhe's expression was strange.

But he also had to admit that, although heretical side-door methods are not orthodox, they are among the fastest ways to increase strength.

It's no wonder so many short-sighted, profit-seeking people fall into the demonic path.

Fortunately, his Dao heart is firm, his divine sense is strong, and he also has the 「Great Longevity Five Elements True Scripture」 protecting him, so he won't be influenced in mind by heretical methods.

Afterward, he also found some corpse refining materials and a portion of Elixirs in the stone coffin.

「Probably this is it. »

He placed a bottle of Elixir under his nose to smell it; combined with the earlier glance at the Jade Slip, this elixir should be the antidote to 「Corpse-Dissolving Powder」.

He tipped out one pellet, circulated his mana, and sent it into Liu Tianhong's mouth.

The corpse spots on her arm gradually faded, and her breath also gradually steadied.

However, due to the corrosion of 「Corpse-Dissolving Powder」, she will not wake up so quickly.

He put away the stone coffin and various miscellaneous items.

He sent Liu Tianhong outside the stone chamber, to a relatively safe spot in the Gobi desert, set up a simple formation to conceal his aura and hide his figure, and also left dozens of red-ringed gold-spotted hornets hidden far away in the dark to protect.

Afterward, he also used the 「Dispelling Evil Technique」 to erase the 「Evil Qi Guide」 left on his body from opening the stone coffin.

After finishing these, he then came again to the outside of the stone cave.

Gazing at that pitch-black cave, his expression flickered.

After hesitating for a while, he still went in.

According to his nature, he should at this point try to notify Chi Yihong, so that with his late Foundation Establishment cultivation base plus himself, the two working together would make exploring this place safer.

But from the black wood's Jade Slip earlier, he found a Jade Slip left by his master for him.

The general meaning is that, about a hundred years ago, the three demon sect Golden Core cultivators of the Blood Sect, Corpse Sect, and Enchanting Sect, while passing through this place, unintentionally discovered some clues; upon investigation they learned it was an item not yet fully formed, a Golden Core spiritual object.

Thus they jointly sealed this place, each leaving a prohibition, agreeing to come retrieve it once it matured.

But with the outbreak of the righteous-demonic war, they found it hard to free themselves under the close watch of numerous righteous Golden Core cultivators; even though they had already attained Golden Core, they would not risk their lives for this object, so they decided to send their disciples instead.

It was both for training and to give them a chance to have one more Golden Core demonic cultivator among their disciples, giving them more say in the sect.

Other things Yunhe can disregard.

But the spirit objects for forming a golden core are not the same.

He has a long lifespan; as long as he focuses on cultivation, he has absolute confidence in reaching Foundation Establishment perfection.

But a long lifespan does not mean there is no bottleneck.

Countless cultivators push their cultivation base to the limit, only to be stuck by the bottleneck, wasting decades or even centuries of lifespan in vain.

Spirit objects for forming a golden core can increase the success rate of golden core formation; they are what he needs.

When it's time to be steady, he must be steady; but when it's time to contend, he will absolutely not retreat.

Isn't all this steadiness just so that, when it's necessary to contend, he can produce stronger means?

He returned to the stone chamber again.

He arrived at the deepest part.

The silver-armored corpse refiner is also here, constantly howling as it continuously waves its sharp claws at the rock wall, as if something inside is attracting and summoning it.

Ding ding ding—

Yunhe gently shook the six-sided copper bell in his hand.

The clear sound rang out, sending ripples of indistinct waves; the silver-armored corpse refiner's movement suddenly stalled, and it stiffly walked to Yunhe's side.

'Not proficient, controlling it is too stiff; it simply cannot reach that person's level.'

He shook his head and walked to the stone wall.

Indeed, he saw the seal left behind.

Immediately, following the method mentioned in the Jade Slip, he continuously cast one seal after another.

After about an hour.

Boom—

The stone wall trembled slightly, emitting a rumbling sound.

(End of chapter)