Chapter 468: Soul‑Infusing Gu Corpse

As expected of a fifth‑level existence, even after dying for so many years, with its corpse split in two places, it still possesses such might.

Yunhe gazed at the black corpse that appeared before him, resembling a small mountain, whose aura remained extraordinarily formidable.

Were it not for the protection of the local formation, the waves of aura spreading out would be enough to leave any cultivator below Nascent Soul within the Ice Immortal Pavilion gasping for breath.

"I don't yet know whether the present Corpse Soul Gu can suppress this fifth‑level corpse."

The External Incarnation spoke, somewhat worried.

This is also something Yunhe is not entirely confident about.

Although the Corpse Soul Gu's recent transformation yielded great gains, giving him confidence to face even a Heaven Corpse Gu,

but this is ultimately a fifth‑level Abyss Clan corpse; the Heaven Corpse Gu could let Yunhe seize it so easily precisely because even the Heaven Corpse Gu cannot control this corpse.

No matter how precious it is, if it cannot be controlled, it can at best serve as a fine material.

Moreover, one of the Abyss Clan's most important assets is the Soul Infant; this corpse has long lacked a Soul Infant, making it even harder to drive.

Compared with the Heaven Corpse Gu, the Corpse Soul Gu is clearly superior in the aspect of "soul."

Now Yunhe also has the aid of a Gu Furnace that has reached the supreme fourth‑level tier.

The Heaven Corpse Gu is more broad‑spectrum, whereas the Corpse Soul Gu is more targeted.

Yunhe drew a faint breath, light flickering in his eyes as his mana began to circulate.

If there is any respect in which the Corpse Soul Gu falls short of the Heaven Corpse Gu, it is certainly the ability of the Concealed Offspring Gu.

Sensing the change, Yunhe and his External Incarnation almost simultaneously furrowed their brows, and a completely different aura surged from their bodies to resist.

Suddenly.

The offspring Gu of the Heaven Corpse Gu, even if it possesses the cultivation base and divine sense of a Nascent Soul cultivator, will hardly be detected unless it reaches mid‑Nascent Soul cultivation and is accompanied by highly focused divine‑sense probing.

He unleashed a spell seal and sacrificed the Gu Furnace.

Bang!!

This is one of the differences between the two kinds of Gu.

Merely this smoke is enough to confuse an ordinary early‑Nascent Soul cultivator who comes into contact with it.

Yunhe stared fixedly at the corpse continually emitting a terrifying aura, the brilliance in his eyes growing ever brighter.

Hiss—

This one before him is quite special.

And the offspring Gu of the Corpse Soul Gu slipped into the corpse through those seemingly insignificant gaps.

However, this shortcoming can, to a certain extent, be compensated for by the aid of this fourth‑level supreme Gu Furnace.

To call them Abyss Clan cultivators would be inaccurate, since most of their bodies have already transformed into Abyss Beasts.

At the same time.

"You take charge of the formation; if this continues, even the mere aura could risk collapsing the formation." Yunhe said.

Strands of white smoke gradually enveloped the mountain‑like corpse.

A tiny red censer, no larger than a palm, flew from his sleeve; he then placed the mother Gu of the Heaven Corpse Gu inside the Gu Furnace and closed the lid.

If the offspring Gu imitates the aura of divine sense, then unless the observer is a cultivator of divine sense one rank higher than the High Corpse Soul Gu, there is virtually no chance of detecting any clue.

A more overbearing and terrifying aura, chilling to the bone, surged forth from the corpse.

"Huh?"

"No, this also relates to the corpse's particular nature."

Accompanied by faint sounds and movements, tiny minuscule cracks appeared on several of the hard bones.

"We'll find out by trying."

As the white smoke spread, one indistinguishable insect after another emerged within the mist.

The Gu Furnace landed on the ground, and strands of peculiar white smoke rose up.

Otherwise, if there exists a Gu with similar abilities, it can sense the presence of the offspring Gu.

Even a corpse of a true incarnation cultivator could not remain in such a state after tens of thousands of years, let alone more.

Furthermore.

"As befitting a fifth‑level being comparable to a Spirit Transformation cultivator, even after dying for so many years, upon stimulation it can still release such a terrifying aura."

As for the offspring Gu of the Corpse Soul Gu, any cultivator who has reached Nascent Soul level—even just early Nascent Soul—can detect it with a little focused attention.

Of course, this all presupposes that the Corpse Soul Gu's offspring Gu has not imitated the aura of divine sense.

The External Incarnation had no objection; without a word it produced a compass, infused it with mana, and began maintaining the formation that enveloped this place.

And with his oversight, the formation that had been wavering instantly became stable.

"Understood."

However, the Corpse Soul Gu, after all, is still a Corpse Soul Gu; it shares some abilities with the Heaven Corpse Gu, but also differs in others.

Hum—

If one were to call it an Abyss Beast, its skull still retains the shape of the Abyss Clan, and before death it should have retained a last vestige of human reason.

Hum!!

As the number of offspring Gu burrowing into the corpse increased, the mountain‑like corpse shuddered violently.

A mist thicker than the white smoke billowed forth.

The two mists intertwined, black and white interlaced, and faintly there was the rumble of tiny thunder.

Yunhe and his External Incarnation almost simultaneously started in surprise.

"Alive?"

"No." Yunhe's body gradually tensed, and the Five Five‑Element Thunder Swords protecting him flew out on their own, ringing as they circled and lingered around his form.

In the blink of an eye, a strange light flashed from his pupils.

Spiritual Eyes, Pupil Technique!

Five-colored Flowing Light Wheel Turning.

His gaze pierced through layers of mist and fell upon that corpse.

. Group of Dragons Leaderless

Yunhe narrowed his eyes.

"Main body, you've considered this well; this corpse obviously has a huge problem. Even if, in the state of severed head and body, it suddenly 'comes' to life without reason, our combined strength can handle it. But if we rejoin its head and body, the situation will become uncontrollable."

The external incarnation beside him obviously noticed Yunhe's action and couldn't help but speak up to remind him.

After all, he hadn't seen what Yunhe had 'seen'; he was just being cautious and gave a reminder.

However, the external incarnation also understood that since the main body dared to do this, it indicated at least a ninety percent confidence; their caution in this regard was the same.

"It's fine." Yunhe said slowly.

He waved his arm.

A skull reduced to grayish-white bone appeared in the cultivation chamber.

Upon sensing the skull's appearance, the corpse, which had only twitched before falling silent, became agitated again, especially the aura it emitted, which grew increasingly fierce and intimidating.

Ordinary early Yuan Ying cultivators would probably struggle to withstand this spreading aura.

It not only contained the powerful aura of the Abyss Clan and Abyss Beast, but also harbored a long‑lingering corpse qi.

But Yunhe seemed unmoved, merely directing the white smoke to support the white bone as it approached the corpse.

And as the white bone drew nearer, the corpse grew increasingly 'agitated'.

Gurgle—

Sounds like boiling water suddenly rose up.

The layers of thick, hard black gelatinous substance on the corpse began to writhe as if melting.

Click, click‑click!

Accompanied by several sounds of bone collisions.

The skull, reduced to white bone, was awkwardly jammed into the massive corpse.

Judging by appearance alone, this is a typical case of a severely disproportionate head and body.

However.

As the melted black gelatinous substance continued to writhe, it gradually covered the white bone bit by bit.

Gradually enveloping it.

The white bone skull, which had roughly resembled a human skull, gradually took on the ferocious, hideous form of an Abyss Beast under the black gelatinous coating.

"This is..." the external incarnation was somewhat startled, yet seemed to have a sudden realization.

"That's right." Yunhe wore a calm, resolute expression—or rather, this result made him resolute: "The original owner of this corpse was, in fact, beheaded while an Abyss Clan cultivator was irreversibly transforming into an Abyss Beast."

If he hadn't guessed wrong, that Abyss Clan cultivator, while preserving his last shred of reason, had managed to keep his body under control after his head was cut off, and thus died.

That transformation was forcibly interrupted.

The Abyss Clan cultivator had no choice but to store the head and corpse separately.

Now, under Yunhe's guidance, the skull once again contacts the corpse, and the transformation that had been unable to continue resumes.

Once the transformation is complete, it will become entirely the corpse of a fifth‑rank Abyss Beast.

That's right—it remains a corpse.

No divine soul can exist for tens of thousands of years without a body, vessel, or other carrier; perhaps Upper Realm cultivators could manage it, but a fifth‑rank or an incarnation cannot.

So although it can continue to metamorphose, even if the metamorphosis finishes, it is still merely a corpse.

"However."

Yunhe took a few steps forward.

The Gu furnace on the ground flew back into his hand.

And as he poured more mana into the Gu furnace, a stronger white smoke rose up.

Hiss—

The mother poison insect in the Gu furnace emitted several faint sounds.

Next, the white smoke emanating from the Gu furnace gradually darkened with a layer of black!

Furthermore.

The aura emitted by the child poison insect within that black smoke gradually shifted to become indistinguishable from that of an Abyss Beast.

Long ago, when Yunhe slew his first Abyss Beast, the black soul crystal he had condensed was absorbed by the corpse‑soul poison insect.

Afterward, Yunhe slew many more Abyss Beasts and Abyss Clan cultivators; most of their black soul crystals, soul infants, and divine souls were absorbed by the corpse‑soul poison insect.

Therefore, as long as the corpse‑soul poison insect is willing, it can at any time mimic the divine‑soul aura of an Abyss Beast or an Abyss Clan cultivator.

However, if directed at other Abyss Beasts or Abyss Clan members, this divine‑soul aura would not only be ineffective but would actually make identification easier.

But the point is, this corpse has long been 'dead,' so naturally it possesses no inherent divine‑soul aura.

More importantly.

"This Abyss Clan member—no, this Abyss Beast's corpse has not dissipated, indicating that its black soul crystal has not completely vanished."

Yunhe had long wondered how an Abyss Beast's black soul crystal is produced and how it persists; after his continual research and now this 'verification,' he realized that the Abyss Beast's black, hard, gelatinous‑like outer shell is precisely where its black soul crystal resides.

That is to say.

As an Abyss Clan cultivator, his soul infant and divine soul have already dissipated, but as an Abyss Beast, his black soul crystal still retains a portion.

Yes, a portion.

But as a fifth‑rank entity, even just a portion is far beyond what a Yuan Ying cultivator can bear.

And what Yunhe needs to do is.

It is simply that the child gu of the Heaven Corpse Gu imitates the aura of the Abyssal Beast's Black Soul Crystal, and then the Black Soul Crystal of this fifth‑level Abyssal Beast, which is deficient, is 'replenished' to completeness.

Because it originally lacked a divine soul and will, as a corpse soul gu that has filled an important part of its Black Soul Crystal, it can to some extent 'drive' that corpse and use its abilities.

Furthermore, with the child gu filling its body, this fifth‑level Abyssal Beast corpse can be refined into a special corpse‑refined body, or what is called a Soul‑Infused Gu Corpse.

"So, the question now is whether the Heaven Corpse Gu can bear this power that far exceeds its own." The external incarnation looked at the trembling corpse and said slowly.

Indeed.

Yunhe's eyes were also fixed on that corpse; he naturally understood the key point better than the external incarnation.

After all, this is the corpse of a fifth‑level Abyssal Beast; even though it fell tens of thousands of years ago, its ability is still preserved at seventy‑to‑eighty percent, so one can imagine how great the pressure is for a corpse soul gu that is only at the mid‑Fourth Level stage.

Even with the support of a fourth‑level top‑grade magic treasure gu furnace, it might not be able to make up for this gap.

However, it is not entirely without opportunity.

After all, the corpse soul gu is no longer an ordinary gu; its very birth was quite coincidental, and after following Yunhe it has moreover devoured a great deal of divine souls—even divine souls that have reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage have been swallowed twofold, and even though the divine soul of Qilin Changlan has not yet been fully digested, it is still incomparable to any other gu.

Moreover,

Moreover, the corpse soul gu has also swallowed a strand of the Heaven Corpse Gu's divided soul and most of its body.

At present, the corpse soul gu is at least not inferior to the Heaven Corpse Gu.

Boom!!

Suddenly.

Under the gaze of Yunhe and the external incarnation, that gu worm, which had lain dormant for who knows how many years, actually staggered to its feet.

Seeing this, both of their eyes simultaneously flashed with sharp light.

But soon, Yunhe frowned again; before he could speak, the external incarnation tacitly understood, saying, 'I know.'

Clatter—

The Beast Soul Banner suddenly appeared in his hand.

The gray‑white banner fluttered and made a sound, thick corpse‑killing qi surged forth, and ferocious beast souls of various forms appeared one after another.

Under the external incarnation's control, a single beast soul, carrying a fierce corpse‑killing qi, surged into the Abyssal Beast's corpse like a moth flying into a flame.

The next moment.

The trembling form of the Abyssal Beast's corpse gradually steadied; the black gelatin writhing on its body slowly recovered and once again condensed into hard, sturdy armor.

Moreover, the Abyssal Beast's head had completely turned into an extremely ferocious and ugly beast skull; aside from its lifeless eyes, it was exactly like a fifth‑level Abyssal Beast standing before one!

Having received a massive supplement of corpse‑killing qi, the offspring gu of the corpse soul gu finally filled the deficiency in the Abyssal Beast's Black Soul Crystal!

"Roar!!!"

A loud, terrifying howl suddenly rang out, and both Yunhe and the external incarnation felt a faint tremor in their divine souls.

"Success?!"

The external incarnation's eyes lit up.

Boom!!

But after a single sound, the Abyssal Beast's corpse crashed heavily back to the ground.

(End of Chapter)