Chapter 180: Law Aspect Realm Corpse Refinement, the Three Captured
The soul was covered in purple demonic flames, emitting a shrill, miserable scream!
Not only that, as these purple flames burned the middle-aged woman's soul, specks of purple light continuously flew toward Fang Xu and directly drilled into his body.
This is!
Fang Xu was somewhat horrified; he knew the terror of the purple flames.
That was the fusion of his own Divine Flame and the purplish-black aura from his aperture space!
The Divine Flame could already burn a martial artist's flesh and soul, and combined with the purplish-black aura, its power became even more terrifying.
If this flew onto me...
Hmm?
After those purple specks drilled into his body, they actually rapidly dissipated!
A stream of the purest cool energy surged into his sea of consciousness!
So comfortable!
This energy surged into the sea of consciousness, instantly absorbed by the soul within, bringing a sense of comfort from the soul that made Fang Xu feel light-headed and elated!
This feeling was like... when absorbing a spiritual attribute inheritance!
With a guess in mind, Fang Xu became somewhat excited.
Roar!
A giant bear shadow appeared on his body's surface, and as Fang Xu moved to the man's side, he directly slapped out with one palm!
Boom!
For him, whose power control had risen to another level, even a casually slapped palm carried great might!
The double-axe warrior couldn't dodge in time and solidly took Fang Xu's palm on his shoulder!
Crack!
The idea of relying on hunting others' souls to enhance oneself was inherently against heaven and harmony; if I did this and became addicted, I would be completely controlled by inner demons, with no way back, ultimately turning into a demon who only knows slaughter to increase strength.
A pair of eyes blazing with angry fire stared at Fang Xu!
Facing this rapidly incoming axe blade, Fang Xu's black iron staff directly thrust forward, then lifted up!
The two actions were almost instantaneously completed.
Severe pain made his body tremble slightly!
The soul's hand gripping the violently writhing black thread suddenly burst into purple flames!
Under the burning of the Divine Flame, the black thread, along with a small part of Fang Xu's soul, was directly burned to ashes!
Whoosh!
The axe in hand swept horizontally, attempting to push Fang Xu back; the double-axe warrior had already made a plan.
Fang Xu's eyes flashed with a hint of hesitation, but in the end he still dared not use the Divine Flame, directly crushing the man's soul with his black iron staff!
The battle continued; due to numerical disadvantage, the Immortal Island had gradually yielded the coastline.
Seeing his elder sister's soul burned to ashes by the Divine Flame, completely losing the chance of possession, the double-axe warrior flew into a rage!
But that black thread was extremely stubborn, seemingly unwilling to be stripped away.
All of this happened very quickly.
At the same time the sound of a broken arm bone came, his figure was also blasted outward!
Bang!
Pfft!
This staff strike was so powerful that the double-axe warrior's body was directly swept underground!
A large amount of blood mist mixed with fragments of internal organs sprayed from his mouth, obviously suffering severe trauma!
This black thread rapidly grew when he had the thought of hunting others to harvest soul origins to enhance himself!
Inner demon!
Fang Xu closely followed, his form flickering; before the man landed, his staff came down from above, viciously lashing the man's chest!
No!
The corner of his mouth slightly lifted; he suddenly lowered his body, nearly sliding along the ground, dodging the man's horizontal sweep while also moving to his flank.
Whoosh!
Apparently to block Fang Xu's dodging path, the right hand's short axe directly swept horizontally!
Two axe blades approached Fang Xu in a cross-shaped attack!
Being able to nearly instantly kill a slightly stronger middle-aged woman was due to the woman's carelessness.
He clearly knew this kid was very formidable.
Fang Xu suddenly realized this black thread should be the inner demon often mentioned in xianxia novels from his past life!
If struck by these two axe blades, his body would instantly be minced into meat paste!
Seeing this, Fang Xu was not particularly surprised.
Having blocked Fang Xu's strike, the double-axe warrior had already suppressed his anger, his face somewhat solemn as he glanced at Fang Xu.
In the flash of lightning and stone, Fang Xu glimpsed the short axe in the other's hand continuously gathering power, knowing that if he dodged, he would inevitably face the opponent's most violent attack.
Seeing this, Fang Xu hardened his heart, directly pulling out that black thread along with the surrounding soul!
A faint black thread actually appeared above the soul's head!
When Fang Xu's consciousness returned to his body, the axe-wielding Martial Warrior of the Elemental Martial Realm had already rushed up close!
Clang!
Clang!
Having blocked the double-axe warrior's attack, he gave no chance for continued offense, his form flickering several times, then suddenly leaping!
Roar!
A massive tiger shadow wrapped around Fang Xu's body, the black iron staff becoming tiger claws, and it swept straight toward the double-axe warrior!
In an instant, Fang Xu suddenly felt his soul tremble slightly.
Purely in terms of strength, he could indeed contend with a late-stage Elemental Martial Realm cultivator, but after all, he was not an Elemental Martial Realm cultivator.
The spiritual attribute affects one's comprehension, and this kind of additional attribute is extremely rare.
But having personally witnessed his elder sister die at Fang Xu's hands, when facing Fang Xu now, though his heart was filled with fury, he dared not underestimate him.
The double axes in his hands were even covered by a heaven-reaching killing aura!
"You little beast, return my elder sister's life!"
If I were to act rashly with anger heating my head, I fear I would not only fail to avenge my elder sister, but might even end up dying at the opponent's hands.
In all my years of treading the martial path, I have gained fewer than two hundred points in total; if, after transformation, the divine flame of the God-Yan fire, when burning the enemy's soul, could absorb others' spiritual attributes, then in the future...
This black thread was filled with brutality, slaughter, evil, and other extremely intense auras.
Whoosh!
The left-hand short axe swung violently, a massive axe blade carrying the force of splitting mountains flew toward Fang Xu!
Raising the double axes above his head, he prepared to block the incoming tiger claw!
Clang!
The black iron staff struck the two short axes, causing the double-axe warrior's body to sink violently!
But in the end, it was still blocked by him.
Sizzle!
Thinking of this, he immediately invoked the power of Xuan Water to prepare to detach that wisp of black thread from his soul, then thoroughly refine it.
Although the double-axe warrior only had mid-stage Elemental Martial Realm strength, it was nonetheless a genuine Elemental Martial Realm cultivator.
The double-axe warrior's strength was slightly weaker than that of the previous middle-aged woman.
There was no way around it; these guys besieging the Immortal Island were themselves quite a few pirates.
After receiving the reward promised by that youth, and upon hearing that whoever seizes the treasures on Immortal Island gets to keep them, they had already plunged completely into madness.
This is the Ascension Immortal Assembly!
The strongest sect in the surrounding seas.
Seeing these people fearlessly charging toward the island, Fang Xu was preparing to intercept them, when suddenly he saw a figure engulfed in faint flames charging forward!
Kong Jie!
This madwoman, after being defeated by Fang Xu, learned that Fang Xu's Xuan Water soul could alleviate the pain brought by her Xuan Yang Holy Body; during that time she sought out Fang Xu once, but afterward she never appeared before him again.
At this moment, appearing on the battlefield, she clearly had gained much greater control over her body.
The figure burning with faint flames appeared among the martial artists; Kong Jie resembled a female war god, and as her fists swung, large numbers of martial artists were blasted away!
Some martial artists around the fifth level of the Martial Sovereign Realm, upon being struck by her fists, had their bodies directly explode into blood mist, appearing extremely bloody!
Seeing Kong Jie on this side, Fang Xu no longer worried and prepared to go to the other side to assist other core disciples.
But before his body could move, behind the Immortal Island disciples, a figure clad in hemp clothing, holding an axe in hand, slowly walked over.
This figure was precisely Liu Xin.
It seemed he had just arrived on the battlefield; Liu Xin glanced around at the situation, saw the Immortal Island disciples struggling to defend, his face showed no expression, holding the axe in hand, he simply stepped past the Immortal Island disciples' defense line and walked toward the enemy.
This action of his stunned both sides in the battle.
"Where did this idiot come from!?"
"Let old man kill him!"
Among the enemies, a early-stage Elemental Martial Realm cultivator was startled by Liu Xin's intimidation, then noticed that Liu Xin was actually only a peak Martial Sovereign, a flash of anger crossed his face, he raised his long sword and charged forward in fury.
Liu Xin looked at him, slowly raised the axe in his hand, and swung it down like chopping wood.
Pfft!
In the astonished gazes of the crowd, a Elemental Martial Realm cultivator seemed to have simply stuck his head out and collided with Liu Xin's axe blade!
The huge head was directly chopped off by the axe, rolling away with a gurgling sound.
The enemies stared at each other, obviously still not understanding what Liu Xin's attack was all about.
On the sea surface, several martial artists wearing Ming Hun Dao attire floated silently.
"Uncle, look clearly— that kid holding the black iron staff, that woman with flames burning on her body, and this strange fellow who just arrived."
The youth with a gloomy countenance and narrow eyes bowed his hands toward a short, dark-skinned elder.
"Hehe... and that little girl controlling sea beasts."
"Go, bring back the souls of these few people intact."
Behind the elder, several young disciples of Ming Hun Dao excitedly clasped their hands: "Uncle, rest assured!"
Having said that, several people immediately flew up and charged forward.
The gloomy-faced man locked onto Fang Xu, while the others respectively charged toward Liu Xin, Kong Jie, and Gu Qiu.
Fang Xu was preparing to find an opponent when he suddenly noticed the gloomy man appearing before him.
"Ghost Xuan of the Ming Hun Dao has come to take your life."
Upon seeing Fang Xu, the gloomy man confidently announced his name.
In his eyes, taking Fang Xu's life seemed as easy as plucking a wild flower from the roadside.
Fang Xu glanced at Ghost Xuan as if looking at an idiot, not knowing where this fellow got his confidence.
Ghost Xuan also noticed Fang Xu's gaze; his narrow eyes flashed with a hint of gloom, then he slowly extended his palm.
Cry!
A huge ghostly shadow condensed from black mist emitted a piercing, mournful wail as it rushed toward Fang Xu!
Fang Xu saw this, and with a light wave of the black long staff in his hand, he prepared to crush that ghostly apparition!
But that ferocious ghostly apparition directly passed through the black iron long staff at this moment, rushing toward Fang Xu's body!
In an instant, it entered Fang Xu's body.
Invaded by the ghostly apparition, Fang Xu's body stood frozen on the spot!
Gui Xuan saw this, and a hint of disdain appeared on his face.
"I thought you were quite formidable..."
"Before my Yin Sha Ghost General, you are nothing but an ant."
Saying this, he waved his hand again, releasing a mass of black mist.
Within the black mist, two figures holding chains and wearing tattered armor slowly stepped out, walking straight to Fang Xu, swinging the iron chains in their hands, preparing to extract Fang Xu's soul.
Clang!
Just as the black chains were about to wrap around Fang Xu's body, a black hand directly grabbed the two chains.
The black hand burned with purple flames; the moment it seized the chains, the purple flames quickly spread along the chains toward the two tattered-armored Yin souls!
Uh!
Ah!
Burned by the purple flames, the two Yin souls let out piercing screams, frantically beating their bodies, trying to extinguish the purple flames.
But the transformed Divine Flame was extremely fierce; in the blink of an eye, it burned the two Yin souls to ashes.
Countless purple light points surged into Fang Xu's body.
The black shadow stepped directly out of Fang Xu's body, its other hand still gripping a struggling black mist shadow.
"Is this the means of your Ming Hun Dao?"
The black shadow Fang Xu let out a contemptuous laugh, then purple flames burst from his palm, directly burning the struggling black mist shadow into specks of purple light.
Gui Xuan saw this scene, his brows furrowed tightly.
"I didn't expect your soul to be so powerful..."
"Good, then killing my Yin Sha Ghost General will perfectly allow me to refine your soul into a new Yin Sha Ghost General."
A hint of greed appeared on his face, and then his hand slowly condensed a gray longsword.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
His form flickered like a ghost several times, and suddenly several apparitions of Gui Xuan appeared before Fang Xu.
These apparitions looked completely identical, with not the slightest difference in aura.
These apparitions bore the same expression, walking slowly toward Fang Xu from all directions.
Swish!
As one apparition neared Fang Xu, it suddenly swung the gray longsword in its hand!
An invisible sword aura slashed toward Fang Xu's Xuan Shui soul.
Pfft!
The Xuan Shui soul failed to dodge in time, taking the blow head-on, and a huge wound instantly appeared on its body.
Although the Xuan Shui soul healed this wound immediately, the pain from the soul injury still caused Fang Xu's body to tremble slightly.
Soul attack?
This Ming Hun Dao seems to have extremely deep research on the soul, with its main attack methods actually targeting the soul.
The Xuan Shui soul's eyes narrowed, and in the next moment, a giant sword directly appeared in its hand!
This giant sword was entirely purple-black, its blade covered with numerous strange patterns, looking very peculiar.
Among the countless Gui Xuan apparitions around, one apparition saw Fang Xu holding this giant sword, its expression somewhat startled.
Fang Xu's soul power had been constantly observing Gui Xuan's phantom movements; at this moment, noticing the expression on one Gui Xuan apparition's face was abnormal, he instantly guessed this was his true body!
Whoosh!
The giant sword swung, directly slashing toward Gui Xuan's true body!
Clang!
This strike was blocked by a gray blade, and the surrounding Gui Xuan apparitions vanished instantly.
"How could you have a soul weapon!?" Gui Xuan, blocking Fang Xu's strike, narrowed his eyes and questioned.
Soul weapon?
Fang Xu glanced at the giant sword in his hand, and understood clearly.
But he couldn't be bothered to reply to Gui Xuan; the Xuan Shui soul immediately activated the giant sword, continuing the attack.
Fighting with the soul is inherently extremely dangerous.
But they two: one is a genius disciple of Ming Hun Dao, inherently possessing far deeper understanding of the soul than other martial artists.
The other possesses the Xuan Shui soul, whose soul strength differs from ordinary people.
Relying on their foundations, the two souls clashed fiercely.
Fang Xu held the giant sword, the Xuan Shui soul continuously driving it, and instantly the giant sword burned with its faint purple flame!
Bearing the burning of the purple flame, the gray blade in Gui Xuan's hand continuously weakened; seeing he could barely block Fang Xu's attack, Gui Xuan's soul flickered, and Fang Xu instantly vanished into what seemed like another space, rushing toward Gui Xuan!
At the moment of rushing forward, the gray blade in his hand split into two, each hand holding one blade, delivering a cross slash at the position of Fang Xu's soul!
This is Gui Xuan's ultimate technique, the Ghost Shadow Ten Cross Flash!
Using this strike, Gui Xuan even confidently turned around, believing Fang Xu's soul would surely be completely severed by his ultimate technique.
He originally intended to capture Fang Xu's soul to refine into a Yin Sha Ghost General, but Fang Xu was too troublesome, so he could only give up and directly slay him.
Whoosh!
Just as Gui Xuan's soul was preparing to return to his body, Fang Xu's figure appeared directly before him.
Gui Xuan was slightly startled, then suddenly turned around!
Behind him was another figure of Fang Xu!
He obtained the figure intact, as if it had not been harmed by his own Ghost Shadow Cross Flash at all.
Without giving Gui Xuan a chance to react, the two Fang Xu figures in front and behind launched their attacks simultaneously.
He also possesses a secret technique similar to the one Gui Xuan just used.
The Yin-Yang Wandering Fish, derived from the Dragon Roaming Secret Technique, when executed with the soul at this moment, is even more terrifying than when performed with the physical body.
Gui Xuan could not tell which of the two Fang Xu figures in front and behind was the real one.
Dodging and weaving, he wanted to temporarily evade Fang Xu's strike.
But the speed of the soul is inherently not as comfortable as that of the flesh, pushed to the extreme!
Pfft!
When Gui Xuan raised the blade in his hand to block the Fang Xu behind him, a giant sword burning with purple flame directly pierced through his soul from behind!
Gui Xuan lowered his head to look at the giant sword burning with purple flame, feeling the scorching sensation transmitted from his soul, somewhat incredulously wanting to turn back, but discovered that the Fang Xu behind him had already vanished, while the Fang Xu in front held the giant sword, silently gazing at him.
Gui Xuan was dazed.
Until his soul was burned by the purple flame into countless purple specks of light, he still seemed unable to understand why the Fang Xu he had believed to be the true body turned into a false one at the last moment.
And when he prepared to look toward the true body, the false body became the true body……
A large amount of purple light points merged into Fang Xu's soul, causing his soul to instantly condense considerably.
At the same time, a faint black thread also appeared on his soul.
Fang Xu, experienced and adept, pulled the black heart demon from his body and burned it to nothing with a fire.
He knew very well that he absolutely could not give the heart demon any chance to grow stronger, otherwise he would fall into an endless abyss.
In reality, at this moment, Fang Xu and Gui Xuan still appeared to be silently facing each other in the eyes of outsiders.
Only when Fang Xu slowly turned around did the Gui Xuan behind him completely lose all vitality, dying on the spot.
After dealing with Gui Xuan, Fang Xu glanced at Gu Qiu, who was struggling to hold on, flashed his figure, and rushed straight over.
The one fighting Gu Qiu was also a disciple of the Ming Hun Dao, with cultivation at the Yuan Wu realm as well.
Logically, Gu Qiu's strength should not be enough to directly confront a Yuan Wu realm cultivator, even with the addition of a hundred armor-transformed Ghost Face Army soldiers.
However, Gu Qiu is the Ten Thousand Poisons Saint Body; the poisons within his body can target not only the physical form, but also the soul, causing massive damage upon contact.
This disciple of the Ming Hun Dao, when facing Gu Qiu, rashly used a soul attack, only to have the Yin Sha Gui Jiang poisoned to death by the poisons within Gu Qiu's body, leaving him somewhat hesitant and fearful.
As for the surrounding Ghost Face Army, in the eyes of this Ming Hun Dao disciple, they were merely a group of even more peculiar fellows!
He had originally planned to use Yin Soldiers to draw out the souls of the Ghost Face Army soldiers, but the soul-hooking chains of the Yin Soul Soldiers, when drawn from within the Ghost Face Army, pulled out instead a giant scarlet-shelled beetle!
After these scarlet beetles were drawn out, they could quickly transform into a stream of red liquid and burrow back into the bodies of the Ghost Face Army soldiers.
Both sides fell into a kind of stalemate, yet even so, Gu Qiu still suffered considerable harm.
Fang Xu rushed forward and blocked the attack of this Ming Hun Dao disciple.
"You..."
This disciple of the Ming Hun Dao was greatly surprised upon seeing Fang Xu.
They, as senior brothers, had already divided their respective targets among themselves.
Fang Xu was facing their strongest senior brother; in his view, the script should not have unfolded this way.
The Fang Xu before him should not have been killed by the senior brother; the one appearing before him now should not have been the senior brother Gui Xuan, should it?
"Go keep your senior brother company." Fang Xu's palm suddenly slapped onto his skull, a cluster of purple flame directly enveloping his head.
Specks of purple light points emerged from his seven orifices, surging into Fang Xu's body.
After doing all this, Fang Xu supported Gu Qiu and asked with concern: "Are you alright?"
Gu Qiu shook her head, but the pallor on her face still betrayed her stubbornness.
"Take her back to rest; you all should also withdraw back into the island."
Although the armor-transformed Ghost Face Army is strong, their numbers are still too few, their foundation too weak, fearing they might suffer losses, Fang Xu immediately decided to let them escort Gu Qiu to withdraw first to the island for rest.
The Ghost Face Army escorted Gu Qiu away from the battlefield.
On the other side, Kong Jie and Liu Xin also resolved their battle.
Obviously, both of them have means to deal with the Ming Hun Dao.
In the small-scale battle, the Immortal Island has gained some advantages, but on the overall battlefield, the disadvantages of the Immortal Island are becoming increasingly evident.
Moreover, at this moment on the sea surface, there are still dozens of terrifying auras watching coldly from the sidelines.
Once they make a move, the disadvantage of the Immortal Island will only grow greater.
Fang Xu slowly approached Liu Xin and Kong Jie: "Kong Senior Sister, Liu Senior Brother, we need to think of a way."
Liu Xin nodded, gazing at the retreating disciples of the Immortal Island, until at this moment the three of them realized they must act quickly, otherwise the casualties among the Immortal Island disciples would likely become even more tragic.
"Little brat, you can't go anywhere now." As the three were patrolling to decide where to reinforce, a figure suddenly appeared before them.
"Is it you?"
Seeing the appearing figure, Fang Xu slightly furrowed his brow.
The figure appearing before them was precisely the old goat-bearded man who had used the Mirage Old Man to capture Gu Qiu and others earlier.
The old man seemed not to belong to the Ming Hun Dao.
"Leave this old fellow to me; you go reinforce others."
Upon seeing the old man appear, Kong Jie's eyes flashed with intense fighting spirit, and the fist in her hand directly smashed toward the goat-bearded old man!
"What a powerful Saint Body, excellent material……"
Facing Kong Jie's attack, the goat-bearded old man quickly dodged while involuntarily letting out an exclamation from his mouth.
"Alright, let my treasures play with you."
He flashed aside, creating distance from Kong Jie, and the old man suddenly waved his hand!
In the next moment, a row of figures emitting a foul stench appeared before them.
Corpse refinement!
Twelve entire Elemental Martial Realm refined corpses!
Seeing this, Fang Xu and Liu Xin exchanged a glance, considering how the three of them should distribute the defense, but Kong Jie beside them suddenly erupted with terrifying flames!
"It's you!"
"Damned Yin Corpse Sect!"
Kong Jie spoke while walking toward the goat-bearded old man.
Behind her, a blazing great sun appeared, burning intensely.
At this moment, the power of her Profound Yang Sacred Body had been pushed to its utmost by her.
Seeing Kong Jie instantly discern his identity, the goat-bearded old man frowned slightly and said: "You actually know the Yin Corpse Sect?"
"Little girl, who are you?"
Kong Jie stepped forward toward the goat-bearded old man.
"Xuan Xuan Realm, Southern Frontier, Chiyan Tribe..."
She uttered these words, word by word, with pauses.
Upon hearing this, the goat-bearded old man was first stunned, then burst into loud laughter.
"So you're that little girl who fled from the Chiyan Tribe..."
"I didn't expect you to come here... Ah, I remember now—was it that elder from the Ascension Immortal Assembly who sent you?"
"He risked his life to save you back then..."
As the goat-bearded old man kept speaking, the great sun behind Kong Jie began to tremble violently.
"Senior Sister Kong, he's deliberately trying to provoke you!"
Having exchanged blows with Kong Jie and knowing her Profound Yang Sacred Body is extremely unstable, Fang Xu understands how dangerous she would be if she completely lost her rationality.
The goat-bearded old man clearly also noticed that Kong Jie, who possesses the Profound Yang Sacred Body, is easily provoked, and began continuously stimulating her with words.
"Little girl, do you know how your life-saving benefactor is now?"
"He has been refined by the elders of my Yin Corpse Sect into the strongest refined corpse."
"Tsk tsk, a Law Aspect Realm refined corpse—my Yin Corpse Sect doesn't have many of those..."
Under the continuous provocation of the goat-bearded old man, the scorching heat emitted by the great sun behind Kong Jie grew increasingly terrifying.
Consequently, the surrounding rocks began to melt.
This indiscriminate attack left Fang Xu and Liu Xin unable to withstand it, forcing them to continually retreat.
"Kill..."
"I will kill you!"
"Kill you filthy wretches!"
At this moment, Kong Jie's entire body was wrapped in orange-red flames, resembling a terrifying flame demon.
Before the goat-bearded old man, the twelve Elemental Martial Realm refined corpses had not even made a move when they were already melted by the extreme yang flame heat contained within Kong Jie's body.
The goat-bearded old man seemed to feel no pity at all, continuing to provoke Kong Jie without cease.
"This old man has a scheme." Liu Xin gripped the axe in his hand, seeing the goat-bearded old man retreat while luring Kong Jie, and spoke in a deep voice.
Fang Xu glanced at the coastline behind the old man, his brows slightly furrowed.
He also couldn't figure out what the goat-bearded old man intended to do.
Could he be planning to use seawater to counteract Kong Jie's extreme yang flames?
Gone mad!
Could the flames produced by the Profound Yang Sacred Body possibly be restrained by ordinary seawater?
"I'll give it a try."
Liu Xin spoke calmly, staring at the terrifying heat, and stepped forward step by step toward Kong Jie and the goat-bearded old man.
"Senior Sister Kong, let me..."
Liu Xin had intended to tell Kong Jie to let him test the old man's strength first, but before he could finish speaking, the completely irrational Kong Jie suddenly swung a punch!
This punch was aimed at Liu Xin!
"Get lost!"
"He's mine!"
"Whoever stops me from killing him, I will kill them!"
A hoarse voice came from Kong Jie's mouth, and Liu Xin was also forced back by her punch.
"Senior Brother Liu, go around."
At this moment, Kong Jie was nearly indiscriminate between friend and foe, making it impossible for the two of them to pass her and engage the goat-bearded old man.
Liu Xin nodded, and the two moved left and right, preparing to flank.
The goat-bearded old man certainly had some scheme at this moment; although the two didn't know his exact plan, as long as they could stop his actions, it should suffice.
The goat-bearded old man lured Kong Jie while his gaze shifted toward Fang Xu and Liu Xin, who were attempting to flank.
"Hehe..."
"Come after me, all of you."
"Perfect—I'll net you all at once..."
"Two monsters who grasped the power of laws at the Martial Sovereign Realm, one Profound Yang Sacred Body... old man, I've struck it rich this time!"
The goatee muttered, his figure flashing several times, and then he appeared directly on the sea surface.
Ahead, Kong Jie, who was chasing the old man, continued to walk slowly toward the goatee on the sea surface.
Around him, the surging seawater at this moment was completely evaporated by the extreme yang flames, a large amount of water mist rose, blocking everyone's view.
Seeing the goatee old man actually escape onto the sea, Fang Xu and Liu Xin both felt a bad premonition rise in their hearts.
Indeed, in the two's spiritual sense, the old man on the sea surface suddenly struck out a black current of air at the seawater beneath his feet!
This black current of air directly turned the surrounding seawater into ink-like liquid.
Gurgle gurgle!
Gurgle gurgle!
The surrounding seawater, whether due to Kong Jie's terrifying high temperature boiling it or some other reason, was now bubbling continuously at this moment.
Just as Fang Xu and Liu Xin were cautiously guarding their surroundings, the seawater beneath the old man's feet suddenly burst forth a huge stone coffin!
The stone coffin was entirely black, carved with strange patterns, bound by several dark iron chains.
The goatee old man landed on the stone coffin, waved his hand to release the iron chains on it, then slapped his palm onto the patterns on the coffin lid!
A gray, yin-evil current flowed swiftly along the patterns on the coffin lid!
Boom boom boom!
Boom boom boom!
The coffin lid of the stone coffin slowly opened.
Fang Xu and Liu Xin glanced at each other from afar, instantly becoming tense.
The stone coffin before them was already strange enough, and what was inside the stone coffin...
Whoosh!
A figure suddenly flew out before the eyes of the two in astonishment.
Seeing this figure, Kong Jie, who had originally lost her reason, suddenly froze.
"Uncle..."
At this moment, the flames on Kong Jie's body gradually faded, and the great sun behind her also gradually retreated.
Having returned to her original appearance, she stared blankly at the figure emerging from the stone coffin and called out "Uncle."
That figure wore white robes, had a gaunt face, and looked very much like the four elder guardians of the Immortal Island.
Under Kong Jie's cry of "Uncle," the white-robed figure slowly opened his eyes.
They were a pair of completely black pupils, with no whites at all.
The black pupils gazed at Kong Jie, and he slowly extended his palm.
Seeing this, Kong Jie showed a hint of a little girl's expression on her face, smiling as she walked toward that figure.
"Kong Senior Sister, danger!"
Seeing this, Fang Xu rushed forward, trying to grab Kong Jie.
The white-robed figure before them had no trace of vitality, obviously a corpse, absolutely not the uncle Kong Jie knew.
Bang!
Just as Fang Xu's figure rushed forward, the white-robed figure suddenly erupted with a terrifying aura!
This aura transformed into golden long swords, stabbing toward the approaching Fang Xu!
At the critical moment, the Dragon Scale Great Shield appeared!
Facing the attack of the golden long swords, the extremely hard Dragon Scale Great Shield was directly pierced through, the golden long swords carrying terrifying power flew straight toward Fang Xu's body!
Bang!
Bang!
It then pierced through two more Dragon Scale Great Shields in succession, and the golden long sword finally struck Fang Xu's body surface's Xuanwu Divine Light Shield!
The terrifying power caused the Xuanwu Divine Light Shield to flicker violently, and along with it, Fang Xu's body was also flung away!
Liu Xin flashed to support Fang Xu, her gaze toward the white-robed figure becoming very solemn.
"That is a Dharma Aspect Realm..."
Liu Xin said.
Fang Xu stood firm, his gaze lost as he looked at the white-robed figure: "That old guy just said, they of the Yin Corpse Sect refined an elder named Lian Xin from our Ascension Immortal Assembly into a corpse puppet..."
"Could this Elder Lian Xin be the same as Elder Lian Yao and the others who are the chief elders?"
Liu Xin nodded: "Probably."
At this moment, Kong Jie had already arrived before the white corpse puppet, gazing at its face, she stared blankly for a long time, then finally took another step, wanting to embrace the white corpse puppet.
But just then, the white corpse puppet's palm suddenly grabbed Kong Jie's neck!
Those hands were like iron hoops, slowly lifting Kong Jie up, no matter how she struggled or struck, it was useless.
A thick corpse qi surged from the white corpse puppet's palm, directly causing Kong Jie to faint from poisoning.
Swish!
The white corpse puppet's palm swung, throwing the unconscious Kong Jie to the goatee behind him.
Catching Kong Jie's body, the goatee was very excited: "Go ahead, be careful, don't damage their corpses."
The white corpse puppet slightly nodded, his figure flashed, and directly charged toward Fang Xu and Liu Xin!
Boom!
Seeing the white corpse puppet move, Fang Xu and Liu Xin's faces changed drastically, they hastily defended.
But the next moment, the two were still directly blasted away!
The body flew backward from the sea surface and slammed hard into the dock!
The two struggled to their feet, but before they could adjust their disordered qi and blood, the white-clad figure appeared again before them!
Whoosh!
At this moment, Liu Xin didn't even care about his own injuries, directly raising the axe in his hand!
Clang!
One axe fell, directly chopping into the neck of the white-clad corpse refiner!
This axe, which was usually unstoppable, actually only left a shallow wound on Lian Xin's neck.
No blood flowed from the wound; the pale white flesh looked extremely terrifying.
Fang Xu also seized this opportunity, swinging the greatsword in his hand!
Boom!
The greatsword struck the white-clad corpse refiner's shoulder, and purple flames instantly spread across its body.
The divine Yì fire, capable of scorching a martial artist's soul and flesh, actually burned for only a moment on the corpse refiner before extinguishing.
The two figures flickered repeatedly, creating distance from the white-clad corpse refiner.
Liu Xin raised his axe again.
This time, his attack was no longer as casual as before.
The short axe in his hand was slowly lifted, a thread of golden light flickering on the blade.
Fang Xu could clearly feel that this golden light was the same aura as the golden chains on the Nameless Immortal Scripture.
However, the golden light on Liu Xin's axe was different from what he himself had comprehended.
This golden light looked like a terrifying weapon, as if it could cut a person's soul, cut through space itself!
Seeing Liu Xin gathering his strength, Fang Xu knew he had to do something to buy him some time.
With a thrust of the greatsword in his hand, Fang Xu's body suddenly rang with a clear sword cry!
The next moment, the greatsword flew directly from his hand, straight toward the approaching white-clad corpse refiner!
Clang!
The greatsword slammed hard into the white-clad corpse refiner's chest, producing a metallic ringing sound, and was then directly bounced back!
Under Fang Xu's attack, the white-clad corpse refiner's body was only pushed back three steps, after which it charged forward again!
Fang Xu's mind stirred slightly; the greatsword flying in midair flipped nimbly, then the sword tip pointed downward, stabbing straight toward the white-clad corpse refiner's head!
The white-clad corpse refiner seemed annoyed by the disturbance, and its fist suddenly swung toward the sky!
It directly blasted the greatsword flying away!
At the instant the greatsword flew out, Liu Xin's technique was also ready.
His face solemn, he suddenly swung the short axe in his hand!
Next moment!
A thread as fine as a hair appeared along with it!
This thread was golden in color, appearing insignificant and seemingly powerless.
Yet Fang Xu was astonished to discover that, as the golden thread flew toward the white-clad corpse refiner, the surrounding space was filled with tiny spatial cracks!
In other words, Liu Xin's strike had already reached the brink of shattering space!
Facing this strike, even though the white-clad corpse refiner had no consciousness, it still instinctively wanted to dodge.
But the golden thread was extremely fast; in the blink of an eye, it had already arrived before the white-clad corpse refiner!
The white-clad corpse refiner could only do its best to dodge the vital parts of its body.
Pfft!
The golden thread brushed against the white-clad corpse refiner's face, instantly severing its left shoulder together with the left arm!
Suffering such heavy damage, an ordinary martial artist would likely see their combat power drastically reduced immediately.
But the enemy they faced now was a corpse refiner.
Without fear, without pain, with only slaughter in its heart.
"Liu..."
Fang Xu was preparing to let Liu Xin make another move, when he suddenly noticed that Liu Xin's face beside him was deathly pale, and he could barely stand.
Obviously, that strike had taken a great toll on him.
"Fang Xu, it's up to you..."
Liu Xin weakly glanced at Fang Xu, a hint of apology on his face.
Seeing this, Fang Xu's eyes narrowed slightly, staring at the white-clad corpse refiner that had lost its left arm before him, without much hesitation, a huge demon ape phantom appeared directly behind him!
Accompanying the appearance of the demon ape phantom, Fang Xu's aura gradually became violent and brutal.
Roar!
After the demon ape phantom let out a furious roar, it directly shrank to the size of Fang Xu's actual body.
Facing the white-clad corpse refiner charging forward fearlessly, Fang Xu gripped the greatsword and swung it out violently!
The white-clad corpse refiner raised its remaining right arm to block!
But the power of Fang Xu's sword was far greater than before!
The heavy sword without edge, under the support of immense force, directly carved a deep groove into the white-clad corpse refiner's arm!
Its entire body was also flung flying away under this terrifying force!
Fang Xu's hand flashed with light, replacing the middle with a black iron long staff!
At this moment, he knew only the black iron long staff could unleash his power.
Chasing after the white-clad corpse refiner that had been smashed onto the sea surface, Fang Xu's movements were extremely swift and filled with violent beauty!
The black iron staff in his hand trailed afterimages, each strike lashing the white-clad corpse refiner!
Seeing this, Goat Beard's eyes flashed with a hint of solemnity.
"Monster!"
"Indeed, they are all monsters!"
"If given a few years by the Ascension Alliance, once these little brats grow up, at the next Grand Celestial Convention, the Ascension Alliance will likely become the biggest dark horse!"
"No, we must kill them!"
Thinking this, Goat Beard grabbed the unconscious Kong Jie with one hand and pulled a crimson dagger from his bosom with the other!
Gripping the dagger, a flash of resolve crossed Goat Beard's eyes as he directly plunged it into his own glabella!
"Ugh!"
Letting out a piercing scream, the old Goat Beard's body suddenly burst forth with white light!
Then his soul emerged from his body.
The soul that walked out of his body had a wound at the glabella bursting with white light!
The wound then began to slowly expand until it split his soul in half.
The split soul began to violently struggle, then gradually formed two Goat Beard elders.
One quickly burrowed back into his body, while the other turned into a stream of light, blinking into the white-clad corpse refiner being violently beaten by Fang Xu.
Borrowing a corpse to return the soul!
One of the core secret arts of the Yin Corpse Sect!
Every disciple of the Yin Corpse Sect who cultivates this secret art can use the Soul-Splitting Blade to divide their soul into two halves, letting one half merge into their corpse refiner.
Theoretically, each disciple of the Yin Corpse Sect can use this secret art only once in their lifetime.
After all, the soul is crucial to a cultivator; even though the Yin Corpse Sect possesses this secret art, they dare not continuously split their own soul.
Precisely for this reason, many Yin Corpse Sect disciples do not choose to use this move unless at a critical moment.
Because the cost of splitting half the soul is too great; unless one has a very powerful corpse refiner, using this secret art is essentially unknown.
Goat Beard is faring better at this moment.
Although the white-clad corpse refiner had an arm severed by Liu Xin, he can fully reattach it after this battle ends.
Moreover, the white-clad corpse refiner is a Phenomenon Realm corpse refiner, painfully given to him by the sect elders for this mission.
Using the Borrowing a Corpse to Return the Soul technique on the white-clad corpse refiner is not considered wasteful.
However, with the soul split, he needs to consume a large amount of treasures to replenish his original soul.
If he fails to capture Fang Xu and the others, he will also suffer considerable losses.
After half of Goat Beard's soul took residence in the white-clad corpse refiner, it suddenly became much more agile.
After withstanding a strike from Fang Xu, he seized the opportunity to sink into the seabed, evading Fang Xu's combo.
Losing his target, Fang Xu cautiously guarded his surroundings.
Then the next moment!
Boom!
The seawater beneath his feet suddenly exploded!
A huge phantom emerged from the seabed!
Phenomenon!
The Phenomenon of the white-clad corpse refiner!
Under the control of half of Goat Beard's soul, the white-clad corpse refiner finally displayed the strength of the Phenomenon Realm.
After the huge Phenomenon appeared, a terrifying binding force suddenly pinned Fang Xu's body in midair, rendering his struggles futile.
"Kid, weren't you just having fun beating him?"
A soul fluctuation came from the white-clad corpse refiner's body, and Goat Beard's voice directly appeared in his mind.
Fang Xu was somewhat startled.
At this moment, he realized how terrifying a Phenomenon Realm powerhouse is!
He could feel that this binding force should be the Phenomenon Realm's control over heavenly and earthly power.
What he now faces is the power of this surrounding heaven and earth.
"Fang Xu!"
On the dock, Liu Xin also sensed Fang Xu's predicament, immediately flashing his form, axe in hand, and attacked the white-clad corpse refiner's Phenomenon!
But an axe that usually makes people hard to dodge had absolutely no effect against the white-clad corpse refiner's Phenomenon!
Before Liu Xin's strike landed, another surge of heavenly and earthly power suddenly appeared, binding him in midair as well.
Having subdued Fang Xu and Liu Xin, the old Goat Beard suddenly burst into laughter.
Looking at the chaotic battlefield around him, he seemed to instantly lose interest, directly grabbing Kong Jie and fleeing toward the distant sea.
Rising, the white-clad corpse refiner continued to bind Fang Xu and Liu Xin, closely following.
The distant immortal island grew farther and farther from them, until finally, it completely vanished from sight.
The old Goat Beard showed no pause, racing all the way, seemingly unable to wait to bring Fang Xu and the three back to refine them into corpse refiners.
Bound by the white-clad corpse refiner, Fang Xu and Liu Xin could not speak, only watching the continuously retreating sea surface, unaware of where they would be taken.
……
On the immortal island.
The great battle continued, with the Long Dragon and Old Ape also fighting their opponents.
"Ape Uncle, where is Fang Xu?"
A dragon shadow crackling with electricity pierced through his opponent, Long Dragon arrived beside Old Ape, helped him slay his opponent, and then suddenly asked.
The old ape hovered in midair, looking toward the spot where Fang Xu had been, and found he had already vanished.
"You little brat, have you gone mad with killing?"
As for Fang Xu, the old ape actually had little worry.
In this great battle, the enemy's strength seemed strong, but battles between cultivators are often soldier against soldier, general against general; with Fang Xu's strength, as long as he did not encounter an existence at the late or peak stage of Elemental Martial, there was basically little danger.
"Not right..."
The long dragon furrowed his brow and said: "I can no longer sense Fang Xu."
Originally, because Fang Xu had helped him open his wisdom, there was a faint sense between Long Dragon and Fang Xu.
But now, Long Dragon could no longer sense Fang Xu's existence!
Under these circumstances, there are only two possibilities.
One, Fang Xu is dead.
Two, the distance is too great.
Long Dragon flashed to the area where Fang Xu had just fought, casually grabbed a disciple of the Immortal Island, and asked: "Have you seen where Fang Xu is?"
That Immortal Island disciple shook his head: "Reporting to Mountain Lord Long Dragon, disciple has not seen him."
Long Dragon sighed helplessly and asked a few more Immortal Island disciples.
But under such a brutal battle, few people paid attention to the surroundings, and no one noticed where Fang Xu had gone.
Just as Long Dragon and the old ape were anxiously searching this area, Gu Qiu arrived with a troop of ghost-faced soldiers.
"Ape Uncle, the ghost-faced soldiers say they sense Fang Xu rapidly moving away—has something happened?"
The ghost-faced soldiers, especially these armored ones, harbor divine servant worms within them, allowing them to clearly sense Fang Xu's presence.
At this moment, the divine servant worms sensed Fang Xu rapidly moving away and immediately transmitted the message to their host ghost-faced soldiers.
"Any direction?" the old ape asked.
"Over there!" one of the ghost-faced soldiers pointed toward the distant sea and spoke.
Upon hearing this, the old ape glanced at Long Dragon.
Long Dragon immediately understood his meaning, his body instantly flew into midair, and transformed into a giant dragon.
Seeing this, the old ape leapt directly onto him.
Gu Qiu and the hundred ghost-faced soldiers beside him also all leapt onto him.
Roar!
Long Dragon let out a dragon's roar and directly chased in the direction the goat-bearded old man fled.
At this moment, Fang Xu and the two others had already been brought by the goat-bearded and the old man to a deserted island.
After landing on the deserted island, the old man forcibly fed Fang Xu and Liu Xin a kind of poison.
The poison instantly sealed the two's entire blood and strength, even paralyzing their physical bodies with this strange toxin.
The two poisoned individuals were now inferior to even an ordinary person.
The goat-bearded seemed quite confident in his poison; after feeding them the toxin, he no longer guarded them, instead attending to himself nearby to recover the strength expended from prolonged travel.
After Fang Xu and Liu Xin regained their freedom, they surveyed the island; the deserted island was small, surrounded by endless sea on all sides.
In their current state, one or two people could absolutely not escape.
"Senior Brother Liu, I have an idea." Fang Xu leaned toward Liu Xin and jerked his chin toward the not-far-off unconscious Kong Jie.
If the two could seize the moment when the goat-bearded was fully focused on restoring his strength to try to wake Kong Jie, perhaps there was still a chance to escape.
Liu Xin's eyes lit up, and he then whispered: "You keep watch on that old man here; I'll go try."
Fang Xu nodded.
Liu Xin slowly approached the unconscious Kong Jie and gently shook her body:
"Kong Senior Sister?"
"Kong Senior Sister?"
Kong Jie gave no response at all.
Liu Xin pondered for a moment, picked up a broken piece of seashell from the side, and stabbed hard into Kong Jie's arm.
Accompanied by the outflow of bright red blood, Kong Jie still showed no movement.
He shook his head toward Fang Xu.
"No, Kong Senior Sister is poisoned too deeply."
Fang Xu felt a bit disappointed, just about to speak, when he suddenly felt a faint spiritual fluctuation from the divine servant within his body.
A hint of joy appeared on Fang Xu's face.
Liu Xin looked at him, puzzled: "Junior Brother Fang, what good idea have you come up with again?"
"Someone is coming to rescue us."
Upon hearing this, Liu Xin hurriedly looked toward the surrounding sea.
But the vast, endless sea had no sign of any person.
"Senior Brother Liu, no need to look; they haven't arrived yet."
Fang Xu passed through the channel.
The ghost-faced soldiers can sense him, so he naturally can also sense the existence of the ghost-faced soldiers.
"Discussing how to escape?"
Liu Xin was about to speak when the goat-bearded old man approached with a sinister laugh.
"Kid, actually you should thank me."
"Because next, I will take you to see the true great world."
"Let's go."
After the goat-bearded man finished speaking, he and the white-clad corpse refiner directly took Fang Xu and the other two away from the deserted island, rushing toward the vast and boundless continent ahead.
(End of Chapter)
End of Chapter
