Chapter 202: Tracking the Demon Nest

After Ye Liuyun and his group cleared all the Corpse Demons, thick smoke rose outside the city, all of it the dust from Qiong Qi's fire spitting.

They didn't linger and went straight back into the city to rest.

Because the bloody aura here was burned away, no more Corpse Demons came afterward.

Lin Xueying showed no mercy to the Corpse Demons, slashing more than a hundred of them and obtaining over a hundred Crystal Cores.

The remaining Crystal Cores naturally all went to Ye Liuyun.

Ye Liuyun felt uneasy and wanted to give Lin Xueying some, but Lin Xueying gave all her own hundred‑plus Crystal Cores to Ye Liuyun.

"Keep them for yourself! I have nothing I need to exchange at the Hall of Merit. If I need anything, I'll just have my master give it to me!" Lin Xueying said.

Ye Liuyun heard that and looked enviously. "Your master really spoils you! If she weren't a woman, I'd start suspecting there's something going on between you two!"

"What nonsense are you thinking?" Lin Xueying gave him a cold glance and didn't continue the topic.

Ye Liuyun didn't probe further, just told everyone, "Rest for a night. Tomorrow we'll leave the city to hunt Corpse Demons and may be gone for a while. Yu Er, stay behind to cultivate and try to break through to the True Essence Realm as soon as possible. Shi Yuan, stay to guard in case a saint comes to ambush."

The city now has a Formation set by Qiong Qi; he left Transmission Talismans for the Tianyun King and the Ye Clan elder, and also left Shi Yuan, so there should be nothing to worry about.

The Tianyun King and the Ye Clan elder are busy distributing the resources of the Ning Royal Mansion to soldiers and disciples, trying to strengthen them.

After finishing that, the Ye Clan elder began selecting people to enhance their bloodline power.

When Ye Liuyun left in the morning, they hadn't finished yet. He didn't say goodbye, just gave a word to the city‑guarding soldiers and led everyone out of the city.

After leaving, he stored Qiong Qi and Bai Hu in a Storage Ring, and turned Lei Ming into a pet form that perched on his shoulder.

He and Lin Xueying went out for training and combat, accompanied by two saints and Ninth Sea Transformation monster beasts; during battle he had little room to exert himself.

Not long after they left the city, they saw squads of Corpse Demons wandering everywhere.

The Corpse Demons, upon seeing them, charged straight at them, regardless of realm strength or whether they could be defeated. They seemed to be mindless evil things.

However, the nearby Corpse Demons weren't high level; even Sea Transformation realm ones were rare. Most were in the True Essence Realm or the Refining Body Realm, offering little challenge to Ye Liuyun and Lin Xueying.

So they continued northward, deeper toward the barbarian tribes. Indeed, the Corpse Demons there were of increasingly higher realms.

Along the way they passed many cities; those that hadn't been breached were filled with panic. People wanted to flee but feared encountering Corpse Demons midway, so they defended with all their strength.

The breached cities were scenes of earthly hell. Corpses were torn to pieces. Even robust bodies were taken back by Corpse Demons for demonic transformation.

Ye Liuyun used his Divine Sense to probe the Corpse Demons' lair, hoping to locate where they demonic‑transform bodies, to see how they do it. That place might hold a way to counter these Corpse Demons.

But after several days there was no progress; the lair seemed deeply hidden. So he could only press onward.

The souls of these Corpse Demons could neither be devoured nor Soul‑searched by Ye Liuyun. Their souls were strange; even illusion techniques had little effect on Corpse Demons below the True Essence Realm. He could only use the Illusion Pupil's thunder fire to annihilate their souls.

After destroying them, he had to excavate the Crystal Cores; otherwise the Corpse Demons wouldn't die and would quickly regrow their souls.

So Ye Liuyun assigned Lei Ming to extract the Crystal Cores, while he and Lin Xueying were responsible for slaying the Corpse Demons.

That day, they ran straight into three Second Sea Transformation Corpse Demons.

Upon seeing them, one of the three let out a hoarse "Kill, kill!" and charged at Ye Liuyun and his group.

Moreover, these three Corpse Demons wielded weapons and fought using Human Race combat techniques.

"Eh!"

Ye Liuyun shouted in surprise, immediately cleaving one Corpse Demon with a single slash, then used his Golden Pupil to cast an illusion and control the one that had made the sound.

Ye Liuyun's Demon Slaying Sword inherently suppresses demons and similar evils, so ordinary Corpse Demons offer no resistance when he chops them.

This time, however, he felt a slight resistance as the Demon Slaying Sword cut; these Corpse Demons' bodies were noticeably harder than the others.

At that moment Lin Xueying also dealt with her opponent and looked over curiously, unsure whether she had succeeded.

After a few breaths, Ye Liuyun directly incinerated that Corpse Demon's soul with thunder fire, then had Lei Ming dig out its Crystal Core.

Sure enough, within that Corpse Demon's soul remained some information.

"Found it! In a city about five hundred li away. But there are many Corpse Demons there, and also one of my old rivals, the Black‑cloaked Man!" Ye Liuyun said excitedly to Lin Xueying.

Prompted by Lin Xueying's curious follow‑up, Ye Liuyun briefly recounted how he met the Black‑cloaked Man at Wan Zang Gang and on the barbarian battlefield.

"Shall we go there now?" Lin Xueying asked.

"Not yet. We need to rescue some people first! Many inner‑gate disciples of the Holy Martial Academy have arrived and are being surrounded by these Corpse Demons in the front area. The Corpse Demons intend to use their bodies and blood to consecrate an Altar. We'll stir things up; it's on the way anyway!" Ye Liuyun laughed.

"Alright!" Lin Xueying now follows Ye Liuyun completely. After many days of contact, she now admires him wholeheartedly.

Ye Liuyun always makes the most accurate judgments, never erring. Moreover, he has several Yuan Dan Realm monster beasts, so he isn't afraid when danger arises.

Thus, the two of them fought their way through the Corpse Demons' encirclement, closing in on the Holy Martial Academy disciples.

Ye Liuyun and Lin Xueying also endured several hard battles. Among the Corpse Demons besieging the Holy Martial Academy disciples were some Seventh and Eighth Sea Transformation Corpse Demons, which were extremely tough to handle.

Ye Liuyun, to hone his combat skills, rarely uses his Golden Pupil to attack. He only employs the Golden Pupil to rescue Lin Xueying when she's in danger.

He himself never uses it; if he can't win, he just endures with his body. Hence the next two or three days their progress was especially slow.

Ye Liuyun's True Essence consumption was rapid, requiring frequent rests to restore strength before they could keep fighting. Fortunately, Ye Liuyun has his own cultivated pills, and he absorbs spiritual energy quickly. Otherwise they wouldn't be able to push through.

Several times, while they were recovering True Essence, Corpse Demons surged forward again, and Ye Liuyun alone bore the brunt.

Lin Xueying also got to see Ye Liuyun's true combat power. When he fully activates his bloodline force, he can even slay an Eighth Sea Transformation Corpse Demon.

This is without him using a Soul Attack. If he adds a Soul Attack, even saints might not withstand his full‑force soul strike.