Chapter 207: Cruel Victory

"Hehe, serve me, your madman, like a loyal hound and steed?"

"Fine, but I don't take worthless underlings—if you can kill those three Si Xiang Sect disciples over there, I'll accept you."

"Well, can you do it?" The hazy figure on the rock chuckled, asking the couple before him.

"Three inner-disciples of the Si Xiang Sect? No problem."

"We'll handle those three—Master Zhu, wait a moment," said the gray-white-robed man, glancing at Li Tianqi and the others, speaking slowly.

The woman beside him immediately thrust the black coffin behind her into the ground, then slapped it with one hand while forming a hand seal.

"Bang."

The coffin lid slowly opened, spewing a foul stench; a black zombie, entirely wrapped in bandages, shot straight out, rigid and upright.

Though its body was shriveled, the wooden hairpin in its sparse yellow hair and slender frame revealed it had once been a young woman.

"Your strength is astonishing—I admit I'm no match. But I must ask: if we kill those two, will you let us three go?" The tall man holding the silver halberd looked at the couple, then at the hazy figure on the rock, and asked gravely.

His black robe bore the emblem of the Xuanwu lineage—the very Master Meng who had once briefly met Wang Yu outside the Scripture Hall; the petite woman beside him was the same female disciple who had accompanied him that day.

Li Tianqi had somehow ended up alongside these two inside the Jia Lan Secret Realm.

"If you can kill those two, I'll treat you all equally—I'll let you three go," replied the hazy figure on the rock with a light laugh, without hesitation.

"Alright, Sister Li, Sister Yun—we've no choice but to fight to the death now."

"I've never seen these two, but their appearance is so distinctive—and they're a married pair—they must be among the top ten Yin-Yang Corpse Demons of the Mo Luo Sect. I've heard they specialize in corpse control; together, their strength rivals that of ordinary demonic true disciples."

"When we strike, I'll take the Yang Sha. You two handle the Yin Sha—try to separate them." Master Meng immediately whispered this to the two women beside him.

Though Li Tianqi and the other woman still feared the hazy figure on the rock, hearing Master Meng—whose Qi was nearly at the peak of Foundation Establishment—speak so confidently, they felt slightly reassured and nodded to him.

At that moment, the gray-white-robed man across from them turned his gaze toward them with a cruel expression; his eyes locked onto Master Meng's. A cold smirk flashed in his eyes, then he shook his shoulder—his black coffin behind him shot skyward, circled low in the air, then slammed down toward Master Meng.

Master Meng roared, and a violent wind surged around him; a faint blue glow spread over his body, the rope binding his hair shattered instantly, his hair grew wildly long, black hairs sprouted from his skin, his eyes turned blood-red, and long fangs grew in his mouth. He swung his silver halberd and struck the descending black coffin with all his might.

"Bang."

The black coffin was flung flying by the silver halberd's blow.

The gray-white-robed man across from him was startled, but he didn't hesitate—he formed two hand seals.

"Boom."

The black coffin exploded midair, and from the shower of debris, a towering black shadow descended like a ghost.

It was a giant zombie, roughly ten feet tall, clad in black iron armor; its features were shrouded in black mist, but its exposed arms were covered in pale green fur, terrifying beyond measure.

In an instant, the giant zombie and the transformed Master Meng clashed.

After his transformation, Master Meng seemed to possess boundless strength; wherever his silver halberd swept, it was like a hurricane, forcing the giant zombie to stagger backward. The long black hairs sprouting from his body possessed formidable defensive power—when struck by the zombie's iron fists, he merely staggered two steps before charging forward again as if nothing had happened.

On the other side, Li Tianqi slapped her spirit beast pouch, releasing a green feathered serpent with wings; simultaneously, her red short ruler spun rapidly, forming a hazy red circular shadow before her.

The next moment, eleven red spirit runes appeared on the surface of the wheel, trembled slightly, then a red fire column, as thick as a bowl's mouth, blasted forth, striking the approaching female zombie with intent to reduce it to ash.

But the gray-white-robed woman across from her sneered, formed a hand seal, and the female zombie opened its mouth, spewing a foul green liquid that struck the fire column head-on.

A hissing sound erupted.

The green liquid—whatever it was—immediately began to boil into thick white smoke upon contact with the fire, forcing the flame to retreat step by step.

Li Tianqi's face darkened; the winged serpent opened its mouth and blasted a blinding white wind, swelling the fire column's power momentarily, barely holding back the green stream.

Seeing this, the petite woman chanted softly, tossed her white bowl skyward, and from it flew a series of pale gray rings, directly encircling the gray-white-robed woman.

The gray-white-robed woman cried out sharply, flipped her hand, and a black silk scarf appeared in her grip; she tossed it skyward, and it unfolded into layers of black veils rolling upward…

The five of them now fought desperately, each unleashing their artifacts.

The hazy figure stood on the rock, arms crossed, watching coldly, as if indifferent to which side won.

Fifteen minutes later.

The Yin-Yang Corpse Demons had become two fresh corpses—one curled into a charred, unrecognizable ball, the other decapitated, blood-soaked on the ground.

The two zombies—one had half its body vanished, as if cleaved clean from the shoulder; the other had been reduced to a faint black shadow on the ground, burned to ash.

Li Tianqi knelt half on the ground; though she showed no visible wounds, her face was deathly pale, devoid of all color, and thick black mist hovered over her brow. The winged serpent she cherished above all else lay motionless nearby, its upper half—including its head—completely gone.

Master Meng had reverted to his normal form, but his body was drenched in blood, covered in wounds of all sizes; one arm was missing, and only half of his silver halberd remained, embedded in the ground nearby.

Yet with his remaining arm, he clutched tightly to the cold corpse of the petite woman beside him.

Her feathered robe was torn to shreds, but a bowl-sized blood hole gaped in her chest—her blood had long since drained away.

This battle ended in a pyrrhic victory for Li Tianqi's side—but at the cost of the petite woman's life, and both survivors were grievously wounded, utterly incapable of further combat.