Chapter 307: Chapter 305: Yin Corpse Grass (Seeking Monthly Tickets)_1
The Situ Family’s clan site had long been in ruins.
Among the broken walls and remnants, one could faintly see decayed, refining corpses with tattered clothes and blue-black faces, wandering aimlessly.
Elder Zeng’s expression turned solemn, and after exchanging a glance with the Zong couple, he stealthily made his way in.
Moments later.
"Rise!"
Elder Zeng waved in his hand a pitch-black banner, emitting a large amount of mist, enveloping one of the refining corpses.
The cultivator with the surname Zong immediately recited a magic spell, releasing a red-colored, net-shaped magical artifact.
This artifact enveloped the refining corpse and burst into hissing white smoke, displaying a significant restraining effect on the refining corpses.
His wife pounced out like lightning, her magic sword thrust into the lower jaw of the refining corpse, piercing straight into its brain.
It looked like the techniques of mortal martial artists, but combined with a cultivator’s magical artifacts and talismans, their lethality was not to be underestimated.
The three worked seamlessly together, clearly having practiced many times before. After they had killed the refining corpse, they immediately moved to another building.
"Zong, look!"
The woman suddenly pointed to a spot, her face revealing a look of excitement.
Not far away, among a stretch of ruins, were a few spirit plants swaying in the breeze. Their emerald-green blades were lined with pale patterns, and they appeared to be absorbing the nearby corpse qi, clearly very mystical at first sight.
But next to these spirit plants, startlingly, there were two refining corpses coiled around them like guardians.
"Yin Corpse Grass?"
The Zong-surnamed cultivator had a look of joy and said to the Taoist priest, "Elder Zeng..."
"Don’t worry, my magic power has mostly recovered," Elder Zeng replied with a serious face. "I can lead one of them away first; the remaining refining corpse will be up to you, honorable couple."
"Many thanks, Elder Zeng, we will surely repay your kindness in the future!"
Upon hearing this, the Zong-surnamed individual cultivator immediately responded in kind.
Before long, the Elder Zeng leaped up, waving his black banner continuously, drawing away one refining corpse while they chased and fled until they disappeared around a corner, unseen.
Seeing this, the Zong-surnamed individual cultivator also called out to his wife. Each wielding a magical artifact, they attacked the last refining corpse.
The two coordinated tacitly, and in a blink, the female cultivator’s sword pierced through the air, chopping off the refining corpse’s arm.
"Good!"
The Zong-surnamed cultivator was thrilled and took out a fireball talisman, preparing to end the life of the refining corpse once and for all.
Suddenly, from behind him, a black qi struck him. The Zong-surnamed cultivator, caught off guard, saw his protective spiritual light shatter, his face flushed red as he spewed a mouthful of blood.
"Zong?"
The female cultivator saw this and panicked, but she faced the refining corpse’s counterattack. Without the net artifact’s restraint, the refining corpse became extremely vicious, lunging at the female cultivator with bared teeth and claws.
"I’ll fight you..."
A look of determination flashed in her eyes as she merged her body and sword together, shooting through the refining corpse’s chest like a long rainbow piercing the sun.
Spurt!
The female cultivator also suffered a blow from the refining corpse’s claw in her chest, her ribs shattered, unable to tell how many were broken, as she fell to the ground, gasping for air.
"What’s going on?"
With difficulty, the Zong-surnamed cultivator turned around and saw the Prime Taoist standing behind him with a smile, "It’s you?!"
"Indeed... it is I," the Prime Taoist said with a grin: "Sir Zong might as well hand over the inheritance of that ancestral talisman... I might even spare your beloved daughter’s life."
"How did you know... that I have an ancestral talisman script?"
The color drained from the Zong-surnamed cultivator’s face at this realization.
This matter had always been a secret of his family, never mentioned to outsiders.
"Heh heh... I have my sources, but to be honest, it was rather difficult to plot against such a capable couple..."
Elder Zeng was extraordinarily smug: "Pretending to befriend you for years, I have finally found the flaw I needed... To tell you the truth, the fire toxin in your daughter came from me. I secretly administered it, and the ’Yin Corpse Grass’ recipe was also leaked to you by me. Otherwise, how could a mere traveling doctor know such a rare antidote recipe?"
"You... plotted painstakingly just for a talisman heritage?"
The Zong-surnamed cultivator’s face was filled with disbelief, finding the Taoist priest before him utterly unfamiliar.
"If it were an ordinary talisman heritage, of course, I wouldn’t go to such lengths, but what if it’s a second-tier heritage? Perhaps even a medium or high-grade one within that rank."
The Taoist Priest laughed heartily and calmly advanced: "I advise you to be sensible, otherwise waiting to be slowly gnawed on by the living corpses... the taste would be..."
Thud thud!
Just then, a series of heavy footsteps could be heard.
The Prime Taoist turned in shock, only to see the mist dispersing, revealing from the deepest part of the Situ Family site a horned... monster?
This creature was over two meters tall, its body adorned with flame-like patterns, expressionless, yet with two thick horns on its head.
On the horns, there were streaks of scarlet patterns.
As the strange figure drew closer, the ground around started to tremble slightly, as if the weight of this being was that of a mountain.
And along the way, everything, whether refining corpses or other beings, was crushed to dust by this creature’s casual swat or grab!
The sight turned both Elder Zeng and the Zong-surnamed cultivator pale.
"Impossible, how could there be a second-tier Flying Rigidity here?"
Elder Zeng cast a spell into his banner, causing it to fly out, with grey-black vapors emerging, resembling chains that aimed to entwine and bind the incoming zombie.
Then, he slapped his storage bag, and mixed in with the grey-black vapors, he launched a Yin Thunder orb, causing the Zong-surnamed cultivator’s eyes to twitch.
Boom!
The Yin Thunder Orb exploded, and thunderous flames bounced off the creature, causing a powerful surge of spiritual energy that whipped up a vast blast of air, making the Zong-surnamed individual cultivator squint his eyes.
Immediately, he saw a gigantic figure emerge from the dust, its body as pristine as new, without a single scratch.
"Impossible... even Foundation Establishment cultivators dare not withstand it directly... Only with a physical body sturdy enough could one endure such a thing, unless one is... a Corpse King?"
Elder Zeng’s eyes seemed almost ready to bulge out.
The horned monstrosity snorted coldly and reached out with a large hand.
A wisp of black flame appeared out of nowhere, instantly dissipating the mist. The small banner burst into flames, turning to ash in an instant.
Elder Zeng didn’t have time to mourn the loss of his premium magical artifact, and immediately knelt on the ground: "Great Corpse King, I am willing to become your corpse slave, to attract more cultivators for you, to offer their essence blood and souls for your use, please accept this old slave..."
After speaking, he actually kowtowed heavily and then remained motionless.
Clearly, he knew that it was pointless to attempt escape in front of a third-tier existence.
The horned monstrosity stood in front of the old man, yet surprisingly stopped his advance and didn’t strike.
Seeing this, a quick flash of joy crossed the old man’s face.
This was also a stroke of fortune!
If he could gain the favor of this Corpse King, perhaps he might be rewarded with some treasures or even be transformed into a zombie.
The cultivator surnamed Zong, holding his wife, had a look of utter despair on his face.
He had come to Blackwater Pool well-prepared, but he never expected to encounter such unimaginable events.
He looked at the Corpse King and saw the horned Corpse King place a large hand on Elder Zeng’s head.
The smile on Elder Zeng’s face froze, and in an instant, he turned to ashes.
The horned Corpse King continued to step forward, grabbed the cultivator surnamed Zong and his wife with one hand each, and strode away.
The surrounding area was like a tornado sweeping through, as countless scenes rapidly receded.
When the individual cultivator surnamed Zong came back to his senses, he found himself inside a dilapidated hall.
Within the hall, there were actually two very young-looking cultivators with unfathomable magic power, sitting opposite each other.
One of them, dressed in green robes, was continuously forming magic spells with his hands, channeling magic power into the body of the handsome young man in front of him.
In the void, wraiths of chilling air emerged mysteriously, all being absorbed by the handsome young man as if myriad streams were converging into the ocean.
"Alright, after this wave of Yin Qi, the Yin Pulse Air in this place will have been almost entirely harvested,"
Fang Xi muttered to himself and stood up.
"Zong Xiu... greets the senior!"
Zong Xiu, seeing the horned monstrosity standing to one side like a guard, where else could he not realize that this terrifyingly powerful Corpse King was actually this person’s subordinate?
Moreover, looking at this person, he felt a vague sense of familiarity, as if he had seen his portrait somewhere before, and considering there weren’t many Core Formation cultivators in the three countries, a vague guess formed in his mind.
"Does young friend have the surname Zong?"
Fang Xi smiled: "May I inquire which lineage your ancestors hail from?"
"My ancestors come from Green Bamboo Mountain Market, later lived in Baize Immortal City... six years ago, they moved to Linghua Mountain in Yue Country..."
Zong Xiu replied respectfully.
"As I expected..."
Fang Xi, looking at the vaguely familiar face of the other party, sighed, thinking of Green Bamboo Mountain Market, Master Zong Symbol, as well as Lu Zhi, Chen Ping...
"Who is this? Your wife?"
He glanced at the woman cultivator and casually asked.
"Yes, kindly ask senior to show mercy and save her," Zong Xiu immediately knelt down and begged.
"Nevermind..."
Fang Xi waved his hand and flung a healing pill, which landed in Zong Xiu’s hand: "Take it, this pill should be enough for treatment."
"Thank you, senior, thank you so much!"
Zong Xiu repeatedly expressed his gratitude, feeding the pill to his Taoist companion.
The female cultivator, who had been barely breathing, stopped bleeding as soon as the pill was ingested, and even her breathing stabilized, though she remained unconscious.
"What happened to you? Tell me about it,"
Fang Xi sat cross-legged and casually asked.
"Reporting to senior, it’s like this..."
Zong Xiu hurriedly explained the whole situation.
"In the Cultivation World, murder and plunder for treasure, plotting against others, are all too common. You should be more cautious in the future..."
Fang Xi listened without commenting, then reached into his Storage Ring and a jade slip appeared: "You might have guessed who I am... This jade slip not only contains the Talisman heritage of Chen Ping, but also additions I’ve made subsequently... I’ll bestow it upon you."
Chen Ping had once asked Fang Xi, if possible, to pass the Talisman heritage to Lu Zhi’s descendants.
His legacy was quite beneficial to Fang Xi, and in return, he enhanced it, bringing the Talisman heritage from a near third-tier to a lower third-tier level.
"Thank you, senior, thank you so much..."
Zong Xiu, overjoyed, kept kowtowing in thanks.
"It’s just a promise to an old friend... I will soon leave this place, and furthermore, I don’t want my whereabouts to be known by others..." Fang Xi said with an implied meaning.
"This junior swears on my Heart Demon that I absolutely cannot reveal senior’s whereabouts, otherwise I shall suffer from entering into demonic possession and die!"
Zong Xiu quickly made a vow.
"Good..."
Fang Xi nodded.
In reality, he was not too concerned about his whereabouts being exposed anymore. In fact, creating the illusion that he was still hidden within the three countries before his impending departure might make his enemies more wary...