Proofreader & Editor:Peter Pan
"Do you, the Shenmu Sect, a great faction of the Eastern Wasteland, intend to kill me under this pretext and plunder the spiritual produce of my Guo family?"
After blocking Bi Yi Yuan's attack with her golden jade axe and spitting out blood, Madam Guo's originally gentle brows instantly turned fierce. Her pale palms reached into her waistband and pulled out two purple-golden lead balls. As spiritual power poured into them, faint golden arcs of electricity danced around them.
"Purple-Golden Divine Thunder!"
Seeing the two lead balls in Madam Guo's hands, Bi Yi Yuan, who had intended to deliver another blow, immediately halted.
Although Chen Mobai didn't know what these items were, he could feel the tremendous spiritual power contained within the tiny balls, which seemed to be somewhat similar to the hand grenades used by the Immortal Gate.
"Madam Guo, after the three of us entered this place, you used the golden jade axe to awaken the Silver Armored Corpse and led me and Yan Shimei to infuse spiritual power into the Corpse Suppression Charm to help the Silver Armored Corpse break its seal. How do you explain this?"
Mei Jingjun was a woman with slightly yellow skin and a well-proportioned figure.
Her words cast a shadow of doubt on Madam Guo, who was pale-faced.
"Don't forget, it was you who invited me."
Madam Guo's gaze was icy, but her composure remained unshaken as she rebuked word by word.
However, Chen Mobai understood her situation; after all, everyone present, except for her, was from the Shenmu Sect.
If they unanimously determined she was problematic, they could easily dispose of her body and divide her Storage Bag.
She had to tread carefully.
"Let's go, she's not worth our time."
At this moment, Bi Yi Yuan, with a grave expression, turned his attention to the slowly rising Fei Ming Daoist from the Ebony Pavilion.
Having fully transformed into a Silver Armored Corpse, his skin shone with a silvery luster, like a moon in the underground cavern, highly conspicuous.
The clinking of metal rang out above.
Dan Hongyi had unleashed his full firepower, controlling his crimson flying sword like a fiery serpent, engaging in a breathtaking battle with the Silver Armored Corpse that occupied the only upward passage.
"Indeed, one of you was arranged to come here to break the Corpse Suppression Charm."
Fei Ming Daoist, with silvery powder on his face and holding a colorful lotus lamp in his right hand, revealed a statement that changed the expressions of everyone present.
"It's really you!"
Yan Jinye was shocked and glared angrily at Madam Guo, who sneered coldly without further defense, merely holding the two lead balls and watching everyone present.
"Be careful, this could be the enemy's tactic to sow discord."
At this time, Chen Mobai finally spoke up.
After observing for so long, he hadn't noticed any problems, but compared to the uncertain identity of the mole, their primary goal was to leave this cave dwelling.
"Regardless, let's get out first."
As soon as Chen Mobai finished speaking, everyone nodded in agreement.
"Which way did you two sisters come in?"
Bi Yi Yuan took out a full suit of armor from his Storage Bag and quickly donned it, arming himself completely.
"There's an underground passage at the bottom of this lake. We can reach another cavern through the undercurrent, and after traveling several kilometers, we can leave this Lonely Soul Ridge."
As soon as Yan Jinye finished speaking, Fei Ming Daoist sneered and landed heavily on the white jade altar, stomping his foot.
The ground shook violently.
Stalactites fell from above, forcing Chen Mobai and the others to either defend or dodge.
"No good, he's going to collapse the passage of the underground stream!"
Yan Jinye immediately understood Fei Ming Daoist's intention.
She summoned her own magical tool, a medicinal hoe seen by Chen Mobai, attempting to stop Fei Ming Daoist.
However, a flame from the colorful lotus lamp lit up, and an invisible barrier reappeared, freezing her hoe in mid-air.
Then Fei Ming Daoist grasped with his hand, and a surge of silvery-gray corpse energy instantly covered the hoe.
With a crisp clang, the hoe lost all its spiritual light and fell into the lake.
Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!
Three sharp sword energies broke through the air, aligning in the shape of the character "three," taking advantage of the moment the lotus lamp's wick extinguished, piercing Fei Ming Daoist's forehead, neck, and heart like thunderous sparks.
However, the crimson flame sword energy, which could cut through gold and jade, could only leave a trace of scorch on the silvery-gray skin.
This was because the Red Flame Sword Talisman unleashed by Chen Mobai was of the fire attribute; if it were any other type, it probably wouldn't have left a mark.
Boom!
Before Chen Mobai made his move, Bi Yi Yuan also seized the opportunity when the lotus lamp's light faded, swinging his wolf-tooth club heavily at Fei Ming Daoist.
However, his body didn't move as fast as the sword energy, so it was only after the Red Flame Sword Energy was blocked that he struck Fei Ming Daoist.
Facing the imposing and distinctly different wolf-tooth club, Fei Ming Daoist didn't want to take risks and spat out a golden bead that, like a marble, withstood Bi Yi Yuan's full-force swing.
Fei Ming Daoist's dark golden pupils tightened, and the right hand holding the lotus lamp lit up again.
The invisible barrier flickered, seemingly with tremendous force, and forcibly repelled Bi Yi Yuan.
Hum!
At this moment, Chen Mobai, who had been waiting for this opportunity, controlled his Shenmu Sword like a fish in the moment the light barrier disappeared, circling Fei Ming Daoist's neck with a light touch.
With a screeching sound, the Shenmu Sword seemed to strike iron, cutting through the outer layer of skin but was caught by Fei Ming Daoist's left hand, unable to advance further.
"Interesting, a sword cultivator."
Fei Ming Daoist's dark golden eyes turned to the inconspicuous Chen Mobai. Among the six Foundation Establishment cultivators present, he paid the least attention to this handsome young man.
Because he could sense that the young man's cultivation was merely at the initial stage of Foundation Establishment.
However, the swordsmanship displayed in those two swift moves precisely exploited the gaps in his magical defenses, showing an eye for detail and swordsmanship far superior to the older Foundation Establishment mid-stage cultivator.
As Fei Ming Daoist's gaze shifted to Chen Mobai, Bi Yi Yuan, who had been repelled by the lotus lamp, swung his wolf-tooth club, taking advantage of the moment the Shenmu Sword distracted the opponent, and heavily smashed it onto his forehead.
Boom!
Fei Ming Daoist's head, struck like a baseball, cracked open, revealing an empty skull as he heavily crashed into the cavern wall, forming a human-shaped hole.
"Go!"
After a successful strike, Bi Yi Yuan didn't hesitate, retrieving his magical tool and flying upwards first.
The risk of escaping through the underground stream was too great, and since he didn't know the art of earth escape, it was better to follow Dan Hongyi and head upwards.
Chen Mobai didn't hesitate either; the Shenmu Sword flew back to his side, and he fled at the fastest speed with sword and man united.
Yan Jinye and Mei Jingjun also decisively followed them.
"Attack together!"
Dan Hongyi called out, and the five Shenmu Sect disciples, though not used to coordinating, simultaneously unleashed their most powerful fire-based spells against the Silver Armored Corpse!
In an instant, the sky was filled with flames, with fiery serpents, purple sword energies, and thunderous roars, like a meteor shower covering the Silver Armored Corpse, melting half of his broad blade sword.
The five from the Shenmu Sect didn't linger to see their victory but rushed into the exit opened by the Silver Armored Corpse's retreat and disappeared into the sky.
As they left, Chen Mobai glanced at Madam Guo, who was riding a light beam into the lake, choosing the opposite direction.
"It's useless, this is my netherworld, and all space is under my control."
Fei Ming Daoist's voice rang out, and then Chen Mobai and the others felt a silver mist swirling before their eyes, blinding them to any direction.
After discerning the exit with their spiritual senses, the group prepared to leave but found themselves disoriented and back where they started.
Then, a cold silvery fog rose from below, filling the entire cavern and obscuring their vision.
"Don't panic, junior brothers and sisters!"
Dan Hongyi's voice sounded, and a bright light shone through the silver fog, dispelling all darkness and allowing everyone to see again.
It was one of Dan Hongyi's magical tools, perfectly suited for this scenario.
Chen Mobai withdrew his Hollow Spiritual Vision and stood on the Red Mist Cloud Robe with his four fellow disciples, their expressions grave.
Above them, Fei Ming Daoist's Silver Armored Corpse had reappeared at the entrance, blocking their way.
His body was charred, one arm missing, but the silver fog slowly entering his wounds was healing the damage at a visible rate.
"Now I'm getting used to this new body."
Fei Ming Daoist emerged from the wall, his cracked skull quickly healing, and the smoke from the colorful lotus lamp turned into a beneficial silver fog for the Silver Armored Corpse.
"Netherworld Formation, activate!"
Now accustomed to his new body, Fei Ming Daoist began to manipulate the formation he had set up in his dwelling.
Suddenly, a void opened, and Madam Guo, panic-stricken, rushed out of the portal.
So that's how it is!
Seeing this, Chen Mobai and the others realized they had been teleported back in the same way.
What was the origin of this Netherworld Formation, and how mysterious was it?
After Madam Guo landed beside Fei Ming Daoist, she attempted to attack and retreat with her golden jade axe but was frozen by the lotus lamp's light, her magical tool immobilized, and she was heavily smashed against the wall.
But Madam Guo wasn't as tough as the Silver Armored Corpse; the blow nearly shattered her.
Even so, her vision darkened, and although she maintained a barely intact form embedded in the wall, her breath was faint.
"Isn't she your person?"
Chen Mobai couldn't help but ask upon seeing this.
"My person? I never said it was her."
After saying this, Fei Ming Daoist grabbed the jade-handled golden axe frozen in front of him and threw it at Madam Guo, who had just slid down from the wall, piercing her chest and avenging the wound his corpse had suffered from the axe.
Witnessing such a brutal scene, Chen Mobai and Yan Jinye frowned slightly, while the other three seemed indifferent.
At this moment, Fei Ming Daoist pulled out the golden jade axe from the dead-eyed Madam Guo and threw it towards Bi Yi Yuan in the sky.
Clang!
Bi Yi Yuan deflected the golden jade axe with his wolf-tooth club but found it lighter as three spikes were sheared off, revealing a shiny cut.
The golden jade axe was incredibly sharp!
No wonder it could cut through Fei Ming Daoist's corpse.
"Junior Brother Bi and I will join forces to slay the Silver Armored Corpse above. Junior Brother Chen and the two sisters, can you hold off Fei Ming Daoist for a while?"
Dan Hongyi quickly devised a tactic upon seeing this.
Everyone understood the situation; although Yan Jinye and Mei Jingjun looked bitter, they had no choice but to nod.
Chen Mobai remained silent, and everyone took it as his agreement.
"My person is still among you."
At this time, Fei Ming Daoist spoke again, sowing discord. Dan Hongyi and Bi Yi Yuan exchanged glances and simultaneously attacked the Silver Armored Corpse above.
In an instant, they unleashed terrifying spiritual power that shook the entire dwelling, defeating their opponent in just a few moves before rushing into the entrance and disappearing.
"Let's go too."
Yan Jinye pulled Mei Jingjun along the path opened by the two men, turning into a green light and rising quickly.
"Eh, aren't you leaving?"
Fei Ming Daoist looked curiously at Chen Mobai, who remained in place.
"Can they escape?"
Chen Mobai asked a strange question instead.
"Probably not."
Fei Ming Daoist gave an ambiguous answer.
"What do you mean?"
"My Netherworld Formation is based on the terrain here, but the formation plate is flawed. A third-order formation master can find a way to break the formation."
"That's unfortunate, as there doesn't seem to be a third-order formation master among us."
Dan Hongyi knew a bit about formations, but Chen Mobai guessed it was due to his age.
Bi Yi Yuan was a physical cultivator, Yan Jinye was an alchemist, and Mei Jingjun hadn't been in contact with them, but she probably wasn't a third-order formation master either.
"You guessed right, there isn't one."
Fei Ming Daoist's colorful lotus lamp flickered, reflecting the image of Dan Hongyi and the others flying through the passage but never leaving Lonely Soul Ridge.
"I separated the four of them. Go and hunt them down one by one. I'll play with this sword cultivator slowly."
The Silver Armored Corpse, restored by the silver fog, nodded. Since his weapon was damaged, he picked up the golden jade axe.
Chen Mobai watched him disappear to hunt down his fellow disciples.
"Oh, aren't you going to stop him?"
Fei Ming Daoist looked disappointed, thinking his manipulation had failed, as Chen Mobai stood on the cloud without moving.
"No, it will be easier for me to deal with you alone."
Chen Mobai's words made Fei Ming Daoist raise an eyebrow.
"Do you know what you're saying?"
Fei Ming Daoist's face darkened as he raised the colorful lotus lamp, ready to torture this arrogant youth. A green flying sword shot out from Chen Mobai's hand.
The sky was covered with sword rainbows, accompanied by seemingly superficial flames, easily frozen and dissipated by the colorful firelight…
Too weak!
Just as Fei Ming Daoist shook his head in disappointment, preparing to kill the Shenmu Sect disciple, an unprecedented dazzling purple light, like a meteor, shone in his eyes.
He looked up to see Chen Mobai pulling out a hairpin and lightly tracing it below!
Fei Ming Daoist's expression changed, wanting to spit out the golden bead, but the purple sword light was much faster than he anticipated.
He wanted to rely on the Silver Armored Corpse's tough body to withstand the blow.
As long as it wasn't a fatal wound, he could quickly recover with his treasure.
But by the time he realized what was happening, he saw his own head flying in the air, his eyes witnessing his headless body holding the colorful lotus lamp.
How is this possible?
How could a mere sword rainbow break my defense?
As Fei Ming Daoist looked puzzled, he finally noticed something amiss.
The strike that cut him wasn't from a sword rainbow!