“Of course not. Although using corpse-sealing nails to refine corpses is convenient, it requires a very long time to wait, at least over a hundred years. It can’t be considered a top-notch method of refining corpses. For the corpse-catching sect, the main purpose of corpse-sealing nails is actually to seal some rampaging corpses.” The bone diagram shook its head and said so.
Upon hearing this, the black-clad girl and the others suddenly realized.
The bone diagram stopped speaking and muttered some words, pointing its fingertips at the black iron nails. Both of them erupted with black light at the same time.
His fingers slowly moved outward, and the black iron nails seemed to be stuck to his fingers, slowly pulling away from the green-haired corpse’s head, bit by bit.
The black-clad girl and the others held their breath and stared, not daring to breathe.
Boom!
At the moment when the black iron nail left the green-haired corpse’s head, a sinister and terrifying aura burst out from the green-haired corpse, instantly filling the entire hall, far surpassing the pressure of a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator.
The clothes of everyone rustled, and even their breathing became difficult. They were all shocked.
“It is indeed the body of Senior Tian She without a doubt, but its power has been sealed by the corpse-sealing nails. Quickly, implant the corpse-controlling talisman into the sea of consciousness of the body!” The bone diagram showed excitement and urged Sang Yan eagerly.
Sang Yan immediately took out a black jade talisman from her storage bag and stuck it on the forehead of the green-haired corpse, quickly reciting an incantation.
The black talisman silently dissipated, turning into black runes that entered the head of the green-haired corpse.
As this woman continued to form hand seals, a series of spells entered various parts of the green-haired corpse, and the violent corpse energy immediately began to converge.
Then, Sang Yan took out nine white talismans, waving her hands and sticking the talismans on the top of the green-haired corpse’s head, dantian, hands, and feet. Only then did the green-haired corpse completely calm down.
“Since you discovered this place, according to the agreement between me and your master, this corpse belongs to you. Put it away first.” The bone diagram said.
Upon hearing this, the black-clad girl’s gaze shot towards Sang Yan like a venomous snake, fiercely pinching her fingers.
“Thank you, Elder Bone Diagram!” Sang Yan expressed her gratitude and took out a black pouch, activating it with hand seals.
A black light shot out from the pouch, enveloping the corpse and the black coffin, slowly collecting them into the pouch.
“Now that this matter is over, Elder Bone Diagram, why don’t we go and take a look at the Snake King Cave? Since Bai Ye and Huan Shi came here with such determination, there must be great benefits in the Snake King Cave. With our strength, we can definitely get a share.” The black-clad girl, who didn’t gain any benefits here, instigated.
The young man with sword-like eyebrows and the others also had little gain and were tempted.
The bone diagram was originally a cultivator from a sect and naturally looked down upon Bai Ye, Huan Shi, and other independent cultivators. He also knew about Bai Ye’s mission to kill a second-level Snake King beast. At this moment, they were probably already heavily injured. He was not afraid at all.
“Alright, let’s go and take a look.” The bone diagram nodded.
Sang Yan had just obtained a Foundation Establishment stage corpse and only wanted to quickly return to the sect to refine and control it. She didn’t want to get involved in unnecessary trouble, but since the other disciples were planning to go, she didn’t say much.
…
At the same time.
Yuan Ming arrived at the depths of the Snake King Cave and, after searching, took the venomous fangs, snake skin, and the horn of the one-horned Snake King, and kept them.
Finally, he searched inside the body of the one-horned Snake King for a while and quickly took out an item. It was indeed the snake bead of the one-horned Snake King.
After hesitating for a moment, Yuan Ming did not feed the snake bead to the Black Toad, but stored it in his storage ring.
This snake bead was quite precious and could be exchanged for a lot of spirit stones. Currently, Yuan Ming was short on funds for the White Deer Summit alliance, so he decided not to use it for the Black Toad’s advancement for now.
“Qua!” The Black Toad did not ask for the snake bead either and ran towards the depths of the snake cave.
Yuan Ming had already retrieved the soul crow attached to the Black Toad, and seeing this, he was slightly startled and quickly followed.
After walking for a while, they finally reached the end of the snake cave.
This was a large stone cave, and in the center was a ten-zhang-sized pit. The soil in the pit was as smooth as a mirror, indicating that it was the nest of the two Snake Kings.
In the center of the pit stood a four to five-zhang tall, grinding disc-thick black stone pillar. It was engraved with ancient and simple patterns, not something ordinary. It had been in this place with dense miasma for a long time, yet its surface showed no signs of corrosion.
The Black Toad went straight to the stone pillar, pressing its body against it, revealing an extremely content expression on its face.
“Hmm, what are these stone pillars? The two Snake Kings placed their nest here, and the Black Toad also likes it…” Yuan Ming approached the stone pillar and used his divine sense to probe inside.
An invisible force suddenly surged forth, easily bouncing his divine sense back.
He furrowed his eyebrows and pointed his finger.
A green wooden thorn pierced into the stone pillar, but it shattered and left no trace on the stone pillar.
Yuan Ming then took out the Frost Star Sword and slashed it at the stone pillar with a cold sword qi. The sword qi shattered, but the stone pillar remained unscathed.
“I can’t even harm it with the Frost Star Sword!” He was truly shocked and pondered for a moment before once again unleashing his divine sense.
This time, he didn’t probe deep into the stone pillar but carefully sensed the reason why the Black Toad was sticking to it.
Yuan Ming didn’t waste his efforts this time and quickly discovered the reason. The Black Toad was close to the stone pillar, and an inexplicable aura emanated from inside the stone pillar, merging into its body.
This aura was not the power of the five elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, nor was it the power of extreme yang. It wasn’t Yin Qi or even the power of the soul. It was a completely unfamiliar force that he had never encountered before.
If he had to describe it, this force was somewhat similar to Yin Qi, but not exactly the same. It gave him a faint sense of danger.
After absorbing this force, the Black Toad’s demonic power did not increase, but its aura became much more active.
Yuan Ming couldn’t understand the origin of the stone pillar in front of him, but since the aura inside it was harmless to the Black Toad, he didn’t bother with it and looked around.Near the nest of the Snake King, a dozen or so black spirit grasses grew on the ground. The leaves were shaped like snakes, emitting strong fluctuations of Yin and cold energy.
“Could this be Yin Snake Grass?” Yuan Ming had read about this black grass in ancient texts. It was said to be a companion spirit material that grew near serpentine beasts.
Yuan Ming quickly approached and carefully harvested these spirit grasses, storing them away.
This Yin Snake Grass was an excellent ingredient for refining Yin attribute elixirs. It could be sold for quite a few spirit stones, or it could be mixed into black incense to test its effects.
In the following time, Yuan Ming searched the vicinity but found no other valuable items. He returned with the reluctant black toad and arrived next to Bai Ye and Huan Shi.
The two were still unconscious, their breaths extremely weak.
After a brief examination, Yuan Ming frowned.
Although Bai Ye and Huan Shi were severely injured, their injuries were not fatal. However, the poison in their bodies was too deep, having already corroded their internal organs. It was beyond saving.
Yuan Ming suddenly understood why the Unicorn Snake King didn’t deliver a fatal blow to Bai Ye and Huan Shi before rushing over to fight him.
He sighed regretfully, about to take the two away from the snake cave and find a place to bury them, when he suddenly stopped.
Yuan Ming thought of the black toad’s poison-absorbing ability. This ability could absorb the snake poison in the air, but could it also directly suck out the deadly poison in their bodies?
He summoned the black toad, shot out two purple-black vines, gently pierced them into the bodies of the two, and urged the inner pill to absorb the snake poison.
A miraculous scene occurred!
The green color on Bai Ye and Huan Shi’s bodies quickly receded and transferred into the black toad along the vines.
“It’s effective. I didn’t expect the black toad’s poison-absorbing ability to be so exquisite!” Yuan Ming was secretly delighted and continued to drive the black toad to absorb the poison.
A moment later, all the deadly poison in their bodies disappeared, and their skin returned to its normal color.
Yuan Ming took out two healing pills, stuffed them into their mouths, and activated his mana to help them refine the pills.
As the medicinal power spread, their breathing stabilized.
Bai Ye, with his profound cultivation, woke up quickly despite his severe external injuries and relatively light internal injuries.
“Brother Ha Gong, it’s you…” Bai Ye looked at Yuan Ming in surprise, then remembered the Unicorn Snake King and looked around in fear.
“The Snake King is dead. It’s safe now. Don’t worry, Leader Bai Ye.” Yuan Ming helped Bai Ye reset his arm bone and said.
Bai Ye saw the bodies of the Unicorn Snake King and the other Golden Flower Snake King, and the battle traces on the ground, and roughly guessed what had happened after he fainted.
“So it was Brother Ha Gong who saved me and Huan Shi? I can’t thank you enough!” Bai Ye sincerely thanked him.
“It was nothing. Now that you’re awake, Leader Bai Ye, I don’t need to worry about Senior Huan Shi’s injuries. I have things to do, so I’ll take my leave.” Yuan Ming said, standing up and walking outside.
Bai Ye wanted to say more words of thanks, but seeing Yuan Ming’s attitude, he had to swallow his words.
Just as he took a few steps, Yuan Ming suddenly stopped and looked ahead.
After he entered the snake cave, for safety, he had sent the soul crow inside the cave to monitor the entrance of the snake cave. The group from the Black Fire Gate was now outside the snake cave.
Yuan Ming thought for a moment and guessed the purpose of the group from the Black Fire Gate, but he was not nervous.
The spiritual power of the Earth Travel Talisman was not exhausted and could be used again. He could escape underground at any time.
“Brother Ha Gong, did you find something?” Bai Ye, already on edge, noticed Yuan Ming’s abnormality and quickly asked.
“Some people are coming, five in total. Bai Rong is among them. The other four are also loose cultivators who were summoned for this mission. One of them has hidden his cultivation and is a Foundation Establishment cultivator.” Yuan Ming turned his head and looked at Bai Ye, reminding him.
“We’re trapped here!” Bai Ye’s face changed continuously as he listened. Every sentence Yuan Ming said was like a heavy hammer hitting his heart.
If he and Huan Shi were not injured, they would naturally not be afraid. But now, Huan Shi was still unconscious, and he was severely injured and unable to move. Even a Qi Refining cultivator could defeat him.
“I’m afraid I can’t help. Please take care of yourself, Leader Bai Ye.” After reminding him, Yuan Ming took out the Earth Travel Talisman, ready to escape underground.
“Wait, Brother Ha Gong! Huan Shi and I are seriously injured. If the people coming have ill intentions, we have no power to resist. Please help us, Brother Ha Gong. I have more than a thousand spirit stones on me, and Huan Shi should have five or six hundred in his storage bag. We can give them all to you as a reward for saving our lives.” Bai Ye quickly regained his senses and spoke rapidly.
Yuan Ming was somewhat moved by his words, but after carefully considering the consequences, he shook his head.
The Black Fire Gate was a powerful force, even above the Bi Luo Cave. Killing Sang Yan and the others was different from killing those loose cultivators before. It might attract the investigation of the Black Fire Gate. He had no intention of offending the Black Fire Gate. Reminding Bai Ye was already doing his best.
As for whether Bai Ye would bear a grudge for his refusal, Yuan Ming didn’t care. He was currently using a false identity and appearance, so he naturally didn’t care about being betrayed.
(End of Chapter)