Boom!
A deafening collision, far more intense than before, rippled across the protective barrier, causing a brief tremor before fading into silence. Xiao Chen's expression grew increasingly grim as he retrieved two pills and swallowed them in quick succession.
"If I can't break the barrier to escape, then I'll just have to wait this out!" A fierce glint flashed in his eyes as he sat cross-legged to refine the medicinal power, an aura of killing intent faintly emanating from his body.
"It's here!" Within the blood-veined jade plate, the mysterious woman's eyes snapped open, a hint of malice flickering within them.
At that moment, a roar reverberated through the grand hall. A towering spirit corpse, pale-faced, with green skin and fanged teeth, suddenly appeared. Standing nearly twenty feet tall, it exuded the spiritual pressure of a mid-Golden Core cultivator.
"Kill… kill… kill… intruders… must die!" The spirit corpse's guttural voice growled intermittently. Its form blurred and disappeared as it dove into the barrier.
The pudgy Daoist was deeply engrossed in breaking the restrictive formation. His hands wove seals with cautious precision, his focus unwavering. As the last seal was cast and the barrier in front of him began to dissipate, an overwhelming sense of danger gripped his heart.
"Retreat!" he barked, his figure darting backward as he summoned three layers of spiritual shields around him with a wave of his hand.
Snap! Snap!
Two of the shields shattered instantly as a shriveled, bony hand with black claws several feet long emerged from the broken barrier, lunging straight for his chest.
The pudgy Daoist's eyes filled with dread. Had he been even a moment slower, his heart and lungs would already have been ripped out. Gulping down two more pills to restore his spiritual energy, he hastily erected several new layers of shields. With a slap to his forehead, he summoned a bowl-shaped Buddhist artifact that surrounded him with a faint golden glow.
"Roar!"
The spirit corpse emerged fully from the barrier. The pudgy Daoist's face turned ashen. "Spirit Corpse Sovereign!"
The Daoist recognized the corpse—it was once the body of the infamous Spirit Corpse Sovereign, a ruthless cultivator among rogue cultivators. He had previously collaborated with both the elderly woman and the Spirit Corpse Sovereign to hunt treasures and kill for profit. However, to his shock, the corpse now emanated the spiritual pressure of a mid-Golden Core cultivator.
"This old corpse… its power has increased after being taken over by that monster." The pudgy Daoist grimaced. Though he had suppressed his injuries, his strength was now barely equivalent to an early-Golden Core cultivator.
"Kill!"
The spirit corpse growled as thick waves of corpse energy rolled off its body. Its frame creaked and expanded further, swelling to nearly thirty feet tall. Its claws gleamed darker, its fangs lengthened, and its spiritual pressure surged to the late-Golden Core stage within moments.
"Shattering Core, Burning Spirit!" the pudgy Daoist screeched in terror, retreating rapidly while frantically casting spells to block the spirit corpse's advance. Beads of sweat dripped from his forehead as he unleashed divine abilities, desperately trying to slow the creature down.
The spirit corpse, empowered by its monstrous spiritual strength, ignored the attacks. It roared, charging headlong into the spells with its body. Divine abilities struck its hardened form with metallic clangs, failing to pierce even its skin.
"Run! Run! Run!" The pudgy Daoist was beside himself with fear, fleeing at full speed.
Meanwhile, the elderly woman stood in an opulent but empty hall. Her expression remained neutral as she analyzed the situation. She had dismantled several formations along her way, developing a methodical rhythm. Scanning her surroundings with her spiritual sense, she quickly identified the next barrier and began to unravel it.
Suddenly, her intuition flared with a sense of foreboding. Cultivators at her level often had a keen sense of impending danger. Without hesitation, she moved to retreat, but a vortex materialized in front of her, sucking her in before she could react.
The pudgy Daoist was pale, blood trickling from the corners of his mouth as he stumbled in retreat. The Spirit Corpse Sovereign relentlessly pursued him, its oppressive aura unyielding.
"Damn it! If my injuries flare up now, I'll either die here or lose a full realm of cultivation!" Desperation filled his eyes as he flung several high-grade talismans behind him. The resulting explosions widened the gap between him and his pursuer, granting him a brief reprieve.
Just then, a ripple appeared ahead, and the elderly woman reemerged from the void.
"Daoist Jin! Help me, or we'll both perish here!" Relief washed over the pudgy Daoist's face. Without a shred of shame for his earlier inaction, he quickly rushed to her side.
The elderly woman's face darkened. Though she was furious at the pudgy Daoist for his selfishness, she understood the dire situation. If they didn't cooperate, they would be picked off one by one.
"Fine! Together, we'll kill this thing!"
Standing side by side, the two unleashed their strongest techniques.
The pudgy Daoist chanted, summoning his bowl-shaped artifact to shine with brilliant Buddhist light. A miniature Buddha appeared behind him, radiating sacred energy.
"Go!"
With a command, the Buddha projection opened its mouth and intoned: "Om! Ma! Ni! Pad! Me! Hum!"
The six sacred syllables condensed into radiant symbols that shot toward the Spirit Corpse Sovereign.
The elderly woman retrieved a meticulously carved miniature skeleton from her pouch. With a trace of hesitation, she bit her tongue and spat blood onto it. The skeleton absorbed the blood, glowing red and developing a semblance of consciousness.
"Bone Guardian, kill it!" The skeleton expanded mid-air, growing to the size of an adult with eyes glowing like flickering soul flames.
The Bone Guardian roared silently and charged at the Spirit Corpse Sovereign.
Though powerful, the Spirit Corpse Sovereign was a being born of the undead, vulnerable to the Buddhist sacred words. As the six luminous characters struck it, the corpse released an agonized roar, its energy surging chaotically.
"Not good!" The pudgy Daoist spat blood, his Buddha projection shattering like glass. The Spirit Corpse Sovereign absorbed the blow, but its ghostly form grew more solid, releasing waves of corpse energy that entangled the Bone Guardian.
The guardian retaliated with a swipe of its blood-soaked blade, slicing through the dense corpse energy, but the Spirit Corpse Sovereign pressed forward, enveloping the Bone Guardian in a thick cloud of miasma.
"It's blocking my spiritual sense!" The elderly woman's face paled as she frantically cast seals to disperse the miasma.
Within the miasma, the Bone Guardian fought back furiously, but the Spirit Corpse Sovereign's corpse energy overwhelmed it, corroding its form. Moments later, the miasma receded, revealing the Bone Guardian corrupted and green-eyed, now resembling a specter under the corpse's control.
"My spiritual imprint has been erased!" The elderly woman and the pudgy Daoist exchanged despairing glances, the futility of their resistance weighing heavily on them.