At this moment, the once-dominant Spirit Corpse Sovereign, with a strength rivaling that of a late-Golden Core cultivator, stood meekly to the side, its demeanor submissive and reverent.
"Fool! If not for my master's foresight, you would have ruined everything!" Chu Kuang spat blood as he chastised the creature. The mysterious woman's earlier furious strike had left him seriously injured.
Turning back, Chu Kuang's face twisted into a triumphant smirk. "Hahaha! Demon Sovereign, you never expected that your endless plotting over countless ages would be undone in a single day. My master, with infinite power, foresaw your escape and used great magic to send me to the lower realm. Today, I will destroy you completely, reducing you to ashes on behalf of my master!"
Green light flickered ominously in Chu Kuang's eyes as he began chanting an ancient incantation. His glowing gaze locked onto the Spirit Corpse Sovereign, who had become a puppet of his will. "Sacrifice!" he roared.
"Woooo… woooo…"
The Spirit Corpse Sovereign emitted mournful wails as its massive body trembled. Dense corpse energy surged out, wrapping around it like a cocoon.
Chu Kuang frowned, his expression darkening. With a guttural snarl, he uttered a harsh command in an unknown tongue and thrust a ball of black light into the creature's body. The light sank in, and the Spirit Corpse Sovereign's desiccated face twisted in agony. The corpse energy dissipated gradually, revealing its shriveled form under the oppressive green light.
Feeling a moment of relief, Chu Kuang smirked. Having returned to the lower realm via forbidden arts, his divine sense and cultivation were suppressed to the Qi Refining stage by the laws of the heavens. If not for his master's precautions in leaving him control over this puppet, he would never have dared to risk commanding it to sacrifice its soul to summon the phantom of the ancient demon ancestor.
Unbeknownst to him, the Spirit Corpse Sovereign's lifeless eyes flashed with a glimmer of cunning. For an instant, its dull pupils sparkled with intelligence before resuming their vacant stare. The brief flicker went unnoticed.
"Fortunate for me that the site where I awakened was an ancient ghost cultivator's ruin. There, I found a fragment of a soul-devouring technique. Without it, I would surely have perished here today."
The creature's thoughts churned with glee. "This man's body is from the higher realm—no doubt a rare and exquisite vessel. If I can take it, I will not only gain a perfect new body but also unlock the secrets buried in his divine sense."
The Spirit Corpse Sovereign, once merely a puppet for the invader, had turned the tables, regaining control of its own body. Its gaze hardened with malicious intent as it feigned submission, shrinking its aura of corpse energy. Watching Chu Kuang relax slightly, the creature struck without warning.
A bony, skeletal claw lashed out, gripping Chu Kuang in an iron grasp. A green, pulsating mass of light emerged from the corpse's chest and darted into Chu Kuang's seven orifices.
"You wretched beast! What are you doing?!" Chu Kuang's expression twisted in rage and terror. He recognized the technique immediately—it was a soul-devouring attempt.
Though intimately familiar with the process, Chu Kuang now found himself on the receiving end, his suppressed divine sense woefully inadequate to resist. If the creature succeeded, his very existence would be obliterated, his body reduced to a mere vessel.
Closing his eyes, Chu Kuang focused all his willpower on resisting. His body alternated between surges of corpse energy and bursts of green light as the two entities battled for dominance.
After a tense quarter-hour, a surge of potent corpse energy erupted from Chu Kuang's body. His once-healthy and refined appearance deteriorated rapidly as the energy corroded his flesh. Within moments, he was reduced to a withered, skeletal form—a true corpse puppet.
Unsurprisingly, the Spirit Corpse Sovereign emerged victorious.
When it reopened its eyes, a ghostly green flame danced in its gaze, far more vivid than the flickering light of Chu Kuang.
"Kehehe… What a twist of fate. With this superior body, my strength will soar, and with the cultivation methods I've acquired, the path to Nascent Soul is all but assured!"
Flexing its limbs, the Spirit Corpse Sovereign laughed darkly, clearly satisfied with its new form.
Its gaze shifted to the sealing formation ahead, greed flashing in its eyes. Having devoured Chu Kuang's divine sense and those of the other guardians, the creature now possessed considerable knowledge of the seal and its target.
"The Demon Sovereign must have been a mighty figure in the upper realm. If I can devour her, not only will my power skyrocket, but my ascension to the spirit realm will be guaranteed!"
Recalling Chu Kuang's memories, the Spirit Corpse Sovereign confirmed that the Demon Sovereign was severely weakened. Confident in its ability to destroy her using the ancient demon ancestor's phantom, it grinned sinisterly.
"Sacrifice!"
Having roamed the cultivation world for centuries, the Spirit Corpse Sovereign had survived through ruthless decisiveness. Wasting no time, it made its move.
Green light erupted from its eyes as its emaciated form suddenly swelled with energy, restoring Chu Kuang's original appearance. A shimmering green aura surrounded it as waves of demonic power surged forth.
The remnants of the Spirit Corpse Sovereign's body disintegrated into ash, its essence refined into blood and spiritual energy. With a single command, the Spirit Corpse Sovereign sent the energy into the seal, empowering the ancient demon ancestor's phantom.
The spectral figure roared, its once-flickering form solidifying. Stars swirled in its eyes, reflecting endless cycles of life and death.
"Cycle of Life and Death, Obliteration!" the Spirit Corpse Sovereign bellowed, weaving complex seals as the phantom's eyes erupted with starlight. A massive, rotating celestial diagram materialized, descending toward the seal below.
Inside the blood-veined jade plate, the mysterious woman watched coldly, her pale face betraying her mounting exhaustion. Though her eyes burned with resentment, there was no trace of fear.
"Countless years of planning, undone by the calamity of life and death. But if you want my life, you'll pay the ultimate price!"
Frowning deeply, she bit her fingertip, and a single drop of inky black blood emerged, hovering eerily in the air.
"Blood Demon Puppet, Manifest!" she intoned sharply. The drop of blood exploded with dark light, releasing an overwhelming tide of pure demonic energy. The energy coalesced into a grotesque black cocoon, inscribed with ominous crimson runes.
From within, a steady, thunderous heartbeat echoed—"Thump… Thump…"—as if a formidable being was about to be born.