A Patterned Beast descended upon the peak of a tall mountain, and Wang Xiaoqiang leaped off its back, scanning his surroundings. The mountaintop was bathed in sunlight, so much warmer than the lower slopes, and to his surprise, was lush with vegetation and blossoming with flowers and trees. From this, it was evident why the land below was barren, afflicted by Corpse Qi.

Seated on the warm summit, Wang Xiaoqiang gazed down at the slopes, his mind once again wrestling with thoughts.

How should he approach such formidable and numerous Corpse Demons, to slay them and harvest their crystals?

This was the ultimate purpose of his journey here, and also the greatest challenge.

He pondered this problem for an entire afternoon, and by the time the sky dimmed to dusk, he still had not devised a strategy.

The setting sun dipped low, the mountaintop engulfed in the deep haze of twilight, nightfall enveloping the land.

Wang Xiaoqiang took out a Leafless Fruit and munched on it while looking down at the slopes below. Under the semi-transparent veil of night, the concentration of Corpse Qi there grew dense, swirling with an almost tangible chill.

At that moment, Corpse Demons began to crawl out from the dark gaping graves.

These eerie beings were accustomed to stirring at night, absorbing Corpse Qi as part of their cultivation.

Similar to Cultivators, after emerging from their graves, some were seated in Breathing Technique meditation, some brandished swords in wild dances, others mimed shooting arrows from bows, and a few held Seal Formation gestures, ready to invoke spells... Their movements were varied and numerous.

Watching those dry, black skeletons performing various human-like actions was both bizarre and, beneath that, oddly comical, which made Wang Xiaoqiang smile wryly.

The Yin Energy was heavy at night, as was the Corpse Qi, making it the prime time for Corpse Demons to roam. It was the least favorable time to make a move. With this in mind, Wang Xiaoqiang abandoned the idea of hunting at night and took a seat on the mountaintop to enter into meditation.

......

For ten consecutive days, Wang Xiaoqiang failed to come up with a plan.

The Corpse Demons were not only powerful but also extremely sensitive to fluctuations of Spiritual Energy. Sometimes, when Wang Xiaoqiang lingered on the slopes, they would detect his presence. Thus, at times he had no choice but to release all of the Spiritual Spring from within his body. However, once he released the Spiritual Spring, even if he encountered a solitary Corpse Demon, he was too weak to make a move.

Today, he pondered again over the method to slay the demons and extract their crystals.

Seated at the summit, overlooking the densely packed graves below that filled him with consternation, he racked his brains but still couldn't find an answer. Suddenly, he noticed a Corpse Demon crawling out of a grave, and then, like a human, it looked around. When it didn't seem to discover anything, it silently headed towards a cliff.

Witnessing this, a surge of excitement jolted through Wang Xiaoqiang. He leaped up from the ground, eyes intently following the Corpse Demon. Seeing it stray from the group and move further from the graves filled his heart with exhilaration, but wary of stirring the grass and startling the snake, he refrained from acting rashly at the moment.

The cliff that the Corpse Demon was heading toward was much smaller than the one Wang Xiaoqiang was on, and its slope was not so precipitous. On the cliff face hung several coffins.

A few coffins, being closer to the ground, were relatively well-preserved.

The Corpse Demon walked to the base of the cliff and looked up at one of the coffins, its face showing a mournful expression as it opened its mouth as if to speak.

Just as Wang Xiaoqiang made his move, the Corpse Demon unexpectedly reached the cliff below, hands shrouded in Corpse Qi, grasping the steep rock face, and began to climb like a gecko towards the ancient coffin.

Although the Corpse Demon moved slowly, its climbing was not sluggish at all. In just a moment, it had climbed onto the coffin.

The ancient coffin was only about six or seven meters above the ground, which is why it was relatively well-preserved.

The Corpse Demon held onto a rock spire with its left hand while lifting the coffin lid with its right hand.

Then the Corpse Demon jumped into the coffin, embraced the mummified corpse that hadn't yet decayed, and started crying out in lament, "Junior sister, after a thousand years apart, we reunite today only to find ourselves forever separated by the heavens... Junior sister, I am filled with hatred, hating them for not burying you in the ground, for then you could have become a Corpse Demon like me, and we could be together again... Junior Sister, my hatred runs deep, hating them for burying me here, or else I wouldn't have turned into this inhuman, ghostly form. If I had also died, perhaps I could be reincarnated with you, and we could be humans again, and in the next life, we could be together..."

Too far away to hear the lament, Wang Xiaoqiang could only infer from its actions that the mummy in the coffin must have been someone very intimate and important to it in life. But now, it had become a Corpse Demon, while the person in the coffin had passed on, and after a thousand years, who knew into which lives she might have been reincarnated?

Seeing this, Wang Xiaoqiang felt a wave of melancholy wash over him. His expression grew distant.

The Corpse Demon cried for a while, then carefully laid the mummy back at the bottom of the coffin, closed the lid, and then leaped down the cliff.

It was only then that Wang Xiaoqiang snapped out of his trance. He immediately commanded the Patterned Beast and dove down from the mountain top in pursuit.

The speed of the Patterned Beast was incredibly fast, and in the blink of an eye, it had reached the bottom of the cliff.

The Corpse Demon, upon seeing a man and beast suddenly charge towards it, was startled for a moment, then let out an angry roar and its hands, billowing with Corpse Qi, lashed out at the two uninvited guests.

Wang Xiaoqiang did not retract the Patterned Beast, nor did he jump from its back. Instead, he stood firm on its back and took out the Penglai Immortal Sword from his Storage Ring.

With the sword in his right hand and his left hand opening and closing, a rain of Spiritual Energy Needles began to condense in his palm.

The Corpse Demon's strength was clearly not weak; it managed to leap towards the Patterned Beast in one bound.

Its right hand, condensed with Corpse Qi, aimed for the face of the Patterned Beast. Although the movement was slow, a strong aura locked onto the Patterned Beast. It was not just the beast; even Wang Xiaoqiang, riding atop it, could feel the potency of that aura.

The Patterned Beast leaped backward. With its body locked by the strong aura, its movements seemed sluggish and stiff. Its front legs kicked up, narrowly missing the Corpse Demon's attack.

At that moment, Wang Xiaoqiang scattered the Spiritual Energy Needle Rain from his left hand, shooting dozens of needles towards the Corpse Demon's face.

As the Needle Rain approached, the Corpse Demon formed a ball of Corpse Qi on its face, blocking the barrage.

Wang Xiaoqiang's gaze narrowed—he hadn't expected this Corpse Demon to be so formidable!

Absolutely not something to clash with head-on, Wang Xiaoqiang thought, and at that moment, the Patterned Beast, in tune with its master's intentions, instantly turned invisible.

The target suddenly vanished, and the Corpse Demon's face twisted in ferocity. Its eyeballs twisting around, when unable to find its prey, those rotating eyes suddenly emitted a creepy red light—two beams of Red Light, sweeping around like searchlights.

The Patterned Beast, in its state of invisibility, was immediately revealed upon being swept by the red light.

Having located its target, the Corpse Demon let out a roar and leaped toward the Patterned Beast once again.

Wang Xiaoqiang, gathering all his strength, stabbed at the leaping Corpse Demon with his sword.

"Bang!"

The Penglai Immortal Sword struck the chest of the Corpse Demon, failing to penetrate even slightly, but it still managed to halt its momentum.

Upon the spear's impact, the Corpse Demon let out a pained howl, appearing even more furious, as its hands shrouded in Corpse Qi clapped together, attempting to grab the Mystic Qi Spear.

Wang Xiaoqiang gripped the hilt tightly with both hands, exerting force to withdraw the sword. What had been lightweight Penglai Immortal Sword now felt as heavy as a thousand catties. His entire spiritual energy was concentrated between his hands, and he was finally able to pull it back before the Corpse Demon grasped the spearhead, but the process was extremely strenuous.

Had it not been for the more than ten thousand Spiritual Springs within his body supplying spiritual energy, he might have already been spent.

Seeing Wang Xiaoqiang withdraw his weapon, the Corpse Demon's rage intensified. It let out a bellow at Wang Xiaoqiang, its body darted forward, and its hands reached out to grab him.

Wang Xiaoqiang held the spear in his left hand and condensed spiritual energy in his right, striking at the approaching Corpse Demon with his palm. Rollicking spiritual energy surged, forming three dazzling streaks of lightning in the center of his palm.

Boom, boom, boom!

Three thick bolts of lightning thundered toward the Corpse Demon.

The Corpse Demon was struck by the lightning, its body shook violently, and its forward motion was stopped. Pieces of tiny bone fragments crackled and fell from the chest area where it had been hit.

Seeing the Thunderclap Annihilation Palm was effective against the creature, Wang Xiaoqiang's heart lightened, but at that moment, the wounded Corpse Demon retracted its hands, brushed its chest casually, and the Corpse Qi over its palms thickened, instantaneously repairing the damage at its chest.

"Roar!"

After the wound was healed, the Corpse Demon, just as Wang Xiaoqiang was concentrating spiritual energy for a second palm strike, rounded its arms for a full rotation, and a phosphorescent fireball the size of a ball, flashing with blue light, shot toward Wang Xiaoqiang.

Wang Xiaoqiang's gaze sharpened, and the Mountain Splitting Palm, initially charged with aggressive spiritual energy, switched from offense to defense, chopping at the incoming Phosphorescent Fireball.

The next moment.

The three streaks of lightning, formed from spiritual energy with the artistic conception of real lightning, collided with the Phosphorescent Fireball hurtling towards them.

"Bang!"

A loud noise erupted as the Phosphorescent Fireball was blasted into fragments, which then dispersed. The residual force of the shattered lightning continued toward the Corpse Demon.

The Corpse Demon was startled for a moment, then it staggered back three steps, clapping its hands together in front of its chest.

Instantly, the dense Corpse Qi in front of it formed into a shield shape.

"Boom!"

The onslaught of lightning struck the white shield of condensed Corpse Qi, and an explosion caused a significant sound wave. The recoil from the collision toppled both combatants.

In reality, this Corpse Demon was incredibly strong, such that even a cultivator who had undergone the First Transformation of the Immortal or even a master of the True Immortal Realm would have been in deep trouble at this moment. However, Wang Xiaoqiang had the protection of the Patterned Beast and wielded the formidable Penglai Immortal Sword. More importantly, he had the Divine Arts like Thunderclap Annihilation Palm at his disposal, which is why he could fight this Second Level Corpse Demon to a standstill.

Lightning, the epitome of pure Yang from the heavens and gang fire from the earth, was the bane of Corpse Qi and Phosphorescent Fire.

Therefore, Wang Xiaoqiang's palm strike revealed such potency.

Although the Corpse Demon was powerful, Wang Xiaoqiang wouldn't give up as long as there was a glimmer of hope.

Just now, as he commanded the Patterned Beast and used the Thunderclap Annihilation Palm, they fought to a draw, and both were knocked to the ground. At this point, Wang Xiaoqiang climbed up from the ground, no longer utilizing the Patterned Beast for protection; he wanted it to fight alongside him against the Corpse Demon.

Two against one was a winning strategy.

With a single thought, the Patterned Beast rose from the ground with a fierce roar. Majestic and commanding, it exuded an imposing aura.

This master and pet charged together at the Corpse Demon.

At that moment, the Corpse Demon too got back on its feet. Like a human, it twisted its wrists and rotated its neck with a series of chilling cracks, regaining its agility. It seemed it wasn't severely harmed either.

It was then that a strange howling echoed from the curves of the mountain.

One howl, two howls, three… Almost in an instant, the volume of howls increased, the clamor boiling over.

Wang Xiaoqiang's expression changed drastically. He halted his charge and turned to look at the continuous mounds within the curves of the mountain.

At that glance, goosebumps covered his body.

From the broken holes of the graves, one Corpse Demon after another emerged. They packed the mountain folds tightly, their numbers overwhelming.

Hundreds of Corpse Demons climbed out of their graves and, howling, surged toward them.

Witnessing this, Wang Xiaoqiang felt a wave of helplessness and had no choice but to abandon the fight and flee with the Patterned Beast. (To be continued. If you like this work, please come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations or monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)

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