Yang Han's words left the Palace Lord and Phantom Elder skeptical. After all, the Corpse-Refiner rarely appeared before others—how could Yang Han know this? But Yang Han had no time to explain. He sped up, activating Flash Step.
Soon, the three arrived at the place Yang Han had mentioned. When the Palace Lord saw the scene matched the image in the mirror exactly, he was stunned. "So it really is here."
"So it's this kind of place. I never paid attention to it before," Phantom Elder said doubtfully.
The arrival of Yang Han and his companions immediately drew attention from those inside. Elder Liu and the Nether Patriarch rushed out.
Seeing the two, Yang Han was momentarily surprised, then snorted coldly. "Elder Liu, Nether Patriarch, you two sure have guts."
"Yang Han, you finally showed up. And the Palace Lord of Sha Palace, plus that old Phantom fellow." Elder Liu glanced around and sneered.
"Liu Yan, release them now!" the Palace Lord shouted angrily.
"Want me to release them? Go ask the master," Elder Liu said with a mocking smile.
"Master?" The three muttered inwardly. But Yang Han knew this was the Corpse-Refiner's lair, so their master was likely the Corpse-Refiner.
"Doesn't matter who your master is. Let's take you down first!" the Palace Lord shouted angrily. Phantom Elder and the Palace Lord moved to attack.
Elder Liu and the Nether Patriarch also moved to fight, but Elder Liu's strength still couldn't withstand the Palace Lord—he could only retreat step by step. Phantom Elder suppressed the Nether Patriarch as well.
Yang Han, however, didn't join the fight. He watched the changes in the mountain. After the four had battled for a while, he flashed inside.
Seeing Yang Han ignore the corpse miasma on Corpse-Refiner Mountain, Elder Liu and the Nether Patriarch were secretly shocked. Inside the mountain, the Corpse-Refiner was both alarmed and delighted—alarmed that Yang Han wasn't affected by the miasma, delighted that his perfect living corpse material had walked right in without him having to act.
Once inside, Yang Han saw two women lying on the ground, their breathing unstable and barely alive. At the same time, a skeletal figure stood there, smiling. "Welcome to my lair."
"Why did you capture them?" Yang Han asked, frowning.
"Them? They're not worth my attention. What I care about is your body. If you submit to me, I'll let them go. Otherwise, not only will they die, but you'll become my living corpse!" the Corpse-Refiner laughed.
"Submit to you? Dream on! No matter if you're the Corpse-Refiner or whatever old ghost, today I'm going to teach you a lesson!" Yang Han snorted coldly.
"Such big words. But I like it, hahaha," the Corpse-Refiner said, clicking his tongue.
With that, Yang Han attacked, and so did the Corpse-Refiner. At first, it was clear the Corpse-Refiner's strength surpassed Yang Han's. By Yang Han's estimate, his power was similar to Patriarch Fenn's—that is, at the Pseudo-Immortal Stage.
"Pseudo-Immortal Stage," Yang Han exclaimed in shock.
"I'm surprised you know that. But you really amaze me—you're only at the Nine Tribulations Second Layer, yet your strength and speed can rival someone at the Fifth Layer. Truly the perfect body," the Corpse-Refiner said with a grin.
"Hmph, compared to you, my body is way better. Who wants to be like you—neither human nor ghost!" Yang Han snorted coldly.
"How dare you insult me? Kid, today you'll stay here and become my slave forever." The Corpse-Refiner sneered, then released a strange gas from beneath Yang Han, a stench like rotting corpses.
Yang Han quickly held his breath. Seeing this, the Corpse-Refiner sneered, "It's useless. This corpse miasma will enter your body, paralyze you, and eventually let you slowly enjoy the pleasure of corpse qi."
"Pleasure? You can enjoy it yourself." Yang Han snorted, ignored the gas, and used Flash Step to appear right in front of the Corpse-Refiner. The Corpse-Refiner was shocked—a skeletal frame appeared to block Yang Han's attack.
Crack! The skeleton shattered. The Corpse-Refiner staggered back. "Damn it, how are you not afraid of corpse qi!"
"Plenty of people aren't afraid—you're just arrogant, thinking everyone is!" Yang Han snorted. He knew it was because of his unique body that he wasn't affected by the strange gas.
"I don't believe it! I refuse to believe this can't corrode you!" the Corpse-Refiner said, trying the same move again, but it still didn't work.
The Corpse-Refiner snorted coldly. "If that's how it is, I'll handle you myself!" With that, a powerful Pseudo-Immortal aura erupted, aiming to subdue Yang Han.
Yang Han transformed, his phantom form appearing. The Corpse-Refiner was shocked, but Yang Han's overwhelming strength struck him, sending him crashing into the wall and making the mountain tremble.
"Damn you—" The Corpse-Refiner was severely injured, staring in shock at Yang Han's beast transformation.
"Arrogant fool!" Yang Han snorted coldly.
The Corpse-Refiner, who had been glaring at Yang Han, suddenly burst into wild laughter. "Good, good! I must have your body! Just don't die before I recover!"
With those words, a wave of death energy surrounded the Corpse-Refiner. Yang Han watched suspiciously. As he realized the gas was strange, the Corpse-Refiner vanished, his words echoing: "Don't die. Wait for me!"
"Damn it, he escaped." Yang Han had no idea how the enemy managed to leave—he couldn't even find him with divine sense.
Yang Han then turned to look at Ye Chen and the other woman, and took them outside. Elder Liu and the Nether Patriarch had already fled. The Palace Lord and Phantom Elder couldn't keep up—they were simply too strange, their speed defied logic.
"How are they?" the Palace Lord asked anxiously.
"They should be fine. I'll take them back for healing," Yang Han replied.
"Then hurry," said the Palace Lord.
Yang Han nodded, then left with the two women. Phantom Elder excused himself and departed—he didn't want to get too close to Fiend Palace. If not for Elder Liu, he wouldn't have shown up at all.
Yang Han didn't stop him. Once back at Fiend Palace, he found a place to heal the women, while the Palace Lord and others waited anxiously outside.
About half an hour later, Feng Wu and Ye Chen opened their eyes. Seeing that Yang Han was the one healing them, they were overjoyed—finally free from that damned Corpse-Refiner, they could relax at last.
Seeing they were all right, Yang Han smiled. "How are you feeling?"
"Much better," said Feng Wu. Ye Chen nodded as well.
"Alright, I'll let them in. They're all worried about you," Yang Han said with a smile. He opened the door. Seeing Feng Wu safe, the Palace Lord and others rejoiced.
Ye Chen went into the tower to join You Shuang and the other two.
After a while, Yang Han said, "Although the Corpse-Refiner is only injured, there's no telling what strange methods he'll use to recover. I advise the Palace Lord to be careful in the future."
"Don't worry. After this incident, I plan to send everyone to the Demon Refining Hall to join those old fellows. I don't believe anyone can cause trouble there," said the Fiend Palace Lord.
Hearing about the Demon Refining Hall, Feng Wu and the others were shocked—it was said to be a place of no return. But that wasn't absolute; only those whose strength satisfied the Fiend Palace elders could leave.
Yang Han had no idea what the Demon Refining Cave was. Only after Feng Wu explained did he learn that all the Fiend Palace elders there were at the Pseudo-Immortal Stage. Now he finally understood why Fiend Palace could stand strong—so many powerful elders were behind it.
"Then I'm relieved," Yang Han nodded.
"Where are the other women?" Feng Wu asked curiously, noticing that all four were gone.
"They're in my space. I'm planning to take them away, back to the Human Realm," Yang Han replied.
"What? You're leaving so soon?" Feng Wu exclaimed.
"Yes, there's nothing left to do here, so it's time to go back," Yang Han said with a smile. Although he could cultivate anywhere, he hadn't visited the Feng Clan and the Three Palaces in fifty years. He wondered what changes had occurred on those maps and wanted to go see.
Hearing this, Feng Wu could only bid farewell to Yang Han and the others. She stayed at Fiend Palace to continue cultivating—only by becoming stronger could she leave the Fiend Realm and go to the Human Realm to find them.
After leaving Fiend Palace, Yang Han left a message for Direi, saying he had left the Fiend Realm and that Direi would have to walk his own path from now on—after all, the Fiend Realm was his place for cultivation.
Once everything was settled, Yang Han finally left the Fiend Realm. News of his departure soon reached the Corpse-Refiner, who said, "Liu Yan, transfer your soul again, then enter someone else's body and head to the Human Realm."
"Alright," Liu Yan obeyed without hesitation.
"Once you're there, keep an eye on Yang Han—don't let him die, and don't let him disappear," the Corpse-Refiner ordered.
"But he always has some special tricks. What if he finds out?" Elder Liu asked worriedly.
"Just keep your distance. At most, just observe what he does in the Human Realm and report to me regularly," the Corpse-Refiner said.
"Alright," Elder Liu replied. He performed another soul transfer, left the Fiend Realm, and smoothly passed through the portal to the Human Realm.
Yang Han had no idea Elder Liu had also left the Fiend Realm. By then, he had already arrived in a large city, where he released You Shuang and the other three.
Returning to the Human Realm and its familiar world, the four women were overjoyed. "It's still best here in the Human Realm," Ye Chen laughed.
"Exactly," Jiang Xin couldn't help but add.
"What are your plans now? If you want to keep cultivating, you can stay in my tower—it's full of spiritual energy and time flows faster inside," Yang Han said.
The four exchanged glances. Jiang Xin and another, realizing their strength was still too low, both said, "I'll stay in the tower."
You Shuang also decided to stay in the tower, and seeing this, Ye Chen chose to continue cultivating as well. So all four returned to the tower.
As for Yang Han, he changed his clothes and headed to the planet where the Feng Clan was. Upon arrival, he saw many experts—some high-level Nine Tribulations cultivators walking around, and even Pseudo-Immortal Stage masters hiding in the shadows.