This place called the Corpseforge Realm wasn’t very large. Evan Yang glanced around and saw nothing but corpses and the corpse miasma emanating from them.
“How did that damn Corpse-Refiner create this space?” Evan Yang muttered suspiciously, scanning his surroundings. At that moment, corpse miasma coiled around him.
Lightning automatically surged within Evan’s body, shielding him. The corpse miasma couldn’t penetrate his body at all when it touched the lightning.
“Kid, as long as you stay in here for forty-nine days, you’ll become a corpse puppet like Liu Yan—only obeying me.” A voice echoed through the space.
“How exactly does one become a corpse puppet? Care to explain?” Evan asked calmly, addressing the air.
“Fine, I’ll make sure you understand exactly how it works!” The Corpse-Refiner said with a laugh.
So Evan stood there, listening to his explanation.
“This Corpseforge Realm is custom-made by me. It’s saturated with corpse miasma and special things I’ve added. If a cultivator stays here for forty-nine days, they become completely contaminated. They retain their nature, but they’ll be under my control and can’t disobey me. Got it?” The Corpse-Refiner laughed heartily.
“Aren’t you afraid I’ll destroy this place?” Evan looked at himself—corpse miasma couldn’t even enter his body, let alone control him.
“Destroy it? You think you’re an Immortal? This Corpseforge Realm is a secret treasure I obtained. No one has ever broken it, unless they truly reach the Immortal Realm.” The Corpse-Refiner sneered.
“You’ll be disappointed, I’m afraid.” Evan Yang smiled.
“Don’t bother struggling. This space is extremely stable. You won’t break it, so just wait until forty-nine days are up and I’ll let you out.” The Corpse-Refiner laughed, his voice echoing through the realm until it faded away.
Evan looked up at the sky, then around him. All he saw were corpses—many still wearing Fiend Palace general armor.
“He really is a killing machine,” Evan estimated that there were tens of thousands of corpses here, many not yet decayed.
Disgusted by the scene, Evan unleashed his strongest attack toward the sky, but the space wouldn’t break. He muttered, “What a waste, using a secret treasure for this.”
Helpless, Evan could only sit and wait for the Corpse-Refiner to release him, planning to give him a surprise afterward.
So Evan sat for over forty days. Lightning flowed around him the whole time. Strangely, some corpse miasma was mixed in with the lightning, which worried Evan. He checked carefully, then relaxed.
The corpse miasma stayed trapped by the lightning, unable to escape.
When the lightning returned to Evan’s body, the corpse miasma was mixed in, but never entered his body.
Evan couldn’t figure out the phenomenon, but at least he wouldn’t die. The Corpse-Refiner, meanwhile, confidently opened the realm.
Seeing Evan Yang standing in midair, the Corpse-Refiner grinned, "Kid, just obediently follow me and you won’t suffer any hardship."
"Oh? What do you want me to do now?" Evan asked deliberately, feigning ignorance.
The Corpse-Refiner was overjoyed by Evan’s question and said, "Go to Fiend Palace and capture all the elders for me."
"Why do you want me to capture them?" Evan asked.
"I want to control Fiend Palace. Of course, I need to capture the elders first," the Corpse-Refiner replied.
"You want to control them? Looks like you won’t get that chance," Evan said with a smile.
"What do you mean?" The Corpse-Refiner asked suspiciously, sensing something strange in Evan’s words.
Evan suddenly flashed in front of him and made a move; the Corpse-Refiner was shocked to find himself unable to move. "You—?!" he exclaimed in alarm.
"Let me tell you, your so-called Corpseforge Realm had no effect on me," Evan replied calmly.
"What? Impossible!" The Corpse-Refiner cried out in disbelief, feeling as if death was right in front of him.
"Nothing is impossible. You were too confident. Now you see your own shortcomings, don’t you?" Evan said with a confident smile.
"You!" The Corpse-Refiner shouted angrily, but fear was evident in his voice.
"You’ve tried to harm me many times. Today, you won’t escape!" Evan said, his aura surging as he prepared to abolish the Corpse-Refiner’s cultivation. After all, a vicious Pseudo-Immortal capable of controlling others couldn’t be allowed to live—for the safety of Fiend Palace and himself.
Seeing Evan was serious, the Corpse-Refiner roared, "Kid, what are you trying to do?"
"I’m going to abolish your cultivation!" Evan declared. "Abolish my cultivation? You’re ruthless!" the Corpse-Refiner retorted angrily.
Evan ignored him and acted directly, but as soon as he touched the Corpse-Refiner, a powerful force erupted from the latter’s body.
A wisp of black smoke rose as the Corpse-Refiner vanished; his voice echoed, "Kid, you may have sealed me, but my soul is still active! I destroyed my body today without hurting you, but someday, I’ll settle the score with you!"
"Trying to escape? Hmph!" Evan snorted, seeing the black-green smoke carrying the Corpse-Refiner’s soul.
The Corpse-Refiner noticed Evan’s move and quickly released the Corpseforge Realm, fleeing inside. Evan punched at the entrance just as it was about to close.
A tremendous force crashed into the Corpseforge Realm—a miserable scream was heard, followed by an explosion. The realm vanished, and the scream ceased.
"What just happened?" Evan wondered, staring at the empty space before him.
After searching for a while and finding nothing, Evan released Faye Gale and explained what had happened. Faye asked suspiciously, "He should be dead, right?"
"Maybe," Evan replied, still uncertain. He wasn't sure if his last punch or the explosion had harmed the Corpse-Refiner's soul.
"Forget it, let's go. Forty-nine days have passed—I wonder how my brother is doing," Faye said, unable to figure it out.
Evan nodded, and followed Faye west at high speed.
After about two days, they arrived at the place Faye mentioned. Before Evan was a towering mountain, connecting earth and sky as if piercing through both.
Stunned by the sight, Faye exclaimed, "What is this place?"
"Not sure... Could this be Mount Fourfold Chimera?" Evan wondered aloud, suspicion in his tone.
"Maybe. Let's go take a look," Faye said.
Evan and Faye started up the mountain, but as soon as they entered, they encountered a series of formations. Evan activated Heaven's Eye, but these arrays were beyond his current understanding.
"How is it?" Faye asked. "Looks like this is a maze array. If we're lucky, we can get out quickly. If not, we'll be trapped here," Evan explained.
"No way," Faye said, incredulous.
"I've already checked," Evan replied confidently.
Faye and Evan kept searching for a way out; days passed, but there was still no exit. Yet, they always felt they were going uphill.
That was their only clue—going uphill was a good sign. If the road was flat, it probably meant they were just circling the mountain.
So Evan relied on this method: whenever he found the path flattening out, he would reset his bearings and search for a new direction.
At first, Faye didn't understand Evan's approach, but eventually realized it was how he found a way out. She became genuinely impressed by him.
Following Evan's method, the two kept climbing. About five days later, they finally broke out of the mist array. Evan was stunned by the scenery before him.
"What's wrong?" Faye asked, noticing Evan's expression.
"I've been here twice before," Evan said suddenly.
"Huh?" Faye was puzzled—if Evan had been here twice, why didn’t he know the way?
But Evan had no time to explain. He said to Faye, "Come on, let’s go take a look inside."
Inside, there were stone tables, four stone chairs, stone houses, and trees. Evan had come here twice before, each time brought by a mysterious expert.
That mysterious expert knew many things; Evan had met him while inquiring about Fiend Star Sources.
As Evan wondered why the four elders weren’t present, laughter rang out. Five people emerged—four were mountain elders, and the other was the Fiend Palace Lord.
"Big Brother!" Faye saw the Fiend Palace Lord smiling and was confused.
The Fiend Palace Lord laughed, "I've been watching you these days. I didn't expect you two to break through the array so quickly. I was trapped inside for almost a month—if these seniors hadn’t opened a path, I wouldn’t have gotten in."
"Big Brother, Evan taught me everything. I didn’t understand any of it. And why have you been here all this time?" Faye asked.
Evan was also curious about the situation.
The Fiend Palace Lord smiled at Evan, "You really did come."
"I did. May I ask why you called me here, Palace Lord?" Evan looked curiously at the Palace Lord and the four elders.
"These are the Fourfold Chimera seniors. They wanted to see you, so they called me here first to talk," the Fiend Palace Lord explained.
"Fourfold Chimera?" Evan looked at these strange elders who could see others’ futures, surprised.
"Kid, we meet again," said the elder who once extorted many Spirit Crystal Ores from Evan, smiling.
"Greetings, seniors. May I ask why you summoned me?" Evan noticed their unusual aura and was sure they were stronger than him. Their uncanny ability to foresee the future made him admire them deeply.
"No need for formality. We called you here today to see your progress over the years. We didn’t expect you’d reach Nine Tribulations, and now even the Pseudo-Immortal Stage," the elder said, with the other three smiling at Evan.
"Thank you for your concern, seniors," Evan said respectfully.