"So how exactly can I help you lift your curse?" Ian Song asked again.
"We need your blood."
The Little Corpse Puppet wrote on the ground.
"How many of you are there?"
Ian asked thoughtfully.
"More than five million!"
The Little Corpse Puppet wrote again.
"Damn, five million? Even if it's just one drop of blood per person, that's five million drops! I bet even if you drained me dry, it still wouldn't be enough!" Ian complained.
"Descendant of the Ancestral God, you only need to give me one drop of blood and I'll be able to speak normally. Then we can communicate much better!" The Little Corpse Puppet wrote another line, looking at him with hopeful eyes.
"Heh heh!"
Ian let out a weird laugh. "My blood contains the Ancestral God's bloodline, you think you can just have it? You'll need to offer something in exchange!"
"As long as you break our clan's curse, we can serve you!"
The Little Corpse Puppet wrote again.
"That's tempting!"
Ian thought to himself, but he felt it wasn't that simple. Who exactly cursed them and turned them into these monster-like, half-human, half-corpse beings? Plus, if only someone with the Pangu bloodline could break it, that meant this curse was seriously powerful.
Anyone who could lay down such a fierce curse and turn an entire race into monsters was definitely no ordinary figure.
If he really broke their curse, would that person come after him for trouble?
Besides, what the Little Corpse Puppet said might not even be true.
There are way too many people out there who turn on you in a heartbeat.
Just then, the Little Corpse Puppet turned to one of his two adult guardians and murmured something in a strange language. The guardian vanished and reappeared, tossing several hundred storage God-rings at Ian's feet.
The Little Corpse Puppet wrote again: "All these storage God-rings for one drop of your blood!"
Ian picked up the storage God-rings and checked them. He found each one packed with god-crystals, pills, and other loot—probably spoils from corpse puppets hunting gods who trespassed into the Misty Forbidden Land.
All together, the hundreds of rings were worth at least tens of billions of god-crystals.
"Deal!"
After stowing the rings, Ian sliced his finger and flicked a drop of blood toward the Little Corpse Puppet.
The Little Corpse Puppet was overjoyed, snatching the drop and smearing it on his forehead. Instantly, a complex sigil appeared there, absorbing Ian's blood. Black qi rose from his head, then dissipated, leaving the Little Corpse Puppet looking subtly more alive.
"Thank you!"
The Little Corpse Puppet suddenly spoke out loud.
Just then, a second bolt of lightning crashed down from the sky, even stronger than the first.
Ian's face instantly changed.
He looked at the Little Corpse Puppet and said, "My friends are crossing tribulation, but someone wants to ambush them. Can you summon some corpse puppets to help? If you do, I'll give you three more drops of blood afterward!"
"Alright!"
The Little Corpse Puppet agreed without hesitation, then let out a silent roar. Instantly, swarms of corpse puppets began appearing all around.
Dense ranks of them made Ian's scalp tingle.
He activated Clairvoyant Vision and scanned the area, discovering that over two thousand corpse puppets had gathered in moments—and more were still coming.
"That's enough! That's enough!"
Ian hurriedly shouted.
Every corpse puppet was as strong as an Upper Heavenly God, and the enemy only had a little over a hundred. With more than two thousand corpse puppets, sheer numbers alone could crush them.
"Do you know where that group is?"
Ian looked at the Little Corpse Puppet and asked.
"Follow me!"
The Little Corpse Puppet, flanked by his two human-like guardians, darted forward. Ian hurried after him, while the two thousand-plus corpse puppets followed behind with blank expressions.
The mighty army surged forward, chasing after the Upper Heavenly Gods of the Tian and Jiang clans.
Meanwhile...
The Upper Heavenly Gods of the Jiang and Tian clans were speeding toward the tribulation, but the fog was so thick—and with corpse puppets lurking in it—their pace was slow.
"Why do I have such a bad feeling about this?"
One of the Upper Heavenly Gods muttered to himself.
On Ian's side, with the Little Corpse Puppet leading the way, they didn't have to worry about corpse puppet ambushes, so their speed was much faster.
Watching the Little Corpse Puppet race ahead, Ian couldn't help but wonder. If he could control so many corpse puppets, he was definitely special—could he be a Corpse Puppet King?
"They're right up ahead!"
The Little Corpse Puppet suddenly pointed into the thick fog.
Ian could already hear the sounds of fighting ahead—it looked like that group had run into corpse puppets again.
"Let's go!"
Ian strode forward through the mist. Soon the Upper Heavenly Gods of the Tian and Jiang clans appeared in his line of sight. Half their force was busy attacking ten corpse puppets, while the rest kept watch.
So, as soon as Ian showed up, they spotted him.
"Look, it's that little thief Ian Song!"
Someone cried out in surprise.
"Quick, grab him!"
Someone shouted excitedly. Instantly, five Upper Heavenly Gods shot toward Ian—but halfway there, they all froze, then retreated even faster, faces full of panic and fear.
"Why'd you all come running back?"
Someone asked in confusion.
"He... that little thief has a horde of corpse puppets behind him!"
"Heh, Little Corpse Puppet, it's your show now—surround them all!"
Ian turned to the Little Corpse Puppet beside him.
"Got it!"
The Little Corpse Puppet nodded, let out another silent roar, and in a flash, the two thousand-plus corpse puppets had completely surrounded the Upper Heavenly Gods.
Seeing the dense ranks of corpse puppets, everyone's faces turned pale, and many even started trembling.
"Heh, thought you had numbers before, huh? Who's outnumbered now?"
Ian strode forward, looking at the Upper Heavenly Gods and mocking them.
"How can you make corpse puppets obey your orders?"
One Upper Heavenly God stammered.
Ian sneered, "Heh, because I'm the Child of Destiny—even corpse puppets bow to me! You bunch of losers dare go against me? You're just asking for it!"
Hearing this, the Little Corpse Puppet just rolled his eyes in a very human way. He was the one controlling the corpse puppets—it had nothing to do with Ian.
"Ian, can't you let us go? We swear, if we ever see you again, we'll back off thirty zhang!" one Upper Heavenly God pleaded.
"You really think that's possible?"
Ian sneered, "Little Corpse Puppet, kill them. Oh, and make sure to collect all their storage God-rings!"
"Roar!"
The Little Corpse Puppet let out a silent roar, and the surrounding corpse puppets moved in.
"Ah! Let's fight!"
"Ian Song, you damn thief, you'll die a horrible death!"
The Upper Heavenly Gods fought desperately, unleashing incredible power. But with so many corpse puppets, even if they went all out, survival was impossible.
In just a few dozen breaths, the battle was over—the Upper Heavenly Gods were all killed.