"So he really is the Cult of the Corpse Immortal's sect master's son..."
Quinn Shepherd's face darkened. This is just too much of a coincidence, isn't it? Of all people, the sect master's son happened to target him—and happened to be so weak that he couldn't even withstand a single sword strike.
This time, the Cult of the Corpse Immortal definitely won't let him off!
The Flying Corpses in the air hadn't even gotten close when he already caught a whiff of a foul stench. The nails of these Flying Corpses were dark green—clearly poisonous!
"Corpse poison!"
Quinn caught the scent and instantly identified the toxin. The Apothecary had taught him pharmacology, including how to distinguish poisons and medicines by their smells. Quinn had been dosed with medicine by the Apothecary since childhood, so his ability to recognize medicinal properties and toxins was exceptionally high.
These ten or so nails all carried corpse poison. If they pierced the skin, the blood would first congeal, then the muscles would stiffen and harden like stone, becoming impervious to blades and spears. In the end, consciousness would vanish and the soul would collapse!
Quinn sprinted wildly, but the Flying Corpses behind him were even faster—the gap between them kept shrinking.
Sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper kept spreading forward, and the Flying Corpses in the air leapt from one to another, about to catch up!
Behind them, Gavin Haines waved his hand, and another firebird soared through the air. Even before it approached, they could feel the rolling heatwave—hot wind surged, and the grass on the ground instantly withered, all its moisture gone!
This person was cultivating both spell arts and sword-control—practicing both the spell arts and sword-control schools. In the past, this was quite rare, but the Imperial Preceptor of the Everpeace Empire had carried out sweeping reforms, gathering all the sects under imperial rule and breaking down many entrenched barriers. As a result, the divisions between schools weren't as deep anymore, and hybrid cultivation paths began to appear.
Even demonic sects like the Cult of the Corpse Immortal took advantage of the upheaval to improve their arts and divine abilities, developing many new spells and techniques.
"No, it's actually three schools! The moves these Flying Corpses use are from the Battle Skill school!"
Quinn frowned, suddenly accelerating his steps—his body darted forward like a winding dragon, dodging the fiery bird that attacked from behind.
But the flaming bird exploded with a thunderous boom—fire erupted, instantly expanding into a blazing fireball six or seven yards wide. The surging blast and flames slammed Quinn hard, sending him flying!
Before Quinn could hit the ground, he saw sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper fluttering toward him. Eight or nine Flying Corpses stepped on the talismans, charging through the blazing flames to attack!
All these Flying Corpses were Five Luminaries Treasury-level martial experts—their bodies refined to be as tough as spirit weapons. Their moves were simple: chop, slice, shear, thrust. If he got surrounded, there'd be no way out.
There were Flying Corpses hunting him on the ground and in the air, and Gavin Haines was attacking with divine abilities. The situation was extremely unfavorable for him.
Sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper whipped through the air, slicing at high speed with a sharp whistle. Gavin Haines seemed to be driving the talismans, but was actually using sword techniques—extremely refined ones, nearly as subtle as the River Lee Sect's sword arts.
Most crucially, the talismans drawn with cinnabar and fresh blood gave him a very bad feeling.
If it were just ordinary paper, it would be nowhere near as deadly as a sword. But with talismans drawn on it, there was hidden power inside!
Suspended in midair, Quinn immediately used the Heaven-Forging Demon Art to seal his own soul, then shook his yuanqi to jolt Lina the Spirit Fox out of his pack. His fingers danced rapidly, sealing her soul inside her body as well.
Lina was poked and prodded by him, both embarrassed and annoyed. With a squeak, she dove back into the pack and refused to come out.
Sealing the soul required touching certain hidden spots on the body. Since she was a female fox, she felt a bit shy.
Quinn had no time to worry about that. Yellow Talisman Paper was meant as spirit money for the dead, and with talismans drawn on it, its power was surely aimed at the soul. If he collided with those talismans, their power would erupt and likely harm his soul—so he sealed it in advance to avoid being caught off guard.
Whoosh—
Sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper fell from above, along with eight Flying Corpses. The talismans flew past Quinn on both sides as the eight corpses closed in, surrounding him from all directions.
Quinn was still in midair, starting to fall, when five ragged Flying Corpses leapt up from below to attack him!
At the same time, sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper swept through the swarm of corpses.
"Fix!" Gavin Haines shouted.
A sheet of Yellow Talisman Paper suddenly caught fire, but the rune written in cinnabar and fresh blood didn't vanish—instead, it grew larger in the blaze and hovered in the air, shining down on Quinn!
Quinn seemed unfazed. Behind him, the fish-dragon spirit weapon leapt up and spat out the Grand Guardian’s Sword. The youth from Oldridge Village unleashed his yuanqi—threads as thick as his arm wrapped around the sword, and with two fingers he struck a flat slash.
Slash Form!
Sword qi split the air—a Flying Corpse's head tumbled down.
Gavin Haines, rushing over at high speed, was startled. Sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper erupted with power, trying to immobilize Quinn.
His soul-fixing script was meant to lock a person's three souls and seven spirits—once the soul was fixed, the body couldn't move. But that last talisman hadn't worked, leaving him puzzled.
Other talisman runes flared to life all around Quinn, front and back, but he wasn't immobilized at all. With two fingers, he flicked upward—the Grand Guardian’s Sword switched from Slash Form to Lift Form, slicing another Flying Corpse in half from below. Then it shifted to Circle Slash Form, the sword sweeping around the neck of a third corpse.
The sword tip pointed outward, and the Cloud Sword formed a circle, sweeping around—one by one, Flying Corpses' heads fell to the ground!
In the blink of an eye, eight Flying Corpses were beheaded and crashed to the ground.
Cloud Sword Form.
Quinn's swordsmanship was blindingly fast—the simpler the move, the quicker the strike. With the Grand Guardian’s Sword's incredible sharpness, he killed all eight Flying Corpses before they could even reach him!
Gavin Haines winced in pain. Flying Corpses were perfect for surrounding and crushing martial or spell experts, but against a sword cultivator like Quinn, things were much trickier.
Especially when the sword cultivator's blade was so sharp—it was the perfect counter to his Flying Corpses.
He refined his Flying Corpses in the Corpse-Raising Ground—their bodies were so tough that ordinary spirit weapons couldn't harm them. And since Flying Corpses had no souls or spirits, soul-attacking spells were useless.
[Irrelevant system message—skip translation.]
Quinn's horizontal slash looked plain, but with one swing, heads rolled—it was obvious this sword far surpassed most spirit weapons!
Gavin quickly called a halt, summoning the five Flying Corpses below. More sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper sliced toward Quinn from the sword casket on Gavin's back!
Quinn seized the chance to land, facing Gavin but retreating as he ran. He used the Stolen Heaven Leg Technique taught by Mute—his backward sprint was just as fast as running forward!
Ssshh—
Swordlight flashed—Quinn controlled his sword with qi, stabbing at the incoming Yellow Talisman Paper.
Boom—
A violent explosion erupted—the Grand Guardian’s Sword had just struck the first sheet of Yellow Talisman Paper when the rune on it exploded, triggering the other talisman runes in a chain reaction. The blast wave slammed into Quinn, his chest shuddered violently, and the air was nearly forced out of his lungs as he was sent flying!
He flew more than ten yards before Lina the Spirit Fox quickly cast a spell from the pack, whipping up a fierce wind to counteract the terrifying force and bring Quinn to a stop.
But the yuanqi threads connecting him to the Grand Guardian’s Sword were shattered by the blast, and the sword howled away into the darkness.
Quinn landed, gasping for breath, then coughed violently twice. Even though he was prepared, his lungs were still injured by the explosion. Luckily, he wore clothes made of Hundred-Poison Goldsilk—otherwise, that blast might have killed him.
"He’s still not dead?"
Gavin pulled out a jar of foul-smelling ointment and tossed it to one of the Flying Corpses, then flew at Quinn. His Yellow Talisman Papers concealed flame divine arts—they could slice and kill, or explode. The physical damage from the blast was secondary; the greatest harm was the thunderous shockwave!
If you faced the blast’s thunder head-on, even if your three souls and seven spirits weren’t shattered, they’d be forced out of your body and destroyed in the explosion!
Quinn had actually withstood the explosion—and the soul-shattering thunder. Gavin was truly surprised.
But surviving one blow meant little—Quinn’s incredibly sharp treasure sword had been blasted away, its whereabouts unknown, and he was wounded by the runes. Now, all that awaited him was death!
Instead of retreating, Quinn advanced—he drew the sword scabbard from his back and, using qi to control it as if it were a treasure sword, stabbed at Gavin Haines while his steps shifted like a phantom, rapidly closing the distance!
Gavin sneered, unleashing his yuanqi to transform into a fiery bird that swooped at Quinn. Meanwhile, more Yellow Talisman Papers flew from the sword casket on his back, each rune slashing toward Quinn!
Quinn's steps grew even more elusive. Suddenly, he shouted and struck out with two fingers!
Stab Form!
The sword scabbard howled as it stabbed at Gavin. Gavin sneered again—a sheet of Yellow Talisman Paper flew out from the sword casket to meet the scabbard.
Quinn's thrust was powerful, but the scabbard's mouth was facing his side—not the pointed end. Even if it hit, it wouldn't do much damage.
He only needed to detonate a rune to block Quinn's attack and blast the scabbard away!
Just then, the scabbard changed—the mouth transformed into a fish-dragon with a gaping maw, lunging at Gavin!
Gavin was startled. Then, from behind, he heard a piercing sound—the Grand Guardian’s Sword, blasted away earlier, came howling back to stab at his back!
Gavin dodged, just about to escape both the Grand Guardian’s Sword and the fish-dragon scabbard, when a furry little head popped out of Quinn’s pack and spat out a whirlwind, freezing Gavin for a split second.
Gavin broke free from the whirlwind, but felt a chill in his shoulder—the Grand Guardian’s Sword pierced through his scapula and, trailing a spray of blood, shot into the fish-dragon’s mouth!
Quinn landed a hit and was about to pursue when suddenly the fiery bird’s flames engulfed him, followed by sheets of Yellow Talisman Paper thrown into the blaze.
Boom—
A violent shockwave hit—Quinn coughed blood and was blasted away. His yuanqi swept up the Grand Guardian’s Sword, smashing it into the forest, then he leaped up and vanished into the night with a howl.