Book 1, Chapter 31 - Corpse Gather Chant

Immortal Soaring Blade

The two of them rushed through the unmarked graves one after the other, making their way through this terrifying place. Su Su carefully followed Zhao Jiuge toward the source of the spirit force fluctuations.

“It can’t be a Spirit Treasure awakening, right?” Zhao Jiuge asked happily. He had learned from the jade tube that there was a type of treasure called Spirit Treasure that was born from heaven and came with a spirit. When it was born, there would be a flash of bright light in the world.

Su Su was originally a bit afraid of the surroundings when she pouted and rolled her eyes. “Can you have a little common sense? Forgot about how difficult a Spirit Treasure is to find, that spirit force fluctuation was too small. I guess it's most likely some ghost or wild monster cultivating.”

Zhao Jiuge couldn’t help but reveal an embarrassed expression and then calm down. The unknown was the most terrifying. He was never taught by anyone, so it was inevitable that there were a lot of things he didn’t know.

The closer they got, the more visible the green light became. Even the naked eye could see the green smoke shrouding the air, and the smell of corpses filled the air. Zhao Jiuge frowned as he carefully stared ahead and walked forward in front of Su Su.

At the same time, he placed the blue light sword before his chest. He surged the little spirit force he had left and filled his body with strength. This allowed him to relax his nervous heart.

However, what surprised Zhao Jiuge was that Su Su also used her spirit force. A faint light protected her body. After both of them used their spirit force, Su Su’s nervous expression disappeared and she returned to her normally haughty and lively self. Watching Zhao Jiuge stand before her, guarding her, made her beautiful brows furrow. She looked at him meaningfully.

Zhao Jiuge felt Su Su’s spirit force but found that he couldn’t see through her cultivation. She probably had some magical treasure that could hide her cultivation. He shook his head and didn’t think about it anymore as he carefully walked forward.

As Zhao Jiuge walked ahead, he found that many coffins were exposed on the surface. The paint on some of the coffins had already worn off and the stench of mold and rot became even stronger.

The coffins formed layers of circles. Some coffins were tilted and some were empty. Some of the coffins had edges missing due to time, revealing the bodies inside. The clothes were broken and the flesh was rotten.

The further the two walked, the more quiet their breathing became—it was as if there was a big hand holding their hearts. This strange scene created an oppressive atmosphere. All of the coffins leaned toward the center, which was sunken in. There was a big pit in the middle, and the green light was coming from here.

The two got closer and closer without hiding their footsteps. Bright spirit light surrounded their bodies without hiding their presence at all. As if something had noticed their arrival, the green smoke in the air stopped moving.

Zhao Jiuge and Su Su stopped around the coffins and stared at the sunken ground. If anything happened, they could react immediately.

A shrill laugh suddenly echoed.

The green smoke around the sunken hole gradually disappeared and then a skinny figure appeared. It was more appropriate to describe it as a dried-up corpse than a person. His hands and face were like dying tree branches, with only bone and skin. He wore a black robe that clung to his body, and the nails on his hands and feet were black.

Although his face was skinny and dried up, it was very white, but not bright in an unhealthy way. It was as if he had poured boxes of white powder on his face. His eyes were dark and cold. His lips were red like blood and he had a strange expression as he laughed.

The looks of the person that suddenly appeared, along with the strange clothes, made Zhao Jiuge and Su Su suck in a breath of cold air. Both were very young and therefore hadn’t experienced much. Zhao Jiuge was a bit better though. After all, he had a beauty with him, so he endured the fear. However, Su Su let out a soft cry and stepped back. She grabbed Zhao Jiuge’s sleeve and hid behind him.

Looking at the young man and girl before him, the skinny man stuck out his tongue in disgust. He then licked his lips and had a salivating look as he observed their not-too-strong cultivation. “I didn’t expect such delicacies to deliver themselves to me, and cultivators to boot. Your blood essence must be 100 times richer.” His voice was very sharp, as if he had a fish bone stuck in his throat.

After hearing the skinny man’s words, Zhao Jiuge’s pupils shrank and he couldn’t help but feel creeped out. He roared in uncertainty, “Evil cultivator!”

“Bleh, just he can be considered an evil cultivator? That’s giving him too much credit!” At this moment, it was Su Su who had a disdainful expression on her face.

“Oh, there is also a pretty little sister. He he he, and also a virgin too. Your blood essence must be even more delicious, let’s start with you.” As his words echoed, he swooped down with a creepy smile on his face. There were strands of faint, green smoke around his body.

Seeing the skinny man rush over, Zhao Jiuge didn't hesitate to slash with this sword. Without any idea about how strong the man was, he could only test the man’s strength.

There was a crisp sound of metal colliding.

Zhao Jiuge found that the long sword that was originally covered in blue light had become a little grey and there was a thin layer of grey smoke around it. However, he had no time to think, as the skinny man immediately pounced at him. Zhao Jiuge raised his sword to block the skinny man’s hand.

Bang, bing, clank… The sounds of impacts echoed. At this moment, Zhao Jiuge found that the skinny man’s dark nails were now as sharp as claws.

As they fought, Zhao Jiuge found more and more grey smoke surrounding his sword, and the spirit light of the sword was becoming more and more dim.

Bang!

A crisp sound echoed and the blue sword broke in half. The half that fell on the ground was covered in grey smoke. When the smoke came in contact with the ground, all the surrounding grass withered.

With his weapon broken, the skinny man’s right hand clawed at Zhao Jiuge’s left shoulder and left a large wound. Strangely, although the skin was broken, no blood flowed out. The wound was grey and gave off a smell of decay.

Zhao Jiuge’s expression changed greatly. During the exchange, he had noticed that there was something strange about the spirit force coming from this skinny man. The skinny man was also at the early stage of the Spirit Transformation Realm, but even though he was injured, Zhao Jiuge should not be losing. There were also strands of the grey smoke that constantly required his attention to use extra spirit force to counter act.

Seeing Zhao Jiuge’s shocked expression, the skinny man couldn’t help but look proud and let out a cold snort. “Now you know how strong I am. I cultivate the Corpse Gather Chant, where I absorb the aura from corpses to mix with the spirit force in my body. Thus, my spirit force also contains a hint of corpse aura.”

The skinny man was not wrong, but what he didn’t know was that cultivating the Corpse Gather Chant also consumed his own blood essence. That was why every now and then, he would have to absorb the blood essence of a living person. That was why everyone who cultivated the Corpse Gather Chant would end up in this inhuman state.

Everything in the world had spirits, and there are all kinds of strange cultivation methods that could cause different attributes to appear in one’s spirit core. Some cultivation methods were too trash to even form a spirit core, which was the most important thing for a cultivator’s future. Cultivating was defying the heavens, one would have to be careful. While going down the crooked path allowed one to become stronger faster, there was always a trade-off. It usually resulted in physical imperfections or mental distortion.

Zhao Jiuge was injured, so his face was a bit pale, and the grey smoke continued to drill into his body, forcing him to use his own spirit force to repel it. However, he was not too worried about his injuries. His main concern was how to deal with the skinny man before him.

He looked to his side and saw Su Su behind him, enjoying watching him having a hard time. She had a big smile and didn’t seem to want to come forward to help at all. When she noticed Zhao Jiuge’s gaze, she put a “come and beg me for help” look on her face.

Zhao Jiuge let out a cold snort in his heart. He was a man, and he had his own pride. Although Su Su was not so cold-hearted that she would just watch him die, he had his own principles. He no longer looked at Su Su but stared at the skinny man.

Just at this moment, the skinny man pounced at him like the wind, leaving a trail of debris flying into the air. His hands were like sharp claws that glistened in the moonlight.

Seeing Zhao Jiuge ignore her like a donkey and getting really going to just face the skinny man head-on, Su Su couldn’t help but sigh. She became impatient at how dumb Zhao Jiuge was and shouted, “Hey, block head, don’t you have a flag magical treasure? Use that to deal with him.”

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