Da Xuan Martial Saint

"So that's how it is."

After listening to Xiao He's narration, Chen Mu let out a light sigh and gently caressed Xu Hongyu's blue-black hair.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Xu Hongyu was not truly cold and indifferent. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that in this world, there were no absolutely indifferent people, even those who cultivated 'indifference'-type Artistic Conceptions were merely on the path towards it.

Xu Hongyu had simply suppressed all her emotions since she was very young, and over time, this had formed a layer of frosty ice. However, there were still those in the world who could easily breach this layer of ice, such as her father, Xu Yichuan. Even when she had anticipated it, she still hoped for the 'what if'—what if her father were still alive.

To witness Xu Yichuan turn into a Corpse Refinement with her own eyes

What surged within her was an indescribable sorrow.

This also completely unraveled the old mystery that it was the He Family that had plotted and schemed, delivering information about Xu Yichuan to the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, laying an ambush. In the end, this led to Xu Yichuan's disappearance without leaving any trace behind.

Chen Mu gently patted Xu Hongyu's back. He knew that at such a time, no amount of comforting words would be of use. All he needed to do was to share in her grief, but he had something more important to do than grieving.

"Let's go."

Chen Mu set his sights towards the direction from which Xiao He and Xu Hongyu had fled and said, "The He Family no longer exists, only the Heavenly Corpse Sect remains. Let's go put an end to all of this."

Xu Hongyu slightly lifted her head to look at Chen Mu. She wasn't crying, but a visible mist of water surrounded her, a result of the undulating Kan Water Artistic Conception as her emotions swayed, leaving her at a loss for words.

Upon hearing this, Xiao He bit her lip and said, "But that person controls the Evil Corpse, and there might be a second one. Moreover, it's already past midday, and even in broad daylight..."

She knew Chen Mu was very strong, much stronger than Xu Hongyu. He had entered the Bone Tempering Realm several months earlier, but the Evil Corpse was after all comparable to the Five Viscera Realm's Corpse Refinement. Even in broad daylight subjected to the suppressive force of the time, it remained terribly formidable.

"What would the night change?" Chen Mu quietly responded, "The remnant scoundrels of the Heavenly Corpse Sect are nothing but rats. Let's go."

This statement left Xiao He slightly startled; she knew Chen Mu was a cautious man who seldom took risks. Even now, despite being angered on behalf of Xu Hongyu, he was unlikely to lose his reason, yet he still possessed such confidence to face the Evil Corpses of the Heavenly Corpse Sect.

A glint suddenly flashed in Xiao He's eyes as she looked at Chen Mu:

"Master-in-law, have you already... ?"

She knew Chen Mu had been comprehending Artistic Conceptions for a long time, and his aptitude for them was peerless. Now, facing an Evil Corpse comparable to the Five Viscera Realm, if he still had such confidence, it must mean he had made a breakthrough in Artistic Conceptions, entering the second step!

By stepping into the second phase of Artistic Conceptions, one would have the strength to match that of the Five Viscera Realm and also face off against the Evil Corpses!

At this moment, Xu Hongyu too stared blankly at Chen Mu, watching as he walked towards the woods. She felt dazed for a moment but still took Xiao He's hand as they both headed into the forest together.

...

In the woods.

Under a towering ancient tree.

Xu Yichuan, who had become an Evil Corpse, was buried in the ground with only his head exposed above the surface, while Lai Long circled around his body with a skull-like sphere in his left hand.

Every now and then, he jolted the skull-like sphere, causing drops of fresh blood to flow out and drip down onto the top of the Evil Corpse's head, gradually seeping in.

Around Xu Yichuan's buried body, with him as the center, a sinister pattern was drawn using fresh red blood. At several points of the pattern, chunks of brown corpse meat were placed, emitting waves of Evil Qi that coalesced and intertwined, flowing from the ground into the body and continuously infusing Xu Yichuan with it.

To refine a Mysterious Corpse was no task accomplished in a single day. Lai Long naturally wasn't cultivating a corpse at the moment. What he was doing was using Evil Qi and his Essence Blood to strengthen his suppression and control over Xu Yichuan's Corpse Refinement, to prevent the Corpse's resurgent Spirituality from resisting control as it had before.

As for Xu Hongyu and Xiao He who had escaped,

he didn't care too much about them.

By the time Xu Hongyu and Xiao He returned with the experts of Yu County, he would have long since been gone from this place.

Leaving Xu Hongyu and Xiao He behind might provide an opportunity in the future to further stimulate the spiritual activity of Xu Yichuan's Corpse Refinement. Besides, a woman in the Tendon Changing Realm and another in the Bone Tempering Realm were hardly worth killing, and they would be difficult to turn into Corpse Refinements if killed.

However,

just as Lai Long continued his incantations, dripping the eerie blood onto Xu Yichuan's skull for it to absorb, his motions suddenly paused. A look of confusion crossed his face as he glanced towards the nearby thicket.

But after a careful sensation, he detected no abnormalities, and narrowing his eyes, he called out, "I let you off with your lives, and you rush to deliver yourselves to death?"

Then,

he saw Xu Hongyu and Xiao He emerge from the woods, both staring coldly at him.

Lai Long snorted lightly, and with a flick of his hand, the Evil Corpse of Xu Yichuan buried in the earth burst forth. The Evil Qi that had previously dissipated under the sunlight was now replenished, once again shrouding the features in darkness, making it unclear to see.

"Do you really think this Evil Corpse still has Spirituality, will not heed my commands, and that you can kill me with this flaw? You little girls are far too naïve!"

The Evil Corpse's resistance against him was not solely because of its strong Spirituality but mainly due to fighting under the scorching midday sun when much of its Evil Qi had dissipated, causing it to be greatly influenced.