The red-haired corpse monster was just like an undead cockroach—knocked down once, yet it would rise again, its evil aura growing ever more intense and continuously expanding.
“What should we do?”
None of them were ordinary fighters, but even they felt helpless in such a situation—this old creature seemed impossible to kill.
“What else can we do? Just kill it!” Shangguan Jingyi declared boldly.
“Alright, if you dare, go ahead!” Upon hearing his words, Tian Fan immediately gave a thumbs-up.
“N-no, that won’t do—our little sister is here. When gods stand against gods and demons oppose demons, there’s no need for me to intervene!”
Shangguan Jingyi looked up guiltily and beckoned Zi Ying.
“You despicable brother, making me face such disgusting things all alone!”
At that moment, the three men had already retreated; they were simply no match for her. The battle had escalated into a clash at the Primordial Unity Realm, and among the four, only Zi Ying had reached that level.
Boom!
Zi Ying battled the red-haired corpse monster—from the ground up to the high heavens and then from the heavens down to the underground. The creature unleashed a punch, and a mysterious force emerged, covering the area ahead. In an instant, a small grove was shattered, as if the very heavens and earth were collapsing.
Raising her hand, Zi Ying gently swung forward with a grace reminiscent of an otherworldly maiden. A fierce gale appeared, radiating dazzling golden light, within which countless streams of sword energy interwove.
Rocks and earth shattered as Zi Ying was violently jolted; her body wavered slightly, yet she remained unharmed. At that moment, she shone like a blazing sun, erupting with myriad beams of golden light that dazzled so intensely one could scarcely look.
“This is battle in the Primordial Unity Realm—truly, it’s terrifying!”
The three were somewhat astonished; although the Shangguan brothers had already reached the pinnacle of Cloud Heaven, compared to those of the Primordial Unity Realm, the difference was as vast as that between heaven and earth—a qualitative leap.
It was a one-on-one duel, as if two divine weapons were clashing, sparking endless radiance that illuminated all directions. Hundreds of yards around were leveled to the ground, and even the clouds in the high heavens within a thousand yards crumbled.
“Pfft…”
In a flash of golden radiance, the red-haired corpse monster was cleaved apart and hurled away. One of its arms was nearly completely severed—held together only by a single strand of dark fiber—but in an instant, countless corpse insects swarmed up and reattached the broken limb.
“Arrrar…”
With a deafening bellow, the red-haired corpse monster unleashed tendrils of black mist from within. Its decaying flesh, astonishingly, began to solidify, while the swarm of corpse insects outside gradually transformed into its own blood and flesh, making everyone’s skin crawl.
Zi Ying frowned. Although her cultivation was formidable, she hadn’t engaged in much real combat back home and lacked practical experience; at this moment, she couldn’t tell what was going wrong.
“The Fifteenth Sword!”
With a sweet exclamation, Zi Ying swiftly formed several hand seals. Behind her, a brilliant golden divine sword ascended, from which endless waves of destructive energy emanated. The ground beneath her kept fracturing, and a small grove in the distance was shattered by the shockwave. This sent chills down Tian Fan’s spine—the power was terrifying, even more fearsome than his own Heavenly Tribulation and the Source of Destruction.
“What? The Fifteenth Sword? What realm has she reached?”
Shangguan Yunfeng was utterly astonished. This move left both him and Shangguan Jingyi deeply shocked—consider that even some of the family elders had not mastered the Fifteenth Sword, yet Zi Ying had achieved it, and she was only nineteen!
The red-haired corpse monster seemed to sense danger. From its eye sockets, two streams of sickly green light shot forth, giving everyone an eerie, hair-raising feeling.
For the first time, its hands began to move. Although the motions were clumsy, it was clear that the creature was forming hand seals.
Tian Fan’s hair stood on end as cold sweat poured down his face. Even though the monster’s hand seals were crude, there was no mistaking the sensation—he had once encountered this divine technique before.
As the red-haired corpse monster gradually completed its hand seals, a dangerous aura spread all around. High above its head, a black moon rose; the surrounding void twisted infinitely, then with a thunderous crash, shattered. Countless chaotic streams of time and space surged forth, only to be instantly obliterated by the black moon.
This was none other than the “Nether Moon,” one of the ten divine techniques of the Sword Immortal Sect. Who exactly was it? Could it be that infamous Demon Lord of yore—someone who was once invincible throughout the land? How could his corpse possibly be here—and even undergoing a corpse transformation?
Boom!
The golden divine sword pierced the firmament, emanating endless waves of destruction. The surrounding void shattered instantly— not even chaotic streams of time and space could escape, as they were directly eradicated. A small, pitch-black hole appeared and then gradually healed. The group merely glanced inside before their heads pounded in pain, their spiritual senses rattled.
On the other side, a black nether moon, like a grinding wheel, emerged from above the red-haired corpse monster’s head, obscuring even the moon in the sky. Space trembled, the earth quaked, and an aura filled with destruction and eerie strangeness spread about, further horrifying Tian Fan. It was far stronger than what Wu Biheng had unleashed back then—completely incomparable.
Boom!
This was a catastrophic clash. The three continually retreated as the area ahead became completely engulfed by a destructive energy flow—contact with it meant certain death, with no hope whatsoever.
The scene alternated between a golden radiance and utter darkness, shining brilliantly as if deities and demon lords were locked in a final duel. Everything else had vanished, leaving only two silhouettes as the sole beacon of light.
When the myriad beams of light finally faded, clarity returned to the heavens and earth. The land had been utterly worn down, sinking several yards, scarred and ravaged—a terrifying aftermath of a cataclysm.
Above, Zi Ying’s little face turned a rosy red; her small mouth parted as she panted softly. Beneath her, a massive pit spanning a hundred yards had formed—utterly horrifying. It was hard to believe such devastation had been wrought by human hands.
At the bottom of the pit, an utterly shattered corpse lay motionless—almost fragmented, with bones exposed in many places.
“Sss…”
The three gasped once more. Is this what a master of the Primordial Unity Realm looked like? It was terrifying—truly, an invincible existence beneath the Immortals. That humans could alter the very shape of the land left them deeply shaken.
This also left them feeling abashed. That little girl, who often pretended to cry to deceive others and appeared so delicate, had unexpectedly dismantled an old veteran of the Primordial Unity Realm.
Crackling…
Suddenly, a sound emanated from the enormous pit. The group immediately turned to look, their eyes widening in astonishment. There, the red-haired corpse monster—shattered to the point of almost being nothing more than scraps—was inexplicably regenerating, its broken body slowly mending itself.
A chill ran down their spines. What the hell was this thing? It just wouldn’t die—could it truly be immortal? How was that even possible?
How can anyone fight something like this? It falls and then rises again—and each time it gets up, it becomes even stronger.
“Pfft!”
Zi Ying frowned and struck forward with a light sword, slicing a deep, bloody gash across the red-haired corpse’s shoulder. Yet a faint gleam appeared, and the wound healed almost instantly.
“What is that?”
The group finally discovered the crux of the matter. They all looked up toward the firmament, where an indescribably eerie full moon emitted a faint red glow. As this light shone upon the red-haired corpse monster, its wounds healed immediately, and it appeared capable of absorbing the moonlight, converting it into its own strength.
“It’s absorbing the essence of the moon!”
Shangguan Yunfeng said, utterly shocked, “If that’s the case, we don’t stand a chance at all. There are at least three more hours until dawn, and no matter what we do, the red-haired corpse monster just won’t die—and its power is growing ever stronger.” A subtle pressure emanated from it.
Sure enough, there was every reason this island was called a forbidden zone. Merely three miles in, and they had already encountered such a powerful old ghost. Who knew what other horrors lay within?
“Destroy it!”
Shangguan Jingyi shouted, pointing at the moon in the sky, causing the others to grimace. “D*mn it, that’s the moon! Beyond the heavens, no one from the Immortal Ascension Realm can even reach it, yet you’re suggesting we destroy it?”
“What are you talking about? I was only speaking—I wasn’t serious. Don’t give me that look.”
Sensing the disdainful stares from the others, he felt extremely guilty and spoke weakly, almost timidly.
“Let’s go. We need to leave—this is too dangerous.”
Zi Ying descended from the sky and said softly as the four of them dashed in one direction. But then a dark figure shot from behind, immediately blocking their path. A massive black hand slapped forward, accompanied by the sound of wind and thunder and pulsing with divine law.
Startled, Zi Ying quickly extended her right hand. A sheet of golden radiance appeared; in her palm, a mass of golden light flickered as if it were an entire world.
Boom!
In a simple duel that nevertheless contained terrifying power, the two palms clashed, unleashing a burst of resplendent light that stripped away another layer of the earth below. The area was nearly devastated, leaving behind a scene of utter desolation.
“Arrroar…”
The red-haired corpse monster bellowed. The corpse insects on its body had vanished, and it was now shrouded in black demonic mist, its form nearly indiscernible. Only an incredibly terrifying aura rolled out from it, and its two scarlet eyes emitted an air of death and slaughter, erasing all human emotion without a trace.
With a mighty roar, the black hand pressed forward, veiled in a mesh of dark, web-like mist woven from countless thin strands. Had it not been for their formidable cultivation, they might not have even noticed it.
“D*mn it!”
Zi Ying stamped her foot lightly, raised both hands, and formed the hand seals before striking forward—immediately blasting the red-haired corpse monster away.
“Not good!”
Alarmed, Zi Ying’s face turned deathly pale as a black mist net enveloped her. With her current cultivation, she couldn’t break free in that instant.
Boom!
The red-haired corpse monster roared once more, and a terrifying pressure emanated from it—a power typically possessed only by those of the Gui Xian realm, now radiating from the creature. It extended a jet-black claw toward Zi Ying; wherever its claw touched, the void shattered and time and space became disordered.
“Little sister!”
The Shangguan brothers roared in unison, eyes blazing with fury as they charged forward at breakneck speed.
Yet someone was even faster—Tian Fan, pushing his Divine Cloud Steps to the limit, vanished in an instant and reappeared in front of that nether demonic claw, steadfastly blocking it from reaching Zi Ying.
“Pfft…”
The jet-black demonic claw struck Tian Fan’s chest without fail, leaving a black handprint amidst spattering blood. Tian Fan was blasted away, rolling off into the distance alongside Zi Ying, with blood gushing from his mouth and staining his pristine white clothes red.
“Ah…”
Almost simultaneously, the old ghost shrouded in black demonic mist collapsed to the ground, rolling uncontrollably. For the first time, it let out a heart-wrenching, agonizing scream.
At some point, its jet-black demonic claw became tinged with a streak of golden radiance, and an ancient, weathered aura emanated from that light—as if spanning across the ages…
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Check out my other projects: Roughly an Isekai Hypnosis Story (er0-novel 😉
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