Chapter 55: Arrival of the Immortal Master

The remaining three soul corpses were not particularly agile, and they showed little interest in struggling within the earthen bricks. Ye Xiaolang kicked away several bricks, clearing a path for his spear to reach the corpses. Under the mound of bricks where Yun Qing could not see the health bars, it seemed yet another soul corpse had met its end.

Ye Xiaolang was snatching up battle experience at an alarming rate; if things continued like this, it would be difficult for Yun Qing to reach level thirty-two. And all those bricks Ye Xiaolang kept kicking away—didn’t that just make it more troublesome for her to gather them?

Intent on claiming some experience for herself, Yun Qing leapt down from the wall and hurriedly called out, “Leave the rest to me, you take a break.”

“Alright!”

Mindful of a possible sudden attack from beneath the bricks, Yun Qing gathered them cautiously. Ye Xiaolang said nothing, and even when Ye Wenjing stored items in her pouch, she acted in much the same way.

But when Yun Qing saw five soul corpses, all with their health bars gone, she grew a little frustrated. All the experience had already been taken, and what could have been a quick job of gathering bricks now took her dozens of attempts.

No experience, then—perhaps she could hope for some silver. Pointing to the corpses, Yun Qing said, “I’ll put away these bodies as well, and later we’ll burn them all together.”

As she collected the corpses, Yun Qing deliberately patted down the places where silver might be hidden, hoping to find some coins.

“Alright!” Ye Xiaolang nodded, raising his brows subtly. The more corpses Ye Wenjing stored, the less room there was for bricks. Yun Qing’s storage pouch, on the other hand, seemed much larger; she had managed to store five corpses and still take in so many bricks without complaining of space.

Of the four hundred bricks, some had been kicked away by Ye Xiaolang, others damaged during the fight. By the time she collected them, only three hundred and seventy remained.

Gazing at the broken bricks scattered across the ground, Yun Qing shook her head lightly—she hadn’t managed to gather enough for four full sets.

Ye Xiaolang understood what she meant: she still had room for more bricks.

“Bricks are useful, but their strength is limited. The foundations of many houses are made of stone. If your pouch permits, you might want to collect some foundation stones—their strength is far greater.”

Yun Qing did have some large stones in her pack, but none as neatly shaped as the foundation blocks. Her eyes lit up. “Where can we find some?”

“Some completely collapsed houses. Come, I’ll take you.”

With Ye Xiaolang guiding and protecting her, Yun Qing grew much bolder. The two soon found a long-abandoned, crumbling house.

Beneath the earthen walls, there were quite a few foundation stones over a meter long, a foot wide and high, and weighing several hundred pounds.

First, they needed to pry the foundations loose from the soil before she could put them in her system pack. Yun Qing tried, finding it a bit strenuous. Perhaps a crowbar would help her save some effort.

Just as she began looking for a suitable tool, Ye Xiaolang stepped to the side of a foundation stone and, with a seemingly light touch, kicked the stone and its clinging earth over in one swift motion.

“Xiaolang, you’re incredibly strong.”

“It’s nothing special. You’re quite strong yourself.”

“Xiaolang, what level of power do these soul corpses have?”

As she searched for stones, Yun Qing skillfully steered the conversation toward strength. Now taking her more seriously, Ye Xiaolang explained in detail.

The sluggish soul corpses could muster explosive strength on par with the Innate realm, but their slow reactions and inability to wield tools left them at the Postnatal level. Still, if a typical Postnatal martial artist tried to match them in brute force, there was a real danger of being caught and unable to break free.

Those with faster reflexes were better at using their strength, and regular Postnatal martial artists would not dare face them head-on.

In Ye Xiaolang’s eyes, Yun Qing’s abilities were approaching the Postnatal level; using her storage pouch and the terrain, she could handle most soul corpses.

Even so, he warned her not to pick fights with martial artists of the Postnatal realm. People, unlike soul corpses, have no soul, but they do have cunning—far more devious than the mindless dead.

He discreetly inquired why Yun Qing had improved so dramatically in just a month since he last saw her. Yun Qing only said she had been framed by an enemy, offering no further details, and Ye Xiaolang did not press her.

...

In Ye Family Village, at the village chief’s home, several cultivators were gathered indoors, examining a recording stone from the night before.

Inside, after studying the recording, the cultivators fell silent. An elder of Lingyun Sect said, “From the images, we can’t tell who she is. Her awkward fighting style suggests she’s a novice, yet the artifact she used to dispel the darkness must come from a powerful sect. But her techniques don’t match any school I know.”

Another elder nodded. “Her strength seems to be at the Golden Core stage, likely a promising young disciple. We’ll have to inquire within the cultivation alliance to see which family she might belong to.”

“But she’s only at the Golden Core stage. Even a Nascent Soul master wouldn’t dare venture into the darkness alone.”

“That might have something to do with her artifact.”

“Pity we arrived too late. Let’s hope we find her soon, so we can discuss methods to dispel the darkness.”

...

While the cultivators inside discussed the mysterious figure at their leisure, the village chief waiting outside grew restless.

He began pacing back and forth. Why was it taking so long? He desperately wanted the cultivators to help him save his daughter, but was afraid to ask—cultivators rarely involved themselves in mortal affairs.

The cultivators’ senses were sharp; those inside sensed the chief’s anxiety.

A young cultivator stepped out to ask what was wrong. The chief explained that his daughter’s hunting party had been missing all night and may have wandered into the poisonous Wheatfield Village.

Before the chief could even ask for help, the elder inside called out, “Chief of Ye Family Village, the sect requires a full test of spiritual roots for your village. As thanks for the images recorded, Haoran can accompany you to the poisonous Wheatfield Village. You may go with him yourself, or send someone else while you oversee affairs here.”

The chief was at a loss—no matter whom he accompanied, it seemed he risked offending the other side.

Xiao Haoran was unconcerned with such etiquette. Producing a flying sword, he said, “You must know the way to Wheatfield Village. Let the deputy chief handle the spiritual root testing; we’ll set out now.”

“Thank you, Immortal Master.”

With a thought, Xiao Haoran guided the chief onto the sword and had him point out the way, soaring off toward the poisonous wheatfields.

...

Foundation stones were easy to find. After searching through two collapsed houses, Yun Qing gathered over twenty blocks, each weighing several hundred pounds.

She would have taken more, but Ye Xiaolang offhandedly remarked, “Your storage pouch is truly spacious.” That was enough to make Yun Qing desist.

The two had switched to new weapons for smashing soul corpses. Returning to the house where they had last fought, Yun Qing positioned herself to lie in wait while Ye Xiaolang lured the soul corpses in. Their plan was to eliminate a few at a time, repeating the process five or six times, and soon the entire group would be free.

Once everything was ready, Yun Qing stood atop a high wall, waiting for Ye Xiaolang to lead the monsters her way.

Ye Xiaolang fulfilled his task admirably; before long, Yun Qing saw a small group of soul corpses trailing after him.

Determined to seize some experience for herself this time, Yun Qing resolved not to let Ye Xiaolang kill them all—she would claim a few as her own.

Just then, a streak of rainbow light appeared in the distance, drawing rapidly closer. It halted in midair, dozens of meters above Ye Xiaolang. A small sword shot from the newcomer’s hand, instantly piercing through several soul corpses behind Ye Xiaolang. Their health bars vanished in a single, fatal blow.