Chapter 101: The Corpse Fiend

Having steadily advanced to the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, Ye Yun was in excellent spirits. No sooner had he stepped out from his secluded cultivation chamber than his spiritual sense detected several cultivators taking notice of him.

"Greetings, fellow Daoist. I am Guo Qing," said the leader among three young cultivators—two men and one woman—who approached him. The speaker was a refined, elegant youth with striking features.

"Greetings, Brother Guo. I am Ye Yun," Ye Yun replied with a smile.

Through their conversation, Ye Yun learned that these three were disciples of the Guo clan, sent out to temper themselves in the world. Their current mission was to travel southwest to Corpse Demon Mountain.

Corpse Demon Mountain was shrouded in baleful yin energy; it was once a mass grave, and, over the years, certain corpses and ghosts had gained sentience, transforming into a distinct breed of corpse demons.

The trio's training task was to collect three eyeballs from Foundation Establishment-stage corpse demons. These were valuable materials, used in the refinement of poisons and as components for array flags or formation disks.

Such a mission was not difficult in theory, but as all three had only just advanced to the initial stage of Foundation Establishment, they lacked confidence and thus hoped to recruit others to join them.

Apart from Guo Qing, the other young man was named Guo Wei, and the young woman was called Guo Shui.

Guo Wei and Guo Shui had been invited by Guo Qing, and on their way to Corpse Demon Mountain, they encountered Ye Yun, who had just emerged from his secluded cultivation. They decided at once to invite him to join their mission.

"Corpse Demon Mountain is perilous," Ye Yun said with a smile, declining their offer. "I am not a disciple of the Guo clan, nor do I need to undertake such trials. I suggest you go on without me."

Truth be told, corpse demons of the same cultivation level were not particularly formidable—slow and sluggish to react. Yet their true danger lay in their numbers, for they often moved in packs. The corpse poison in their claws and fangs was perilous enough to be fatal to cultivators.

Ye Yun was not one to play the hero; he saw no reason to risk himself for the sake of three strangers.

"Brother Ye, that's not right," interjected Guo Wei. "As the saying goes, when you see injustice, draw your sword to help. We come to you in need; surely you won't turn us away so coldly?"

"Heh, we're neither kin nor friends. Why should I help just because you're in trouble?" Ye Yun retorted.

"Hmph. So you’re at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment—what’s there to be so high and mighty about? If you help us complete this mission, I’ll give you a hundred spirit stones as payment!" Guo Shui suddenly declared.

Hearing this, Ye Yun glanced at Guo Shui with renewed interest. A hundred low-grade spirit stones was no small sum for an ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivator, yet to her, it seemed a mere trifle.

"Please don’t be offended, Brother Ye," Guo Qing interjected quickly, casting meaningful looks at Guo Wei and Guo Shui to silence them. "My two friends are on their first journey out into the world; I hope you can forgive their inexperience."

From this exchange, Ye Yun could tell that, apart from Guo Qing, the other two were indeed green and unseasoned.

Out in the wider world, many would kill and rob at the slightest provocation, especially when the other party’s strength was unknown. Naive words like those of Guo Wei and Guo Shui would not see them live long.

"How about this?" Guo Qing said hastily. "Brother Ye, since you are at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, you must be far stronger than the three of us. We each offer you a hundred low-grade spirit stones. Please, help us with this task. What do you say?"

As if to reassure Ye Yun, he immediately produced a storage pouch and handed it to him, containing three hundred low-grade spirit stones.

"In that case, I shall lend a hand," Ye Yun said with a smile, accepting the pouch.

He was heading for the Wilds anyway, and Corpse Demon Mountain wouldn’t take him far out of his way. A detour there would offer valuable experience, and having just advanced his cultivation, he was eager to test his newfound strength against the corpse demons.

Seeing Ye Yun agree, the trio exchanged looks of quiet delight.

"Guo Qing, do you think this fellow’s blood will be enough to attract a horde of corpse demons?"

"At the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, it should suffice. We’ll see how things unfold."

"If we can get our hands on a Xuan Yin Herb, we’ll strike it rich!"

As they traveled toward Corpse Demon Mountain, the three exchanged messages via spiritual sense, plotting in secret.

Although Ye Yun’s cultivation was higher than theirs, he had not yet mastered the art of intercepting secret transmissions, so he remained oblivious to their scheme.

"There’s demonic energy ahead!"

Ye Yun suddenly stopped, leaping up to a thick branch of a nearby ancient tree.

As they drew closer to Corpse Demon Mountain, the spiritual energy in the air grew tinged with an icy, sinister chill that set one’s nerves on edge.

"It’s just a few lesser demons—no need for Brother Ye to trouble himself," said Guo Qing, as all three joined him atop the branches. They saw a few demon beasts lurking in the shadows ahead.

At that moment, a surge of dense baleful qi swept toward them. Ye Yun’s pupils contracted as he glimpsed a decaying figure weaving through the woods. In a flash, it lunged at a wolf demon, its sharp fangs sinking into the beast’s flesh as it greedily sucked its blood.

"A corpse demon!"

Ye Yun instantly recognized the creature. Corpse demons had crimson nails shrouded in green poison. Though their movements were stiff and slow, they were almost immortal, fearing no pain or injury, utterly fearless in battle.

"It’s a Foundation Establishment middle-stage corpse demon," Guo Qing and his companions exclaimed, all traces of ease vanishing from their faces.

Corpse demons were notoriously difficult to handle. Should one be poisoned, ordinary antidotes were useless; only Golden Core cultivators could burn away the toxins with their true fire.

"I’ve taken your spirit stones, so leave this one to me," Ye Yun said.

With that, he sprang forward like a streak of lightning, charging the corpse demon.

The demon sensed living blood approaching. Its blood-red eyes locked onto Ye Yun, and it spewed a cloud of green poison. Blood-soaked fangs glinted with a cold light.

"Human blood…" the corpse demon croaked, its throat bobbing as it spoke in a guttural, muffled voice. Its eyes grew ever more fiendish.

In a sudden burst, it leaped with astonishing power—fast as lightning—appearing before Ye Yun in an instant, its rotting, clawed hands reaching for him.

Clang!

A golden bell appeared above Ye Yun’s head, ringing of its own accord. The corpse demon’s sharp claws could not break through the defenses of this mid-grade magical treasure, and the force of the bell’s waves sent the demon staggering back several paces.

"Average offensive power, but its explosive leap is quite fast. I wonder about its reaction speed," Ye Yun assessed in a flash.

He pressed two fingers together and sent forth a streak of sword light.

The Aurora Sword Art was famed for its speed; the corpse demon had no chance to react before the sword light pierced its brow with a soft squelch.

"Too slow," Ye Yun muttered in disappointment, flicking a fireball to finish the job.

Creatures of yin and evil were naturally vulnerable to fire. Augmented by Scarlet Flame Essence, Ye Yun’s fireball rivaled the true fire of a Golden Core cultivator—more than enough to end a corpse demon in a single blow.

Boom!

The fireball struck, instantly engulfing the demon in flames. No matter how it struggled and howled, it was futile. In moments, nothing remained but ashes drifting on the wind.

The golden bell shrank and fell into Ye Yun’s palm. Just as he was storing it away in his Dragon-Phoenix Pendant, three flying swords shot toward him from behind in perfect unison!