Chapter 102: The Treachery of the Human Heart

The piercing sound of flying swords slicing through the air was sharp and grating. Ye Yun had just stowed away the Golden Treasure Bell, and now, wanting to summon his defenses, he realized it was already too late.

"Xuanwu Totem!"

He formed seals with both hands, and a phantom beast with a dragon's head, a turtle's body, and a serpent's tail appeared. He spun around abruptly, stretched out his hands, and slapped at the three flying swords shooting toward him.

Clang! Clang!...

His flesh met the blades, bursting with dazzling sparks. Two of the inferior flying swords were knocked away by Ye Yun's brute strength. Yet the third sword’s power caught him off guard; its razor-sharp light pierced his palm in an instant, then continued unchecked, stabbing through his right chest and carrying with it a torrent of hot blood.

"You dare attack me?" Ye Yun retreated swiftly, summoning the Golden Treasure Bell and popping a healing pill into his mouth, his gaze blazing with fury as he stared at the three not far away.

"Haha, so what if we do? Did you really think three hundred spirit stones would be so easy to claim?" Guo Wei laughed, his face arrogant and wild.

Guo Shui looked at Ye Yun with utter disdain, a cold smirk on his lips.

Only Guo Qing remained silent, forming seals, relentlessly controlling his swords to attack Ye Yun.

In that moment, Ye Yun realized Guo Qing’s cultivation wasn’t at the early Foundation Establishment stage, but at the peak—clearly, he had hidden his true strength. His flying sword was also a mid-tier magical treasure, which explained how he had so easily dealt Ye Yun such a heavy blow in a surprise attack.

"Brother Ye, apologies, but you were simply unlucky to cross paths with us," Guo Qing finally spoke.

"Why waste words? Kill him!" Guo Shui commanded.

Among the trio, it seemed Guo Shui held the highest status, while Guo Qing, strongest in both cultivation and power, acted more like a hired hand.

With his right chest pierced, the sword’s embedded energy continued to erode his meridians, making it difficult for Ye Yun’s vital force to circulate.

His pupils contracted; he had no intention of fighting these three to the death. Instead, he memorized their aura, then moved swiftly, utilizing his body technique to leap away into the distance.

"After him!"

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Shouts from Guo Shui and Guo Wei echoed behind him, and Ye Yun sensed three flying swords slashing toward him again, trailing ribbons of silvery light weaving through the forest.

Even now, Ye Yun couldn’t fathom why Guo Qing, Guo Wei, and Guo Shui had set up an ambush against him.

"Among cultivators, murder and robbery for treasures is commonplace. In the wild, hearts are treacherous; one must always be wary of others."

His master’s teachings surfaced in Ye Yun’s mind. He had memorized these lessons long ago, but had never fully applied them—like just now, when killing the corpse fiend, he hadn’t suspected Guo Qing and the others. Partly, he trusted them since they’d hired him for three hundred spirit stones; partly, he was confident in his own strength and dismissed the three Foundation Establishment novices.

But he hadn’t expected Guo Qing to conceal his cultivation with a secret technique and ambush him so ruthlessly.

The Crimson Flame Heart Technique and the Everlasting Dao Sutra worked in tandem within his body, and the wound on his right chest gradually stopped bleeding; Ye Yun’s gaze grew steadily colder.

He fled toward Corpse Fiend Mountain. Blood dripped from his wound, attracting hordes of corpse fiends like wolves scenting flesh, who relentlessly pursued him.

In mere moments, hundreds of corpse fiends clustered around him, their strength varying from Qi Refining to Foundation Establishment levels.

At this point, Guo Qing and his companions abruptly abandoned their pursuit, heading quickly in another direction across the mountain.

Cultivating the Crimson Flame chapter, Ye Yun’s physical recovery was astonishing, and the healing pill worked wonders; his meridians swiftly healed.

His divine sense had already locked onto Guo Qing and his companions’ aura. As long as they remained within a certain range, he could locate them anywhere in Corpse Fiend Mountain.

"Three Talents Sword Formation!"

Clang! Clang! Clang!...

Ye Yun slapped the Dragon-Phoenix Pendant at his waist, and three mid-tier flying swords shot out, forming a miniature sword array. In an instant, sword energy slashed through the charging corpse fiends, splitting them into heaps of rotting flesh.

Meanwhile, Ye Yun formed seals, launching fireballs that incinerated all corpse fiends blocking his path to ash.

With the essence fire of Crimson Flame, he feared neither the pervasive corpse poison nor the fiends themselves. The pure, forceful power of heaven and earth’s fire countered the yin evil of the corpse fiends, allowing him to cut through them like a knife through butter, soon breaking free of their encirclement.

He took a few vital energy pills, and with his divine sense still tracking Guo Qing and his companions, he wasn’t in a hurry to pursue them. Instead, he concealed his aura, found a hidden spot near Corpse Fiend Mountain, and activated both Crimson Flame and Everlasting techniques to swiftly restore his depleted energy and hasten the healing of his chest wound.

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Individually, corpse fiends weren’t particularly formidable—but once a living person entered, the yang energy on their body attracted countless fiends. Hundreds gathered in packs, and even Ye Yun, despite his methods, had expended much of his power breaking free.

A quarter hour later, though his chest wound hadn’t fully healed, it was no longer a hindrance, and his strength was unaffected.

His depleted vital force had recovered to its peak; he slowly opened his eyes, revealing two cold, razor-sharp gleams.

Since leaving Cloudwater City, this was the first time he’d suffered such a setback. Had he reacted any slower, Guo Qing’s sword would have pierced not his chest, but severed his head.

If he hadn’t cultivated the Crimson Flame Heart Technique, any ordinary mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator would never have escaped the corpse fiend pack alive.

No matter the reason, Guo Qing and his companions clearly intended to kill him. Whatever their motive, in Ye Yun’s heart, these three were already dead men.

Using a secret method from the Crimson Flame Heart Technique, he suppressed his aura, sealed tens of thousands of pores, locked away his yang energy and vital force, and his body became a fleeting shadow as he darted through Corpse Fiend Mountain.

Not a trace of his aura leaked, and his wound had scabbed over with no fresh blood, so even passing close to corpse fiends, he did not draw their attention.

The terrain here was complex, the dense yin energy rising as mist, obscuring vision and interfering with sense perception. Ye Yun locked onto Guo Qing and his companions’ aura and soon arrived at a secluded valley deep in Corpse Fiend Mountain.

Light as a swan’s feather, Ye Yun landed behind a gray boulder, making not a sound, and peered into the valley. Though the mist blurred his vision, he could vaguely make out a few figures.

He summoned his vital force and activated the Infinite Divine Eyes; the layers of haze were instantly dispelled, and Ye Yun sensed the surge of heaven and earth energy within.

"It’s Guo Qing and his companions."

With the Infinite Divine Eyes, Ye Yun saw clearly: Guo Qing and his companions were trapped in the valley by a pack of corpse fiends, numbering just over thirty.

Unlike the fiends outside the valley, these were all powerful, their bodies covered in pitch-black fur, their aura fierce and savage—each possessed the strength of late-stage Foundation Establishment cultivators.

Faced with a pack of late-stage Foundation Establishment fiends, unless one was a Golden Core cultivator, even Ye Yun would have to flee for his life.

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