32: Chapter 32: Corpse Puppet

Netherworld Ancient Path.

"It's open, it's open."

"Charge!"

Xiao Ran only heard sharp shouts coming from behind him.

He had already taken a step, his speed reaching its limit, and rushed directly into the Netherworld Ancient Path.

Upon entering, Xiao Ran discovered that the temperature inside had plummeted.

It was not ordinary cold, but an icy chill that seeped into the marrow, as if invisible hands were stroking his spine.

The rock walls on both sides of the canyon were dark gray, covered in thick frost moss, and occasionally, pale white skeletons could be seen embedded within them.

There were those of humans and Yao Beasts, having lain silent for who knows how many years.

The light here became distorted and dim, with most areas shrouded in thick, impenetrable fog.

Xiao Ran restrained his Qi, his Blood Shadow Escape swirling beneath his feet, his figure moving like a ghost among the jagged rocks.

He spread out his Divine Sense, keeping it within a range of thirty zhang around his body.

In such a place, if Divine Sense extended too far, it was easily eroded by Yin Qi or might disturb certain sleeping evil entities.

Thirty zhang was the most suitable distance.

It could prevent sneak attacks from others while avoiding triggering the evil entities of this place.

Xiao Ran proceeded in this manner for about three miles before a fork in the road appeared before him.

Three narrow passages extended in different directions.

The one on the left had the heaviest Yin Qi, with faint ghost fires drifting about.

The middle one had fresh footprints, indicating that someone had passed through not long ago.

The one on the right... was deathly silent, as if even the Yin Qi had solidified.

Xiao Ran chose the right one without hesitation.

Intuition told him that the more abnormal a place was, the more likely it was to be safe.

Therefore, at every subsequent fork in the road, Xiao Ran only chose the most sinister-looking one.

Consequently, the passages Xiao Ran took became increasingly unusual.

Initially, it was relatively level, but as he went deeper, it became narrower, eventually only wide enough for one person to pass through sideways.

The rock walls were ice-cold to the touch, with a thin layer of black ice crystals condensed on their surface.

Xiao Ran did not act immediately; instead, he condensed a wisp of Guixu Demonic Light at his fingertip and lightly tapped it against the black ice.

"Hiss!!!"

The black ice melted, revealing the true color of the rock wall beneath.

It was dark red like blood, covered with dense, twisted patterns, resembling some kind of ancient sealing rune.

"This is... Demon Sealing Blood Patterns?"

Xiao Ran's eyes narrowed slightly.

He had seen similar records in the ancient texts of the Eternal Night Demon Sect.

This was a type of blood-Dao Formation used in the ancient era to Seal great malevolent entities, requiring the essence blood of a powerful cultivator as ink to be carved over forty-nine days to take form.

This Netherworld Ancient Path was indeed not simple.

But that was just as well; the more complex it was, the more likely it was to contain treasures.

The bigger the waves, the more valuable the fish.

Xiao Ran only hesitated for a second before continuing forward.

After moving forward another few dozen zhang, the passage suddenly opened up.

A natural cavern appeared before him, about ten zhang square.

Countless stalactites hung from the cavern ceiling, but those stalactites were not the usual gray-white.

Instead, they presented an eerie dark gold color, with a faint luster flowing on their surface.

In the center of the cavern was a three-foot square stone platform.

On the platform sat a skeleton in a cross-legged position.

The skeleton was jade-like throughout, crystal clear, and even emitted a faint light in the darkness.

Clearly, its cultivation in life had been extremely high, at least at the Nascent Soul Stage or above.

But what was eerie was that a rusty broken sword was inserted into the top of the skeleton's skull.

The broken sword pierced in from the top of the skull, penetrating the entire head.

The tip of the sword protruded from the lower jaw, pinning the skeleton firmly to the stone platform.

Even more eerie was that the skeleton's hands were forming a strange Dharma Seal, with the fingertips pressed against its temples, as if it had been desperately suppressing something in its final moments.

Xiao Ran did not rashly approach.

He stood at the cavern entrance, observing carefully.

On the ground surrounding the skeleton, a circle of complex Formation patterns was carved.

Although it had been a long time and the spiritual power had long since dissipated, one could still see its ingenuity.

"Soul Sealing Corpse Suppressing Formation..."

"Using one's own skeleton as the Formation eye, and one's Lifebound Treasure as the suppressing vessel to suppress oneself here for eternity... What exactly did this person encounter in life?"

Unfortunately, Xiao Ran recognized this Formation as well.

His gaze fell upon the skeleton's waist.

Hanging there was a palm-sized gray cloth bag, simple in style, with cloud patterns embroidered on its surface.

Storage Pouch.

Xiao Ran pondered for a moment, then raised his hand and struck out a wisp of Guixu Demonic Light, which transformed into a black hand and reached out through the air toward the Storage Pouch.

Just as the hand was about to touch the pouch.

In the skeleton's hollow eye sockets, two balls of ghostly green flames suddenly ignited!

"Hum!!!"

The Formation patterns throughout the cavern lit up simultaneously, erupting with blinding blood-colored light.

The rusty broken sword vibrated violently, emitting a shrill sword cry!

The skeleton slowly raised its head, its jawbone opening and closing, emitting a hoarse, stiff voice:

"Those who trespass into the Forbidden Ground... shall die."

Before the words had even faded, the skeleton's right hand suddenly lifted, five fingers forming a claw, reaching out through the air toward Xiao Ran!

A pitch-black claw shadow tore through the air, carrying a thick stench of corpse evil Qi, arriving in an instant!

Xiao Ran had been prepared; he activated Blood Shadow Escape, his figure shifting three zhang to the side.

The claw shadow missed, slamming into the rock wall and leaving five furrows a foot deep, with black smoke hissing from their edges.

"The Nascent Soul skeleton has been resurrected?"

"No, this is a remnant soul that hasn't dissipated, possessing the skeleton and becoming a Corpse Puppet!"

Xiao Ran's eyes were grave.

This skeleton must have been at least at the Nascent Soul middle stage in life; after death, the skeleton had been nourished by the Formation for hundreds of years, combined with the lingering obsession of the remnant soul.

Although its combat power was not as strong as in life, it was probably no less than the last stage of Golden Core or even the Peak.

Troublesome.

Xiao Ran was only at the Middle Stage of Golden Core.

The skeleton, having missed its attack, slowly stood up from the stone platform.

The broken sword piercing its skull swayed with its movements but could not be shaken off.

With every step it took, some bone powder fell from its body, but its aura became increasingly ferocious.

In its hollow eye sockets, the ghostly green flames flickered, locking onto Xiao Ran.

"Kill... kill... kill..."

The hoarse murmurs echoed in the cavern.

Xiao Ran took a deep breath, no longer holding back.

His Middle Stage of Golden Core cultivation exploded fully, and the Guixu Demonic Light circulated around his body, transforming into a gray-black demonic armor.

He formed Seals with both hands, and a light flashed on his forehead.

"Soul Suppressing Tower!"

A three-foot-tall illusory black tower appeared, hovering above his head, casting down streaks of black light curtains to protect his Divine Soul.

Facing this kind of entity that was a fusion of soul and corpse, Divine Soul defense was the top priority.

The skeleton seemed to sense the threat, emitting a sharp hiss as both hands clawed out simultaneously!

Ten pitch-black claw shadows attacked in an interlaced pattern, sealing off all of Xiao Ran's retreat paths!

Xiao Ran did not retreat but advanced instead.

His figure was like lightning, weaving through the gaps in the claw shadows.

At the same time, he brought his right index and middle fingers together, and a point of blood-colored light lit up at his fingertips.

"Blood Soul Spike!"

The next second, three invisible blood spikes shot through the air, aiming directly for the skeleton's skull!

The skeleton neither dodged nor avoided, allowing the blood spikes to sink into its skull.

The ghostly green flames in its eye sockets flickered violently a few times, and its movements showed a momentary lag.

Taking this opportunity, Xiao Ran had already closed in on it.

He struck his right palm against the skeleton's chest!

"Guixu Demonic Light - Annihilation!"

A gray-black vortex erupted in his palm, crazily devouring the corpse evil Qi on the skeleton!

The skeleton's sternum emitted a cracking sound of being unable to bear the load.

But it also fiercely counterattacked, its left bone claw ruthlessly grabbing at Xiao Ran's throat!

Xiao Ran tilted his head to avoid it, the bone claw grazing his neck, taking away a strand of hair and a few drops of blood.

A burning pain came from his neck, and corpse poison instantly invaded.

Xiao Ran circulated his demonic essence, forcibly expelling the corpse poison, and black blood dripped from the wound.

"What tyrannical corpse poison..."