35: A deep, dark passageway, blocked by a corpse demon.

Inside the secret corridor, it was deathly silent and oppressive. Only the moon-white cold flame dancing on Su Wanqing's fingertips dispelled the darkness in this small space, illuminating the slick, twisted moss and carvings on the walls. The air was foul, mixed with thick Devilish Qi and the musty smell of ten thousand years of sealing; every breath brought a chilling cold that stung the lungs.

Lin Xuan sat cross-legged on the cold, damp ground, fully channeling his energy to refine the backlash from the Devilish Qi he had just forcibly channeled into his body. The medicinal power of the Qingyun Pill dissolved, and combined with his own pure Golden Core Qi and the extreme Yang Qi of the Nine Revolutions Golden Body Art, it acted like three clear springs, continuously washing away and purifying the filthy Devilish Qi that had invaded his Meridians. His face remained pale, but his breathing had gradually stabilized, though a trace of grayness that could not be dispelled remained between his brows.

Su Wanqing stood before him, sword in hand, her cold, clear eyes shining brightly under the reflection of the cold flame, vigilantly watching the endless darkness deep in the corridor. Moonlight flowed around her, silently dissolving the Devilish Qi that attempted to approach, acting as a Protector for Lin Xuan.

Qu Feiyan leaned against the wall on the other side, her charming eyes slightly narrowed, appearing lazy but actually having already spread out her Divine Sense to perceive any subtle energy fluctuations in the surroundings. Her gaze occasionally swept over Lin Xuan as he adjusted his breathing, carrying a complex and inexplicable meaning. Lin Xuan's fearless act of forcibly opening the passage just now, as well as the touch of grayness between his brows caused by the erosion of the Devilish Qi—which added a few points of strange, evil charm—made her desire to conquer and explore him grow increasingly intense.

Gongsun Yu clutched the thunder light silver ring tightly, guarding the rear of the team, her small face filled with tension. The faint rustling sounds and low panting coming from the depths of the corridor made her hair stand on end.

Time passed slowly in the deathly silence. After about the time it takes to burn an incense stick, Lin Xuan slowly exhaled a breath of turbid air mixed with a fishy smell and opened his eyes. The Divine light in his pupils regained its clarity; although there was still hidden pain in his internal organs, the Devilish Qi had been basically suppressed.

"How do you feel?" Su Wanqing immediately turned back, her voice filled with concern.

"I am fine, it is just not advisable to force myself to the limit again in the short term." Lin Xuan stood up, stretched his somewhat stiff body, and cast his gaze toward the depths of the corridor. "We should not stay here long; we must find a way out as soon as possible."

He took the moon-white cold flame ball for illumination that Su Wanqing handed him, held it in his palm, and walked forward first. The corridor wound downwards with a steep slope, and the ground was slippery, requiring extra caution.

The deeper they went, the thicker the Devilish Qi became, even beginning to condense into faint black mist, hindering their line of sight and Divine Sense. The carvings on the walls on both sides also gradually became clearer. They were not decorations, but reliefs depicting scenes of cruel sacrifices and demons slaughtering each other. They were ferocious and terrifying; watching them for a long time made it seem as if one could hear the wailing and roaring coming from within, disturbing the mind.

"These reliefs... seem to be telling the origin of this Demon Palace." Qu Feiyan pointed to a huge mural among them. In the center of the mural, a blurry, gigantic demon shadow with two horns on its head and bone wings on its back was receiving the worship of countless demons of various forms. At the feet of the demon shadow lay mountains of bones of Immortals, Gods, and Mortals.

"Myriad Silence Demon Lord..." Lin Xuan whispered the name that the Daoist Shoujing had mentioned. It seemed that this Demon Palace was the main place where this ancient Devil Head was sealed.

Just then, at a corner of the corridor ahead, a clear, teeth-grinding sound of bones rubbing against each other suddenly came, followed by heavy, dragging footsteps!

"Something is coming!" Gongsun Yu whispered nervously, electric snakes dancing on the thunder light silver ring.

Lin Xuan signaled everyone to stop and probed forward with his Divine Sense. However, the Devilish Qi mist ahead was unusually thick, and his Divine Sense felt as if it had fallen into a quagmire, making it difficult to investigate clearly.

"Prepare for battle." Lin Xuan said in a deep voice, suspending the moon-white cold flame ball above his head to illuminate the front. He gripped his right hand in the air, not summoning the frost silence immortal sword, but instead condensing his Golden Core Qi in his palm, ready to strike. Su Wanqing drew her ice sword, and cold air overflowed. Qu Feiyan formed Seals with both hands, and the phantom of a blood-colored lotus appeared and disappeared behind her. Gongsun Yu also pushed her lightning Qi to the limit.

The footsteps drew closer, accompanied by a nauseating stench mixed with rot and sulfur.

Finally, a huge figure stumbled out of the devil mist at the corner.

It was a monster pieced together from countless broken corpses! It was two zhang tall, with a bloated body that barely maintained a human shape. Dozens of heads of different races and varying degrees of decay were embedded in its body. The eyes of those heads were hollow and lifeless, but their mouths were opening and closing, emitting silent wails. Its arms were formed by seven or eight limbs of different thicknesses, covered in mucus or bone spurs, twisted and entwined, with sharp bone claws at the ends. Its whole body exuded a powerful Devilish Qi comparable to the Early Golden Core Stage, as well as a pure hatred and desire for destruction towards the living!

"It's a Corpse Demon! Be careful of the corpse poison and resentment impact on it!" Qu Feiyan's expression changed slightly, and she immediately called out a warning. This kind of demon was extremely difficult to deal with; it had strong physical defense and was fearless of death.

The Corpse Demon's hollow eye sockets "looked" at the four of them. All the heads let out sharp hisses simultaneously, and its huge body suddenly accelerated like an out-of-control chariot, waving its twisted arms and claws, rushing over with an evil wind!

"I will take the lead, you provide cover!" Lin Xuan gave a low shout. Instead of retreating, he advanced, his figure moving like lightning, appearing instantly in front of the Corpse Demon. He threw a punch condensed with Golden Core Qi with great force! The fist wind was fierce and violent, with golden light flashing, aiming straight at the seemingly core-like, huge demon head on the Corpse Demon's chest!

"Roar!"

The Corpse Demon did not dodge or evade, its twisted arms and claws crossing to block!

"Boom!"

The fist and claws collided, producing a dull, thundering sound like striking leather! The violent air wave dispersed the devil mist around them in a circle! Lin Xuan's figure swayed, and he took half a step back, a tingling sensation coming from his fist. The Corpse Demon's defense was indeed astonishing; the arms and claws only had a few cracks and did not break.

And the Corpse Demon, having received this blow, became even more violent. Another arm and claw swept over like a poisonous whip, bringing with it a shrill sound of tearing through the air! At the same time, the heads on its body all opened their mouths simultaneously, and an invisible mental shockwave filled with despair and resentment surged toward the four of them like a tide!

"Watch out for your Divine Soul!" Su Wanqing shouted sharply. Her ice sword swung, and an ice-blue light curtain unfolded, freezing and neutralizing most of the mental shock. At the same time, her sword light split, and several sharp moon-white Sword Gangs, as if possessing life, bypassed the Corpse Demon's frontal defense and precisely pierced its joint connections and the heads that were constantly wailing!

Qu Feiyan's figure flickered like a red ghost, wandering around the Corpse Demon. She did not fight the Corpse Demon head-on but kept casting pink spiritual light marks. These marks stuck to the Corpse Demon's body, not causing direct damage, but like maggots attached to bones, they constantly interfered with the operation of the Devilish Qi in its body, making its movements sometimes sluggish and sometimes out of control.

Gongsun Yu cruised on the periphery, the thunder light silver ring turning into bolts of lightning, specifically bombarding the heads of the Corpse Demon that were trying to spray corpse poison or condense magic, conducting precise long-range strikes and interference.

The four of them cooperated tacitly. Lin Xuan attacked head-on, attracting most of the firepower; Su Wanqing controlled the field and broke defenses; Qu Feiyan interfered and weakened; Gongsun Yu provided long-range support. The Corpse Demon had powerful strength and defense but was beaten by the four of them until it roared repeatedly, new wounds constantly appearing on its body, and broken bone fragments and foul-smelling body fluids splattered everywhere.

However, this Corpse Demon's vitality was extremely tenacious; unless its core was completely destroyed, it was difficult to kill it. And the demon head where its core was located was tightly protected by its arms and claws.

After a long battle without success, Lin Xuan's eyes turned cold. He seized a moment when Su Wanqing froze half of the Corpse Demon's body and Qu Feiyan's interference caused it to lose its balance, and he took a deep breath, his internal Golden Core rotating at an unprecedented speed!

He pointed his fingers like a sword, and a brilliant starlight suddenly lit up at his fingertips! That was not the body of the frost silence immortal sword, but the Concept of the [Star Brilliance Purification Sword] he had condensed during the battle at the Star Observatory, a miniature purification Sword Gang condensed from his own Golden Core Qi mixed with a trace of pure Mental Energy derived from the seven-colored crystal nucleus he had just refined!

"Break Evil!"

With a low shout, the starlight at his fingertips seemed to traverse space, instantly striking the center of the eyebrows of the demon head that the Corpse Demon was protecting tightly!

"Chi—!"

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a light sound like a red-hot soldering iron being dipped into cold water. The point of starlight sank into the center of the demon head's eyebrows, and the pure power of purification collided most violently with the filthy Devilish Qi and resentment in the Corpse Demon's body!

The Corpse Demon's huge body suddenly stiffened, and all the heads let out shrill, extreme wails! The Devilish Qi on its body surface rolled and dissipated like boiling water, and countless spider-web-like cracks quickly spread across its hard torso, with pure starlight shining through the cracks!

"Boom!"

The next moment, the Corpse Demon's huge body exploded from the inside out! Countless broken limbs and remains mixed with filthy blood and Devilish Qi scattered like a rainstorm!

Lin Xuan was prepared, and his Qi protective shield unfolded, blocking all the filth. Su Wanqing also waved her sword to set up an ice wall, protecting Gongsun Yu behind her. Qu Feiyan moved nimbly and easily avoided the explosion range.

As the dust settled, only a mess and a fist-sized black crystal nucleus that was still flickering with unwilling black light remained on the ground—that was the Corpse Demon's demon core.

Lin Xuan reached out and summoned the demon core, which contained pure Devilish Qi and resentment, into his hand, and sealed it with Qi. Although this object was evil, it might have other uses.

He gasped slightly; that concentrated purification Sword Gang just now consumed a lot of his mental state and Qi.

"It's resolved." Lin Xuan looked at the three women.

Su Wanqing put away her ice sword, walked to his side, looked carefully at his face, and confirmed he was fine before nodding gently.

Qu Feiyan looked at the remains on the ground, then at Lin Xuan, whose breathing was slightly fluctuating, and a trace of amazement flashed in her charming eyes. This Junior Martial Brother's methods were truly endless.

Gongsun Yu let out a long sigh of relief and patted her chest: "Scared me to death, this monster is really difficult to deal with!"

After a short rest, the four continued down the corridor. After the battle just now, they were even more vigilant. This secret path leading to the depths of the Demon Palace obviously would not only have one Corpse Demon as a guard. Ahead, they did not know what kind of dangers awaited them.

And in Lin Xuan's heart, he felt deeper apprehension and curiosity about the towering Demon Palace and the sealed Myriad Silence Demon Lord.