This fellow disciple is wicked!

The next day, at the first light of dawn.

Han Shuang stood at the doorway, carefully smoothing out the slight wrinkles on Lin Yuan's collar.

Her movements were gentle, her eyes filled with worry.

"Master, please be careful on your journey and return soon."

"Shuanger will be waiting for you here."

Looking at her reddened eyes, Lin Yuan felt a warmth in his heart and said:

"Cultivate with peace of mind; I will return in at most half a month."

"Alright, Brother Lin, it's time for us to depart!"

From not far away, Wei He's voice rang out; he and Su Qingyan were standing on a Flying Boat about a zhang long, known as the Azure Nether Flying Boat.

This Flying Boat was dark azure in color, its design more exquisite than Lin Yuan's black wood shuttle. With spiritual light flowing across its surface, it was clearly a higher-grade Medium Grade flying Magical Artifact.

Lin Yuan patted Han Shuang on the shoulder, then flickered and landed inside the Flying Boat.

As Wei He tapped a spell technique with his fingertip, the Flying Boat shuddered slightly, transforming into a streak of azure Spiritual Qi that tore through the morning mist and sped toward the horizon.

The Flying Boat was astonishingly fast. The howling wind was blocked by an invisible barrier, but the mountains and rivers beneath their feet still retreated rapidly, blurring into indistinct patches of color.

In just half a day, the Flying Boat had traveled over a thousand miles.

"Brother Lin, look over there."

Lin Yuan looked in the direction he was pointing.

At the end of his vision, a plain, unassuming small mountain lay quietly on the earth, completely unremarkable.

"This is an ancient volcanic crater. My ancestor once accidentally discovered that the fire Spiritual Qi within this crater was exceptionally dense. After some exploration, he discovered it was connected to an underground fire vein. At the same time, it also contained an extremely abundant amount of Earthly Yin Qi."

"It was the convergence of these two forces that gave birth to that Earth Core Nether Fire."

"My ancestor, worried that news of the rare treasure would leak, used great magical power to set up an Inverted Five Elements Array, masking all the abnormal auras here."

"Therefore, from the outside, it looks no different from an ordinary desolate mountain."

As Wei He spoke, he urged the Flying Boat to dive downward.

The Flying Boat circled once in a hidden valley at the foot of the mountain before landing quietly.

"We've been traveling for half a day and have consumed quite a bit of magic power. How about we adjust ourselves here for a while before going to retrieve that Earth Core Nether Fire?"

Wei He jumped off the Flying Boat and made the suggestion.

Lin Yuan nodded, his gaze scanning the surroundings vigilantly.

"However, this place is very close to the border of the Yan Kingdom. If we happen to encounter Disciples of the Misty Immortal Sect, it might cause unnecessary trouble. It is best to be careful."

Among the Five Kingdoms of the Eastern Region, the borders were jagged and intertwined. The Yan Kingdom was the territory of the Misty Immortal Sect, while the Yin Corpse Sect controlled the neighboring Zhao Kingdom.

Currently, the two Sects were locked in a fierce conflict over a newly discovered giant Spirit Stone vein. Although that vein was on the other end of the border, no one could guarantee that they wouldn't run into enemies here.

Hearing this, Wei He's face displayed a trace of arrogance. He reached out and slapped the blood-red coffin on his back heavily.

With a muffled "thud," the coffin lid slid open on its own.

A Refined Corpse with skin that was entirely dark blue, shimmering with a faint metallic luster, stood straight up from within. A thick, pungent odor of decay and a chilling aura instantly permeated the air.

"Rest assured, with my newly advanced Bronze Armored Corpse here to act as a Protector, we can ensure everything goes without a hitch!"

Saying this, he found a clean, large rock nearby, jumped onto it, took out a Medicinal Pill, swallowed it, sat cross-legged, and began to recover his consumed magic power.

Lin Yuan didn't say anything more and found a secluded spot. He appeared to be regulating his breath, but in reality, his Divine Sense had already quietly spread out, alert to every movement around him.

As the sun set, the evening glow dyed the sky a magnificent blood-red color.

Lin Yuan suddenly opened his eyes, a sharp gleam flashing and then vanishing.

Almost at the same time, as if they had sensed something, Wei He and Su Qingyan also finished their meditation and looked toward the sky vigilantly.

"Brother Lin, what is it?"

Wei He's voice had barely faded when three streaks of Escape Light appeared in the distance, speeding toward their location from afar.

The leading streak of Escape Light came from a Magical Artifact shaped like a grim white bone. The Cultivator piloting the Magical Artifact was dressed in black robes; his aura was chaotic, and he was clearly severely injured, fleeing for his life.

In hot pursuit behind him were two Cultivators, a man and a woman. The man was handsome, and the woman was stunningly beautiful. Both possessed powerful auras, their Magical Artifacts beneath their feet shone with brilliant spiritual light, and their garments were embroidered with the cloud patterns of the Misty Immortal Sect.

With just one glance, Lin Yuan determined that this was a pursuit between the righteous and demonic paths.

The one fleeing in front was a fellow Disciple of the Yin Corpse Sect.

Wei He and Lin Yuan exchanged a look; both made the same choice. With tacit understanding, they instantly suppressed their auras and, in a flash, hid behind the shadow of a giant rock nearby.

Although they were fellow Disciples, the Yin Corpse Sect never valued camaraderie.

If they were to act rashly now, not only would they receive no gratitude, but the person fleeing would undoubtedly use them as a scapegoat without hesitation, seizing the opportunity to escape.

The three streaks of Escape Light whistled by, and it looked like they were about to fly right over their heads.

Lin Yuan and the others held their breath, feeling a slight sense of relief.

However, at this very moment, something unexpected happened!

The Yin Corpse Sect Disciple who was fleeing, as if he had eyes in the back of his head, suddenly performed a strange arc in the air. A sinister glint of a successful malicious plot flashed in his eyes as he dived directly toward the valley where Lin Yuan and the others were hiding!

"Senior Brothers below, lend me a hand!" the man shouted at the top of his lungs.

Wei He's face instantly darkened, as if water could drip from it.

Although he had suppressed his own aura, the Bronze Armored Corpse had just been refined and its intelligence was too weak; the thick odor of decay and corpse Qi on its body could not be perfectly hidden.

Clearly, this damn guy had discovered the presence of the Bronze Armored Corpse and wanted to shift the disaster onto them!

"Brother Lin, Su Qingyan, you two retreat; I will face the enemy!"

Since they were already exposed, hiding was meaningless. Wei He made a prompt decision and shouted in a deep voice.

He pointed his finger through the air, and the Bronze Armored Corpse, hidden in the darkness, let out a low roar from its throat.

It kicked off the ground with both legs, its massive body shooting into the sky like a cannonball, lunging directly at the male Cultivator pursuing from behind.

At the same time, Wei He raised his palm and unleashed a broken blade Magical Artifact wreathed in black Qi. With a piercing sound of breaking air, it also slashed toward the male Cultivator.

Seeing that someone had finally appeared, a sinister grin of a successful scheme flashed across the black-robed man's face. He raised his hand, and a pitch-black skull whistled out, spinning rapidly as it flew to meet the female Cultivator behind.

"You're courting death!" Seeing this, the male Cultivator from the Misty Immortal Sect flashed a look of contempt in his eyes and let out a cold shout.

He flipped his palm, and a golden, gleaming long spear appeared out of thin air. On the spearhead, wisps of electric arcs were flickering and jumping, and a scorched smell permeated the air.

"Go!"

With a low shout, the long spear left his hand, transforming into a golden streak of lightning that whistled toward the oncoming Bronze Armored Corpse.

Lin Yuan's pupils suddenly constricted, and he thought to himself, "A Lightning-attribute Cultivation Technique!"

"Roar..."

The Bronze Armored Corpse let out a roar. Without dodging or evading, it crossed its hands, which were harder than refined steel, and met the long spear head-on.

"Boom!"

With a loud explosion, a blinding lightning light burst forth from the center of the collision between the golden spear and the corpse's arms! Countless slender electric snakes instantly covered the entire body of the Bronze Armored Corpse, emitting a terrifying "crackling" sound.

The massive body of the Bronze Armored Corpse was blasted away, black smoke rising from it. Its thick corpse Qi was instantly dispersed by more than half by the power of the thunder, and its body twitched uncontrollably in mid-air.

Wei He's black broken blade was also deflected by the remaining power of the long spear, flying back with a mournful whine.

One move! With just a single move, his greatest reliance, the Bronze Armored Corpse, had already been injured!

"Boom!" On the other side, the skull released by the black-robed man also exploded, black mist churning and temporarily blocking the female Cultivator's path.

"This Senior Brother, please help me hold them off; I will return to the Sect to bring you reinforcements!" Seeing this, the black-robed man did not hesitate to punch his own chest, spewing out a mouthful of vital blood.

The vital blood transformed into a cloud of blood mist in the air, wrapping around his entire body.

The next moment, he transformed directly into a blinding streak of blood light, fleeing toward the distant horizon at a speed several times faster than before.