48: Chapter 48 Resurrection in Three Breaths

The Sect Protection Elder struck his second sword blow with even greater force.

The blade cut into the corpse puppet's shoulder, cleaved down along its ribs, and half of the skeleton scattered on the spot.

The shattered bones hit the ground, sending black mud splattering everywhere, and a nearby broken stone was struck by the Sword Qi, splitting in two.

However, the black roots around the remnant core lit up once again.

One breath: the Broken Stele fragments on the roots vibrated.

Two breaths: the scattered bones on the ground were entangled by grey Qi.

Three breaths: the skeleton reassembled in place, and with a click, the corpse puppet's head turned toward the Sect Protection Elder.

"Stop," Sect Master Di Kun said, raising his hand to press on the Sect Protection Elder's shoulder. "Killing it by brute force is useless."

The Sect Protection Elder's sword momentum had already reached its midpoint, but hearing these words, his blade grazed past the corpse puppet's cervical vertebrae and struck the stone wall behind it.

A foot-long sword mark was carved into the black rock, and the debris fell into the crevice, with no echo for a long time.

Sect Master Di Kun's gaze locked onto the black roots behind the corpse puppet.

They were not protecting the skeleton. They were supplying energy.

The Speedrunner had already pressed against the left stone wall, his charcoal pencil moving rapidly.

He stared at the interval between each time the grey fire dimmed and lit up, calling out the count: "After being scattered, the roots light up for three breaths; the skeleton recovers on the fourth breath. There is a three-breath window to cut the roots or seal the opening."

The Dark Souls Player rolled forward, avoiding the crisscrossing claw strikes of two corpse puppets.

The bone claws grazed his back and dug into the stone pillar, forcibly gouging out five chunks of stone.

He used the momentum of the roll to stand up and struck the inside of the corpse puppet's knee with his short sword.

Click.

The corpse puppet knelt on one knee, and another one lunged from the side.

The Dark Souls Player flipped over the shoulder of the kneeling corpse puppet, but his foot slipped when he landed, splashing black mud onto his pant leg.

He did not retreat; instead, he wedged his body between the two corpse puppets and shouted rapidly: "Three-breath resurrection, cut the roots before killing it, don't get greedy with your attacks! This monster has a looping mechanic!"

The vein on the Sect Protection Elder's forehead twitched.

The first half of these crazy words made sense, while the second half sounded like gibberish, but his sword had already turned toward the black roots.

The blade slashed down, severing the first root. Grey-black Death Qi sprayed from the severed end, hitting the stone wall and corroding a patch of pits.

The Life-Skill Player immediately rushed forward half a step and sprinkled medicinal powder onto the severed end.

As the powder fell, the Death Qi was suppressed and retreated inward, and the severed root twitched a few times but failed to reconnect.

His eyes lit up, but he was immediately choked into coughing.

"It works! But the medicinal powder shouldn't be scattered randomly; we must target the formation eyes."

"Where are the formation eyes?" Sect Master Di Kun asked.

The Life-Skill Player took the miner's lamp from the Speedrunner, bringing the light close to those Broken Stele fragments on the roots.

The fragments were not hung randomly; each one pressed down on the intersection of a bundle of roots, and when they vibrated, they caused the nearby corpse puppet's grey fire to flicker in synchronization.

"The fragments." He pointed to the one closest to them. "They are like nails, pinning the resentment outside the remnant core. The order cannot be wrong; if we move the inner circle first, it will wake up all the outer circles."

The Speedrunner immediately followed up: "From outside to inside, dismantle the ones with the lowest light frequency first. The one on the far left vibrates once every three times, the one next to it vibrates once every two times, the one on the right is always lit—don't touch the one on the right."

Sect Master Di Kun glanced at the terrain of the rift cavity.

The entrance was narrow, and there were three broken stones in front that could block charges.

There were six corpse puppets in total; four were currently active, and the remaining two were still entangled on the ground by roots.

The resentment around the remnant core was like a net, and the mesh was tightening.

"Dark Souls Player, hold the two on the left. Elder, cut the roots and listen to the Speedrunner's count. Life-Skill Player, seal the severed ends. No one else touches the remnant core."

The Dark Souls Player raised his hand to make a gesture and charged directly toward the corpse puppets on the left: "Come on, come on, Brother Bone, look at me."

The corpse puppets were drawn by the sound, their grey fires turning as they lunged toward him.

The Dark Souls Player sidestepped, brushing past the broken stone, and the bone claws slammed into the stone surface, gouging three deep grooves into the entire block.

He used the edge of the broken stone to circle behind, slamming his short sword onto the corpse puppet's wrist bone, forcibly deflecting its attack direction.

The Sect Protection Elder's sword light fell immediately after.

The first energy-supplying root was severed, and the Life-Skill Player's medicinal powder followed.

The Speedrunner counted continuously: "The outer left fragment is lit, three, two, one, it can be pulled!"

Sect Master Di Kun stepped into the edge of the resentment.

A chill crawled up along the soles of his boots, as if countless tiny fingers were grabbing his ankles.

He reached out to grip the Broken Stele fragment, but the edge of the fragment was sharp and immediately sliced open his fingertips.

Beads of blood fell onto the black roots, and the roots shrank violently.

Whispers exploded in his ears.

It was not the voice of one person, but many people crowding behind a narrow door, speaking simultaneously.

Crying, cursing, begging for mercy, and the sounds of door-banging were all suppressed within the fragment, pouring out as Sect Master Di Kun pulled it out with force.

"Open the door..."

"Senior Brother, why is it locked from the outside..."

"Don't kill me, I am also a Disciple of Taichu..."

Sect Master Di Kun's wrist tightened, and the fragment was pulled away from the roots bit by bit.

The roots frantically wrapped around the back of his hand, and the pale silver Sect mark lit up, scorching the resentment into thin wisps of green smoke.

When the last inch was pulled out, the whispers in the rift cavity shrieked in unison.

One voice, the clearest of them all, sounded right beside Sect Master Di Kun's ear.

"The door is open, the people from the Han Family have come in."

Sect Master Di Kun's knuckles pressing on the fragment paused for half a breath.

The next wave of the corpse puppets' offensive suddenly accelerated.

The two corpse puppets that had been held back by the Dark Souls Player simultaneously lowered their bodies, and one of them used its broken ribs to slam hard against the broken stone.

The broken stone could not withstand the impact and shattered with a boom, the fragments rolling to the feet of the Life-Skill Player.

The other corpse puppet squeezed out from the gap, its bone claws lunging straight for the Life-Skill Player's medicine chest.

The Life-Skill Player was in the middle of sprinkling medicinal powder and could not retreat in time.

Sect Master Di Kun stepped across, the old wound on his shoulder tearing open from the movement, and blood immediately soaked through his clothes.

He raised his left arm, using his bracer to take the bone claw head-on.

The bone claw slid across the metal edge, producing a harsh, grating sound, and three lines of blood were drawn across his forearm.

He backhanded and gripped the corpse puppet's wrist bone, his heels digging into the black mud, and drew a short blade from his waist, driving it into the gap in the corpse puppet's sternum.

The blade tip caught the roots behind the skeleton, and with a twist of his wrist, he forcibly dragged the corpse puppet back into the range of the resentment.

"Cut under its feet."

The Sect Protection Elder did not ask questions; his sword light swept across the ground.

The two roots under the corpse puppet's feet were severed simultaneously, and the Life-Skill Player's medicinal powder followed closely, causing the grey fire to instantly shrink by a notch.

The Dark Souls Player rolled back from the other side of the broken stone and knocked the corpse puppet's skull flying with a sword strike, panting as he cursed: "Sect Master, stealing aggro so suddenly is too much; give us a heads-up next time."

Sect Master Di Kun pulled out his short blade and flicked off the grey-black mucus from the edge: "I'll write an announcement next time."

The Speedrunner had already locked onto the second fragment: "The second one on the left can be dismantled, the frequency has dropped. Three-breath window, hurry!"

The Sect Protection Elder's sword tip tapped continuously, severing the two roots around the fragment.

The Life-Skill Player bit open the last small packet of medicinal powder and pressed his palm directly onto the severed end.

The grey-black Death Qi burned his palm red, but he bit down on a damp cloth and made no sound.

Sect Master Di Kun reached out and grabbed the second Broken Stele fragment.

This fragment was heavier, as if it were connected to the entire underground resentment.

The pale silver mark on the back of Sect Master Di Kun's right hand shone blindingly, and the sect leader token at his waist vibrated gently.

When the fragment was pulled halfway out, the grey fire of the corpse puppets surged simultaneously, and the four skeletons turned their heads in unison, lunging toward Sect Master Di Kun.

"Block them!" The Sect Protection Elder stepped forward, his sword light forming a horizontal line.

The Dark Souls Player rolled along the ground, drilling past the feet of the two corpse puppets and striking their knee bones repeatedly with his short sword.

The Speedrunner placed the miner's lamp on the ground and drew a short blade, throwing it toward the eye socket of one of the corpse puppets.

The short blade stuck into the grey fire, and the corpse puppet's movement deflected by half an inch; the bone claw grazed past Sect Master Di Kun's shoulder, gouging a crumbling patch into the stone wall behind him.

Sect Master Di Kun did not retreat.

His five fingers tightened, and the wound was cut deeper by the fragment, with blood seeping into the stele patterns.

The Broken Stele emitted a low, hoarse vibration, and the roots wrapped around it snapped one by one, like bowstrings being pulled until they broke.

The fragment detached.

The grey fire in the rift cavity suddenly dimmed.

The skeletons of the few corpse puppets that were reassembling stopped midway, their severed arms still suspended in the air, being dragged back slowly by the roots to reconnect, but the speed was nearly twice as slow as before.

The Speedrunner stared at them, his charcoal pencil heavily drawing a second horizontal line on the stone wall.

"The mechanic is correct."

The Life-Skill Player pressed his red palm into the damp cloth, the medicinal powder and blood mixing together and dripping down through his fingers.

The Sect Protection Elder stood in front of Sect Master Di Kun, his sword tip lowered, the blade stained with grey-black Death Qi, which was corroding it inch by inch, creating tiny nicks.

Sect Master Di Kun lowered his head to look at the two Broken Stele fragments in his palm.

The sentence "The people from the Han Family have come in" from the first fragment was still echoing in his ears, and the remaining character on the surface of the second fragment was soaked with blood, revealing half of the character "Open".

The cyan-white light outside the remnant core flickered gently, and the black roots retreated by a circle, revealing a third Broken Stele fragment deeper inside.

That fragment did not vibrate, but dark red blood beads slowly seeped out from its surface, dripping along the stele patterns onto the rift of the severed Spiritual Vein.