124: Chapter 124 A Chance Encounter

Deep within the Myriad Insect Tomb, the green mist was as thick as water.

The surrounding rock walls were no longer hard stone, but covered in dark red roots that pulsed like blood vessels. The flesh-and-blood quagmire beneath his feet made a sickening, sticky sound.

Gu Shen walked through the quagmire.

Fifteen Iron Corpses, like the most loyal of guards, formed a standard arrowhead formation, firmly protecting him in the center.

The holes bitten into them by the Spirit-Devouring Flying Ants had long since healed under the powerful vitality of the mutated wood marrow. They felt no pain and knew no fatigue.

"Master, the concentration of blood baleful Qi in the air is skyrocketing exponentially."

At his collar, Crab's synthesized electronic voice carried a hint of solemnity, "The microwave radar is experiencing heavy interference. However, three violent, high-energy heat sources are forming underground ahead. They have no heartbeats; they are entirely composed of pure energy and dead flesh."

Gu Shen paused.

"They aren't living people."

His gaze was cold as he peered through the mist.

The methods of a Foundation Establishment Stage expert were far beyond the imagination of a Qi Refining Stage Loose Cultivator. Since Xu Yin could track him precisely in the mist, he must have laid an inescapable trap.

Gurgle. Gurgle.

The quagmire ten zhang ahead suddenly churned violently.

Three blinding pillars of blood erupted from the ground!

The bloody light dissipated.

Three monsters, each about a zhang tall and composed of dark red plasma and the remains of venomous insects from the Myriad Insect Tomb, blocked the center of the passage.

They had no facial features, only a swirling, giant mouth filled with fangs. The terrifying Spiritual Pressure they emitted was not at all weaker than a Cultivator at the Qi Refining 9th Layer Peak!

"Blood Shadow Corpse Demons."

Gu Shen recognized this Demonic Path sorcery at a glance. These were killing Puppets forcibly grown from the caster's essence blood mixed with the resentment of a dead land.

Xu Yin was using these things to scout the path.

Roar!

The three Blood Shadow Corpse Demons let out non-human roars.

They possessed no intellect, only Xu Yin's command to kill. The three monsters transformed into three gusts of bloody wind, charging violently in a triangular formation toward Gu Shen's corpse array.

The toxic miasma and rotting flesh along the way were directly evaporated by the blood baleful Qi surrounding them!

"Good timing."

Gu Shen stood in the center of the corpse array, his eyes cold.

He did not draw the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade at his waist, nor did he summon the black turtle shield.

He didn't want to waste even a shred of mana on such pure consumables.

Gu Shen slowly raised his hands and snapped his fingers open.

"Soul-Pulling Threads!"

Chi! Chi! Chi!

The extremely Yin, transparent threads, which were absolutely undetectable to the naked eye, instantly tightened.

One end was connected to Gu Shen's finger bones, while the other was firmly embedded in the back of the fifteen Iron Corpses' heads.

"Array, rise."

Gu Shen's fingers moved nimbly in the air, plucking as if he were a cold and ruthless battlefield commander sitting behind the scenes.

Boom!

Under the micro-management of the Soul-Pulling Threads, the fifteen previously still Iron Corpses instantly came to life!

They didn't swarm like beasts; instead, they precisely split into three five-man squads.

The first squad of Iron Corpses launched a counter-charge against the leading corpse demon without flinching!

Bang!

The sound of a violent collision echoed through the passage.

The corpse demon swung its massive flesh-and-blood fist, the size of a millstone, slamming it hard into the chests of the two leading Iron Corpses.

Crack.

The Iron Corpses' breastbones caved in, but they didn't retreat a single step. Their bodies, strengthened by the mutated wood marrow, firmly jammed the corpse demon's fist.

"Wring!"

Gu Shen's right index and middle fingers suddenly crossed.

The other three Iron Corpses closed in from the sides. There was no glow of Spells, only extremely pure and efficient killing techniques!

One Iron Corpse firmly hugged the corpse demon's legs.

Two other Iron Corpses leaped up, their hands like iron pincers, firmly gripping the corpse demon's head and shoulders.

With a forceful tear!

Rip!

That Blood Shadow Corpse Demon, comparable to a Qi Refining 9th Layer, didn't even get a chance to detonate its blood Qi before it was torn into pieces in mid-air by the five immensely strong Iron Corpses!

Plasma splattered everywhere.

Sizzle.

The corpse demon's blood was highly corrosive; as it landed on the Iron Corpses, clouds of white smoke rose.

But the Wasteland mutated wood marrow flowing within the Iron Corpses instantly boiled. The ghostly green vitality not only blocked the corrosion from the flesh but also greedily devoured and assimilated the energy within the blood Qi.

"The second one."

Gu Shen's expression remained unchanged as he flicked his left ring finger.

The second squad of Iron Corpses instantly changed formation.

Instead of facing it head-on, they avoided the direct impact the moment the second corpse demon spat out a pillar of blood baleful poison.

Then, the five Iron Corpses leaped into the air simultaneously, their ten soles like heavy warhammers, precisely stomping on the corpse demon's spinal center!

Boom!

The second corpse demon was stomped deep into the flesh-and-blood quagmire, its spine shattered inch by inch, turning it into a pile of mush.

In less than three breaths.

Two Blood Shadow Corpse Demons at the Qi Refining 9th Layer had been crushed to dregs.

By micro-managing the painless Iron Corpses with his precise Soul-Pulling Threads, Gu Shen had turned them into a sophisticated killing machine without any blind spots.

Roar!

The final corpse demon finally sensed the terror of these "dead things." It suddenly stopped, its flesh swelling violently, clearly intending to self-detonate and use the power of its Foundation Establishment essence blood to take the Iron Corpses down with it.

"Thinking of exploding?"

Gu Shen's eyes were full of mockery.

He slammed his ten fingers downward.

The third squad of Iron Corpses didn't even get close.

Standing three zhang away, they raised their right arms in unison.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The flesh at the Iron Corpses' wrists split open. Five streams of extremely potent, green, pungent liquid, like high-pressure water guns, sprayed with absolute precision onto the corpse demon about to explode!

This was the Mutated Strong Acid Poison that Gu Shen had refined from the Mutated Mother Plant on the fourth floor of the Wasteland and had the Iron Corpses absorb!

Chiii—!!!

The violent blood baleful Qi on the corpse demon's body was instantly extinguished the moment it touched the Wasteland strong acid.

The strong acid dissolved through its flesh with extreme dominance, directly destroying the energy circuits within its body that were about to detonate.

The corpse demon couldn't even complete its self-detonation before turning into a puddle of foul-smelling pus.

The battle ended.

A one-sided sweep without suspense.

Gu Shen retracted his fingers, the Soul-Pulling Threads silently receding into his finger bones.

Expressionless, he stepped forward and pressed his hand onto the bloody remains of the three corpse demons.

Within his Sea of Consciousness, the phantom fire of the [Heaven and Earth Furnace] swept through.

He naturally wouldn't let Xu Yin's essence blood go to waste.

[Refining complete. Obtained: One drop of essence white dew (Medium). A wisp of Blood Baleful Essence.]

Gu Shen put the Medium Grade white dew into his Storage Ring. The wisp of Blood Baleful Essence was directly burned by the Great Furnace as fuel to avoid leaving any tracking marks.

"Master, your micro-management is incredible! This is simply a dimensional strike!" Crab's voice was filled with fanaticism.

Gu Shen ignored it.

He looked up toward the deepest part of the passage.

The flesh-and-blood quagmire on the ground actually began to flow backward eerily. The remains crushed by the Iron Corpses turned into wisps of bloody lines, frantically converging in the same direction.

An extremely oppressive, terrifying Spiritual Pressure that even made Gu Shen's breathing stagnate was slowly spreading toward this passage like a sea of blood that blotted out the sky.

The pressure of the Foundation Establishment Stage.

Xu Yin had arrived.

"There's no retreat."

Gu Shen gripped the thunder pattern gold-slaying blade at his waist; the thunder patterns on the blade flickered with heart-palpitating intensity in the darkness.

The fifteen Iron Corpses silently pulled their formation tight, firmly protecting him in the center.

"Then we fight."

In Gu Shen's eyes, an extremely violent killing intent burned.