Chapter 195 Yu Yangzi

Several hundred miles outside of Canglan City, a black-robed old man from the Zuoqiu family was gazing at the stars in the sky in an attempt to deduce the reason for the frequent unnatural phenomena lately. Suddenly, he detected a weak cry for help coming from the Changyin Mountain Range.

"Oh no! Ze'er is in trouble!" He instantly transformed into a swift light and tore through the air.

The man was Zuoqiu Ming, the Head of the Zuoqiu family who possessed Nascent Soul Realm cultivation.

Right then, in the depths of the Changyin Mountain Range, Zuoqiu Ze was being pinned in the sky as if he couldn't move at all. He depended on his rapidly fading consciousness to activate all the seal talismans and treasures that he carried to blast the decayed corpse behind him.

Following an ear-splitting explosion, the decayed corpse remained in its original position. Not even repeated spells or magic treasures and seal talismans imbued with Nascent Soul Realm power were able to harm the corpse. Its seemingly frail body was unexpectedly indestructible.

Zuoqiu Ze's pupils gradually lost its splendour, but not its fright. His skin slowly darkened and caved in until he completely turned into a withered corpse. His soul and vital essence were all absorbed by the decayed corpse.

In the distance, Xiao Chen felt cold sweat trailing down his back as he watched what happened. He had planned on using this unknown existence to severely injure Zuoqiu Ze and then take advantage of that moment to kill and steal the latter's Spiritual Meridians. He never imagined this decayed corpse to be so powerful as to directly ingest Zuoqiu Ze's soul.

Under the glittering moon and stars, the flesh of the decayed corpse began to slowly but surely coming together. However, tried as it may, the growth was unable to fill the gaping hole in the corpse's chest. Suddenly, it whipped its head around and shot an unfathomable look in the direction of the boulder that Xiao Chen was hiding behind.

"D*mn it, it noticed us!" Xiao Chen escaped as quickly as lightning, pulling Murong Xian'er with him. However, they hadn't gone more than ten feet when a shadow stopped them. It was the decayed corpse.

"Argh!" Murong Xian'er was so terrified by the decayed corpse's frightening appearance that she screeched. Xiao Chen hastily pulled her behind him and then stared coolly at the decayed corpse.

He had witnessed the eerie process of the corpse ingesting Zuoqiu Ze's soul earlier. Thus, he was prepared to use his Heaven's Talisman. Even if the Devil's Three Turns might not be enough to hurt the decayed corpse, he could at least win some time for Xian'er to escape.

Suddenly, the decayed corpse opened its mouth to speak. "Hehe. Don't be afraid, young friend. I'm Yu Yangzi. I hold no ill will toward you." Its voice didn't sound as hollow as it did earlier. It sounded just like the voice of an elderly man.

Xiao Chen's heart jolted with surprise. "So it isn't a Corpse Puppet?" He thought that this person had been refined into a Corpse Ghost while alive but later gained spiritual consciousness and betrayed its owner. From the look of things now, this wasn't the truth.

"Please pardon my rudeness in asking this question, but what creature are you now, Senior?"

Xiao Chen wouldn't let down his guard just because this living corpse said he held no malicious intentions. He discovered that this was a place of mystery and sinister energy, filled with coldness and darkness all year round. This corpse was likely using the cold energy of this place to reconstruct his physical form.

Yu Yangzi sighed. "Do you know of the Corpse Refinery Sect?"

"Corpse Refinery Sect?"

Xiao Chen frowned, having heard Fengxi mention about it. The Corpse Refinery Sect was one of the four main devil's sects of the Archean Eon. It operated in utter mystery and its disciples were most skilled in refining living humans into Corpse Puppets and making the corpses do their bidding. It was a sect of great ruthless and cruelty.

However, the Corpse Refinery Sect had returned to its birthplace and remained in seclusion for many years. Many of the younger generation in the Violet Manor didn't know about them. Xiao Chen wouldn't understand this so well if he hadn't heard of Corpse Puppets before.

Yu Yangzi nodded, a grim look suddenly coloring his pupils. "I was just an independent cultivator living on Guiling Mountain 300 years ago. When I heard that the Corpse Refinery Sect has been going around harming the innocent, I killed a total of 78 disciples of this devil's sect. However, the Sect Leader possessed incredible cultivation. I fought him for seven whole days and we eventually ended up on this deep into this mountain…"

He couldn't help shaking his head and sighing as if he was recalling a terribly painful memory. Xiao Chen didn't know which part of his story was real. He narrowed his eyes and asked, "What happened next?"

Yu Yangzi sighed again. "That battle was a painfully desperate one. I wasn't his match. I ended up ruining my Nascent Soul to release the powers of the Nascent Soul Realm, thinking that I must stop this devil from harming the innocent even if it means giving up my life…"

Xiao Chen looked at the hole in Yu Yangzi's chest and thought, "So that's how his Nascent Soul was destroyed. Looks like he used to have exceptional cultivation." He then asked, "Did the devil end up dying?"

Yu Yangzi shook his head and heaved a deep sigh. "No. That devil is unimaginably cunning. Knowing that he couldn't block my Nascent Soul Realm power, he sacrificed his physical body and fled with his soul to a deserted palace 10 kilometers away."

While speaking, he pointed in the southeast direction. "Over there."

Xiao Chen looked in the direction that he was pointing to but there was nothing but darkness in the night. Even so, he could feel the faint spirit energy fluctuation of a formation coming from that direction. He turned his head and said, "Oh? Since the devil managed to escape with his soul, why didn't he return to the Corpse Refinery Sect immediately?"

Yu Yangzi shook his head with a wry smile after seeing how meticulous Xiao Chen was being. "You still don't believe me, do you?" He sighed and explained, "I was too careless back then. I couldn't tell that the devil was heavily injured and was even ambushed by him. Sigh…"

Xiao Chen narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"The moment the devil escaped with his soul, he used the mystic arts of his sect to secretly plant a soul in my body. He wanted to ingest my soul and refine me! That was why he couldn't go far or he'd suffer great damage."

Yu Yangzi smiled wryly again. "That was why I said the mystic arts of his devil's sect were capable of ingesting spirits and stealing souls. Firstly, I saw that the person was trying to kill you. Secondly, I killed him to replenish my soul force so that it would be easier for me to keep fighting the devil. If I allow the devil to finish refining me, living beings within a thousand miles will all perish."

Xiao Chen gave him a small nod. That was his biggest point of suspicion. If Yu Yangzi was truly someone from the Orthodox Path, why would he use the mystic arts of the devil's sect, Soul-devouring Art? He found Yu Yangzi's explanation to be reasonable. He said, "You must have told me all these for a reason. What is it?"

Yu Yangzi nodded and pointed in the southeast direction. "The devil placed a Grand Formation of Loss outside the deserted palace. I tried countless times to shatter the formation, break into the palace, and kill him before his soul recovers completely, but all my attempts end in failure. The formation is beyond my ability."

Xiao Chen understood what Yu Yangzi wanted from him. He must have noticed Xiao Chen and Murong Xian'er long ago, particularly Xian'er's skills with formations. Thus, he wanted to borrow Xian'er's strength to break open the grand formation. However, there was something that Xiao Chen didn't quite understand and yet he couldn't point out what it was.

Seeing that he was still hesitating, Yu Yangzi added, "I have been battling the soul that the devil left in my body all these years. I know I don't have long to live and all I hope for is to kill that devil. If we wait for the devil to finish refining my soul and break out of the palace, I fear that no one in this world would be able to stop him. When that happens, a calamity is sure to wait."

Xiao Chen was finally moved after hearing him put his request in such a manner. It made sense to him too. Yu Yangzi was a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, after all. If the Leader of the Corpse Refinery Sect ingested his soul, wouldn't that plunge the entire Violet Manor into utter disaster?

Suddenly, Murong Xian'er tugged on his sleeve and shook her head timidly.

Xiao Chen became alarmed. That was right! How could he be so foolish? How could he believe this person's words so easily? Xian'er was usually so naive and guileless, but was now more astute than he was.

Even if Yu Yangzi was telling the truth—that there was indeed a battle between the two and the devil truly wanted to ingest his soul—so much time had passed. Who could be sure of what was occupying Yu Yangzi's body now? If Yu Yangzi's soul was long gone, wouldn't that make the Yu Yangzi in front of them the devil's clone?

Moreover, who knew if that so-called deserted palace was a grand formation that Yu Yangzi left behind before his death to seal the devil within? If he rashly undid the seal on the grand formation, wouldn't he be releasing the true devil?

It was just like that grand formation on the ancient tomb in the Xiao family's rear mountain. Xiao Ning was the one who ordered them not to undo the seal no matter what, but the order gradually turned into him warning them against undoing the seal unless absolutely necessary. In the end, the Great Devil Gu Feng was released and nearly wiped out the entire Xiao family.

Recalling this, Xiao Chen felt cold sweat break out on his back. Suddenly, Yu Yangzi gave Murong Xian'er an unfathomable look. There was an ominous glint in his eyes.

"Girl, don't you believe my words?!"