Sword Sect Outer Sect

Chapter 255 Hidden Corpse (10,000 words, 1010)

……

Beside the stream.

The meadow was open, and dappled sunlight filtered through the leaves, scattering across the stream.

The girl's fair, bare feet dipped into the water, lightly splashing on the stream.

A few splashes of water were stirred up.

She held a uniquely shaped, small and exquisite insect flute in both hands, her red lips slightly parted, and she gently put one end of the flute into her mouth and slowly played it.

The flute music was melodious and graceful, the girl's eyebrows were curved, and a yang talisman surrounded her.

What an innocent and carefree young girl.

The three people hiding in the woods, watching the girl, had the same thought.

Each of the three had a Yang talisman, a Yin talisman, and a blank talisman on their person.

"I'll give this Yang Talisman to Brother Chen for now."

One of them spoke, looking calmly at the cultivator surnamed Chen.

"I hope Brother Chen will keep his promise."

"It's natural."

Just as the three were about to make their move, the melodious insect flute music in their ears suddenly changed.

A faint, peculiar flute melody drifted into their ears.

The sound was delicate and continuous, like countless tiny wings fluttering rapidly.

"Ok?"

The three looked around warily, but found nothing unusual.

It wasn't until someone looked down that they noticed the dense swarms of tiny black insects on their robes.

"what--"

Streams, woodlands, crevices in the rock and soil...

Countless tiny worms of various shapes and sizes emerged out of thin air.

These Gu worms converged into three streams of insects, instantly attaching themselves to the three talismans.

It began to frantically absorb the faint spiritual energy emanating from the talisman itself.

The three were terrified, feeling the connection between the talisman and their minds being gradually eroded and stripped away.

The talisman itself shone brightly, as if drawn by an external force, and involuntarily began to fly towards the girl by the stream.

The group desperately channeled their spiritual energy to stabilize the talisman and kill the Gu worms.

However, these Gu worms are extremely small and numerous, and have a tenacious vitality. They possess a peculiar resistance to spiritual attacks, making them difficult to completely eradicate in a short time.

"Witch!"

The leader knew that the root of the problem must lie with this woman, so he frantically channeled his spiritual power and attacked Xiang Zhaoling.

The other two also unleashed their magical artifacts.

"Quack li—"

Just then, a huge, long tongue suddenly appeared and swept in, engulfing the three of them along with their magical artifacts.

The wheel is the wheel.

The tongue retracts.

Amidst their desperate cries, the enormous bluish-gray toad swallowed them whole and closed its mouth.

The giant toad's swollen venom glands gleamed with a faint, eerie light.

“Gugua——”

The giant toad's eyes were half-open, looking extremely tired and bored.

The three talismans, guided by invisible threads and surrounded by countless tiny Gu worms, swayed and flew leisurely to the stream.

It landed steadily in Xiang Zhaoling's outstretched, fair palm.

The flute music stopped abruptly.

Three blue butterflies appeared on it for a moment, and the talisman was instantly refined.

Suddenly, a faint light emanated from the giant toad's belly, which had been throbbing.

It then deflated considerably.

"Gugua..."

The giant toad made a smacking sound of dissatisfaction.

"Hehe." Xiang Zhaoling smiled sweetly and leaped onto the giant toad's back.

"Gua Ge is awesome!"

She looked down and patted Frog Brother's head: "There's nothing fun here, let's go out."

"Quack li—"

The giant toad grunted and, carrying the girl on its back, leaped away in a certain direction, its body undulating.

Various encounters and battles take place throughout the magnificent mountain range.

On the edge of the deep mountains.

"Are all these so-called righteous cultivators this weak?"

A strange-looking man sat in front of a corpse, his hands glowing with an eerie light.

"After all, they are cultivators from the border region, so it's normal that they can't compare to those from the central region."

The other person was also young, with a somewhat stiff expression, looking at the corpse with indifference.

The corpse was dressed in a light blue Taoist robe, which was somewhat tattered, and had only one wound on its body, the blood of which had dried.

"Hey."

The eerie man chuckled softly.

"What was this person's name again?"

"Ke Huai".

The other person took out a jade slip and tossed it to him.

"A disciple of a small sect, the Ziyang Sect."

The eerie man smeared a ghostly light on his face, instantly transforming it into the likeness of Ke Huai.

With a flick of his fingertip, a clear curtain of water condensed, and he smirked and touched his cheek in front of it.

"She's not good-looking."

There was a hint of disappointment in his tone.

"I'm better off without myself."

"..."

The other person was speechless.

Ke Huai, however, was relentless.

"Why don't we go find that guy named Song Yan, kill him, and wear his skin?"

"That kid is, well, about seven or eight times as handsome as me..."

"No."

The other person pondered for a moment, then shook his head: "Senior Xinshan gave special instructions beforehand that although this person's cultivation is ordinary, he has some strange methods."

"Before the plan begins, avoid any unexpected complications, lest you alert the enemy and ruin the grand scheme."

"Speaking in such flowery language, are you going to the capital for the imperial examination?" Ke Huai's face was full of disdain: "...Who is Song Yan? Is he worth all this caution?"

His tone was full of defiance, and a twisted, fierce glint flashed across his face.

"Did Liu Ciming say the same thing?"

He snorted coldly.

It was just a casual remark, but the attitude of his colleagues and Xin Shan suddenly intensified the resentment in his heart.

How could a mere cultivator from the border region who had just broken through to the Foundation Establishment Realm be worthy of their high regard?

Why make yourself hesitant and timid?
"Senior Liu Ciming only said that we should follow Senior Xinshan's arrangements."

A surge of malevolence welled up in Ke Huai's eyes for a moment, but he forcibly suppressed it.

His expression turned chilling: "Heh, never mind..."

"He's just getting lucky. When the time comes, I'll take his life and see how long he can last under my demonic power."

"What's your appearance called again?"

The strange young man changed the subject abruptly, as if the argument from before had never happened.

He poked his colleague's body with great interest.

"Yang Kaijun".

The person next to him gave a brief reply, seemingly already used to his companion's offense.

"That's the person Hu asked us to kill first."

"Oh, so it was him."

"You...you should listen to what people say next time."

Ke Huai revealed a playful smile and casually waved his hand.

Suddenly, an even deeper, darker light surged from Ke Huai's palm, completely enveloping the corpse on the ground.

The corpse, along with its clothes, the bloodstains on the ground, and even the lingering aura of battle, rapidly shifted and changed under the writhing glow of the eerie light.

In the end, it transformed into a piece of moss-covered, stubborn rock and decaying wood, indistinguishable from the surrounding rocks and withered trees, growing perfectly in its original place, leaving no trace whatsoever.

"What kind of expressions will their families have when they discover the bodies later?"

He looked at the masterpiece before him with satisfaction.

"Let's go."

The strange young man seemed to be stretching his muscles as he controlled "Ke Huai".

"We have a few more days to familiarize ourselves with this person's identity. Where did this kid get so many spirit stones and treasures?"

"correct……"

A lewd glint flashed in his eyes: "As the young master of the Yang family, Yang Kaijun must have many young women in the clan who are attracted to him."

"Go quickly and find a few female cultivators. They should have beautiful and refined appearances and graceful and charming figures."

"Exit."

Yang Kaijun scoffed, but there was no sign of interest in his eyes.

"Now that the selection is over, we should indeed return to the Yang family. I've heard that the Yang family has a secret treasure, so let's take this opportunity to retrieve it."

"Whether it's offered to the elders above or kept for personal use, it's all good."

"Hey, I have to get a share."

"..."

"Haha, brilliant!"

"Ke Huai" clapped his hands and laughed, "'Borrowing a corpse to return to life,' taking spiritual objects and storing secret treasures, toying with Taoist companions and female relatives."

"This is the true purpose of demonic arts!"

"When the time comes, I'll kill that Song Yan and take his place, then I can enjoy myself in this world for a few more days."

Yang Kaijun nodded: "Whatever you wish."

The two exchanged a glance and said nothing more.

His aura quickly subsided, becoming like two ordinary streams of energy merging into the mountains and fields.

They left silently along a hidden path, disappearing into the deep green of the mountains and forests.

……

Song Yan did not use any sword-based escape techniques, nor did he fly on his sword.

With the physique of a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he slowly traversed the dense forests of the magnificent mountain range.

He could freely release his divine sense and often sense the fluctuations of spiritual energy around him.

Both Qi Refining and Foundation Building are available.

However, Qi Refining cultivators naturally fear Foundation Establishment cultivators, and ordinary Foundation Establishment cultivators are mostly wary of Song Yan's strength and do not take the initiative to attack him.

So basically, everyone just avoids it.

Just when Song Yan thought he was about to leave the selection site like this, he arrived at a gray-white rock covered with moss.

His steps suddenly stopped.

"?"

The rock face appears ordinary, but two wild ferns grow obliquely between the crevices.

However, for some reason, he inexplicably felt that something was not quite right here.

Song Yan himself couldn't explain where this feeling came from.

His eyes closed slightly, then opened again, revealing lotus patterns that appeared and disappeared in the depths of his pupils.

The Observing Sword Eyes are activated.

A dreamlike blue-purple hue subtly swirls within.

The scene before my eyes instantly distorted and peeled away.

What Song Yan sees now is no longer gray-white rock.

It was a corpse dressed in a magnificent robe.

The man's face was ashen and contorted, and a charred hole the size of a fist had been pierced through his chest.

"what?"

Song Yan was slightly startled.

Someone died?

The corpse's face was distorted, but the features were still relatively intact, and its appearance could be vaguely discerned.

"Yang...what was it again?"

Yang Kaijun, the young master of the Yang family of Longtan Mountain.

Before the selection officially began, the surrounding cultivators would occasionally mention that Song Yan had met him once.

Completely unfamiliar.

I noticed it at the time because Junior Sister Yue Rong was a disciple of the Yang family.

The young master of the powerful local clan of Longtan Mountain died here without a trace.
Song Yan raised his head in confusion and looked up at the sky.

Although it is only the selection stage now, the spirit cloud has not yet shown the scene inside.

However, the selection area is overseen by cultivators from the six major sects, and if a cultivator participating in the selection is on the verge of death, the formation here will trigger an alarm.

Even if it's just a life-threatening serious injury, disciples will arrive to help.

Although a written agreement has been signed, the possibility of someone dying during either the selection or the final competition stage is always a major problem.

(End of this chapter)