Ghost Immortal

The torrential rain gradually stopped in the middle of the night, but the fog in the mountains and forests became even thicker.

The moon's outline peeked through the clouds, its silvery light piercing the mist and casting dappled shadows in the dense forest.

The mountain path was so slippery after the rain that it felt like it had been coated with oil. You had to carefully step on each step before daring to take the next one.

The traces left by the corpse demon were extremely obvious.

The tree trunk was covered with deep claw marks, each with five parallel lines, and the wood around the claw marks was rotten, black, and smelly.

Every few dozen steps, you can see a dark red, viscous liquid dripping from the corpse demon, emitting a strange smell of rotting flesh mixed with spices.

Even more bizarrely, the wild grass stained with the corpse fluid did not wither; instead, it grew wildly at a visible rate.

The grass blades were twisted and deformed, and many unwanted tumor-like protrusions grew on them.

Master Si Mei walked at the front, holding a specially made small lantern.

The fire rope made of talisman paper and mugwort can illuminate the traces of lingering evil spirits.

His other hand gripped the peach wood sword tightly, its blade covered with cinnabar talismans, ready to deal with any sudden attack from the corpse demon.

Li Feng walked in the middle, his five senses fully activated. Within a radius of thirty feet, no movement could escape his perception.

He silently calculated the strength of the corpse demon in his mind.

According to Master Baihe's spiritual message, the corpse demon's core is already taking shape, and it is currently at the peak of Qi Refining.

But its power continues to increase; it becomes stronger by sucking blood.

If it were to become completely stable and break through to the Foundation Establishment stage, it would be a real disaster.

A corpse demon in the Foundation Establishment stage can manipulate corpse poison and plague; a single breath of corpse energy can turn an entire village into a dead zone.

Qiu Sheng walked at the very back, holding an iron whisk in his hand and constantly chanting a protective incantation.

He was quieter than usual today, without joking or complaining about the difficult mountain road. He simply followed behind Li Feng silently, his steps quick and steady.

Although he was always timid, he never backed down when faced with real danger.

The three followed the trail of the corpse demon for about half an hour, until they arrived at a relatively open valley.

A mountain stream in the middle of the valley swelled due to torrential rain, and the muddy water, carrying broken branches and pebbles, rushed down with a deafening roar.

On the pebble beach by the stream, there were large traces of bodily fluids and several deep footprints.

The footprints were more than twice the size of those of an average person.

The shape of the foot no longer resembles a human foot, but rather that of some kind of huge beast.

The imprints of five toes are deeply embedded in the pebbles.

At the tip of each toe is a sharp little hole, made by the claws of the corpse demon.

"It stayed here."

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows squatted down next to the footprints, dipped his finger in the corpse fluid, sniffed it, and immediately frowned.

"The smell of the corpse fluid has changed. The previous corpse fluid had a foul stench, but the corpse fluid here has a sandalwood scent. Sandalwood is a spice used by the royal family for sacrifices. Prince Jingnan worshipped Buddha for many years during his lifetime, and his flesh and blood are permeated with the scent of sandalwood."

"The reappearance of sandalwood scent in the corpse fluid indicates that the corpse energy within the corpse demon is rapidly merging with its memories from its previous life, and its level of intelligence recovery is already quite high."

Following the direction of the footprints, Li Feng looked ahead and saw an even denser primeval forest on the other side of the stream.

The trees were tall and towering, their canopies layered upon layer, blocking out the moonlight, making the forest pitch black.

But within that darkness, an extremely dense demonic aura surged.

The intensity of the demonic energy was much stronger than they had sensed before; it was clearly the demonic energy of a corpse demon.

"Master, it's in the woods."

Li Feng lowered his voice and said.

Master Si Mei nodded, took out three breath-holding talismans from his sleeve, and stuck one on each person's chest.

The breath-holding talisman can temporarily suppress the yang energy in a living person, making it difficult for evil spirits to sense their presence.

After affixing the talismans, the three silently crossed the mountain stream and crept into the dense forest.

The dense forest was even more gloomy than the outside, with the canopies of towering trees blocking out the sun.

After walking for about the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, a clearing suddenly appeared in the dense forest ahead.

The trees in the open space were snapped in half by the impact, their broken trunks lying crookedly around them, the jagged edges clearly indicating that they had been broken by tremendous force.

The soil in the middle of the open space had been turned upside down, and countless tiny white bones were mixed in with it.

There were bones of mountain rats and rabbits, as well as several thick leg bones, which looked like the remains of wild boars or deer.

In the center of the pile of bones sat a "person".

He sat cross-legged on the pile of white bones, his hands folded on his knees, his posture as upright as a monk meditating in a temple.

His clothes were long gone, with only a few tattered strips hanging on his body.

The skin had a bluish-black metallic sheen, and you could faintly see dark red blood vessels slowly pulsating beneath it.

His face was extremely well preserved, with no signs of decay. His facial features were deep-set, with a high nose bridge and a square jaw. If it weren't for his strange skin color, he could almost be described as a handsome middle-aged man.

His eyes were closed, as if he were in a meditative state.

The Corpse Demon has been found!

Master Si Mei made a gesture, signaling Qiu Sheng and Li Feng to spread out and surround them from three directions.

The three moved silently through the dense forest, forming an encirclement around the corpse demon from three different directions.

Just as the three of them took their positions, the corpse demon suddenly opened its eyes.

His eyes had no pupils; the entire eyeball was a deep, blood-red color.

But it saw all three of them.

It slowly stood up, its height exceeding nine feet, a full two heads taller than an average person.

"Three more blood offerings have arrived."

As he spoke, fine fangs were revealed at the corners of his mouth.

The Taoist priest with four eyebrows emerged from behind the tree, his peach wood sword held horizontally in front of him, his gaze coldly fixed on the corpse demon.

"Prince Jingnan, do you still remember your name?"

The corpse demon tilted its head, a thoughtful expression on its face.

"Of course I remember. I am the Prince of Jingnan of the Great Yan Dynasty, the Emperor's uncle."

"Death made me forget many things, but it also taught me many more lessons."

The corpse demon raised its head, its blood-red eyes sweeping over the three of them.

"I swear, if I could live again, I would never be human again. Being human is too tiring, there are too many rules, and it's always the same: beheading and confiscation of property. It's much more carefree not to be human. I can kill whenever I want, eat whenever I want, and do whatever I want."

It licked its lips, and the remaining bits of flesh and blood on its fangs were put into its mouth. It even showed a look of relish, as if it were savoring a delicious dish.

The four-browed Taoist priest's gaze swept over the pile of bones on the ground, his voice icy: "Is this all the lives you killed in just one hour? No wonder you've become so strong."

The corpse demon pointed to the dense forest behind him: "There's a wild boar, two deer, and three roe deer in the forest. I'll suck all their blood dry, chew up their meat and swallow it, and spit the bones out here."

"This flesh and blood is truly a treasure, far more potent than that of a living person, and perfectly suited to my current body."

It patted its belly, which made a dull thud, like the beating of a drum.

The smile on his face grew even brighter, but there was no joy in his blood-red eyes.

"Especially wild boar, the blood was so hot and smelly. When it went down my throat, I almost thought I was drinking alcohol. I haven't felt this good in years!"

The corpse demon sighed, its tone tinged with melancholy.

"When I was a prince in the capital, I ate delicacies from land and sea and drank fine wine, but I never really enjoyed myself. I had to constantly try to figure out the emperor's intentions and be wary of my colleagues. I couldn't even sleep peacefully."

"On the contrary, it is only after death, using this neither-dead-nor-alive body to eat raw meat and drink blood, that one can truly taste the taste of freedom."

Its gaze returned to the Four-Eyebrowed Taoist, a playful glint in its eyes: "Taoist, don't you think this is ironic? When you're alive, you're a walking corpse, but after you die, you come back to life."

Master Si Mei did not answer, but simply gripped the peach wood sword in his hand tightly.

Seeing that he didn't speak, the corpse demon turned to look at Li Feng.

Its gaze lingered on Li Feng for a moment, then its blood-red pupils suddenly contracted, it tilted its head, and its nostrils flared, as if it were sniffing something.

A moment later, he gave a meaningful smile.

The corpse demon pointed at Li Feng and said, "Your aura is very special, even more so than the old Taoist's. There is a very familiar aura about you that reminds me of a place."

Li Feng didn't ask where it was; he had already guessed what the corpse demon was going to say.

The corpse demon spoke solemnly, "The Underworld! You possess the aura of the Underworld. Legend has it that the ghostly fire of the netherworld can burn away life force and is the nemesis of all evil spirits. For a living Taoist priest to be able to wield the ghostly fire of the Underworld Emperor, your origins are far from simple!"

It looked at Qiu Sheng again, but its gaze only swept over him with contempt, without lingering on him at all.

Clearly, in its eyes, only Daoist Four Eyebrows and Li Feng were worthy of its attention; Qiu Sheng's cultivation level was not up to its standards.

This enraged Qiu Sheng, who grabbed Li Feng's hand and was about to fight it to the death.

"Old zombie, what kind of look is that? Junior brother, don't hold me back, I'm going to fight him to the death!"