Chapter 110: Silver Corpse

The campfire flickered.

Under the dim night, it barely dispelled some of the darkness.

Xiao He stopped her movements, her hand already on the soft sword at her waist, her mind focused and alert as she looked around.

Finally.

Figures gradually emerged from the gloom.

Dozens of figures, it seemed, surrounded the temporary wooden shelter they had built, their movements peculiar and stiff, an odor of decay lingering in the air.

As the first figure drew near, revealed by the firelight, it was seen to have a strange bronze-colored body, its eyes sunken and decayed, emitting a foul smell, its limbs moving with difficulty.

Seeing this, Xu Hongyu’s pupils narrowed slightly, but her gaze swept over the surroundings, and she said coldly, "Corpse Refinement? So those Corpse Poison Jades flowing into Yu City aren’t ancient relics, but newly made in recent years…Did you by chance obtain the secret methods of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, or has some remnant of the Heavenly Corpse Sect been hiding all this time?"

Back then, the notorious bandit Tang Quan had infiltrated the Yu family as a servant, hiding his identity for years, and finally seized an opportunity to steal a rubbing of the Zhen Thunder Map that the Yu family had accidentally acquired. Although he escaped to the outer city, the Yu family quickly found his hiding place. She herself went to arrest him. To escape, Tang Quan used a piece of Corpse Poison Jade in front of her.

That was the first piece of Corpse Poison Jade she had ever seen.

Although she had heard of Corpse Poison Jades appearing in Yu City, it was not in the Southern District, and hearsay was hard to verify, so she didn’t pay much attention. But after experiencing one herself, she started to investigate.

After the battle of the Black Crow Cult headquarters, when she encountered a second one, she returned to the Yu family and mobilized some of their informants to investigate the matter further. In the end, these investigations came to nothing, except that Corpse Poison Jades seemed to be flowing in from outside the city.

At that time, she did not think of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, a sect that had been destroyed hundreds of years ago and was only recorded in some historical annals. But after she personally seized one and ordered a careful examination, she found that the Corpse Poison Jade was not ancient but had been recently refined. She then suspected that the secret methods of the Heavenly Corpse Sect had emerged.

And now.

Even the Corpse Refinement has appeared, so there’s no more doubt.

The only thing uncertain is whether the person who dares to use this method and refine corpse puppets is someone who by chance obtained the secret method of the Heavenly Corpse Sect, or a remnant of the Heavenly Corpse Sect who has been hiding for hundreds of years.

These are two completely different situations. If it is the former, then it’s nothing; some incomplete inheritances are buried deep underground.

But if it is the latter…

If the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect were able to hide for hundreds of years despite the Great Xuan Dynasty’s siege, and they only surface now when the Dynasty is weakening, then the situation would undoubtedly be much more serious.

"No comment."

A dry, hoarse voice came from the dark woods, indifferent in tone, "You have no right to know, White Uniform Guard of the Demon Slaying Division, hum… just perfect for me to make two new corpses."

As the voice fell, the bronze corpses that had been approaching suddenly moved, forcefully rushing towards Xu Hongyu and Xiao He, the power behind them terrifying and carrying a gust of wind.

However.

Xu Hongyu and Xiao He remained calm, their soft swords flashing, casting two patches of rain-like sword light in the firelight, which collided with the corpse puppets from all directions.

The sword light landed on the corpses, sending sparks flying and the sound of metal clashing. Despite being made of bronze and iron, the dozen corpses that had charged forward were cut open with holes, and they were repeatedly repelled.

However.

The corpses, despite the openings cut into them, did not seem much affected. After being repelled, they would charge again. Not only were their bodies tough as bronze and iron, they could also ignore any damage to their bodies.

Xu Hongyu, however, remained calm, the soft sword in her hand suddenly rising in a continuous sword light, and with a swift slash, she cut off the neck of a charging corpse puppet, separating its head from its body.

Thump!

The corpse puppet, its head severed, finally stopped moving, falling to the ground like a broken kite.

"Just as recorded in the books, refined corpses have bronze heads and iron arms, invulnerable to blades and spears. Only by cutting off their necks or destroying their heads to sever their connection with the corpse controller can they be defeated."

Xu Hongyu murmured inwardly as she watched the fallen corpse puppet.

Xiao He, seeing that Xu Hongyu had taken down a corpse puppet in one move, immediately followed suit, wielding her sword. Her power was slightly inferior, and she could not cut the head of the refined corpse completely, only severing most of it.

Even so, that refined corpse still faltered, staggering a few steps before collapsing to the ground and randomly moving its limbs, as if it had lost control.

After confirming the corpse puppets’ weaknesses, Xu Hongyu and Xiao He’s swordplay became more ferocious, their attacks aimed straight at the vital points. In a short time, they caused five or six corpse puppets to have their heads severed or to fall to the ground, unable to rise again.

However, at this moment.

The dry, hoarse voice from the woods came again, "The White Uniform Guard of the Demon Slaying Division is indeed skilled, looks like these bronze corpses of mine aren’t that useful… well, those with weak foundations can only be refined to this point."

There seemed to be a hint of sighing in his tone.

Shua!

A cold light flashed in Xu Hongyu’s eyes. She identified the location from which the voice came from within the woods. She suddenly leaped into the air, lightly stepping on the trunk of a large tree. She borrowed force in mid-air and turned into a ray of light, and she directly rushed towards the direction of the voice.

Although it was her first time encountering corpse refinement and corpse controllers, she had done detailed research beforehand. She knew not only the different types of refined corpses, like ‘gold, silver, copper, and iron’, but also that the corpse controllers themselves are often not very strong. As long as they are killed, all the refined corpses will lose control, fall down like broken puppets.

However, before her figure could penetrate into the woods, a corpse puppet appeared from the darkness in front of her. It was gray and white, with a silver sheen, its limbs obviously more flexible, and it threw a powerful punch, the force so great that the gust of wind hit her face even before the punch landed.

A silver corpse!

Xu Hongyu’s expression changed slightly.

Among the refined corpses, the four types of refined corpses, gold, silver, copper, and iron, roughly correspond to the four realms of martial artists: Skin, Flesh, Tendons and Bones. Like the previous copper corpses, although they are made of copper and iron, and their physical strength is far superior to that of ordinary Flesh Training Mastery, and they are sufficient enough to go head-to-head with those with toughened bodies, they themselves are not flexible enough and have no skills or techniques to speak of. Even if they are not able to use any Momentum, they don’t even have ordinary fist techniques. They just rely on their physical toughness, so in a one-on-one situation, a proper Flesh Training Mastery martial artist who can use Blade Momentum could handle them.

Naturally, for an existence like her, who has reached the Perfection of Tendon Transformation, killing them was naturally very easy.

But a silver corpse is different.

According to the records she had seen, silver corpses, compared to copper corpses, are not only more physically stronger, their power is also much stronger than copper corpses. Also, they are not as stiff as copper corpses, and are more flexible.

Shua!

Xu Hongyu moved deftly, changing her sword momentum mid-air. She turned from a stab into a circle, wielding two types of sword momentum, and collided with the punch of the silver corpse.

With a dull thud, the sword light Xu Hongyu wielded exploded.

"Indeed, a little tricky."

Xu Hongyu failed her attack. She used the impact to leap back, landing beside Xiao He, and looked at Xiao He.

When she had just tried to attack the corpse controller, she was more focused on testing the waters. Since the opponent dared to attack her, a White Uniform Guard of the Demon Slaying Division, they must have some confidence. When the silver corpse made a move, she immediately retreated back to the fire.

Xiao He repelled the corpse puppets in front of her. Her gaze also fell on Xu Hongyu, and neither of them spoke. With their years of understanding as master and servant, just by looking at each other, they understood what the other was thinking.

Chen Mu hasn’t returned yet…

They could not tell the situation in the mountains with the darkness of night. They did not know where Chen Mu was right now. Since the opponent made a move on them, there was a possibility Chen Mu was in an ambush. Of course, it was more likely that he was on his way back.

Right now, the best strategy was to rendezvous with Chen Mu, then find an opportunity to retreat. After all, they were outnumbered and did not know the situation. There was no reason to risk continuing to fight. The Demon Slaying Division was not responsible for such matters. They just needed to report the information to Yu City as soon as possible, and there would naturally be a Bone Forging Realm or even more powerful people who would come to deal with it. But Chen Mu was not here, and if they retreat now, they would be safe, but when Chen Mu returns alone, he would be in a dangerous situation if he was caught in an ambush!

However.

Before they could make a decision, a muffled thud came from the dark woods.

A copper corpse suddenly flew out from the woods, its whole body bent like a bow, as if it had suffered a violent attack.

The copper corpse was wrapped in a gust of wind, and crashed onto the battlefield, smashing into three copper corpses in front of Xiao He before landing haphazardly around them.

"Has the world become so chaotic that even the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect dare to attack the Demon Slaying Division?"

With this cold voice.

Chen Mu’s figure appeared from the direction where the copper corpse had flown.

Seeing Chen Mu appear, Xu Hongyu and Xiao He were immediately relieved. Without hesitation, Xu Hongyu immediately leaped towards Chen Mu, Xiao He following closely behind.

"Go!"

Xu Hongyu said calmly.

As she spoke, she and Xiao He passed by Chen Mu.

Now that Chen Mu had returned, there was no need to entangle themselves with their opponent. They just had to retreat quickly. The Demon Slaying Division was not responsible for such things. They just had to report the information to Yu City as soon as possible, and there would naturally be a Bone Forging Realm or even more powerful figure who would come to handle it.