33: Chapter 33: Yin Sha Ghost Face Fruit

Xiao Ran was poisoned and knew he could not drag this out any longer.

He flipped his left hand and took a small black shield from his Storage Pouch.

This was the High Grade Profound Rank Magical Artifact, the xuanyin shield, awarded by the Sect.

It was considered a top-tier defensive Magical Artifact; although it was only Profound Rank, it was no worse than an average Earth Rank item.

"Grow!"

The xuanyin shield grew in the wind, transforming into a three-foot round shield that blocked in front of him.

The skeleton's attacks landed on the shield's surface, creating muffled thuds, but could not break its defense.

Seizing the opportunity, Xiao Ran struck repeatedly, his Guixu Demonic Light bombarding the skeleton's joints.

He knew that when dealing with such a skeleton Puppet, destroying its bone connections was most effective.

For a time.

The cavern rumbled continuously as black light and corpse baleful Qi intertwined and collided.

Although the skeleton was fierce, it was only controlled by a remnant soul, making its movements stiff.

Moreover, the broken sword piercing its skull was constantly constraining its power.

Xiao Ran, relying on his agile footwork and the devouring nature of the Guixu Demonic Light, gradually gained the upper hand.

After half an incense stick of time.

The skeleton's left arm was completely eroded by the Guixu Demonic Light, turning into fly ash.

Cracks also appeared on its right knee, making its movements even more sluggish.

The ghostly green flames in its eye sockets began to flicker, and its aura weakened rapidly.

Xiao Ran seized the opportunity and put away the xuanyin shield.

He formed hand Seals with both hands simultaneously.

The demonic core in his Dantian spun wildly, and the twelve golden patterns lit up completely!

"Guixu Heaven-Swallowing!"

Xiao Ran opened his mouth, and a gray-black vortex about a foot in diameter spewed out.

It expanded in the wind, instantly enveloping the skeleton!

A terrifying devouring and tearing force erupted from within the vortex, and the skeleton let out a shrill wail as its bones shattered inch by inch.

Finally, it turned into dust that filled the air and was completely devoured by the vortex.

The two ghostly green flames struggled for a moment before extinguishing and dissipating.

The broken sword clattered to the ground, rusted and having lost all its spirituality.

The vortex slowly shrank and returned into Xiao Ran's body.

His face was pale, and a trickle of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

This move, Guixu Heaven-Swallowing, was a high-level application of the Guixu Demonic Light.

Using his own demonic core as a conduit, it simulated a Guixu black hole, devouring all things.

While powerful, the consumption of demonic essence and Divine Sense was extremely terrifying.

If this skeleton Puppet hadn't already been at the end of its rope, he wouldn't have dared to use it lightly.

After catching his breath for a moment.

Xiao Ran walked to the stone platform and picked up the gray Storage Pouch.

He probed it with his Divine Sense.

The space inside was not large, about three zhang square.

There weren't many items inside, but each one carried an ancient aura.

Three Jade Slips.

A palm-sized bronze compass with star patterns engraved on the surface.

Seven fist-sized, pitch-black crystals that emitted pure Yin Qi.

These were Netherworld Profound Crystals, excellent Materials for refining Yin-attribute Magic Treasure.

There was also a small jade box.

Upon opening it, inside was a dark purple bead the size of a pigeon egg.

The surface of the bead naturally formed fine, dense spiral patterns. It was ice-cold to the touch, and when his Divine Sense approached, he even felt a sense of being pulled.

"yinming pearl..."

A flash of joy crossed Xiao Ran's eyes.

This was exactly one of the valuable items requested by the System mission.

Moreover, judging by the quality of this bead, it was likely an ancient object over a thousand years old, and its value was definitely immense.

He put away the jade box and picked up the three Jade Slips to examine them one by one.

The first one recorded an Evil Path Cultivation Technique called 《Xuanyin Corpse-Refining Art》.

It could refine and control Puppets, capable of refining a Corpse King up to the Nascent Soul Stage.

However, it was of little use to Xiao Ran at this stage; firstly, he lacked suitable Materials, and secondly, the highest level of Puppet was only Nascent Soul.

Perhaps by the time he refined a Nascent Soul Puppet, he would have already achieved the Nascent Soul Stage himself.

The second one was an Incomplete Manual of a map.

It marked several secret locations deep within the Netherworld Ancient Path, one of which was heavily highlighted, with the words "yinming Spring Eye" written next to it.

The third was a last will and testament.

Reading it with his Divine Sense, an aged and sorrowful voice echoed in his mind.

"This old man, Xuanyin Shangren, struggled for a lifetime to barely achieve the Nascent Soul middle stage. I was considered a figure of some standing, so I was ordered by the Martial King to guard the Netherworld Rift."

"However, the rift went out of control, Yin Sha erupted, and countless Yin spirits and evil entities surged out. I fought for seven days, but was ultimately defeated."

"To prevent Yin Sha from wreaking havoc on the world, I used my own skeleton as a foundation and my Lifebound Treasure, the Xuanyin Sword, as a stabilizer to set up the Soul-Sealing Corpse-Suppressing Formation, sealing the rift entrance here."

"Later generations who see this last testament, remember: do not move the Formation eye, do not pull out the Xuanyin Sword, otherwise the rift will reopen, and the Northern Territory will surely suffer a great catastrophe."

"The items in the Storage Pouch are gifted to the fated person."

"I only hope that the one who obtains these treasures will carry on my legacy and, if one day their cultivation is sufficient, completely Seal this rift."

"Xuanyin, final words."

The voice dissipated.

Xiao Ran was silent for a long time.

He looked at the rusted broken sword on the ground.

So that was the Xuanyin Sword, the Lifebound Treasure of this Xuanyin Shangren.

He looked below the stone platform again.

There was indeed an extremely hidden crack there, no more than three fingers wide, bottomless, with Yin wind faintly seeping out from it.

It was only because the crack was currently sealed by the power of the Formation that no Yin Sha leaked out.

"Netherworld Rift..."

Xiao Ran muttered.

He hadn't expected that such a thing was hidden deep within the Netherworld Ancient Path.

According to the last will, this rift should be a passage connecting to some Netherworld realm.

Once it went out of control, the consequences would be unimaginable.

"A rift that even a Nascent Soul middle stage cultivator couldn't Seal—I don't have the ability to handle it right now."

Xiao Ran shook his head and put away the three Jade Slips.

He bowed deeply towards the stone platform.

"Junior Xiao Ran, having mistakenly entered this place today, has received the legacy of Senior."

"If my cultivation is sufficient in the future, I will definitely come to completely Seal this rift."

This was not hypocrisy, but the respect due to a Senior who sacrificed himself to suppress evil.

After bowing.

Xiao Ran did not linger and turned to leave the cavern.

As he returned along the path to the fork, his footsteps paused.

From deep within the passage on the left, where the Yin Qi was strongest, came faint sounds of intense fighting and screams.

He could vaguely hear familiar hissing.

"Where there is fighting, there is treasure."

Xiao Ran concealed his aura and quietly approached.

At the end of the passage was a larger natural cave, where a chaotic battle was currently breaking out.

The group with the Scar-faced Man he had seen at the valley entrance earlier was being besieged by more than a dozen pitch-black, stiff-moving Puppets.

Those Puppets were wearing ancient armor, holding rusted weapons, and ghostly green flames flickered in their eye sockets.

Each one had the strength of the Foundation Establishment Late Stage to the Golden Core Early Stage.

The Scar-faced Man swung a mountain-splitting axe, the axe shadows crisscrossing, splitting one Puppet in half, but more Puppets surged forward.

One of his four companions had already fallen, and the remaining three were fighting back-to-back, struggling to hold on.

And in the deepest part of the cave, a tall figure wearing tattered official robes and a crown with hanging beads stood quietly beside a bronze coffin.

That figure had a dark blue face, exposed fangs, fingernails as long as blades, and emitted dense Yin Sha corpse Qi from its body.

last stage of Golden Core—Yin Sha Corpse King!

At this moment, the Corpse King seemed not to have fully awakened, just coldly watching the battle.

Occasionally, it would raise a finger, and a Puppet would crawl out from the ground to join the siege.

The group of the Scar-faced Man was clearly trapped.

Xiao Ran's gaze swept around the cave.

On the rock wall behind the Corpse King, a strange plant with a pitch-black body and leaves like ghost hands was actually growing.

At the top of the plant grew three purple-glowing fruits the size of longans.

"Yin Sha ghost-faced fruit..."