Chapter 300: External Avatar (Making up for 5 missed updates)
A little earlier.
Shard World.
Outside the Bodhi Sacred Land.
Streaks of Wood Spirit Divine Light shot skyward. Within the grand array, Fang Xi retrieved his 'Life and Death Seal', and in his hand, he still held a white storage bag.
After some rummaging, he opened a jade box, and seeing a 'Nine-Eyed Bodhi Seed' inside, a trace of pleasant surprise couldn't help but appear on his face: "It's actually nine-eyed?"
He immediately closed the box and affixed several spirit talismans to it.
"Hmm?"
Just then, Fang Xi's Divine Consciousness perceived a certain scene, and his expression couldn't help but darken once more.
With Wood Spirit Divine Light swirling around him, he arrived at a battlefield.
Opposite this Core Formation puppet, the demonic corpse, its face ashen and sharp claws extended, remained expressionless. Grasping You Kun's severed arm, it suddenly opened its gaping maw and began to gnaw on the arm as if it were a sugarcane.
"Without its master's control, is this demonic corpse driven by instinct now?"
Fang Xi murmured.
This demonic corpse had performed exceptionally well earlier, not only capable of vanishing without a trace but also unafraid of scorching Yang-attribute true fire.
And its combat strength even surpassed that of the Core Formation puppet, which was augmented by two magical artifacts!
If its master hadn't been merely at the Foundation Establishment stage, the malevolence of this demonic corpse would have been even greater.
Fang Xi now understood quite a few demonic secret arts, and naturally knew that the more formidable a demonic corpse, the more wondrous seals it required. At the same time, the cultivator's own realm was of paramount importance!
For a Foundation Establishment cultivator to control a Core Formation-level demonic corpse across an entire major realm was already incredibly impressive.
What's more, they had to constantly suppress it to prevent it from backlashing.
He didn't know that this 'Six Desires Heaven Mixing Demon' corpse still had many intricate features that hadn't been utilized.
"It's just like that Ox Demon, both are excellent materials for refining demonic corpses. . ."
Fang Xi smiled faintly and took out a grayish-white talisman from his storage bag.
—Corpse Subduing Talisman!
After obtaining the Situ Clan's corpse-refining inheritance, he had intentionally sought to refine the 'Black Fire Demonic Corpse', and thus deliberately gathered materials to create this special talisman!
Specifically used to seal various powerful corpses, restrict their movements, and prevent them from suddenly attacking and harming others.
The demonic corpse opposite him let out a roar, sensing great danger, and instantly vanished as if about to flee.
But the next moment, not far away, streaks of Wood Spirit Divine Light appeared, like a vast green net descending from the sky, forcing the demonic corpse back into view.
"Hehe. . . you're still within my Wood Spirit Divine Light Array, how could you possibly escape?"
Fang Xi sneered and activated a spell incantation.
Sizzle!
Streaks of Wood Spirit Divine Light descended, like pillars of light, piercing into the gaps between the demonic corpse's limbs, like a cage, trapping it tightly.
Fang Xi stepped forward, his expression unreadable, the grayish-white 'Corpse Subduing Talisman' in his hand flashed and affixed itself to the demonic corpse's forehead.
The demonic corpse's struggles instantly ceased, it slowly closed its eyes, as if it had become a lifeless object.
"Not bad, not bad. . . this demonic corpse refinement truly has many subtle intricacies."
Fang Xi muttered to himself:
"In fact. . . it should be superior to what I've learned."
He waved his hand, withdrawing the cage formed by the Wood Spirit light pillars. Just as he was about to withdraw the Wood Spirit Divine Light Array as well, a thought suddenly struck him.
Fang Xi re-examined the demonic corpse, with purple light flickering in his eyes. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he abruptly formed a hand seal!
A layer of verdant Wood Spirit True Fire appeared, landing on the demonic corpse, and began to burn fiercely.
"Senior, spare me! Senior, spare me!"
The next moment, the demonic corpse suddenly opened its eyes, but its gaze was clear; where was the previous madness?
It opened its gaping maw, but what emerged was a crisp female voice.
"It's you!"
Fang Xi revealed a look of surprise, then it shifted to a cold sneer: "Good. . . very good. . . I actually failed to realize that this demonic corpse is actually your 'External Avatar'!"
The demonic sect's secretly transmitted 'External Avatar' secret art allows one to refine a second body. It's practically like having two lives!
Even though the white-robed female cultivator's original body had been turned into a pulp of flesh under the 'Life and Death Seal' earlier, she had actually revived through this 'External Avatar'!
Thinking of how the other party had calmly eaten an arm alive earlier, Fang Xi's expression turned exceedingly grim.
If he hadn't had a sudden whim to carefully inspect it again with his 'Purple Qi Heaven Eye', he truly might have been fooled by this woman, mistaking it for an ordinary refined corpse, and even brought it back to the Green Wood Sect!
At that time, all his secrets would have been exposed.
What's more, this female cultivator might even seize the opportunity while he was unprepared to launch a sneak attack.
At this thought, a murderous intent suddenly surged within Fang Xi's heart.
"Senior, spare my life. . . This junior was also helpless. . . which is why I possessed this 'Six Desires Heaven Mixing Demon'. . ."
"This junior is willing to have a restriction planted on me, I only ask senior to spare my life. . ."
The demonic corpse spoke continuously, emitting the crisp female voice.
"Hmph. . . you're quite cunning in your schemes. If I hadn't set up the grand array early on and happened to encompass this refined corpse within it as well, if I had been momentarily careless, you really might have managed to escape with your life."
Fang Xi's eyes turned cold, and the Green Reaping Sword flew out, transforming into a streak of green light, heading directly for the refined corpse's head!
The white-robed female cultivator felt helpless, she formed a hand seal with both hands, and the demonic corpse let out a roar: "Senior, do you truly wish for the fish to die and the net to break?"
Pffft!
Two streaks of grayish-white corpse qi surged forth and actually blocked the Green Reaping Sword's light outside!
On its forehead, the precious 'Corpse Subduing Talisman' blazed fiercely, quickly turning to ash, as if it had no effect whatsoever, which left Fang Xi feeling a burst of vexation.
Indeed, these major demonic sects possessed many bizarre secret arts.
His own minor techniques were simply not enough.
The more this was the case, the more determined he became that this woman must not be allowed to live!
"The fish might die, but the net won't necessarily break. . . However, if you can hand over the 'External Avatar' secret art, this Venerable One might consider sparing your life!"
Fang Xi replied with a cold snort.
"External Avatar secret art? " The white-robed female cultivator was startled: "This cultivation method has long had a restriction placed upon it by the Transmission Elder, it cannot be leaked. . ."
But immediately, she found that the unfamiliar Core Formation cultivator opposite her had no intention of stopping; instead, he urged the grand array.
Streaks of verdant light pillars descended, carrying divine lightning and flames within them.
The white-robed female cultivator was utterly helpless and could only open her gaping maw, spitting out a grayish-white Corpse Pearl.
This was, astonishingly, a third-order Corpse Pearl, releasing grayish-white corpse qi, forming a layer of defense, blocking both the Wood Spirit Divine Lightning and the Wood Spirit True Fire.
Fang Xi sneered several times, continuing to activate the array. With a wave of his hand, the Life and Death Seal reappeared.
Seeing this, the white-robed female cultivator's eyes were already filled with despair.
The next moment, she formed a hand seal with both hands, and cracks suddenly appeared on the Heavenly Corpse Pearl.
"Self-destructing the Corpse Pearl?"
Fang Xi's expression changed, and he abruptly made a gesture.
A thick layer of Wood Spirit Divine Light transformed into a massive shield, appearing before him. The Life and Death Seal also turned into a shimmering defense, protecting his entire body.
Rumble!
The next moment, a terrifying impact force surged forth, actually shattering the Wood Spirit Divine Light Array into pieces. . .
Amidst the overflowing corpse qi, the demonic corpse's severed limbs and broken arms flew everywhere, seemingly having perished completely.
Purple light flickered in Fang Xi's eyes, he suddenly transformed into a green rainbow, and let out a cold snort.
A white ball of light trembled, emerging from the demonic corpse's far-flung arm, and transmitted a message: "You killed a disciple of my Holy Sect, retribution will surely come!"
Fang Xi showed no mercy. A cluster of Wood Spirit True Fire descended, completely obliterating the female cultivator, body and soul.
After annihilating this remnant soul, he stood tall and suddenly sighed.
Looking at the messy scene, Fang Xi shook his head: "Demonic cultivation arts are truly sinister and troublesome. If a Core Formation demonic cultivator were to arrive, it would indeed be quite troublesome. . . Let's quickly visit two more places and then make a swift getaway. For the next few centuries, I won't return to this mystic realm."
...
Almost simultaneously.
Accompanied by the flickering silver light, a handsome man holding a bone banner also descended into the Xuan Wu Mystic Realm.
"Here we are again, such a treasure land. . ."
A hint of intoxication appeared on his face as he recalled his previous gains.
Even though he possessed a Heaven-grade spiritual root and didn't require 'Five Elements Spirit Fruits' to achieve Core Formation, the spirit fruits he harvested had still exchanged for a large amount of resources.
Now, he had finally found another opportunity to descend into this world!
"Where shall I go first?"
The handsome man shook the 'Ten Thousand Souls Banner', and streams of ghostly souls appeared, their numbers seemingly reaching several hundreds of thousands!
These ghosts even subtly formed arrays, each led by a Core Formation-level ghost!
"Listen, Eight Divisions of Ghosts! Kill all third-order slaves within the mystic realm without mercy, and bring their spiritual materials to me!"
The handsome man struck spell incantations into the 'Ten Thousand Souls Banner' one after another, and immediately, a large number of ghosts flew out in various directions, bringing profound suffering once again to the Wu people within the mystic realm.
However, his expression shifted slightly. He took out a broken bead and immediately transformed into a black, thread-like streak of light, flying towards a certain location.
...
Hundreds of miles away.
The black thread paused, revealing the handsome man's figure.
He emotionlessly waved his sleeve, and immediately several streaks of dark light shot out, blasting open a large pit at the edge of the ravaged battlefield.
Within the pit, a tattered magic robe appeared. It was indeed the attire of a Holy Sect disciple!
The handsome man continuously chanted spells and struck a spell incantation onto the magic robe.
The magic robe hummed, and wisps of blood-colored light streaks appeared on it, even gathering an unknown aura, forming a distorted and sinister human face.
The human face muttered, seemingly trying hard to say something, but no sound came out.
Upon hearing this, the handsome man's expression shifted: "Who would have thought. . . that at the very first location, I'd find the suspected culprit! Has the culprit already been branded with the 'Resentful Soul Mark'? Excellent. . . then they won't be able to escape. However. . . the 'Nine-Eyed Bodhi' is still the most important."
He let out a cold snort and once again transformed into a streak of black light.
Not long after, he arrived outside the Bodhi Sacred Land, found that battlefield, and the white-robed female cultivator's remains.
After repeating the process, the handsome man's expression subtly changed: "Good, very good. . . the culprit is actually the same person! Hehe, just an ignorant mid-stage Core Formation cultivator, yet daring to slaughter my Holy Sect juniors like this. . . Netherworld Boundless, Ten Thousand Mile Soul Pursuit, Rise!"
He let out a sharp howl, and an inexplicable streak of blood-colored light suddenly emerged from the white-robed female cultivator's remains, transforming into a rapidly shooting beam.
The handsome man, expressionless, transformed into a streak of light and followed closely. Its direction was precisely the direction Fang Xi had departed!
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