The seventeen oddities of Mount Xuan were still immersed in their past glories, initially paying no heed to Yan Shouyi, a junior. Though they had heard of Yan Shouyi's reputation, the seventeen oddities of Mount Xuan had all been renowned figures in the martial world themselves, which made them dismissive of Yan Shouyi. Moreover, with their sheer numbers, they had expected to capture Yan Shouyi with absolute certainty. Unexpectedly, they had suffered a setback, not only failing to capture Yan Shouyi but having seven of their own killed by him! In the blink of an eye, only ten of the seventeen oddities of Mount Xuan remained.
Upon seeing the corpse retainer dragged into the abyss by the chains of Jade Droplets Falling to Yellow Springs, the remaining ten no longer dared to be arrogant and began to cautiously engage Yan Shouyi in combat. Yet, even so, the pressure on the ten was immense, as Yan Shouyi's power far exceeded their imaginations!
Concurrently, on the other side, Li Genmiao, despite having lost an arm, paid it no mind. His complexion grew even paler; his body seemed on the verge of collapsing at any moment. However, none of that mattered anymore. Li Genmiao had intended to abandon this body anyway. He was fed up with this frail mortal shell, and thus, after preparing everything, he had come to Tianchi, intending to reclaim his own body.
"Good disciple, where have you hidden my master's body?" Li Genmiao asked Jiang Qingxue with a cold laugh. Jiang Qingxue, bound and restrained, glared fiercely at Li Genmiao, determined not to reveal the location of the body.
"Before abandoning that body, I made thorough preparations. That body is a Heavenly Fiend Corpse Puppet, immune to the harm of phoenix tree wood, unburnable by fire, and unaffected by water. With your abilities, you should not be able to destroy it," Li Genmiao mused to himself, his gaze fixed on Tianchi. "In the entire Changbai Mountain, the only place that could suppress the malevolent energy of my body is likely Tianchi right before my eyes!" His body must be at the bottom of Tianchi!
"Wuming!!" Li Genmiao shouted, "Find it for me!!" Another figure appeared on the mountaintop. The person was dressed in tattered clothes, his face covered in grime, and he exuded a foul, sour stench. He was Shi Zhu, one of the Four Watches and Five Ghosts, and the only one who was not a member of the old Mount Xuan sect. Yan Shouyi was very curious about this individual's identity but had never found any clues. This beggar, with almost zero presence, had actually come to Changbai Mountain!
Wuming raised his hands high, his oversized sleeves falling to his upper arms, revealing the black soul-summoning bells he wore on his wrists.
"Heaven, Earth, Sun, Moon, Stars, I summon the yin souls. Golden hammers strike in chaos, iron staffs cross freely. No distinction between gods or ghosts, no choosing demons or spirits. Follow my shout to capture, possess and be named. Anyone who dares to disobey shall have their heads severed and essence revealed. I summon you now, descend swiftly! As ordered!"
After a series of eerie incantations, countless fissures reappeared on the ground around Tianchi, and malevolent spirits crawled out from beneath the earth. Their hideous faces wore expressions of numbness, as if they were mere puppets acting on command. Wuming pointed with one hand, and thousands of evil spirits rushed into Tianchi, searching for Li Genmiao's body!
At this moment, Yan Shouyi, who was engaged in combat with the ten oddities of Mount Xuan, was also keeping an eye on Wuming. Beneath the night sky, the wind blew away Wuming's messy hair, and Yan Shouyi finally saw a slightly familiar face. Combined with the soul-summoning bells and his method of summoning souls—Yan Shouyi recognized him! This person was none other than the once-in-a-millennium genius of the Lushan Sect, Tong Jingcheng!!!
Tong Jingcheng was the master of Tong Jiuhua and the senior brother of Lu Jingsheng and Lu Jing. This individual had faked his death years ago, but in reality, he had been plotting in Rongcheng to revive his beloved, intending to sacrifice the lives of an entire city for a chance at rebirth. A year ago, Yan Shouyi, upon arriving in Rongcheng, began to uncover Tong Jingcheng's plan starting from the incident at Ping'an Building, and step by step prevented him, ultimately defeating Tong Jingcheng by chance. After Tong Jingcheng's death, matters should have concluded, but on the very night of his death, Tong Jiuhua was assassinated, and Tong Jingcheng's soul was stolen. Following that, Lu Jingsheng left. The matter had dragged on until now, and Yan Shouyi finally saw Tong Jingcheng again, only to find him here, under these circumstances.
"Li Genmiao, so you were the one who killed senior Tong Jiuhua and stole Tong Jingcheng's soul!!" Yan Shouyi roared. Li Genmiao sneered, "Don't attribute it solely to me; I wasn't the only one who acted then."
"What do you mean?"
Li Genmiao had no intention of explaining. The evil spirits summoned by Tong Jingcheng moved rapidly within Tianchi like a school of fish, searching. Due to their sheer numbers, Tianchi appeared to be boiling. Soon, an evil spirit excitedly emerged from Tianchi, pointing to the ground beneath itself. A smile spread across Li Genmiao's face, and Tong Jingcheng immediately directed the evil spirits to retrieve the body. Under the efforts of countless evil spirits, a coffin, locked by more than a dozen chains, was pushed out of the water. The moment the coffin broke the surface, a visibly dense malevolent energy flowed out from its crevices, covering the water and transforming the once crystal-clear Tianchi into a bottomless, pitch-black abyss. This surge of malevolent energy sent chills down the spines of everyone present.
At this moment, a myriad of thoughts flashed through Yan Shouyi's mind. "The malevolent energy in Li Genmiao's body is even more terrifying than the malevolent energy within me?!" "This body belongs to the National Preceptor. During the war between Qing Jiang and Yu Shu, the National Preceptor likely killed no fewer people than General Qing Jiang!" "Moreover, the National Preceptor lived for nearly a thousand years afterward; he must have done many other things during this millennium..." It was certain that once Li Genmiao returned to the National Preceptor's body, his strength would rise to a terrifying level. At that point, even with Yan Shouyi and Jiang Qingxue working together, they might not be a match for Li Genmiao!!
"I must stop Li Genmiao!!" Yan Shouyi gritted his teeth, releasing a little more control over his malevolent energy. His power surged, and he easily dealt with several more opponents! However, due to the influence of the malevolent energy, Yan Shouyi's consciousness also became somewhat hazy. "Although malevolent energy can enhance my strength, if I overuse it, the damage to myself will only increase!" "If I unleash my full malevolent energy, I might be able to instantly kill everyone here, but by then, I might not be able to distinguish friend from foe!" Despite his anxiety, Yan Shouyi could only suppress his malevolent energy, wanting to finish off the enemies before him as quickly as possible.
Just then, Er Ya suddenly lay down on the ground, pressing her ear to the earth. Shan Ji anxiously asked, "Er Ya, what's wrong? Did you hear something?" Er Ya, being a ginseng spirit, besides burrowing, had another special ability: communicating with plants. Er Ya listened carefully for a moment, then began to cry with worry: "My little friends say there are still people heading towards Tianchi on the mountainside, and their malevolent energy is so heavy, so fierce!!"