A red-robed man holding a bone staff flew into the air. He was emaciated, without the slightest bit of flesh on his face. He looked like a skeleton, as if all his blood had been sucked dry.

The bone staff had an egg-sized skull at the top. It looked like a human skull, but a human skull couldn’t be that small.

He immediately released his aura, and black qi surged around his body. His aura contained a sensation of rot. When that was added to his appearance, he looked like a zombie that had just crawled out of its coffin.

The black qi behind him gradually formed nine images. Each one of them floated in the sky. Space suddenly shook, and nine desiccated corpses appeared behind him. Their skin was also black, and they released an aura of decay.

The images and corpses merged together. An evil and terrifying aura instantly erupted, causing the sky to shake.

“Heavens, those corpses are alive!” someone cried in shock. Those nine corpses had begun to move upon merging with that black qi.

“Girl, why don’t you surrender? We’re both soul cultivators, so your soul attacks are ineffective against me. I’d advise you to just obediently give up,” he said coldly. His voice sounded like the grating of a toenail against a pot.

He was a rank three Celestial and a powerful soul cultivator at that. The nine corpses he had summoned had been Foundation Forging experts when they were alive, and they had been refined into corrupt corpses by him. Although they didn’t have a Foundation Forging expert’s battle power now, the hardness of their bodies and their physical power were shockingly high. Even ordinary Treasure items couldn’t injure them.

And he had nine such powerful corpses. Within the same realm, he had never encountered someone who was his match. So he was viewed very importantly by Xue You, which was why he had been chosen to fight.

“Go ahead and attack.” Meng Qi shook her head.

“Then I won’t be courteous.”

The Corrupt expert formed hand seals, and the nine corrupt corpses charged at Meng Qi, punching at her.

What startled everyone was that their movements weren’t stiff at all. They moved as if they were alive.

These corpses were priceless treasures to that expert, and they had come from the Righteous and Corrupt battles. They were the fallen Righteous experts.

The Righteous experts gathered the Corrupt experts’ souls and corpses and used them as tools in trials for their disciples. As for the Corrupt path, they used the Righteous experts’ corpses as tools for battle.

Before entering the Immemorial Path, his sect’s Elders had gifted him nine Foundation Forging experts, letting him refine them into corrupt corpses once he entered Sea Expansion.

Without strong enough Spiritual Strength, he wouldn’t be able to control such powerful corrupt corpses. But with them, he could essentially be counted as an apex figure amongst the Corrupt path’s rank three Celestials.

BOOM!

The nine corpses’ punches smashed into a tower. That tower was thirty meters tall, with a total of nine levels. Meng Qi was standing on the ninth level, indifferently looking at him.

“A protective Treasure item? Hmph, let me see just how long you can keep that up!” sneered the Corrupt expert. He controlled his nine corpses to attack the tower. Each time their fists smashed into the tower, ripples would spread on the tower. Their attacks were unable to reach Meng Qi.

“This is the Soul Suppressing Tower, a middle grade Treasure item. Just what can you do to me?” said Meng Qi lightly. But her expression was a bit unnatural, as if she wasn’t as indifferent as she appeared.

In truth, Meng Qi really was a bit uneasy. She was different than Long Chen. For Long Chen, nonsense lies could pour out of his mouth as soon as he opened it. In fact, his lies were sometimes even more believable than the truth.

But Meng Qi was an obedient child. She had never tricked anyone. However, in order to stall for time, she lied. This Soul Suppressing Tower was actually a high grade Treasure item. That lie made her appear unnatural.

But that unnatural appearance made Xue You and the others think that she wasn’t confident and was trying to cover it up. Furthermore, low grade Treasure items were normally unable to materialize their larger true forms, while middle grade Treasure items normally did materialize true bodies around thirty meters long. This size made them believe that it was a middle grade Treasure item.

However, the truth was that this Soul Suppressing Tower was extremely powerful, and through the item-nourishing technique from the Eastern Wasteland Bell, her connection to it was extremely strong. If she didn’t release its true power, it was very difficult for outsiders to see through its grade.

“Hmph, watch me smash your broken tower. It’s just a middle grade Treasure item. My corrupt corpses can pulverize it with their bare hands,” sneered the Corrupt expert. He had absolute confidence in his corpses.

The corpses crazily attacked without any rhythm. They were like madmen foolishly beating a drum, and it was extremely unpleasant to listen to.

But the concealed Righteous experts didn’t dare make a sound due to Ji Changkong’s orders.

Xiao Fei, Shi Cang, and the other aboriginals were watching nervously. Meng Qi might have told Shi Cang that she was just stalling for time until reinforcements arrived, but he still wasn’t at ease. Hearing the tone from the Corrupt experts, he felt this battle to be extremely unfavorable for Meng Qi. The Corrupt expert was confident in breaking the tower.

The other Corrupt experts calmly watched. Soul cultivators were very rare, so they wanted to see their power. For those newly advanced rank three Celestials, they wanted to see what this fellow relied on to be viewed so importantly by Xue You.

One hour, two hours, three hours...

A total of six hours passed, but the tower was still fine. That made the Corrupt experts grow a bit impatient.

“Your corrupt corpses only have this little ability? Don’t tell me you’re planning on hitting it until next year. If that happened, then before that woman was killed, we’d die from this irritating noise,” insulted one Corrupt expert.

Even Xue You was growing impatient as this was taking too long. However, he didn’t say anything because this also had its benefits. Meng Qi’s soul energy was being exhausted.

Using a Treasure item required a vast amount of Spiritual Strength and spiritual yuan. Once she exhausted all her energy, wouldn’t she also be easily captured? This was the best way to capture her alive. It was best to avoid having an accident and getting her killed.

But now, six hours later, Meng Qi was still calmly watching from inside the tower. That leisurely appearance was just one step away from sitting and drinking tea.

Hearing that insult, the fighting Corrupt expert glanced at Xue You. He saw that Xue You was also a bit impatient.

He clenched his teeth and formed new hand seals. The projection of his qi sea appeared behind him, and black qi floated within it. Then it transformed into nine streams that entered the corrupt corpses.

The corrupt corpses began to glow, and their auras grew to a terrifying level. Black runes appeared on their bodies.

Suddenly, their attacks grew to a whole new level. Each time they struck the tower’s barrier, the entire tower would shudder. There were signs of the barrier collapsing.

Meng Qi’s expression finally changed. She formed new hand seals, and the Soul Suppressing tower began to revolve. She had clearly increased her own output of energy.

Everyone’s expressions changed. Now the Corrupt experts understood why this fellow was viewed so importantly by Xue You. After doing this, each of his corrupt corpses was comparable to a rank three Celestial. It was no wonder he was claimed to be the number one expert below the rank four Celestial level. He truly possessed that power.

Shi Cang and the others’ expressions changed. Such battle power was too terrifying, and even Xiao Fei jumped. He was a rank three Celestial, but because of the curse, his combat power could only be compared to an acquired rank three Celestial. He would definitely lose against an innate rank three Celestial. Thus, each attack from the nine corrupt corpses could be fatal to him. He finally experienced the terror of invaders.

It was no wonder the invaders would invade their territories after the spiritual qi eruption. It was because they had the power to and didn’t need to have any misgivings.

Thinking of that, Xiao Fei’s hatred for the heavens surged. He wanted to be like Long Chen and tear them apart.

Explosive sounds shook the sky. The tower was now revolving, as both sides began to use their full power. One wanted to break their way through their opponent’s defense, while the other was pushing herself to her full power, her face slightly pale as she bitterly endured.

Another six hours passed. The Corrupt expert was sweating. This endurance was too shocking. The only thing that comforted him was that Meng Qi’s face was also getting paler.

Another six hours passed. The Corrupt expert’s body was quivering. He was clearly overdrafting his power and had to be under immense pressure.

As for Meng Qi, she had clearly reached the point of a lamp with no oil. The Soul Suppressing Tower was revolving slower now, and its barrier was growing dimmer and dimmer. She was like a candle flickering in the wind, one that might be extinguished at any moment.

“No wonder Long Chen likes to be mischievous all the time, it really is fun.” While Meng Qi ‘bitterly endured’, an indescribable delight appeared in her heart. That was pride in playing everyone else.

As the saying went, following good examples was hard, but following a bad example was as simple as a single slip. There was no need for a teacher to teach you. You would quickly manage to see the way and be engrossed by that moving feeling.

Time passed bit by bit, and the flickering candle in the wind was still burning tenaciously. People were holding their breath as they waited for it to extinguish, but it refused to go out.

“What is going on? It’s been a whole day?!” Suddenly, an expert looked up at the sky and felt that something was off.

Due to the tense atmosphere, they hadn’t sensed the flow of time. The only exception was the one fighting. He had felt this day to be as long as a year, and he was absolutely exhausted. But his opponent was still bitterly enduring, so he couldn’t help but curse. If this continued, he would exhaust himself to death.

Ji Changkong was still watching in his hidden room. He hadn’t cared particularly at the beginning. If they wanted to exhaust themselves, then they could exhaust themselves. In any case, he was just waiting for his prey to enter his net.

But as more and more time passed, he felt an inexplicable jitteriness. That made him uncomfortable. Now that a whole day had passed, he wasn’t able to endure it any longer. That feeling of unease was extremely intense now.

“Don’t bother with the Corrupt experts. Two rank three Celestials, go out and kill a portion of the aboriginals!” ordered Ji Changkong. He couldn’t let that idiot Xue You ruin his plan.

Two figures flew out. The aura of rank three Celestials erupted as they shot toward the aboriginals.

Two rays of terrifying Sword Qi slashed toward the aboriginals. Xiao Fei and Shi Cang were startled and hastily defended with their full power. As a result, they were sent flying by the impact. They were under the suppression of the curse here and unable to retaliate.

“Die you inferior aboriginals!”

The two Righteous experts shouted and moved in for the kill. But they had just raised their weapons when sword-light flashed.

It was simply a flash. The two experts didn’t even have time to take out their defensive Treasure items before they were turned to dust.