Chapter 660: Corpse Fiend

Seeing this, Han Li’s heart tightened slightly.

His “reflection” now bore no resemblance to him at all; its entire body was like that of an ordinary person, except its clothes were tattered and torn, and its face was decayed and rotted, revealing bleached bones, making it look just like a zombie.

On its hands thrusting straight at him, all ten fingernails were over a foot long, covered in a purple-black hue, condensed with an extremely dense baleful aura. Though not a formidable magic treasure, one could tell at a glance that it would not be easy to deal with.

“A corpse fiend, so it’s this kind of ghostly thing…”

Han Li muttered a low rebuke, and the longsword he was thrusting downward immediately reversed, assuming a blocking posture in front of his chest.

With a sharp “clang”!

A burst of dazzling sparks sprang up along the sword’s edge. He felt a tremendous force like a mountain crashing down upon him, and he flew backward horizontally, still holding the sword.

A corpse fiend is an undead creature formed when a yin soul combines with a corpse, trapped in a place dense with baleful aura for tens of thousands of years. It can shift between corporeal and incorporeal forms and delights in devouring the flesh, blood, and souls of living beings.

Since it is already dead, it naturally does not belong to the category of living creatures; and because it does not enter reincarnation, it cannot be considered a ghost either. It truly exists outside the Three Realms and beyond the Five Elements. And this one before him was actually a corpse fiend at the Taiyi level.

However, Han Li noticed that its eyes were pure white, as if its pupils had not yet opened, and it was still in a state of ignorance, which put him somewhat at ease.

It is said that once a corpse fiend devours a large amount of living human flesh and blood and absorbs a great number of souls, it can open its spirit and awaken consciousness, regaining intelligence. Yet its ferocious nature does not change, and its combat power far exceeds that of cultivators of the same rank.

This corpse fiend had likely been trapped here all along, with no chance to come into contact with living beings, so it had not yet nurtured its divine sense. It was precisely for this reason that Han Li did not immediately turn and flee.

In truth, it was only because he was bold and skilled; if it had been another cultivator of the same rank, it was uncertain whether they could have defended against this sneak attack.

As he pondered, the corpse fiend turned its body, its figure flickering unsteadily, and with a sudden flash, it vanished from its spot.

Han Li’s eyelids twitched slightly. He suddenly exerted force with both feet and leaped backward, his body retreating rapidly.

Almost at the same instant, the eerie corpse fiend appeared where he had been standing. Its hands pierced straight through a stone pillar, and with a pull, it shattered it into pieces.

Watching the blue crystal powder flying in the air, Han Li silently chanted a spell. A golden orb of light immediately expanded from in front of him, transforming into a golden light barrier that enveloped the entire second floor of the hall.

As soon as the Time Domain was deployed, even the falling blue crystal powder became slow and gentle.

Han Li shifted his gaze and saw that Taiyi-level corpse fiend leaving a trail of afterimages in the void as it flickered toward him. Even under the suppression of the domain, its speed was still not slow.

He turned his body, and the azure bamboo swarm cloud sword in his hand surged with sword aura, stabbing swiftly in one direction.

With a sharp “clang”!

The tip of the longsword pried open the two ghostly claws of the Taiyi-level corpse fiend and stabbed directly into its heart.

However, the corpse fiend’s physical constitution was far tougher than Han Li had anticipated. The sword aura at the tip surged wildly, but it only tore the corpse fiend’s clothes into countless shreds, leaving numerous white marks on its chest, yet it could not pierce its sinewy, blue-purple skin.

At that moment, the corpse fiend’s parried hands withdrew again, and its purple-black sharp fingernails grew twice as long, like ten poison-dipped daggers stabbing down at both sides of Han Li’s neck.

Han Li slapped the sword hilt with one hand and let out a soft shout.

The azure bamboo swarm cloud sword immediately began to spin rapidly, like a steel drill, boring fiercely into the corpse fiend’s heart.

At the same time, “crackling” sounds came from the sword body as strands of golden electric threads burst forth, coalescing into a thick bolt of lightning that struck heavily onto the corpse fiend.

“Roar…”

The corpse fiend let out a beast-like howl, its entire body stiffened, and it fell straight backward, its chest charred black, emitting streams of foul, black smoke.

This Evil-Cleansing Divine Lightning, which specifically countered all yin and evil spirits, had indeed worked in one strike!

Han Li’s figure flickered, blurring as he instantly appeared before the corpse fiend.

Before it could get up, golden electric light wreathed around his sword blade as he slashed down at the corpse fiend’s head.

A strange purple light suddenly lit up in the corpse fiend’s snow-white eyes. Its body abruptly turned ethereal like smoke, and just as the azure bamboo swarm cloud sword was about to strike, it dissipated directly.

Han Li’s heart tightened. He quickly flickered and retreated backward.

After the corpse fiend’s body dissipated ethereally, it suddenly condensed behind him like a ghost, reforming into a solid body, its hands stabbing at Han Li’s back like ten poison daggers.

Fortunately, due to the influence of the domain, its speed was far slower than before, and Han Li easily dodged it, sweeping his sword back in a horizontal slash.

Where the sword edge passed, golden electric light split into dozens of strands like twisted ropes, weaving into a golden electric net that descended around the sword, sealing off all escape routes for the corpse fiend charging in, leaving it with no way to retreat.

With a clang of metal, the sword struck the corpse fiend on the forehead, and its body was instantly enveloped in golden electric light.

"Crackle..."

Countless golden arcs of electricity scattered and shot out, while streams of black smoke rose continuously.

The corpse fiend cried out in agony repeatedly, its forehead scorched and blurred by the sword aura and the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning, yet its momentum never diminished in the slightest, and it had not suffered a fatal wound.

Han Li raised his sword, intending to summon a few more Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Swords, but the corpse fiend's figure once again became ethereal, merging into the ice crystals on the ground like a blade shadow.

On the icy ground, thick black baleful qi surged from all directions like flowing water, seeping into the earth and directly pouring into the corpse fiend's body.

Han Li watched as the corpse fiend's body flickered between solid and ethereal, and the scorched wounds previously inflicted by the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning gradually healed on their own.

"So it has such abilities..." Han Li frowned, took a step forward, and vanished in a flash.

The next moment, his figure suddenly appeared above the corpse fiend, a golden flash of lightning on the long sword in his hand, and he slashed downward fiercely.

With a loud "Boom!"

The ice crystals on the ground exploded, and the corpse fiend's figure slid out from among them like a fish, then materialized again and charged at Han Li.

Han Li held his sword horizontally and blocked the attack.

The latter, disregarding the power of the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning, grabbed the Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword with both hands, thrust its hideous ghost face forward, opened its mouth wide, and let out a sharp howl at Han Li.

Seeing the danger, Han Li immediately held his breath and sealed his five senses, but he was still a step too slow.

A stream of deep purple corpse baleful qi shot out like an arrow, striking his face with a "bang," turning into a cloud of purple smoke that covered Han Li's entire face.

Han Li felt a numbness on his face, followed by a pungent, spicy taste flooding his nasal cavity, a dry itch in his throat, and a sour, unbearable sensation in his eyes. His vision instantly became blurry.

Suppressing the discomfort, he let out a furious roar, and the Evil-Repelling Divine Lightning on the Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword in his hand erupted instantly, blasting the Taiyi-stage corpse fiend away with a "boom."

Immediately after, Han Li's figure continuously retreated, shifting and moving rapidly within the hall.

After being repelled by the strike, the corpse fiend quickly pounced again, relentlessly pursuing Han Li, determined to tear him to pieces.

At this moment, Han Li's five senses were sealed off, and he could only rely on the keen spiritual perception within his domain to dodge continuously. Pressed hard by the Corpse Fiend, the two of them collided back and forth in the hall, with constant explosions.

The Taiyi-stage Corpse Fiend's eyes flickered with purple light incessantly. Under the suppression of the domain, its speed actually grew faster and faster. The collisions between Han Li and it became more and more frequent, and several tears were even torn in his dharma robe by it.

A purple mist swirled on Han Li's face as his immortal spiritual power within his body circulated wildly, continuously gathering toward his throat, mouth, and nose, squeezing the corpse-qi out and forcing it out of his body.

Just then, the Taiyi-stage Corpse Fiend's form suddenly dispersed, transforming into five figures.

Han Li's brow furrowed involuntarily. In his spiritual sense, five identical auras appeared, and since his eyes were invaded by corpse-qi, he could not activate the Netherworld Demon Eyes at the moment, making it impossible to distinguish whether these five figures were real or fake.

The five corpse demons circled around and then simultaneously rushed toward Han Li in the center.

Their ten hands, with sharp purple-black nails glinting with dark light, stabbed at his vital points: the brow, the back of the head, the neck, the heart, and the dantian.

No matter which direction Han Li fled, he would inevitably be blocked by one of the corpse demons and then pursued by the others.

Just as Han Li had no way to avoid or retreat, a dazzling golden light suddenly flared up behind him, releasing thousands of blinding golden rays.

A golden, hollowed-out wheel appeared behind him, spinning rapidly.

The five corpse fiends, at a distance of about a zhang from Han Li, were instantly frozen in midair after being illuminated by the golden rays.

At the same time, Han Li suddenly opened his mouth and spat out a purple mist ball condensed from corpse-aura, which crashed onto the ground and shattered with a bang.

The purple mist on his face also vanished completely, and a bright purple light shone in his eyes as he looked toward the five corpse fiends around him.

Upon this glance, Han Li noticed that the one whose sharp claws were aimed at his brow was different from the others, with corpse-aura inside its body several times denser.

Han Li frowned slightly, turned the Green Bamboo Cloudswarm Sword in his hand, and pointed its tip at the corpse fiend's dantian. The Evil-Crushing Divine Lightning on the blade crackled, enveloping the entire longsword.

He silently chanted a spell, then slapped the blade with one hand. The golden electric threads on the longsword instantly surged toward the tip, coalescing into a golden thunderball as if cast from molten gold, which shot straight at the corpse fiend's dantian.

A thunderous boom resounded!

A golden pillar of lightning as thick as a water vat materialized out of thin air, abruptly engulfing the corpse fiend.

The entire blue hall shook violently, and the figures of the other corpse fiends floating around successively turned illusory, vanishing one after another, transforming into wisps of purple smoke that dissipated.

Only the corpse fiend that Han Li had struck head-on with his Thunder Sacrifice Art remained, still trapped midair by the True Word Treasure Wheel.