Chapter 423 - The Former High Chieftains (2/2)
But who?! Who else in the world possessed the ability and resources to produce the most perfect physical body and fuse it with the soul of another man with unflawed perfection, that the man reborn could feel pain, could train and study magic, could grow old, and even experience and feel the sensations o all emotions; happiness, anger, sorrow, and the like! A man reborn with such perfection that he looked no different from ordinary people! Who? Even across the Six Domains, was it even possible that anyone had such power? Not even the foremost founder of the Corpse Refinery would have such a capacity!
What Puppet-refining Technique is this… What is the full extent of this man’s, whoever he is, skill? Ye Wuxin mulled with his final breath as he felt everything slowly turning dark around him. He had always prided himself in his magic of producing Corpse Puppets. But now, finally knowing the truth behind Xiao Chen’s body, he knew. He knew that the Sect, or anyone in the industry for that matter would avail much before this mysterious man’s formidable skills.
Ye Wuxin was relenting himself to his fate, prepared to accept the coming of his end, when a dark nimbus raced from the distant horizons and drooped all over the square. The skies darkening suddenly was enough to draw the attention of the people below and everyone looked up and the fighting paused, instantly feeling the rich and colossal powers of whoever it was hiding atop. The Blood Corpses too came to a rest, stopping every movement that they looked like lifeless scarecrows.
The extraordinarily-perceptive Xiao Chen quickly felt it too. The Malicious Grudge emitting from within the dark, sinister plumes overhead made him wary. Then he remembered something. They had found a great many stone sarcophaguses during his infiltration into the Chamber of Repose with Su Lianyue in their search for Yu Yangzi and unspeakable dread rose in him…
On the other side of the square, a relieved Great Immortal breathed easily at last. With a weak smile, he gasped, “So, it all comes down to this nevertheless… The might of the former High Chieftains…”
“WHO DARE OFFENDS THE CORPSE REFINERY SECT!” A powerful voice thundered from inside the dark nimbus, a voice so powerful that many cowered and so many more nearly collapsed at the colossal aura limned behind the voice that struck down like a terrible bolt of lightning.
Qingfeng and Zi Mo were standing with the fellow mages of the Jade Qing Sect when the voice resounded and their faces immediately turned ugly. Hurriedly, Zi Mo yelled at Xiao Chen, “Come back, boy! For your sake come back this instant!”
But before he could finish, two men emerged from within the dark billows. Two bearded men, both likewise clad in long robes of red, landed in front of the Great Immortal. He regarded them with a bleak grin, “Surely that is not the full strength of the former Chieftains?”
The two men were two of the eldest seniors in the Sect who enjoyed greater eldership and standing over Ye Wuxin even. One was named Wu Tian and the other Wu Fa. The latter first spoke, “I’m afraid we don’t have a choice. This is the wish of the Tianxiang Chamber. We have to hold the Ridge for another six days. Afterwhich, the Divine Corpse shall complete its consumption of the Mystic Yin Body.”
Wu Fa immediately looked up and saw Ye Wuxin who was still having his lifeforce sapped by Xiao Chen. With a devilish glee, he breathed, “For all the good his position as the High Chieftain has done him. He has always been a proud one. I’d say he could use a good whipping to show him his place.”
Even from mid-air, Ye Wuxin, still with a sliver of his consciousness, heard him. He clenched his teeth and delivered a blow on his own chest, using the force to propel himself off Xiao Chen’s arm and fell to a crash near the Great Immortal and the two newcomers.
The dark plume overhead faded at the same time, revealing a dozen people. There were men and old people among them but they all carried the same dark look that showed that they were no longer alive.
On the ground, the mages of the Orthodox Paths beheld the sight of the reinforcements with their breaths held. This could not be ordinary Heavy Grudge Corpse Puppets, they knew full well. Then a shrill cry rang across the square, “T-these… These are the former High Chieftains of the Corpse Refinery Sect!”
The revelation brought panic to the invaders. No one had anticipated that the former leaders could be turned into Corpse Puppets. But that was hardly a surprise. The High Chieftains of the Sect ofttimes forsake their original bodies in favor of the physical bodies of Corpse Puppets which were stronger, more agile, and sturdier. But no High Chieftain had reigned beyond the tenure of three centuries and no one knew why.
This was the same even for Yu Yangzi, who also discarded his physical body for that of a Corpse Puppet to house his own soul for a lengthened survival. Only Ye Wuxin was different. The present High Chieftain of the Corpse Refinery Sect had always been coveting Xiao Chen’s body ever since they have met. That was precisely the reason he needed the millennia-old Corpse King; to help him defeat Xiao Chen to take his body.
Icy winds howled mercilessly in the night and the hairs of everyone billowed violently, lashing at their faces as they looked up at the twelve Corpse Puppets that materialized in mid-air betwixt the overcast gloom with a sheen of cold sweat on their foreheads.
Zi Mo shared a quick word with Qingfeng and the latter barked at Xiao Chen again, “Xiao Chen! Come back!”
Xiao Chen hovered in mid-air, his robes snapping in the whipping winds as he stared coldly at the twelve Corpse Puppets comprising of the twelve former High Chieftains. The newcomers reeked of the same deathly stench of decaying flesh and their leader came forth, booming loudly, “WHO DARES OFFEND THE CORPSE REFINERY SECT!”
“I will not only offend you lot,” Xiao Chen growled, “I will also decimate all of you!” The notion of Muxue’s soul being desecrated by these infernal scoundrels only served to fuel his anger and hatred. With a grunt, he lunged at the leading Corpse Puppet, much to the dismay and dread of everyone watching him, especially those of the Jade Qing Sect.
“IMPUDENCE!” The leader of the twelve hissed and he slapped a hand forward, his fist churning with a gauntlet of dark energies. Xiao Chen retaliated with a magic bolt of his own and the two energy projectiles met and resulted in a huge explosion that shook the entire square, whipping up strong winds that further pulverized the fallen rubbles to bits and gravel.
The two hung in mid-air, eyeing each other with enmity and anger. Man and corpse, living and the undead. They sent blows after blows at each other. And each time the Corpse sent a magic bolt of foul energy, Xiao Chen would reply with another similarly alike, but yet intrinsically distinctive bolt of magic to meet it. In matters of seconds, the crowds watching below felt something amiss. An invisible force was drawing them to the center of the square! A few unwary men lost their footing and were dragged into the center by gusts of vacuuming winds where they were shredded into smithereens! Then the others saw it: a powerful vortex! The cascades of explosions from Xiao Chen’s aerial battle had created a powerful vortex in their wake!
Everyone, the defenders of the Sect or the invaders of the Orthodox Realm, withdrew further to safety. Such was Xiao Chen’s present might; power that allowed him to fight as equals against the Corpse Puppet which was formerly one of the High Chieftains of the Corpse Refinery Sect.