Chapter 250: Thousand Corpses Ridge of Mount Hengduan!

Chapter 250: Thousand Corpses Ridge of Mount Hengduan!

Atamu’s face changed drastically, and his complexion turned haggard as deathly qi surged forth. Suddenly, the surrounding walking corpses rushed to block in front of him.

Crack!

Crack!

Their bodies fused together, and their limbs and torsos intertwined, gradually forming into a terrifying giant.

Li Yanchu’s expression remained grim, then he swung his saber backhanded without hesitation. The tip of the saber traced a crescent-shaped arc through the air, instantly cutting down the giant before it had even fully formed. At this time, the two masses of flesh and blood squirmed incessantly, yet no matter how they writhed, they could not merge back together.

This was the wondrous effect of the Jiaoslayer; it was a bane to flashy, sinister corpse-crafting tricks.

Seeing this, Atamu was struck with panic and desperately cast spells, but those two heaps of corpse flesh still could not fuse.

Then, with a flash of saber-light, Atamu’s head rolled to the ground, and blood gushed forth in a crimson spray.

Li Yanchu’s strike was ruthless; he had no patience for letting the enemy power up their ultimate move. Of course, there were times he would let them do so, just so he could kill them in overwhelming fashion afterward. But that was only for showing off, and he wasn’t in the mood for that right now.

From the moment Li Yanchu smashed open the massive stone gate weighing tens of thousands of catties to the moment Atamu was slain, it had taken hardly any time at all. With that, the carefully laid scheme that this shaman priest of the Shaman Sect had been working on in secret for so long was now completely shattered.

By this time, the people of Han Fortress finally arrived outside the stone chamber. When they saw the massive stone door violently forced open, they were startled. But when they entered the stone chamber itself, their shock turned to horror.

On the ground lay two horrific lumps of flesh, seemingly the fused remains of many human corpses. They kept trying to inch toward each other, yet were blocked by some strange force, utterly unable to merge. It looked both terrifying and absurd!

Inside the grim stone chamber, a young Daoist radiated an aura like the blazing sun, carrying a righteous, awe-inspiring presence that made none dare to look him in the eye.

***

The lord of Han Fortress was revived by Li Yanchu using Daoist spiritual energy. He had merely been afflicted with puppet sorcery and placed under Atamu’s control. He was not a treacherous or vicious man, nor was he entangled in the resentful energy of the dead.

Truly heinous villains always carried the lingering resentment of those they had slain, their bodies steeped in a baleful aura of blood. Under the art of Qi Sight, there was no hiding such a thing, and the lord of Han Fortress was clearly nothing of the sort.

Right before the eyes of the Han Fortress people, Li Yanchu burned the two masses of corpse flesh with pure yang inner force.

For slaying Atamu, Li Yanchu gained another 5,300 merit points! The walking corpses had each contributed their small share toward that total.

***

In the main hall, the lord of Han Fortress once again bowed to Li Yanchu in thanks. “If not for your intervention, my daughter and I would both have lost our lives to villains! I will never forget such great kindness and virtue until my dying day!”

Li Yanchu waved a hand dismissively. “The clue to the Heavenly Palace of Myriad Phenomena you just told me about is extremely important, as it concerns the safety of a friend of mine. With that, we owe each other nothing. There’s no need for further thanks.”

The lord of Han Fortress had just mentioned that he had once received word that the Heavenly Palace of Myriad Phenomena might have appeared at Thousand Corpses Ridge in Mount Hengduan.

But he had dismissed it as nonsense. After all, the Celestial Palace was nothing more than a legend, so he had never taken it seriously. Later, in his pursuit of immortality, he fell into demonic obsession, gradually losing his sanity, and became ensnared by Atamu’s sorcery.

Confined within a circle he himself had drawn inside the stone chamber, he became a living corpse, and the matter was left unresolved.

Moreover, Thousand Corpses Ridge was said to be unimaginably dangerous. Rumor had it that countless dead were buried beneath it, and the living must not enter. It was one of the great terrors beyond the frontier, and even those who knew of it would never dare approach.

Li Yanchu did not continue traveling with Meng Hai and the others. Instead, he chose to head directly for Mount Hengduan. In his hands now was a map drawn over generations by the Han family, with the location of Thousand Corpses Ridge clearly marked.

Such a map was not something anyone would normally make, as it consumed tremendous time and effort. The land beyond the frontier was a harsh, bitter cold region, rife with dangers. Creating such a map would demand unfathomable toil and dedication, and it could not be completed in a single generation. It was one of the Han family’s treasured possessions, and it was now given to Li Yanchu, along with his payment.

Having found a lead, Li Yanchu no longer hesitated. Following the map, he set out toward Mount Hengduan.

To avoid encountering tornadoes, sandstorms, and other forces of heaven and earth, Li Yanchu did not use his immortal body to ride the clouds. Instead, he employed his ultimate movement technique, darting through the wilderness toward Mount Hengduan.

With his current physique and the flow of his qi, his speed was not only astonishingly fast but also remarkably enduring, making him well-suited for long-distance assaults.

The Shaman Sect people who had exited the frontier from Beifeng Prefecture moved at a pace not much slower than if he had ridden the clouds, so they must have had their own special methods.

***

At Mount Hengduan was a majestic sacred mountain rising into the clouds and stretching without end. Its peak was shrouded in eternal snow and pierced by a relentless chill. It was a vast mountain beyond the frontier, famed as a place “where even birds could not cross.”

Thousand Corpses Ridge was one of the most infamous places within Mount Hengduan, and all manner of terrifying frontier legends were linked to Thousand Corpses Ridge, such as colossal headless giants, savage wild gods with the upper bodies of beautiful women and the lower bodies of bird talons, corpse-hunting hounds that fed exclusively on the brains of the dead, and conjoined infant spirits...

The fear of Thousand Corpses Ridge was etched into the very bones of every frontier dweller. Even the most skilled hunters would never enter it to hunt, as it would simply be a death wish to do so. If they brought back something unclean from there, it could wipe out an entire village.

Thus, there were usually no signs of human life within Thousand Corpses Ridge. Yet at this moment, the place was in utter chaos. A lone figure darted past, with several shadows whistling through the air in pursuit, and a young girl of delicate beauty was fleeing in panic.

Three or four sharp white-feathered arrows were embedded in her body, stained with blood. One arm hung limply at her side with fresh blood dripping steadily from her fingertips. A ghastly wound marked her waist, nearly cutting her in half. What was worse, the wound was still festering, exuding a foul stench. It was hard to imagine how anyone could still be running and leaping with such grievous injuries, let alone a girl of merely fifteen or sixteen.

Behind her, two brawny barbarians gave chase. Their muscles bulged like coiled steel, each wielding an iron-limbed war bow and a sharp curved saber. Their faces were tattooed, their expressions savage and barbaric.

One of them had two severed human heads hanging from his waist—one was an elderly crone with snow-white hair, the other a boy of only eleven or twelve. Both faces were frozen in terror, their eyes refusing to close even in death. Such cruel methods resembled the customs of certain tribes that counted military merit by collecting human heads.

But to kill even the elderly and children was savagery beyond measure, a complete absence of humanity.

Whoosh!

One of the barbarians drew and loosed an arrow, and the white-feathered shaft tore through the air straight toward the girl’s back. In her hand, the girl carried a long, heavy weapon of war, a wolf-tooth club.

This brutal battlefield weapon with its spiked head was rarely used even by the strongest warriors on the front lines. In the

jianghu

, it was almost unheard of. In the hands of such a delicate-looking girl, it appeared utterly out of place, mismatched with her slender frame.

At the sound of the arrow whistling through the air, the girl didn’t even glance back. She simply spun around and swung the wolf-tooth club, thereafter the white-feathered arrow, fierce enough to pierce solid rock, was smashed out of the air with a single blow.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The two barbarians seized the opening as she swung her weapon, loosing their arrows in quick succession. The heavy iron-limbed bows could only be drawn by men of great strength, yet these two fired three shots in rapid succession.

Chain Arrows!