The Blade-Wielding Legend

Deep in Wild Wolf Valley, the chaotic claw prints in the snow extended into the withered forest.

Wang Daoxuan crouched and picked up a small pinch of dark red powder he found, bringing it close to his nose and wrinkling his brow: "Vermillion used for blood rituals mixed with bone powder, also laced with rooster crest blood—it’s a Shaman’s formula for breaking filth, but this smell is malicious."

Afterward, the Turtle Shell Compass in his palm buzzed and trembled, the pointer firmly fixed on the northeast depths of the ravine.

"Pursue!" Li Yan immediately ordered.

Twelve men with thirty elite cavalry rushed along the ravine.

The deeper they went, the more twisted the withered trees became, like ghostly claws.

The bark retained carved and twisted runes, some of which seeped dark red.

Wu Ba touched one of them with his Meteor Iron Fist Gloves, and the bark oozed sticky black blood.

"Live wood nurturing evil," Wang Daoxuan’s expression was grave, "This whole forest has been refined into an array eye."

Half a day later, they broke into a shady mountain hollow.

The sight before them made several young soldiers among the elite cavalry’s stomachs churn.

Seven bodies hung from the branches of an old locust tree, all wearing Five Immortals Hall standard gray robes, but the robes were torn and tattered.

The necks of the corpses all bore deep bite marks to the bone, as if chewed by beasts.

"Something’s wrong!"

A master from the Five Immortals Hall parted the clothing of one corpse, revealing the skin on its chest.

The skin was covered in dark blue patterns, the patterns winding like roots plunging into the heart.

He frowned and said, "This is the ’Spirit Communication Pattern’ of an Out-of-Horse Disciple, it should be vermillion, but now it’s all reversed."

Before the words fell, the "corpse" hanging on the outermost suddenly opened its eyes!

Its eyes were cloudy white like cooked fish eyes, making strange "hoho" sounds in its throat, and suddenly broke the branches to pounce down.

At the same time, the other six "corpses" all sprang up!

"Fall back!" Li Yan shouted fiercely, his left hand pinching the Thunder Array Seal, his right hand brandishing the Duan Chen Blade, slicing the oncoming creature in half directly.

Wu Ba stepped forward with an arrow-like speed, the "Mountain Clinging" strike of his Baji Fist crashing into the disciple’s chest.

A muffled sound like a drum, the opponent’s ribs were shattered, flying back to crash against the locust tree.

But not two breaths later, that guy struggled to rise again, his broken bones piercing through his skin showing white without feeling pain, instead grinning grotesquely.

They were still alive, but their actions were no different from a Walking Corpse.

"The Divine Soul has been tainted!"

Wang Daoxuan furrowed his brow, quickly making a judgment, "Pain sensation cut off, five senses confused—it’s the ’Enchanting Soul’ spell from the Out of the Horse Immortal, but with a more wicked technique, stirring the three souls and seven spirits into a mess!"

At that moment, the entire mountain hollow came alive.

From behind the withered trees, among chaotic rocks, even from beneath the snow, more than twenty gray shadows emerged in succession, all disciples of the Dark Five Immortals.

Their eyes were frenzied, some crawled on all fours like beasts, some tilted their heads at eerie angles, others had fingernails growing three inches long, clawing at their own face to form bloody scars yet not stopping.

"Form a circle array!" a Mystical Sect Cultivator surnamed Zhao from Dragon and Tiger Mountain shouted urgently.

Three Mystical Sect Cultivators quickly stood back to back, each wielding a Peach Wood Sword, a Copper Coin Sword, and a Seven Stars Flag.

The elite cavalry captain also ordered the soldiers to raise the bamboo shields, firearms sticking out from the gaps.

But these madmen followed no order.

One person took on a long rifle piercing through his abdomen, allowing the gun stock to protrude from his back, yet both hands clung tightly to the edge of the bamboo shield, suddenly lunging forward to bite the wrist of the soldier holding it! Another stealthily emerged from the snow beside the array and sprang at the Maoshan Cultivator, spraying out a jet of black smoke.

The cultivator hurriedly held his breath and dodged sideways, the black smoke brushed past his cheek, instantly corrupting and blackening the skin and flesh.

Screams, roars, and the clashing of metal and iron mixed into one.

Li Yan stepped swiftly, his figure like light and shadow, the Duan Chen Blade flashing, leaving a ground full of scattered limbs.

Sha Lifei fired his firearms in rapid succession, each shot accurately exploding a head.

But even with heads blasted open, the headless bodies still flapped on instinct, only when Wu Ba shattered their spines with his Meteor Iron Fist Gloves did they completely collapse.

The fierce battle lasted a quarter of an hour.

The snowy ground was littered with incomplete bodies, and the thick scent of blood was pervasive.

Three Mystical Sect Cultivators slumped to the ground, their faces ashen.

The Zhao-surnamed cultivator’s right shoulder had a chunk of flesh bitten off, the wound black with a gaseous aura; the Maoshan cultivator’s half face was corroded, trembling as he sprinkled glutinous rice to draw out the poison; while a disciple from the Lao Mountain Sect had his abdomen sliced open by claws, intestines nearly spilling, hurriedly pressed down with Golden Sore Medicine by a fellow disciple.

Li Yan scanned the battlefield, his gaze fixed on the lone wooden hut deep in the hollow.

The wooden hut was dilapidated, with a door panel half-collapsed.

The scene inside was even more eerie—a half-human-high stone idol stood in the center.

The stone idol was rough and simple, vaguely resembling a human form but without facial details, its surface covered in natural holes.

On the altar before the stone idol were placed three shriveled heads, each skull top bore an opening, the brains scooped out to use as lamp oil, the burning flames casting a ghastly green light.

Around the altar lay scattered beast bones, bird feathers, colorful cloth strips, and a pile of clay figurines, each pierced with fine needles.

Sha Lifei used the gun barrel to poke the clay figurine, revealing engraved names at the bottom:

"Royal Capital Guardian General Cui," "Governor of Yizhou Prefecture Jin," "Liaodong Scout Camp Captain Liu"—all were notable military and political figures from the Goryeo frontline.

"It’s the Curse Killing Technique!"

Wang Daoxuan crouched to examine closely, "Combined with skull lighting, this is meant to curse and kill these people’s three souls remotely, but the method is ancient."

Li Yan reached out to touch the stone idol.

As his fingertip touched the stone surface, a cold and slick sensation shot up his arm, and in his mind flashed shattered images:

An endless forest, bonfire rituals, beast-skin-clad ancestors dancing around similar stone idols, chanting songs in strange tones... but the images were soon covered by another pungent incense aura, which tried to worm its way into his Divine Sense like a living creature.

He quickly withdrew his hand, and from the natural holes on the surface of the stone idol oozed dark red liquid.

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