Da Xuan Martial Saint

Xu Hongyu was now a prominent figure in the Bone Tempering Realm, and the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect posed little threat to her. Even if there were two or three Golden Corpses, she was no longer powerless to deal with them as before; she could at least retreat calmly. Chen Mu, therefore, wasn't too worried about her safety.

However, since he was already so close by, and since he had nothing else to attend to, he decided it wouldn't hurt to go take a look.

"Yue'er, I'm going to step out for a bit. You just stay here in the County Government," he said.

Chen Mu then called Chen Yue over and gave her those instructions.

Chen Yue was spending time with Song Miao and had brought her along as well. Although she was only eight years older than Song Miao, she was a whole generation ahead. Seeing the two girls holding hands as they came over, Chen Mu thought of Chen Yue and Yu Ru and couldn't help but secretly hope that this girl wouldn't turn out that way.

But then he immediately laughed at himself for such a bizarre thought.

After instructing Chen Yue, Chen Mu quietly left An Yu County, heading in the direction of Twin Dragon Mountain.

...

Twin Dragon Mountain.

Though called a mountain, it actually refers to a medium-sized mountain range. The mountain range is shaped somewhat like two intersecting flood dragons, hence its name. The mountains are evergreen, teeming with resources, and are surrounded by several villages that rely on the mountain for their livelihood.
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In a forest within the range, Xu Hongyu, dressed in the official uniform of the Deputy Governor of the Demon-Slaying Office, led two White-Clothed Guards and a group of Green-Clothed Guards through the woods.

Perched on the shoulder of one of the White-Clothed Guards was a small creature that resembled a squirrel. The little beast would occasionally move its nose to sniff the air, then paw at its surroundings with its tiny claws, discerning the direction within the forest.

"Miss, after we handle this one, we should almost be ready to head back, right?"

Lily, who was closely following Xu Hongyu, quietly spoke up to her side.

On this trip, Xu Hongyu had achieved remarkable battle honors. First, in the Purple Mist Mountains region, she had slain several of the Heavenly Corpse Sect's remnants, killed a large number of Silver Corpses, and also coordinated with others to eliminate several Golden Corpses.

Then, based on intelligence and dispatch orders, she pursued remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect far and wide, trailing them to An Yu County, where three had been discovered and exterminated by Xu Hongyu's team, with the current target being the fourth.

Of course.

Lily was not calculating Xu Hongyu's military achievements for this expedition, but rather, she was considering that her young lady's wedding was set for the beginning of spring, not much time remained, and by finishing this task and returning to Yu City, the timing would be just perfect.

"Yes, it is about time," Xu Hongyu replied, her expression still cool. She put so much effort into hunting down remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect mainly to find clues about her father Xu Yichuan's disappearance. But so far, she hadn't obtained any leads.

From what she had learned, the Heavenly Corpse Sect's remnants had been hiding in Yu County for nearly a century, and many of the disappearances in the region were connected to them. Although she was reluctant to consider it, it was something she was determined to investigate to the end.

"My lord, we're close now," one of the White-Clothed Guards said, stepping forward a few paces and speaking in a low voice to Xu Hongyu, as the squirrel-like creature on his shoulder grew agitated and rubbed its paws restlessly.

At this point, there was no need for a reminder from the White-Clothed Guard, as everyone had become alert. They could faintly detect an odor of corpse decay—tracking the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect usually involved following such scents.

A little farther ahead.

Xu Hongyu suddenly stopped in her tracks, raised her hand, and the Soft Sword fell into her grasp, her clear, cool gaze sweeping the surroundings as she said, "Come out, there's no need to hide anymore."

Following Xu Hongyu's words, a hoarse voice came from within the forest.

"Hey, why is it a woman who has come?"

Immediately afterward.

A gaunt, shriveled short figure stepped out from the shadows of the bushes in the distance. Even though it was broad daylight and they were far apart, one could see clearly that it was an old man with grizzled hair.

His sunken eyes held a pair of pitch-black, eerie pupils that swept over Lily and the others, eventually resting on Xu Hongyu. He seemed somewhat disappointed and sighed, "The Deputy Governor of the Demon-Slaying Office, eh? Then you must be in the Bone Tempering Realm. Not bad at all, but a woman... How am I supposed to use a woman for Corpse Refinement?"

The practice of Corpse Refinement inherently belongs to the Extreme Yin Nature. Although it's not impossible to refine a female corpse, the success rate is much lower than for male corpses, and the quality and strength of the resulting product often fall short of what can be achieved with males of the same level.

As these words were spoken.

The two White-Clothed Guards following Xu Hongyu both showed angry expressions, and one of them immediately scoffed, "On the brink of death and you still speak so brazenly. You remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect hide every day in the Land of Yin Sha—you must have addled your brains by now."

Upon hearing the White-Clothed Guard's words, the old man replied somberly, "Had I not deliberately let out some of my scent, how would you have found this place? Since I made you find me on purpose, haven't you realized who the real prey is?"

As the voice fell,

the soil in the forest suddenly churned, accompanied by a tremor of the earth.

In a flash, more than twenty Silver Corpses burst from the ground, completely surrounding the group, among them mingled two Golden Corpses with resplendent golden skin and thick corpse energy, terrifying in their momentum!

"Golden Corpses..."

Xu Hongyu's gaze slightly hardened, but she was not afraid.

She was no longer the person she had been, who had almost despaired when facing a Golden Corpse. Although Golden Corpses were not easy to handle, it was now broad daylight, which was when the refined corpses were at their weakest.

Whoosh!

Xu Hongyu didn't hesitate for long, immediately drawing her sword and striking at the two Golden Corpses.

Following Xu Hongyu's lead, Xiao He, along with many others from the Demon-Slaying Office, also took action, attacking the numerous Silver Corpses nearby, and the battle immediately became intense.

The forces from the Demon-Slaying Office, facing more than twenty Silver Corpses, didn't fall behind in the slightest in the fierce battle. Xiao He, fighting a Silver Corpse alone, surprisingly gained a slight upper hand. Although she had not yet reached the Tendon Changing Major Achievement, she always chose to hunt the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect during the day.

The dense forest blocked much of the sunlight, but as the trees fell during the fight, the scorching sun directly beamed down, greatly limiting the corpse energy of the Silver Corpses.

Meanwhile,

Xu Hongyu, with her own strength, managed to fight against the two Golden Corpses almost effortlessly.

If it had been night, she could barely fight one Golden Corpse, and against two, she would have to flee. But during the day, she feared nothing. Even the Golden Corpses, under the sun's limitation, would have significantly reduced strength and speed.

"This will work."

Xu Hongyu assessed the situation.

Although she was fighting two against one and couldn't take down the Golden Corpses, merely entangling with them, Xiao He and the others were gaining the upper hand. It wouldn't be long before they would kill all the Silver Corpses.

After that, whether they came to support her or directly attack the corpse controller's body, the situation would tilt in their favor. They held an absolute advantage!

However,

just at that moment,

the elder from the Heavenly Corpse Sect watching the situation on the field shook his head, narrowed his eyes towards the sun hanging high in the sky, and said, "You really chose a good time, taking advantage of the day. My Golden and Silver Corpses are more suppressed than I expected... Unfortunately, I don't really want to use 'that'."

As the voice fell,

an invisible energy suddenly spread from the elder's body.

Xu Hongyu, with her acute senses, noticed something wrong and quickly warned,

"Be careful!"

However, the opponent's move was more fierce and vicious than she had expected. A shadow emerged from deep underground, shrouded in a strange black mist, moving with terrifying speed, far surpassing a Golden Corpse.

The entire figure appeared behind a White-Clothed Guard in just a blur,

The White-Clothed Guard froze on the spot, his eyes slightly widening, with a large chunk of flesh visibly missing from his left waist and abdomen!

More horrifying was that the exposed flesh and organs at the wound were not of a normal color, but appeared completely rotten, exuding an awful stench.

This sudden attack shocked everyone present.

That White-Clothed Guard was a Tendon Changing Perfection level fighter, second in strength only to Xu Hongyu, especially during the midday when even facing a Golden Corpse alone wouldn't lead to an instant kill.

The shadow, enveloped in strange black mist, was clearly more powerful than a Golden Corpse. They had experienced a large-scale melee with the remnants of the Heavenly Corpse Sect in the Purple Mist Mountains before and were no strangers to such shadows; they knew exactly what it was.

"An Evil Corpse!"

Someone spoke with a trembling voice, turning pale.