The black-robed young man stared at Ling Han. This young man could not possibly exceed eighteen years old in age, and was only in the first layer of Element Gathering Tier. Then how was it possible that he would immediately think of the Thousand Corpse Sect when he heard the words 'Bronze-Armored Corpse'?
Strange!
His name was Rong Huan Xuan, and he bore a blood feud on his shoulders. He was forced into desperate straits by another, but then there appeared a huge turnaround in his life. He had obtained the inheritance of the Thousand Corpse Sect and became the heir of the sect even after it had vanished for so many generations. To obtain his vengeance, he dug up the skeletal remains of one of the ancestors of his enemy's clan, refined them to become his Corpse Soldier and eliminated the entirety of his enemy's clan.
He had obtained his revenge, but he had also fallen captive to this feeling of being mighty. Not only had he not given up on this twisted path, he had instead ventured further and further along it. He began to cultivate his own Corpse Soldiers and search for new corpses to likewise transform and develop them.
"Young man, you know too much!" Rong Huan Xuan pointed, and that Corpse Soldier that had been devouring blood and flesh immediately stood up and stared at Ling Han and the rest.
This was an old corpse of unknown age. The flesh around its chest was long rotted, revealing the bones inside. However, the flesh on its head, hands, and feet was quite well-preserved and only half-rotted. But this only made it even more terrifying as lumps of flesh were just hanging there, faintly revealing the white of the bones underneath. It was terrifying enough to scare anyone with lesser bravery to death.
The Corpse Soldier had of course lost all sentience. However, after being refined, it was equivalent to it having gained a second life—though it was only left with the instinctive need to devour blood and flesh in order to strengthen itself. Now that its meal had been interrupted, it was naturally enraged, and moaned at Ling Han and the others. Its chin made a ba da da da sound, as if it was about to fall off at any moment, making for an extremely terrifying sight.
"Kill them!" Rong Huan Xuan issued his command.
Xiu , that Corpse Soldier instantly leaped over, charging towards Ling Han and the others.
"A mere second tier Bronze-Armored Corpse!" Ling Han humphed. His sword left its scabbard and stabbed towards that Corpse Soldier. With a ting , the blade scraped against the bones in the chest of the Corpse Soldier, creating a line of fiery sparks.
The bones of the Corpse Soldier actually remained unscathed, which was outside of Ling Han's expectations.
"Hahahaha. This second tier Bronze-Armored Corpse soldier has just about consumed enough flesh and blood and is about to evolve to the third tier, so how could it be so easily injured by a piece of trash in the first layer of Element Gathering Tier like you?" Rong Huan Xuan said coldly, making no move to interfere.
In truth, he was in Gushing Spring Tier. If he decided to make a move, then he would definitely be much stronger than the second tier Bronze-Armored Corpse.
Shua , that Corpse Soldier stretched out a clawed hand towards Ling Han's heart. Its movements were vicious and deadly.
Ling Han humphed, and his figure swayed, actually avoiding that Corpse Soldier and coming face to face with Rong Huan Xuan.
"Then I will—" he jumped high up—"directly"—his sword slashed out—"kill you!" Six flashes of Sword Qi appeared in a dance towards him.
This slash was lithe and graceful, and had completely exceeded Rong Huan Xuan's imagination. How could it have possibly circled around a second tier Bronze-Armored Corpse and appeared right in front of him? When he snapped out of it, that sword together with the might of six flashes of Sword Qi had appeared right in front of him.
One had to understand that although Ling Han appeared to be only in the first layer of Element Gathering Tier, his real ability was on the level of the first layer of Gushing Spring Tier. Moreover, his battle prowess was even a few more Battle Stars above that. How could his attack be so easily blocked by a mere second tier Bronze-Armored Corpse?
Rong Huan Xuan had paid the price for his underestimation of Ling Han.
But he was also a person who had crawled out of desperate straits and had a formidable will of his own. In the face of danger, he had instead become extremely calm. He suddenly opened his mouth and released a shrill whistle.
Weng, weng, weng. He actually sprayed out a puff of black smoke from his mouth, which transformed into an ancient letter that blocked the power of the slash, as if it had transformed into a shield. Peng , the might of the sword had reached its target, yet it continued to release muffled sounds, as it was actually being melted by that black smoke.
However, that ancient letter was also disappearing slowly. By the time the Sword Qi was completely destroyed, that ancient letter also swiftly vanished.
Rong Huan Xuan had already retreated thirty feet away. A faint flush had appeared on his face and he looked a little bit more healthier than before, but the killing intent in his eyes was also considerably stronger, as if he wanted to swallow Ling Han whole.
"Source Corpse Qi?" Ling Han gave a flourish of his sword, and said with a little bit of pity, "I never thought that a mere martial artist in the fifth layer of Gushing Spring Tier like you would have managed to form Source Corpse Qi." Otherwise, he would have used the Three Styles of Black Origin rather than attacking so casually like he had done just now.
"You even know about Source Corpse Qi?" Rong Huan Xuan appeared to be extremely shocked.
Ling Han had guessed that he was the heir to the Thousand Corpse Sect through the appearance of the Bronze-Armored Corpse. This was still easy to accept, because the Thousand Corpse Sect had been very "well-known" in the past, so they must have left behind a considerable amount of inheritance.
However, Source Corpse Qi… This was the secret technique of the Thousand Corpse Sect. If it was not someone who was extremely familiar with the Thousand Corpse Sect, there was no way he would know about it.
Ling Han smiled calmly, and said, "You are already about to die anyways, so what's the point of spouting so much nonsense?"
Rong Huan Xuan looked enraged at this. He was an elite in the fifth layer of Gushing Spring Tier. He had only fallen to Ling Han's attack previously because he had not expected that Ling Han would be so powerful, so how could he possibly make the same mistake a second time?
"You are indeed a bit strange. You are obviously in the first layer of Element Gathering Tier, yet your ability is comparable to the first layer of the Gushing Spring Tier." He nodded in admission, then smirked coldly. "But I am in the fifth layer of Gushing Spring Tier, and it would be extremely easy for me to subdue you!"
"Is that so?" When Ling Han had been in the fourth layer of Element Gathering Tier, he had not cowered in front of an elite of the first layer of Gushing Spring Tier. Now that he was in the tenth layer of Element Gathering Tier, he would naturally not fear a battle with an opponent in the fifth layer of Gushing Spring Tier.
"Since a second tier Bronze-Armored Corpse can do nothing against you, then what about a third-tiered one?" Rong Huan Xuan laughed. He pulled sharply with his right hand. Qiang, qiang, qiang. The crisp sound of chains was heard, as if something heavy was being dragged out, and shockingly, there appeared three copper coffins.
"Three corpses?" Ling Han's eyes turned apprehensive, and he could not help but frown. "I've never thought you'd actually manage to cultivate three corpses!"
Every disciple of the Thousand Corpse Sect used Corpse Soldiers as their main weapon, and in theory, the more Corpse Soldiers one had, the better it was. But in truth, there was a limited number of Corpse Soldiers that could be controlled by every disciple.
Because after the Corpse Soldier had been successfully refined, it was equivalent to having obtained a second life. Though it was only left with bloodthirsty instincts, it was also violent and vicious, so how could it be willing to remain under the control of another? The disciples of the Thousand Corpse Sect needed to use their Source Corpse Qi to control the Corpse Soldiers, but it was extremely difficult to form Source Corpse Qi. Thus, there was of course a limit to the number of Corpse Soldiers one could control.
Ordinarily, those in Element Gathering Tier could only control one, those in Gushing Spring Tier could control two, and only when one reached Spiritual Ocean Tier could he control three.
Rong Huan Xuan was only in the fifth layer of Gushing Spring Tier, yet he had somehow cultivated three Corpse Soldiers. This was extremely strange.
Ling Han was shocked, and Rong Huan Xuan was even more astonished, because Ling Han was even aware of the limitations of cultivating Corpse Soldiers! The reason why he could cultivate three corpses was because he had obtained the whole inheritance of the Thousand Corpse Sect, which included a prized treasure. This was what allowed him to cultivate an additional Corpse Soldier in Gushing Spring Tier, and as his cultivation level advanced, the number of Corpse Soldiers he would be able to control would increase further and further, and be double the number any ordinary disciple of Thousand Corpse Sect would be capable of controlling.
He humphed, and declared, "You are extremely strange, and I must eliminate you!" He clapped a hand onto the copper coffin in the middle, and peng , the lid of the coffin was instantly flung away as yet another Corpse Soldier leaped out of the coffin.
"Third tier Bronze-Armored Corpse!" he declared haughtily.