Emerald Alchemist, Ch 22: Elder Corpsewind (Patreon)

Screaming faces appeared in the cold wind around the sect elder, howling with fury as his attention fell on Verse. The aura made the entire cavern feel like it had turned into a graveyard. It suppressed other spiritual energy and shadows warped where it passed, giving rise to the image of tombstones that grew from the earth like grey branching fingers.

Shadows elongated on the walls, stretching away as the grey wind continued to blow and bringing an eerie feeling of cold death and crumbling stone. The shadows crawled along the walls with grasping tendrils like a dead man’s hair.

The elder’s dao was one of gravestones or something like the grasp of a corpse. It was unpleasant and Verse’s flames rushed to the surface of his skin in response, leaping outward to keep it from touching him.

His nature demanded that he burn away the cold aura around him, but under the suppression of the aura, his flames couldn’t go any farther than the surface of his skin. All he could do was keep it from touching him. The elder’s aura was a heavy weight pressing down on the area.

Despite that, Verse’s expression was calm as he looked at the elder and the two assassins, waiting for them to act. This wasn’t going to be easy, but he’d prepared for it.

Two peak Aligned realm assassins was more than he’d hoped would accompany the Primal Spirit cultivator, but it was still within his calculations. It just meant it was going to be more difficult than he wanted. The sect was trying to guarantee his death.

This was probably the peak force the sect could send against him without mobilizing their entire organization. It was almost an honor. The thought sent an amused glint across his eyes.

He had prepared a lot of things for this fight.

It was time to see if they were enough.

This was the strongest array of enemies he’d encountered so far, basically a two-on-one fight if he counted each of those assassins as a half. The sect elder was a full Primal Spirit cultivator, which meant his techniques would be on the same level as Verse’s physique and able to injure him.

The elder wasn’t in a rush as he looked around, taking in everything in the cavern. Arrogance rolled off him, showing that he thought everything was in the palm of his hand.

He studied Verse for a moment without any expression. He didn’t look impressed, nor was he trying to hide his killing intent. It filled the cold wind that came from him with jagged blades.

Instead of speaking, his attention settled on the serpent’s corpse. He spent a minute or so studying it, both the giant body and the head that was lying off to the side. Then he raised an eyebrow.

“A Dark Obsidian Serpent,” he said. His voice was the complete opposite of his aura. It was strong and vigorous, full of confidence. “I didn’t expect to see that here. Is this what finally lured you out of town, knight? As they say, birds die for food and men die for wealth. Perhaps this trip will not be such a waste after all.”

He chuckled, but the sound came across strange against the background of his aura. Instead of making him seem friendly, it was eerie. As the sound touched the shadows, it twisted into two parts, becoming grating on one side and a strange howl on the other, like a midnight howl over graves, but the elder didn’t pay it any attention.

He just turned his attention to Verse.

“It’s beneath me to come here and kill someone who is not even at the Aligned realm,” he said with a frown, “but the sect demanded it. You can count it as your honor. Let it not be said that I disrespected an Imperial Knight.”

He let out a harsh laugh.

“You’re clearly not weak, even though I can’t see where your strength is coming from. Avoiding our assassins for so long proves that, not to mention the ones you killed. I am interested in how you did that, and in how you blocked their talismans from returning to the sect.” The elder shook his head.

“I can tell you’re only at the peak of Essence Condensation, so I’m curious how you managed to kill this serpent, which was clearly at the peak of the Aligned realm. Beasts like that are strong, especially this species. It would have given even me some trouble. Was it an artifact perhaps, or a talisman?

“Out of respect for your great imperial title and impressing me,” he continued sarcastically, “I’ll give you a choice. Tell me your secrets and hand over the beast core from this serpent without ruining it. Then I’ll give you a quick death. Otherwise, it will be slow and painful.”

“There is no need to make bargains.” Verse shook his head. The elder’s words didn’t change his expression, except to make him smile slightly. “You won’t be getting the serpent’s core, nor anything else. I assume you have some sort of status in the sect. Tell me, isn’t it beneath the dignity of a Primal Spirit cultivator to act like a common thief? Without those robes you’re wearing, I wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.”

His words were mocking.

The sect had tried to kill him twice already. This was the third. He had no intention of allowing them to leave here. It would just be creating trouble for the future.

With a flick of his hand, a soul talisman flew away from his arm. It was focused around two bright red runes that roared with fire. The draconic words for “Flame” and “Seal” were fused into its foundation, lending it strength that resonated with the natural world.

When the talisman reached the entrance to the cavern, it expanded into a barrier of flame and sealed the exit. Crimson-gold lines of force covered the opening with leaping flames as it began to draw energy from the flames in the walls, growing stronger by the second.

Within moments, the exit was sealed by a dense barrier that would give even a Primal Spirit cultivator some trouble. With the combination of the draconic language and his Dao of Fire, as well as support from the fiery energy of this place, the talisman was much stronger than normal.

It was also directly opposed to the sect’s ghost cultivation techniques, so it would be harder for them to break through it.

“I don’t know where you’re getting your confidence from, but it’s not going to help you.” The elder glanced at the entrance and shook his head. He wasn’t bothered by the barrier. “Even a Primal Spirit-level talisman like that isn’t going to save your life. You’re just delaying the inevitable.”

He raised an eyebrow before he turned back to Verse.

“I am Elder Corpsewind of the Crimson Shade Sect. Enemies who die at my hand become part of my aura and serve me for eternity. It will be your honor to join them.”

As he spoke, howling ghosts rose out of the wind blowing around him. There were hundreds of them. Their features were twisted and thin, with wide jaws filled with fanged shadows.

Smaller ghosts were trapped inside those jaws, screaming as they fought to get out. They were the source of the howling that filled the cavern.

The ghosts surged toward Verse, their bodies stretching out like tangled branches. Their hands were tipped with claws as long as sabers and they held a deadly chill as they reached for him.

If they struck, the wounds they made would be spiritual as much as physical. They were also filled with corpse poison that would try to petrify his flesh and corrode his bones.

This elder was no joke.

Fortunately, the two assassins weren’t moving yet. They probably didn’t want to insult the elder by interfering with his attack.

The howls of the ghosts grew louder as the aura pressed toward him, filling the space in every direction.

Normally, he would have burned away the aura with his own, but under the suppression of the elder, his flames could only protect him at a short distance.

Without hesitating, he pulled out a handful of things: a half a dozen Cleansing Rain Pills, a defensive talisman at the Primal Spirit realm, and an Amethyst Harrow Pill. He tossed all of the pills into his mouth as he jumped to the far side of the cavern and put as much space between him and the ghosts as possible.

Corpsewind didn’t bother saying anything else. He just waved his hand, which had transformed to look like a gruesome skeletal claw, and sent the tide of ghosts hurtling faster toward Verse.

With the bit of space he gained from dodging, Verse let the energy from the pills dissolve through his body, starting with the Cleansing Rain Pills. He trusted in their effectiveness and his own constitution, but they were only Rank 1, so he decided to get ahead of the curve by using a lot of them.

The poison looked unpleasant.

He activated the talisman, surrounding himself with a dense layer of steely grey light. The defense was aligned to Metal and the shield was half a meter thick. It wouldn‘t hold up forever, but it should be able to take a few of the elder’s attacks before disintegrating.

Then he let the Amethyst Harrow Pill dissolve. It flowed through his body in a rage of dragon fire and poured out of his skin, surrounding him in a field of amethyst flames that surged out against the elder’s suppression.

It only gained a short distance more than his own flames, just enough to cross outside the talisman’s shield, but where the amethyst flames met the tide of ghosts that were reaching toward him, howling screams resounded.

The ghosts’ claws melted away in the face of the pill’s aura and they shrieked as they drew back. It was like they’d met their antithesis.

If the pill had been a higher rank, it might have washed the ghosts away in an instant, but since it wasn’t, their claws only disintegrated when they came within range, marking out a clear space about a meter around Verse.

The pill’s energy boiled through his veins as it rushed out, but it was being quickly consumed by the number of ghosts. It meant he needed to move.

“You won’t be able to survive with pills and talismans forever!” Corpsewind was incensed. It was an insult to him as a Primal Spirit cultivator that Verse survived for even a moment in front of him, and he was determined to correct it, even if he had to attack directly.

“Now die!”

He reached out with his skeletal hand, which grew in size as it stretched across the cavern. It turned into a grasping claw of bone ten feet across that was surrounded by a cold and poisonous white mist. The tips of the fingers were jagged bone spikes.

It looked like a hand of the dead was stretching across the cavern.

At the same time, the elder’s aura intensified. Grey winds blew around the hand, swirling like fog above tombstones. The pressure on the room doubled, making the ghosts howl in fury as they swarmed toward Verse, charging into the amethyst flames.

They screamed as they burned, but the flames weren’t strong enough to eliminate them immediately. They piled on, trying to freeze him in a deathly chill as the elder’s hand approached.

It was difficult for Verse to move under the pressure. Even with his strength at the Primal Spirit realm, the ghosts were weighing down on him like a frozen river. The amethyst flames raged as they burned them on every side, but the pill’s energy couldn’t keep up with the numbers that were pressing in.

This was one of the problems with facing ghost cultivators. They stored up strength from the spirits of all the enemies they’d defeated, making them stronger than normal if you gave them a chance to activate everything.

If he had his own Primal Spirit aura to counter the elder’s, it wouldn’t have been as problematic, but he only had his pills and talismans to help, and they weren’t quite up to the task. He only managed to move a few steps to the side before the elder’s attack arrived.

The bony hand closed around him in a crushing grasp, making the world shake like it had been struck by a giant hammer. The sharp fingers dented the edges of the talisman shield and made it crumple inward.

For the moment, the attack was blocked, but it made Verse stagger to the side as he let out a growl. The talisman shield was holding and he could move slowly, but it was like lifting a mountain with each step.

He quickly grabbed two more Amethyst Harrow Pills and ate them to fuel his waning aura. The amethyst flames surged, roaring outward with fury as they worked to incinerate the ghosts.

Immediately, some of the pressure they’d brought to bear fell away, giving him the chance to fight.

There were lines of soul talismans rotating around his arms, and with a quick flick of his hand, he sent three of them to support the defensive talisman around him. Draconic runes for Flame and Shield fused into the steel-grey light, giving it an inner layer made of crimson flame.

Emerald flames surged up from his skin as he pulled out the Flowing Gold Spear. Around his neck, he hung a small ruby shield. It was the defensive artifact he’d taken from the first set of assassins, and it seemed appropriate to use it now.

The pressure around him increased as the elder scowled and tightened his grip. Sections of his shield began to melt away, hissing as they were corroded by the poisonous mist around the claw. The fingers began to slice through the layer of steely light, heading for his chest.

Verse ignored the attack as he sprinted forward, tearing at the air in front of him with the golden spear. Given the difference in their auras, he couldn’t stay at a distance. He had to get close.

The elder’s hand was still outstretched and it dragged on him, but Verse was too strong to be held back by a single hand. Crimson and emerald flames wrapped around his spear as he leapt across the cavern floor and stabbed toward the elder’s heart.

“Fool!” the elder shouted as he raised his other hand to block. A glowing white mist shield appeared in front of him, just an instant before Verse slammed into it.

The spear pierced deep into the mist, tearing a massive gouge out of it, but a moment later, the elder jerked the bony hand holding Verse to the side, releasing its grasp as it hurled him across the cavern.

Verse flew out like a ballista bolt and slammed into the far wall with a massive boom. The wall shuddered as cracks ran through the obsidian and a sheet of loose rubble fell free. The shield around him took the brunt of the attack, but the shock of the impact rattled his bones.

He slid to the ground, where he growled as he forced himself straight again. The shield around him was flickering on its last legs.

“A talisman is only a talisman,” Corpsewind snapped from across the cavern. “It might give you the strength to face me for a moment, but soon it will crumble. Then I will rip out your soul and feed it to my ghosts. Count yourself lucky to have these last few moments.”

He was irritated that Verse had blocked even one of his attacks. With that, he reached across the distance again. Ghosts howled as another skeletal claw shot toward Verse.

This time, Verse didn’t plan to let the ghostly aura trap him. The flames of the Amethyst Harrow Pills were still burning strong and he leapt forward again.

This time, however, he didn’t head for Corpsewind. He charged straight toward the two Aligned realm assassins behind him. They’d been quiet until now, unwilling to interfere with Corpsewind’s attacks, but that wouldn’t last for long.

It was best to take them out of the picture and reduce the variables.

When they saw him coming, however, they instantly split up. They weren’t planning to just stand there and let him attack. They shot quick glances at the elder as they moved away, waiting for his command.

“Kill him.” Corpsewind’s order rang out. He was furious that his initial strike hadn’t killed Verse, but he wasn’t stupid. “Don’t hold back.”

Now that he’d been reminded of his other assets, he was going to make use of them.

The two assassins instantly spread out to the sides, trying to flank Verse. All around them, a blood red mist poured out into the cavern. It hissed in the air as it gave off a faint stench of blood and decay that spread through the area.

Just from its appearance, it was a much stronger poison than the ones he’d seen the assassins use before. It had to be the sect’s real blood mist technique, capable of ripping out the blood and life from whomever it touched.

Verse pivoted in place, targeting the assassin on his left, and continued to rush forward. This time, emerald flames surged out around him, bolstering his strength and increasing his speed.

Even with the talismans and pills to help, he needed everything his bloodline could offer. There was no point in holding back. A powerful roar echoed around him as he closed in and brought the spear down.

The assassin tried to dodge, but his cultivation was at the Aligned realm and compared to Verse, his movements were as clear as day. He was only able to slide to the side before the spear arrived.

The point was covered with a blade of emerald light that pierced through the assassin’s chest and tore a massive hole. Then Verse’s knee arrived, slamming upward into the man’s stomach and hurling him backward off the spear like a meteor.

The assassin’s body was nearly broken in half. He flew through the air and crashed into the far wall, where he slid down in a lifeless heap.

Crackling red talismans and a grey mist exploded upward from his bones, just like from the ones Verse killed before, but they were only another cloud of poison in a cavern that was already filled with it.

The talismans flared like dark stars as they searched for an escape route back to the sect, but this far down in the earth, the spiritual pressure of the chasm was as strong as a protective ward.

After an instant, they burned out and turned to dust that rained down on the floor.

The attack was successful, but the time it took to execute meant Verse was standing in the same spot. It was a window of opportunity for his enemies.

The other assassin raced forward with two dark blades in his hands. The blood mist around him surged at the same time, creating an arc that cut off Verse’s escape.

Verse spun in place, his spear lashing out to meet the blades. The weapons collided in an explosion of black and golden light. The assassin grunted in pain as his momentum stopped like he’d slammed into a stone wall.

Verse pushed through the block, continuing the sweep of the spear. The movement picked the assassin up off his feet and tossed him backward in an uncontrolled tumble.

“How are you doing that?” Corpsewind growled in shock, his eyes widening for the first time as he took in Verse’s physical strength and the emerald flames burning around him. His skeletal claw paused in the air as he stared at Verse. “That is no normal aura! There’s no way you’re only an Essence Condensation cultivator. What are you?”

“Just a knight,” Verse replied with a tight smile. “Did you think the order was that weak?”

He decided to put the entire responsibility on his title, making it seem like that was where his strength came from. It was as good an explanation as any, since he wasn’t going to reveal the truth.

He turned around, facing Corpsewind and the assassin who had recovered his balance. His defensive talisman had dissipated in that exchange, leaving him to face their attacks with just his body.

The blood mist the assassins had created was lingering around him, making his skin burn with a fierce itching sensation as his flames fought with it. It felt cold and violent, and there was something almost alive in it.

It was constantly striking him in a thousand places and trying to find a way in. Here and there, it managed to seep in through scratches, where it burned fiercely as it met his inner flames. He could feel the cool presence of the Cleansing Rain Pills there as well, slowly washing it away.

He wasn’t sure how they’d created that poison, but it was another unpleasant feature of the sect.

“Do you take me for a fool?” Corsewind growled. “There is no way that is an Imperial Knight’s aura. It’s not even the correct color. You are more than I gave you credit for. I’ve changed my mind about you. Death is too quick a solution.

“Since you killed one of my assassins, the least you can do is replace him and become one of my corpse puppets. I’ll refine your body with a thousand poisons and you’ll be the pride of my collection. Meanwhile, your spirit will be trapped in my wind, unable to do anything except howl in despair as you serve me.”

As Corpsewind spoke, his aura was surging toward Verse, trying to fill the space with a tide of ghosts. The elder’s delay was only a trick. He was trying to get enough time to pin Verse down again.

Before the aura could pressure him, Verse swallowed his last two Amethyst Harrow Pills and another handful of Cleansing Rain Pills. That was all he had time for, however, as the elder’s attack arrived.

This time, it was much more vicious than before.

The skeletal hand shot through the air toward Verse and the ghostly wind howled behind it. On the side, the remaining assassin threw out dark blades as he tried to cut off Verse’s escape route. Billows of red poison filled the cavern, creating dangerous walls that hemmed him in.

As the bony hand approached, Verse’s bloodline flared. Silver scales appeared all across his body as multicolored flames poured into the spear in his hand. The spear groaned in response, its structure beginning to warp.

It was an Aligned realm weapon, but it wasn’t capable of channeling the energy he was pushing into it. It wouldn’t be long before it disintegrated.

As the elder’s aura surrounded him, amethyst and emerald flames roared out, burning it away. Verse launched himself away, trying to evade the skeletal hand that was blazing toward him.

Unfortunately, he was a little too slow.

The bone fingers were like blades as they caught at his right side. His scales split under the force as the fingers sliced into his arm, leg, and hip, and drew three deep lines of blood.

He staggered, turning his leap into a somersault as he rolled across the ground, trying to absorb the force of the blow. The hand chased after him, its fingers dark with his blood.

Poisonous white mist billowed out from the wounds, burning with cold fury. The skin near the wounds began to stiffen as it turned an ugly white. If the poison had its way, he’d be a frozen corpse within moments.

Fortunately, the Cleansing Rain Pills and his own flames warred with the poison, preventing it from sinking too deeply, but it still slowed him down.

The bone claw came around for another attack, but this time it hovered in the air. A wave of ghosts formed out of the white mist around it. There were a dozen of them, and each one swiftly grew more solid as the corpse wind from around the cavern flowed into them. It was like it was feeding them.

Within moments, a dozen ghostly cultivators stood between the elder and Verse. Their expressions were vacant, but their eyes were the same deadly white as the mist, giving them an eerie and poisonous appearance.

“You’ve been marked by my corpse poison,” the elder laughed. “No matter how much you struggle, soon your body will freeze and you’ll serve me in death. Enjoy the last minutes of your life and play with these specters of mine. Soon, you’ll be one of them.”

Verse took a deep breath as he gathered his energy. Emerald flames poured off him, filling the area around him with a sense of Wood and Stone. He could feel them at work, purging the poison in the wounds.

Within a minute, it would be gone. Vitality was already returning to his skin where it had turned cold, but it was in his interest to keep that from Corsewind as long as possible. Instead of responding, he turned toward the remaining assassin and flicked his hand.

Two soul talismans flew through the air.

Each of them was based around the draconic word for Fire, and as they closed in, that section of the cavern exploded into a massive wash of crimson flame.

He didn’t stop to check whether or not the assassin survived as he reached into his spatial ring and pulled out the two Ghost Warding talismans that he’d acquired from the first assassins. An instant later, he activated them and hurled them in front of the dozen specters that Corpsewind had summoned.

The talismans exploded twin pillars of ghostly white flame, filling the space in front of him. The color of these flames was brighter than what Corpsewind used, and there was something calmer about them.

As soon as the specters saw them, their movements slowed. They turned to look at the flames, their expressions turning solemn. They almost looked peaceful as they stood there, staring at something that only they could see.

“You think you can use my own sect’s techniques against me?” Corpsewind’s voice filled the cavern as he scoffed. “I admire your tenacity. If I were weaker, that might work, but your efforts are futile. Those talismans are not enough to control my specters.”

The elder reached out with his bony claw and grabbed the first pillar. It blazed with a ghostly purity as he crushed it in his grip. It resisted for a moment, bending inward at the center, but then it exploded into fragments. Wisps of white energy shot outward.

The half of the specters that were closest shuddered as their attention returned. Their eyes filled with white mist again and snarls returned to their lips. Like a silent army, they pivoted as they turned to face Verse.

The elder reached out again, and with a moment’s effort, he crushed the second pillar. As soon as he did, awareness returned to the rest of the specters. Then as one, they flew toward Verse.

Their hands were outstretched like claws as they reached for him, their bodies blurring across the distance in an instant.

The delay with the talismans had given Verse a little more time to recover from his wounds, which were burning fiercely. Blood ran down half his body from the three cuts, but it was being reabsorbed by Formless Body, so he wouldn’t bleed out. His mobility was slowly returning.

He’d wanted to hide that for as long as possible to get in a good strike, but now he didn’t have the chance. He spun the spear in his hand as he focused on the Amethyst Harrow pill, sensing how much energy was left.

It wasn’t a lot. He needed to finish this.

As the specters closed in, his spear lashed out like a striking flame, hitting one and then another. Where it passed, flames seared through the substance of the specters, burning giant swathes of their substance away to nothing.

Corpsewind was hanging back, waiting for the specters and the corpse poison to bring him down, which gave Verse the chance to gather his energy, and he used it. Jade essence and his bloodline roared as his aura surged, intensifying by the second.

Normally, he wouldn’t need to gather his energy like this, but the suppression of the elder’s aura was still there. It meant he needed to condense his attack if he wanted it to have the right effect.

Across the cavern, the blast from the two fire talismans he’d thrown out finally dissipated, revealing the second assassin. He was singed from the explosion and the blood mist around him had burned away, but he was still alive. He was surrounded by a dark Wind-based shield that had deflected some of the blast.

His expression was hard as he glared at Verse and the specters. Then he began circling around to the side, holding a dark blade in his hand as he began to create more blood mist.

Verse kept him in his field of vision as he spun and stabbed at another specter. He had almost gathered enough energy. Unfortunately, there was no way to hide that the poison wasn’t affecting him.

A few seconds later, the elder’s expression hardened as he figured it out.

“If poison won’t work on you, there’s still another way to make you into a puppet,” Corsewind growled. He turned toward the remaining assassin as he barked out a command. “Use the soul crown and capture him!”

Immediately, the assassin swapped his blade into one hand and with the other he pulled out an ugly yellow crown made out of bone. It was a jagged thing made from interlinked finger bones and long fangs that descended on the temples, and it had a savage and oppressive aura.

As soon as it was visible, the air around it began to howl mournfully, like it was lamenting. Even the worldly dao didn’t approve of the thing’s existence.

The sect had the reputation of creating soul slaves, and this had to be something related to that evil. If that thing ended up on his head, it would be ugly. He would probably be able to break it, but he couldn’t afford the distraction.

“You’ll serve the sect whether or you like it or not,” Corpsewind decreed arrogantly. “Once that crown is on your head, you’ll be mindlessly obedient. It’s a waste, since it will mean your soul will be damaged and I won’t be able to turn you into a ghost servant, but I can still refine your body into a puppet.”

“You will not get that chance,” Verse said as he shook his head. “You also overestimate yourself.”

The specters were still trying to attack him, but half of them were nothing but shredded wisps of energy now. The Amethyst Harrow Pills were nearly consumed, but it was time. His energy was fully condensed.

With a wave of his spear, he slashed a fiery arc through the specters in front of him and then he released a chain of soul talismans at them and the assassin, clearing the space. The spear spun in his hand as he turned to face Corpsewind.

All around him, a massive aura was building. One half of it was lined with silver flames and the other with crimson. Beneath that, emerald flames were surging, pouring into the light as it began to spin.

“You follow the Dao of the Grave, is it?” he asked as he stared at Corsewind. “Graves are meant to be buried. Let me help you out.”

With that, the aura around him spun faster, intensifying until it looked like a sun was shining behind his back. Nearly his entire pool of jade essence flowed into, as well as energy from his bloodline and the remaining fragment of the pills.

The elder’s ghost wind crashed against it as howls sounded out, but as they met the spinning sun, they were burned away by the combined energies inside.

At the same time, Verse’s eyes changed as twin suns appeared in them. In his right eye, the sun was setting in crimson fury, and in the left, it was rising in a silver dawn.

“Dusk to Dawn,” Verse’s voice rang out across the cavern, carrying with it a unique force that infused everything around him.

Time stood still as his aura exploded outward.

The area around Verse turned into a brilliant field of silver and crimson energy that spread in every direction, filling half of the cavern. The blazing light of the sun setting and rising again twisted reality, sending cracks of pure energy shivering through the air.

Energy that was the exact opposite of ghosts.

The cavern burned with life and fury as everything inside its range was subjected to the contrasting forces of the sun.

The scattered forms of the specters disintegrated in the face of it.

Dusk to Dawn relied on Verse’s soul, his understanding of the dao, and on every scrap of energy in his body, all of which were stronger than his cultivation. His aura raged across the cavern with a force that was strong enough to incinerate Corpsewind’s aura.

The elder’s ghost wind crumbled away wherever they met, leaving the air pure and sizzling with a sense of restful flames.

The elder screamed in pain as he threw his arm across his face, trying to block out the flames that were drowning him and piercing his spirit. It wasn’t enough to kill him, but his skin began smoking as great cracks appeared, which instantly turned black.

On the far side of the cavern, the assassin wasn’t as lucky. When the ability reached him, his body simply disintegrated, torn apart under the dual forces that were twisting space.

The crown in his hands was scorched, turning black in an instant as cracks shivered across its surface. Then, between one moment and the next as the sun tore at it, it exploded, sending charred fragments hurtling in every direction.

At the center of that field, Verse drew in a deep breath, and then he moved, his hands blurring.

Dusk to Dawn was his single most powerful area ability. It was especially good against ghosts, but its duration was limited.

As he focused on his bloodline and let out a roar that echoed through the cavern, emerald flames leapt up, merging into a massive dragon’s claw that covered his hand. The full strength of his body combined with it as he brought it crashing down on Corpsewind.

He felt the elder’s bones cracking as he slammed him into the cavern floor.

Then he did it again, ignoring his injuries as he poured out all the strength he had. He felt more bones shatter with a dull crack like sticks breaking.

But then Corsewind’s aura flared beneath his hand and an enormous force swelled up. It was a bone white explosion that swept up Verse and hurled him away, launching him across the cavern where it slammed him into the far wall.

Corpsewind let out a hiss as he forced himself to his feet, his body glowing with violent energy as ghostly streamers whipped around him. His hair was floating and his features had all turned to pale bone.

Before, he’d had one hand that looked like a skeleton, and it was only when he was using a technique. Now, his entire body had turned skeletal. It was a mix of naked bone and thin, stretched skin with a cadaverous appearance

His skin had drawn in and turned chalk white, leaving him with hollow cheeks and sunken eyes that were the same white shade as the specters he’d summoned before. His hair was ash grey, like strands of funeral dust, and it was tangled down his back in lanky, unkempt strands.

His robes had turned the same ashen color, but they gave off a sense of tombstones and graveyards.

Despite Corpsewind’s appearance, a massive aura of vitality flared around him, spiraling in the air as the shrine’s warning rang out. The energy was being sucked into his body with every passing breath. Where there had been ghosts and specters, they were all gone now.

The wind blowing around him was clear and cold, without a hint of any other presence.

Killing a Primal Spirit cultivator wasn’t as easy as it seemed.

“That form...!” The shrine shouted. “Be careful. That’s not a normal transformation. There’s something similar to a bloodline in it. If it’s what it looks like, it’s much too close to the netherblood demons, maybe from one of their lesser branches.”

The image of a severely gaunt figure with dusky grey skin and black eyes that seemed to draw in the world around them flared in Verse’s mind. It was a humanoid that was similar in some ways to Corpsewind’s appearance, but the demon’s hair was pitch black and it had elongated, diamond-tipped ears.

Its features were also far more elegant than the elder’s. Even with a gaunt body, there was something graceful and dangerous about it. More than that, however, was the massive aura around it that drew in energy like a black hole, to such a degree that it felt like the world would crumble to ash around it.

“This is a Netherblood Demon,” the shrine sent quickly. “He’s not that, but he might be a descendant of some thin bloodline.”

“I can’t believe you forced me to consume all the stored soul energy I’ve saved up all these years,” Corpsewind growled as he looked toward Verse. “I was going to make you a puppet, but that will not be enough to pay for this debt. I will hunt down everyone related to you and turn them into soul slaves, so that your entire line will serve me for eternity to pay back a fraction of what you’ve taken today.”

His transformation was something from his dao, perhaps a physique aligned with death or tombstones, but what mattered was that he looked even more durable than before.

“The demons never uplifted other races like the Hearts,” the shrine added as he studied the elder, “but they were well known for their lust, which meant they spread their roots in other ways. That entire line has a powerful ability to absorb energy, especially negative types. It might be what made this one into a ghost cultivator and explain how he stored soul energy. That’s not a normal human ability.”

The shrine was probably right, but at this point, it didn’t matter unless it gave him a good way to kill Corpsewind. Without that, he was going to have to do it the regular way. Despite the danger, it didn’t change anything important.

He’d been hoping that Dusk to Dawn would finish things, but Corpsewind was more durable than he’d thought.

“You should never have followed me here, nor kidnapped alchemists from the guild,” Verse replied calmly, but there was some strain in his voice as he pushed himself to his feet. “As for threats, save them for someone you can frighten.”

Searing points of pain stabbed at him as cracked bones and ripped muscles protested the movement. His injuries weren’t light, but he ignored them, sealing them over with jade essence.

It was enough to let him move, but it was slow and difficult.

The three gashes on his side had been torn open by the impact with the wall and were trying to bleed profusely again, but Formless Body kept them from truly tearing open. His bloodline and his innate jade healing were burning throughout his body, but it would be a little while before they could finish the job.

Between the two of them, Corsewind was in better shape.

“Those worthless heritage alchemists? That’s what this is about?” The elder laughed harshly, almost in disbelief as he stared across the cavern at Verse. His gaunt appearance gave his words a savage edge, but he seemed willing to spend a moment talking before he attacked again.

“I thought the sect master was just making that up as a reason. You seriously care that much about a handful of Essence Condensation cultivators from mediocre families?”

“Making them into soul slaves will only bring destruction to your sect.” Verse said as he gathered his own energy. He reinforced the jade essence that was sealing his wounds, doing his best to restore his effectiveness while the elder was still talking. “The Alchemists’ Guild already knows what you’re doing. Soon, your sect will be wiped off the map. You are fools.”

Corpsewind laughed, the sound a harsh grate of bones sliding against each other. It wasn’t clear if he even had enough air in his lungs to breathe properly anymore.

“Don’t be naive,” he said in a voice that sounded like broken glass. “The guild is not as powerful as you think, and they have to answer to the empire. They will fall in line like everyone else. They won’t have a choice when their guild branch is under our control and all the sects in the area obey us. History has proven that. They won’t destroy millions of innocents to break our influence. The Desolate Mind Pill isn’t something easily reversed.”

At this point, it didn’t look like Corpsewind cared about revealing secrets. One of them wasn’t leaving this place alive. It was only fragments of information, but it was enough to put things together.

It looked like the sect was somehow using the heritage alchemists to create the Desolate Mind Pill, which then allowed them to control the people they forced it on. It was probably some extension of their soul slave technique, just like that bone crown.

From the sound of it, some other sect had done something similar in the past, which was where they had gotten the idea. It made him curious, but he didn’t have time to dwell on it.

It was information he wanted, but its value right now was low. It would only be useful in the future. He shook his head as he finished sealing his wounds.

After speaking, Corpsewind stretched out his skeletal arms and bared his teeth at Verse in what might have been a cruel smile. With his sunken features, it was gruesome.

“Everyone who’s seen me in this state has died at my hand,” he declared. “You can die knowing that you are one of the few who’s pushed me this far.”

He was no longer talking down to Verse, but treating him as an equal.

“Don’t think about it too much,” Verse replied with fire in his voice, “I only see you as trash to take out.”

Corpsewind snarled as he leapt forward, his bony hands reaching out. He was faster than before. His aura was still pressing down on the area, but it wasn’t as dense as before. Without all the ghosts, it was just a thin layer of suppression.

Verse hadn’t wasted the time recovering. Before the elder could cross the distance, he flicked his wrist, sending a wave of soul talismans hurtling toward him. Then he yanked out two other talismans from his ring as he leapt backward.

The soul talismans exploded against Corpsewind’s chest and erupted into spheres of crimson flame ten feet across. For a moment, the elder was buried under the assault, his arm crossed in front of his face as he shielded his eyes.

The flames burned furiously, but it was clear they weren’t doing much to him.

With the moment of time he gained, Verse activated the other two talismans in his hand. One was another defensive Primal Spirit talisman that surrounded him in a second barrier of steely light, the same as the earlier one.

The second was an attack talisman that he’d purchased at a high price. He’d considered using it before, but the time wasn’t right. Now, it was.

The talisman howled with fury as it transformed into a massive steel-colored spear and shot across the distance toward Corpsewind, who was standing still. It was quick enough that the elder barely had time to look up from within the flames and see it approaching.

Then it struck.

The spear ripped into his chest as it picked him up and hurled him across the cavern, where it slammed him into the far wall in an earth-shattering explosion of obsidian shards.

As the wave of that impact roared across the cavern, Verse followed it with his second and last attack talisman. He was burning spirit stones like water, but it didn’t matter if it worked.

The last talisman had been Metal aligned and straightforward in its attack, but this one was Fire. It was from a different path than Verse’s dao, and it had its own approach.

As it activated, the talisman turned into a massive willow tree made of flames, its branches spreading wide as they waved in an unseen wind that blew toward the elder. Motes of scorching flame appeared like fireflies, filling the cavern with bright, burning points until there were over a thousand of them.

Then they shot forward, heading toward Corpsewind in a raging cloud.

The elder snarled as he tried to pry himself off the wall, but the metallic spear hadn’t fully dissipated yet. Its energy kept him pinned down long enough for the flames to arrive.

The fiery motes slammed into him with a force that belied their soft appearance, striking him like a thousand burning meteors. Charred holes appeared across his body. Some of them were deep, especially where a dozen or more struck together, but others were shallow.

His transformation made him durable.

With the elder finally pinned down and his aura gone, however, Verse was free to act. Emerald flames surged around him as silver scales shone all across his skin, and he shot forward across the cavern.

Emerald claws made of flames covered his hands and his eyes burned like twin suns as he reached the elder, joining in the assault. He slammed his fists down with the full force of his bloodline and all of his remaining energy.

He didn’t have a lot left, but neither did Corpsewind.

The elder had a transformation to help him, but it was only a small increase in his defense. He was still at the Primal Spirit realm, and so was Verse’s physical strength.

The first strikes sent waves shuddering through the elder’s body, making it clear what areas were weak and others dense. Then his fists shattered the elder’s jaw and sank into his ribs, breaking bones in a wave as he targeted one area after another.

The defensive talisman around him was like a suppressive barrier now, preventing Corpsewind from reaching him, and it gave Verse free range of movement. With every passing moment, the vitality of his bloodline was surging, bolstering his stamina and fueling his rage at the sect.

With all the other details stripped away, it came down to physical strength. It was just Corpsewind’s endurance against his.

The elder tried to lash out, sending shuddering blows through the talisman shield around Verse. When that failed, he tried to reach for his spatial ring, perhaps to pull out a talisman or artifact of his own, but Verse didn’t give him the chance.

His fists were covered in emerald flames as they landed again and again. As some of his energy began to return, circles of warped space appeared on his knuckles that had one side in silver and the other crimson. Miniature Solar Cycles covered his hands, merging with his physical strength as he struck.

With a howl of rage, Corpsewind managed to summon up the strength to hurl Verse backward across the cavern. Then he flew after him, trying to get the upper hand again, but Verse slammed into him before he made it halfway, meeting him in the center of the area.

Fists, Solar Cycles, howling bone claws, and Corpsewind’s shouts of rage filled the air, but the only sound from Verse was a low roar that rumbled from his chest, resonating like an ancient drum to count out the beat.

The two forces warred back and forth in the center of the cavern, meeting like two storm fronts. Here and there, hissing explosions rang out as bones crumbled to ash and emerald flames were dragged down to silence.

Eventually, a battered form shot across the cavern and slammed into the far wall, in the same spot where he’d been before. His body was broken in a dozen places and his eyes were dim.

His gaunt white figure was shattered and covered in a strange grey blood that mingled with his ashen hair, making him look like a ghoul from the underworld.

Verse landed in front of him with a low growl. His body was a mass of cold white burns and claw marks. The defensive talisman had dissipated long ago. His muscles screamed and every bone in his body felt like it had been hammered by cold spikes, but his eyes were steady as he looked down at Corpsewind.

The winner was clear.

“You...” The elder tried to speak as he coughed out blood, but all that came out was a groan.

He fumbled as he tried to reach for his spatial ring, but his hand collapsed. After all their battle, the elder no longer had the energy to raise it, nor to infuse his body with strength

Only the unnatural vitality of his bloodline was keeping him alive.

Verse didn’t bother speaking. The elder had planned to torture him in a thousand ways, all of which he’d done to others in the past. There was no need for mercy.

His fist rose. It was surrounded in emerald flames that surged around a Solar Cycle. Then he brought it down in a massive strike.

The elder’s head exploded.