Chapter Sixty-One: The Coffin of Demonic Blood and Divergent Fate

Ancestor? Could it be that this millennia-old corpse belongs to the Earth Corpse Sect?

The crowd’s faces changed dramatically. They turned their gaze toward the pit, where, within the black coffin, the demonic corpse abruptly opened its eyes. With a mere thought, it levitated the coffin beneath it, causing it to hover in midair.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!

Four hard, metallic snaps echoed as the coffin forcibly broke the crimson chains locking its four corners. Then the coffin moved forward, rising upright.

The demon corpse’s eyes were as red as blood, its face, tinged with crimson and blue, emanated an extraordinary excitement.

A thousand years! A thousand years, exactly! Old Ghost Xuantian, you schemed to trap me here and succeeded in killing me, but you were one step short. By then, I had already cultivated to the stage where man and corpse were one. Ha! You died, but I, Ancestor Red Corpse, am still alive!

As he spoke, rage twisted Red Corpse’s features. He stared at the skeleton in the corner of the pit, a flash of blood-red light in his eyes. In an instant, a scarlet torrent exploded upon the skeleton, pulverizing it to dust.

Ancestor Red Corpse, the grand elder of the Earth Corpse Sect from a thousand years past! He was a bona fide Sky Steel Stage cultivator—rumored to be at the fifth tier!

Everyone drew a sharp breath.

The weakest, Liu Ruoyan, was trembling all over, her face pale as death.

“Ghost Painter, you’ve come and gone from this place many times, haven’t you? And you deliberately led us here, didn’t you? Your aim was to lure Zhan Bai into drawing the sword, wasn’t it?” Qin Feng’s expression darkened, his voice cold.

Now, the group finally understood why Ghost Painter of the Earth Corpse Sect had infiltrated their ranks and brought them to this place. His true purpose was to find a fated person capable of drawing the Supreme Eight Extremes Sword, thus rescuing Red Corpse from his confinement.

And the rumor of treasures within the Blood Qiyi Shrine was likely spread by Ghost Painter himself. The corpses scattered around were probably those who failed to draw the sword and were silenced by him.

“Yes, it was me. This Blood Qiyi Shrine appears here only once every thousand years. I was the first to learn of it and enter. I planned to hide among you, bring you here, and incite someone to draw the sword. Success would be ideal; failure would mean the same fate as the others. I didn’t expect someone like you to see through me ahead of time, but it doesn’t matter now. No one who reaches this place can resist the fatal allure of a supreme treasure! As I expected, Zhan Bai drew the sword. Now you are useless to me. Accept your deaths, ha ha…”

Ghost Painter laughed wildly, preparing to strike, but before his laughter faded, his head fell from his shoulders.

It was so fast—so fast that not a soul could react. So fast that Ghost Painter himself didn’t know how he died.

It was a flying sword, a streak of light so swift it flashed like lightning, vanishing in a blink as it continued toward Ancestor Red Corpse, aiming to strike him down.

A supreme treasure: the Supreme Eight Extremes Sword!

With Ghost Painter dead, his life corpse also perished. The massive coffin floating behind him crashed to the ground, and the painted skin corpse inside instantly rotted away.

Everyone knew—the attacker was Zhan Bai!

He hadn’t arrived, but the sword had!

The sword was swift, sharp, fierce!

No need for any variations; a single strike could pierce the heavens and slay demons.

“Little bastard, I didn’t expect you to truly subdue the Supreme Eight Extremes Sword!”

Ghost Painter’s death didn’t trouble Red Corpse much, but Zhan Bai’s attack made Red Corpse squint, recalling the Eight Extremes Ghost of years past.

So much like him…!

Red Corpse snorted coldly, his eyes grave. Clearly, this ancient corpse demon deeply feared this sword!

But Red Corpse was no mere Ghost Painter.

Before everyone’s astonished gaze, he shifted position, turning the bottom panel of his coffin to face the incoming Supreme Eight Extremes Sword.

“It really is the Supreme Eight Extremes Sword!” Qin Feng and the others, though they’d guessed, were impressed at the confirmation. Zhan Bai had truly struck it rich. But a sword has its spirit, and only the fated may claim it. Zhan Bai’s acquisition was well deserved.

This was a personal stroke of fortune, so all they felt was envy.

Of course, the group’s good character played a part. If it had been those duplicitous types, things would be different.

With Zhan Bai joining them, spirits soared. Everyone eagerly hoped Zhan Bai’s sword would bring down Red Corpse, shattering him to pieces.

But—

An accident occurred!

The sword was fast; in the blink of an eye, it struck! A silver arc pierced the sky, slashing the bottom panel of Red Corpse’s coffin with a thunderous roar. Dust billowed. Yet, unexpectedly, the sword rebounded!

At that moment, Zhan Bai entered, pointed at the sword, and it instantly circled him like a lively dragon, protecting him. Its streamlined shape, radiant glow, and dazzling brilliance caught every eye.

What a sword!

A peerless blade!

Everyone inwardly marveled. Yet, such a wondrous sword had failed to mark the coffin?

It was incredible.

But the evidence was clear. When the dust settled, Ancestor Red Corpse stood unharmed, his coffin intact, untouched.

“This coffin…?”

Everyone now suspected this was no ordinary object.

It might even be a supreme evil treasure!

“Ha! The Supreme Eight Extremes Sword may be mighty, but it’s merely a supreme artifact. Yet, there are treasures whose existence transcends the realms of magical devices and supreme artifacts. Their origins are shrouded in mystery, dating back to ancient times—even the primordial era. They are exceedingly rare; across the vast expanse of Azure Profound, there are only a few dozen. Do you know that the humble coffin beneath me is ranked seventy-fourth among the seventy-nine Heaven-Slaying Evil Artifacts of antiquity—

The Heavenly Demon Blood Qiyi Coffin!”

The Heavenly Demon Blood Qiyi Coffin?

Everyone was stunned; clearly, they hadn’t heard of it. Even Zhan Bai was confused by the name. But Qin Feng’s eyes flashed, indicating he knew something about this coffin.

He owed it to his somewhat opportunistic master.

Qin Feng had only heard his master mention the seventy-nine Heaven-Slaying Evil Artifacts once, in passing. He knew their name, but not their details or rankings. Yet, what left a deep impression was the fear in Qin Aotian’s eyes when he spoke of the list.

Clearly, the tales surrounding them were terrifying beyond measure.

Others may not know much, but anything bearing the title Heaven-Slaying Evil Artifact couldn’t be weak. Just look at Zhan Bai’s sword—an earth-shattering strike, yet not a scratch on the coffin. Truly defying the heavens.

“How are we supposed to fight this?!”

In an instant, everyone’s morale plummeted.

Then—

Qin Feng, standing aside, suddenly reminded them, “Everyone, don’t be deceived by appearances. This demon has been trapped here for a thousand years, forced to consume his own essence just to survive. Moreover, the Supreme Eight Extremes Sword has already worn away most of his power. At this moment, his actual strength is comparable to ours. His realm may be higher, and his methods more refined, but if we unite, we can still defeat him!”

“And…”

Before Qin Feng could finish, Red Corpse’s expression changed dramatically, his rage boiling over!

Having his weakness exposed by Qin Feng, he hated him to the bone. His voice, murderous and demonic, echoed in everyone’s ears: “Brat, you talk too much. Time to head to the afterlife!”

With a glare, twin streams of red shot from his eyes, splitting into five and striking at the five present. The one aimed at Qin Feng was especially thick, the rage behind it palpable.

Red Corpse was “attentive” to Qin Feng, wishing to tear him to pieces!

The attack was bizarre and fast—there was no time to evade.

Tu Zheng was struck by the scarlet torrent, bursting into a mass of blood and flesh, then slowly reconstituting, grievously wounded and unconscious.

Hua Ruoyan was hit, dissolving into a cloud of blood, dead beyond saving.

Shi Yuan was struck as well, but fortunately, she wore a defensive supreme artifact vest. With a crack, it shattered, sacrificing itself to save her life. She was gravely wounded and unconscious, but alive.

Qin Feng’s expression changed. He had already prepared a cluster of Nine-Bite Fire, which he sent forward to meet the red stream. The two collided in midair and exploded.

The flames neutralized about half of the blood-red torrent; the remainder split in two, still charging.

With his life on the line, Qin Feng released his bloodline soul. Two serpent heads, one for each stream, swallowed them whole.

Meanwhile, Zhan Bai’s flying sword spun about him, easily deflecting the red torrent.

After this assault, only Qin Feng and Zhan Bai remained standing.

…