At the entrance of the Mysterious Secret Realm, swarms of living corpses poured out of the portal in an endless stream.
Their eyes were a dull, grey-white, and they let out meaningless howls as they flailed their claws and charged toward the cultivators guarding the perimeter.
Every cultivator in the camp had joined the fray, maintaining a safe distance while unleashing a saturated barrage of Spell Techniques, Black Talisman Paper, and runic crossbow bolts.
They cut down the living corpses as quickly as they emerged from the portal’s entrance.
Li Tianyu, who only possessed a Qi Refinement Stage cultivation, stood among the ranks.
Though his face was pale with terror at the sight of the swarming Corpse Tide, he did not retreat.
Drenched in sweat, he busied himself by hauling crates of crossbow bolts and Black Talisman Paper to the other cultivators.
Li Tianzheng stood at the very front of the formation.
While he manipulated dozens of Golden Flying Swords to strike down the corpses, he frequently glanced up at the sky with an anxious expression.
Early that morning, the portal to the secret realm had suddenly expanded several times over.
A massive influx of living corpses had surged out, nearly overrunning the dozen or so Foundation Establishment Stage cultivators who had been on the dawn watch.
Fortunately, those cultivators had issued a warning in time.
The cultivators in the camp who had been resting after their shifts had all rushed to the front lines, barely managing to suppress the Corpse Tide.
These living corpses carried a strange Corpse Poison, so the cultivators did not dare engage them in close quarters.
They were forced to eliminate them from a distance, which placed a heavy strain on their Spiritual Power.
Furthermore, the consumption of Black Talisman Paper and runic crossbow bolts was incredibly expensive.
Even though the Yecheng Prefecture Demon-Slaying Bureau was wealthy and influential, they could hardly sustain such a relentless drain on their resources.
Moreover, humans were not immortals; they needed rest.
Many of the cultivators were already showing signs of exhaustion, pushing themselves to their limits just to maintain the line.
Looking at the sky once more, Li Tianzheng complained with burning impatience, “Why aren’t those spirits here yet?”
The cultivators under his command desperately needed a rotation to recover their physical strength and Spiritual Power, as well as a fresh supply of talismans and bolts.
He had already sent a message back to the bureau requesting more reinforcements, but those would mostly be low-level cultivators at the Qi Refinement Stage.
Their impact would be limited. Besides, it would take time for them to arrive.
Now, their only hope was for Lin Xue and the others to arrive so they could enter the Medicine God Valley Secret Realm.
Only by reaching the portal within the Mysterious Secret Realm and establishing the Nine-Union Profound Jade Formation could they block the living corpses and close the portal once and for all. Only then would they find relief.
Suddenly, a cultivator pointed toward the horizon and shouted in delight, “They’re here! They’ve arrived!”
Li Tianzheng looked up and indeed saw a pink cloud of condensed Demon Aura flying rapidly toward them.
The spirits of the cultivators instantly lifted, and hope returned to their faces.
Hong Yanzhi steered the cloud and descended directly into the center of the camp.
As the Demon Aura dissipated, Lin Xue, Zhang Zongnian, and the other Yaojing revealed themselves.
Seeing that the portal had expanded several times over and that the Corpse Tide was surging out like a flood while the cultivators struggled, Lin Xue’s eyelids twitched. She immediately activated her Water Control Art.
The water elements in the surrounding air were instantly sucked dry, forming a massive sphere of water in front of her.
Then, the sphere shattered into countless tiny droplets.
The temperature of each droplet plummeted instantly as they elongated, transforming into long needles as thin as cow hair.
Over a thousand ice needles formed a square formation, hovering above Lin Xue’s head.
Lin Xue took a deep breath, circulating her Spiritual Power.
With a wave of her hand, she unleashed the Qian Ji Zhi Meng.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Over a thousand ice needles streaked toward the swarms of living corpses.
The corpses that had just lunged out of the portal were instantly halted in their tracks before collapsing to the ground in heaps.
Lines of notifications began flashing before Lin Xue’s eyes:
[Killed Core Condensation Middle Stage Demon Corpse. Gained Experience: 2000 points]
[Killed Core Condensation Middle Stage Demon Corpse. Gained Experience: 2000 points]
[Killed Core Condensation Late Stage Demon Corpse. Gained Experience: 5000 points]
[Killed Foundation Establishment Early Stage Cultivator. Gained Experience: 1000 points]
[Killed Foundation Establishment Middle Stage Cultivator. Gained Experience: 2000 points]
[Killed Foundation Establishment Late Stage Cultivator. Gained Experience: 5000 points]
…
Lin Xue was secretly shocked. The cultivation realms of the living corpses inside this secret realm were unexpectedly high.
No wonder the cultivators of the Demon-Slaying Bureau were having such a difficult time holding them back.
Furthermore, these corpses were a mix of humans and demons.
She had no idea where they were being generated.
However, there were also some with lower cultivation levels.
The system notifications also included some Qi Refinement Stage human corpses and Body Tempering Stage Lesser Beasts.
In just a few breaths, Lin Xue’s Experience points had jumped by hundreds of thousands.
Watching the values soar on her System Panel, Lin Xue actually felt a sense of exhilaration.
‘If this portal stays open, I can just stay here and farm experience indefinitely,’ she thought.
Moreover, since there were demon corpses among them, there would be a large number of Serpent Cores.
With those cores, she would have enough to reach the Yao Wang rank again, and she could even help Hong Yanzhi and the others reach the Yao Wang rank as well.
She looked at the demon corpses littering the ground, her eyes filled with a hunger for Serpent Cores.
But in the next moment, several cultivators threw out Fireball Techniques.
The blazing orbs of fire instantly incinerated the corpses into ash, making Lin Xue’s heart ache with regret.
Zhang Zongnian…
With Lin Xue’s arrival, the pressure on the cultivators was suddenly and drastically reduced.
They all let out long sighs of relief, while simultaneously feeling a sense of dread at Lin Xue’s display of power.
The cultivators couldn’t help but wonder to themselves: If those ice needles were aimed at them, would they be able to dodge?
They feared they would end up just like the corpses on the ground—riddled with holes and deader than dead.
Several cultivators looked at Lin Xue with eyes full of awe and reverence.
When they noticed the dense Spiritual Power swirling around her, their eyes widened in shock.
Lin Xue had not hidden her cultivation.
The Spiritual Power surrounding her clearly indicated that she was now a cultivator at the Golden Core Stage.
Those cultivators rubbed their eyes vigorously, thinking they were seeing things.
They had all seen Lin Xue before and knew she was clearly a Yaojing.
How had she suddenly transformed into a Golden Core Cultivator?
The cultivators were all left utterly bewildered and confused.
Li Tianzheng stepped forward to greet them.
Seeing Lin Xue’s current cultivation and her recent move, he was also greatly shocked.
However, he was a man of culture and restraint, so he did not ask how she had become a Golden Core Cultivator.
He cupped his hands in a respectful salutation and said with a sigh of relief, “Fellow Daoist Lin, you’ve finally arrived.”
Lin Xue pointed at the portal, which had expanded several times its original size, and asked, “What’s the situation?”
Li Tianzheng shook his head and replied, “We aren’t entirely sure. Early this morning, the portal suddenly changed. Usually, only a few of these living corpses trickle out occasionally. For some reason today, they’ve gone mad, swarming out in nests. We almost couldn’t hold them back. Fortunately, you arrived in time to give us a chance to breathe.”
As he spoke, another wave of living corpses—at least several dozen—rushed out of the portal.
The cultivators shouted as they unleashed a barrage of spells, talismans, and crossbow bolts.
With a wave of her hand, the hundreds of ice needles remaining from her previous attack swept toward the crowd of corpses once again.
The living corpses fell one after another like autumn leaves in the wind.
The system continued to pop up line after line of notifications for her earned Experience.
Lin Xue opened her Panel to take a quick look.
She found that her accumulated Experience had already reached 2,268,500 points.
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