Chapter 361: The Terrifying Withered Corpses!
Lin Fan smiled and said, "This temple was clearly once extremely grand. The reason it's now in such ruin must be because it suffered a great calamity."
"But with a structure of this scale, there's bound to be some treasures left behind. Let's search around a bit first."
With that, he took the lead, though he deliberately slowed his pace.
As they advanced, the trio saw numerous traces of past battles. It seemed that a tremendous war had indeed erupted here in ancient times—or perhaps an outright invasion.
"Big Brother Lin Fan, why does this place feel so familiar to me? Do you feel that too?" Lin Dong asked suddenly, eyes narrowing in surprise.
Lin Fan nodded. "Yeah, I feel it too. This place is very similar to that ancient sect scene we saw inside the Great Desolate Monument."
"That's it!" Lin Dong's expression turned serious. "That means this was once the site of a powerful ancient sect… but it was destroyed."
"If I'm not mistaken, the ones who invaded here were those fiendish beings—the Yi Mo," Lin Fan said, his eyes flashing.
"Yi Mo…" Lin Dong murmured, a chill creeping into his eyes.
At the same time, the spirit within Lin Dong's Ancestral Stone, Yan, quietly explained more about the Yi Mo and their history with the ancient sects.
While Lin Dong was mentally conversing with the Ancestral Stone Spirit, Lin Fan and Mu Lingshan's eyes turned toward a broken, ruined plaza ahead.
"Big Brother Lin Fan, Brother Lin Dong—look over there!"
Mu Lingshan called out in her crisp voice to draw their attention.
On the vast, ruined plaza sat nearly a thousand humanoid figures—but all of them had long since perished.
Their bodies were covered in dust, shriveled like dried husks.
All of them faced south, one hand raised, as if united in resisting something.
But clearly… they had failed.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Just then, the sound of rushing wind echoed behind them as a large number of experts also arrived at the temple ruins.
Within moments, over a hundred figures had flown in, all attracted by the strange sight on the plaza, stopping nearby to observe.
"They're just corpses. What's there to look at?"
One impatient cultivator sneered, waving his sleeve and conjuring a gust of wind.
As the wind swept through the plaza, nearly a thousand corpses disintegrated instantly into ash and scattered with the breeze.
"Pfft, not a single treasure. What a waste."
Some of the newcomers clicked their tongues in disappointment.
"Hmm? There are some corpses that didn't disintegrate!"
Just as people were about to leave, someone cried out in shock. At the far end of the plaza, eighteen withered corpses remained seated, completely intact.
Their bodies had resisted the erosion of time and had not decayed.
"There must be treasure!"
Several people's eyes lit up, and they immediately flew toward the eighteen corpses.
"Let's fall back a bit," Lin Fan said with a faint sneer. He spoke in a voice only Lin Dong and Mu Lingshan could hear.
Neither of them objected.
The three swiftly retreated, putting some distance between themselves and the plaza.
BOOM!
Just as they backed away, the eighteen seemingly lifeless figures suddenly opened their sunken eyes. Evil, black flames blazed within, and then burst outward like a tide.
"Ahhh—!"
The dozen or so experts who had rushed forward were instantly engulfed by the black flames and burned to ash. Their screams echoed through the ruins.
BOOM!
The eighteen corpses slowly rose to their feet. Waves of sinister black fire spread outward, locking onto the stunned crowd.
The overwhelming firestorm caused the temperature to plummet throughout the temple.
As the undead figures stood up, Lin Fan had already retreated far with Lin Dong and Mu Lingshan.
This scene was nearly identical to the corpse puppets they had encountered in the Yi Mo Domain.
Except… these eighteen were far more powerful than those back then.
While retreating, Lin Fan's eyes flashed as he focused on the dantian area of the withered corpses.
There, a black vortex swirled, filled with cold, evil energy and a dense aura of death.
"These guys were all Death Profound Realm experts when they were alive…" Lin Fan said in a low voice.
Lin Dong and Mu Lingshan both tensed, their expressions solemn.
To face eighteen Death Profound Realm undead was no small threat.
ROAR!
Suddenly, the black flames in the corpses' eyes surged as they lunged forward in unison.
The evil fire and deathly aura swept out, instantly incinerating several cultivators who failed to dodge in time.
"Ahhh—!"
More screams erupted. The victims turned to ash in an instant, even their souls completely burned away.
The crowd of experts trembled in fear.
"Don't be afraid! Each of those corpses has compressed the deathly energy they cultivated in life into something called a Death Core. If we can obtain them, they're extremely helpful for breaking through into the Death Profound Realm!"
Suddenly, a voice cried out from the crowd, thick with greed.
"Death Core?!"
Hearing that, the crowd buzzed with excitement. Greed flared in their eyes, overtaking their fear.
"Let's work together!"
After a moment of silence, more voices joined in.
Soon, powerful Yuan Power surged skyward as numerous cultivators took out their most formidable weapons, clearly planning to join forces against the withered corpses.
Lin Fan merely shook his head. He watched silently, neither interfering nor trying to claim anything.
Ahhh—!
But not long after, the plaza echoed once again with screams of agony.
All those who attacked had been annihilated by the eighteen undead. Their greed had cost them their lives.
"Big Brother Lin Fan, aren't we going to run?" Lin Dong asked hoarsely, seeing the undead beginning to turn toward them.
Lin Fan smiled. "Don't worry. I'll handle this. You two fall back."
Mu Lingshan hugged her coffin lid. "Big Brother Lin Fan, I'll help! I think I can take on two."
"I can stall two as well," Lin Dong added with a grit of his teeth.
"I said I can handle it. You don't need to act."
Lin Fan shook his head and shot forward alone toward the eighteen withered corpses.
Lin Dong and Mu Lingshan stood back, worry in their eyes, ready to assist at any moment.
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