When Han turned down his offer to be his lackey, the young man in purple showed a hint of regret.

  In his hand, he wielded a corpse manipulation artifact, controlling three corpse bodies to enhance their physical strength.

  Cultivators specializing in corpse refinement typically focus most of their abilities on their own undead creations. In combat, they can use various techniques to strengthen their corpses, making them nearly invincible.

  The young man in purple tossed a gray bead, radiating a thick aura of death energy, toward Han.

  But just then, a piece of cloth flew in and blocked the cursed bead.

  The two magical artifacts collided incessantly, sparking a series of attacks.

  From a distance, Yun Duoduo began to act, casting spells and controlling magical tools to engage with the young man in purple.

  As a cultivator in the Night Wanderer Realm, she had no trouble dealing with him.

  It was a group effort, and she wanted her share of the action!

  “Boom!”

  After clashing with the ghost corpse, Yun Yun was sent flying with greater speed, blood trickling from the corner of her mouth.

  “Minor Perfection in the Organs Realm!” she cried out, signaling Han.

  As she was about to crash to the ground, Han swiftly caught her.

  “Leave it to me.”

  “You handle the green zombie.”

  As the two passed each other, Han swung his hammer toward the ghost corpse.

  Against such an opponent, weapons like a hammer or axe were more effective.

  Damn it, I’m really a swordsman at heart!

  The ghost corpse possessed immense strength, and its body was far sturdier than the green zombies. With a controller, even cultivators at Minor Perfection in the Organs Realm might struggle to defeat it.

  Zombies are usually more troublesome when controlled by someone. A zombie without a master is easier to deal with, since it has no consciousness.

  In the midst of battling the ghost corpse, Han also felt a constant soul power attacking him. While it didn't affect him much, it was a nuisance.

  Through the corpse mist, strange illusions began to take shape, a sign of the ghost corpse’s power.

  These illusions made it clear that this ghost corpse was no ordinary zombie.

  But no matter how special it was, Han wasn’t afraid!

  Without true energy or martial arts, only a body of steel, copper skin, and a powerful force, Han preferred fighting such heavy opponents over skilled martial artists any day.

  One hammer after another, the ghost corpse’s hands cracked under the relentless blows.

  Han also occasionally seized opportunities to try and ambush the young man in purple, forcing him to shift positions in haste.

  Such cultivators, whose undead creations never die, are rarely a direct threat.

  But Han’s moves were enough to pressure the young man, who sent another green zombie to aid the ghost corpse. They surrounded Han, yet still couldn't land a blow.

  The death and curse energy couldn’t harm Han; as soon as they neared him, they were burned away by his intense yang blood.

  The corpse mist was particularly strange, though. In addition to amplifying the zombies' strength, it even helped them recover.

  The young man in purple, still locked in a magical duel with Yun Duoduo, watched the battlefield with a dark, ominous expression.

  A cultivator of the Muscle Realm could suppress his master-level ghost corpse, and with another green zombie, nothing seemed to work. What kind of freak was this?

  The rumors from Heiyun Town were false!

  “Boom!”

  With one powerful swing, Han sent the green zombie crashing into the ground, creating a deep crater. Its chest caved in completely.

  But being a zombie, it was unaffected by its injuries and immediately jumped back into the fight.

  Han looked at Yun Yun, who was struggling against the green zombie.

  The clash with the ghost corpse had left her wounded, and it was affecting her combat abilities.

  “Damn it, at this rate, we’ll never take down Han!” the young man in purple cursed.

  His soul left his body, and he slammed his chest hard.

  A great amount of grayish-white material burst from his soul, scattering onto the cursed bead, as if preparing to perform a dark spell.

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  Seeing this, Han's eyes brightened.

  Finally, his soul leaves its body!

  I’ve been waiting for this moment!

  “Yun Duoduo, remember what I told you at Great Thunderstorm Temple!” Han shouted.

  Yun Duoduo, who was also preparing to leave her body to confront the young man in purple, immediately retracted her soul, understanding Han’s meaning.

  The outer world is too dangerous; staying within the body is safer.

  Yun Yun and the young man in purple were still confused, not understanding Han’s cryptic words.

  But the next moment, they would know.

  Intense, foreign sunlight erupted from Han’s body, flooding the entire mine.

  The death and curse energy, along with the ghost corpse’s mist, sizzled and evaporated in the heat of the foreign sunlight.

  “Ah!”

  A scream rang out. The young man’s soul started to smoke. No matter what techniques or spells he had left, they were powerless now.

  This intense foreign sunlight even affected the zombies. Their flesh started to rot, and their movements slowed, unlike any zombies Han had encountered before.

  The opportunity had come. Han hurled a hairpin straight at the young man’s head. This time, nothing could block his strike, and the young man could not avoid it.

  With Han's immense strength, even a hairpin was devastating.

  The young man's head exploded like a watermelon.

  Without missing a beat, Han dashed toward Yun Yun.

  She, too, had been affected by the foreign sunlight and couldn’t see, falling into immediate danger.

  This was the downside of the Bright Light Charm—aside from Han, it couldn’t distinguish between friend and foe.

  Even though the zombies were affected by the sunlight, they still followed their master’s commands.

  And their inability to see didn’t hinder them.

  Hearing the explosion behind her, Yun Yun turned and instinctively raised her sword.

  “Yun Yun, don’t look back, it’s me, Han!”

  Han reached her from behind and held her in place, confirming his identity. Yun Yun immediately froze.

  At the same time, Han swung his hammer forward, sending the green zombie flying.

  A massive handprint appeared, slamming down onto the tortured young man’s soul, nearly crushing it.

  Han didn’t pause. He continued his assault. The young man’s soul quickly weakened and was captured.

  As the foreign sunlight faded, the world became clear again, and the thick corpse mist dispersed. The negative energy in the mine was temporarily cleared.

  Only the three zombies remained, still relentlessly attacking Han.

  But their bodies were severely decayed, their bones exposed, and their flesh rotting. They looked absolutely grotesque.

  Yun Duoduo ran over, taking the young man’s soul and the cursed bead from his hands.

  “You vile coward!” she spat.

  The young man glared at Han with eyes full of hatred.

  He still had desperate spells left to cast, but who could have anticipated Han’s strange technique?

  “Flattery,” Han replied, grinning. He’d been waiting for this moment. To capture the thief, first capture the king. Who would want to battle with three ugly, decayed zombies?

  Now, after all the damage, the three zombies, having lost their master, were significantly weaker. Before Yun Duoduo could even figure out how to control them, Han and Yun Yun had already subdued them.

  Such creatures—either hammer them into oblivion or control them with magic!

  If the young man in purple was at his full strength, Han would have had no choice but to face him head-on and smash through their forces. But now, with his own life at risk, how could he care about controlling his undead minions?

  Three zombies had been added to the tally.

  Han approached, looking down at the young man in purple.

  “You have some guts, don’t you? Killing members of the imperial court to practice your craft.”

  The young man in purple quickly retorted, “I didn’t kill those warriors of the Daqi imperial court.”

  Han's gaze sharpened. He was still denying it at this point?

  “Han, do you think we might have the wrong person?” Yun Duo murmured.

  The purple-clad youth suddenly declared, “I am a disciple of the Earth Corpse Sect. My father is an elder in the sect. Do you not fear the sect’s retribution for your actions?”

  “No,” Han shook his head. “There’s something off about him.”

  “Let me try something,” Yun Yun interjected. “I know a soul-searching technique; it might help.”

  Han, too, was capable of probing other souls’ memories, but it required the soul to be unprotected. For someone like this young man, whose origins were dubious, his soul was likely shielded. Only specialized soul-searching techniques could bypass such barriers.

  The stronger the soul’s defense, the harder it was to crack.

  The purple-clad youth sneered, “You dare to search my soul? The Earth Corpse Sect will never forgive you!”

  His threat fell on deaf ears. Yun Yun immediately began her soul search.

  After a moment, she spoke.

  “This man is named Dai Liu. Some of his memories are blocked by a barrier, but it’s clear he’s a disciple of the Earth Corpse Sect. His father is a Dayu Realm elder. The memories we can’t access are related to the sect’s teachings.”

  “Does this have anything to do with us?” Han asked.

  Yun Yun’s face hardened. “The warriors we saw earlier weren’t killed by him.”

  She continued, “However, Dai Liu came here using the special methods of the Earth Corpse Sect. When he arrived, those warriors had just been killed. Their blood had been completely drained.”

  Han remained unmoved, his eyes narrowing. Yun Yun’s expression told him there was more to the story.

  “But aside from those warriors, all the other commoners here were still alive when he arrived. He murdered them to drain their blood and raise the corpses.”

  Han’s expression froze. He had claimed it wasn’t his doing, that he hadn’t killed anyone related to the court—but was that just a diversion? “I only killed the commoners, what’s the big deal?” Dai Liu had said earlier.

  “A bunch of commoners—they’re just cattle for blood. I’ll compensate their families with silver. A hundred taels per person, and I’ll have bought their worthless lives.”

  Han exhaled, his anger simmering. The man was shameless—he really believed the lives of these people were worth nothing, to be bartered for silver.

  Such a person, with such a mindset, was not something new to Han. He had seen this kind of cruelty before, in every world.

  Dai Liu kept ranting on, but Han had had enough. He slammed him into submission and locked him away.

  “Why would Dai Liu come here?” Han asked. “Does he know who killed those people?”

  Yun Yun’s face turned serious. “This place… it might have bred something terrifying.”

  At Yun Yun’s signal, the three of them left the small mining area.

  “Ah, Sister, you’re poisoned!” Yun Duo suddenly exclaimed, pointing to Yun Yun’s left arm and abdomen. Dark, greenish blood was seeping from the wounds.

  “It’s corpse poison. I was injured by the green zombie earlier,” Yun Yun replied calmly.

  In truth, had she not been injured by a more powerful ghost corpse before, dealing with a mere green zombie wouldn’t have been such a problem.

  Han sucked in a breath. Corpse poison? Was Yun Yun going to turn into a zombie herself?

  Should he start preparing a change of clothes?

  “It’s nothing serious. It can be dealt with easily,” Yun Yun reassured them.

  “We can’t waste time.”

  Yun Duo immediately began rummaging through her spatial pouch, pulling out talismans, healing liquids, and powders to treat her sister’s wounds.

  In this world, for cultivators, something like corpse poison was trivial. It wasn’t a big deal.

  Han couldn’t help but feel impressed. Even after a month of not traveling with them, Yun Duo was still as resourceful as ever. It seemed like her spatial pouch had everything.

  It was practically a treasure pouch.

  As Han helped treat Yun Yun’s abdomen, he turned his back to give her privacy.

  Luckily, they were traveling as a group of three. If it had been just him and Yun Yun—if she had been gravely wounded, unconscious, or even if her wounds were near her chest, with no shelter nearby…

  Han would have had to consider bringing his “talents” into play on this journey.