Chapter 517: An Unexpected Turn

Whenever Yu Batian returned to his sect, he always took this path.

The mountain hollow was filled with a pungent stench of blood.

As time passed, the scent gradually dispersed with the wind. Amid the disarray of the hollow, a corpse lay sprawled in the tangled weeds, completely devoid of life.

Inside the coffin, Qin Sang remained alert, keeping a close watch on his surroundings.

Unexpectedly, even after waiting for nearly half an hour, there was still no sign of Yu Batian.

Qin Sang frowned in secret.

Has that brat not finished his indulgence yet? Is he not planning to return today?

If that was the case, Qin Sang would have no choice but to activate his backup plan. However, this would mean starting preparations anew, costing him a great deal of time.

He worried that if the delay dragged on, more unforeseen variables would arise, and he might not be able to suppress his corpse transformation.

Thus, Qin Sang decided to wait another hour. If Yu Batian still did not appear by then, it would mean he was not coming back today, and he would have no one but himself to blame for failing to enjoy his destined fortune.

Sealed inside the coffin, unable to move, Qin Sang calmed himself and carefully reviewed his plan from start to finish. Afterward, his mind began to wander.

Thinking about what he was doing now, Qin Sang resolved that if he ever encountered such an opportunity again, he would think twice before taking action.

The wind rustled the treetops, producing a whispering sound.

Qin Sang, lying within the coffin, suddenly stirred. Instinctively, he adjusted his posture within the Corpse Coffin.

Someone's coming!

Although the newcomer was still some distance away, Qin Sang could faintly sense that someone was flying toward his location using an evasion technique. Whether it was Yu Batian, however, remained uncertain.

After a short wait, Qin Sang noticed that the person's speed was rather slow, not quite what one would expect of a Foundation Building cultivator. He frowned inwardly.

Is it not Yu Batian?

Before long, the figure finally arrived above the hollow.

The newcomer immediately noticed the anomaly below.

Then, Qin Sang heard a startled cry, and to his surprise, it was a woman's voice!

It was not Yu Batian. Qin Sang’s heart sank. Everything had gone smoothly up to this point, only for an accident to occur here.

With a sharp

whoosh

, the woman, startled by the scene, fled into the surrounding forest and hid herself.

Qin Sang remained lying quietly within the coffin, making no move.

Although his plan had been unexpectedly exposed, he did not immediately abandon it. This was because he had sensed the aura of Qingyang Demonic Fire from the woman's spiritual presence.

The woman was also a disciple of the Demonic Qingyang Sect!

However, her aura was unfamiliar. During all his years in Qingyang Market, Qin Sang had never encountered her.

The gap between their cultivation levels was vast. Although the woman did her best to conceal her presence, she could not escape Qin Sang's perception.

What intrigued him was that after discovering the strange scene in the hollow, the woman, rather than fleeing entirely, had hidden herself among the trees, remaining still as though she believed herself undetected.

She had clearly realized the abnormal state of the corpse in the hollow.

From his senses, Qin Sang determined that the woman was at the twelfth stage of the Qi Refining Realm, just a hair’s breadth away from reaching the Foundation Building Realm.

After a moment of contemplation, Qin Sang cast aside his distracting thoughts, sealed his spiritual consciousness, guarded his heart, and ignored the outside world.

At that moment, the coffin became utterly silent, as if it truly contained nothing more than a preserved corpse.

Since the plan had been disrupted, altering it would cost too much time. Given that the newcomer was also a disciple of the Demonic Qingyang Sect, he decided he might as well go along with the accident and see it through.

It all depended on whether the woman had the courage to proceed.

The forests flanking the hollow were deathly quiet. Combined with the chaotic scene at the bottom of the hollow, an eerie atmosphere permeated the place.

After some time, a figure cautiously emerged from a thicket—it was a young girl, looking rather youthful.

She was dressed like a wandering heroine, but her expression lacked the expected sharpness; instead, she appeared somewhat delicate and vulnerable. Her eyes, slightly red and swollen as though she had recently cried, glistened with a purity that evoked a strong sense of pity.

Carefully parting the branches, the girl peeked out, her gaze following the trail of blood through the hollow until it settled on the corpse lying amid the weeds.

The small storage pouch at the corpse’s waist immediately caught her attention.

She bit her lip, her face showing a struggle between hesitation and worry. After a moment, she suddenly looked back over her shoulder, and the worry in her eyes was swiftly replaced by a deep, searing hatred.

Silently grinding her teeth, the girl waved her hand, summoning a small sparrow from the forest.

The sparrow struggled a few times in her palm before finally calming down. She then tapped it several times with her fingertip before releasing it.

The sparrow took flight, soaring high above the treetops. It circled several times around the surrounding mountaintops before swiftly returning.

At this point, the tense expression on the girl’s face eased slightly. After a brief hesitation, she pointed at the sparrow and then directed it toward the corpse below. At her command, the sparrow plummeted at an astonishing speed, crashing headfirst into the corpse’s skull.

Boom!

The barrier on the small sparrow exploded, effortlessly blasting the corpse's skull into pieces.

Whoosh!

In the next instant, the young girl darted out from the bushes and rushed to the corpse at her fastest speed. She grabbed the storage pouch in one swift motion and then waved her hand, releasing a flame that set the corpse ablaze, erasing all traces.

Just as she was about to leap away, her eyes suddenly caught sight of the coffin, which remained intact within the raging flames.

"A corpse cultivator?"

The girl froze for a brief moment, her figure halting mid-motion.

For a corpse cultivator, the most precious possession was their refined corpse. Now that the master was dead, this refined corpse would be ownerless.

However, the cultivator was clearly dead, so why did the refined corpse inside the coffin still appear completely unharmed?

The girl frowned, as if recalling something. Hastily, she sank her spiritual sense into the storage pouch. She easily found a jade slip placed prominently inside. The more she read its contents, the more astonished she became. After a quick scan of the final sections, sudden understanding flashed across her face.

Without hesitation, she grabbed the entire coffin, slung it onto her back, destroyed all remaining traces in the hollow, and swiftly fled.

The girl poured all her strength into her flight back toward her sect, repeatedly glancing over her shoulder along the way. Only after reaching the outskirts of her sect and confirming that no one was pursuing her did she finally relax.

She clutched the storage pouch tightly, her eyes unable to hide their excitement.

Even from her earlier, rough inspection, she had realized that the pouch contained countless treasures, both in quantity and quality beyond anything she had ever dared imagine.

She had actually obtained all the possessions of a Foundation Building cultivator!

Not to mention the refined corpse, which in her eyes, was even more precious than everything else in the storage pouch combined.

Thinking about the refined corpse, the girl’s heart stirred. On a sudden impulse, she changed direction and flew toward Qingyang Market. She eventually found a secluded spot outside the market to land.

Phew!

The girl exhaled softly, feeling her heart still pounding wildly. Hugging her knees, she crouched down and slapped her burning cheeks with both hands, slowly calming herself.

Unable to contain her excitement any longer, she pulled out the jade slip and began studying it closely.

The secret art recorded within exceeded her wildest imagination. The girl could not help but doubt.

Can such a miraculous corpse refinement technique truly exist in this world?

After putting away the jade slip, she turned to look at the coffin nearby. After a moment of hesitation, she retrieved two protective artifacts for safety, then cautiously opened the coffin from a distance.

Inside, she saw a refined corpse with a ferocious, greenish face and fanged teeth, lying quietly within the coffin.

𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

At the same time, Qin Sang, hidden within the corpse, also saw the girl's true appearance, and finally learned her real identity.