Hell Emperor.

Chapter 535 Ye Jie - Corpse Dragon
"What's that smell? Are you sure Snake Eyes is here?"

Under Yunxiu's guidance, everyone found the direction to move forward. After crossing the mountains and the wilderness, what appeared before their eyes was a swamp covered with black water.

Before they got close, a pungent smell reached everyone's ears. Li Fei'e pinched his nose, looking unhappy. The smell was so strong that it could not be ignored.

Ye Jie, who transformed into a dragon and carried everyone at high speed, also discovered something at this moment. His face changed slightly: "That is the smell of death. Someone died here, and more than one person... Even the largest mass grave I have been to, the smell is not as strong as this."

The smell of a rotting corpse is the strongest stench, engraved in the bones of all living things, making people feel danger instinctively.

Yunxiu was at a loss after leading everyone here. "I... I don't know either, but the umbilical cord blood from the Blood Demon Sutra clearly pointed me to this place."

Sensing the hidden threat, Ye Jie returned to his human form and thought, "Since this is where the umbilical cord blood points, the direction should be correct. If the Thousand Lives Blood Silk was really stolen by Snake Eyes, this must be the man's hiding place. However, judging from the surrounding conditions, this is not a good place."

As they were talking, a wailing sound was heard from afar. The sound was so heartbreaking that even at such a distance, one could still feel the pain contained in it. It immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Go over and have a look."

Everyone looked at each other, saw what was in each other's mind, and flew towards the direction where the sound came from.

Nearing the Blackwater Swamp, white bones were faintly visible in the pool water. The eerie chill emanating from it, coupled with the wailing in the distance, made everyone dare not relax for a moment.

"Oh my god, that's..."

Finally, the scene ahead was revealed. The young Yunxiu's legs were trembling, his heart was about to jump out of his throat, and he almost didn't dare to look any further.

Outside the pond, a seriously injured man was struggling. He had no legs, so he could only use his hands to crawl out. However, the more he struggled, the weaker he became. In the swamp, several black snakes the size of loaches were chasing him and biting him, leaving his skin and flesh torn, making the already dark pond even more turbid.

The scene before him was shocking. Ye Jie immediately used his internal energy to perform the Dragon Catching Hand. He clenched his right hand in the air and with an invisible force, he pulled the man out of the pond.

Unfortunately, everyone arrived too late. By the time Ye Jie rescued the man, he was already on the verge of death, with only his last breath left, and he couldn't even speak.

"Looking at the clothes he's wearing, he should be from the Bei Ming Sword Sect. Are we still a step too late..."

Li Fei'e seemed a little reluctant. Based on the muddy sect emblem on the immortal robe, she recognized the man's identity. Although she didn't know what the man had done, cutting off his legs and throwing him into the swamp to torture him to death was obviously not a righteous act.

Ye Jie saw that the man had no chance of survival and was just enduring pain. He slashed with his dragon claws and ended his life immediately. He then placed his hand on his forehead and spoke slowly, "Soul, return."

A cold wind blew by, and the man's soul was led out by Ye Jie. After it turned into a spirit, his injuries healed, and even his broken legs grew back. However, his realm plummeted and was only at the first level.

"Am I already dead? What a pity..."

The man looked down and saw his own corpse. Coming from a sect, he immediately understood what had happened and let out a long sigh.

"Calm down, I have something to ask you." Ye Jie spoke slowly.

"Ask whatever you want."

The man nodded in agreement. He witnessed Ye Jie's rescue of him from the pond before he died. Although he failed to save him, at least he preserved his body and it did not become the feces of the monsters in the swamp.

"Where is this place? What do you know about this swamp?"

Thinking of the pain he had experienced before his death, the man was terrified. "This is the Rotten Water Pond, the territory of the Ten Thousand Snake Cave. All the enemy sect disciples captured by the Ten Thousand Snake Cave will be thrown here to feed the snakes and tortured to death. No one has ever escaped. I didn't expect that I would be captured here..."

Ye Jie nodded, thinking of where Shen Qingge had gone, and couldn't help asking: "Are you from the Beiming Sword Sect? So, you were in Beiming before, why were you captured by the people of the Ten Thousand Snake Cave?"

The man sighed and said, "I don't know why. In the past, the Sword Sect and the Ten Thousand Snake Cave have always kept to themselves. But recently they have been acting like crazy. Many Sword Sect disciples have been attacked by the Ten Thousand Snake Cave. I heard from the sect master that it must be the people from the Ten Thousand Snake Cave who are plotting to get the Sword Sect's treasure!"

Ye Jie did not answer. After all, the man was only at the fifth level when he was alive. He was not even an immortal. He had no access to the sect’s secrets and had no idea about the revival of the Demon God.

After learning the information, the man said, "I want to go back to the Sword Sect to warn other brothers to be careful of the people in the Ten Thousand Snake Cave. Can you let me go?"

Ye Jie did not stop him: "Be careful on the road, don't run into other ghost messengers."

After the man left, Li Fei'e retracted his gaze and spoke slowly: "Rotten Water Pond... After hearing what he said, it suddenly occurred to me that countless people disappear here every year, including some immortals."

After a pause, Li Fei'e continued, "The Ten Thousand Snake Cave really has enemies on all sides. All sects and schools have been attacked by them. If they do this, they can only be rampant for a while, and they will definitely be retaliated against."

Ye Jie took a deep breath: "They have the strength to do this. When the demon god revives, I am afraid that the whole continent will suffer. Before that, we must stop this."

After saying this, Ye Jie's eyes were fixed on the black pool in front of him:

"Since the Blood Demon Scripture has led us here, there must be a reason. The people in the Ten Thousand Snake Cave will not do meaningless things just to torture the disciples of other sects. There is no need to drag them here across thousands of miles. It seems that all the secrets are hidden under the deep pool ahead."

Li Fei'e's eyes narrowed, as if he realized Ye Jie's plan: "You mean, you plan to dive into the deep pool and take a look?"

Ye Jie nodded: "Yes... With the Divine Dragon Transformation, I can walk on the abyss as if it were flat ground. Let me see what kind of monster is hiding in this deep pool."

Li Fei'e pinched his nose and said, "Even if that's the case, the pool is full of rotten, stagnant water, and I don't know how many corpses are buried there. If you dive in like this, don't you feel sick? You don't mind the stench, but I do."

As she spoke, she subconsciously took a few steps away from Ye Jie. Ye Jie's mouth twitched. Aren't they trying to thwart the conspiracy of the devil's revival? How can they still have time to care about such a trivial matter? If they delay like this, I'm afraid they will run away after finally finding the clue.

However, seeing that Li Fei'e strongly objected and refused to let him go down to the pond, Ye Jie did not force him and changed his words: "Since you don't agree, let's try another method... Unfortunately, I didn't bring a sword with me when I left. Do you have a sword?"

Li Fei'e shook her head. As a thunder cultivator, how could she possibly carry a sword with her? Yun Xiu, who was standing by, took off the wooden sword on his back and said to Ye Jie, "I have one. This is a bamboo-cutting sword. However, it is only a wooden sword used by mortals for practice. Its power is not as strong as that of a ninth-grade spiritual weapon. What do you want the sword for?"

Ye Jie did not answer, but took the bamboo-cutting sword.

For Yunxiu, who had not yet grown up, the bamboo-cutting sword was a little too big and not easy to hold, but for Ye Jie, the bamboo-cutting sword was just right.

Ye Jie slowly raised the sword, holding it with both hands, with the tip of the sword facing the rotten water pool in front of him. He concentrated and held his breath, and uttered a loud cry: "Mad Wolf Sea-Splitting Sword!"

The wooden sword slashed down from the air. The seemingly slow movement contained an unstoppable force, like the power of the Tao realm condensed into substance, and even the space seemed to be completely cut through.

As the sword fell, the rotten water pond shook continuously, and the dense and sticky swamp was forcibly separated by the huge force. When the sword light swept through, a continuously expanding crack appeared on the surface of the rotten water pond that was thousands of feet wide and stretched as far as the eye could see. It was as if an invisible arm had stretched open the two sides of the rotten water pond, revealing the entire scene below!

"This……"

Yunxiu's pupils trembled. Even though she knew that Ye Jie was very powerful, the sight of him splitting the swamp with one sword still gave her a strong shock. Before she could utter a word of shock, the roar coming from the bottom of the pool attracted all her attention.

Under the exposed abyss, a pitch-black monster was lurking there. It was a hundred feet long, with a snake body as winding as a mountain range, coiled up in a ball. Its scales were a rotten grayish-white color, and sticky pus oozed from the cracks, emitting a disgusting smell.

The most eye-catching thing is the bone spurs that burst out of the body. The bone spurs are like towering mountains, piercing the skin and growing wildly from behind it. It looks like a deformed creature that failed to transform into a dragon, which is daunting.

The noise of Ye Jie parting the swamp also alarmed the giant creature under the pool. A cold-blooded scarlet light flashed in its eyes, and a dull murderous intent enveloped Ye Jie and his group.

"That is……"

Seeing the entirety of the giant creature under the pool, Li Fei'e's eyes trembled, and he finally remembered the information from his master.

"That is a corrupted corpse dragon. It last appeared hundreds of years ago... After so many years, people thought it had died long ago. Unexpectedly, it was actually dormant in this corrupted pool, enjoying the offerings of the Ten Thousand Snake Cave disciples and absorbing the essence of the dead to improve its realm. Judging from its aura, it is probably even stronger than Pan Tianqi Zun..."

Ye Jie also understood the difficulty of the enemy, but his expression remained calm:

"Don't worry. What if his realm is high? He is only in the middle stage of the sixth transformation. If Fairy Yunshang were here, she would be able to decide the outcome with just a few moves. I have a second-grade divine weapon in my hand, so I can fight him."

As Ye Jie's mind moved, the dragon-patterned Tiangang armor covered with golden light wrapped around his body. The streamlined arc of the armor revealed a bit of solemnity and coldness, as if he was ready for battle.

The giant dragon rose from the abyss, and the bone spurs on its back emitted a brilliant cold light, bringing a sense of silent oppression to everyone. However, Ye Jie had expected this, and as he stretched out his hand, a dazzling stream of light moved in response, and the handles of the Golden Dragon Shears separated, and the blade in front flashed a cold light.

The corrupted corpse dragon, which was a hundred feet long, was like a shining target. There was no chance that the attack would miss. Ye Jie's eyes were fixed, as if he had already seen the scene of killing the corpse dragon right here.

However, what happened in front of him made Ye Jie's pupils shrink. Facing the attack of the golden dragon shears, the corrupted corpse dragon did not avoid it, and a large amount of dark fog appeared around its body, and its figure became unreal.

The Golden Dragon Shears rushed across and passed through the inside of the corrupted corpse dragon, as if it had just passed through a layer of water curtain. Its body became illusory and transparent. No matter how powerful the Golden Dragon Shears were, and how much it could cut through everything, it could not cut through something without substance.

"What kind of skill is this?"

Ye Jie was stunned. The all-out attack of the second-grade divine weapon ended up with such a result. Ye Jie found it difficult to accept it for a moment, and the counterattack of the corrupted corpse dragon followed closely.

The thick snake tail swept across, bringing with it an explosion that tore through space. Anything that blocked its way would be ruthlessly crushed into ashes.

Ye Jie also realized that the move was tricky, and relying on the power of the temple guard spiritual officer and the might of the Tiangang Armor, he stepped forward to take it head-on. But he paid the price the next moment, as the armor was shattered by the snake's tail. The crushing power of his realm was clearly revealed at this moment. If it weren't for the armor protecting him, Ye Jie would have been seriously injured and fallen down with just this one blow.

"God's Evil Attack!"

When the armor was broken, Ye Jie did not forget to use the power of the evil spirit to launch a counterattack. The strong impact caused the corrupted corpse dragon to suffer mental damage, and it continued to struggle on the spot. Ye Jie seized the opportunity and used the golden dragon shears again, but the shears passed through the body of the corrupted corpse dragon and still failed to achieve any effect.

"How could it be possible... How can I hurt it?"

Ye Jie clenched his teeth. He had a second-grade divine weapon in his hand, but he couldn't hurt the enemy in the slightest. He really had no place to use his strength. Now his Tiangang armor was damaged, and his merits of losing money to avoid disaster were not enough. If he was attacked again, would he die here?

At this time, Yunxiu's exclamation came to his ear: "I feel it... the aura of Qiansheng Blood Silk is there!"

Following her gaze, Ye Jie also looked towards the end of the abyss where the corpse dragon had originally lurked. There, an inexplicably neat door was so eye-catching. As the swamp was split apart by a sword, it was also exposed to everyone.

Li Fei'e exclaimed: "That must be where Snake Eyes hid his treasure! I didn't expect it to be right below this corpse dragon..."

As they spoke, Li Fei'e and Ye Jie looked at each other, and they both saw what was in each other's eyes. An invisible tacit understanding spread in their hearts. In times of crisis, they only needed a glance to understand each other's meaning.

Li Fei'e grabbed Yunxiu and protected her with his immortal power. Then, without saying a word, he started to use the Liufeng Huixue step, accompanied by lightning, and rushed straight towards the door, leaving a blazing electric light on the ground.

The Corrupted Corpse Dragon also noticed this and turned around suddenly, aiming its fierce snake pupils at the direction where Li Fei'e was rushing forward. Just as it was about to go back to guard, it heard a whisper from behind:
"Want to leave? Your opponent is me. Wuming Yinhuo!"

The immortal essence was stimulated, and the cold and pale Yin Fire rose from under the corrupted corpse dragon, causing it to suffer injuries for the first time, and it let out an unbearable and shrill scream from its mouth.

The Ignorant Yin Fire is a unique skill that Ye Jie learned from the Ding Si Divine General with the help of the Xingyue Linglong Moth. This fire specifically burns the soul, and once it entangles the soul, it is difficult to get rid of it. It is perfect for dealing with corrupted corpse dragons that can disappear into nothingness!
(End of this chapter)