My words have become law; I truly have no desire to display my divine power before others.

suddenly!

His tightly closed eyes suddenly snapped open!

The fanatical glint in his eyes was suddenly replaced by intense shock, anger, and a hint of disbelief!

Just a moment ago, he clearly felt that the "Ironclad Corpse" that he had painstakingly crafted with secret methods and bestowed upon Wu He, that useless creature used for self-defense and tasks, was something he had painstakingly created and given to him.

The faint but clear connection between his soul and himself was severed!

It wasn't blocked, it wasn't interfered with, it was completely and cleanly cut off!

This means that the armored corpse's core has been completely destroyed, its spirituality extinguished, and it is dead beyond any hope of survival!

"How is that possible?!"

A hoarse, dry voice squeezed out of his throat, echoing in the cave, carrying shock and a hint of barely perceptible...panic.

Although the armored corpse was not the strongest thing he possessed, it was still the remains of an ancient warrior that he had buried with outside the general's tomb.

It was forged through years of painstaking effort using both evil magic and secret medicine. The iron armor covering its body is formed by the fusion of corpse energy and yin iron, making it exceptionally sturdy and incredibly powerful.

Furthermore, he is proficient in earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique that allows one to escape through earth), making him virtually untouchable by ordinary cultivators. Even if one is outmatched, escaping with earth-遁 is no problem.

Who exactly did that good-for-nothing Wu He offend?

How could a remote place like Black Mountain Town possibly have a master who could kill an armored corpse so decisively?

Moreover, judging from the speed at which the contact was severed, the other party probably struck with lightning speed, giving the armored corpse little chance to resist or even escape!

"A master... a truly righteous master has set his sights on this place?"

This thought set off alarm bells in his mind, and a chill rose from his tailbone.

His first reaction was to immediately stop the ritual and flee thousands of miles away with his not-yet-completely-successful "work" to avoid possible extermination.

However, as soon as this thought arose, it was violently suppressed by another, stronger, and more obsessive desire!

His gaze was fixed on the dark coffin beneath him.

Through the crack, he could "see" the tall body inside the coffin, clad in tattered ancient armor, with skin that shone with a dark gold luster, and a majestic face shrouded in a thick aura of corpse energy.

He could sense that the object in the coffin was like a giant egg about to hatch.

It contained a terrifyingly powerful force within, and only the final step, the last "fire," was needed to complete the final transformation.

To become his most powerful and perfect "masterpiece"—a real "Golden Armored Corpse King" with some of the intelligence and terrifying supernatural powers he possessed in his previous life!

Interruption at this point not only means all previous efforts are wasted, but also years of hard work and a vast amount of accumulated resources are all lost.

It is more likely that the backlash will damage its own foundation, or even disturb the contents of the coffin, causing unpredictable changes.

"No! We can't stop!" His withered face contorted with muscles, and after a moment of struggle, his eyes were replaced by endless greed and desperate madness.

"Just a little bit more! Just a little bit more! As long as we succeed, as long as we refine this Golden Armored Corpse King... all those damn experts and righteous cultivators will die!"

This entire area, spanning a hundred miles, will be my hunting ground! I will possess the power to change everything!

He remembered the opportunity that had brought him all of this.

Many years ago, he was just a poor woodcutter who chopped firewood on the outermost edge of the Black Mountain to earn a living.

His parents died early, he had no wife or children, and he suffered endless scorn, living a life worse than a stray dog.

Once, in an attempt to gather more good firewood, he ventured deep into the old forest, lost his footing, and fell into a deep ditch hidden by vines, breaking his leg. He cried out to heaven and earth in vain.

Just when he thought he was going to die silently in the ravine, he struggled and touched something cold and hard from under the decaying leaves and soil.

It was a palm-sized, translucent white jade sculpture with a warm, smooth feel to the touch.

The statue has an ancient and strange shape, neither Buddhist nor Taoist. It looks like a seated human figure, but the face is blurred, and it exudes an indescribable attraction.

In despair and hunger, he inexplicably hid the statue close to his body.

That night, he collapsed from high fever and pain.

In a hazy state, he seemed to hear a grand, ancient, alluring yet cold and ruthless voice resounding directly in his mind, telling him about the secrets of immortality and the beauty of power.

The jade sculpture seemed to come alive, directly imprinting the strange and profound scriptures and methods that pointed directly to the secrets of life, death, yin and yang into the depths of his soul—"The Secret Record of Refining Corpses from the Profound Yin".

When he woke up again, although his broken leg was still painful, it seemed to be enveloped by a cool aura and stopped getting worse.

The jade carving in my arms was still cold.

He knew he had encountered the legendary "divine destiny"! No, it was a gift of power that was even more direct and powerful than divine destiny!

From then on, he was no longer the woodcutter who was bullied by everyone.

He secretly moved away from his original shack and, following the method in his mind, began to try to contact and refine the unclaimed corpses in the desolate graves.

From struggling to control even a slow-moving zombie at first, to later being able to forge more powerful armored zombies, his power grew rapidly on the path of evil.

He also began to understand that the existence in the jade carving required not only cultivators, but also "resources"—the fear, blood, and soul of living beings, as well as corpses nourished by the most yin land.

So he turned his attention to the depths of the Wild Boar Forest, this natural shady spot, and the legendary tomb of the general.

He secretly explored using a secret method and indeed found the underground cave and the remains of a general who possessed extremely strong corpse energy and was filled with murderous aura in life.

This is simply the best "material" that God has given him!

He began setting up the "Blood Fiend Corpse Nourishing Altar" according to the most difficult chapter in the "Secret Record of Xuan Yin Corpse Refining".

Centered on the General's Tomb and using the townspeople of Heishan Town as the source of sustenance, it was carefully cultivated and refined.

Yunhe Zhenren Wu He was merely a pawn that he casually controlled and placed in the foreground to collect "resources".

This is his only chance to escape his ant-like status, become a superior being, and even pursue that slim chance of "immortality"!

He endured unimaginable loneliness, coldness, and fear of being surrounded by corpses. He paid so much, how could he possibly give up at the last moment?

"The armored corpse is dead... which means that Wu He, that good-for-nothing, has likely been exposed as well, and may even have fallen into the enemy's hands."

He forced himself to calm down and analyze the situation.

"The other party might follow the clues to find us... but they may not know the exact location of this underground cave."

The natural maze around the general's tomb and my setup weren't so easy to see through.

A fierce glint flashed in his eyes: "We must speed things up! Complete the final step before they come knocking!"

He suddenly bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of blood containing his own primordial essence onto the crack in the coffin lid.

At the same time, he frantically formed hand seals, pouring all his magical power into the coffin without regard to cost.

He began chanting the most urgent and domineering incantation in the "Secret Record of Refining Corpses in the Mysterious Yin."

"The Profound Yin is Limitless, the Blood Fiend Returns to Its True Form! The Corpse King Descends Upon the World, All Spirits Bow Down! — Imperial Decree!"

The coffin shook violently, and the gray-black corpse energy gushing from the cracks suddenly became violent.

The dark red runes on the altar shone brightly, and the entire underground cavern seemed to tremble slightly under this sudden surge of evil power.

Inside the coffin, on the chest of the dark golden body, a faint light, like the beating of a heart, began to grow brighter and more rapid…

On the face of the withered woodcutter—no, this nameless evil cultivator—a ferocious smile, a mixture of pain, anticipation, and endless madness, appeared.