Starting with the consumables of the Demonic Sect, one can barely achieve immortality.

Yan Cheng took a step back, his hands gripping the Moon Wheel Seal in one hand and the only puppet-pulling silk he had in his hand, tightly holding it with the other.

Before he went into seclusion that day, he laid a silken trap behind the door to prevent a mid-stage cultivator from interrupting his breakthrough, regardless of his status.

Unexpectedly, only two incompetent early-stage subordinates of the Holy Maiden arrived, whom he killed with two punches, rendering his earlier arrangements useless.

"Who would have thought... that it would be used on the very person in question!"

The saintess's aura was as intense as daylight, far surpassing any mid-stage corpse cultivator Yan Cheng had ever seen, and her cultivation level was at least at the late stage of Qi Refining.

Since she practices Yang magic, she may also have a strong resistance to the puppet threads, just like the Silk Weaver.

Only by using the Yin Star Flame, which is both Yin and Yang in nature and possesses the magical properties of two kinds of flames, can we suppress this guy's arrogance as much as possible!

Can we win?

"This is a late-stage cultivator!"

Yan Chengqing was as clear-headed as a mid-stage cultivator who could kill an early-stage cultivator with a mere wave of his hand.

The gap between the late stage and the middle stage of Qi Refining is probably not something that can be bridged by one or two spells.

Moreover, as the true disciple of the Lord of the Hall of Longevity, the Holy Maiden possesses even more and more sophisticated spiritual artifacts than the Heavenly Child.

Therefore, in his view, victory was never an option; he should be grateful if he could escape!

That's how it was supposed to be, but...

He secretly rubbed the black gold corpse-controlling ring between his fingers, and his mind gradually calmed down.

When faced with a life-or-death situation, he could only gamble on whether the female corpse had already reached the peak of Qi Refining.

As long as she hasn't reached the peak of her cultivation, and her status is below mine after receiving the blessing of [Insight], then I can completely freeze her in place using the ring!

He thought to himself:

This is the last option...

His face remained calm and composed as he said lightly:

"What will it take for the saintess to release them?"

The saintess's pale purple lips, so similar to those of the silk weaver, moved slightly:

"Now that Junior Sister Wang is at your service, all the evil energy she refines in the future will surely belong to you."

"And you will try to save her life so that she can continue to provide you with the resources for your spiritual practice."

"So, junior brother, are you planning to shoulder the debt she owes me entirely?"

Upon hearing this, Yan Cheng's forced slight upturn of the lips immediately disappeared.

You want me to pay off the corpse-related debt for her? Do I look like a fish out of water?

He had considered heeding advice, accepting a job, and abandoning Wang Qing to find someone else to serve as his servant.

But upon closer reflection, who would be the person who has reached the initial perfection of the second level but still dares not break through?

Most of them are people who practice by borrowing money, and they dare not break through because they know their foundation is unstable!

The saintess's casual remark extinguished his hopes of finding talent on the second floor, something Yan Cheng simply couldn't accept.

The three newly mastered techniques, along with his rank equivalent to the peak of Qi Refining, caused Yan Cheng's intense resentment to suddenly overwhelm his fear.

He whispered:

What if I say no?

The saintess's expression remained unchanged; she merely sighed softly.

The next instant, four talisman arrays appeared in the open space behind her, emitting a white light.

Four enormous coffins, each nearly ten and a half feet long, appeared out of thin air!

Four pairs of bony, fleshy hands pushed open the coffin lid, and crawled out of the coffin four hunchbacked figures with withered flesh and blood, exuding a sinister aura.

Corpse-eating Yin Puppet.

And there were a full four of them!

A warning bell rang in Yan Cheng's heart:

"This is... a summoning spell!"

Because of the Hundred Birds Returning to Their Nest Talisman, he already knew that the loan shark was highly skilled in talisman arrays.

Unexpectedly, this person could even skip the process of drawing the array and summoned four corpse-eating Yin puppets with a thought!

'Were the runes drawn on her shoes? On the hem of her robe? On her body? Or perhaps they were etched into her flesh and blood?'

However, that no longer mattered. In the next instant, the four Yin puppets that burst out of the coffin pounced on him like hungry wolves spotting rabbits!

Although Yan Cheng had never seen these things in actual combat, he could tell from the example of the Silk Weaver that the Yin Puppet's combat power was extraordinary.

What are the features of a silk weaver?

The "Hidden Mist Concealing Origin Technique," which transforms into mist, along with the nearly inexhaustible self-produced and self-sold puppet silk, which possesses special offensive power against the Yin bodies of corpse cultivators.

Without a doubt, among mid-stage cultivators, the Weaver Girl's strength is among the best, and even the Heavenly Child might not be her match.

Even such a powerful figure, when faced with the combined attack of two ghoul puppets, almost suffered a fatal blow to the chest and abdomen, and it took more than ten days for his injuries to fully heal!

Now, in order to deal with him, the Holy Maiden has actually used twice the number of Yin Puppets. Yan Cheng really doesn't know whether he should thank her for thinking so highly of him.

The bigger problem is that most of Yan Cheng's hidden methods are shady and cannot be exposed.

Upper Yin Star Flame, Transformation into Mist, Black Gold Corpse Control Ring...

These methods can certainly enable him to unleash unexpected combat power, but each one is too conspicuous.

If he were to unleash this technique in front of the Holy Maiden, what awaits him would likely not be a few mere corpse-eating Yin Puppets, but rather Foundation Establishment cultivators from the fifth level or higher.

Unless he is certain that he can kill the saint here and then immediately flee beyond the Sea of ​​Fog.

But the fog hadn't cleared yet, so there was no way for him to escape!

Bind their hands and feet, imprison them in a self-imposed prison...

Yan Cheng's eyes dimmed, then burst forth with the most dazzling purple light in the next instant.

Since we can't use off-the-books tricks, we'll have to rely on talent!

He channeled his strength into his feet, his body swaying as he narrowly avoided the deadly claw attacks of the two leading corpse puppets.

"The Seven Star Steps of the White Crane"!

This method is the top-tier footwork that is now regarded as orthodox by the Three Pure Ones Daoist lineage in the Northern Territory. It involves stepping on the seven star directions and soaring through the nine heavens like a crane.

Although the claw strikes of the Corpse-Eating Yin Puppet were powerful, they were entirely based on instinct and were far less agile and adaptable than those of a cultivator of the same realm. They both missed their target immediately when faced with his footwork.

Seeing him use this footwork, the saintess's lips, which were exposed outside the shadow of her hood, seemed to tremble slightly.

This footwork was already considered superb at the Qi Refining stage, but the space in the corridor was ultimately too narrow. Yan Cheng dodged the double claw attack, but he could not dodge the claw attack of the third Yin Puppet.

At that moment, the hand, which had been gathering energy for a long time with the Moon Wheel Seal under its sleeve, bent its five fingers and faced the Yin Puppet's poisonous claws that emitted black evil energy!

Clang!

Yan Cheng retreated rapidly, but his five fingers, which were clenched into a claw shape, remained unharmed.

On the contrary, the more powerful and physically stronger Corpse-Eating Puppet had one arm limply hanging down after a full-force claw-to-claw clash with him!

Soul-Stealing Mysterious Yin Claw!

The claws of the Corpse-Eating Shadow Puppet are covered with corpse poison formed from condensed corpse evil.

Since the Yin Puppet cannot cultivate, it can transform all its Yin energy into corpse poison to harm people. The power of its claw strikes is incomparable to that of ordinary corpse cultivators who use this claw technique.

However, since the meridians in the forearm were completely frozen, even the most potent corpse poison could not be transmitted.

Yan Cheng's Soul-Stealing Profound Yin Claw was originally a melee weapon used by ancient cultivators of the Cold Qi path. Its icy energy seeps into flesh and blood, freezing the flesh and blood and obstructing the meridians!