After being jilted by the saintess at the beginning, why is she crying?

The old man with the corpse gave a cold smile and said nothing.

He crossed his thin arms over his chest, his cold gaze sweeping across the battlefield as if he were scrutinizing a flock of lambs to the slaughter.

Although he was only at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage, these three demonic corpses were enough to fight against a Nascent Soul stage cultivator. In his view, the Hehuan Sect's bunch of clowns were not worth his personal attention—three demonic corpses were sufficient.

On the opposite side of the battlefield, Lin Fengmian looked at the three demonic corpses exuding an ominous aura, his lips twitching slightly:

"Good heavens, he even brought three Golden Core cultivators at the peak of their cultivation level with him? This old man's got some tricks up his sleeve!"

Beside him, a knowledgeable elder of the Hehuan Sect, his face ashen, spoke urgently in a trembling voice:

"Holy Son, be extremely careful! Those three demonic corpses are said to have been fellow disciples of the Yin Corpse Elder, all top experts in the body cultivation lineage! Because they failed to form their Nascent Souls, they were refined by this old demon using the secret techniques of the Heavenly Demon Sect for nearly a hundred years, absorbing the essence, blood, and souls of countless living beings!"

He swallowed hard, his eyes filled with terror: "They are already impervious to swords and spears, unaffected by fire or water; their physical bodies are incredibly strong! It's said they once withstood a single blow from a Nascent Soul cultivator without being destroyed! They are true killing machines, feeling no pain, relentlessly pursuing the dead!"

Lin Fengmian listened, his brows furrowing slightly.

A century of refinement? Invulnerable to swords and spears? A fight to the death?

That sounds...quite troublesome.

But after glancing at the three demonic corpses and then at his disciples who were still in high spirits from their recent victory but were beginning to show signs of fatigue, he quickly made a decision.

"It seems that a direct confrontation won't work," he said in a low voice.

The elder nodded hurriedly, "Yes, yes, yes! Holy Son, let's retreat back into the formation for now..."

"What I said is, we can't fight them head-on," Lin Fengmian interrupted him, a smile playing on his lips. "But I didn't say we'd back down."

He took a deep breath and stared intently at the short, thin figure opposite him.

To catch a thief, first catch his king.

Since those three demonic corpses are so troublesome, why not just kill the person controlling them?

However, the thought had barely formed in his mind when it sank back down.

He glanced at the aura of the three demonic corpses, then sensed the spiritual energy reserves within his body, and his brows furrowed slightly.

To be honest, he knew it very well in his heart.

Although he has many trump cards now, if he really puts all his means to the test, he can only barely reach the threshold of the late Core Formation stage.

With the sword energy transforming into sound, the nine transformations of phantom, and the three spiritual swords enhanced by the sword-breathing technique, the physical body of a third-tier body cultivator, and that magnificent sword energy Gu... all combined, it is indeed enough to contend with a late-stage Core Formation cultivator.

But the opponent's three corpse puppets alone were all at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage.

Invulnerable to swords and spears, impervious to water and fire, unaware of pain, and relentless until death.

Moreover, there are as many as three.

Even if I can hold off one of them temporarily, what about the other two? Although the disciples of the Hehuan Sect have just won a battle and are in high spirits, they have suffered heavy casualties and have consumed most of their spiritual energy. It is simply unrealistic to organize an effective counterattack now.

Now that the opponent has also been weakened, they certainly won't be able to mount any effective attacks in the short term, so there's no need to fight them to the death.

With this in mind, Lin Fengmian quickly made a decision.

"All troops, heed my command—" he commanded in a deep voice, his words echoing across the entire battlefield.

"All disciples, retreat immediately! Return to the mountain-protecting formation! Do not linger in battle!"

Upon hearing this, the disciples of the Hehuan Sect, though unwilling, understood that this was not the time to fight head-on when they saw the three demonic corpses exuding a terrifying aura, and immediately began to retreat in an orderly manner.

But just then—

"Young friend Lin, wait a moment!"

An old and urgent voice suddenly resounded in Lin Fengmian's mind!

It's Li Cheng!

Lin Fengmian paused, raising an eyebrow: "Old man, get to the point! I'm at war here!"

Li Cheng's remnant soul churned within his sea of ​​consciousness, his tone revealing a hint of urgency, yet also a suppressed excitement:

"Hehe, young friend, don't panic! I have a solution!"

"Oh?" Lin Fengmian's heart skipped a beat. "What method?"

"Young friend, do you still remember my origins?" Li Cheng's tone carried a hint of smugness.

"In my previous life, I was a Nascent Soul cultivator! Although most of my divine sense power has been worn away, the little I left is more than enough to erase the divine sense imprint left by a Golden Core cultivator on a corpse puppet!"

He paused, then patiently guided her:

"As long as you, young friend, remove the restriction on my sea of ​​consciousness and allow me to extend my divine sense, I will be able to take control of these three corpse puppets!"

"At that time, these three demonic corpses at the Great Perfection of the Golden Core stage will be at your disposal, young friend, and the Joyful Union Sect will be invincible!"

He spoke with great passion, as if he were truly thinking of Lin Fengmian and the Hehuan Sect.

however--

"Stop! Stop! Hold on!"

Lin Fengmian narrowed his eyes and coldly interrupted the other party's incessant urging.

"Old man, you're really cunning!"

He said in an icy tone:

"If I release you, with your Nascent Soul stage consciousness, plus these three Golden Core stage corpse puppets... wouldn't you be able to roam freely throughout Qingzhou? The first person you'd probably kill then would be me, right?"

Li Cheng's remnant soul paused slightly, then chuckled twice and hurriedly explained:

"Oh dear, young friend, what are you saying! I have always admired your intelligence and courage. How could I possibly do such a treacherous thing? You are overthinking it, young friend..."

"Don't even think about it!"

Lin Fengmian snorted coldly and exposed him without any politeness:

"I think you're craving the Ten Great Tortures of the Qing Dynasty again! You haven't had enough of what you suffered last time, have you?"

Li Cheng's remnant soul trembled violently, clearly indicating that the memory was not pleasant.

Lin Fengmian continued in a cold voice:

"You old codger, don't you know how many secrets I have? Letting you out won't just mean those three corpse puppets will turn on me—I bet even you'll turn on me and bite me!"

He grew angrier as he spoke: "I kindly gave you half a piece of Soul-Nourishing Wood to keep you alive, and what do you do? You're always scheming against me! I should have given it all to my master!"

Lin Fengmian casually pulled out a tiger skin

Upon hearing this, Li Cheng's remnant soul's aura immediately diminished by three points.

Seeing that the other party was stunned, Lin Fengmian added:

"I'm telling you, after living all this time, how come you have no sense of propriety at all? Even if I really let you go, where can you escape to? My master's supernatural powers can catch you back in no time!"

That's half true and half false.

But Li Cheng broke out in a cold sweat—even though he was now just a remnant soul, the chill still made his heart pound.

Because he had indeed witnessed the methods of the "master" that Lin Fengmian spoke of.