Chapter 90: Half-Corpse Slave

Chapter 90: Half-Corpse Slave

Princess Lanfei allowed Ning Xiaochuan to lift her long skirt, her delicate eyelashes fluttering lightly. Her dark, glistening eyes seemed to brim with moisture, as if enticing Ning Xiaochuan to pounce on her.

A woman as noble and beautiful as her, if she actively seduced a man, even the most upright man in the world would likely fall at her feet, unable to extricate himself.

This was a test of a man’s self-control to the extreme.

Ning Xiaochuan was a normal man, and naturally, his heart raced. To be precise, any man standing in Ning Xiaochuan’s position would find it hard to remain indifferent.

Thud!

Ning Xiaochuan tightly shut his eyes, his heart sinking as he swung his sword. Princess Lanfei’s head flew off, rolling into the grass like a ball.

Blood splattered across the ground.

Ning Xiaochuan took a deep breath. Having made this decision, he felt no regret in his heart.

A woman like Princess Lanfei, full of schemes and willing to do anything to achieve her goals—it was best not to have any relationship with her. Once entangled with her, one might never escape.

Just like Xiao Li, who had encountered Madam Silver Pool. Originally a peerless genius, he had ultimately degenerated into nothing more than her slave.

An enemy was an enemy, even if she were the most beautiful woman in the world—she had to die.

If he spared her today, tomorrow, it might be his own life at stake.

Ning Xiaochuan had also considered using the "Heart Palace Jade Gu Insect" to control Princess Lanfei. But since she had so easily handed him the Gu Insect Pill, she must surely have a way to counteract it.

If Ning Xiaochuan thought he could control Princess Lanfei with the "Heart Palace Jade Gu Insect," he would likely die without even knowing how.

Even a woman as stunningly beautiful as Princess Lanfei, once dead, was nothing more than a cold corpse—there was nothing left to admire.

Ning Xiaochuan searched Princess Lanfei’s body and retrieved twenty-seven Black Firewood Pearls, stuffing them into his pouch. Then, he prepared to destroy the evidence.

Princess Lanfei’s identity was special. If she died in the Fire Demon Mountain Range, someone would surely investigate. If he didn’t cover his tracks, it could spell major trouble.

Heh heh…

"The world calls Ning Xiaochuan the Greatest Love-Obsessed Fool in the World, but I say he’s the Greatest Executioner in the World. A delicate beauty like Princess Lanfei—even I would hesitate to strike her down so ruthlessly, yet you killed her with a single slash. I don’t know whether to admire you or despise you."

A dark, icy wind swept past.

The Third Leader of Dark Emperor City landed on the branch of a nearby tree, draped in a black robe and wearing a bamboo hat, like a specter of the night. A chilling laugh escaped his lips.

Ning Xiaochuan frowned slightly. He hadn’t expected his killing of Princess Lanfei to be witnessed.

Tendrils of lightning crackled between Ning Xiaochuan’s fingers as he glared coldly upward. "Do you believe I can kill you right now?"

"Of course I believe you. If even a beauty like Princess Lanfei wasn’t spared by your hands, how much less someone as plain as me?" The Third Leader’s voice remained hoarse, like two stones grinding against each other, grating to the ears.

"Plain? I’ll have to see for myself."

Ning Xiaochuan tapped the ground with his toes, propelling himself forward as he struck toward the Third Leader standing on the tree branch, his palm wreathed in Lightning.

The Third Leader didn’t engage him directly. Instead, a surge of Cold Qi and Blazing Flame erupted from her back, coalescing into a pair of three-meter-long wings. Her slender figure soared into the air, darting out of the forest and racing toward the summit of Blood Mountain.

These wings, forged from Cold Qi and Blazing Flame, were a rare innate divine ability—the Ice-Fire Twin Wings.

With this ability, she could take flight, riding the wind.

Under normal circumstances, even those who reached the Earthly Venerable Realm couldn’t fly through their own power alone.

Thus, the Third Leader’s divine ability was exceedingly rare and precious, the envy of countless martial artists. Of course, given her current cultivation, she couldn’t sustain flight for long—at most half an hour before exhausting her Profound Qi.

Ning Xiaochuan chased after her at breakneck speed, leaping across the treetops while hurling Lightning Bolts from his arms, trying to knock her out of the sky.

It was like a battle between a thunder god and an angel.

Crack!

Crack!

The Third Leader’s cultivation wasn’t much weaker than Ning Xiaochuan’s, and she retaliated with fireballs, deflecting his Lightning Bolts before finally vanishing from his sight.

"Ning Xiaochuan, what I saw just now—I swear I won’t tell a soul. I swear it! Hahaha!" The Third Leader’s laughter echoed through the night sky.

Ning Xiaochuan didn’t pursue her further. A sense of unease settled in his heart. Killing Princess Lanfei was no small matter, and now that the Third Leader knew, she would surely use it against him in the future. Failing to eliminate her today would bring endless trouble later.

Once she removed her black robe, she would become someone else entirely. Ning Xiaochuan doubted he’d even recognize her, let alone silence her permanently.

Regret was useless. Killing a warrior of the same cultivation realm was already an immensely difficult task.

The reason he had slain Princess Lanfei so easily was primarily because she had underestimated him. Had she taken him seriously as an opponent, the outcome might have been very different.

Ning Xiaochuan swiftly returned to the forest, but the moment his feet touched the ground, he froze in shock.

Where was Princess Lanfei?

Her corpse had clearly been lying here, the bloodstains still fresh on the ground—yet her body and head were gone.

Could she have gotten up and walked away on her own?

"Yu Qianqian and Murong Wushuang must have found this place and disposed of her body," Ning Xiaochuan thought to himself.

But the moment he turned his head, his expression stiffened, his body turning to stone as cold sweat broke out across his skin.

There, beneath a nearby tree, stood Princess Lanfei—her head reattached to her neck, her slender, snow-white throat showing not even a trace of injury, as if it had never been severed at all.

She remained as graceful and elegant as ever, with her arms—previously broken by Ning Xiaochuan—now fully restored. Her slender, jade-like fingers gently combed through her hair as her eyes fixed on him, exuding an indescribably eerie aura.

Ning Xiaochuan had heard many legends about "female ghosts seeking vengeance" and "corpses resurrecting from the underworld." In the past, he would never have believed such things. But ever since arriving in this world, he had encountered all sorts of bizarre phenomena, making it hard to dismiss the possibility that a vengeful ghost had come for him.

Could someone have come here earlier and refined her into a Mountain Guardian Corpse Slave? This was the only somewhat reasonable explanation Ning Xiaochuan could think of. Lightning crackled in his palm. If Princess Lanfei dared to lunge at him, he wouldn’t hesitate to kill her again.

"She’s a Half-Corpse Slave... cough..." A hoarse, aged voice rasped from the forest.

A hunched old crone emerged from the darkness, leaning heavily on a gnarled wooden cane. Her steps were unsteady, her head nearly touching the ground. She was withered beyond measure—her arms like dried branches, her scalp nearly bald, with only a few sparse white hairs clinging to it.

If Princess Lanfei could be called a peerless beauty, then this old crone was the absolute opposite—so hideous she could frighten the timid to death, as if she had just crawled out of a grave.

The moment the old crone lifted her head, Ning Xiaochuan staggered back, inhaling sharply. It was the first time he had ever been frightened by someone’s appearance.

She’s too ugly...

Everything before him felt surreal and unsettling. Forcing himself to remain composed, he demanded, "Who are you?"

The experts of the Emperor's Martial Palace had completely sealed off the Fire Demon Mountain Range. No one should have been able to enter before the examination concluded.

How did this old crone appear in the Fire Demon Mountain Range?

Could she have been living here all along?

But that didn’t make sense either—the warriors within the Fire Demon Mountain Range had all been expelled by the Emperor's Martial Palace’s experts. Aside from the examinees, there should have been no one else here.

Ning Xiaochuan’s thoughts turned to the Demon Palace atop Blood Mountain. Could this old crone be connected to it? Did she refine Princess Lanfei into a Mountain Guardian Corpse Slave?

The more he considered it, the more wary he became of her.

Ignoring his question, the old crone spoke slowly, "Do you know why she’s a Half-Corpse Slave? Because when I found her, she had just died—not completely. Traces of Vital Qi still lingered in her body, and her consciousness hadn’t fully faded. With a bit of refinement, she became neither fully alive nor fully dead... a Half-Corpse Slave."

"Senior, could you be a Great Heart Nurturer?" Ning Xiaochuan had heard that Great Heart Nurturers possessed extraordinary skills—capable of reviving warriors as long as they still had a breath left.

The old crone shook her head. "No, no. My methods far surpass those of a Great Heart Nurturer. As long as the deceased hasn’t been dead for more than an hour, I can bring them back."

Ning Xiaochuan narrowed his eyes. "Brought back? Or just turned into a corpse slave?"

Upon hearing these words, the Old Crone became displeased. She struck her cane fiercely against the ground, releasing a chilling and desolate energy from her body. Instantly, the leaves on the trees in the forest began to fall, and soon, all the trees were left bare, with a thick layer of fallen leaves covering the ground.

A bleak and barren aura swept through the entire mountain forest, leaving it lifeless and desolate.

Ning Xiaochuan felt an unprecedented pressure. His blood seemed to freeze, his consciousness slowed, and fear gripped his heart. Is this Old Crone even human or a ghost?

Seeing Ning Xiaochuan’s fear, the Old Crone finally withdrew her Cold Qi and continued, "I said she truly came back to life, not as a corpse slave. She is the best proof."

The Old Crone glanced toward Princess Lanfei.

Ning Xiaochiao couldn’t shake the suspicion that the corpse slaves in the Fire Demon Mountain Range were somehow connected to this Old Crone. He cautiously asked, "Didn’t you just say she was only a Half-Corpse Slave?"