The corpse king suddenly clutched its head in both hands, letting out a shrill, piercing shriek laden with agony.
Bai came to a halt ahead, wild joy shining in his eyes. "It's working!"
Qin Sang was equally overjoyed. Through the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, Bai truly could affect the corpse king.
Qin Sang continued to drive the ebony sword, slashing toward the back of the creature's neck.
The corpse king shrieked fiercely. Whether Bai's actions had triggered excruciating memories the beast could not bear to recall, or simply inflicted unbearable agony upon it, it now viewed Bai as a thorn in its side, a needle in its flesh. Even as the sword qi swept in, the corpse king kept its glare fixed on Bai, burning with bone-deep hatred.
*Clang!*
The wheel of sword light slammed into the corpse king, tearing through only the corpse qi enveloping its surface without harming its true flesh.
The corpse king did not even look back, completely disregarding the sneak attack behind it.
Seeing this, Bai dared not slacken in the slightest. He continuously stimulated the Heavenly Corpse Talisman within the corpse king's body, simultaneously merging his form into the ghostly qi to fly backward in retreat.
Noticing the corpse king ignoring him, Qin Sang sneered inwardly.
With a flick of his sleeve, demonic banners flew out before him.
It was not yet time for the decisive strike, so Qin Sang produced nine demonic banners for now while secretly readying the other three.
Surging Nine Nether Demonic Fire coalesced into a fiery lance. With a sharp crackling sound, the ghost qi drifting through the surrounding air was instantly incinerated by the demonic flames.
*Go!*
With a thought, Qin Sang raised his hand and flung it forward.
The lance of fire shot straight toward the back of the corpse king's heart.
*Boom!*
As expected, the lance shattered under the corpse king's sheer force, but in its wake surged an overwhelming expanse of Nine Nether Demonic Fire. Before the corpse king could react, it was thoroughly engulfed.
In an instant, the creature was swallowed by blazing flames, the full potency of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire unleashed!
Stung by the agony and sensing mortal danger, the corpse king no longer dared underestimate the nuisance harassing it from behind. Its corpse qi flared violently, forcefully bursting through the demonic fire.
After that brief clash, all the black fur covering the corpse king's body had been burned clean away. It looked thoroughly battered, yet bore no obvious injuries.
Bai seized this opening to hasten his efforts.
At the center of the corpse king's forehead, the faint outline of a talisman flickered, inflicting even greater torment upon it.
The corpse king roared repeatedly, continuing its relentless pursuit in a succession of perilous moments. Fortunately, Bai was merged into the ghost qi and possessed extraordinary fleeing speed. Moreover, with Qin Sang constantly creating distractions, Bai managed to hold out.
As time wore on, the corpse king's corpse qi grew thinner and thinner, the bloodlust in its eyes dimmed, and its movements slowed noticeably. The two fought with increasing composure.
Qin Sang had not expected things to proceed so smoothly. At its peak, this corpse king was roughly on par with an early Nascent Soul cultivator; under the suppressing influence of the Heavenly Corpse Talisman, its strength had plummeted, temporarily posing little threat to them.
Even so, capturing or slaying it would still require considerable effort. Ordinary methods could hardly scratch its hide.
Before long, Bai's urgent voice reached Qin Sang's ears. "This is about the limit! The fiend is still struggling, and if this drags on too long, the talisman's influence might weaken. I'll tie it down—find an opening to strike!"
Qin Sang nodded in agreement. He secretly took out the remaining three demonic banners and swallowed a drop of Soul-Cleansing Liquid alongside pills to replenish his true essence.
He glanced ahead.
By now, the battlefield had shifted to the center of the deep pit, where the corpse king's lair was situated. With the balance shifting in their favor, Bai had become fully capable of holding his ground against the creature. Though furious, the corpse king threw everything into its attacks, yet for the moment could do little against Bai, who was shielded by the tortoise shell.
However, Bai struggled just as hard to injure the corpse king. When he commanded ghost qi to form blades and swords, even those that broke through the corpse qi left nothing more than superficial flesh wounds on the creature's body.
Qin Sang looked around, then silently glided to the edge of the pit. Staying out of the corpse king's line of sight, he concealed his presence and began channeling the twelve demonic banners to set the formation!
The banners flew into position, their pennants flapping crisply in the wind.
At this, Qin Sang's expression eased slightly as he let out a quiet breath of relief.
Though he was seventy to eighty percent confident, he had still harbored worries that an inability to control the demonic banners might ruin the critical moment. Fortunately, having done this before, his mastery over the banner formation and the fiery lotus was far greater than the previous time. The expenditure required to drive the demonic fire was no longer so astonishing, and the Soul-Cleansing Liquid and pills were sufficient to sustain him.
As he laid out the formation, Qin Sang sent a voice transmission to Bai.
*Boom! Boom! Boom!*
Thundering collisions echoed through the deep pit.
The clash between Bai and the corpse king grew increasingly fierce. On the surface, the spectacle Bai created seemed even more imposing than the corpse king's: endless streams of ghost qi were drawn to him, rising like colossal tidal waves to grind down the creature. The corpse king bore the brunt of the onslaught, its skin gleaming with metallic luster as it relied entirely on its physical body to wade upstream, its ferocious might undiminished.
Bai feigned defeat, retreating in an orderly manner to lure the corpse king toward Qin Sang's hiding place.
The next instant, the twelve demonic banners formation was finally complete!
The moment the array took shape, Qin Sang's eyes snapped open. He barked via voice transmission, "Strike!"
*Whoosh!*
The demonic banners resonated in unison.
Beams of demonic fire shot from the banners, converging in the heart of the formation into a raging blaze. Then, with a point of Qin Sang's finger, the inferno hurtled straight toward the corpse king before it could even fully solidify!
Unleashing this strike nearly drained Qin Sang's true essence and divine consciousness to exhaustion. If the corpse king targeted him at this moment, he would be entirely defenseless.
A flash of white light streaked past.
The white crane arrived in the nick of time, taking Qin Sang onto its back and carrying him away from the battlefield.
The corpse king was not devoid of intellect. Having suffered at the hands of the Nine Nether Demonic Fire already, it sensed a terrifying might far greater than before. Its bloodshot eyes flickered, and it actually attempted to back away in retreat.
Bai was already prepared. He instantly abandoned his retreat and lunged forward.
"Converge!" Bai bellowed.
The surrounding ghost qi surged frantically toward the corpse king, wrapping around it like shackles to forge a cage.
The two operated in seamless coordination, granting the corpse king not the slightest opening. Even pinning it for a mere breath was more than enough.
The Nine Nether Demonic Fire struck right behind!
*Rumble!*
The demonic fire erupted!
Plumes of fire scattered everywhere, plunging the battlefield into utter chaos as black flames drifted through the air. The corpse king stood right at the epicenter of the blast, its silhouette swallowed entirely.
Immediately after, a deafening, agonizing roar tore from within. The flames shuddered—the corpse king was not dead.
Bai showed no surprise at this, keeping his eyes glued to the center of the demonic flames. Qin Sang had already lost his combat strength; if even this failed to gravely wound the corpse king, there would be no point in continuing the fight.
At long last, the corpse king broke out of the flames.
Seeing its state, Bai could scarcely conceal the delight in his eyes.
The corpse king was covered head to toe in wounds, its skin cracked and split. Its chest had been blasted apart by the demonic fire, jagged bone clearly visible, while its face was mangled and one eye had been obliterated. It looked all the more savage and horrific, yet its aura had weakened noticeably!
Bai threw his head back and laughed wildly. With a twist of his body, he switched from defense to all-out offense!
Far off, Qin Sang hid, powerless to join the fray. Since Bai had not requested assistance, he spared himself a drop of Three Lights Jade Liquid, sitting cross-legged on the ground to recover with medicinal pills and spirit stones.
After a brief period of regulated breathing, Qin Sang summoned the Heavenly Eye Butterfly to stand guard over him, then ordered the white crane to assist Bai and bring a swift end to the fight.
Within the deep pit, the fierce battle raged on. The corpse king's roars continued without pause, but they had clearly grown hollow and feeble.
After some time, the creature's cries finally fell silent.
Qin Sang halted his meditation, opened his eyes, and rose to his feet—just in time to see Bai rushing over, clutching the mangled remains of the corpse king.
Chapter 1099