Chapter 47: Pavilion of the Corpse Immortal

"You old man, you've got some nerve. Didn't I tell you? Today, I'm only here for Chen Qiyue."

"Anyone who leaves within five minutes will not be implicated. If you stay and refuse to leave, your life is in your own hands!"

Though Chen Hongyi said this with a smile, the meaning carried in her words was bone-chillingly cold.

Yet, this also showed that while she was ruthless, she was not a bloodthirsty monster who killed the innocent indiscriminately.

"Young lady, is there truly no room for negotiation? This young brother is my junior martial brother. I implore you to reconsider."

"If the grudge between our two families can be resolved, any conditions are open for discussion."

Uncle Hu thrust his broadsword into the earth, showing his firm resolve to negotiate.

A trace of displeasure flashed across Chen Hongyi's face, and she said coldly:

"How bothersome. If you want to protect him, you can stay and die with him!"

Hearing this, a flash of anger crossed Uncle Hu's face, but he suppressed it and looked up at me, as if seeking my opinion.

"Uncle Hu, you should leave first. This is a matter between her and me, and it has nothing to do with you. Staying at your place these past few days has already caused you enough trouble. If I die, I must trouble you to collect my remains!"

I turned and said calmly to Uncle Hu, showing not the slightest hint of fear despite Chen Hongyi's overwhelming aura.

"Qiyue, you are my junior brother. How could I possibly..."

Uncle Hu had no desire to leave. He had promised my grandfather that he would take good care of me.

Now that I was facing a formidable enemy, if he were to just walk away, he felt he would never be able to face my grandfather in the afterlife.

"Uncle Hu, if you truly wish me well, leave quickly. This person's mastery of Dao arts is profound, and staying here won't change the outcome. Listen to me and go."

"I am telling you to leave, so no one will blame you."

"Uncle Hu, I'm begging you, leave now!"

Seeing the absolute determination in my tone, Uncle Hu let out a long sigh, grabbed his broadsword, and hurried out of the courtyard.

Now, within the vast Hu family courtyard, only Chen Hongyi and I remained.

"You certainly have a lot of courage. To actually dare face me alone."

Chen Hongyi looked at me with cold eyes, her expression turning serious.

"This is, after all, a matter between the two of us. I have no wish to drag innocent people into it."

I said softly to the woman before me, my state of mind exceptionally serene.

This calamity belonged to me, Chen Qiyue, and if I wanted to break it, I had to give it my all.

Cold winds swept through the courtyard as Chen Hongyi sat atop the coffin.

She studied me for a few moments, seemingly caught off guard by my decision.

At that moment, a rhythmic series of thuds began to echo from inside the coffin beneath Chen Hongyi, as if something inside was desperate to break out.

I knew that the corpse within the coffin had transformed into a mindless corpse-fiend.

Right now, it would lunge at anyone it saw, craving the taste of blood.

Seeing this, I felt a quiet sense of relief that I was the only one left in the courtyard.

This way, I could move and fight without restraint.

"Chen Qiyue, you're quite an interesting kid. But don't waste those tear-jerking performances on me. In my eyes, you're nothing more than a paper doll destined to die."

"No matter how righteous or fearless you try to act right now, you are going to die today!"

The corners of Chen Hongyi's lips curved upward in a confident smirk, as if victory was already within her grasp.

I ignored her banter and simply said:

"Spare the talk. Whatever tricks you have, use them."

With that, I drew the nine-eye copper coin sword my grandfather had left me, and slowly pointed it at Chen Hongyi.

"Chen Hongyi, I have no grievances with the Corpse Immortal Pavilion. You want my life today, but I cannot retreat, nor will I."

"Since your Corpse Immortal Pavilion wants my head so badly, let's see if you have what it takes to take Chen Qiyue's life!"

As the words left my mouth, I unleashed ninety percent of my Profound Yang Qi, channeling every ounce of it into the nine-eye copper coin sword in my hand.

I kept a tiny fraction of the Profound Yang Qi in reserve as a hidden trump card—after all, short of a life-or-death moment, exposing one's full strength was foolish.

"Hmph, you're not very old, but your tongue is quite sharp. Didn't your grandfather ever teach you that in the path of Feng Shui, there are always masters beyond masters, heavens beyond heavens?"

"The little bit of Dao cultivation you hold in your hand is nowhere near enough!"

Chen Hongyi glared at me coldly, then stood up and began to shake the bronze bell in her hand.

"Jingle~~, jingle-jingle~~..."

As she shook the bell, a rhythmic, haunting chime immediately filled the air.

Though the sound was crisp and clear, I knew it was the sound of Chen Hongyi casting her spell.

Sure enough, the moment the bell chimed, the violent thumping from inside the coffin reached a frenzied peak.

With a deafening crash, the coffin lid shattered into pieces, and the corpse—its soul previously reeled away by the underworld messengers—leaped out in a sudden surge of motion.

It possessed no consciousness, its entire body moving with the grotesque stiffness of a walking corpse.

I cast a glance at it and couldn't help feeling thoroughly shocked by its current appearance.

Its once-pale skin had turned a bruised, pitch-black hue, its flesh entirely rigid, and its skin parched like the bark of an old tree.

As for its eyes, only two milky-white, sightless orbs remained.

At this moment, it radiated neither ghostly yin energy nor stagnant corpse qi; instead, it exuded a towering, overwhelming aura of resentment and malice.

I gripped the nine-eye copper coin sword tightly, choosing not to rush forward blindly. I wanted to test its offensive capabilities first so I could adapt my strategy accordingly.

After all, I had never fought an evil entity of this caliber before, and practical combat would always be the greatest teacher.

Dao arts are just Dao arts; you can only call it magic if you can actually execute it in reality!

In an instant, the yin fiend from the coffin lunged fiercely toward me.

Though its eyes were blind, it still managed to pinpoint my location through acute sensory perception.

Its speed was blinding, moving almost as a blur.

As it closed in, I could clearly see a faint cyan mist swirling around its body—undoubtedly the malevolent qi that Chen Hongyi had condensed within it.

"If you want to take Chen Qiyue's life, you're taking me far too lightly."

I swept my sword outward, and the supreme-yang sword qi surged from the copper coin sword, slashing viciously toward the fiend.

The copper coin sword my grandfather passed down to me was no ordinary weapon; it was forged from extraterrestrial meteorite iron.

During its creation, the artisan had drilled nine apertures along the blade, embedding an ancient copper coin into each hole. This design allowed my Profound Yang Qi to reach an even greater peak of power.

Given my current level of Dao cultivation, I could only activate four of the nine eyes on the sword, which was already my absolute limit.

Years ago, when grandfather handed this nine-eye copper coin sword to me, I had asked him how many eyes he could activate. His answer was seven.

Only now, truly wielding this sword in combat, could I begin to comprehend just how formidable my grandfather had been back in the day.

He had always been immensely humble and low-key; if he claimed he could activate seven eyes, he was undoubtedly capable of eight.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have been revered alongside those other legendary old figures as one of the Four Eccentrics.

The copper coin sword struck the fiend, and I channeled my Profound Yang Qi directly into the blade. The three exposed copper coins spun furiously within their apertures, emitting a spine-chilling, resonant hum.

Since ancient times, copper coins possessed the power to ward off evil and suppress wandering souls. Augmented further by the imperial energy of ancient dynasties—where the more a dynasty engaged in warfare, the greater the potency of its currency—the copper coin sword's might was immense.

The nine ancient coins embedded in the sword passed down by my grandfather were priceless treasures of great antiquity.

As the three eyes on the sword hummed, the fiend's forward momentum visibly slowed.

Yet, this was not enough to destroy it. Instead of retreating, it pressed onward like a relentless killing machine, lunging at me with savage ferocity.

Simultaneously, the baleful qi enveloping its body grew denser and heavier.

The harder I tried to destroy it, the stronger its resentment became.

"Damn it, I've really run into a match!"

I cursed inwardly, my heart tightening with tension.

The person inside the coffin shared my exact destiny and birth chart.

Even though his soul was gone, a profound karmic tie still bound him to me.

Killing him would inflict a severe toll upon my own fate!