Yun Xi was certain—not only was she doomed, but the other three companions likely had no chance of survival either.
The white-skinned female corpse in red robes continued in a broken, raspy voice:
"You... kill... me... and... him... or... you... die."
Yun Xi boldly guessed the meaning: the woman wanted her to kill the two of them. If not, she would have no way out.
"You don't need to say it. I already know. If I don't fight back, I'm as good as dead."
Gritting her teeth, Yun Xi's figure flickered as she vanished into her personal space. She needed to find a way to escape in one piece.
As soon as she appeared, the space chat group updated her status to "online."
The moment she entered, Dian Dian, who had been anxiously pacing in circles, leaped into her arms.
"Master, you were forced into the space too?"
"This time I ran into a real monster. That City Lord Li from Shuangshan City is probably nearby."
"City Lord Li? Didn't he go missing? Why would he show up here?" Dian Dian asked in confusion.
"You didn't know? In the second coffin I dug up, Li Cangyuan was lying inside."
"What? Wasn't he dead? Why would he be buried in the mortal realm?"
"Maybe his father buried him. This place is a corpse-breeding ground. He's already become a white corpse."
Dian Dian didn't fully understand what zombies were, but it could smell a foul stench, one that reminded it of evil energy. Yun Xi said it was a zombie, and that was enough—Dian Dian was sure it wasn't anything good.
"So, what now?"
"I don't know either. That's why I came here to ask."
Yun Xi quickly sent a message to Ethereal Grace.
"Senior, this junior is trapped in a strange formation. It's draining my spiritual power to feed nine corpses buried underground. I've already dug up two. One of them, a white corpse, still has a shred of self-awareness and is demanding I kill her.
What should I do? I'm online and desperate. Please respond."
[Ethereal Grace]: Little girl, disaster seems to follow you, doesn't it? From your description, it sounds like you accidentally entered an extreme Yin corpse-breeding site. That formation was man-made, meant to speed up the cultivation of corpses.
Still, this person is bold—refining corpses from the living. That's sure to invite divine punishment. He'll never ascend in this life.
Yun Xi stared at the reply, her mind almost short-circuiting. But the explanation made sense. Using living people to refine corpses was the reason that white corpse retained a trace of her consciousness.
And yet, that woman only wanted death. Which meant the process of becoming a white corpse must have been unbearable.
Yun Xi clenched her fists, her fury boiling over.
"Senior, how do I destroy this formation? I want to destroy this place. It's in the mortal realm. If these corpses are completed, countless lives will be lost."
[Ethereal Grace]: What's your current cultivation?
"Late Foundation Establishment, peak stage."
[Ethereal Grace]: Barely enough. Do as I say—break the formation first, then destroy the corpses.
"Senior, I think there's a Nascent Soul stage cultivator nearby. I dug up his son's body too. I'm afraid he'll come any moment."
[Ethereal Grace]: …Little girl, why do you keep provoking enemies stronger than yourself?
"This junior really doesn't mean to!"
Yun Xi sighed. Then she added:
"I told you before. The one who used the Ninefold Sacrificial Formation was this father and son duo. I accidentally ruined their prototype array before. If they find out I'm here, they'll definitely come after me. So I have to strike first."
[Ethereal Grace]: Fine. Prepare yourself and break through to Golden Core.
"Right now?" Yun Xi stared at the screen.
[Ethereal Grace]: Of course. There's no better way to kill them than with lightning tribulation. Zombies and other Yin-natured evil creatures are vulnerable to heavenly thunder. With the place you've chosen to advance, you'll probably attract the Nine Heavens Mystic Thunder. You must survive.
Yun Xi's heart sank. She wasn't sure her odds were good.
[Ethereal Grace]: I remember giving you an immortal artifact. Once you break through to Golden Core, you can use it to disguise yourself as a Nascent Soul cultivator. If you stay calm, you might scare off your opponent.
Yun Xi swallowed hard. It was time to test her acting skills.
"Thank you, Senior."
[Ethereal Grace]: Good luck.
Yun Xi gritted her teeth. This was it. If she succeeded, she'd become a Golden Core cultivator. If she failed, maybe she could still return to her original world. She sat cross-legged in her space and held the Xianling Grass close.
"Xiao Xian, I'm breaking through. I need your help."
"No problem."
The Xianling Grass quivered, and clusters of green light instantly surrounded Yun Xi. The spiritual energy within the space grew thick and dense. Dian Dian curled up at her feet, quietly absorbing the ambient energy too.
After two quarter-hours, Yun Xi was ejected from the space.
The moment she emerged, the sky turned black with churning clouds. Lightning crackled across the sky, and a tribulation cloud rapidly formed overhead. Thunder boomed across the heavens.
Liu Haotian and the others, who were still attacking the formation, looked up and instantly understood Yun Xi's intent.
For the first time, Yu Qingcheng showed a rare flash of anger.
"She's crazy! Yun Xi actually forced a breakthrough to Golden Core! Does she not plan to cultivate anymore?"
Liu Haotian frowned.
"She probably took some kind of pill to rapidly boost her cultivation. This corpse-breeding ground is no simple place, and the formation is extremely bizarre. She had no better option."
Xia You spoke anxiously.
"We don't know what's happening inside. What should we do now?"
Liu Haotian's face turned serious.
"We'll fall back first. If Yun Xi's plan doesn't work, I'll attempt a breakthrough myself. Using tribulation lightning to destroy this cursed formation might be the only way."
Yu Qingcheng pursed her lips.
"Senior Brother Liu, have you lost your mind too?"
"We have to take this chance. And my cultivation is at the late Foundation Establishment stage. I have a better chance than Wei Daoyou. I can sense that the situation inside is dire."
Yu Qingcheng didn't argue further. She knew time was running out. She reached into her storage bag and pulled out a handful of spirit stones.
Xia You followed suit, rummaging through her bag. She regretted that her cultivation was too low to break the formation herself. Thankfully, she had given Yun Xi two top-grade spirit stones earlier. That should help Yun Xi hold out for a while.
The three of them retreated beyond the range of the tribulation clouds. Yu Qingcheng and Xia You began guarding Liu Haotian as he focused entirely on opening a Spirit Gathering Array. Sitting at the center, he began madly absorbing spiritual energy, forcibly charging toward the Golden Core realm.
Back inside the formation, the first wave of nine tribulation bolts crashed down from the heavens. The red barrier glowed brightly, but it only lasted two breaths before being shattered.
Yu Qingcheng and Xia You finally caught sight of Wei Yunxi.
The formation had absorbed some of the lightning, but not all. The remaining thunderbolts struck Yun Xi, the red-robed female corpse, and Li Cangyuan equally.
The red-robed corpse was thrown to the ground. Li Cangyuan, sensing the danger, opened his pale eyes and tried to escape. But the red-robed corpse clung to him tightly, refusing to let him go.
Yun Xi barely withstood the first wave of lightning. While circulating the tribulation thunder through her body, she also had to keep an eye on the two white corpses.
She had brought this lightning to destroy them. If they escaped, what was the point of enduring the tribulation?
Just as she finished purifying the lightning in her body, the second wave fell. This time, the bolts were only as thick as an infant's arm, but they shone with a pale violet hue that bordered on white.
One look was enough to know their power was devastating.
This had to be the Nine Heavens Mystic Thunder Ethereal Grace had mentioned.