I've caught up to the Poison Corpse! Don't let the wretched thing slip into a side tunnel and escape! Brothers behind me, hurry and use the Entangling Spell to bind it! Blast it, who just threw an Iron Vine Seed? It’s wrapped around me! Hurry up and untie me!"

A burly man clad in a hide of monstrous beast pelt drove his spirit sword deep into the Poison Corpse, roaring with fierce excitement. From somewhere behind him, an Iron Vine Seed shot out, instantly wrapping around him, leaving him immobilized.

The big fellow shrieked and yelled in frustration, forced to hack at the clinging vines himself. Dozens of cultivators flashed past him in a blur, none paying him any mind, leaving him in the dust.

"Snap!"

"Boom—!"

Deep within the mining tunnels of the second level of the cavern, numerous cultivators furiously pursued the Poison Corpse. They hurled spells at the undead creature intermittently, the tunnel echoing with the crackle of fireballs and the shattering sound of ice spikes.

Some cultivators were shouting and cursing loudly.

"Who's throwing spells haphazardly? If another fireball hits my head, I’ll cleave him in two! Aim for the Poison Corpse, damn it!" A green-robed man at the front of the chase, struck by several errant fireballs, felt his protective shield vibrate violently. Staggered, he spun around and roared in irritation, but couldn't spot the culprit.

Any cultivator trying to squeeze through the narrow spirit stone mining passages on the second level was maddened enough to curse their own mothers. The tunnels were utterly cramped, barely wide enough for two or three people side-by-side.

Yet, dealing with that ferocious Poison Corpse required the combined effort of five or six cultivators at the peak of the ninth stage of Qi Refining just to suppress it. Too few pursuers—just one or two—risked being brutally clawed by the Corpse when it turned back. But too many meant the tunnel became hopelessly congested and chaotic; spells meant for the Corpse often ended up injuring the cultivators ahead.

Of course, it couldn't be ruled out that some cultivators were deliberately casting spells wildly, aiming for friendly fire out of malice.

There were twenty to thirty cultivators chasing the Poison Corpse. Some who pressed too hard were injured by the poisonous miasma the Corpse spewed back, or were accidentally hit by spells from cultivators behind them in the confusion, forcing them to abandon the chase.

Despite these setbacks, more than twenty cultivators remained steadfastly behind the Poison Corpse.

They seemed to have collectively concluded that if so many people were after this creature, it must possess something valuable. Why else would disciples from so many different sects be pursuing it? If others are chasing it, I chase it too. I absolutely cannot let others snatch the benefits!

Ye Qin maintained a steady breath, deftly weaving left and right to dodge the spells haphazardly fired from behind, careful to avoid friendly fire. He followed the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator and the gold-clad man at an unhurried pace.

The strength of those two was immense; they would undoubtedly claim a significant share of any spoils from killing the Corpse. He wasn't overly desperate to slay it himself. If he could acquire a map scroll from it, that would be best, but even if he didn't, it wouldn't be a great loss. There were enough spirit stones here for him to mine.

The cultivators chased the Poison Corpse through the tunnels for a full half an hour before it finally plunged headlong into a large mining cavern where spirit stones were being extracted. Inside the vast cavern, it bounced around agitatedly, no longer fleeing.

This was its lair, the place it instinctively fled to when endangered—the place it would meet its end. Once here, there was nowhere left to run, as this was a dead-end mining tunnel with no path leading elsewhere.

After chasing it for half the day, more than ten cultivators, grumbling all the way, flooded into the large cavern. They quickly surrounded the Poison Corpse, continuously unleashing spells to bombard it, all while carefully avoiding the toxic miasma it spewed.

Among them were the yellow-robed cultivator from the Earth Palace Sect, the gold-clad man from the Ancient Artifact Sect, disciples from various other sects, and Ye Qin, along with the old man Kong—the two disciples from the Azure Elixir Sect. Old Man Kong followed closely behind Ye Qin, never rushing ahead rashly. The fact that these two fellow disciples entered the cavern together was quite a rarity among this group of over ten people.

Having absorbed spirit energy for thousands of years within the tunnels, this Poison Corpse was truly a formidable, top-tier 'Ghost-type Spirit Item.' Any single cultivator at the Qi Refining stage encountering it would surely meet disaster. However, no matter how powerful it was, it couldn't withstand the relentless, continuous magical bombardment from a dozen cultivators hovering around the eighth or ninth stage of Qi Refining. Fireballs, ice spikes, wind blades, lightning strikes—a barrage of continuous spells from every element slammed into it, ripping its flesh to shreds. It was truly unlucky to have provoked such a large group of trial disciples from various sects by controlling some skeleton puppets. Had it behaved itself, it might have lived a while longer.

The Poison Corpse had counterattacked throughout the pursuit, spewing poisonous miasma dozens of times, injuring more than ten pursuers. By now, it was entirely depleted of poisonous gas, merely leaping wildly, slashing its claws at the nearest cultivators while enduring the magical onslaught from over ten of them. It seemed to sense the terror of death, shrinking back into a corner of the large cavern.

"Hah!"

Seeing that the Poison Corpse, though battered by the spells, still hadn't fallen, the yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator grew impatient. Seizing an opportune moment, he let out a sharp shout and flung a small, round shield magic tool. The shield spun rapidly in mid-air, transforming into a heavy, thick great shield that slammed down toward the Poison Corpse’s head.

With a "smack," half of the Poison Corpse’s incredibly tough skull was crushed flat by the shield artifact.

Then, a flash of golden sword light streaked through, and the remaining half of the Poison Corpse's head flew off, rolling onto the ground.

It was the gold-clad man attacking again.

With its head gone, the Poison Corpse slumped onto the rocky floor.

Thump. Only then did the cultivators notice that when the Corpse retreated into the corner, it had been clutching a small box made of gold and stone. As the Corpse died, this small box rolled onto the ground beside it.

The gazes of the dozen or so cultivators besieging the Poison Corpse instantly turned scorching hot.

The box was not large, perhaps only big enough to hold a few dozen spirit stones. The Corpse wouldn't cling to a small box for no reason; it must contain something extremely important to it. Though the miner was dead and had become a Poison Corpse, its instinct would compel it to guard the most vital object from its life.

The dozen cultivators exchanged glances.

They were mostly from different sects. Although eager to seize the small box, none dared to rush forward carelessly. Doing so would instantly turn them into living targets for all the others, attracting fierce attacks.

The gold-clad man retrieved his flying sword artifact and scanned the cultivators in the cavern. He suddenly addressed the yellow-robed cultivator: "Senior Brother Zhong, it seems our strengths are pretty evenly matched. Since there aren't many items left by this Poison Corpse, why don't the two of us split them? What do you say?"

The more than ten cultivators from various sects in the cavern, apart from the yellow-robed cultivator, exploded in anger, glaring fiercely at the gold-clad man. They had all contributed significantly to wiping out the Poison Corpse; why shouldn't they get a share of the small box?

The yellow-robed middle-aged cultivator swept his gaze across the dozen-plus cultivators in the cavern, weighed the situation, deemed it feasible, and sneered, "Alright, Junior Brother Yu, that’s a fine suggestion."

The yellow-robed cultivator was also a ruthless character who never spat out what he swallowed.

Even if the small box held something, with over a dozen cultivators from various sects gathered, there wouldn't be enough to go around. If he and the gold-clad man teamed up, they could easily suppress these dozen or so ordinary Qi Refining cultivators and claim the box between them.

Although he and the gold-clad man didn't see eye-to-eye, they could temporarily ally regarding the acquisition of this box. First, they would drive off the other dozen or so cultivators, and then they could see what was inside. If the contents were truly important, well, he would certainly have to have a good fight with this Junior Brother Yu then.

"I, Zhong, am in a good mood today and don't wish to start a slaughter. If you don't want to die, everyone else should just leave. This box belongs to Junior Brother Yu and me; you have no chance," the yellow-robed cultivator said confidently, idly playing with his shield artifact.

Their scheme was perfectly hatched, confidently sealing the fate of the other dozen ordinary cultivators.

The other dozen cultivators were too furious to speak.

But circumstances dictated reality. The combined strength of these dozen cultivators could barely contend with the two core disciples. The problem was that they weren't from the same sect; they couldn't act in unison. None of them wanted to be the first to charge in and become a scapegoat. How could they possibly fight two core disciples who possessed magic artifacts from the Ancient Artifact Sect and the Earth Palace Sect?

Ye Qin was equally vexed internally. He had been hoping these two core disciples would turn on each other. He hadn't expected them to form an alliance so quickly. If the two core disciples had started fighting, these ordinary disciples might have had a chance to snatch the small box. But now that they had teamed up, there was no opportunity for the ordinary disciples. Even though Ye Qin also possessed a magic artifact, he didn't dare make a move to contend rashly.

The cultivators muttered curses in low voices, preparing to depart.

A cultivator from a minor sect, unwilling to give up before leaving, sharply flicked his sleeve, sending a wind blade slashing toward the small box, shattering its outer shell to reveal what was inside.

"Crash!"

The wind blade splintered the small box open, and dozens of palm-sized scrolls tumbled out onto the ground.

The more than ten ordinary cultivators present were all stunned, their eyes wide and fixed.

Even the yellow-robed cultivator and the gold-clad man were slack-jawed and disbelieving.

There were a full thirty scrolls packed into that small box.

The large cavern fell utterly silent, broken only by the sound of swallowing.

Map scrolls and scrolls for other purposes were easy to distinguish; even an idiot could tell these were mining route map scrolls. This Poison Corpse had actually collected dozens of map scrolls in its small box. It was no wonder these cultivators had never found any trace of the maps.

They were utterly speechless. Truly perverse.

Whoosh, whoosh!

Several figures, without a sound, suddenly lunged toward the scrolls.

According to the promise made by the Azure Elixir Sect Master, any trial squad that brought back one scroll to the sect would earn a Foundation Establishment Pill reward for every member of the squad. The more scrolls they obtained, the greater the Foundation Establishment Pill reward. Since the Azure Elixir Sect’s reward was so substantial, the rewards from other sects certainly wouldn't be any lower.

Damn it! Who cares now about core disciples or not! If I can snatch a map scroll, I have a chance to reach the Foundation Establishment stage!

Thud, thud—muffled grunts sounded repeatedly as the more than ten red-eyed cultivators went berserk. Kicks flew, fists connected, and sword light shimmered as they scrambled for the scrolls on the ground. The large cavern instantly erupted into chaos. Nobody cared about alliances anymore; grabbing the map scrolls came first.

Ye Qin reacted with extreme speed, launching himself forward and snatching a map scroll into his hand.

Last day of October, asking for monthly votes. There will be another chapter tonight, expected to be a bit late. (To be continued. To learn what happens next, please log onto www**m for more chapters, support the author, and support genuine reading!) First published