"Oh? So you two aren't going to talk? In that case, don't blame me for being impolite!" Seeing the two little brats standing firm, a more wicked grin spread across Liang Xiaoke's mouth.

A flash of bloody light shot from his eyes, plunging directly into the two phantoms, immediately followed by agonizing screams.

Liang Xiaoke was using his supreme magical power to absorb all the memories and consciousness of these two spirits, transforming them into the purest soul energy.

As the screams faded, Liang Xiaoke absorbed more and more memories. From what he gleaned, he learned they were beings from another plane—a world without sun, without white clouds, without a blue sky, a world shrouded entirely in grey-black.

There were no trees, no flowers or grass, virtually no green vegetation, and scarcely any living animals.

It was a world of dead silence. Apart from the hazy sky, there was only the bleached white earth, an earth piled high with bones.

Many rotting corpses would crawl up from the ground, attempting to devour other corpses or the energy floating in the air, or perhaps, the wandering specters...

Countless skeletons also clawed their way out of the bone-white earth, attacking their own kind, strengthening themselves by absorbing their life-fire.

In the sky, there were also countless specters; some were no bigger than a grain of rice, while others towered thousands of feet high. They, too, were constantly fighting, constantly devouring, or constantly being devoured.

This was a world utterly devoid of mercy. Power was everything here; plunder was the primary goal. To survive, to grow stronger, one had to relentlessly strike down their own kind.

Some exceptionally powerful undead beings began to form their own spheres of influence, and the "Master" mentioned by the two little spirits was a thousand-year-old fierce ghost, as powerful as a Martial Saint, commanding countless ghost soldiers.

However, all of this was merely the fringe of that world. From the spirits' memories, Liang Xiaoke also learned that the further one traveled toward the center, the stronger the beings became...

In the outermost periphery, there were existences as powerful as Martial Saints; so how powerful must the creatures in the depths be?

Furthermore, in that world, after a person died, their soul, once separated from the flesh, would either dissipate entirely into the air, forming the purest energy, or be sucked into that realm. If lucky, the soul entered the Well of Reincarnation for rebirth; if unlucky, it could only become a specter, forced to fight against those other creatures... These two little spirits were among the unlucky ones; they died and entered that world as specters, surviving by being cautious, slowly devouring souls smaller than themselves to strengthen themselves, until they were noticed by the "Master" they spoke of...

Their ability to return to this world was thanks to a spatial rift, through which they were inadvertently swept over...

Upon seeing this, a chill ran down Liang Xiaoke's spine. Vaguely, he guessed that world might be the legendary Underworld.

"Damn it, I never imagined the Underworld was like that..." he cursed silently, yet a monstrous wave of shock stirred in his heart. This was entirely different from the Underworld he had envisioned.

Those who could be reincarnated were considered lucky? Did that mean the unlucky ones were simply wiped out?

Forcing down the shock, Liang Xiaoke looked at the two pure energy orbs in his palm, realizing it was best not to concern himself with matters of the Underworld. Even with his current strength, based on the spirits' memories, if he went there, he would only be able to operate on the outskirts.

Pushing these thoughts aside for the moment, Liang Xiaoke hurled the two energy masses into the air toward Gongsun Lu, who was trapped within the Five Elements Blood Corpse Grand Array.

As if sensing something, Gongsun Lu suddenly opened her mouth and swallowed both energy spheres, a look of deep satisfaction appearing on her face, as if she had consumed the most delicious food in the world.

"Twenty-one days have already passed. Your physical body is long saturated; all that remains is to strengthen your soul. Now, with these two souls from there, it's enough for you to emerge ahead of schedule!" Liang Xiaoke said calmly, yet he pointed a finger toward Gongsun Lu's forehead. The corpse qi within him surged violently toward her physical form. More than twenty days had passed, and worried for Ye Jingyu's safety, he couldn't wait any longer; this Blood Corpse had to manifest immediately.

As Liang Xiaoke's corpse qi poured in, Gongsun Lu's body, already nearing perfection, instantly reached its peak. Having absorbed the energy of the two souls, her own soul also grew immensely, finally allowing her to control the formidable physique. Her eyes snapped open, two streams of blood-red light shooting out, causing the surrounding Five Elements Blood Corpse Grand Array to shatter with loud cracks...

At this moment, above Medicine City, the sky was rolling with dark clouds, lightning flashing. The thick canopy of clouds pressed down so heavily it made ordinary people gasp for breath.

Even a powerhouse like Gongsun Sheng frowned deeply, sensing the immense pressure as if heaven and earth were about to shift...

Only Liang Xiaoke, deep underground, saw his expression change. He knew this was a Thunder Tribulation—the Five Elements Thunder Tribulation. The emergence of every Blood Corpse was accompanied by this tribulation, which not only the Blood Corpse had to endure but also the person who forged it.

Feeling the massive oppression from above, Liang Xiaoke's face became as ugly as it could be. He had focused only on the power of the Blood Corpse, completely forgetting the terror of the Thunder Tribulation on the day of its birth. With his current abilities, he could at best protect himself; he had no capacity to shield the Blood Corpse. Moreover, this Blood Corpse was emerging prematurely, its physical body not yet at its strongest state—how could it withstand this terrifying heavenly trial?

"It's over, it's all over. If I fail in refining this corpse, I might just be split into fragments..." Liang Xiaoke cursed, grabbing Gongsun Lu and bursting through the earth, speeding toward the southwest. In this moment of life and death, the only person he thought of was Ye Jingyu, seemingly the only one who could save him...

Liang Xiaoke's speed was terrifying, almost defying spatial constraints. With every stride, he covered thousands of meters. At this velocity, it would take only a few hours to travel from Medicine City to Yunjing...

But no matter how fast he ran, that mass of dark clouds remained directly above him, impossible to shake off. And the clouds grew thicker, the lightning within them becoming thicker and brighter...

(Yesterday, only four thousand words of manuscript were written; posting two chapters first, more later!)