Chapter 89
Qiu Hong was somewhat confused, asking Qin Fengmian, "Are these skulls summoned by your Soul-capturing Bell?"
"I don''t know!" Qin Fengmian was even more bewildered than him.
"Then why..."
Qiu Hong''s gaze fell upon Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Why were these skulls seeking not Qin Fengmian or the ck Robe Man, but the Overseer herself?
Not only Qiu Hong and Qin Fengmian, but Jiang Xiaoxiao herself was equally clueless.
Just moments ago, she had simply instructed Qin Fengmian to control the corpses under the ck Robe Man''smand.
Who could have anticipated that so many skulls would suddenly emerge?
Moreover, their formation seemed entirely unaffected by the ck Robe Man''s melodies.
Xie Xun suggested, "Xiaoxiao, why don''t you try controlling them?"
Prior to this day, Jiang Xiaoxiao had only dealt with ghosts and humans, rarely encountering corpses.
Let alone such arge number of skulls.
For a moment, she did not know whether to use talismans or spells.
"Never mind."
Jiang Xiaoxiao had no interest in engaging these skulls of uncertain origins.
She said, "Our current objective is to safely retrieve those corpses from the ck Robe Man and return them to their families for proper burial. Even if I could control the skulls, they would only damage the corpses further. It''s better not to involve them."
As Jiang Xiaoxiao finished speaking, one of the skulls that had been clutching its head suddenly flung it away and began marching down the hill.
Extending its arm, it snatched a floating infant corpse from the air, holding one in each arm, then turned and brought them to Jiang Xiaoxiao.
The other skulls followed suit, each carrying a corpse.
Despite the ck Robe Man''s formidable control abilities, the skulls seemed to have no difficulty seizing the corpses at all!
Jiang Xiaoxiao: "..."
Qin Fengmian: "!!"
The skulls could understand human speech, which was unnatural and illogical! This had to be an illusion!
While the two master and apprentice remained in a state of shock at the bizarre sight, the ck Robe Man suddenly rose to his feet atop the small hill.
Previously, in order to control the corpses, he had been continuously ying melodies without interruption, failing to notice that the girl had found her way here.
Now, he watched in horror as the infant corpses he had painstakingly acquired from the imperial mausoleum were snatched away by a band of skulls that had appeared out of nowhere. The face beneath the ck Robe Man''s mask contorted with rage and murderous intent.
"Wretched girl, time and again you ruin my endeavors. You know not what is good for you. Die!"
An immense force surged forth from within the ck Robe Man, attacking Jiang Xiaoxiao directly.
The aura of this lethal strike was clearly more powerful than their previous encounter in the Eastern Pce.
Qiu Hong reacted swiftly, conjuring a talisman into a protective shield to shield the infant corpses below.
However, with his level of cultivation, this talisman could only withstand the force for a brief moment.
Jiang Xiaoxiao could not reveal her identity as a disciple of the Taoism Sect in front of Qin Fengmian and Qiu Hong, preventing her from using her talisman or sword to defend herself.
She could only employ the same skill she had unleashed in the Yin Yang Office - Spirit-Power demaking.
But before that, she needed to reinforce Qiu Hong''s defensive talisman.
Taking out a prepared defensive talisman, Jiang Xiaoxiao flung it out, instantly burning into a golden light that formed a protective shield,pletely separating Xie Xun, Qiu Hong, and the others from the ck Robe Man and the skulls and corpses.
Having aplished this, Jiang Xiaoxiao leapt onto a tree branch.
In an instant, a semi-transparent, two-handed greatsword materialized, which she raised high and brought down with the force of a mountain-cleaving strike.
The sword''s momentum shed with the ck Robe Man''s force in mid-air, seeming topress the very air with an immense pressure bearing down upon everyone.
Soon, a deafening "boom" erupted.
The tremendous explosion shook the earth itself, cleaving the small hill where the ck Robe Man stood in two.
Gales whipped up clouds of sand and debris, shredding the ck Robe Man''s cloak.
This terrifying, overwhelming power far surpassed what the kitchen knife had been capable of.
The ck Robe Man raised an eyebrow, "Spirit-Power demaking? Little girl, you never cease to surprise this old man!"
"If it''s a fight you want, then fight. Why so many useless words?"
Having spoken, Jiang Xiaoxiao shed forward, shing with the ck Robe Man in mid-air.
Their movements were too swift to discern, the onlookers below only feeling the immense oppressive force permeating the air.
Even through the defensive talisman, their chests felt constricted, struggling to breathe.
Qin Fengmian and Qiu Hong sat down, regting their breathing several times before barely avoiding internal injuries from the shockwaves.
Xie Xun, having never cultivated, naturally could not regte his breathing and took shelter behind the skulls instead.
He noticed that these skulls were quite intelligent, automatically identifying the areas of strongest defense and carrying the corpses there.
Xie Xun found a rtively safe spot and looked up at the aerial battle.
Although the details were unclear, it was evident that the ck Robe Man''s abilities had vastly improved since theirst encounter.
Xie Xun frowned.
Continuing like this was futile.
The ck Robe Man was merely a puppet controlled by some other consciousness. Even if defeated, the controller would simply possess another puppet.
Meanwhile, Xiaoxiao would exhaust a significant portion of her cultivation and spiritual power.
Xie Xun recalled that Xiaoxiao had mentioned the ck Robe Man could not approach the imperial mausoleum or the Imperial Deity Temple, lest he harm his true body.
So the mausoleum and temple must share some quality that the ck Robe Man feared.
The temple, of course, housed the deity statue capable of emitting divine light.
As for the mausoleum, what could it be?
After some thought, Xie Xun had a revtion.
The divine beast!
The imperial mausoleum was guarded by the Candle Dragon, one of the four ancient divine dragons.
It seemed they needed to lure the ck Robe Man towards the mausoleum.
Just as Xie Xun was about to discuss a strategy with Qiu Hong and Qin Fengmian, the crystal key he always carried suddenly grew warm.
Xie Xun looked down.
Through his robe, he could faintly see the crystal key shing once, followed by a small, inconspicuous wisp of blue light shooting towards the battle in the air.
This light resembled the divine radiance Xie Xun had witnessed in the Imperial Deity Temple.
Momentster, Xie Xun saw the ck Robe Man, who had been fiercely battling Jiang Xiaoxiao, spew a mouthful of blood and plummet from the sky, nearly crushing one of the skulls.
The skull, carrying two infant corpses in its arms, simply kicked the ck Robe Man away with force.
The ck Robe Many prone on the ground, seeming to have suffered severe internal injuries, twitching uncontrobly but unable to rise.
Qiu Hong and Qin Fengmian stared at the scene, dumbfounded.
Of course, they had not seen the wisp of blue light, subconsciously believing that the Overseer herself had vanquished the ck Robe Man.
"Incredible!" Qiu Hong eximed in awe. "To control skeletons with such supernatural skill, Master''s eye for talent is truly unmatched."
Qin Fengmian, the pride of the family and a master corpse courier, felt dejected.
He had only recently be a disciple of Bai Cheng, and his cultivation level paled inparison to his senior peers.
The only skill he could im was the family''s unique corpse courier ability.
But now, this girl had directly taken up the art of skeleton couriering, and those skeletons, while looking simr, each seemed to possess its own distinct "personality" upon closer inspection.
They could think, judge, and perform tasks with remarkable efficiency.
It was as if theycked only the ability to eat from a bowl.
Truly, they left no room for him, a mere corpse courier!
The most dejected person in the arena was, in fact, Jiang Xiaoxiao.
Those skeletons seemed to have emerged from somewhere, but it was clear that someone was controlling them from behind the scenes.
However, as long as that person did not be her enemy, she could let the matter slide without further investigation.
Tonight, the ck Robe Man''s power had greatly increased, evidently infused with a significant amount of cultivation, all for the purpose of sessfullypleting the imperial tomb mission.
The ck Robe Man seemed to have noticed that she couldn''t overuse the Yin Yang Office''s techniques and had been using demonic arts against her.
Although Jiang Xiaoxiao wasn''t overwhelmed, her spellcasting abilities were somewhat restricted to a certain degree.
Thus, the strike that made the ck Robe Man cough up blood and fall wasn''t her doing.
Who was the one helping her from behind the scenes?
Jiang Xiaoxiao withdrew her power and sat on the snowy ground, regting her breath for a moment before resting her chin on her hand and gazing absentmindedly at the skeletons transporting the infant corpses.
Xie Xun approached her, his eyes filled with concern. "Xiaoxiao, are you hurt?"
"No."
Xie Xun sat down beside her. "Then rest for a while before we head back."
As he spoke, he took her hand and held it in his warm palm.
"Xie Xun, the ck Robe Man''s main body was severely injured," Jiang Xiaoxiao suddenly looked at him. "Gravely injured, just now."
Xie Xun smiled. "Isn''t that a good thing?"
"But I didn''t inflict that injury on him," Jiang Xiaoxiao said. "I can''t deal such a blow to the ck Robe Man''s main body with a single strike."
"The one who helped me just now is too powerful."
Upon hearing this, Xie Xun remained silent, merely touching the area on his chest where the crystal was located.
He didn''t know if the effect was truly caused by that little blue light, because someone else was also helping Xiaoxiao tonight.
Fearing that a misjudgment might disappoint her in the future, Xie Xun decided to temporarily set aside the matter of the crystal key and seek help from the elders to investigate its origins once they returned.