Chapter 716: The Giant Stitched From A Myriad Corpses

The young Garrison Command cultivator wore an expression of such honesty and righteousness that no one had ever thought to suspect him.

Yet he was indeed a spy for the Five Elders Council, hiding in plain sight. He had even helped capture other Five Elders Council spies.

The absurdity of it was almost elegant.

He left behind a single sentence and one Void Matrix Stone, then departed without drawing any attention.

Xu Bai kept his composure and pocketed the stone quickly. A brief inspection confirmed what he expected: the types and quantities of materials matched his request exactly, without a single discrepancy.

The Five Elders Council does have its merits. At the very least, they're far more reliable than the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

Despite the twists and turns, he had finally obtained the Truth-Binding Fruit he needed.

But Xu Bai still could not leave Tianliang Province.

The cases Wang Qiupo had triggered remained open, and as the one who'd set them in motion, he was obligated to keep cooperating with the investigation.

For now, though, the public's attention had turned to the purge of Wang Qiupo's old faction and the fierce struggles over the vacated positions. Forgotten by all, Xu Bai got to enjoy a stretch of leisure.

At the same time, deep within the vast and churning White Mist...

"What just happened? Yesterday there were only five Disassembler Discs left. Now it's back to six?" Huangfu Song's startled cry rang out as the Samantabhadra True Boat hurtled through the mist.

Dongfang Yao's face went ashen. "Don't tell me we've stumbled into some bizarre Lost Domain again. Have we gone back a day in time?"

Li Fan was quiet for a moment. "It's most likely an effect of the Wang Qiupo affair," he said, with a note of resignation. "One of the four cultivators who redeemed a Disassembler Disc must have had ties to Wang Qiupo. Once he fell under suspicion of being a spy, no one would've left a treasure that important in his hands. It would've been reclaimed immediately."

The three of them had only recently emerged from a Lost Domain and re-established contact with the Tianxuan Mirror, so they knew about the affair that had recently shaken the Myriad Immortals Alliance.

Dongfang Yao and Huangfu Song reached the same conclusion at once.

"Brother Li, you’re as sharp as ever," Dongfang Yao said with a grin.

Huangfu Song let out a small breath of relief. "I was starting to worry that it might be too late to snatch up a Disassembler Disc at our current pace. But with this one reappearing out of nowhere, I'd say we’re secure."

As if by unspoken agreement, all three turned to check their own Qingxuan Point totals.

Thirty-six thousand points.

Based on past experience, one or two more Lost Domains would be enough to make up the remaining fourteen thousand.

"These days, even the most remote corners of the White Mist are crawling with cultivators. It feels like the entire Myriad Immortals Alliance has come swarming in. It's absolutely insane! The map of explored regions they gave us is practically useless now," Dongfang Yao complained.

"Yeah, but luckily Brother Li's skills are extraordinary. He can actually hear the strange murmurs coming from the Lost Domains through the White Mist," Huangfu Song said, casting a subtle glance at Li Fan.

"Speaking of that, Brother Li, what exactly do those noises sound like? Could you describe them to us?" Huangfu Song asked, probing.

A cold laugh rose in Li Fan's heart. He was about to answer when those ghostlike voices reached his ears again.

"Heavenly..."

"Physician..."

"There's a Lost Domain nearby." Li Fan, growing accustomed to this by now, no longer felt any fear. He slowed the rapidly speeding Samantabhadra True Boat and concentrated on finding the direction of the sound.

But this time felt different.

The wailing cries of "Heavenly Physician" grew louder.

It was as if a Lost Domain were closing in fast.

Li Fan's expression shifted. His divine sense expanded rapidly beyond the White Mist as he tried to probe the surrounding area.

But the White Mist lay still as the deep waters of a clear pool, without a ripple.

He had no idea where the crisis was coming from.

"Heavenly..."

"Physician!"

The voices of rage and resentment grew clearer and clearer.

He could now make out the words "Heavenly Physician" distinctly.

They repeated over and over, coming from every direction at once, as though countless mindless ancient beasts were closing in around them.

The din hammered against Li Fan's eardrums like a physical blow.

He glanced at Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao beside him. Even now, they seemed to hear nothing.

"Something feels off around here." Dongfang Yao, the more alert of the two, suddenly spoke up.

The alarm in Li Fan's chest swelled by the second. He acted without a moment's delay.

"Move!"

The Samantabhadra True Boat jerked forward, throwing itself into the mist.

Then, without warning, a massive hand thrust upward from the White Mist below, fingers curling as it reached for the boat.

"What in the—what is that thing?" Huangfu Song cried out, but his hands were already moving.

An apricot-yellow array flag flew from his grip like an arrow, streaking toward the giant hand.

It detonated on impact and unraveled into streams of yellow silk cord that coiled around the hand and bound it fast, slowing its reach for one precious moment.

"Go! Now!" Huangfu Song shouted, his voice frantic.

Li Fan didn't need the prompting. He was already pushing the Samantabhadra True Boat to full power, fleeing back the way they'd come.

It wasn't that they lacked the will to fight. The hand's appearance was simply too sudden, too frightening.

Li Fan had once seen the severed hand of an ancient Heavenly Venerable at the Eternal Immortal Fortress outside the Roaring Abyss.

But even that shocking sight paled next to the giant hand they'd just witnessed.

This hand was formed from cultivators' corpses, stacked and stitched together.

In that fleeting glimpse, Li Fan made out their twisted bodies and faces, and the black, eerie threads that sewed them into one.

What chilled him deeper still: though these cultivators' bodies held not a trace of life force, their mouths still opened and closed, releasing roars from the depths of hell.

"Heavenly!"

"Physician!"

The giant hand was trapped by Huangfu Song's Thousand-Silks Hundred-Vines Array for a moment, but another hand emerged from the depths of the White Mist and tore the yellow silk cords apart.

Now, the three of them could see it clearly: a massive, grotesque arm formed from countless corpses fused together.

It was as if a corpse giant, hidden in the White Mist, had been watching and hunting them all along.

"Was the Immortal Alliance's Heaven-Shattering Cannon supposed to deal with this thing?" Dongfang Yao shouted, his voice trembling.

He gritted his teeth and threw a punch at the giant arm behind them.

Black fissures erupted like blades, blasting outward with a thunderous roar. This was the divine ability Dongfang Yao had comprehended within the great whirlpool of the World Breach.

Yet this killing strike, capable of tearing space itself, couldn't even slow the corpse giant's advance.

The cultivator corpses making up its body shattered into pulp under the force of his attack, only for even more corpses to writhe forth from the pile and crawl into the vacant space, replacing them.

The horrifying spectacle chilled both Huangfu Song and Dongfang Yao to the bone.