The Corpse Fiend's appearance was utterly unchanged from before: still covered in green fur, possessing only a single arm, and still bound from head to toe by slender silver chains.
After carefully examining the entire stone chamber and confirming that everything was indeed as he remembered, with nothing amiss, Han Li placed the jade box in his hand on the ground. He then patted one of the spirit beast pouches at his waist, and a streak of dark light instantly shot out from the pouch.
The silhouette of the Wailing Soul Beast, about a foot tall, materialized. The moment it emerged, it caught sight of the Corpse Fiend on the stone platform and immediately began shrieking and chattering. Before Han Li even gave it instructions, black light flashed around its body, and it abruptly swelled to a gigantic size.
Fortunately, the beast was aware of the confined space and only grew to about ten feet tall before stopping. However, its gaze remained fixed unblinkingly on the Corpse Fiend, its entire demeanor one of eager anticipation.
Frowning at this, Han Li sent out a thought, and the Wailing Soul Beast immediately quieted down, squatting on the ground with its back to Han Li, now perfectly docile.
"Oh?"
When Han Li clearly saw the beast's back, a look of surprise crossed his face.
The blood-colored ghostly image on the Wailing Soul Beast's back was noticeably more distinct than before, the spectral figure even slightly raised. It gave the impression that the ghost might actually come to life.
This stirred something in Han Li's mind.
It seemed that after its recent devouring, the Wailing Soul Beast was undergoing another strange transformation.
In his surprise, Han Li felt a measure of anticipation.
However, now was not the time to study the beast in detail. He had released it only as a precaution against any accidents.
Next, Han Li lightly patted his storage pouch again. With a flash of yellow light, an ancient-looking jade tally materialized in his hand.
Han Li stared at the object, his eyebrow twitching slightly.
He had found this item only after thoroughly searching the black-robed youth's consciousness, discovered within the hair bun atop his head.
It recorded over ten different methods for refining various types of corpses. Most of these techniques were ones the Yin Profound Sect had openly plundered or secretly stolen from other heterodox sects. The black-robed youth had copied them all into this tally.
This Yin Profound Sect Elder appeared to have researched corpse-refining techniques with profound depth. On these dozen or more corpse-refining arts, he had proposed his own unique insights.
If many of them were improved according to his suggestions, the power of the refined corpses could be boosted by a full thirty percent.
It was a pity this Elder had been selfish, keeping his findings to himself and never sharing them with his fellow sect members. He had been bent on refining several top-tier corpses powerful enough to dominate a region, but had never found suitable bodies, which was why he hadn't acted.
One of the methods recorded within was called the "Heavenly Extinction Devil Corpse." This was one of the several top-tier corpses the black-robed youth had been determined to create. The bodies required for this method were powerful walking corpses that had already developed spiritual awareness on their own. After erasing these corpses' consciousness and subjecting them to various secret techniques, they could potentially be transformed into these Heavenly Extinction Devil Corpses.
Naturally, the power of such a devil corpse depended on the type of the spirit-aware walking corpse and its original cultivation level.
According to the corpse-refining technique, this Corpse Fiend was one of the absolute best choices available. A devil corpse refined from such a Heaven and Earth spirit corpse would be even more fearsome than the original by a full thirty percent.
Therefore, the moment Han Li read the corpse-refining technique recorded on the tally, he immediately thought of the Corpse Fiend trapped here.
Such a superb opportunity was not one Han Li intended to pass up.
However, before he could refine the devil corpse, he needed to completely erase the Corpse Fiend's original consciousness, just as when cultivating a second Nascent Soul.
That was why he had specifically brought the jade box that likely contained the Corpse Fiend's Primordial Spirit here. To use for the procedure!
Now, Han Li glanced at the silver spikes before him. With a beckoning gesture, all the spikes floated gently into the air. As incantation words flowed from his mouth, they began to emit a faint silver glow.
He rubbed his palms together, and the sound of thunder boomed loudly. Several thick golden arcs appeared, covering both his hands, blazing with dazzling light and an imposing aura.
With a completely expressionless face, Han Li raised both hands.
Over a dozen slender golden arcs shot out from his palms, striking precisely at each of the silver spikes.
Gold and silver light interwove, and all the spikes trembled simultaneously.
Seeing this, Han Li's face grew stern. He spat out the word "Go!" and swiftly executed a hand seal.
All the spikes transformed into streaks of silver light and shot outward, circling once above the Corpse Fiend on the stone platform before hovering motionless, aimed downwards at its limbs and vital points.
Having completed this, Han Li took a deep breath. His gaze swept over the jade box before him, which was still sealed with a golden talisman. Opening his mouth, a stream of azure light shot out.
The azure light swept across the surface of the jade box. The golden talisman trembled several times before finally peeling off and drifting to the ground.
With a sharp "whoosh," the box's lid flew sideways several zhang away, as if struck by a powerful blow.
Han Li's pupils contracted instantly. He stared fixedly at the jade box, his lips pressed tightly together.
A thick, billowing green mist surged out from within, accompanied by a few bursts of wild, ecstatic laughter.