Chapter 232: Corpse King

John had noticed that something was wrong as soon as the girl cried out for help. There was a lingering scent of blood in the air, that was too thick to belong to just the girl alone. Not only that, but there were faint signs of battle that had taken place in the nearby area.

Although they had been covered up pretty well, John still noticed the signs. As such, John had sent his divine sense out towards the girl to inspect her. While she looked very lifelike, John was able to notice that there was no soul aura emanating from her. All living things had a soul, and so the girl was not what she appeared to be.

John's instincts were extremely sharp thanks to his strong soul and unique body, and so he trusted it as he sent a lightning blast towards the girl. His decision had been the correct one, as the girl was quickly revealed to be a trap.

"You've been baiting these fruits I assume," John asked the newcomer.

"Jejeje, you're correct. I've been here for some time, and have managed to kill quite a few disciples who tried to take the fruit. Now that you're here, you'll be joining them as well," the boy replied with a wicked smile on his face. His eyes stared at John as if he was prey.

John frowned at this news, as some of those victims most likely belonged to the Heavenly Lightning Sect. The boys robes and cultivation pointed to the fact that he was one of the Four Kings, or Three Emperors. John wanted to know who he was.

"Who are you? Are you a King, or an Emperor?" John asked the boy.

"Jeje, you're not worthy of fighting against an Emperor with your measly cultivation level. Even against me, the Corpse King, you're still not worthy. Die!"

The boy instantly lashed out at John, sending a powerful Qi blast towards him, ignoring Adam in the process. He could tell that John was the real threat here.

"Ahhh!"

Adam screamed out in panic as he rapidly dashed away from the fight. He finally reached a safe enough distance and turned to watch the spectacle to come. If he got caught up in the blasts, he would take quite a bit of damage.

A finger pointed directly at the oncoming Qi attack.

Lightning Ruin!

Boom!

Both attacks collided in midair, creating a powerful explosion that destroyed the nearby area. John frowned as he looked towards the fruits. Although they were still fine, the battlefield was still too close to the fruits for comfort, and they could accidentally be destroyed.

Limiter of Speed!

Thunderflash Steps!

John instantly activated his two fastest movement techniques, pushing his speed to the limit. He dashed forward quickly, appearing like a blur. He reached the Nascent Yang Fruit Tree in an instant, and quickly chopped the tree down, storing it in his palace realm. He didn't want to destroy such an amazing tree, but he didn't have the time to play around and risk their destruction.

"Die!"

The Corpse King shouted out in rage as he saw John take the fruits. He was planning on taking them after baiting enough victims, but John had stolen it while completely ignoring him. Such an act was unforgivable.

A corpse-puppet suddenly appeared next to the Corpse King, then another, and another. Soon, three corpses stood next to him, each brimming with the power of an Early Core Formation cultivator. They were much more powerful than the corpse-puppet that had been laid out as a trap.

The corpses suddenly all raised their hands, as well as the Corpse King himself. Powerful balls of blood red Qi began to build up within them, and before long, each was holding an incredibly powerful Qi ball in their hands.

"Combine!"

The Corpse King controlled all the puppets to move their hands towards his. The four balls of powerful blood red Qi quickly combined into one, making it grow exponentially in power.

As soon as the attacks combined, the incredibly powerful attack was quickly sent outwards towards John. It destroyed whatever it touched as it rapidly sailed towards him

John scoffed at the attack. While it was powerful, it wasn't that fast, and he would easily be able to dodge it.

"Hmm?"

John quickly looked downwards, as he noticed something grab his feet. A hand had pushed through the earth below him, grabbing his foot and holding him down. Another hand broke through the earth, grabbing his other foot, as it became evident that the Corpse King had controlled another corpse to hold him in place.

"Not bad," John mumbled. Such a combined attack truly was impressive, and would work on almost all cultivators at the Mid Core Formation Realm and below.

The hands of the corpse were incredibly durable, and essence cultivators would need a short period of time to charge up an attack to break them. However.

Bang!

Bang!

Two loud bangs echoed out as John utilized his full body strength to break free from the hands holding him down. The hands were incredibly tough, and it had taken his full body power to do so, but John had managed to instantly break free from the ensnarement.

"What?"

The Corpse King's eyes widened in surprise as he watched John instantly break free from his carefully laid trap, and quickly dash to the side. The Qi attack sailed past John, colliding with the earth far behind him.

Boooooom!

An incredibly massive explosion radiated outwards in the distance, destroying all in its path. All disciples in the massive room instantly looked up towards the explosion, fear filling their faces as they watched it. If they were hit with such an explosion, they would die without leaving a body behind.

The explosion faded, revealing a crater dozens of yards deep and a hundred yards wide. John's eyes widened slightly as he stared at it.

'That was actually a really powerful attack. If it hit me head on, even I would have taken a bit of damage.'

This one attack revealed the Bloodfiend Sect Kings to not be as simple as John had assumed. His battle with Grant was incredibly easy, and so John did not give them any respect. However, the Corpse King's attack revealed that they were incredibly powerful.

'If he's this strong, I wonder how strong the Blood Emperor is?'

John quickly put such thoughts aside as he once again focused on the Corpse King. The Corpse King was breathing slightly heavily, indicating that the attack he had just unleashed took quite a toll on him.

Lightning Ruin!

John quickly pointed his finger and unleashed a Lightning Ruin, piercing directly towards the Corpse King.

"Hmph,"

The Corpse King scoffed at the attack, and unleashed even more corpse-puppets. Soon, seven corpse puppets were dashing towards the attack. Their fist's punched out.

Boom!

The Lightning Ruin collided with the corpse-puppets, knocking them backwards a few yards. However, they were all intact, showing their incredible durability.

"My corpse-puppets are incredibly durable, and have durability similar to peak Qi Condensation Grade Weapons. You have no chance of destroying them," The Corpse King shouted out towards John with a voice full of gloating.

"Is that so? Then let's put that to the test," John replied.

Supreme Battle Art!

An incredibly powerful aura instantly exploded off John's body, shocking the Corpse King greatly. John quickly dashed towards the nearest corpse-puppet and swung his scythe outwards with all his might.

Peng!

His scythe collided with the fist of the corpse, and a metallic sound rang out from the collision. John's scythe, augmented by his powerful body, sliced into the fist of the corpse, and travelled halfway up its arm before coming to a halt.

Both John and the Corpse King raised their eyebrows in surprise, and John quickly dashed backwards. The Corpse King was surprised that John was able to destroy the arm of one of his puppets. They were incredibly durable, and even powerful essence attacks normally didn't scratch them.

On the other hand, John closely inspected his scythe's blade. A small chip had appeared on the blade, indicating that it had taken damage from the collision. While his scythe was a powerful Qi Condensation Weapon, it was still just that.

Fighting against such powerful puppets revealed the weakness of the scythe, which was its durability against more powerful objects. John frowned, as he thought of what to do.

'I could unleash Divine Reaping Scythes to easily cut down these puppets, but doing so would waste precious essence Qi. If I can't fight them with my scythe, then I'll just use my body instead.'

John suddenly put his scythe away, surprising the Corpse King. He began to laugh sinisterly.

"Giving up already? I told you, you can't destroy my puppets. Jejeje."

John looked at the Corpse King with a calm face. His powerful body aura continued to surge out wildly.

"I could, but it would require using more energy than it's worth. In that case, I think I'll just beat you to death with my fists, and then the puppets will no longer be an issue."