“Kill them all!” Roars of battle emanated across Mingluo.

In the beginning, the corpses had the upper hand and killed many cultivators before they could react.

However, after the other side regained their wits, they held strong and quickly went on the offensive.

Of course, the natives alone would have been massacred. The influx of powerful cultivators from the big sects and systems allowed the living to reverse the tide.

It didn’t take long before the corpses were hunted down. A few didn’t get to do anything before being completely surrounded on all sides.

Strangely enough, even decapitation wasn’t enough to kill them. The body would try to find its missing head.

Seeing this scene left the spectators in horror, albeit on a brief moment. These battle-hardened cultivators instantly chopped them to pieces.

Some corpses actually fled successfully by digging into the ground and disappearing down there. The pursuers couldn’t do anything about it.

“Where did these creatures come from?” This question popped up.

No one could give a good answer since they appeared all of a sudden overnight.

“They, they’re the missing natives of White Orchid.” A local quietly said after recognizing some corpses.

People exchanged glances after hearing this. One expert said: “Why are the missing citizens of White Orchid here on top of ambushing us?’

No one had an answer for this either.

“It’s coming at last.” One ancestor said with narrowed eyes.

“Ancestor, what’s coming?” His junior asked curiously.

“The immortal stone of Stone Harmony. It seems to be coming out, I’ve waited long enough.” His eyes pulsed with light.

“Immortal stone? Ancestor, is it really amazing and precious?” The junior was stirred.

The young ones followed their seniors here and actually didn’t know the reason. Only a few of them heard about the immortal stone by chance.

“It’s a stone with no written records.” The ancestor solemnly explained: “According to the rumors, the founder of Stone Harmony found this stone, allowing him to prove his grand dao and become a progenitor. Later on, it was buried deep in the system and contained endless power relating to eternal life.”

He paused for a bit and looked at his junior: “Because of this, other progenitors have come in search for it after the decline of the system but they couldn’t find anything. However, the fact that it can still stay in Imperial instead of falling down to Myriad shows that the stone is still around here. People think that due to recent events, this stone is about to emerge so that’s why these various powers are here. Otherwise, what’s the point of traveling so far just to visit this godforsaken area?”

“It’s that amazing and has mysteries about immortality?” The juniors nearby became emotional.

“Even if it doesn’t have anything to do with immortality, it should still be plenty incredible since it can provide enough power for the system to stay around. It might be comparable to a dao source in terms of power replenishment.” The ancestor elaborated.

“Right, so possessing this stone is akin to possessing a dao source.” One junior became excited.

Anyone would love to possess the power of a dao source, regardless of who they are.

In fact, this group wasn’t the only one with this realization. Other ancestors saw this scene and became excited. They made careful preparation for the stone to come out.

“Are you sure about this?” One ancestor asked his peer.

After all, they came specifically for this stone. If it didn’t show up, then everyone would have wasted their time. Remember, even progenitors have failed to find anything in the past.

“Don’t you see the corpses? Why did they come back to life? The most logical answer is the stone fueling them power.” His peer said with conviction.

“So the rumor about its immortality effect is true.” The ancestor took a deep breath while his eyes flashed with excitement.

This was the same scenario seen everywhere - old ancestors with withering vitality desperate to find something that can prolong their life. They would pay any price for it.

The appearance of these corpses became solid evidence for the effects of the immortal stone.

***

Back in Heavensound Ruins, corpses were crawling out of the ground and heading for the palace. They instantly surrounded Li Qiye’s group.

“What should we do?” The frightened Yixue didn’t know what to do because of her inexperience so she quietly asked Li Qiye.

He chuckled and raised his finger, shooting out refined flames towards the corpses.

“Poof!” The corpses didn’t even have the chance to squirm before turning into ashes scattering into the winds.

Youzheng shuddered after seeing this. The same fate would happen to him if these flames were to touch him at all.

Li Qiye purposely left one corpse alive. Before it could lunge at him, he spread out his palm to immobilize it.

He grabbed and brought it back into the palace.

The other two were afraid of more corpses showing up so they got back in and tightly shut the door.

“Young Noble, why are you catching it?” Youzheng asked.

“For a better look.” Li Qiye’s eyes illuminated the corpse.

“What’s there to look at, it’s a corpse...” Yixue muttered to herself before backing off.

Li Qiye began moving his fingers, not wasting a single movement. The skin of the corpse started peeling, inch by inch. To be more exact, this was a flaying process.

The two were creeped out and quickly turned their head away.

It didn’t take long before the corpse was fully peeled from top to bottom. Only a dried mess was below, devoid of life.

“It’s really dead.” There was a lack of life and vitality. The flesh and muscle became as dried as wood.

However, it still maintained its initial appearance without collapsing. Something must have drained all of its life force in the blink of an eye. This was a very bizarre occurrence.