Chapter 514: Chapter 288: Nascent Soul Late Stage Divine Soul, the Eerie Demon Corpse

"Isn’t this a Tier Four Upper Grade Array? How is it that my Divine Sense can so easily perceive the situation within it? No... this array seems to have some broken spots, and because it has no owner, it’s only operating according to its existing rules. Moreover, my Divine Soul has reached the Nascent Soul Late Stage, which is why I’m able to detect the situation inside without breaking the array..."

Qi Chuan was initially surprised.

But soon, he realized the reason behind it.

However, even after realizing the reason, Qi Chuan’s expression showed no sign of happiness but was filled with grave seriousness.

The gravity in Qi Chuan’s expression was not because of the array itself.

It was because he saw a scene within this ancient array that filled him with dread.

"That... what is that?..."

Qi Chuan’s heart was filled with immense shock.

In the center of the ancient array, there was an empty space.

Within that empty space, there lay a peculiar corpse.

The corpse was entirely black, towering at a height of one zhang and six chi, burly and robust, resembling a humanoid. However, the face and the skin on the body were covered in black, eerie scales that appeared exceptionally hard, as if indestructible.

Its hands were long, like ghost claws, with ten fingernails longer than the entire palm, slightly curved and a black-purple color, exuding an extreme sharpness.

On its chest, waist, back, elbows, knees, and ankles, there were numerous black, bizarre spikes of varying lengths.

On its forehead, there was a small golden horn, three inches long.

The entire corpse was pinned to the ground by a broken sword thrust through its chest, appearing lifeless, and emanating a thick, rotten odor.

It seemed to have been dead for many years.

Yet, although it had been dead for many years, other than a slight rotten smell, its body showed no signs of decay, and was remarkably intact, with its skin, muscle contours, black-purple thin lips, and closed, narrow eyes looking just like a living person.

"Is this corpse truly dead or alive?"

Qi Chuan frowned deeply.

Just by observing with the naked eye, and even by scanning with the Divine Soul, he couldn’t discern whether this corpse was dead or alive. It didn’t seem like a living creature, yet the faint pounding of his own heart gave Qi Chuan a sense of shock.

Moreover, the entire corpse gave him an extremely eerie yet strangely familiar feeling, as if he had encountered this kind of aura somewhere before.

"This aura... right, it seems similar to the Demon Insect tide... the aura of Demon Insects? Yes, it’s extremely similar to the aura of Demon Insects..."

Qi Chuan pondered for a while before finally recalling where he had encountered this aura.

The strange corpse before him emitted an eerie aura almost identical to that of the Demon Insects, except it was humanoid.

"In that case, this corpse is a Demon Corpse?"

Qi Chuan speculated with some alarm in his heart.

Since it was a Demon Corpse, it probably came from the legendary Demon Realm.

It’s remembered that deep within the interconnected underground crevices beneath the Demon Insect Nest is a channel leading to a mysterious space, a space rumored to be the mythical Demon Realm.

The Demon Insect Nest is just a piece of land where the borders of Beihua State, Celestial Desert State, and Celestial Cold State meet.

There are many places like this in the world.

Occasionally, Demon Insects erupt in other places as well.

In extremely rare cases, higher tier demons might even appear.

This Demon Corpse must have been such a high-tier demon before its death.

"Ah, indeed, my previous conjecture wasn’t wrong. Before opening the ancient array, I truly didn’t know whether it concealed opportunities or crises..."

Qi Chuan couldn’t help but remark.

"But fortunately, this high-tier demon seems to be dead, and it was killed by that broken sword through its chest?"

Qi Chuan looked with great interest at the broken sword embedded in the chest of the Demon Corpse.

This broken sword appeared silver-white in color, and the hilt seemed to have broken off somewhere.

The blade had multiple fractures, with rusty patches on its surface, and the sword blade was blunt.

It seemed very ordinary.

However, Qi Chuan knew that this broken sword was the one that killed the Demon Corpse, and a sword that could kill a high-tier demon could not be an ordinary sword.

"If I can retrieve this broken sword and use the Spirit Devouring Sword Forging Technique to absorb and refine the Metal Essence Qi from this sword into my Sea Level Sword, who knows to what level my Sea Level Sword might ascend?"

A trace of excitement flashed in Qi Chuan’s eyes.

This broken sword’s level was unknown.

But even at the minimum estimation, it was probably at least Tier Four Upper Grade, or even Tier Four Top Grade.

If acquired, he wouldn’t have to worry about obtaining high-tier metals for a long time.

"What a pity... what a pity... with this ancient array in the way, how can I retrieve this broken sword before breaking the ancient array?"

A trace of regret appeared on Qi Chuan’s face.

The ancient array before him was a Tier Four Upper Grade Array.

Even if it is unowned and somewhat damaged, it is not something that a Tier Four Lower Grade Array Master like me can easily break.

If I advanced to a Tier Four Middle Grade Array Master, it might be possible.

It’s a pity I’m not a Tier Four Middle Grade Array Master yet.

"Moreover... even without this Ancient Array, whether or not to pull out this Broken Sword requires careful consideration and weighing, because..."

At this point, Qi Chuan’s gaze suddenly turned sharp as he looked at the Demon Corpse, murmuring, "Who knows if this Demon Corpse is truly dead or still alive?!"

Even with a one percent chance, Qi Chuan did not dare to gamble.

After all, if this Demon Corpse is still alive and I pull out the Broken Sword, releasing it, not only would I be in danger, but even if I narrowly escape, the Demon Corpse would wreak havoc on the world.

"Maybe I should think of a way to test it..."

Qi Chuan carefully began to study the Ancient Array.

With his Tier Four Lower Grade Array Master skills, he couldn’t break the array, but he could study it.

After researching for over ten days, Qi Chuan finally found a manipulation loophole.

"Fireball Technique!"

Qi Chuan raised his hand, and a huge crimson fireball instantly coalesced in his palm, burning fiercely, causing the temperature within the cave to rise immediately.

"Go!"

Qi Chuan flicked his hand, tossing it into the depths of the cave.

The huge crimson fireball immediately fell into the Ancient Array and through the loophole, directly aiming at the Demon Corpse on the open ground.

Bang!

The huge crimson fireball hit the Demon Corpse, exploding instantly, transforming into a mass of crimson flames, enveloping and intensely burning the Demon Corpse, emitting high temperatures.

Crackling sounds.

After a period of chaotic burning, the crimson flames gradually weakened and then extinguished.

And the Demon Corpse didn’t change at all, still lying there quietly like a corpse, motionless.

More terrifyingly, its hair, skin, and muscles remained completely unchanged, as if not affected by Qi Chuan’s Fireball Technique at all.

"Didn’t move? Really dead?"

Qi Chuan frowned.

If it were still alive, it should have reacted to the fire.

"Could it be that the flame’s temperature is not enough?"

Fwoosh!

Qi Chuan then pinched a technique, the Nascent Soul in his Dantian flowed out, along the meridians, to his hands, forming a Nascent Flame.

"I’ll throw it!"

Qi Chuan tossed the Nascent Flame forward again, through the loophole, into the Ancient Array.

The Nascent Flame then landed on the Demon Corpse, burning quietly, causing the space above to show a strong distortion.

Clearly, the temperature of the Nascent Flame was much higher than that of the Fireball Technique.

Before long.

The Nascent Flame also gradually extinguished.

This time, the Demon Corpse actually reacted.

Visible to the naked eye, the tips of its hair appeared slightly curled...

Apart from that, there were no other changes.

The Demon Corpse still had not moved in the slightest.

"It seems that this Demon Corpse is truly dead. Otherwise, how could it have no reaction after being scorched by the Nascent Flame for so long? Looks like I can break this Ancient Array and pull out the Broken Sword to use for myself?"

Qi Chuan looked at the Demon Corpse lying quietly in the Ancient Array, murmuring to himself.

With his words, there was an eerie silence in the cave and within the Ancient Array, with no response.

"Phew..."

However, somewhere in the shadows, a particular Demon Corpse quietly let out a sigh of relief, seeming to harbor a sense of delight.

Sizzle!

But just as it secretly rejoiced, an unusual roar of thunder suddenly echoed in the cave, causing it to shudder horrifically.

"Taiyi Demon-Vanquishing True Technique!"

In front of the cave, Qi Chuan’s inner voice roared.

Within his body, the Divine Techniques, long unused, surged again today!