Even Ling Xiao, a cultivator at the Elemental Realm, was sent flying by a single punch. The power of this living corpse was clearly immense.

Moreover, the fact that it could dodge Ling Xiao’s punch proved that its body was still quite agile.

Lin Hao stepped forward and threw a punch of his own.

The punch was as fast as lightning.

But the living corpse dodged it nonetheless.

It didn’t just dodge. As it sidestepped, it threw a punch of its own.

The speed of its punch was every bit as fast as Lin Hao’s, if not faster.

The fist struck Lin Hao’s body.

THUD!

A muffled sound rang out, as if a great drum had been struck.

Immense force sent Lin Hao sliding backward.

His body was incredibly resilient; ordinary force couldn’t harm him in the slightest.

Despite being hit, the corners of Lin Hao’s mouth lifted into a smile.

By now, Ling Xiao was back on his feet. Seeing that Lin Hao had also taken a punch, he was about to rush forward but was held back by Lin Hao.

Before he could even process what was happening, Lin Hao was already pulling him into a charge toward the horde of living corpses ahead.

A bizarre thing happened. When they stopped, the living corpses didn’t attack them. Instead, just as they had done, the creatures suddenly charged forward.

The passage ahead ended in a solid rock wall. The living corpses slammed into it, lining up perfectly straight.

At that moment, if one had a long pole, they could have been skewered like a string of salted fish.

Ling Xiao stared at Lin Hao in astonishment, completely baffled.

"They have no thoughts of their own, but they can use sound to pinpoint locations. They’re just mimicking us," Lin Hao explained in a low voice.

"They can even mimic the force of our punches? So just now... I was basically hitting myself?" Ling Xiao asked, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

Lin Hao shrugged, neither confirming nor denying it.

"Brilliant. That’s truly brilliant. If we’d just kept using brute force, we’d have ended up killing ourselves, not being killed by them. Senior Brother, how did you figure it out?" Ling Xiao was utterly in awe of Lin Hao.

Lin Hao had noticed the anomaly in a mere instant. His perception was monstrously fast.

"It was nothing, really. I noticed it when you threw your punch. After it dodged, the force and angle of its counter-punch were identical to yours. That’s when I suspected it was mimicking you. To confirm, I threw a punch with only ten percent of my power," Lin Hao explained.

Hearing this, Ling Xiao understood completely.

Though Lin Hao saw it as nothing special, it made Ling Xiao realize something: prodigies were prodigies for a reason. Lin Hao’s meticulous powers of observation alone were far beyond that of any ordinary person.

Ling Xiao fell into a thoughtful silence, seemingly having gained some insight from Lin Hao’s words.

Lin Hao didn’t disturb him and instead carefully scanned their surroundings.

They had reached the end of the second level. It was best to find the path to the third level as quickly as possible.

Lin Hao noticed that the corpses’ behavior was becoming strange.

They were growing agitated, as if about to mutate.

The Demon Suppression Cave was simply too bizarre. At this point, Lin Hao wouldn’t have been surprised if these living corpses suddenly gained consciousness or truly came back to life.

But whatever happened, it was definitely not a situation Lin Hao wanted to face.

After searching for some time, Lin Hao still came up empty-handed.

But something even worse awaited him: the living corpses suddenly spoke.

"Die!"

A single, emotionless word escaped their lips, making one feel as if they had been plunged into an icy abyss.

Spoken by so many, the word echoed without end. A cold, murderous aura filled the entire passage, chilling them to the bone.

A violent shiver ran down Ling Xiao’s spine, snapping him out of his thoughts.

He looked up to see pairs of blood-red eyes staring back at him.

Without them realizing it, the living corpses had mutated.

Ling Xiao tried the same trick again, throwing another punch.

Halfway through the motion, he recalled what had happened before and abruptly retracted most of its power.

BOOM!

This time, the living corpse he targeted didn’t dodge at all. Ling Xiao’s fist slammed into its chest.

The living corpse didn’t move an inch. Instead, the impact sent Ling Xiao stumbling back three steps.

It was like punching a wall of solid steel.

The living corpse that took the blow grinned, and its body swelled by a full size. Its aura grew even more terrifying.

Ling Xiao was stunned by this turn of events.

"Attack their heads!" Lin Hao yelled from the side.

Even Lin Hao had never seen anything like it—a body that swelled up after being struck. It was too bizarre.

But it reminded Lin Hao of the way to deal with the Lin family’s deathsworn warriors.

Hearing this, Ling Xiao leaped up and brought his elbow down hard on the living corpse’s skull.

ROAR!

Something even more bizarre happened.

The living corpse’s body swelled again. A roar erupted from its throat as it smashed a giant fist toward Ling Xiao.

Still in mid-air, Ling Xiao could only cross his arms to block.

The blow sent his entire body flying, hurtling toward the rock wall.

A hand shot out from the side and pulled Ling Xiao back.

Ling Xiao was yanked far to the side before he managed to regain his footing.

"Thanks, Senior Brother." Needless to say, the hand belonged to Lin Hao.

"Senior Brother, it’s not working." Ling Xiao gave a bitter smile as he looked at the creature, which was now twice the size of the other living corpses.

Meanwhile, more of the living corpses were swarming toward them.

Lin Hao’s eyes scanned the area, then suddenly lit up with understanding.

The next moment, his hands shot out, striking at one of the creatures.

SQUELCH! SQUELCH!

Lin Hao’s hands moved with incredible speed, accurately plunging into the living corpse’s eyes.

The attacked creature deflated like a punctured ball, shrinking at a visible rate until only a puddle of black liquid remained.

Seeing this method work, Ling Xiao didn’t have time to wonder how Lin Hao had once again found a weakness. He immediately prepared to do the same.

"Don’t move!" Lin Hao’s deep voice rang out before he could make his move.

Ling Xiao turned and saw that Lin Hao’s index and middle fingers on both hands had turned black.

"Don’t. Their bodies contain an evil power," Lin Hao said, shaking his head.

This evil power was incredibly potent. Lin Hao had felt it the moment his fingers pierced the living corpse’s eyes.

A current of absolute cold shot up from his fingers, invading his meridians and reaching his Dantian in an instant.

Fortunately, Lin Hao cultivated an Imperial Art, one that absorbed the essence of the sun and moon.

The light of the sun, in particular, was the bane of all evil.

As a result, the evil energy was instantly expelled from his Dantian.

If he were to circulate his Cultivation Technique, the evil energy elsewhere in his body would surely have nowhere to hide.

But Lin Hao had no intention of doing so.

Telling Ling Xiao to step aside, Lin Hao moved in a continuous blur of motion.

In no time, all the living corpses—save for the giant one—had been dispatched by Lin Hao. The ground was covered in black liquid everywhere except for the spot where the giant stood.

Not only were Lin Hao’s hands pitch black, but all of his exposed skin—including his face—had turned the same color. Only his eyes remained clear and bright.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Lin Hao leaped up, striking at the giant’s eyes.

But this time, it didn’t work.

Just as Lin Hao’s hands were about to connect, the giant creature moved with surprising agility, grabbing both of his arms.

Lin Hao was lifted into the air, dangling helplessly.

The giant’s arms were thick, long, and incredibly strong, as if forged from steel.

It began to pull its arms apart, clearly intending to tear Lin Hao in two.

Lin Hao would not let it have its way.

Lin Hao clenched his fists and strained inward, fighting against the giant’s overwhelming strength.

The struggle resulted in a stalemate.

"Senior Brother, duck!" Just then, Ling Xiao’s voice rang out.

At the same time, Lin Hao felt a rush of air from behind.

’He’s taking this chance to attack the creature’s eyes.’ Lin Hao knew without even looking.

Lin Hao knew how terrifying that evil power was. The power inside this giant had to be even more horrifying. If Ling Xiao so much as touched it, he would be dead without a doubt.

So, instead of ducking, Lin Hao roared, "Attack me!"

Lin Hao’s voice carried an undeniable authority.

Unable to resist the command, Ling Xiao hastily changed his attack, slamming his palms into Lin Hao’s back.

The force of the blow traveled through Lin Hao, causing the giant’s arms to bend.

Lin Hao’s eyes lit up.

The next instant, he unclenched his fists and thrust his hands forward, plunging them straight into the giant’s eyes.

An incredibly dense stream of evil energy shot into Lin Hao’s body, making him shiver uncontrollably.

Then, the evil energy surged violently into his mind.

It was trying to take control of his mind!

But its efforts were doomed to fail. Ever since he’d been caught off guard before, Lin Hao had made a point of circulating his strange True Essence to his head to keep his Spirit Platform clear.

The moment the evil energy encountered his unique True Essence, it crumbled and dispersed.

As the living corpse’s body shriveled, Lin Hao’s feet touched the ground.

Looking at the shrunken husk, Lin Hao broke out in a cold sweat.

’If I hadn’t been prepared, I would have become a monster just like it.’

Letting out a breath, Lin Hao prepared to move, but was horrified to find that while his mind issued the command, his body refused to obey.

The invasion of the evil energy had left his body paralyzed.

"Senior Brother, what’s wrong?" Ling Xiao noticed something was amiss and moved to touch Lin Hao.

"Don’t touch me," Lin Hao quickly ordered.

This energy was too potent. If you touched it, you’d be as good as dead.

"I’m fine. We’ve taken care of them all. Go and see if you can find the passage," Lin Hao instructed, unable to move his body.

In truth, it would be simple for Lin Hao to recover; he just needed to circulate his Cultivation Technique. But his Imperial Art was one of his ultimate trump cards, and he didn’t want the hidden entity to discover it so soon.

Lin Hao had the strange feeling that ever since he’d entered the Demon Suppression Cave, his every move was being watched by the presence lurking in its depths.

That evil being had schemed for millennia and claimed thousands upon thousands of lives. One wrong step, and he would share the same fate as the sect’s elders who had come before him.

Lin Hao mentally reminded himself to be on high alert and proceed with extreme caution. This was the end of the second level, which meant they were getting dangerously close to the depths of the Demon Suppression Cave.

Of course, Ling Xiao was unaware of any of this.

So, this time, Ling Xiao didn’t listen to him.

He could see that Lin Hao was in a terrible state. If it wasn’t dealt with immediately, then even if they found the passage to the third level, in their current condition, they would only be walking to their deaths.

"Senior Brother, you’re brilliant, you must have a way to fix this! We’ll move once you’ve recovered," Ling Xiao said, pacing back and forth anxiously.

Before Lin Hao could answer, he witnessed a bizarre sight.