As the Sword Qi descended once more, the Formation took a heavy hit, and its light flared up again.

Seeing this, Qi Rou's eyes suddenly lit up. She immediately flew out and stopped in mid-air, looking down to carefully examine the Formation on the ground.

"This is..." Qi Rou's brow furrowed. She held her breath and focused intently on the Formation, her mind racing as she analyzed every clue, refusing to miss a thing. "Evil Spirit Formation, Corpse Attraction Formation, Qi Gathering Formation... This is for... refining a Corpse King!"

"It's bad, Saintess! Saintess, something's wrong! The corpses in the City of the Dead have all vanished into thin air!" A Hehuan Sect Disciple ran over in a hurry, shouting in panic.

Hearing this, Qi Rou's expression couldn't help but change: "He's started..."

The Formation began to operate rapidly. As a whistle sounded, the things in the City of the Dead woke up one by one, revealing their original Zombie forms and converging step by step toward the center of the city.

Directly beneath the bright moon, upon a Sacrificial Altar built of stone, Yun Nian was bound hand and foot by Demonic Qi. She was the focal point toward which the countless Zombies were facing.

When Xi Mo woke up, the Inn had already turned into a pile of ruins. Looking at the pool of blood that had not yet dried in front of him, he instinctively thought of Yun Nian. His expression changed immediately, and he began to search everywhere.

"Yun Nian? Where are you?!"

Just then, he saw a section of the ruins shifting as if something was underneath. He immediately ran over and moved the stones away from the debris.

"Yun Nian, is that you?"

In the next moment, a green-haired Zombie stood up straight from the ruins. Its face was one he had previously seen in the Inn. What he found strange was that although this Zombie had awakened, it didn't intend to attack him. Instead, it slowly turned toward a certain direction.

Following that, the entire ruins began to move. Countless Zombies stood up straight from beneath. Just like the first Zombie, after turning toward a certain direction, they walked stiffly toward it.

Xi Mo was slightly startled. He looked around and realized that at some point, he had become surrounded by a horde of Zombies. These Zombies seemed completely unable to see him, all heading in one direction.

"What's going on... Yun Nian..." Xi Mo paused for a moment as a thought surged into his mind. In the next moment, he flew in the direction the Zombies were heading.

Countless Zombies gathered within this Formation, channeling their corpse qi toward the center. That center was Yun Nian.

To refine a Corpse King and ensure it would follow one's commands in the future, one had to establish a Blood Contract with that body while it was still alive. To ensure it would still obey after death, the required time was long and the steps even more tedious. The man naturally couldn't wait, so he started the Formation first, allowing the corpse qi to pour into Yun Nian's body.

"Ah—"

The corpse qi invaded Yun Nian's body from the soles of her feet along the lines of the Formation, clashing with the Spiritual Qi inside her. No matter how much Yun Nian could endure, she let out a shrill scream at this moment. The veins on her forehead bulged instantly, and her face, which still had some color, turned as white as paper.

"Haven't you always wanted this body of mine? Hold on! If we are completely swallowed by this corpse qi, neither of us will live!"

Yun Nian communicated with the Bone Burying Wolf's consciousness.

In the place that was originally a pitch-black empty space, countless Zombies appeared. On the other side, there was only the Bone Burying Wolf.

Looking at those invading Zombie-like things, the Bone Burying Wolf bared its teeth fiercely and took a combat stance.

At a time like this, how could it care about seizing Yun Nian's body? Seeing the Zombies drawing closer and closer, the Bone Burying Wolf immediately charged forward, a thick blood mist instantly enveloping the corpse qi.

The battle inside her body caused Yun Nian to endure inhuman pain, but she still held on desperately to her nearly collapsing spirit. At that moment, the man's half-skeletal face suddenly appeared before her.

A sinister smile hung on it as he opened his mouth and chuckled, "How much longer do you think you can hold on?"

In the next moment, a dagger suddenly appeared in his hand. He quickly slashed Yun Nian's wrist, and blood gushed out.

Looking at the gushing red blood, the man laughed frantically: "Soon, it's almost time! Once the Corpse King is refined, do you think you can do anything to me?! The entire Cultivation World will be in my hands!"

Blood gathered into the Formation like a stream. The man also immediately cut his own wrist, letting his blood flow into the Formation.

Yun Nian stared fixedly at the man in front of her: "No one can refine a Corpse King, stop your wishful thinking!"

"There was no one before!" The arrogance in the man's eyes did not diminish. "But now, I can!"

"Do you think I will obediently become your Puppet?" Yun Nian's face became distorted with pain, but her eyes were full of coldness. "I will find a way to make your three hundred years of effort go to waste!"

"Hahaha, what big words. Don't think I don't know what that demon is doing in your body. It's useless! And I can bet that you will never play your last trump card, because you—" The man's withered, tree-like finger pointed at Yun Nian, "—want to live!"

Yun Nian's fist clenched, her bones creaking.

That's right, she wanted to live.

Even if she had to endure more pain, she didn't want to die like this.

This was the City of the Dead, filled with Zombies, and these Zombies were all people when they were alive.

Where there are people, there are spirits, and here, there were spirits everywhere.

Unless she was at a dead end, she absolutely did not want to use a Forbidden Art again. But if she really had to become his Puppet and bring disaster to the world, then she would rather die.

She could recklessly overdraw her body, use Forbidden Arts without restraint, and sign contracts with all the spirits here. Her body would age rapidly and would no longer be able to withstand the corpse qi. Once she died, this person's plan to refine a Corpse King would also fail.

But he guessed correctly; she wanted to live.

The blood from both sides traveled through the Formation and slowly merged together. The man gave Yun Nian a cold smile, then sat cross-legged on the spot and began to form the Blood Contract.

Meanwhile, in the dark space, the Bone Burying Wolf fell to the ground exhausted, surrounded by corpse qi.

Having reached a dead end, the light in Yun Nian's eyes dimmed, and she slowly closed them.

Was it really... going to end... Just then, a long sword whistled through the air, piercing straight toward the man.

"Clang—" The long sword in Xi Mo's hand struck the man's grim white bones, instantly letting out a piercing sound.

Yun Nian's already somewhat chaotic consciousness was jolted awake by this sound. She looked up toward that direction as a burst of spiritual power struck, disrupting the Demonic Qi that bound her.

The man's contract-forming was interrupted by the sudden appearance of Xi Mo. He was instantly consumed by rage and, for a moment, didn't pay attention to Yun Nian's side.