Sucker

Corpsification was a new art. A dark art.

After the wars of the demons against the cultivators, new practices evolved, making use of the yin in the air. Methods previously used by the demonkind had now been adopted by those who practiced the dark arts.

People like Daiyu.

Yin cultivators were extremely dangerous in the sense that, they had no restrain. Their minds had been trained to bear to the overwhelming amount of dark mana. However, it came at a price.

Their humanity.

Corpsification was one of the many disgusting acts that had evolved from their madness. It was illegal in the new dynasty. However, some brave ones— or simply unhinged fellows — did not care to stop the practice.

The aim of this was to convert a human body with a balance of Yin and Yang to pure yin, absorbing whatever yang it had. The latter was used to fuel their even more nefarious articrafts, potion breweries and beasts.

Zero had no idea what was happening to him but could feel something wriggling inside his back. It was getting harder to stand.

His lungs felt congested and his vision was darkening. Daiyu had stopped coming his way and stood somewhere in the short distance, looking somewhat disoriented.

The wind whistled and the green snow tore down in heavy clumps.

A high pitched shrill note of a ghastly creature resounded and the thing attached to Zero's body jerked, pulling at his flesh from the inside. He groaned in pain, trying not to blank out. He felt his blood go warm and felt the eye pulse within.

The black jade who stood away from the scene, watched the boy shake and struggle. Brown fumes mingled with green snow.

It was impossible to call out to him as the storm limited how far sound would go. She was not too far but the wind was loud. The boy was going to die if she did not do anything. The lady grunted softly. Her injuries needed more time to heal before she could fight at her peak.

Whoever was behind the corpsification was surely in the higher realms of the golden core state. A stage seven at least.

She was merely a five. With her injuries, she was only in the upper fourth realm of golden core at most.

The gap between the stages were far too wide.

She understood one thing though; the yin cultivatior was using an invisibility technique. And with the green storm, it was impossible for a lower rank like herself to spot this person.

From Zero's inability to move, she could only assume this cultivator had a Sucker in their charge. A shadowbeast. An extremely new and dangerous method of corpsifing.

Shadowbeasts were manifestations of the Corruption, and had only appeared after hell fell. Whoever this person was, they were either mad or senselessly powerful.

It also made her chances slimmer.

She had to run.

"Blast it all! " She hissed and turned away, dragging her boots through the ankle deep sludge and swiping at the stench filled snowflakes.

Zero was important but the Piece was of even greater importance and she had to find it. All of it. Her superiors would have to wait for her to find another host. She cursed profusely, hoping the cultivator had not spotted her or taken any interest.

Suddenly, the invisible creature roared mightily; the sound was louder than before. Daiyu turned slightly but did not stop pushing through the decay mud.

What she saw shocked her.

He...he should be dead by now, she thought in slight disbelief.

But no. Zero was still very much alive, although extremely pale so his skin appeared blue. His hood had fallen back to his neck, exposing his emanciated face. The creature was not only sucking his life force, but also the flesh and liquids he was made of.

He did not know what it wanted or why it had targeted him, but it suddenly did not seem to like eating from him.

In a very similar manner to the Brown river, the monster retracted from him. The invisibility technique started to wane, making it so that the creature and the master on top of it, faded in and out of existence.

Zero stumbled away from the thing behind him as he tried to run. His strength failed and the sludge drew him back, making him fall to the mushy earth.

The monster roared and black fumes emitted from its glitching body.

Zero lay on the ground, finding it hard to even breath. His body had severely dried up; even the water that kept his eyes moist was gone. Every blink felt like sand against an open wound.

He shut his eyes in pain.

The creature wailed again, the cry surpassing even the noise of the storm.

It stomped against the sludge, sending melted bones and flesh flying. The earth shook, the storm whistled.

Daiyu watched this scene with caution. Heaven's Peak dead field was extremely fragile. In the centuries before the war, this was actually a valley, and not a plain stretch of land.

What they all stood on at the moment, was thousands and thousands of decayed battle heros and enemies. If this creature continued its uncontrolled movements, what awaited them was equivalent to the fall from a small mountain.

Her eyes fell on the boy in the mush. Was he still alive? Could she possibly get him before the yin cultivatior could get their beast under control?

Her fists clenched. There was no time to speak. In an instant she allowed her core to vibrate, letting her sea of Qi flow over her entire being. The dark mana in her dantian was activated and she assumed her shadow form, moving through the quaking mud with speed.

The monster roared fervently. It was a ten foot tall abomination. Shaped in the form of a leech but with mouth parts that had been modified so it was the length of five spears and only an arm thick.

The leech had several segements. Each of these rings could hold ten people if they stood side by side.

It was truly enormous, this creature.

The cultivator in control of this thing was somewhere on these segements, although it was impossible to see from the ground. Daiyu did not care to see. This was a dangerous person. No one corpsified others for no reason. There were only a few reasons for this type of attack. Whether they were creating illegal weapons and talismans that needed pure yang essence or they aimed to use the converted corpse as an undead.

Undeads were mindless beings made entirely of yin. They were impossible to kill in large numbers and were attracted to the yang in normal humans that they lacked. However, sucking the yang essence out of a victim, did not convert them back. Corpsification was irreversible. Feasting on yang would only convert more people to undead.

An endless disaster. The exact reason corpsification was outlawed.

Daiyu took the boy into her arms. He had passed out.

The shadow form was meant to blur her movements and increase her speed.

But with every breath she took in this form, her risk of mutation increased. The boy was extremely light, owing to the process of being eaten from the inside.

She dashed through the sludge, feeling the vibrations of the stomping shadowbeast beneath her feet. The mountain range was at least three miles away.

If this place collapsed...

Her speed increased, and she inhaled dark mana, fueling her spirit core and breaking her limits.

This boy had proven extraordinary. No one could survive a Sucker's attack unless they were in the higher realms of the golden core stage.

He was just a mortal. A boy. A Mutated.

Was this not the perfect host? If she lost such a valuable candidate, of what use was their cause?

She fueled herself even more, feeling her energy level rising. Her ears burned from the strain.

Behind her, the crazed monster pounded against the earth. "Shit..." She cursed. The sludge was back flowing, as though it was collapsing on itself. Moving forward was becoming harder even in the shadow state.

There was no way she was reaching the mountain pass before the inevitable destruction of the dead field.

Why couldn't the cultivator control their beast? She glanced back slightly in time to see a person in green and black robes fall off the mad beast.

Huh... colours of the Bao inn?