“Attack!”
This time Yan Hongxia was serious. She opened her mouth and spat out her sword pellet. In the blink of an eye it unleashed boundless sword qi, a sky-full of deadly streaks stabbing straight at the zombie.
A zombie that needed to kill a hundred thousand people to reach the Dao? If they didn’t kill it now, were they supposed to keep it for New Year?
The zombie roared, corpse qi surging all over its body to block the assault, while it charged at full speed towards the freshly blasted hole in the ground.
But…
Just as it reached the edge and was about to dive back in, a huge white-cloud palm shot out from the hole. It grew from small to enormous and slapped the zombie square in the chest.
“Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle…”
Evil-breaking cloud qi clashed with corpse qi, producing a piercing screech.
The zombie flipped and steadied itself. Only then did everyone see that neither the sword qi nor the cloud palm had actually wounded it.
Truly profound corpse qi and deep cultivation.
With a furious roar, the zombie bared its fangs. “This old man was merely showing mercy to you juniors. Do not push your luck!”
Boom!
A long spear swept sideways, carrying the might of a true dragon and infinite power. Even with its protective corpse qi and iron-hard bones, the zombie was sent flying like a cannonball, smashing straight into the nearby cliff.
“Old zombie, enough talk! Either kneel and beg for mercy before you die, or resist to the end and die. Choose one!”
Ao Qi flicked her spear. Dark clouds gathered for dozens of li around, and with howling winds, torrential rain poured down.
Ao Qi raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly. “Plenty of water in the area today. Lucky me.”
Zombie: “…”
“Do you even know who I am, to treat me like this?” the zombie growled.
“No need to know,” Yan Hongxia said, hands clasped behind her back in the manner of a grandmaster. “Anyone who refines themselves into a zombie has to sleep for hundreds, maybe thousands of years. By the time you wake up, forget family, even dynasties are gone. Whatever backing you had back then is nothing but dust now.”
Zombie: “…”
“Bullshit! This old man is the Earl of Yuhe, personally ennobled by the Emperor! His imperial majesty’s awe suppresses the four corners of the world! You dare curse the court? Do you not know how the word ‘death’ is written?”
Lu Zheng blinked and asked tentatively, “You wouldn’t be talking about His Majesty Yongwu of the Great Yong Dynasty, the one who pacified the realm with martial might, would you?”
“Precisely!”
“He’s been dead eight hundred years. The Great Yong fell six hundred years ago.”
Zombie: ╭(°A°`)╮
Yan Hongxia shrugged. “See? Told you. You still didn’t believe me. Trust our expertise. We’ve seen plenty of zombies like you, brains still stuck centuries in the past, trying to scare people with long-gone powers. Hilarious.”
The old zombie’s stiff lips twitched. “And those other zombies?”
Yan Hongxia’s lips curved. Her chest sword pellet blazed with brilliant light. “Naturally, we sent them all to reunite with their masters and families.”
The next instant, boundless sword qi exploded forth.
Facing Yan Hongxia’s onslaught, the old zombie’s eyes bulged with rage. “I’ll kill you all!”
Corpse qi rolled like storm clouds, enveloping it completely. Then, shrugging off the sword qi, it turned into a black meteor and fled towards the deep mountains like a thunderbolt.
Yan Hongxia: ???
“Qingwei Jade Morning, Taiyi Five Thunders, strike!”
BOOM!
A massive thunderbolt crashed down from the heavens, striking the black meteor dead centre.
A single bolt dispersed nearly a tenth of its corpse qi.
“Aaaargh! Thunder arts!”
The old zombie cried out in shock and fled even faster.
“Such dense corpse qi indeed!” Lu Zheng nodded, hands forming seals non-stop, sending another Taiyi Five Thunder curse crashing down.
“Brother Lu, hold on. This zombie isn’t weak. Let us have some fun too.”
From afar, Ao Qi’s clear shout rang out. She flew in with spear raised, water surging around the weapon like a divine dragon bursting from the sea. She rammed straight into the zombie’s chest just as it recovered from the thunderstrike.
BAM!
Draconic might roared. The spear was razor-sharp. It finally pierced the corpse qi weakened by the thunder, opening a gaping hole in the zombie’s chest. Countless strands of dragon power poured in, clashing fiercely with the corpse qi inside.
“Rooaaar!!!”
The old zombie howled in pain, its ferocity fully aroused. It swiped back, claws aiming straight for Ao Qi’s chest.
Ao Qi blocked with the spear shaft, then lifted a leg beneath her battle skirt and kicked the zombie flying. “That’s more like it! One-on-one, you can at least put up a fight. Why run?”
“One-on-one?”
“Exactly! One-on-one! When I attack, the others won’t interfere!”
As Yan Hongxia’s voice sounded, a mere three-foot sword beam descended from the sky, arriving above the zombie’s head in an instant.
This is bullshit one-on-one!
The beam looked unremarkable, yet it felt far more threatening than all Yan Hongxia’s previous sword qi combined.
The old zombie twisted desperately. Layer after layer of solid corpse qi rose to protect it, but the sword light cut through every defence. Only at the final moment did it manage to deflect the strike, letting it graze past its shoulder.
It happened in a flash. When the zombie looked again, its nearly indestructible body had almost lost an entire arm.
“This is ganging up! This isn’t even wheel combat! This isn’t one-on-one!”
“No, right now it is one-on-one. Look, it’s just you and me.”
After Yan Hongxia’s strike, she was retracting her sword pellet. In that moment, Lu Zheng appeared behind the zombie.
The zombie whipped around at her words.
It was this hateful human! The one who knew earth-travelling arts, who had found its palace and woken it before its time, before it had reached full power!
“Die!”
The zombie stomped, launching itself at Lu Zheng like a meteor. Corpse qi still forcibly expelling sword qi from its left shoulder wound, its right hand formed a blade of five fingers and clawed for Lu Zheng’s throat at blinding speed.
A mere mage dares to stand this close? Courting death?
But before its claws could reach Lu Zheng’s throat, Lu Zheng’s hand was already on its wrist.
Twist, fold, wrench.
With terrifying strength, Lu Zheng snapped the old zombie’s elbow outright.
Zombie: ???
Martial arts! Dual cultivation of Dao and martial arts!
BAM!
Lu Zheng drove a knee into the zombie’s lower back, sending it flying straight towards Ao Qi.
“Here it comes!”
Ao Qi laughed brightly. Her spear shot forward like a dragon, aiming straight between the zombie’s legs.
Though it was already a zombie, its mind was intact and old human instincts remained. It instinctively moved to protect its groin.
BAM!
Ao Qi’s lips curved. The spear tip lifted slightly. Dragon power shattered the corpse qi, and the spear struck exactly the same chest wound as before.
Another layer of injury!
Only then did the zombie realise that the vital spot it had protected was no longer vital at all.
Its heart broke even more…
“You’ll all pay for… argh!!!”
The three-foot sword beam arrived right on cue, cleanly severing its left shoulder.
Yan Hongxia hovered in mid-air, curiosity in her voice. “Pay for what? What are we waiting for?”
