"Is this a Zombie Poison Gu?"
Before a scattering of white bones across the ground, Luo Chen slowly rose to his feet.
Looking at the Gu insect resting in his palm, a flicker of surprise crossed his face.
This underworld realm was practically no different from the legendary nether regions. Countless cultivators and demonic beasts had met unjust deaths here, their lingering resentment unable to find release. Over time, it had condensed into a land of extreme Yin. Consequently, hundreds and thousands of years after these creatures died, they naturally transformed into all manner of ghosts, specters, and zombies.
Along the way, Luo Chen had encountered countless white zombies and black zombies.
He had not expected to find hairy zombies here as well—creatures on par with Golden Core cultivators.
Hairy zombies underwent centuries of cultivation and sedimentation, their rotting flesh transforming into resilient hides and their bones hardening like steel. They were agile, moved at astonishing speed, possessed alarming defenses, and feared not even the true fires of cultivators. Even in the wider cultivation world, they were terrifying beings that struck fear into hearts.
Of course, before someone of Luo Chen’s caliber—a figure standing at the apex of the mortal realm—they were hardly worth a second glance, easily annihilated with a wave of his hand.
What truly surprised Luo Chen was that these zombies actually harbored Zombie Poison Gu.
Zombies and ghostly beings in the other continents never carried such things within them.
"Was this also an arrangement made by the mighty Yin-Yang Zi before his demise?"
From Kuangnan Zi, the Second Ancestor of the Golden Lions, Luo Chen had gathered some basic information regarding this realm.
He knew just how indignant and insane Yin-Yang Zi had become before his passing. The man had implanted various Gu insects into the living bodies of cultivators and demonic beasts, raising Gu with living creatures. He had even inverted the process, seeding living Gu into dead matter in an attempt to reverse the states of life and death.
Because of this, an immense variety of strange and bizarre creatures had been left behind within Netherworld Mountain.
Hairy zombies were merely the most insignificant among them.
"As long as I don't run into a Flying Yaksha, all will be well."
Luo Chen murmured under his breath as he casually stowed the Zombie Poison Gu into his storage ring.
This was good stuff. Once devoured and refined by the Hundred Poisons King Gu, it would release a massive amount of corpse poison that could temper his physical body.
As the most powerful variety among flying zombies, a Flying Yaksha was certainly capable of birthing an even more potent Zombie Poison Gu. However, dealing with such an entity was no simple matter. Luo Chen had no wish to provoke one, so he deliberately steered clear of areas radiating formidable auras.
Following the trail left behind by Heavenly Master Li's group, he altered his aura and pursued them relentlessly. Whenever unexpected situations arose, he cut through the Gordian knot, resolving them in an instant.
The distance between the two sides shrank steadily.
***
"Qi... Luo Chen is catching up."
Marquis Ziyi spoke with an unnatural stiffness in his tone.
The others started, looking somewhat incredulous.
Only Heavenly Master Li wore an expression that took it entirely for granted.
"Given his character of settling every grudge and repaying every debt, this is indeed him," Heavenly Master Li muttered. His thoughts drifted to the intelligence reports recounting the fall of the Five Elements Divine Sect, a top-tier Nascent Soul upper sect of the Eastern Desolation.
Then, he turned his gaze toward Granny Hongye.
The old woman gave a slight nod. "I have laid down five formations, large and small. They are more than enough to trap and execute him, and will not disrupt our subsequent plans."
"Execute?" Heavenly Master Li shook his head. He held little faith in that prospect, but keeping him delayed for a while would be sufficient.
Looking into the distance, a somber, eerie palace complex faintly loomed into sight.
"We are nearly at the Yin-Yang Tomb. Hongye, the rest will depend on you."
Granny Hongye’s eyes lit up, the dense wrinkles on her face almost smoothing out in delight.
"Leave the formations of the Yin-Yang Tomb to me. But if the Myriad Formations Gu is truly inside, it must be given to me as agreed!"
Heavenly Master Li nodded. "I will not claim a single harvest outside the tomb. What you reap will depend entirely on your own capabilities!"
As he spoke, he retrieved several jade boxes from his storage ring.
"Marquis Ziyi, here is the Blood Transformation Gu promised to you!"
Marquis Ziyi accepted it with visible anticipation. With this Gu, even without the orthodox cultivation method of the Yuan Demon Sect’s Blood Sea Lineage, he would still stand a chance of mastering the Blood Transformation Technique.
Heavenly Master Li's voice of reminder sounded by his ear.
"If Luo Chen forces his way in, I hope you will hinder him for a bit."
Marquis Ziyi hesitated for a moment, then, looking at the jade box in his grip, nodded heavily.
"I shall not fail your trust!"
The others received similar compensations.
This expedition into the Yin-Yang Fragmented Realm differed from an ordinary realm excursion; it was a team cobbled together by Heavenly Master Li through his personal connections. For this trip, he had prepared extensively and paid a steep price. Now, he was merely handing over their rewards in person.
Comparatively speaking, had they not required Luo Chen's immense strength to force open the gate, the Hundred Poisons King Gu would never have been handed over so early.
Once everything was ready, Heavenly Master Li and Granny Hongye entered the gloomy, ethereal palace complex together.
Only four people remained outside.
Exchanging glances, they each took up positions in different directions to stand guard.
***
"Is this Granny Hongye's handiwork?"
Standing within a mountain ravine shimmering with spiritual light, Luo Chen showed a look of sudden understanding.
The style of the formation here was utterly distinct from the dilapidated formations scattered across Netherworld Mountain. Rather than repelling external enemies, those ancient formations resembled individual prisons constructed specifically to confine the subjects of Yin-Yang Zi’s experiments. Yet with the relentless passage of time, those formations had gradually grown damaged, allowing the trapped test subjects to escape and become the ghosts and monsters now roaming the land.
In contrast, the formation beneath his feet was remarkably intact and carried an intense, lethal intent.
Facing the tens of thousands of illusory sabers, swords, and glinting weapons, Luo Chen paid them no heed. With a golden flash in his eyes, he stepped forward using Moon Steps. His figure blurred, suddenly reappearing at a specific point where he thrust two fingers forward.
"Break!"
A sudden cracking sound rang out.
The myriad blade lights and sword shadows rained down and dissipated, instantly revealing the true terrain of the gorge.
Luo Chen smiled faintly. "To lay down such a fourth-rank formation in such haste, Hongye’s formation attainments are indeed remarkable. Even so, wanting to trap me with just this is far from enough."
***
Inside the palace complex, the bustling Granny Hongye suddenly paused her movements.
Noticing this, Heavenly Master Li frowned. "What is it?"
Granny Hongye let out a turbid breath. "Nothing much. It's just that of the five formations I left behind, another has been broken—and it was the Halberd and Blade Formation, the one with the heaviest slaughter intent."
Heavenly Master Li started.
Another one broken?
"If I recall correctly, that makes it the fourth one!"
Granny Hongye nodded. "Indeed, the fourth. I never expected that Luo Chen's formation attainments would be so extraordinary, entirely on par with my own. The formations I set up in haste had far too many flaws... I underestimated him."
She truly had.
Yet who could have imagined that Luo Chen—a man of peerless body refinement, outstanding Daoist mastery, and renowned as an Alchemy Grandmaster—could also possess such terrifying mastery over formations?
Granny Hongye took a deep breath. "No matter. The fifth formation will certainly not be so easy to break. If he doesn't break it, he cannot get past; if he does break it, he will find it even harder to pass!"
Heavenly Master Li frowned. "The one you spent nearly half a day setting up earlier?"
Granny Hongye smiled smugly. "That Spirit-Trapping Formation was not originally meant for him, but if he dares barge in, he can stay there!"
With that, she paid no further attention to what lay behind them and focused entirely on probing the reactions of the formation before her.
Heavenly Master Li instinctively glanced back, his mind settling.
If Luo Chen ended up trapped inside, that would be for the best. Once they retrieved the treasures from the Yin-Yang Tomb, they could free up their hands to deal with him!
***
A boundless mire of mud stretched out, offering nowhere to set foot.
A figure darted back and forth like a swallow, yet after a long while, he returned to his original spot.
Luo Chen frowned deeply, his Crimson Eyes and Golden Pupils sweeping across the surroundings in an attempt to discern the flaws in the array.
Yet as far as the eye could see, flaws were everywhere!
"This formation truly leaves one with no place to start!"
Ordinary formations possessed one or two vital pressure points; dispelling them would disrupt the natural operation of the grand array, allowing the trapped person to break free naturally. But having too many flaws became a massive obstacle to anyone attempting to crack it.
"Is it a diversion, or done by design?"
Luo Chen hesitated.
Once he made a move, it could easily trigger a chain reaction. If he struck a spot the enemy had deliberately left as an apparent flaw that was actually an ambush point, he would be in serious trouble.
"I need to probe it, but I cannot do so in person!"
Luo Chen pondered for a moment, then shifted his thought.
A streak of black light manifested from his left arm, slowly coiling around his left shoulder.
Seeing this setup, Black King wore a look of utter misery.
Yet under Luo Chen's piercing stare, he had no choice but to act.
"Rest assured, I will step in to protect you at the critical juncture."
How could Black King possibly be reassured? Yet with things reaching this point, he had to brace himself. Gritting his teeth, he followed Luo Chen's intention and slammed directly into a patch of mire on the ground.
*Boom!*
With that impact, mud shot into the sky, and a pillar of water erupted from the earth.
Under the wash of the water column, the previously dim sky instantly brightened.
Luo Chen was stunned. "The formation broke just like that?"
Black King rolled through the mire gloomily. "Master, you just overthink things. Wouldn't it have been fine to just smash it directly?"
Luo Chen did not know whether to laugh or cry.
He had not expected that the formation Granny Hongye left behind was a 'suspicion array' specifically designed for clever people. In such formations, the more one thought, the more one's hands and feet were bound. To forcefully break it like Black King...
"Wait, that's not right!"
As if realizing something, Luo Chen's expression shifted drastically. He struck out abruptly, reaching for Black King.
Black King remained completely oblivious. But in the next instant, dense swathes of black mist abruptly erupted from the mud pit beneath him. The mist coalesced into ghostly hands that grabbed toward Black King.
"Mother of mercy!"
Black King let out an odd shriek, twisting his body in a frantic bid to dodge, yet he was still ensnared by the ghostly hands.
Right at that moment, Luo Chen's Cloud-Seeking Divine Claw tore through the mist and arrived.
It grabbed Black King and wrenched backward.
"Out!"
With the infusion of titanic strength, Black King gave a cry of pain as he was forcefully yanked free.
In the mire, the massive gathering of mist, having lost its target, seemed to turn frantic with rage.
*Inhale...*
A colossal sound of breathing echoed as the sky-covering black mist abruptly contracted. Deep within the mire, a creature slowly opened its eyes.
The moment they opened, a pair of wings unfurled behind its back and carried it into the air. A pair of cold, heartless black pupils locked firmly onto the man opposite.
"Hiss, it's a zombie!" Black King cried out, still hissing in pain from the claw marks across his body.
Watching the monster hovering before him, its spread wings casting a shadow that nearly blanketed the ground, Luo Chen's mood turned somber.
This was no ordinary zombie.
Wings on its back, surrounded by ghostly mist, with karmic fire flaring about its form.
This was the most formidable existence among flying zombies—a Flying Yaksha!
In terms of cultivation realm, it was equivalent to a late Nascent Soul Great Cultivator of the human race. Furthermore, its physical body possessed extreme defense against spiritual energy, rendering it practically impervious to all myriad arts!
Sure enough, Granny Hongye’s contingency was not so simple.
Not only had she laid a suspicion array to waste his time and energy, but she had also secretly nested a Spirit-Awakening Formation within it. Breaking the suspicion array was guaranteed to awaken the Flying Yaksha slumbering deep underground. Once such a supreme monstrosity emerged, upon whom its wrath and malice would fall was self-evident.
"Hu... man..." The Flying Yaksha stared at Luo Chen, squeezing out two guttural syllables from its mouth.
Luo Chen, whose expression had been dark, suddenly smiled.
"Hongye, if you thought you could trap me with just a Flying Yaksha, you were thinking far too simply."
Without Luo Chen making any visible movement, his robes began to billow without wind. A wisp of golden light slowly surfaced behind his back.
*Screech!*
A resounding cry instantly shattered the air.
A fire phoenix rose into the sky.
This was no mere spell; it was the true manifestation of the Nirvana Holy Fire!
The moment this flame appeared, the malice-filled face of the Flying Yaksha clearly showed terror and recoil. Saying nothing and doing nothing, it plummeted toward the earth without hesitation, vanishing into the boundless expanse of Netherworld Mountain.
Soaring through the skies and burrowing through the earth, impervious to all arts—it truly was an exceptional Flying Yaksha among flying zombies!
Seeing it flee, Luo Chen could not help but let out a breath of relief.
He reeled back the Nirvana Holy Fire.
Black King found it somewhat regrettable. "That fellow wanted to eat me just now, Master. Aren't you going to teach it a lesson?"
Luo Chen shot him a glance, and Black King shrank his head back instinctively.
Luo Chen waved his hand dismissively. "That creature poses little threat to me, but thoroughly destroying it would take considerable effort. Right now, I have no patience to entangle myself with it."
The might of a Flying Yaksha lay in its immunity to spells and a physical frame capable of withstanding magic treasures. If an ordinary Great Cultivator encountered one, it would indeed be exceptionally troublesome, leaving them with practically no openings to exploit. But for Luo Chen, who already possessed supreme physical refinement, it would simply be a prolonged bout of hand-to-hand combat.
Yet that would waste far too much time.
In that case, why not use the Nirvana Holy Fire that countered ghostly mist to intimidate and scare it off, resolving the matter cleanly?
*Above the ancient lands of Mingyuan, the Holy Fire suppressed the sea so that myriad ghosts could not emerge, showing that the Nirvana Holy Fire carries restraining effects against such things. Testing it just now proved it to be true indeed.*
With his thoughts settling, Luo Chen cast a profound, searching gaze into the distance.
"Heavenly Master Li, just how many more methods do you have left to stop me?"
***
On the perimeter of the Yin-Yang Tomb.
Two figures stood together, conversing in low voices. After a moment, they flew nearby.
Bai Xuanjun sat cross-legged upon a bluestone. Seeing Marquis Ziyi and the Master of Hidden Sword Tower approach, his eyelids lifted slightly.
Marquis Ziyi had no desire to deal with this man; people of the White Bone Cult tended to have extreme temperaments, best left unprovoked if possible. He merely walked toward Meng Shentong.
Yet before he could draw near, a bone spike abruptly erupted from the ground.
"What is the meaning of this?" Marquis Ziyi frowned. "I have matters to discuss with Fellow Daoist Meng. It has nothing to do with you!"
Bai Xuanjun said coldly, "Fellow Daoist Meng is currently recovering his magic power. He must not be disturbed."
Marquis Ziyi was taken aback. "On the way here, Meng Shentong hardly exerted any effort at all. What magic power does he need to recover?"
Beside him, the Master of Hidden Sword Tower flicked his sleeve, sending a wisp of sword qi shooting forth.
*Pfft!*
The seated, resting Meng Shentong burst like a soap bubble.
Seeing this, Marquis Ziyi's expression changed slightly.
"Where did Meng Shentong go?"
Under his interrogation, Bai Xuanjun slowly rose to his feet. A bone sword snapped into manifestation within his hand.
Marquis Ziyi braced as if facing a great enemy, purple light trembling across his entire body. "What are you trying to do?"
Bai Xuanjun ignored him, merely raising his head to look in the direction from which they had come.
"Rather than being curious about Meng Shentong's whereabouts, the two of you would do better to consider how to face the one from the Eastern Desolation!"
Wind and clouds gathered; ghostly qi dispersed.
A black-robed figure abruptly appeared, standing tall in the high heavens, looking down impassively upon the three below.
"Are you going to stop me?"
Chapter 962