Invincible Defense

The Spatial Labyrinth Art was essentially an advanced version of the Spatial Folding Art. The difference between them lay merely in the number of folded spaces and the fact that the Spatial Labyrinth Art did not fold space haphazardly, but according to specific patterns. Overlapping top and bottom, left and right, north and south, east and west. The entirety of space seemed to turn into countless threads, each needing to be linked to others, which required Yu Xian to constantly expend Blood Energy as the adhesive binding thread to thread. Yu Xian had practiced the Spatial Labyrinth Art before, but only on a small scale. This was his first time deploying it over such a vast area. He was somewhat clumsy at first, but after linking several sections successfully, he hit his stride, even finding enough spare focus to cast Appraisal on the Xingtian zombie king below. In an instant, the Xingtian zombie king's attributes appeared before his eyes: —————— Name: Zhou Shaoyang Codename: Young Master Zhou Race: Xingtian Zombie King Gender: Male Age: 23 Lifespan: 0 Rank: Dragon-High Faction: Huaxia Dragon Dynasty - Special Tactics Department - Xingtian Squad - No. 7623 Abilities: [Xingtian Physique: After death, physical defense increases by 1,000%, and strength increases by 1,000%.] [Undying Zombie King: Drastically increases defense; immune to 80% of damage dealt by the same rank, with damage immunity increasing by an additional 10% for every rank lower.] [Indestructible Zombie Body: Nourishes the body with corpse qi, drastically increasing defense; after injury, corpse qi can be used to rapidly repair wounds.] [Yin Turning to Yang: Corpse qi shifts from yin to yang, allowing moonlight and sunlight to be continuously converted into corpse qi. Grants immunity to most yang-attribute damage, and corpse qi innately carries scorching heat.] [Drought Ganqi: Can fuse with any axe-type weapon, elevating its hardness to 200% of the body's own, imbued with high heat and lethal poison attributes.] [A Thousand Li of Scorched Earth: Detonates all corpse qi within the body, igniting all surrounding matter.] [Summary: Zhou Shaoyang, No. 7623, attention!] —————— Having read through the Xingtian zombie king's attributes, Yu Xian finally understood why Gao Wei and Xu Ao had been defeated so quickly. Xu Ao and Gao Wei were both Dragon-Low rank. Even though they could unleash attacks on par with the Dragon-High rank, even an all-out strike from them would be reduced to a mere twenty percent of its damage upon hitting the Xingtian zombie king. And that remaining twenty percent would be whittled down over and over again by its layered defenses. It was a wonder they had managed to graze its skin at all. Below, the battle between Yu Lie's group and the Xingtian zombie king had already erupted. Wielding his Dragon-rank weapon, the three-pointed double-edged blade, Yu Lie clashed against the zombie king's axe before drifting lightly backward. When the Xingtian zombie king moved to pursue, the vertical eye on Yu Lie's forehead snapped open, knocking the monster back with a burst of golden light. "What tremendous strength. And... whatever you do, do not meet its weapon head-on," Yu Lie said grimly as he landed. A notch had actually appeared on his three-pointed double-edged blade during that brief collision. The zombie king's axe was simply too hard and too sharp. "Good thing I don't use weapons." One of Xiao Cheng's eyes turned golden, while the white of the other turned pitch-black and its pupil inverted to pure white. The moment he finished speaking, a mass of gray energy condensed in his hand, which he bowled toward the Xingtian zombie king like a bowling ball. Everything unfolded in mere seconds. Just as the Xingtian zombie king was repelled by the golden beam from Yu Lie's celestial eye, Xiao Cheng's attack came right at its face. It immediately swung its battle-axe to cleave through the gray energy. In an instant, the gray energy burst open, forming a domain roughly ten meters in diameter. This domain was named the 'Days-Pass-Like-Years Domain.' Once trapped within, an action that could normally be completed in a single second would be stretched out to require an entire hour. Although the domain could only last for twenty-four seconds, that was equivalent to immobilizing the opponent for twenty-four full seconds. Time-based crowd-control abilities were almost always rule-breaking anomalies. Even an enemy of a higher rank than Xiao Cheng could not simply shrug off such an assault. Frozen inside the domain, the Xingtian zombie king's movements slowed to an absolute crawl. Everyone present knew this was their golden opportunity to unleash everything they had. Even Yu Xian, casting his Spatial Labyrinth Art high in the air, could not resist joining in. The first to strike, however, was Hua Qiang. Despite serving as the Director of the Combat Division, Hua Qiang was unexpectedly an archer. Holding an exaggeratedly large crystal longbow that could only be fired horizontally, he drew the string, took aim, and silently recited an incantation: A three-foot shaft, a six-jun bow, A single shot pierces the cloud-kissed pine! The longbow bent like a crescent moon, and the sharp arrow flew swift as the wind. Boom! A sonic boom ripped through the air in a split second. A crystal arrow shot forward like lightning, shattering the earth in its wake and kicking up a storm of dust and rock. Yet the moment the arrow crossed into the Days-Pass-Like-Years Domain, it froze in place less than half a meter from the zombie king's forehead, its momentum brought to a temporary standstill. "Comet Strike!" Following Hua Qiang's attack was Xu Hebai. Cloaked in starlight, he zipped across the sky before hurling the spear in his hand toward the Xingtian zombie king with all his might. Countless stars swirled around the spear as it plummeted. Although Xu Hebai was not frontline combat personnel, his offensive power was by no means lacking. After entering the Days-Pass-Like-Years Domain, the spear continued creeping toward the zombie king at a visibly slow pace, the stars orbiting its shaft spinning without losing any velocity. Then the others unleashed their attacks one after another, and Yu Xian seized the opening to launch a chaotic spatial bubble at the monster. Finally, the celestial eye between Yu Lie's brows snapped open once more. Forming hand seals, he barked, "Xingeng Platinum Divine Light!" Boom! A far thicker beam of white light erupted from his celestial eye, steadily bombarding the Xingtian zombie king caught within the Days-Pass-Like-Years Domain. The others did not idle either. Twenty-four seconds was a very long time for combatants of their caliber—more than enough to attack dozens of times over. The moment the twenty-four seconds were up, the Days-Pass-Like-Years Domain dissipated. The Xingtian zombie king immediately took Hua Qiang's arrow full in the face, pitching backward, only to be struck from behind by the hurtling spear. At the same time, the barrage of attacks struck it in unison. Yu Lie's blast in particular triggered a terrifying detonation, sending a massive pillar of light surging toward the heavens. "Roar—!" A flash of crimson light cut through the pillar of radiance. The Xingtian zombie king actually cleaved through the converging attacks with its axe, bursting out from the heart of the explosion and instantly locking onto Yu Xian. Most of the wounds on its body were minor grazes; the only noticeable injury was a concave, twisted crater at its shoulder. The strike that had dealt it the most damage had unexpectedly been Yu Xian's chaotic spatial bubble. Spatial and temporal attacks were notoriously unreasonable. Spatial damage was essentially fixed-value damage; the stronger the space an attack was grounded in, the more devastating it was. Without a doubt, the Xingtian zombie king was not yet powerful enough to stand against the fabric of the world itself. Boom! It kicked off the ground and rocketed straight into the air. Yet just as its axe was about to strike Yu Xian, its body passed straight through empty space. The axe smashed into the ground below, ripping a colossal fissure across the earth. "Holy crap, that scared the life out of me!" Only then did Yu Xian belatedly realize the zombie king had targeted him first. The monster was simply too fast—so fast that his nervous system could not keep up, leaving his perception lagging behind by at least a full second. Fortunately, in casting the Spatial Labyrinth Art, the very first thing he had done was fold the space right in front of him and connect it to a coordinate on the ground. When the Xingtian zombie king charged in a straight line toward him, it was instantly deposited on the other end of the folded space. Even so, the situation took a sharp turn for the worse. Failing to land its strike, the Xingtian zombie king immediately switched targets and lunged toward Xiao Cheng. Seeing Xiao Cheng launch a sphere of gray energy, it dodged sideways in a flash. Compared to when it had been suppressed under focused fire, its agility had skyrocketed, as if the barrage had merely jolted it awake. "Too fast, I can't lock on!" Watching the Xingtian zombie king close in, Xiao Cheng gritted his teeth and hurled a gray energy sphere directly into the earth, immediately expanding the Days-Pass-Like-Years Domain beneath his feet. If the zombie king dared to charge inside to strike him, it too would be frozen in place. In that split second, Xiao Cheng had already prepared himself to suffer grave injury or even death to buy an opening for the others. Yet the Xingtian zombie king clearly recognized the danger of the Days-Pass-Like-Years Domain. It braked violently, spun, and kicked off the air, instantly hurtling skyward—right where Xu Hebai's flight path crossed its trajectory. *Damn it!* Xu Hebai's expression shifted drastically. Clenching his teeth, he thrust with his spear, but the weapon was cleaved cleanly in two by the zombie king's axe. As they crossed paths, the Xingtian zombie king opened its maw, baring fangs nearly eight centimeters long, and lunged toward Xu Hebai's neck for a vicious bite. Just as its fangs were about to pierce Xu Hebai's throat, however, the zombie king's movements hitched once more. Yu Lie's support arrived just in the nick of time, a burst of golden light sending the monster flying backward. Boom! The Xingtian zombie king crashed into the ground, gouging out an enormous crater, yet its body remained virtually unscathed. Everyone present found themselves completely stymied by this monster whose offense and defense were both off the charts. Up in the sky, however, a look of perplexity crossed Yu Xian's face. After their tactical meeting last night, he had attached a communication bubble to everyone's ear. Just now, when the Xingtian zombie king crossed paths with Xu Hebai, Yu Xian had begun expanding the bubble on Xu Hebai's ear, intending to teleport him away. His movements had simply been far too slow compared to the zombie king's. Yet because of that, he was the only one who had caught the momentary hitch in the monster's actions. *Could it be that the Xingtian zombie king still retains some of its consciousness as a Xingtian warrior?* Struck by the thought, Yu Xian watched the monster clash repeatedly with the group below, gritted his teeth, and drew in a breath from the outside air. Foul! Utterly, overwhelmingly foul. Yet right after, everything about the Xingtian zombie king began peeling away before his senses like the layers of an onion...