To save this world, its people of extraordinary talent and ability had tried every possible means.
For example, they had formed corpse-burning squads. Wherever a body was found, it was cremated on the spot. From the cities to the wilderness, members of these squads were everywhere, leaving no corner untouched.
Human corpses, animal carcasses—all were reduced to ash.
Yet the ocean soon dealt the world's humans an unpleasant surprise. To their despair, they discovered that although burning bodies slightly slowed the accumulation of corpse qi, zombie fish in the sea multiplied at an astonishing rate. Incineration was clearly useless in the open ocean.
In addition, a large group of alchemists joined forces to develop a corpse qi converter, intending to transform corpse qi into a harmless energy source. After hundreds of years of research, they did succeed, but compared to the rate at which corpse qi multiplied, the conversion efficiency was a mere drop in the bucket.
Even more fatal was that this conversion consumed enormous amounts of mithril, making it completely unsustainable.
Someone had also thought of consuming a Forbidden Fruit to become a race capable of devouring corpse qi, only to end up turning into a zombie.
Another tried consuming a Forbidden Fruit to become a non-zombie race that could devour corpse qi. He succeeded, only to turn into a ghoul—a monster even more brain-dead than a zombie.
To save the world, everyone dashed around like headless flies, willing to try anything and everything.
Yet without exception, after sacrificing immense human and material resources, every single attempt ended in failure.
***
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou did not linger before the strange tree for long.
Once they figured out its origin, the two pressed on, aimlessly exploring this unknown world.
The tree was called a Despair Tree. It, too, was a product devised by the humans of this world in an effort to save it. Capable of growing by absorbing corpse qi, it had initially carried great hopes that it could improve the steadily worsening environment.
In the end, true to its name, the Despair Tree brought humanity only a more desperate future.
When its seeds hit the ground, they erupted with vast amounts of corpse qi, drawing in even more zombies. As the zombies instinctively absorbed the corpse qi, the seeds took advantage of the flow to enter their bodies, eventually taking root and sprouting within them, feeding on their internal corpse qi.
When a zombie was drained dry and collapsed, the seeds burst from its body, rooted into the ground on the spot, and sprouted rope-like green vines to ensnare any zombies that approached.
Although it could kill zombies, the tree itself had become an integral link in the proliferation of corpse qi, only accelerating the world's destruction.
It was worth noting that there were likely many Despair Trees in this world. Otherwise, if all plant life had died out, oxygen would have grown increasingly thin, and Yu Xian and Zhang Shou would have felt it.
Sure enough, two hours later, they came upon a forest of Despair Trees.
The Despair Tree was easy to recognize, always hung with all kinds of corpses. They were varied and diverse, both human and animal, and without exception, every one of them had turned into a zombie.
"Yu Xian, if our world turns into something like this in the future, what should we do?" Zhang Shou asked, his expression grave.
His gaze fell upon the corpses hanging from the Despair Trees. Among the many suspended zombies along the forest's outer edge, several young ones were particularly striking—some looked only three or four years old, and one even looked no older than one, not even out of diapers.
"I don't know," Yu Xian said, shaking his head.
Along the way, he had actually been pondering how one might save such a world.
Yet he was well aware of an undeniable fact: no matter how powerful his Super Brain was, it could never match the collective wisdom of an entire world's population.
The humans of this world had tried almost every method imaginable, but the outcome was simply too hopeless.
*Boom!*
Just then, a tremendous sound echoed from the distance.
Yu Xian and Zhang Shou immediately turned toward the noise. In the distance, sword light flared, instantly reducing a massive swarm of zombies to ash.
"Someone's there?!" Zhang Shou said in excitement.
Yu Xian grabbed Zhang Shou by the back of his collar, leaped effortlessly onto the back of the dragon-shaped perfect creature, and ordered it to advance at full speed.
With a low roar, the dragon-shaped perfect creature surged forward, crushing any zombies that dared stand in its path.
A moment later, sitting atop the dragon's head, they spotted a stretch of ruins. From the crumbling walls and remnants around them, they could vaguely tell that this had once been a city, though even its general outline had now blurred beyond recognition.
In front of the ruins stood a zombie clad in tattered armor, clutching a blood-red greatsword. It remained completely motionless, showing no reaction whatsoever to Yu Xian and Zhang Shou's approach.
Although the zombie did not look particularly burly, it exuded an indescribable presence—as if standing before thousands of advancing armies, while behind it lay the hearths and homes of countless families.
A single sword, standing like an unyielding gate.
It was breathtaking.
Yu Xian took a deep breath and immediately cast Appraisal on the zombie, while mentally preparing to teleport away at any moment.
A moment later, he saw the zombie's attributes:
——————
Name: Yan Lingban
Codename: Martyr for the Country
Race: Martial Ultimate Zombie King
Gender: Male
Age: 627,811
Lifespan: 0
Rank: Sub-God
Alignment: Lawful Neutral
Abilities:
[Five Extremes Undying Body: Gathers the power of the world's five extremes, forging a five-extreme cycle that forms an undying body.]
[Imperishable Corpse King: Substantially increases defense, granting immunity to 80% of damage from opponents of the same rank; for each rank lower the attacker is, immunity increases by 10%.]
[Indestructible Zombie Body: Nourishes the body with corpse qi, vastly increasing defense. Can rapidly mend wounds using corpse qi after sustaining injury.]
[Yin-Yang Flow: Corpse qi shifts between yin and yang. Both moonlight and sunlight can be continually converted into corpse qi, granting immunity to most yang-attribute damage. When corpse qi shifts from yang to yin, it carries an inherent boundless cold poison that freezes the soul, near impossible to guard against.]
[Boundless Yin-Yang: Any elemental damage is converted into its opposing element and reflected back at the attacker.]
[Scorched Earth of a Thousand Li: Unleashes all internal corpse qi, igniting all surrounding matter.]
[Summary: Giving one's life for the country—the mark of a true hero.]
——————
Powerful!
Yu Xian felt this zombie was even stronger than the Xingtian zombie king.
Gulping, he hurriedly ordered the dragon-shaped perfect creature to back away.
Yet the Martial Ultimate Zombie King clearly had no interest in him or Zhang Shou. It remained standing in place, holding its sword with both hands, its eyes locked straight ahead as though guarding the ruins behind it.
Thinking of the words "giving one's life for the country—the mark of a true hero," Yu Xian had a vague idea of the Martial Ultimate Zombie King's story. Taking a deep breath, he refrained from disturbing this admirable powerhouse any further and steered the perfect creature to take a detour.
Many strong figures in this world had fled, but not everyone did. When calamity struck, there were always those who stepped forward, using their own backs to hold up the sky for the people behind them.
Even in death, they stood straight and tall, fighting honorably to the very end.
Chapter 119