Yu Xian knew that many satellites in the sky were watching him.
However, he didn't care. On Earth, he had long grown accustomed to being gawked at.
At the moment, the true "Hope of the Village" and national-treasure-level hero was scrolling through short videos, watching a bald streamer practice Iron Head Skill. A day ago, he had still needed to guard Zhang Gangxing against any unexpected mishaps, but today that was no longer necessary.
For Zhang Gangxing had already broken through to Star Rank. Furthermore, his breakthrough was a natural one rather than one achieved through a Star Divine Artifact. Under Yu Xian's guidance, the reinforcement opportunity granted by his breakthrough to Star Rank was directed into his skin.
Zombies were renowned for their formidable defenses to begin with. Even the lowest tier possessed copper skin and iron bones, while higher tiers were virtually invulnerable.
In life, Zhang Gangxing had cultivated the Tiangang Colossal Strength Divine Art, which was itself an art that bolstered defense. With all three stacked together, Yu Xian was certain that Zhang Gangxing's current defense was absolute top-tier among Star Rank beings.
Consequently, Yu Xian no longer needed to stand guard for him; Zhang Gangxing could handle the rest on his own.
"The edit is done. Take a look," Zhang Buyao said expectantly, sending the video over to Yu Xian.
Yu Xian closed the livestream he was watching and tapped open the video Zhang Buyao had sent. At first glance, the visuals were gorgeous: Zhang Buyao stood by the seaside with a cool, detached expression, gazing into the distance.
Never mind the camera work, or her overly stiff expression.
Her looks alone were probably enough to make anyone overlook her acting skills—she was simply stunning.
Next, the scene shifted. The Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon appeared on screen, rampaging wildly across its surroundings. Zhang Buyao had even inserted numerous shots of the dragon triggering tsunamis and earthquakes.
Just as countless people were plunging into despair, Zhang Buyao flew down from the sky like an immortal fairy descending from the celestial realm to the mortal world.
Yu Xian had to admit the shot looked extraordinary—captivating enough that most people would stare at Zhang Buyao's face and forget what on earth they were actually watching.
Then the narrative entered the battle phase, and the two clashed.
Zhang Buyao danced through the air, trading blows with the tentacles of the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon. The fight sequences were magnificent, especially several collisions that carried immense weight and impact. It was stylish and undeniably thrilling to watch.
"Not bad."
"It's beautifully shot, but... where are my scenes?"
Yu Xian asked Zhang Buyao after finishing the video. After all, he had fought the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon as well.
"This film is titled *Fairy Buyao Battles the Evil Corpse Vein Dragon*," Zhang Buyao replied, looking at him warily. "You're already a national-treasure-level hero. What if putting you in steals the spotlight?"
Yu Xian retorted, "Steals the spotlight? I was being generous and letting you ride on my clout! You don't know a good deed when you see one."
"Blehh, I don't want to share a screen with you anyway! What if Nora gets the wrong idea?" Zhang Buyao stuck her tongue out at him with feigned disgust.
Yu Xian shrugged, not bothering to argue further.
***
In the dead world.
Zuo Zhengzong had not fled very far. Chiefly, the land was completely unfamiliar to him, and he had no idea where might actually be safe.
By now, he had been hiding in the crevices between several boulders for a day and a night. He was staring at the distant mountain piled high with zombies. After turning into a zombie, he too could sense the disparity in quality between different corpse qi.
Evidently, the corpse qi pouring from the spatial rift up in the sky was of far higher quality, exerting an even greater pull on zombies.
Yet he was not one of those brainless zombies after all. In particular, when the woman slaughtering zombies by the rift vanished, only to be replaced by a sphere, he had completely abandoned all thoughts of sneaking across.
The Heavenly Megastar exerted global suppression against zombies; not a single zombie that tried to sneak across could escape its gravitational pull.
"The Transcendents are too strong, and the corpse qi here is too thin."
"Damn it! Becoming a Transcendent was hard enough, and now that I finally managed it, getting stronger is just as hard!"
Watching numerous zombies stronger than himself get treated like weeds—either frozen into ice sculptures or falling into lava and reduced to ash—Zuo Zhengzong could not help but feel a twinge of sorrow, lamenting the shared fate of their kind.
Although turning into a zombie promised boundless prospects, the future was still the future; right now, he felt utterly insecure.
While Zuo Zhengzong agonized over how to grow stronger, the distant mountain of zombies suddenly collapsed. Swarms of zombies tumbled down; some rolled through the spatial rift toward West Gemini Mountain, while vast numbers came cascading down the other side as well.
A zombie was struck by an elephant zombie, twisting its body into the shape of a fried dough twist. It tumbled rapidly right in front of Zuo Zhengzong, twitching incessantly. But with shattered bones throughout its frame, it clearly could not get back up.
Looking at the zombie before him, Zuo Zhengzong subconsciously swallowed nonexistent saliva as a lightning bolt flashed through his mind.
He couldn't beat the Transcendents; humans were protected by Transcendents; corpse qi was thin and contested by countless zombies. How was he supposed to get stronger?
Normally, zombies never attacked one another. But he was no pure zombie—he was a zombie with a brain.
"Heh heh. To rise above other men, you have to eat men. To become the King of Zombies, then... you have to eat zombies! As long as I can grow stronger, why the hell not!"
Zuo Zhengzong gave a raspy sneer. The next instant, he opened his mouth, baring his fangs.
With its bones completely broken, the zombie had no power to resist. In the blink of an eye, all of its corpse qi was drained by Zuo Zhengzong, leaving its body a desiccated husk.
Zuo Zhengzong wiped his mouth and rose from the ground. He could feel himself growing stronger—his once-rigid fingers could now bend slightly. He let out a burst of laughter, spotted another broken-boned zombie, and swiftly hopped toward it.
After that, Zuo Zhengzong skirted around the zombie mountain, seeking out crippled zombies and draining every bit of their corpse qi. His strength surged rapidly. Whenever he encountered zombies one or two tiers above him, his progress skyrocketed, his power exploding upward.
"I wonder how far my current strength is from the legendary Dragon-rank?" After draining another zombie's corpse qi, Zuo Zhengzong found that his hands could now grip objects with ease, and he couldn't help wondering in curiosity.
He knew little about the transcendent world. All his current information had come from various enthusiast circles, so in his mind, Dragon-rank was already the apex.
Right then, he noticed a soft lump of jelly lying beside the zombie he had just drained.
"A zombie? Or some other transcendent creature?"
Zuo Zhengzong eyed the jelly with curiosity and doubt.
He then tore an arm off the desiccated corpse and cautiously poked the jelly. Seeing no reaction, he tossed the arm aside, stepped forward, and picked the jelly up.
*Gurgle.*
For some reason, staring at the jelly stirred an intense appetite within him.
He hesitated for a moment, then opened his mouth and bit into the jelly. With that first suck, his eyes snapped wide. In the next breath, he sucked vigorously, feeling his body and soul ascending—as if he had returned to his mother's embrace, enveloped in absolute peace and comfort.
It felt wonderful.
The corpse qi radiating from Zuo Zhengzong grew increasingly formidable and tyrannical.
At the same time, the aura emanating from him caused countless zombies scaling the mountain to freeze in their tracks, every single one turning its gaze toward him.
Chapter 372