Zombies, beginning from the lowest-level walking corpses, likewise underwent an enhancement in ability with every rank they advanced.
First, their skin grew harder, they jumped higher and farther, their nails grew longer and sharper, and their fangs became more pointed and adept at drawing blood. Next, upon becoming hairy zombies, a layer of white hair with extraordinary defensive resilience grew across their bodies. This coat feared only fire and lightning, offering formidable protection against almost all other attacks.
Following that, upon becoming flying zombies, they mastered flight, capable of traveling thousands of li in a day and no longer fearing sunlight. Further along, extreme yin inverted into yang, turning them into terrifying drought demons that possessed immense resistance to ordinary fire, along with even greater defense and self-healing power.
Under normal circumstances, after becoming a zombie king, a zombie would also gain abilities unique to itself.
Take, for example, the Xingtian zombie king's Drought Shield and Axe, or the Martial Ultimate Zombie King's Yin-Yang Limitless.
The former greatly amplified the Xingtian zombie king's might when wielding axe-type weapons, while the latter rendered the Martial Ultimate Zombie King virtually invincible against opponents of the same rank.
But Zuo Zhengzong was an exception.
Having merely reached the Wolf rank as a zombie, he had already gained a special ability.
In truth, the jelly he had consumed was a piece split off from the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon—the very "slime" Zhang Buyao had slain with a single sword strike.
After dying, this slime was swept up into the spatial rift by the surging corpse qi, its two halves ultimately scattering in different places.
When Zuo Zhengzong consumed the first half of the slime, his body had already begun to mutate; his bones had actually "jellified," allowing him to absorb all sorts of impacts and blunt trauma.
Once he finished consuming the other half of the slime jelly, his body completely mutated, simultaneously awakening his special ability.
Yet Zhang Shou and his group had arrived too quickly. Zuo Zhengzong hadn't understood his ability in the slightest before clashing with them, ending up swiftly and cleanly slain.
"Don't kill me, don't kill me, don't kill me... Aaaaargh!"
"Huh?"
"I'm not dead?"
"Where's my body?"
Zuo Zhengzong had distinctly felt the agony of death: his body torn to pieces, followed by both his soul and body burned to ashes by fire.
Had he not previously experienced a death even more agonizing than this, the sheer pain alone would likely have driven him mad.
Right now, Zuo Zhengzong was in an extraordinary state. He hovered between existence and nonexistence, his translucent soul flickering continuously as though on the verge of fading away the next second.
Moreover, he was not in the realm of the dead, but in a very peculiar space.
[Life-Death Reincarnation: Upon death, retain all abilities and return to Samsara Space. After consciousness leaves Samsara Space, a deceased target may be selected for possession. If possession is not successfully completed within ten minutes, permanent death occurs. Possession can be performed three times per year.]
This was Zuo Zhengzong's special ability. It stemmed from his peculiar soul, which was no ordinary spiritual body but that of a vengeful ghost. As his zombie physique evolved, his vengeful ghost form strengthened alongside it. The fusion of the two, combined with a piece of the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon's body, had ultimately fostered this extraordinary power.
Just like opening one's mouth to eat or opening one's eyes to see, an ability was instinct.
Though he was momentarily bewildered, a brief moment of contemplation was all it took to understand.
Zuo Zhengzong quickly figured out his ability. Pleasant surprise washed over him first, followed by mad laughter.
This ability was simply magnificent! His very first thought was to possess Zhang Shou and the others, but they were living people. He muttered to himself, "I have to possess a deceased target. There are plenty of zombies in this world, but they're all too weak—not worth taking over at all."
Possessing a body allowed him to inherit its abilities, and he could even carry those powers with him after death. Thus, the three chances of possession per year had to be spent where they counted most. Ordinary minor figures weren't worth possessing in the least.
Ideally, he could find the corpse of a Dragon-rank powerhouse to possess. Then he could soar straight to heaven in a single leap, becoming a mighty Dragon-rank expert!
At that point, he could take revenge whenever he pleased and do whatever he wanted.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. He remembered the high-quality corpse qi emanating from the other side of the spatial rift. Since corpse qi was coming from there, there had to be a corpse!
Zombies were not living beings.
In other words, he could possess a zombie and completely take over its body!
"Damn it, I'm betting on this!"
After hesitating for a moment, Zuo Zhengzong gritted his teeth and decided to stake it all.
If there was a Dragon-rank zombie across the spatial rift, he would reach the pinnacle in a single bound. If it turned out to be a treasure instead, he could return, possess any random zombie corpse, and make a run for it first.
Once he survived this crisis, he would search for a suitable corpse to possess and grow stronger step by step.
Either reach the top in one bound, or start over from scratch—either way, he had nothing to lose!
Ten minutes: the countdown begins.
With a thought, Zuo Zhengzong emerged from Samsara Space, appearing right at the spot where he had died.
He hadn't expected to see Zhang Shou's face the moment he came out. Even though they had already pulverized his bones and scattered his ashes, Zhang Shou and the others hadn't left; instead, they remained on guard, clearly ensuring he was thoroughly and truly dead.
"These bastards!"
Looking at the faces of the four, Zuo Zhengzong wished he could possess them right then and there.
Yet reason quickly prevailed; after all, he couldn't possess the living.
Now was not the time for anger—securing a body was what mattered. He had only ten minutes; once that ran out, he would be permanently dead.
He immediately drifted toward Zombie Mountain. Without a physical body, or even a soul in the true sense, he was merely a strand of consciousness. Moving at the speed of thought, he could travel as fast as his mind could race.
In a flash, he reached the summit of Zombie Mountain. Passing through the spatial rift, he nearly drifted right back above it, but fortunately his reflexes were sharp; realizing that gravity on the other side was reversed, he checked his upward momentum in time.
He then bypassed the Heavenly Megastar and looked down toward the surface. His eyes widened in utter shock as he beheld the two colossal beasts upon the sea.
"What on earth are those?!"
It was the first time Zuo Zhengzong had ever seen creatures so enormous.
Even without a body, even without a soul, existing merely as a strand of consciousness, he was still struck with awe and dread by the gargantuan bodies of Zhang Gangxing and the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon.
A full three minutes passed before he realized his time was running out.
"I can't tell if the tall one is alive, but the flat, elongated one is definitely dead! That's the one," Zuo Zhengzong thought to himself, staring intently at Zhang Gangxing and the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon.
Although Zhang Gangxing was a zombie, having drunk Yu Xian's blood, he looked nothing like one on the outside. Moreover, after absorbing vast amounts of the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon's power, he resembled a terrifying titan beast; no one looking at him would ever take him for a zombie.
With his target chosen, Zuo Zhengzong dived down without hesitation, sinking into the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon's massive body in an instant, and activated his ability.
His consciousness rapidly merged into the cells of the Infinite Sea Corpse Vein Dragon, spreading continuously outward.
However, he had clearly overestimated his own ability.
Chapter 375