Confronted by the swarm of bizarre zombies, Zhou Wuji calmly drew his sword and tossed the scabbard aside onto the ground.
He lightly stroked the spine of the blade with his fingers. As his true qi surged into the metal, the edge gave off wisps of azure, razor-sharp light.
In truth, he could have directly channeled sword qi through the Seven Stars inscribed on the hilt. Performing this gesture was mostly a matter of ritual.
The zombies understood nothing of ritual, but they all sensed the lethal threat radiating from the sharp sword qi.
A female zombie pushed off the ground and lunged straight at Zhou Wuji.
Her strength was terrifying. Her leap shattered the bedrock beneath her feet, propelling her forward with shocking speed. Her ten fingers curved outward like iron hooks, their long, pitch-black nails glinting with a dense, metallic sheen.
More than twenty paces had separated them, yet in just three or four bounding strides, she closed the distance and hurtled right in front of Zhou Wuji.
Zhou Wuji flicked his left sleeve. The golden radiance channeled from his Golden Light Incantation unfurled like a bolt of silk, completely engulfing the charging female zombie.
His mastery of the Golden Light Incantation had reached the Perfection realm. Not only could he cast the spell instantaneously, but its power had increased by thirty percent.
Even though the thick earthly fiend qi inside the cavern interfered somewhat with the incantation, the golden radiance still carried a formidable heft.
Before the female zombie could react, the golden light had already coiled tightly around her entire frame.
Golden light was the natural bane of yin qi and wicked spirits. Bound within her body, the remnant yin dragon soul was cowed by the sacred glow and shrank inward by instinct.
The female zombie's superhuman strength and soaring agility were entirely driven by the earthly fiend qi channeled through the remnant yin dragon soul. Suppressing that soul did more than disrupt her movements; it dealt a severe blow to her spirit. Compounded by the binding force of the dense golden light, her momentum ground to an abrupt halt.
Zhou Wuji's Descending Goose Sword was astonishingly swift and fierce. Seizing the opening, he lunged with deadly precision. The azure blade sank deep between the zombie's brows, piercing clean through her skull.
The zombie's cranium was hard as steel. Zhou Wuji felt an immense, viscous resistance against his grip. The blade felt tightly wedged in the bone, and when he pulled, he was actually unable to wrench it free.
Fortunately, the thrust had pierced her skull with pinpoint accuracy, piercing straight through the remnant yin dragon soul and extinguishing every shred of vitality and spirit from the corpse.
Seeing the other zombies already charging wildly toward him, Zhou Wuji could only channel his sword qi to vibrate the blade. Under the shuddering tremors, the female zombie's head blew apart with a resounding crack.
Protected by the Big Dipper Heavenly Astral Divine Incantation, Zhou Wuji paid no heed to the shattered grime and filth that splattered his way.
Using the momentum, he smoothly withdrew his blade and drifted backward, quietly chanting an incantation while forming a hand seal to channel the Northern Dipper Tianshu Yin Thunder.
The earthly fiend qi in this cavern was too dense; it would drastically diminish the power of Daoist arts. Daoist Yizhen's Yin Thunder had failed to kill the zombie earlier partly because of the strength of the remnant yin dragon soul, and partly due to the interference of this fiend qi.
Having learned from that, Zhou Wuji had drawn his sword from the very start. Casting spells was simply too draining here, making cold steel the far more efficient choice.
In such a perilous place, he needed to preserve sufficient strength to handle unforeseen crises rather than rashly exhausting himself trying to harvest these mutated zombies.
Zhou Wuji's footwork came from the Flowing Cloud Sword, which emphasized moving like drifting clouds and shifting with the wind. While his movements seemed unhurried, they were exceptionally fluid, light, and unrestrained.
The zombies hurtling toward him were all swift as the wind, yet their movements were blunt and straightforward, with little variation. Zhou Wuji possessed immense divine awareness and acute senses, further aided by the inner and outer reflection of his Heart Mirror. Every muscle twitch and surge of power from the eleven zombies was laid bare to his perception.
Before a zombie even left the ground, he had already anticipated where it would land.
Lacking any sense of coordination, the pack of zombies frequently crashed into one another. Zhou Wuji weaved effortlessly through their midst, and in just a few breaths, the beasts were thrown into utter chaos.
Having bought himself enough time, Zhou Wuji finished preparing the Northern Dipper Tianshu Yin Thunder. He flicked his long sleeve once more, and lightning like flowing water surged out from his cuff like a coiling serpent.
A blast of lightning tens of feet long exploded into the clustered zombies. The torso of the first zombie struck blew apart on the spot, and thousands of crackling arcs dispersed to blanket the rest of the pack.
Sheltering remnant yin dragon souls, the mutated zombies were inherently vulnerable to Yin Thunder. Moreover, Zhou Wuji had carefully gathered his power beforehand, releasing nearly thirty percent of his true qi in this single strike—far surpassing the might of Daoist Yizhen's lightning.
Cowed by the Yin Thunder, the zombies froze in place, their minds stunned and sluggish.
Only the zombie that had been struck by Yin Thunder earlier threw itself flat on the ground the instant the lightning descended, thereby evading the brunt of the electric blast.
Zhou Wuji noted the creature's peculiar behavior, and a chill stirred in his heart. This zombie was no fool; having tasted the agony of Yin Thunder, it had learned how to evade it. Next time, using the same spell would hardly achieve such remarkable results.
Circulating the divine acupoint deep between his brows, Zhou Wuji drove the true qi of his nine acupoints at full capacity, harmonizing it with the Seven Stars demon-slaying talismans inscribed on his Seven Stars Sword.
Stepping forward, he unleashed a flurry of rapid thrusts, pushing the Descending Goose Sword to its absolute limit.
The zombies' skulls were hard as forged steel, and only by piercing through their craniums could he unleash the Seven Stars Sword's demon-slaying power to destroy the remnant yin dragon souls. Any hesitation would cause him to miss this precious opening. Thus, he unleashed the sword art's full destructive might without reservation.
Nine thrusts flashed out in an instant. Wherever the azure sword glare flared, zombie heads shattered one after another.
By the time only the final zombie remained, the brilliance on Zhou Wuji's Seven Stars Sword had faded. His refined true qi had been stretched to its limit, forcing him to adjust his breath and recover.
The last zombie's eyes flared with crimson light, and its hook-like claws ripped savagely toward Zhou Wuji's chest.
Though Zhou Wuji retreated with all his might, he was ultimately not as fast as the monster. Ten glowing scratches were torn into the azure astral garment cloaking his body by the pitch-black nails. On the chest of the azure astral robe, three of the Big Dipper's seven stars instantly winked out.
Zhou Wuji was secretly appalled. The power behind the zombie's claw was terrifying. Even at the Perfection realm, his Big Dipper Heavenly Astral Divine Incantation likely could not withstand three such strikes.
Failing to breach the azure astral robe, the zombie paused in evident confusion. With its limited intellect, it clearly could not comprehend the divine subtleties of the Big Dipper Heavenly Astral Divine Incantation.
Taking advantage of the lull, Zhou Wuji drifted back. The zombie hurriedly lunged to claw him again, but Zhou Wuji was not about to give it another chance.
Twisting his body, he feinted left before shifting right. The zombie pounced wildly toward the left, grasping at empty air.
With this breathing room, Zhou Wuji calmly adjusted his posture and steadied his breath. Rather than expending energy on the Rejuvenation Technique, he relied on the natural circulation of his nine acupoints to absorb ambient spirit qi and replenish his true qi.
After that burst of exertion, nearly eighty percent of his true qi had been depleted. However, with half of its body already blasted away by the Yin Thunder, the remaining zombie posed little threat.
Once his breath settled, Zhou Wuji flicked his left sleeve and cast the Golden Light Incantation once more.
A dense, continuous stream of golden light fell like a banner, wrapping tightly around the final zombie and locking it firmly in place.
Zhou Wuji stepped forward and thrust his sword forward once more. The blade pierced straight through the skull and hummed with a resonant vibration, its shuddering sword qi tearing the zombie's head apart from the inside.
Though mutated zombies were not living creatures, they possessed a distinct corporeal structure. Both their steel-like bones and their heads served crucial functions. Once the head was destroyed, the remnant yin dragon soul had nowhere left to hide and was obliterated along with it.
Having dispatched the last zombie, Zhou Wuji turned his attention to the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment. Twelve mutated zombies had indeed been recorded. The highest bounty stood at four liang and five qian, and the lowest at four liang and two qian, all convertible into primordial profound qi.
This proved that what truly mattered was not the corpses, but the remnant yin dragon souls harbored inside them.
Considering how troublesome these zombies were to deal with, a little over four liang of primordial profound qi did not seem like much. Zhou Wuji even felt it was somewhat meager.
Only because he practiced both Daoist magic and the sword had he been able to wipe out so many zombies in one fell swoop. Had Daoist Yizhen stood in his place, he would have had no choice but to flee in disgrace.
During his seventh-rank register conferral ceremony, Zhou Wuji had consumed several portions of primordial profound qi worth over four liang, the highest reaching four liang and seven qian. The amount provided by these zombies was respectable, but none surpassed four liang and seven qian. Still, the sheer quantity meant they could likely enhance his true qi by ten or twenty percent.
As Zhou Wuji calculated his gains, he suddenly sensed an unusual presence rapidly approaching.
He surveyed his surroundings. While the cavern was spacious, it was a dead end, save for an opening about two feet wide in the ground. The fissure likely connected to an underground aperture, which explained why earthly fiend qi surged out in an endless stream.
Zhou Wuji leaned down to take a look, but finding the passage narrow and winding, he immediately discarded the idea of hiding inside.
"Little brat, we meet again!"
A rough, booming voice echoed through the enclosed cavern as Chen Dalu strode in through the entrance.
Dim as the cave was, Chen Dalu could clearly see Zhou Wuji, as well as the floor strewn with headless zombies. Deprived of the remnant yin dragon souls to channel earthly fiend qi, their blackened corpses were already rapidly decomposing.
Chen Dalu then glared at Zhou Wuji. The young man was cloaked in an azure astral garment over a flowing green Daoist robe, a gleaming cold sword in hand, his handsome face completely calm. His eyes glowed with a faint crimson light, bright and radiant with an ethereal aura.
Chen Dalu's expression darkened. The brat had colossal nerve—seeing him standing there, the boy showed not the slightest hint of fear!
Glancing at the destroyed zombies, Chen Dalu felt a sharp pang of anguish.
More than a decade of preparation and the sacrifice of thousands of lives had gone into this. Yet because of their hasty retreat, the yin dragon and the mother Gu had only half-merged, and the remaining half of the dragon soul had scattered far and wide. Most of it had dissolved into the earthly fiend qi, leaving only a tiny portion to meld into these zombies.
He had intended to nurture these zombies carefully until the dragon souls grew stronger before retrieving them. To test Zhiyuan and the others, he had dispatched a single zombie fused with a dragon soul, never expecting it would lure Zhou Wuji all the way here.
Had it been anyone else, Chen Dalu would have controlled the zombies to withdraw. The mountains on Old Dragon Island were not high, but the ridges were continuous and riddled with hidden tunnels. So long as they remained hidden, Zhiyuan and his force could search with ten thousand men and still fail to track them down.
Yet Zhou Wuji was utterly detestable, and finding the boy here alone presented the perfect opportunity for vengeance.
Chen Dalu had waited outside to observe for a while. Seeing no pursuers following, he had finally entered the cavern, only to discover that the zombies had all been slaughtered and every remnant yin dragon soul extinguished.
His hatred burned hotter than ever. His life's work had been ruined by this brat; merely killing Zhou Wuji would hardly satisfy his wrath.
Turning to Chen Chaofeng, who had followed closely behind, he said, "Senior Brother, please refine this brat into an iron corpse. Only then can I vent the hatred in my heart!"
Chen Chaofeng gave a slight nod without uttering a word.
Only then did Zhou Wuji notice Chen Chaofeng. The man was short but remarkably thickset, with an iron-blue complexion. He wore a coarse black hemp tunic, looking very much like a dock laborer—an appearance typical of the Five Dragons Gang's members.
Yet his pale gray eyes had slit-like pupils, like those of a serpent, exuding a chilling, sinister aura. He hardly looked like a living human.
Zhou Wuji instantly realized this man was a formidable expert—in all likelihood, the very master who had breached the Pacification Office to break Chen Dalu out.
By all accounts, this man ought to be a martial arts expert, yet his vital blood was concealed completely, giving off the cold, deathly stillness of a corpse. There was no telling what bizarre art he practiced.
Seeing Zhou Wuji standing there unflinchingly, Chen Dalu felt an uneasy premonition. This boy was far too steady, far too calm!
"Die, little brat!"
Unwilling to waste another word, Chen Dalu raised his iron staff and smashed it furiously toward Zhou Wuji...
Chapter 111