"Something terrible happened..."
Sweat beaded on Qin Yang's forehead, and the pressure on him doubled. The two Ink Talismans in his hand drew upon their own power, so they were not greatly affected.
The Shangqing Cloud Piercing Lightning Guiding Secret Method used one's own strength to lever the power of heaven and earth. Here, it was completely unusable—utterly crippled...
Lightning arts had always been the bane of ghosts, evil creatures, zombies, and all such demons and monsters. Their might far surpassed the power of the secret methods themselves. He had originally thought he could still hold his ground with the Lightning Attraction Secret Technique, but now...
He really was going to die...
This zombie one-eyed ape had no intelligence, only instinct. Yet it possessed limitless strength, incredible speed, and a body that was likely as hard as refined steel, impossible to damage lightly. Without a means to restrain it, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could never be its match.
And running like this was no solution either. At most, it would catch up to him within a dozen breaths...
"Roar..."
A dull, mournful howl came from behind him. The zombie ape bared its fangs, its face twisted in savage fury. Dark divine light swirled within its one eye. As its eyelid closed and opened, a beam of black light as thick as an arm instantly crossed the distance between them and crashed into the runic light screen with a boom...
Every hair on Qin Yang's body stood on end, and his mind swayed. Almost instinctively, he shifted his body aside. The runic light screen around him exploded, and the Ink Talisman scroll crumbled into powder. The black beam grazed past his ear and blasted into the distant wall...
Complex Dao Patterns rippled across the wall, a faint halo hovering over its surface. It held against the black light for a full breath before the beam finally dissipated and the wall returned to normal...
"Are you kidding me? This big, brawny, brainless thing looks like nothing but cannon fodder for close combat, and it can actually attack from range?" Qin Yang's eyelid twitched wildly. He had nearly pissed himself from fright.
He had thought the runic light screen could withstand one more strike. Who would have thought it would be pierced through in an instant? Even the Ink Talisman itself could not bear that horrifying power and was reduced to dust.
With his greatest defensive measure gone, if the zombie ape touched him even once more, he could cheerfully laugh his way into getting his little brother smashed...
As he sprinted madly onward, Qin Yang's thoughts raced as he searched for a way to break the situation. Yet after turning it over and over in his mind, he still found no clue. This thing had not the slightest intelligence, only pure instinct. Reasoning with it was entirely impossible. Even if Bao Yu were standing here, there was an eighty or ninety percent chance that the zombie ape would tear him to pieces...
"Only instinct?" A flash of inspiration suddenly lit up in Qin Yang's mind...
Seeing the zombie ape draw closer and closer, Qin Yang nearly instinctively tossed something out.
He threw out a jade bottle. The zombie ape casually slapped it apart, scattering more than a dozen pills from within. The ape sniffed them, opened its mouth, and inhaled. All the pills were swallowed in one gulp.
This ape could eat pills too?
A trace of doubt flashed through Qin Yang's mind, but he had no time to think further. He took out another piece of yin wood wreathed in Yin Qi and tossed it out.
The ape swallowed it in one bite as well.
He then threw out a Spirit Herb he had gathered from the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb, one rich in Yin Qi. The ape refused nothing offered to it and swallowed it in another mouthful...
At this sight, the corner of Qin Yang's lips curled upward. He gave a low shout. "Big fellow, open your mouth."
As soon as the words fell, Qin Yang waved his hand and scattered a large number of materials. Most were low-grade materials and Spirit Herbs he had casually picked up whenever he entered or left the Nether Acacia Ghost Tomb.
The zombie ape still opened its mouth and inhaled. The disorderly mass of things filling the air was all sucked into its stomach in a single gulp.
It did not notice that, when one yin-stained wooden box was jostled open along a crack, a thread of faint green light emerged from within.
In an instant, death qi burst from the zombie ape's body, nearly boiling over. Black light shone from its single eye, and another beam of black light erupted toward Qin Yang's back.
Qin Yang stepped in accordance with the Gang Step, predicting the black beam's path and evading it. Yet that single step of difference allowed the zombie ape to instantly close the distance to less than thirty feet.
"Roar..."
The zombie ape's face was ferocious as it roared again and again. Corpse qi billowed from its body like boiling smoke, shooting skyward. The rolling corpse qi swept outward, its momentum terrifying beyond measure.
Qin Yang bore the brunt of it. Struck by the surging corpse qi, he was sent flying. The Buddha's silhouette on the Blood Lama became increasingly distinct, while a faint, murmuring chant seeped from within it, resisting the corrosion of the corpse qi.
The Yi Wood Essence crystal beneath his tongue erupted with even denser Yi Wood Essence, coursing through Qin Yang's entire body and driving out the corpse qi that had entered him.
After rolling several times in succession, Qin Yang slammed into the wall with a bang and spat out a great cloud of blood mist. Yet that blood mist withered and dispersed in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Qin Yang's face turned blue-purple. Fangs even protruded from his mouth, Blood Light flickered in his eyes, and his fingernails turned blue-black as they grew wildly longer...
He had been poisoned by Corpse Poison...
Qin Yang had no time to care about his own condition. He hurriedly looked up, only to see the zombie ape standing where it was, seemingly driven mad. Black light shot from its single eye, while the corpse qi rolling from its body grew ever more violent.
"Roar..."
The low growl sounded almost like a mournful cry. The zombie ape's movements became slower and slower until it finally froze in place. A dim yellow halo appeared over its body and swept across it in an instant. Within one or two breaths, the zombie ape had completely transformed into a withered clay statue standing there...
"Crack..."
A crack burst open across the surface of the withered clay statue. A plant sprout drilled out from the fissure, as though setting off a chain reaction. Cracking sounds rang out without end as fresh plant sprouts broke through the cracks one after another.
Emerald green rapidly covered the entire withered clay statue, enveloping it within. From afar, it looked like a chaotic yet luxuriant potted plant standing in place.
"Boom..."
The clay statue shattered and scattered. The verdant plants all turned to ash. From within the ashes, a Yi Wood Essence crystal fell to the ground, ringing out with a series of crisp clinks.
"Some things are better left uneaten..." Qin Yang leaned against the wall and let out a long breath. Only then did he begin repeatedly activating the Blood Lama and the Yi Wood Essence crystal, expelling the corpse qi that had invaded his body and repairing his damaged flesh.
A moment later, Qin Yang opened his mouth and spat out a blackened blood clot that reeked of rot. Only then did his complexion return to normal. His fangs retracted and vanished, and the blue-black nails that had grown out faded away as well...
He stood, picked up the Yi Wood Essence crystal, which had dimmed considerably, and continued walking deeper inside.
After turning another street corner, Qin Yang's expression abruptly changed.
Five Zombie Apes crouched on the road ahead. More Zombie Apes appeared atop the nearby roofs. In the blink of an eye, he was surrounded by at least forty or fifty Zombie Apes. Their single eyes glimmered with icy light as they watched Qin Yang coldly.
The doors of a three-story building ahead stood wide open. From within emerged a monster with a single horn on its forehead, the body of a man, the hooves of a bull, and a height of thirty feet. Its entire body was iron-blue. With one step, an overwhelming aura surged forth, and the air abruptly froze.
Illusions arose before Qin Yang's eyes. He saw a Single-Horned Azure Ox striding toward him, a surging sea of blood behind it transforming into a colossal tsunami. Countless corpses and skeletons rose and sank within that sea of blood, while an overwhelming stench of blood rushed through his nose and straight toward his soul...
His vision blurred, and when he looked again, every illusion had vanished. The terrifying monster stood in the center, staring coldly at Qin Yang.
Qin Yang swallowed with difficulty. He secretly thought that he was doomed this time and could only fight to the death!
"Big brother, don't attack. We're on the same side."
Before you continue