Notebook Owner

The five horse-drawn carriages in the Inn's Backyard were all set up. Song Shan also put simple vests made of burlap sacks and baskets on the horses to prevent them from being bitten or scratched by the infected.

Pushing open the back gate, Tie Jingang went out to check the situation first. After confirming that there were no infected people nearby, he called everyone to drive the carriage out.

The students were armed, their bodies gleaming with protective aura, guarding against any potential infected individuals.

According to Li Xinyu's students, most of the town has been infected, with thousands of zombies and hundreds of First-Order Infected will appear, and ordinary students will be in danger.

A group of fifty people, accompanied by a carriage, was still too conspicuous no matter how careful they were, and soon infected people were attracted by their commotion.

The students dealt with the ordinary zombies easily, and when a Tier 1 zombie occasionally appeared, Teacher Tie and several Senior Brother would take it down immediately. Although these creatures were not very strong, even a scratch could lead to infection, so they tried their best not to let the inexperienced students take any risks!

As for the student teams, they were also divided into formations based on their abilities.

Those in the Heart Refining Realm acted on the outermost layer, those in the Foundation Establishment Realm moved slightly inward, and Luo Jun, as the only one in the Body Refinement Realm, was protected by everyone on the innermost layer.

Although everyone has changed their opinion of Luo Jun after the incident with the Sword Saint Sect, it's still true that he's currently the weakest in terms of cultivation level. Even if someone has a high Body Refinement Realm cultivation, the presence or absence of protective qi makes a fundamental difference when facing infected individuals. In addition, Luo Jun has been getting along quite well with everyone these past few days, Senior Brother and sisters have been quite protective of this "weakest" junior brother.

Luo Jun was happy to have some free time, following the main group while keeping his attention focused on the Tomb King.

After searching for some time, the Tomb King finally found a loose brick in the wall. When he pressed it, a hidden Secret Door opened in the wall with a rumbling sound.

"Aww!"

As the wall opened, an infected zombie rushed out, moving incredibly fast!

The Tomb King dodged, and the infected creature missed its target and fell to the ground. However, it quickly got up, howling with its rotting mouth wide open, searching left and right for the person who opened the door, but it did not find the Tomb King, who was still invisible.

Unlike the zombies roaming outside, this one was very agile, and its body wasn't badly decomposed. Even in the high-temperature basement, it didn't die completely from the heat...

A special Mutated Strain? Or perhaps an experiment by the Notebook Owner?

Luo Jun observed him closely and noticed a gruesome wound on the left side of his abdomen. His body was covered in blood, but his clothing was quite elegant...

He ordered the Tomb King to enter through the Secret Door, which led to a closed space containing five iron cages. Four of these cages were covered in blood, with pieces of flesh and tattered clothes still visible inside. Only the middle one had been Violence destroyed!

Good heavens! A steel bar as thick as a normal person's Thumb was violently twisted and snapped, and judging from the shape of the bend, it seems to have been Violence forced out from the inside!

One of the test subjects escaped?

etc...

Luo Jun ordered the Tomb King to step forward and carefully examine the clothing in the other cages. He found that it was all coarse cloth, severely worn, and with visible patches...

It makes sense. Humans aren't like rabbits, where you can kill as many as you want without anyone caring. If you're going to conduct human experiments, to avoid being discovered, you'd definitely choose those whose deaths no one would care about, like homeless people or beggars...

And that well-dressed zombie at the door...

Luo Jun led the Tomb King out through the Secret Door and saw the zombie still wandering aimlessly outside.

"Can we take him down?"

Because he was observing the zombie through a magical artifact, Luo Jun could only tell from the speed of its movements that the zombie's physical attributes were stronger than average, but he couldn't glean any other information. In contrast, the Ancient Tomb King, who was actually there, would have made a more accurate judgment.

"I can try..." The Tomb King raised his withered arm and pointed it at the zombie. A dark purple ray shot out and hit the zombie right between the eyebrows!

The zombie convulsed, fell backward onto its back, but then took a step back to steady itself, whimpering as it stood up again.

The Death Ray is a special attack skill targeting living beings. It paralyzes muscles and can also directly affect the soul, causing weak creatures to be instantly obliterated.

However, zombies are already dead on a human level, and viruses have no soul. This attack only has a paralyzing effect, and because the target has a strong body, the effect is very short-lived.

"Awooo!" The enraged zombie roared, unleashing an astonishing aura. The Tomb King was so intimidated that it took two steps back, revealing its form.

"What's going on?" Luo Jun frowned. The Tomb King replied, "This zombie has activated its protective energy!"

Qi? Looks like I guessed right!

Luo Jun's pupils dilated. The broadcast of the treasure's energy didn't show any protective aura. "What level is it? Can we handle it?"

"Very powerful..." the Tomb King replied, "But very chaotic. We can give it a try..."

The words had barely left his mouth when the zombie lunged at the Tomb King, but suddenly bounced back with a loud bang, as if it had crashed into a transparent glass door...

The Tomb King activated his barrier skill, and at the same time, he clasped his hands together, and a purplish-black flame spread out from him, instantly enveloping the zombies opposite him.

However, even from Luo Jun's perspective, it was clear that the purple Ghost Fire was only burning a dozen centimeters around the zombie, obviously blocked by the protective energy!

"Awooo!" The zombie roared madly, its aura surging, instantly dispelling the Ghost Fire, and then it charged forward with all its might!

Whoosh!

The barrier was breached by powerful energy, and the zombie lunged at the Tomb King with its mouth wide open!

The Tomb King hurriedly dodged, while simultaneously unleashing streams of deathly Ghost Fire that continuously weakened the zombie's protective aura.

This zombie possessed a very solid internal energy, suggesting it was likely a master of the Heart Refining Realm in its previous life. However, it could no longer utilize its abilities and could only rely on instinct to haphazardly activate its internal energy. Although its body was strong, its joints were somewhat stiff due to its zombification, making movement difficult. Furthermore, the Tomb King intentionally led it in circles, causing the zombie to stagger and crash into shelves, rapidly depleting its internal energy through reckless consumption!

When this guy was infected before his death, he must have used his inner energy to fight the virus. However, his energy was not sufficient, and with the depletion he had accumulated along the way, his inner energy finally went out before the Tomb King's magic power was exhausted.

Realizing this, the Tomb King stopped running, swung his scepter, and smashed it down on the zombie's head!

With a loud thud, the zombie was sent flying backward. The Tomb King caught up in a flash, stomping on the zombie's chest. The zombie struggled and resisted, its fingernails leaving marks on the Tomb King's leg, but the noble King of Kings didn't care about such minor injuries. He swung his scepter and smashed it repeatedly on the zombie's head.

Even without magic, the Tomb King's physical abilities are ten times that of an ordinary person, already stronger than most people in the Body Refinement Realm. In addition, being an undead creature, he is completely unaffected by viruses and can fight purely by hand. These zombies might not be his match.

Finally, after countless blows, with a loud crack, the zombie's head exploded, its rotting brains spilling onto the ground...

"Check his body," Luo Jun instructed.

The Tomb King squatted down and rummaged around for a while, and finally took out a token from the zombie's arms, with the word "hundred" engraved on it.

The Hundred Rivers Sect token—this guy really is an explorer from the Yuan Cultivation Society; he's the owner of that notebook!

But if that's the case, why didn't Tie Jingang and Li Xinyu mention it? Could it be that they were unaware of the hidden sentries?

But his identity is no longer important. Looking at the wound on his stomach, and recalling the broken cage inside the Secret Door... he probably didn't even have time to use the virus on himself before being attacked and infected by the experimental subject who broke out of the cage...

Luo Jun speculated that the experimental subject in the middle cage might have triggered some kind of mutation. Taking advantage of the Notebook Owner's absence, it devoured the experimental subjects in the other cages, then broke free. Just then, the Notebook Owner entered to check on the situation and was ambushed and infected. Meanwhile, the mutated experimental subject also escaped, triggering further infections...

It's just a pity for the Notebook Owner, who was so eager to gain power through experiments with the Eternal Virus, but ended up becoming the lowest form of zombie...

Wait... According to the notes, there should also be an original sample of the Eternal Virus here.

"Tomb King, search the basement and Secret Door, found a virus sample... it should be something like a syringe."

The Tomb King obeyed, but after searching inside and out several times, he found nothing...

The sample isn't here? How could that be?

Just as Luo Jun was puzzled, a commotion suddenly arose at the front of the group.

Who is it?

At this moment, the Team Cheng was approaching the south gate of the town when it was suddenly stopped by a group of men. The leader, a man in his thirties, rode a tall horse and held a silver spear. Behind him were about a hundred men, each carrying a weapon.

"We are merchants passing through..." Teacher Tie stepped forward and negotiated, "Something has happened in the city; demons are rampant, so we had no choice but to flee overnight..."

"Merchants?" The man with the silver spear glanced at them. "Almost all of them are imbued with aura of qi. What kind of merchants have such abilities?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the people behind him drew their weapons, and their bodies shone with the light of their inner energy.

"Third Head!" At this moment, Li Xinyu ran out. "You don't remember me? This must be a misunderstanding..."

"You are..." The Third Head narrowed his eyes, then suddenly realized, "You're from the Hundred Rivers Sect..."

"Li Xinyu," Senior Brother Li said with a smile, "Last year when the Chief was celebrating his wedding, I represented the Hundred Rivers Sect to deliver a congratulatory gift to Clear Breeze Stronghold."

"I remember..." The Third Head nodded, his expression softening considerably. "What are you all doing..."

"We also have a mission to complete..." Li Xinyu smiled, "The situation in the city is indeed very critical... There are hundreds, even thousands, of monsters inside. Once they scratch or bite you, you'll be infected with Evil Toxin that's beyond saving. If Clear Breeze Stronghold wants to quell the situation, we probably don't have enough manpower..."

"So powerful?" The Third Head frowned, and just as he was hesitating, his ears twitched. He swung his silver spear and knocked away a Bone Spur that was being shot at him with a clang.

"Who goes there?" Everyone looked in the direction from which the Bone Spur had come, and under the moonlight, they saw a gigantic monster with six sharp, segmented limbs crawling out from the roof of a small building...

Upon seeing the monster, Tie Jingang.

"The second order... has appeared!"

(End of this chapter)