A moment later.
Blood Fiendish Qi soared into the heavens above Chen Manor.
Lu Jun stood on ground covered with the shattered corpses of countless zombies, blood flowing like a river.
As he walked through it, even the soles of his shoes felt sticky from the blood's viscosity.
Words appeared once more in Lu Jun's vision.
[Slain demon—Corpse Subduer (variant among zombies), grasped its innate evolved divine ability—Immortal and Unchanging] [Immortal and Unchanging: The corpse remains imperishable. As long as its core parts have not been completely destroyed, it will slowly recover. As long as a breath remains, the body will not perish.]
"Corpse Subduer..." Lu Jun's eyes gleamed faintly.
He had some impression of this peculiar zombie.
He had spent quite a bit of time killing it.
Simply chopping off its head had been completely useless. In the end, Lu Jun had to chop it into pieces the size of dumpling filling before he could finally kill it.
Next, Lu Jun was also amazed.
This ability was truly heaven-defying. It was somewhat like the derivative Acquired Divine Ability of the Azure Dragon Hair Growth Art that Old Man Yun had given him before. Both abilities increased his blood volume and vitality.
However, the Azure Dragon Hair Growth Art also had the effect of restoring True Qi.
But Lu Jun had just obtained that True Qi recovery effect from the derivative divine ability 'Essence Absorption' of the Great Sinful Ghost Child he had killed.
Lu Jun could not help feeling fortunate that he had not chosen the Azure Dragon Hair Growth Art back then.
Next, Lu Jun looked at his Demon Essence.
[Demon Essence: 10550]
Lu Jun's eyes lit up.
He had finally gathered enough Demon Essence to increase the River Lord Subdues the Flood Dragon Art by four thousand points.
Without hesitation, Lu Jun chose to increase it.
[Demon Essence: 6550] [Current cultivation art: River Lord Subdues the Flood Dragon Art Second Layer (Ten thousand Demon Essence required to advance to the Third Layer)] [Art trait: Each time the art advances by one layer, cultivation speed, physical strength, comprehension, and mastery of the art can increase. Each increase by one layer allows the practitioner to comprehend and give birth to a new Acquired Divine Ability. There are seven layers in total.] [Mastered the Acquired Divine Ability evolved from the cultivation art: River and Marsh Edict!] [River and Marsh Edict: Can control all waters. In rivers, marshes, lakes, oceans, or on rainy days, overall strength, speed, agility, and physical attributes increase substantially. True Qi recovery is doubled. The defenses of aquatic creatures are ineffective against you.]
"Defying heaven!"
Lu Jun's eyes shone.
He could soar through the sky and dive into the sea. At this point, his combat power could be considered fully rounded across land, sea, and air.
He had checked off the hexagonal warrior category.
In the wilderness outside Nanxiang Town.
A figure was galloping through the mountain forests on horseback.
Suddenly, the rider's expression changed, becoming filled with terror and disbelief.
"How is this possible!"
Ye Chen was shocked.
Because he clearly sensed that all one hundred and seven zombies he had raised had been killed.
Ye Chen's heart went cold.
In an instant, he became dazed and dispirited, like a dog with its backbone broken.
The reason he had not left immediately today was that he could not bear to part with the zombies he had painstakingly raised for more than a decade, as well as the Great Sinful Ghost Child he had obtained from the Great Black Cult.
These were all the trappings of his future life wandering the martial world.
And besides!
Among those zombies was an extremely rare Unchanging Gu.
That was the Corpse Subduer that could be born from nearly a thousand ordinary zombies!
Now, they were gone. Every last one of them.
Impossible!
That man could not possibly be this strong!
It must have been reinforcements from the Demon Slaying Division arriving.
Ye Chen explained it to himself.
Ye Chen was furious. He was furious that all his painstaking preparations had been destroyed in a single stroke.
He was bewildered. Even more, he was bewildered about where his future was supposed to go.
But at the same time, a bizarre confusion rose in his heart...
He simply could not understand it.
He had clearly met that man only once that afternoon.
He did not even know that man's name!
Why—why had that man latched onto him like a mad dog?
Throughout all of Dagan!
Was he the only spy from an evil cult?
Why was that man refusing to let him go?
The more Ye Chen thought about it, the angrier he became.
But he did not dare turn back and fight Lu Jun to the death.
He could only frantically whip the horse's rump and speed up his escape.
"Whoa..."
Ye Chen let out a long breath and gently pulled on the reins, bringing the horse to a steady stop before a lake.
The moonlight was bright and pure, the lake's surface smooth as a mirror, and the forest quiet. The atmosphere was rather pleasant.
But Ye Chen had no time to admire it. He was simply too thirsty.
Damn it. Ever since he had been discovered that afternoon, he had been busy preparing to flee. Although his plans had come to nothing, he had truly been busy, and in any case, he had not had a single drop of water.
After hurrying along the road just now, he had had even less time to drink.
The road ahead was long and arduous, so Ye Chen decided to rest briefly.
It would not take long—just enough time to drink some water.
Besides, those Demon Slayer Envoys had not caught up with him after all this time.
Could they really catch him while he drank a mouthful of water?
What a joke!
Ye Chen instantly convinced himself. He immediately bent down, preparing to drink.
Just as he bent down and was about to scoop up water with his only remaining hand, Ye Chen's pupils contracted.
He suddenly saw, in the reflection floating on the lake's surface, a figure hovering behind him with a smile that was not quite a smile.
It was that mad dog pursuing him!
Ye Chen spun around. There was no one behind him, only the deep, tranquil forest as before.
Ye Chen let out a breath of relief. "I scared myself..."
When Ye Chen turned back and wanted to drink again, his pupils suddenly shook, and his heart missed half a beat.
"Long time no see..."
"Just now, I remember that when you ran away, you seemed to point at me with your finger..."
Lu Jun's figure slowly rose from the surface of the lake. Strangely, although he had risen from the water, there was not a single drop of water on him. Moonlight shone around Lu Jun and fell upon his spotless azure-and-white robe patterned with profound designs, making him resemble an immortal banished from heaven.
Ye Chen's breath caught, and he stammered, "N-no... no..."
Ye Chen was truly speechless.
He had never expected the other man to be so petty.
He had merely pointed once on a whim, yet the other man had remembered it.
Lu Jun's eyes held a trace of anticipation. "Do you have any zombies left?"
"N-no... none..."
Ye Chen's expression turned bitter.
A trace of disappointment flashed across Lu Jun's face. He said softly, "Very well. Then you can die..."
"Wait!" Terror abruptly filled Ye Chen's expression, and he hurriedly tried to say something more.
But Lu Jun said nothing and merely swung his saber again and again.
Just as the blade was about to strike Ye Chen, a sudden sound of something tearing through the air attacked from Lu Jun's side.
Lu Jun frowned. He twisted the blade around and raised it to block.
At the same time, one hand seized Ye Chen by the neck and carried him far away.
"Young friend, stop!" an aged voice suddenly rang out.
An old man who appeared to be around sixty, with graying hair, a goatee, and a face etched with deep wrinkles, slowly walked out of the nearby dense forest. Beside him followed a zombie covered from head to toe in scarlet flesh, its face hideous and ferocious.
Another variant among zombies!
Lu Jun's eyes lit up.
"Master!" Ye Chen shouted in shock.
Lu Jun raised his brows slightly and stared straight at the old man before him.
The old man wore a broad smile and slowly spoke. "Young friend, I presume you are also a Demon Slayer Envoy. I am Jiang Kun, an outer sect elder of the Puppet Corpse Dock. This Ye Chen is my good-for-nothing disciple. He was previously bewitched by demons and joined the Great Black Cult."
"It was all because I failed to keep a close enough watch over him. Could you return him to me? I will take him back to the Puppet Corpse Dock to receive punishment."
"Hmm..." Lu Jun said indifferently. "No."
"What!?" The old man's expression froze.
"You old bastard, who do you think you are? I fought monsters half the day, and now you want him just because you asked. I'm not some honest monk, bald head, pig-head, or simpleton from a pilgrimage to the Western Heavens. I finally crippled a demon, and then some heavenly-court-connected special appointee shows up to take it away..."
"I noticed you squatting around nearby for half the day. Since I couldn't sense any demonic aura on you, I couldn't be bothered with you. And now you launch a sneak attack, fail, then come over and demand that I hand him over?"
"Do you think I'm some kind-hearted gentleman?"
Lu Jun sneered.
He raised his hand, swung his saber, and completed the motion in one fluid breath.
Without the slightest hesitation, he chopped off Ye Chen's head.
Then he casually kicked the head before the old man, Jiang Kun.
Ye Chen's face still held its bewildered expression as he stared blankly at Jiang Kun.
Before Jiang Kun could react in any way, Lu Jun's aura erupted all around him. True Qi surged forth, and his figure began to rise into the air. The long saber in his hand pointed at Jiang Kun below, his expression cold:
"Heh, old thing!"
"I could tell at a glance that you were also an evil-cult demon!"
"Your disciple must have been bewitched by you into joining that damned Great Black Cult too!"
"Then things will be easy. You and your precious disciple can stay here together. That way, you'll have company on the road to the Yellow Springs. Master and disciple taking the road together means you won't be lonely."
Before you continue