Types of Zombies

'Single King Spear, Day Hidden Spear Technique, Heaven's Will Four Absolute Spears...'

From the traces left at the scene.

Lu Feng could already imagine how arduous and brutal Shao Yang's battle had been, how utterly exhausted he must have become.

Ning Xiang choked back sobs. "Young Miss Luo also deserves credit for our escape. If she hadn't generously shared the Aya Flower Spear with Brother Yang, he likely would have found it difficult to survive that final desperate situation."

Lu Feng's gaze swept toward the corner where the traces were deepest and most numerous. There lay a Mud Figure whose bones had been pierced through, the wound forming a cross-shaped ridge. Though it was still far from the eight-petaled Aya Flower, it was undoubtedly the Aya Flower Spear Technique.

Moreover, a dense fighting intent still lingered at the site of that wound.

Clearly, at the very end of that life-or-death struggle, Shao Yang had also used the Berserk Battle Six Styles taught by Chu Yunjing, borrowing the fighting intent filling his chest to conceal his bodily exhaustion and unleash combat power far beyond his physical limits.

Lu Feng then looked toward Wu Ying. Seeing him bent over to examine the severed limbs scattered across the ground, he asked in puzzlement, "Brother Wu, have you noticed something from these Mud Figures?"

Before this, he had already sensed the entire hall and found no fluctuations of any formation. That meant the Mud Figures carpeting the floor had likely been activated through some similarly lost and special method.

After observing them for a while, Wu Ying replied, "If I am not mistaken, these Mud Figures should also be the work of the Zombie Control Lineage. They are Zombie Embryos required for refining Soul Zombies."

"Fortunately, these Zombie Embryos had not yet matured. Otherwise, your disciples would not have had such an easy time dealing with them."

Ning Xiang was astonished. "These strange things all erupted with strength at least at the Earth Soul Realm Early Stage, and they still aren't mature?"

Wu Ying said seriously, "Elsewhere, Zombie Embryos with such strength could be considered fine specimens. But given the scale of this tomb realm, they are far from adequate. From what I observed just now, the bones still buried in medicinal mud are basically all approaching Heaven Grade. In other words, these people may all have been existences with one foot already in the Heaven Soul Realm while alive."

"Based on that, the Zombie Embryos formed from them should, by rights, possess strength around the Earth Soul Realm Late Stage at the very least."

"The reason they are so weak now likely has to do with the purpose of their existence. They were probably not merely used as Zombie Embryos, but may have been discarded products."

"Discarded products?" Lu Feng asked in astonishment, unable to understand.

Wu Ying nodded and explained, "These Zombie Embryos should have undergone a second sealing, which weakened their strength. Before them, the earlier batch that had been successfully refined should already have had their seals broken and been selected away to be further refined into Hidden Zombies."

Ning Xiang pursed her lips. "Why has another Hidden Zombie suddenly appeared?"

Wu Ying smiled and explained in detail, "The 'zombies' controlled by the Zombie Control Lineage are divided into many categories. The most basic are the Zombie Embryos I just mentioned. They are the preliminary means used to select suitable skeletons."

"Generally speaking, they poison suitable living people to death or kill them by other means. But regardless of the method, the integrity of the skeleton must be preserved. Next, they strip away the flesh and blood, leaving only the skeleton, then use specially prepared medicinal mud fused with Death Yin Qi to envelop the entire skeleton and shape it into a Mud Figure like those before us."

"Usually, this process lasts around half a year. For high-quality skeletons, it takes even longer. Once the time is up, they break open the medicinal mud seal and, based on the final quality of the skeleton inside, refine different grades of zombies."

"Those that barely reach Heaven Grade and cannot support absorbing more medicinal mud to improve their quality are generally refined into Mud Zombies. Aside from Zombie Embryos, these are the weakest kind of zombie. They require Death Yin Qi to be artificially infused into them before they can display combat power. Once it is depleted, they are no different from ordinary skeletons."

"Above Mud Zombies are Hidden Zombies. The skeletons of this type generally reach Heaven Grade, but they do not retain the killing intent the deceased possessed in life, so they are usually refined into Hidden Zombies. Such zombies can already absorb Death Yin Qi from their surroundings on their own, but their capacity is limited, and they cannot improve their strength by themselves."

"More formidable still are the Soul Zombies we encountered earlier. Not only do their skeletons reach Heaven Grade, but they also retain a terrifying killing intent. Because that killing intent lingers, the refined Soul Zombie preserves part of the deceased's combat awareness from life, and the combat power it can display is far stronger than that of ordinary zombies."

"Under normal circumstances, Soul Zombies cannot improve their own quality, unless they cultivated a Body Refinement Technique while alive. But if certain strange Sacrificial Markings are fused into their bones, they can use Death Yin Qi to improve themselves. Left unchecked, after hundreds or thousands of years, they may even 'grow' into even fiercer and more terrifying Bone Zombies."

A trace of contemplation flashed through Lu Feng's eyes. He vaguely understood the difference between Soul Zombies and Bone Zombies. The distinction was likely in the strength of the skeleton within. After the Blood-colored War Corpse had drawn away that layer of 'skin' from the Soul Zombie they encountered earlier, the skeleton inside had been exceedingly fragile, not at all like something that had been tempered.

Wu Ying continued, "Soul Zombies refine skin, while Bone Zombies temper bone. Although the Soul Zombie we saw earlier had some defensive power, it was far from a mature, perfect Soul Zombie. Its dark bronze skin was not left behind by the deceased's body; it had been extracted from within the skeleton, transformed from the skeleton's own strength. This also meant that after such Zombie Skin was formed, the skeleton's own strength dropped drastically."

"If that Soul Zombie had been given a few more decades, it would likely have evolved on its own into its most perfect state. By then, the Death Yin Qi would no longer remain inside its armor, but would be drawn into its body. A Soul Zombie in that state would be much harder to deal with."

Lu Feng secretly frowned. If Wu Ying was right, then a perfect Soul Zombie likely possessed strength no weaker than the Heaven Soul Realm Late Stage.

Then how terrifying and vicious would Bone Zombies above them be?

Wu Ying said with a somewhat rueful smile, "Don't worry. Even during Double Gate's heyday, there were very few capable of refining Bone Zombies. Although a tomb realm of this scale is somewhat beyond expectations, something at the level of a Bone Zombie should not exist here."

After thinking for a moment, Wu Ying added, "But with your strength, Brother Lu, if you enter even more dangerous tomb realms in the future, you might have a chance of encountering one."

"If one day you see a 'zombie' whose Zombie Skin is black bronze, and you have no weapon made from Coiling Sun Peach Wood, I suggest you run if you can. This thing is not easily killed."

Lu Feng silently committed this to memory. He had only seen Coiling Sun Peach Wood described in books and knew that it contained dense Sun Essence, which greatly restrained Death Yin Qi.

Ning Xiang timely asked, "Above Bone Zombies, are there even stronger existences?"

Wu Ying paused before replying, "You could say yes, or you could say no. I once saw relevant records in an Ancient Text. It said that when Double Gate was first established, the ultimate limit of its zombie-controlling art was to refine an existence called a Solid Zombie—indestructible and imperishable, sharing the lifespan of heaven and earth. But that is only a legend. Such a thing cannot possibly exist in this world."

"If it truly did exist, it would require a skeleton at the Saint Soul Realm to refine it, then be thrown into a pit filled with the bones of tens of millions of people to 'ferment' for hundreds of thousands or millions of years."

While speaking with Wu Ying, Lu Feng followed Ning Xiang's indication and passed through several more Stone Chambers, arriving at a strange place filled with stone walls and branching paths, much like a maze.

At a glance, there were at least seven or eight entrances leading forward. Through sensing, they could only vaguely determine that intricate passageways lay beyond these entrances, but it was difficult to distinguish their precise directions or where exactly they led.

"Strange..." Ning Xiang's face was full of gravity. "When we fled here earlier, there was only one entrance."

Wu Ying narrowed his eyes slightly and instantly realized, "It should be those Stone Chambers we passed through earlier."

Lu Feng did not understand. "There was something wrong with the Stone Chambers?"

Wu Ying nodded and looked at Ning Xiang. "Did you determine the direction based on the layout inside the Stone Chambers and the passage doors openly displayed there?"

Ning Xiang nodded blankly. "I remember clearly. The tables and chairs in those Stone Chambers, as well as the paintings hanging on the walls, were all exactly as they had been. There shouldn't have been any mistake."

Wu Ying said in a low voice, "If that is so, then what moved was likely neither the tables and chairs nor the wall paintings, but the entire Stone Chamber."

"What?" Lu Feng and Ning Xiang were both startled.

Wu Ying explained, "If I am correct, the three nearly identical Stone Chambers we passed through earlier were likely Double Gate's commonly used trap arrangement, the Yellow Intestine Revolving Gate."

"Through special and exquisitely designed mechanical structures beneath the Stone Chambers, these three chambers rotate at intervals, or when someone enters a designated area. When that happens, the original passage doors rotate toward other directions or even close, while new passage doors open."

"This causes intruders to step into the same Stone Chamber twice and follow identical routes, yet the passage through which they ultimately leave may lead in an entirely different direction from before."

Ning Xiang's heart tightened. "Then let's hurry back and walk through it again?"

"That would be useless," Lu Feng said gravely.

Wu Ying echoed the explanation, "Brother Lu is right. Going back through it would be meaningless. Leaving aside what pattern governs the rotations of this Yellow Intestine Revolving Gate, even if we knew it, each of these three Stone Chambers probably contains no fewer than four passage doors. Who knows how long we would have to wait for it to rotate back to the route you previously took."

Ning Xiang's face turned deathly pale.

Lu Feng looked toward the maze-like passages ahead and asked Wu Ying, "Do you know the secrets of this arrangement?"

With a hint of relief, Wu Ying said, "In the past, there would have been no way around it. But thanks to you, I happened to learn a method at the Bottle Spirit Sect some time ago. It may help us pass through this tangled maze of passageways."