Encounter

Traveling from the depths of the Magic Beast Mountain Range toward the outskirts, the journey was much easier than the trip in.

Lin Yun no longer needed to remain vigilant at every moment, nor did he have to deliberately seek out magic beasts to fight. He slowed his pace, reflecting on the past month of training as he walked—every battle, every breakthrough, and every realization felt like an imprint carved into his mind, clear and profound.

Bebe crouched on his shoulder, having regained his usual liveliness. From time to time, he would jump down to chase a butterfly or dart into the bushes to startle a few small birds, enjoying himself immensely.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy, casting dappled light and shadows on the forest path. The air was fresh and moist, carrying the fragrance of soil and vegetation. Occasionally, the chirping of birds drifted from afar, adding a touch of vitality to the silent mountain forest.

Lin Yun was in a great mood.

Breaking through to the seventh rank, consolidating his cultivation, mastering the seventh-rank Earth Element magic "Saint Armor of Earth Protection," and honing his combat skills through real-life battles with various seventh-rank magic beasts—the gains from this past month far exceeded his expectations.

"At this speed, we should be able to walk out of the Magic Beast Mountain Range in two more days," Lin Yun estimated the distance and said to Bebe.

"Chi-chi!" Bebe chirped, pointing his little claw forward as if to say, "Then let's hurry."

Lin Yun smiled and quickened his pace.

However, what he did not notice was that in the shadows on both sides of the road, several pairs of ghostly green eyes were silently watching him.

The incident occurred on a seemingly ordinary afternoon.

Lin Yun was walking along a narrow mountain path. On both sides were dense forests, and ahead lay a narrow valley. The cliffs on either side of the valley were towering, blocking most of the sunlight and making the light inside the valley dim and cold.

Bebe suddenly stood up from his shoulder, his little nose twitching incessantly as he let out a low hiss—a warning of impending danger.

Lin Yun immediately stopped and released "Wind of Perception."

The feedback from his perception made him frown—there was no sign of life in the surroundings. No magic beasts, no wild beasts, not even the presence of insects.

But Bebe's reaction would not lie.

Lin Yun heightened his vigilance, secretly condensing a Thunder Arrow in his right hand, and slowly moved forward.

As he reached the middle of the valley, the unexpected occurred.

"Rustle, rustle..."

A strange sound came from the cliffs on both sides, as if something was crawling on the rocks. Lin Yun looked up, his pupils shrinking abruptly—

Over a dozen black shadows darted out from the cracks in the cliffs, moving with extreme speed, pouncing on him from all directions!

Lin Yun had no time to think. He waved his right hand, and the prepared Thunder Arrow shot out—

"Crackle!"

The purple arc of electricity struck the nearest black shadow, blasting it away. But the moment it hit the target, Lin Yun sensed something unusual—the shadow made no sound of pain when struck, nor did it even tremble. It was merely pushed back by the impact of the Thunder Arrow, rolled twice on the ground, and then wobbled back to its feet.

"What..." Lin Yun's heart sank.

Only then did he see the true appearance of those black shadows.

They were humanoid creatures, but definitely not human. Their skin was grayish-white, shriveled and rough, like dried leather. There was no hair on their bodies, and their eye sockets held no eyeballs, only two clusters of ghostly green flames flickering in the hollows. Their nails were long and sharp, like ten keen daggers, glinting with a cold light in the dim valley.

Most chilling of all were their mouths—gaping wide to reveal two rows of yellowed fangs, emitting a low, guttural "ho-ho" sound from deep within their throats, as if something was churning inside.

"What the hell are these things!" Lin Yun gasped.

He had no time to dwell on it; the monsters had already pounced again, faster and more frenzied than before.

Lin Yun waved his hands repeatedly, firing Thunder Arrows, Wind Blades, and Fireballs in alternation to beat back the monsters one by one. But with every hit, his heart grew heavier—

These monsters felt no pain.

The Thunder Arrows pierced their bodies, yet they only stumbled before continuing their charge. The Wind Blades severed their limbs, but they didn't even glance at them, continuing their assault with their remaining appendages. The Fireballs burned their skin and flesh, yet they still pressed forward as if their bodies did not belong to them.

These were no ordinary magic beasts.

A thought flashed through Lin Yun's mind—undead creatures!

Delin had once mentioned such things during his teachings. Undead creatures were monsters created by the resentment of the dead or through the effects of Necromancy. They felt no pain, knew no fear, and never tired; unless completely destroyed, they would fight until the very last moment.

"Damn it." Lin Yun gritted his teeth and increased his magical output.

A thicker Thunder Chain flew from his hand, entangling the three monsters in the lead. Electricity ravaged their bodies, and the air filled with the stench of burning flesh. The three monsters twitched violently and collapsed to the ground, temporarily losing the ability to move.

But more monsters surged forward.

Lin Yun retreated while using magic to block their advance. Wind Blades, Thunder Arrows, Fireballs, Ice Spikes—he used almost every type of offensive magic he knew, but these monsters seemed endless, as if they could never be killed off.

Bebe also jumped down from his shoulder, transforming into a gray streak of lightning as he wove through the swarm of monsters. His sharp claws and teeth were equally effective against these undead creatures—each swipe tore away a large chunk of rotting flesh, and each bite snapped a bone. But even with legs bitten off and arms torn away, these monsters still crawled on the ground, wriggling toward Lin Yun.

"This won't work." Lin Yun calculated rapidly in his heart.

The individual strength of these monsters was not high, roughly on par with fifth or sixth-rank magic beasts. But their numbers were vast, and they were fearless and indifferent to pain, making them more troublesome than seventh-rank magic beasts. His magical power had already been significantly depleted in previous battles; if he continued to drag this out, he would eventually be exhausted.

He needed to find their weakness.

While fighting, Lin Yun searched his memory for Delin's explanations regarding undead creatures.

"Undead creatures are products of Necromancy. Their bodies are merely vessels; the true core is the Undead Fire lodged within them. As long as the Undead Fire is not extinguished, they will never truly die."

Undead Fire...

Lin Yun's gaze locked onto the ghostly green flames flickering in the eye sockets of the monsters.

That was it!

He took a deep breath, concentrating his magic power into his right hand to condense a Light Spear that was even more solid than before.

Light Element Magic: Light Spear.

Undead creatures were the product of Necromancy, and Light Element magic was naturally effective against it. If his judgment was correct, the Light Spear should be able to inflict damage on those flames.

"Go!"

The Light Spear shot out, accurately striking the head of the foremost monster.

"Sss--"

Like a red-hot iron block plunged into ice water, thick black smoke rose from the monster's head. The eerie green flames in its eye sockets flickered violently a few times, and then—they extinguished.

The monster's body stiffened in place, then collapsed with a crash like a puppet that had lost its support, never moving again.

It worked!

Lin Yun felt a surge of joy and immediately switched tactics. He abandoned other elemental offensive spells and focused entirely on the Light Element. Light Spears and Light Arrows flew from his hands, each strike hitting a monster's head with precision.

One, two, three...

The monsters he struck fell one after another, the flames in their eye sockets dying out as their bodies completely lost their vitality.

But there were too many monsters. He had knocked down seven or eight, yet five or six more were still lunging at him frantically. Moreover, those he had knocked down with Thunder Arrow and Wind Blade without destroying their heads were struggling on the ground before shakily standing up again!

"It never ends!" Lin Yun gritted his teeth.

Most of his magic power was already depleted, and his reserves of Light Element magic were especially strained. If this continued, once his Light Element magic ran out, he would be unable to effectively kill these monsters.

He had to end this quickly.

Lin Yun took a deep breath, deciding to take a gamble.

He mobilized all the remaining Light Element magic in his body, condensing it into a Light Spear even more dazzling than before. This spear was as thick as an arm, radiating a scorching white light as if it were a Spear of Holy Light descended from the heavens.

This was the strongest Light Element offensive spell he could currently cast: Spear of Holy Light.

"Go!"

The spear shot out, but instead of flying toward a single monster, it flew toward the center of the monster pack.

"Boom!"

The spear exploded in the midst of the pack, erupting into a blinding white light. Scorching flames of light spread in all directions, engulfing every monster nearby.

"Sss, sss, sss--"

Thick black smoke rose from the monsters as they let out shrill, "ho-ho" cries—the first time Lin Yun had heard them make a sound. It was sharp and piercing, like metal scraping against glass.

The light dissipated.

Six monsters hit directly by the spear lay on the ground, the flames in their eye sockets extinguished, their bodies slowly turning to ash in the lingering radiance of the light. The other monsters caught in the blast were also severely wounded, with large patches of rotting flesh falling off to reveal the bones beneath.

But three remained standing.

Their bodies were riddled with holes from the burns; one was even missing an arm and half its face, yet the eerie green flames in their eye sockets continued to flicker. They did not retreat, showed no fear, and continued to lunge at Lin Yun.

Lin Yun's back hit the stone wall of the valley—he had nowhere left to retreat.

His magic power was nearly exhausted, and his Light Element magic was bottoming out. While he still had some magic power of other elements, their effectiveness against these undead creatures was greatly diminished.

"Ho-ho--"

The three monsters opened their maws and lunged at Lin Yun, disgusting slime hanging from their fangs.

Just then, a gray shadow streaked past him—

Bebe!

Bebe moved like a bolt of lightning, lunging directly at the head of the foremost monster. Its sharp claws pierced accurately into the monster's eye socket, snatching out the mass of eerie green flame.

"Sss--"

The flame flickered a few times on Bebe's claw before extinguishing. The monster's body collapsed with a crash.

Bebe did not stop, turning to lunge at the second one. Its speed was so fast that Lin Yun's eyes couldn't keep up; he only saw a gray streak of light weaving through the monster pack.

"Chi-chi!"

The second monster's flame was crushed.

"Chi-chi!"

The third monster's flame was swatted out.

The three monsters fell almost simultaneously, never to stand again.

Bebe landed on the ground, its little paws stepping on a monster's head as it chirped "chi-chi" twice, as if to say, "Done." Its body was covered in black ash, but it was in high spirits and completely uninjured.

Lin Yun leaned against the stone wall, panting heavily as he looked at the remains of the monsters scattered across the ground, his heart still racing.

"Bebe, thanks."

"Chi-chi!" Bebe darted back onto his shoulder, rubbing its little head against his cheek.

Lin Yun crouched down and carefully examined the remains of the monsters.

Their bodies had completely lost their vitality, and the grayish-white rotting flesh was decomposing rapidly, emitting a pungent, foul stench. The flames in their eye sockets had completely extinguished, leaving only two hollow, concave pits.

"Undead creatures..." Lin Yun murmured, "Grandpa Delin once said that these things are called Corpse Demons, born from the resentment of the dead combined with Necromancy."

He recalled Delin's explanation—Corpse Demons possess no soul, only a cluster of Undead Fire driven by Necromancy. They feel no pain, know no fear, and never tire; unless the Undead Fire is extinguished, they will never truly die.

This type of monster is far more troublesome than ordinary magic beasts.

Magic beasts at least experience fear; they will retreat when injured and flee when facing death. But Corpse Demons do not. They will fight until they are completely destroyed or until they have torn their enemy to shreds.

"No wonder Grandpa Delin said that if you encounter undead creatures, run if you can," Lin Yun said with a bitter smile.

In today's battle, if he hadn't happened to know Light Element magic, and if Bebe hadn't stepped in at the critical moment, he might have truly met his end here.

Bebe crouched on his shoulder, chirped twice, and patted his head with a tiny paw, as if to say, "Don't think so much, let's go."

Lin Yun stood up, took one last look at the scattered remains on the ground, and turned to continue his journey.

"It's not normal for these Corpse Demons to appear here," he thought as he walked. "There shouldn't be undead creatures on the outskirts of the Magic Beast Mountain Range. Where did they come from?"

A faint sense of unease stirred in his heart, but he had no leads for the time being.

"I'll have to ask Grandpa Delin when I get back," Lin Yun muttered to himself.