Chapter Seventeen: An Encounter

The journey from the depths of the Magic Beast Mountain Range back toward its outskirts was much easier than the trip in.

Lin Yun no longer needed to stay on constant alert or deliberately seek out magical beasts to fight. He slowed his pace, walking as he looked back on the past month of training. Every battle, every breakthrough, every insight felt etched into his mind, clear and vivid.

Bebe crouched on his shoulder and had returned to his usual liveliness. Every now and then, he would hop down to chase a butterfly or dart into the bushes to startle a few birds, having the time of his life.

Sunlight filtered through the canopy, casting dappled shadows along the forest path. The air was fresh and damp, carrying the fragrance of earth and greenery. The occasional birdsong drifted in from afar, lending a little life to the quiet forest.

Lin Yun was in high spirits.

He had reached the Seventh Level, consolidated his cultivation, and mastered the Seventh-Level Earth Element spell Saint Armor of Earth Protection. He had also honed his combat skills in real battles against all kinds of Seventh-Level Magical Beasts. His gains over the past month had far exceeded his expectations.

"At this rate, we'll be out of the Magic Beast Mountain Range in two days," Lin Yun estimated, then said to Bebe.

"Chirp!" Bebe called, pointing ahead with a tiny paw as if to say, "Then let's hurry up."

Lin Yun smiled and quickened his pace.

What he didn't notice was that a few pairs of ghostly green eyes were silently watching him from the shadows on either side of the road.

The unexpected happened on an otherwise ordinary afternoon.

Lin Yun was walking along a narrow mountain path. Dense woods flanked both sides, and a narrow valley lay ahead. Cliffs towered on either side, blocking most of the sunlight and leaving the valley dim and chilly.

Bebe suddenly stood up on his shoulder. His little nose twitched constantly as he let out a low growl—a warning that danger was near.

Lin Yun immediately stopped and released Wind of Perception.

The feedback from his senses made him frown. There were no signs of life nearby. No magical beasts, no wild animals—not even many insects.

But Bebe's reaction couldn't be wrong.

Lin Yun heightened his guard, silently gathering a Thunder Arrow in his right hand as he slowly moved forward.

When he reached the middle of the valley, something suddenly changed.

"Rustle, rustle..."

A strange sound came from the cliffs on either side, as if something were crawling over the rocks. Lin Yun looked up, his pupils contracting sharply—

More than a dozen dark shapes darted from cracks in the cliffs, moving incredibly fast as they lunged at him from every direction!

Lin Yun had no time to think. He swung his right hand, sending the Thunder Arrow he had prepared shooting out—

"Crackle!"

The purple bolt struck the nearest dark shape and blasted it away. But the moment it hit, Lin Yun sensed something was wrong. The thing didn't cry out or even twitch. It was merely knocked back by the force of the Thunder Arrow, rolled across the ground twice, then staggered back to its feet.

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

Only then did he get a clear look at the creatures.

They were humanoid, but definitely not human. Their skin was grayish-white, dry and rough like sun-cured leather. They had no body hair, and their empty eye sockets held no eyeballs—only two flames of ghostly green fire flickering within. Their nails were long and sharp, like ten gleaming daggers, glinting coldly in the dim valley.

Most horrifying of all were their mouths, hanging wide open to reveal two rows of yellowed fangs. A deep, "hrrk, hrrk" sound rumbled from their throats, as if something were churning inside.

"What the hell are these things?" Lin Yun drew a sharp breath.

He had no time to think. The monsters were already charging again, faster than before and even more frenzied.

Lin Yun swept both hands out, alternating between Thunder Arrows, Wind Blades, and Fireballs to drive back the attacking monsters. But with every hit, his heart grew heavier.

These monsters didn't feel pain.

The Thunder Arrows pierced their bodies, and they only staggered before charging again. Wind Blades severed their arms, but they didn't even look, attacking with their remaining limbs. Fireballs scorched their flesh until it split, yet they kept advancing as if their bodies weren't their own.

These weren't ordinary magical beasts.

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

Doehring had mentioned such creatures while teaching him. Undead creatures were monsters created by the resentment of the dead or by Necromancy. They felt no pain, knew no fear, and never tired. Unless they were completely destroyed, they would fight until the very end.

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

A thicker Thunder Chain flew from his hand and wrapped around the three monsters in front. Electricity ravaged their bodies, filling the air with the stink of charred flesh. The three creatures convulsed from the shocks and fell to the ground, temporarily immobilized.

But more monsters surged forward.

Lin Yun retreated while using magic to hold them back. Wind Blades, Thunder Arrows, Fireballs, Ice Spikes—he used almost every offensive spell he knew, but the monsters seemed endless. No matter how many he killed, they kept coming.

Bebe leapt down from his shoulder and turned into a streak of gray lightning, darting through the mob. His claws and teeth worked just as well against the undead. Every swipe tore away a large chunk of rotting flesh, and every bite snapped a bone. Yet even with their legs bitten off and their arms torn away, the monsters still crawled across the ground, dragging themselves toward Lin Yun.

"This can't go on," Lin Yun thought, quickly running through his options.

Individually, the monsters weren't that strong—probably around the level of Fifth- or Sixth-Level Magical Beasts. But there were so many of them, and they felt no pain or fear of death. They were harder to deal with than even Seventh-Level Magical Beasts. His magic power had already been depleted by his earlier battles. If this dragged on, he would eventually run out.

He needed to find their weakness.

As he fought, Lin Yun searched his memory for Doehring's lessons about undead creatures.

"Undead creatures are creations of Necromancy. Their bodies are merely vessels. Their true core is the Undead Fire dwelling within them. As long as the Undead Fire remains, they will never truly die."

Undead Fire...

Lin Yun's eyes settled on the ghostly green flames flickering in the monsters' eye sockets.

That was it!

He took a deep breath and focused his magic power into his right hand, forming a Light Spear denser than any he had cast before.

Light Element magic—Spear of Light.

Undead creatures were creations of Necromancy, and Light Element magic naturally countered Necromancy. If his guess was right, the Spear of Light should be able to harm those flames.

"Go!"

The spear shot forward and struck the head of the foremost monster with pinpoint accuracy.

"Hiss—"

Like red-hot iron plunged into ice water, thick black smoke poured from the monster's head. The ghostly green flame in its eye sockets flickered violently a few times, then went out.

The monster froze in place, then crashed to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut. It didn't move again.

It worked!

Lin Yun was elated and immediately changed tactics. He abandoned his other offensive spells and focused on Light Element magic. Spears and arrows of light shot from his hands, each one striking a monster in the head with precision.

One, two, three...

The monsters he hit fell one after another. The flames in their eye sockets went out, and their bodies lost all vitality.

But there were too many of them. He had brought down seven or eight, yet five or six were still charging at him in a frenzy. Worse, the monsters he had knocked down with Thunder Arrows and Wind Blades—but hadn't hit in the head—struggled on the ground for a while, then staggered back to their feet!

"When will this end?" Lin Yun gritted out.

He had already used up most of his magic power, and his reserves of Light Element magic were especially low. If this continued, he wouldn't be able to kill the monsters effectively once he ran out.

He had to end this quickly.

Lin Yun took a deep breath and decided to risk everything.

He gathered all the Light Element magic power left in his body, condensing it into a Spear of Light more dazzling than before. The spear was as thick as his arm and radiated searing white light, like an executioner's spear descending from the heavens.

It was the most powerful Light Element attack spell he could cast right now—Spear of Holy Light.

"Go!"

The spear shot forward, not toward any single monster, but straight into the middle of the horde.

"Boom!"

It exploded among the monsters, erupting in a dazzling burst of white light. Searing radiance spread in every direction, swallowing every creature nearby.

"Hiss, hiss, hiss—"

Thick black smoke rose from the monsters as they let out shrill, "hrrk, hrrk" cries. It was the first time Lin Yun had heard them make a sound. The shrieks were piercing, like metal scraping against glass.

The light faded.

The six monsters struck directly by the spear lay on the ground, the flames in their eye sockets extinguished. Their bodies slowly crumbled to ash in the lingering radiance. Several others caught in the blast were badly wounded, large patches of rotting flesh falling away to reveal the bones beneath.

But three still stood.

Their bodies had been burned full of holes. One had even lost an arm and half its face, yet the ghostly green flames in their eye sockets still flickered. They didn't retreat or show fear. They kept charging 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 gone, and his Light Element reserves were completely depleted. He still had some magic power in his other elements, but it would be far less effective against these undead creatures.

"Hrrk, hrrk—"

The three monsters lunged at Lin Yun with their mouths gaping, disgusting mucus hanging from their fangs.

Just then, a gray blur swept past him—

Bebe!

Bebe shot like lightning straight at the head of the foremost monster. His claws plunged precisely into its eye socket and pulled out the ghostly green flame.

"Hiss—"

The flame flickered a few times in Bebe's claws, then went out. The monster crashed to the ground.

Bebe didn't stop. He turned and lunged at the second one. He was so fast Lin Yun couldn't follow him with his eyes; all he saw was a streak of gray light darting through the monsters.

"Chirp!"

The second monster's flame was crushed by Bebe's bite.

"Chirp!"

The third monster's flame was snuffed out by a swipe of his paw.

All three monsters fell almost at once and didn't get back up.

Bebe landed on the ground, planted a little paw on one monster's head, and chirped twice as if to say, "All done." His fur was covered in black ash, but he seemed perfectly fine and hadn't been hurt at all.

Leaning against the stone wall, Lin Yun gasped for breath as he looked at the scattered remains, still shaken.

"Thanks, Bebe."

"Chirp!" Bebe sprang back onto his shoulder and rubbed his little head against Lin Yun's cheek.

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

Their bodies had lost all vitality. The grayish-white rotting flesh was decaying rapidly, giving off a pungent stench. The flames in their eye sockets had gone out completely, leaving only two hollow sockets.

"Undead creatures..." Lin Yun murmured. "Grandpa Doehring said these things are called Corpse Demons. They're created by the resentment of the dead and Necromancy."

He recalled Doehring's explanation. Corpse Demons had no souls, only a mass of Undead Fire driven by Necromancy. They felt no pain, knew no fear, and never tired. Unless their Undead Fire was extinguished, they would never truly die.

These monsters were far harder to deal with than ordinary magical beasts.

At least magical beasts felt fear. They would retreat when wounded and flee when faced with death. Corpse Demons wouldn't. They would fight until they were utterly destroyed or tore their enemies to pieces.

"No wonder Grandpa Doehring said to run if you ever encountered undead creatures," Lin Yun said with a bitter smile.

If he hadn't happened to know Light Element magic, and if Bebe hadn't stepped in at the crucial moment, he might really have died here.

Bebe crouched on his shoulder, chirped twice, and patted him on the head with a little paw, as if to say, "Don't think about it. Let's get going."

Lin Yun stood up, took one last look at the remains scattered across the ground, and continued on his way.

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

A vague unease settled over him, but he had no idea what was behind it.

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