Zombie King

Uncle Nine looked at his apprentice as he was now and couldn't help rapping him on the head.

"What are you thinking? These things are all external possessions. Only your own cultivation is true strength. Don't go thinking about crooked shortcuts."

Hearing his master's reprimand, Qiusheng just grinned foolishly.

There were some things his master simply didn't know. At least, in his eyes, one of the two items in his hands was a powerful tool that could rapidly increase his cultivation.

But he was still too embarrassed to ask his master for it. After all, this thing was the supreme treasure of their Maoshan sect. It probably wouldn't be handed out just like that.

With thoughts swirling in his mind, Qiusheng followed closely behind his master as they hurried toward the southwest of the Public Mortuary.

"Master, where are we going?"

"Where? Naturally, to find the feng shui master who plotted against Master Ren's family and made fools of us all."

"Hm? Master, do you know where he's hiding?"

Hearing Uncle Nine's words, Qiusheng raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Heh, I didn't before. But Old Master Ren should be able to help us find him."

Uncle Nine spoke in a cold, low voice. As he spoke, he took the Bagua Mirror from Qiusheng, bit his middle finger, and drew a talisman on the mirror's surface.

The red talisman, drawn in blood, flashed with an eerie light before vanishing.

Only then did he reach into his robes and take out a dry strand of hair.

It had been plucked from Ren Weiyong, and Uncle Nine had brought it out to track his whereabouts.

Seeing this, Qiusheng realized that his master had already had a plan in mind.

"Master, are you sure this thing works?"

"You brat. This is our sect's supreme treasure, and you dare question its power?"

Since his master had put it that way, Qiusheng didn't argue. He silently followed behind him, running onward.

After running for nearly half the night, Uncle Nine finally brought Qiusheng to a desolate mountain.

The mountain was enclosed on three sides, with a small lake at its center. Its waters were clear, and moonlight shimmered across the surface, creating a beautiful scene.

But though the scenery was lovely, the place harbored a great terror.

Qiusheng stared at the scene before him in shock, muttering to himself over and over.

"How is this possible? How could the terrain here form a Yin Cave?"

"Hmph. A Yin Cave doesn't form only because of the terrain. Have you forgotten? If a great evil thing finds a place to cultivate in seclusion, the yin energy will gather here year after year. Given enough time, it will naturally create a place like this."

Hearing Qiusheng mutter to himself, Uncle Nine replied calmly, then continued, "Qiusheng, set up the Big Dipper Formation. Today, I'm going to purge evil."

As soon as Uncle Nine finished speaking, Qiusheng hurried to the spot where the yin energy was thickest and began planting flags in the ground, following the pattern of the Big Dipper.

As for Uncle Nine, he casually took a Daoist robe from his pack and draped it over himself.

He pointed the Peach Wood Sword in his hand toward the lake and softly chanted a spell.

"Shangqing Dongxuan, Northern Dipper Tiangang, Star Lords descend, slay demons and exorcise evil. By command!"

As the incantation rang out, a yellow light appeared over the Big Dipper Formation Qiusheng had laid. The seven stars of the Big Dipper seemed to suddenly brighten, shining with dazzling starlight.

Qiusheng sensed a vast force descending from the heavens and gathering around Uncle Nine, causing the magical power within him to surge far beyond its usual strength.

"Lin Jiu, I didn't expect you to find your way here."

"Since you've come, I have no choice but to leave you and your apprentice here."

Amid a cold, hoarse voice, a figure rose from the lake before Uncle Nine.

Qiusheng's scalp prickled as he stared at the thing that had appeared before them, his heart in turmoil.

Uncle Nine had once told him about the ranks of zombies: Walking Corpses, zombies, Iron-Armored Zombies, Bronze-Armored Zombies, Zombie Kings, Golden Armored Corpse Kings, and drought demons.

Once a zombie reached the rank of Zombie King, it could develop intelligence. At that point, the threat it posed to the world would grow enormously. It was utterly terrifying.

In other words, zombies could only gain intelligence once they reached the rank of Zombie King.

Could the creature emerging from beneath the lake be a Zombie King? Otherwise, how could it speak?

"Hmph, you fiend! In your pursuit of immortality, you turned yourself into a zombie and entered the demonic path. I, Lin Jiu, a twenty-second-generation disciple of Maoshan, will uphold justice today and destroy you, you great demon!"

Uncle Nine looked at the figure hovering in the air and shouted coldly.

"Hahaha, Lin Jiu, you think far too highly of yourself. You're only an Earth Master, yet you think you can kill me, a Zombie King? I'd really like to know where you got that confidence."

The figure who called himself a Zombie King flashed forward, appearing beside Uncle Nine in an instant. He reached out and clawed straight for Uncle Nine's chest.

Though his opponent came at him fiercely, Uncle Nine showed no sign of panic. A silver gleam flickered on the Peach Wood Sword in his hand, and strands of Big Dipper starlight seemed to coil around it. With a casual swing, he easily deflected the Zombie King's claw.

And so, a spectacular battle unfolded before Qiusheng.

Qiusheng watched Uncle Nine strike again and again with the Peach Wood Sword, holding his own against a Zombie King without falling behind. A surge of pride suddenly rose within him.

He raised the Mystic Dao Seal in his hand and poured the magical power in his body into it.

"Rooar!"

As Qiusheng activated the Mystic Dao Seal, a deep dragon's roar came from within it.

At the sound of the roar, the corpse energy surrounding the Zombie King seemed to be suppressed by some force. His body stiffened.

Uncle Nine naturally seized the opportunity. He kicked the Zombie King into the Big Dipper Formation Qiusheng had set up.

Then Uncle Nine raised the Innate Bagua Mirror in one hand, drew a Zombie-Suppressing Talisman on its surface with his blood, and placed it at the North Star position in the formation. Drawing on the power of the seven stars and the North Star, he completely suppressed the Zombie King.

Qiusheng, who had been guarding the battle from the sidelines, suddenly leaped forward and pressed the Mystic Dao Seal in his hand directly against the Zombie King's face.

"Roar!"

A deep growl sounded, and Qiusheng's expression changed dramatically.

The moment he pressed the Mystic Dao Seal against the Zombie King's face, a terrifying surge of corpse energy struck back, sending him flying.

The powerful, savage corpse energy slammed into Qiusheng's chest and gravely wounded him.