Plans for What Comes Next

Xu Hualing's heart was already on the verge of despair.

The formation Ye Xiu had left behind was useless against the monster before them, and their only exit had been blocked. Even if she wanted to flee, there was nowhere to go.

Watching the zombies swarm in, Xu Hualing closed her eyes sadly, preparing to meet her death.

"The flames in the formation can still be activated a few more times. Protect yourself."

A fierce gust swept past, but it carried none of the zombies' distinctive stench of rot.

Hearing the voice by her ear, Xu Hualing's eyes flew wide open. What entered her sight was a brilliant white light.

"Burn the soul as fuel—go."

Ye Xiu stared coldly at the three-meter-tall azure figure before him as the spiritual energy within him erupted in an instant.

With the Burning Soul Art driven at full force, the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger split into dozens of copies in an instant.

The dagger lights joined into a ribbon of white, sealing off every possible escape route around the Tyrant with seamless precision.

Clang, clang, clang...

The crisp sounds rang out endlessly, like rain pelting down.

Ye Xiu was astonished to discover that the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger, which normally cut through steel as easily as tofu, left nothing but streaks of white marks when it struck the monster's body.

"Roar!"

The Tyrant let out a roar. Ignoring the Soul-Extinguishing Daggers circling its body, it charged straight at Ye Xiu.

That enormous body possessed speed beyond all common sense. It crossed more than ten meters in a single leap, closing in on Ye Xiu in the span of a breath.

"Brother Xiu, be careful! This Tyrant is a fourth-tier mutated zombie. Its physical abilities are terrifying!"

Seeing this, Xu Hualing shouted a warning from the side.

At her words, Ye Xiu immediately dodged to one side.

Just as he was about to evade that heavy, powerful blow, a fierce light flared in the Tyrant's scarlet eyes.

Its thick arm suddenly hooked inward, twisting backward in an utterly bizarre angle and clasping Ye Xiu's body from behind.

It was over!

When Xu Hualing saw Ye Xiu caught by the Tyrant, her heart sank with a thud.

With the Tyrant's terrifying strength, enough to tear steel apart, how could Ye Xiu's fleshly body possibly withstand it?

Were the two of them really going to die here today?

A flash of bloodlust passed through the Tyrant's scarlet eyes. Its thick hand clenched fiercely and shot straight toward Ye Xiu's chest.

It looked at Ye Xiu with calm leisure, ready to savor the pained expression of its prey before death.

Yet reflected in those scarlet eyes was Ye Xiu's mocking smile.

"You beast, do you really think you can hold me?"

With a wet splat.

Ye Xiu's figure suddenly scattered into a mass of emerald-green flames.

The flames spread upward from the Tyrant's arm. In the time of a single breath, they had engulfed its entire body.

Meanwhile, beside the despairing Xu Hualing, Ye Xiu's figure gradually emerged from thin air.

His hand formed an incantation seal, and not a hair on his body had been harmed.

"Brother Xiu, wh-what happened?"

The sudden turn of events left Xu Hualing standing there in stunned disbelief.

She stared blankly at Ye Xiu before her, completely unable to understand how he had escaped a certain deathtrap so suddenly.

Ye Xiu waved a hand, with no intention of explaining much to her.

Naturally, he would not tell Xu Hualing that the moment he realized the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger was ineffective, he had used a spell to create a decoy from soul flame. His true body had long since hidden off to the side with a concealment art.

This sort of trick, which could be exposed in the cultivation world with a simple sweep of spiritual energy, was unexpectedly effective here.

Then again, zombies had already lost their minds. Naturally, this type of soul-based spell worked wonders against them.

That much was clear from the Tyrant, which was still struggling without end.

The ghostly green soul flames looked as though they might gutter out at any moment, yet once they clung to the Tyrant's massive body, they made it writhe in agony. It no longer possessed that previous invulnerability to both hard and soft tactics.

With a boom.

At last, as the green flames atop its head grew ever more intense, the Tyrant's struggles gradually weakened.

Finally, its enormous body crashed to the ground, never to make another sound.

Xu Hualing's eyes were wide as she could not believe that a Tyrant so powerful that even ordinary small shelters could do nothing against it had been dealt with so easily by Ye Xiu.

Ye Xiu, meanwhile, was in no hurry to inspect the spoils.

As he controlled the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger to keep watch over their surroundings, he continued using soul flames to burn the Tyrant's corpse.

Only after confirming that there were no other living creatures within three li did he turn to Xu Hualing and ask, "Hualing, where did this monster come from?"

Ye Xiu was certain he had never seen this kind of zombie in the Apocalypse World before. Its sudden appearance meant that something must have happened.

For one thing, if this creature had not been so afraid of soul-based spells, Ye Xiu might have had to avoid its edge for the moment based on the strength of its body alone.

Hearing Ye Xiu's question, Xu Hualing wore the same puzzled expression.

"Jianghai has fallen. The ability users inside should all be moving outward. Logically speaking, a high-level zombie like this should be following the trail of high-level ability users..."

Listening to Xu Hualing's explanation, Ye Xiu gained a deeper understanding of the current state of this world.

After the zombie virus broke out, humanity had developed supernatural abilities. Zombies and other mutants likewise had their own paths of evolution.

By relying on the Soul Pearls produced within the bodies of those mutated creatures, they too could evolve.

The higher the tier of a zombie or mutated creature, the greater its intelligence. And their beastly instincts made them even more frenziedly obsessed with hunting and growing stronger.

That was why Ye Xiu had not encountered any powerful zombies along the way before;

Jianghai had fallen, and the powerful ability users had long since fled. The powerful zombie beasts had likewise continued tracking them, leaving behind only low-level zombies without consciousness.

"Even among fourth-tier zombies, Tyrants are a powerful type. For one to have been drawn here, there should be a shelter nearby."

As Xu Hualing reached that conclusion, Ye Xiu controlled the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger to dissect the Tyrant's body.

Fortunately, the Tyrant's body had degraded considerably after death. Though it was still somewhat difficult, the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger could at least break through its flesh now.

It seemed that replacing his weapon needed to be put on the agenda as well.

Ye Xiu pondered inwardly. Though the cultivation world's spells were formidable, this Apocalypse World clearly offered far greater enhancements to the physical body. If possible, perhaps he could obtain suitable materials from this world?

Xu Hualing's settlement still needed to be resolved, and he also needed to contact people to obtain more information about the Kabbalah Organization. Going to that shelter might be the best choice for what came next.

As he was thinking, Ye Xiu suddenly caught an unusual fragrance on the tip of his nose.

Focusing his gaze, he saw an azure-green crystal clearly revealed within the Tyrant's chest.

The crystal flickered with a light that pulsed like breathing. With only one glance, an intense desire rose within Ye Xiu's heart.

He had a premonition that if he completely absorbed this thing, his strength would increase greatly.

He reached out and stored the crystal in his storage pouch. Just as Ye Xiu was about to ask Xu Hualing about the shelter, a burst of chaotic wind suddenly came from above.

What was going on?

Ye Xiu abruptly raised his head, the Soul-Extinguishing Dagger silently concealed behind him.

In the dim yellow sky, a black shadow could be seen rapidly closing in from afar.