As the sun set behind the western mountains, the sky suddenly darkened.
Subsequent ships arrived one after another, and a large number of soldiers landed on Old Dragon Island and set up barracks on the high ground near the riverbank.
It was mid-May, and the weather was already quite hot.
The barracks were simple tents, with wooden frames inside and painted cotton and linen cloth on the outside. In a short time, a large number of tents were erected.
The Lower Court had a private area, with two people sharing a tent, and was also provided with supplies such as water, dry food, and firewood.
The situation on Old Dragon Island was dire, and almost the entire Lower Court was mobilized. As Seventh Rank Daoist Daoist Yiping was naturally among those who couldn't escape.
Zhou Wuji shared a tent with Daoist Yiping. Daoist Yiping was an elder and had a lazy nature, so Zhou Wuji did all the work.
Fortunately, Zhou Wuji had the Five Yin Pouch, which allowed him to carry a large number of items with him, most of which were living supplies he had prepared for his trip to the Lake Heart Island.
It has everything: teapots, teacups, bowls, plates, chopsticks, and more.
Daoist Yiping leaned lazily against the armrest and said to Zhou Wuji, "Stop busying yourself, have some tea..."
Although Seventh Rank Daoist, Daoist Yiping, was far from the center of power, he still had hot water delivered to him.
Zhou Wuji sat down opposite Daoist Yiping and took a sip of the freshly brewed tea. "Uncle-Master, you guard the camp tonight. Others will handle things outside."
"You don't need to tell me that. I'm not good at anything else, but I'm best at slacking off."
Daoist Yiping waved his hand dismissively, then added, "Who knows what dangers lurk inside Old Dragon Island? Don't rush ahead."
"Don't worry, Uncle-Master, I know what to do."
Zhou Wuji was aware of this; Zhang Shiheng was still on the island, and he wouldn't give Zhang Shiheng a chance.
With nothing else to do, Zhou Wuji noticed that many monks had also arrived at Golden Leaf Temple not far away.
Even in the dim light, the bald heads still stood out quite a bit.
He casually asked, "Uncle-Master, I've noticed that the monks at Golden Leaf Temple all practice martial arts as well, which is quite different from our approach."
On the Dragon Sacrifice Platform, Yuan'an issued a challenge. Although neither side made a move, Zhou Wuji could still discern Yuan'an's general condition.
This monk was exceptionally strong, even stronger than an ordinary Seventh-Rank Martial Artist.
"The monks follow the path of the Three Incantations and Seven Chakras, which is very different from our Daoist path, and also different from the path of martial artists."
Daoist Yiping was quite knowledgeable in this regard, and he patiently explained to Zhou Wuji, "The lowest rank in Buddhism is Ninth Rank monk. At this stage, Sinew Refining externally and cultivate one's mind internally by reciting mantras."
" The Eighth Rank means that one's physical strength and bones have been perfected, and one can bless oneself with incantations."
" The Seventh Rank, igniting the light of the Zen mind and condensing the light wheel, is also known as igniting the Heart Lamp. The Heart Lamp cultivates the spirit and will internally, and externally Organ Refining and bones. It is a very profound and subtle practice."
"Upon reaching the Seventh Rank, one upholds the Great Precepts of the Lower Altar and is able to practice various incantations."
" Sixth Rank preceptor condenses the Root Chakra; Fifth Rank lawyer condenses the Qi Chakra."
Daoist Yiping said, "Our Daoist sect practices magic, martial artists practice martial arts, and monks take the middle path, cultivating both magic and martial arts."
Zhou Wuji's eyes lit up. He liked the path of cultivating both magic and martial arts.
He asked, "Our Daoist sect must also have a method for cultivating both magic and martial arts, right?"
"That's natural. We, the Yuheng Lineage of sword cultivators, follow the path of dual cultivation of magic and martial arts. The Yaoguang Lineage is even more powerful; the Army-Breaking Divine Gang Qi is extremely domineering, arguably the number one martial arts Cultivation Method in the world, and it also aligns with righteous laws."
Zhou Wuji was somewhat fascinated. If he could learn the Secret Method of Yuheng and Yaoguang, he could solve the problem of cultivating both magic and martial arts.
He's currently stuck at the Seventh Rank in martial arts. If he advances to the Sixth Rank, with his combined martial arts and magic, he might even be able to put up a fight against Zhang Shiheng Fifth Rank.
In the evening, Daoist Yizhen divided the people in the Lower Court into five groups of seven, which could form the Big Dipper Seven Stars Formation.
Even when faced with a powerful enemy, they will not be immediately defeated.
Zhou Wuji did not participate in the group formation. He had specifically applied to Daoist Yizhen for permission to go deep into Old Dragon Island alone to investigate the situation.
Daoist Yizhen also believed in Zhou Wuji's abilities and let him wander around freely.
Old Dragon Island spans dozens of miles and has a complex terrain. To the west are large mountain ranges, while the Five Dragons Gang's residence is located on the plains on the east side of the island.
According to Zhiyuan, the earth's Qi of Earth Sha is contained in the western mountains, while most zombies live in the plains to the east.
Zhou Wuji walked alone for a while, carrying his sword, and then saw a large cluster of buildings in the distance.
He possesses the Six Yang Dharma Eye, making night as bright as day for him, and he can even see the Spiritual Qi hidden behind obstacles.
At first glance, specks of green light were hidden among the large buildings, clearly condensed demonic energy.
The closest aura was only a few dozen feet away, hidden behind the bushes.
Zhou Wuji took a few more steps forward, and the zombie hidden in the bushes sensed the Spiritual Qi and rushed over quickly.
The zombie looked like an old man, with almost all his hair gone, a hunched back, most of his clothes torn, his skin as black as ink, and his skin cracked in many places, revealing the dry, rotting flesh inside.
The zombies walked somewhat stiffly, but their speed was not slow.
He hurried through the bushes, the thorny branches tearing the zombie's clothes to shreds and even scraping off pieces of his dark skin.
The old man's dark face was expressionless, except for a pair of crimson eyes that gleamed with an eerie light.
Anyone with a normal sense would know at a glance that the old man was definitely not a living person.
Zhou Wuji recited the incantation, pointed his finger to activate the Golden Light Incantation, and a ball of golden light instantly landed on the old man.
The old zombie paused, hissing black smoke rising from his body, and the eerie red light in his eyes quickly dissipated.
In the blink of an eye, the old zombie staggered and collapsed into the bushes, his body rapidly decaying and rotting.
Zhou Wuji was not surprised by the result. Although his Golden Light Incantation was far inferior to that of Zhiyuan, it was already at the top level in the Lower Court.
The old man opposite was just an ordinary person who had turned into a zombie. He relied on the Qi of Earth Sha to sustain himself and on the Gu worms to maintain a bit of his former spirituality.
The Golden Light Incantation shattered the Qi of Earth Sha and also destroyed the spirituality of the Gu worms, so the old man who had turned into a corpse was truly and completely dead.
For ordinary people, such a reanimated old man is still very dangerous.
Fortunately, Daoist Law Technique is specifically designed to suppress unclean and Yin Qi, so any Eighth-Rank Qi Ingestion cultivator can easily deal with a group of zombies.
It's a bit harder for martial artists to deal with zombies; they at least need to cut off their heads.
In close combat, a single misstep can lead to infection with the corpse virus.
There should be several thousand zombies on Old Dragon Island, including some mutated zombies that contain the soul of Yin Dragon, making them even more dangerous.
Zhou Wuji opened the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment and used the Golden Light Incantation to transform the zombie into Nine Coins of Origin Profound Qi.
He now possesses True Qi of two thousand, so the nine coins of Origin Profound Qi are clearly of no use to him.
Zhou Wuji was not disappointed. As his cultivation level continued to improve, accumulating more ordinary demons and evil spirits was useless.
Fortunately, there are zombies here that have mutated from dragon souls; they should be of some use.
Dozens of wooden houses are arranged in an orderly manner, and some clothes are still hanging on the clothesline in front of the houses. They are all the kind of rough hemp woven short clothes.
The zombies hiding in the wooden house smelled the fresh life and ran out of the room, including the old and the young, the men and the women.
They all had dark skin, red eyes, and somewhat stiff bodies, yet they moved quite quickly.
The zombies have almost no intelligence; they only have an instinctive craving for life.
Faced with the swarming zombies, Zhou Wuji once again activated the Golden Light Incantation.
This time, his spellcasting Law Power was greatly enhanced, releasing golden light that spread out like a curtain, covering the entire area of zombies.
The zombies in the golden light moved slowly and stiffly, with wisps of black smoke emanating from their bodies.
Some zombies were a little more intelligent and instinctively tried to avoid the golden light and escape.
But after walking only a few steps, the Qi of Earth Sha and the Evil Qi of the Gu worms in their bodies dissipated completely, and their bodies collapsed to the ground.
When the golden light faded, all the zombies lay on the ground, their flesh torn open, the red light in their eyes gone...
Zhou Wuji smelled a strong stench of decay, so he cast Divine Body-Cleansing Incantation on himself.
A flash of inspiration swept through him, and the putrid stench and Qi of Earth Sha that had clung to him were swept away. He felt cool and refreshed both inside and out, and his depleted True Qi was also restored to some extent.
The Golden Light Incantation he unleashed just now was extremely powerful, but it also consumed nearly one-tenth of his True Qi.
It would be difficult for any other Seventh Rank cultivator to unleash such a powerful Golden Light Incantation.
Basically, only those who have reached the Sixth Rank rank, possess abundant and pure True Qi, and have a profound understanding of the Golden Light Incantation can do it.
Zhou Wuji glanced at the Northern Emperor's Book of Heavenly Punishment again. The Origin Profound Qi that the zombies could convert was very low, at most only twenty-odd points...
The zombies posed no threat and were of no use to him.
Zhou Wuji was very interested in the Qi of Earth Sha, but he dared not venture too deep into it rashly.
Leaving aside Zhang Shiheng's threat, Chen Dalu's whereabouts are unknown. Moreover, Chen Dalu has accomplices.
Even if those two run away, they might come back.
Zhou Wuji circled around, Law Technique various Law Technique on any zombies he encountered to test their effects and reactions.
By daybreak, Zhou Wuji had killed over two hundred zombies.
Back at the camp, Zhou Wuji saw that his Uncle Yiping had already fallen asleep.
Judging from the bloodstains on Yiping Yiping's robe, he must have been very busy last night, perhaps even taking action himself.
Although the old man had cultivated his inner energy to a high degree, he still snored loudly while lying down.
Zhou Wuji went to check on Wuming again. She and Wuye were in the same tent and were both asleep from exhaustion. Wuye, on the other hand, was very alert and opened her eyes as soon as she heard footsteps.
When Wuye saw that it was Zhou Wuji, she slowly sat up, a questioning look in her eyes.
Zhou Wuji shook his head slightly, and without speaking to Wuye, went to find Daoist Yizhen.
Daoist Yizhen must have also been up all night, yet his eyes were bright and he was full of energy, showing no signs of fatigue.
For Sixth Rank cultivator in their prime, staying up all night is nothing.
"What did you discover?" Daoist Yizhen was quite familiar with Zhou Wuji, and he asked directly without exchanging pleasantries.
"The intense Qi of Earth Sha will weaken the power of Law Technique. The longer the time is delayed, the more difficult the zombies will be to deal with under the nourishment of the Qi of Earth Sha."
Zhou Wuji said, "I have made a discovery: zombies have no intelligence; they can only sense the presence of living beings."
"But they retained some of their senses from when they were alive, such as sight, hearing, and smell."
"You can use a few pigs and sheep as bait at a fixed location to attract a large number of zombies, avoiding many dangers and also eliminating the zombies more quickly."
"We don't need to go it alone. Let's work together with the Pacification Office. We'll help them remove the Sha Qi and corpse poison, while they fight the zombies. That way, we can wipe them out much faster..."
Daoist Yizhen nodded. "That's a good idea. Let's go find the abbot..."
Several people were injured last night because zombies suddenly pounced out in the dark, catching them off guard and causing minor injuries.
Fortunately, Law Technique can remove the corpse poison, and minor bite wounds are nothing to worry about. However, encountering powerful zombies would be troublesome and could potentially cause mass casualties.
If Zhou Wuji's method works, it will save a lot of trouble.
The abbot Zhiyuan, had a private tent. From afar, Daoist Yizhen called out to greet him, and from inside the tent came Zhiyuan's voice. "Come in."
Daoist Yizhen led Zhou Wuji into the tent, and the two bowed and paid their respects before sitting down.
Daoist Yizhen relayed Zhou Wuji's idea, Zhiyuan saying, "Sounds good. You two try it tonight. Zhang Shiheng has returned to the prefectural city. Find Li Fei; he's a smart man and will definitely be willing to cooperate."
Daoist Yizhen had many things to attend to, Zhiyuan's consent, he left quickly.
Zhou Wuji lingered, not leaving until Yizhen departed. He then asked with a forced smile, "Master, what do you consider a great achievement?"
Zhiyuan glanced at Zhou Wuji and immediately guessed what the boy was thinking. Zhou Wuji was still eyeing the Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword of the Yuheng Lineage.
He said, "You've already done a great service by breaking through the chaos and saving many people. You also found evidence of the Five Dragons Gang's blood sacrifice and devised a plan to capture Chen Dalu. I remember all of these contributions."
"It's extremely difficult to earn a high evaluation of merit within our academy. Given your cultivation level and status, it's unlikely that any great achievement you make will be recognized as a high-level merit."
Zhou Wuji was somewhat disappointed. "Is learning the Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword really that difficult?"
Zhiyuan smiled and said, "Our Heavenly Pivot Lineage possesses various high-level Secret Method that far surpass those of other lineages."
He thought for a moment and said, "I know your abilities, but I can't solve the problem with the Northern Dipper Seven Star Sword."
"However, if you can take care of Chen Dalu, I can sell you a precious sword..."
"Sell me?" Zhou Wuji was somewhat surprised. He knew the old man was greedy, but offering such difficult conditions and still wanting to talk about money seemed unfair...