The moment the Emperor Corpse (the old man)'s fist collided with Uncle Nine's lightning and fire, terrifying energy spread outwards.
The ground cracked with spiderweb-like patterns, the tomb bricks overhead fell in a rustling sound, and even the space itself seemed to ripple with subtle wrinkles, as if it were about to be torn apart.
The two remained locked in a stalemate, with lightning arcs swirling around Uncle Nine's body and the flames in his palms constantly compressing, attempting to force back the Yin energy.
The Emperor's corpse had bloodshot eyes, bulging veins on its arms, and its black and gold dragon robe fluttering in the wind. The Yin energy in its palms was as thick as ink, desperately resisting the lightning and fire.
How could Four Eyes withstand such an impact? Before he could even invoke his ancestor, he was blown away by the shockwave, crashing into the stone wall behind him, and then falling heavily into a pile of rubble, instantly becoming still.
In the brief lull of this stalemate, Lin Yu's attack finally took effect! He controlled the phantom of the Kunpeng, and the golden wind blades carried by the flapping of its wings struck the Emperor's corpse.
Although most of it was blocked by the Yin energy, a small portion managed to break through the Emperor Corpse's defenses, creating an opening.
The two had only recently merged and were not yet proficient in their own power. At this moment, the old man's soul finally began to fluctuate under Lin Yu's Yin-Yang power.
The golden chains at Lin Yu's fingertips shot out like serpents, precisely binding the faint, ethereal soul on the Emperor's corpse.
Already unstable due to the forced fusion, it suddenly emitted bursts of black light when pulled by the chains.
"Ah!" The Emperor Corpse (the old man) let out a shrill roar, and his palm strike weakened instantly.
Uncle Nine seized the opportunity, and the Thunderfire Vortex suddenly erupted, breaking through the Yin Sha power of the Emperor Corpse and slamming hard into the Emperor Corpse's chest!
The emperor's corpse was shaken and forced to retreat repeatedly. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lin Yu exerted his strength. The Golden Light of Merit on the chains and the devouring power of the Kunpeng erupted at the same time, directly extracting the old man's soul from the emperor's corpse!
The wisp of soul struggled in the air, trying to escape back into the Emperor's corpse, but Lin Yu raised his hand and grabbed it. The Kunpeng phantom opened its huge mouth and swallowed the soul into its belly. Yin and Yang power surged within the phantom, and in a short while, the soul was scattered and destroyed.
Without the old man's soul controlling it, the Emperor Corpse froze instantly. Its crimson eyes lost some of their liveliness, leaving only the ferocity of a zombie's instincts, its turbid eyes filled with savagery.
If the Emperor's Corpse, fused with the old man's soul, can be called the number one corpse below the Immortal level, then without the old man, it is just an ordinary, Untransformed Bones.
It roared and swung its fist at Uncle Nine, but its movements were much slower than before.
Uncle Nine dodged to the side and saw Lin Yu trying to kill the zombie. He immediately grabbed Lin Yu's arm. "You can't kill it! The evil energy will overflow, and our thousand-year plan will be ruined in an instant."
After saying that, Uncle Nine did not retreat but advanced, and with a few flashes of his figure, he toyed with the Emperor Corpse until it was spinning around in circles.
The Emperor Corpse, unable to hit its target for so long, was thoroughly enraged by its remaining intelligence. It began to act recklessly, its scarlet eyes fixed on Uncle Nine, its arms flashing out afterimages, each punch carrying a devastating force that slammed into the surroundings.
The fist grazed Uncle Nine's body and slammed into the ground, instantly causing the earth to tremble and a huge crater to appear. Fortunately, this was a hidden world, otherwise all the surrounding mountains would have been collapsed by this punch.
Uncle Nine exerted force with his knuckles, unleashing the power of the Pangu Clan, which locked the Emperor Corpse's wrist like an iron clamp, leaving it motionless no matter how much the Emperor Corpse struggled.
"Still trying to struggle?" Uncle Nine shouted, his other hand forming a Daoist hand seal, and he pressed it hard against the Emperor's corpse's brow.
Sensing danger, the Emperor Corpse slammed its other hand into Uncle Nine's chest. The Emperor Corpse's punch was fast and fierce, the wind of the punch carrying the power of a thousand years of Yin energy, the pressure causing the surrounding space to tremble.
Seeing this, Lin Yu quickly swung out his chains and wrapped them around the zombie's arm.
However, Lin Yu clearly underestimated the terrifying power of the Emperor's Corpse; he was actually dragged forward and slid along.
Seeing this, Lin Yu was surprised. This was the first time he had competed in strength since his breakthrough.
Unconvinced, Lin Yu activated the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiend Arts. With the application of his supernatural powers, Lin Yu instantly regained his footing.
He held the emperor's corpse's arm firmly, rendering it unable to move.
Uncle Nine placed his palm on the emperor's forehead, and a suction force burst forth from his palm.
It was as if a hole had opened between the Emperor's eyebrows, and thick Yin energy surged wildly into his body through Uncle Nine's palm.
The emperor's corpse visibly withered away, its once smooth skin gradually losing its luster and becoming wrinkled like withered tree bark.
At first, Uncle Nine's brows were slightly furrowed, clearly as he frantically refined the massive amount of malevolent energy.
But as the malevolent energy continued to flow in, his eyes gradually relaxed, and a comfortable smile even appeared on his lips. His body trembled slightly uncontrollably, as if it were the pleasant feeling of the malevolent energy being refined over thousands of years.
His originally deep green pupils gradually turned a pale red.
The Emperor Corpse's struggles grew weaker and weaker, and a final, unwilling roar was stuck in its throat as its arms fell limply to its sides.
Seeing this, Lin Yu also put away the chains; the zombie was no longer a threat.
About half an incense stick later, the black light around the Emperor's corpse completely dissipated, and his body became shriveled and black, like a withered tree that had lost its moisture, with only a layer of dry skin covering his skeleton.
Uncle Nine took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled, a hint of satisfaction in his voice, even letting out a satisfied burp. "The baleful energy of a thousand-year-old imperial corpse is truly nourishing, so comforting!"
"Congratulations, Master! Your strength has improved again." Lin Yu was also happy for his master's improvement.
"Wait, where's my martial uncle?!"
Only then did the two realize that someone was missing.
"Uncle-Master!" Lin Yu called out, hurriedly searching around the ancient tomb.
A dust-covered hand emerged from beneath a pile of rubble and weakly waved.
The two quickly got to work and dug Four Eyes out of the rubble.
Four Eyes, covered in dust and with half a crumb still in his mouth, spat it out and said Four Eyes, "I tried to summon the ancestral master to possess me, but there was no response after calling for ages! This imperial corpse is too powerful; I didn't even have a chance to fight back..."
"Haha, you definitely can't get him here, Uncle-Master. There's an array here that isolates heaven and earth; the Ancestral Master can't hear your cries for help." Lin Yu looked at his Uncle-Master, wanting to laugh but daring not to, and could only hold it in tightly.
"Alright, are you alright? If you are, hurry up and get back to Maoshan to report that the formation has malfunctioned."
Uncle Nine pulled Four Eyes up. Their most urgent task now was to return to Maoshan as soon as possible. If even this small ancient tomb could be destroyed, then the tombs of those ancient emperors must have been destroyed as well.
Just as the three relaxed, a strange black array pattern suddenly lit up on the ground, glowing with an eerie light, which enveloped the spot where the old man's corpse had been.
Immediately afterwards, a familiar laugh rang out, "Hahaha! You think you can kill me like this?"
The three of them immediately stopped their playful antics. Lin Yu was astonished; the old man's soul, which he had personally devoured, was now alive again.
This is even stranger than seeing a ghost.