Di tengah altar, energi mayat yang menakutkan berhamburan.
Lu Family Old Ancestor aslinya kini telah ditafsirkan menjadi seorang "Raja Mayat".
Matanya legam, dan dalam pupil matanya, nyala merah darah berkelip, di dalam merah darah itu, seutas emas gelap bersinar, membuatnya tampak sangat berbeda dari zombie lain.
Tubuh Raja Mayat diguyur oleh energi mayat yang hampir tersentuh, seperti darah kelam_hitam yang menggelegar di sekitarnya.
Tiba-tiba tubuhnya membesar; daging mayatnya yang kering, saat vena-vonanya menggumpal, perlahan-lahan menjadi gemuk dan tinggi mengalahkan sembilan kaki.
Energi jahat menggelegar di tubuh Raja Mayat, auran dingin dan mengerikan, dengan rasa kekejaman dan keagungan yang menakutkan membuat orang gemetar.
Zhang Quan menatap, mata penuh obsesi, gumam sambil berulang kali:
"Hebat! Hebat!"
"Layak menjadi Raja Mayat!"
"Layak memerintah puluhan ribu zombie—Raja Mayat memiliki aura energi mayat yang begitu mengampress, kehadiran yang mengagah, benar-benar luar biasa!"
"Aku, Zhang Quan, tidak mengecewakan harapan nenek moyangku, dan tidak pernah mengecewakan darah turun-Tangku Zhang. Aku telah berhasil menyempurnakan Raja Mayat tertinggi dari Jalur Mayat Zhang!"
Zhang Quan jatuh berlutut dengan dentang dan melakukan beberapa kowtowing keras di tanah di depan arah kosong.
"Nenek moyang di atas, turun-Tangku Zhang Quan telah membawa kemuliaan ke garis keluarga kami!"
Setelah menundukkan kepalanya, Zhang Quan berdiri, ambil napas dalam-dalam, lalu mengeluarkan Lonceng Pengendali Mayat yang hitam lega—bukan batu, bukan kayu, bukan tembaga, bukan besi—dan mengayunkannya untuk memerintah Raja Mayat.
Dengan suara lonceng, Raja Mayat mengalihkan pandangan, seolah-olah "bangun".
Pada saat yang sama, peti pengap di Formasi Sepuluh Ribu Mayat mulai bergetar.
Penutup peti dikickuasakan terbuka, dan satu per satu, tangan-tangan kebiru-biruan mencapai keluar dari peti. Mayat Besi, patuh memerintah Raja Mayat, keluar dari peti logam, menyembah kepada Raja Mayat, lalu berbalik dan menyembah kepada Zhang Quan.
Zhang Quan sangat gembira!
Dia merasakan bisa mengendalikan Raja Mayat lewat lonceng, sekaligus bisa mengendalikan lebih dari dua puluh Mayat Besi!
Lebih dari dua puluh Mayat Besi!
Itu berarti lebih dari dua puluh pasukan serangan Foundation Building di bawah komandonya.
Ini baru permulaan, dan akan ada lebih banyak di masa depan!
Selama mengendalikan Mayat Besi untuk serangan beramai-ramai dan membunuh para kultivator Foundation Building, lalu menyempurnakan mayat mereka menjadi Mayat Besi, dan menggunakan Mayat Besi untuk membunuh lebih banyak Foundation Builder...
Siklus ini berulang, dan semakin banyak Mayat Besi yang akan dia kendalikan.
Tanpa Raja Mayat, dia hanya bisa mengendalikan satu atau dua Mayat Besi sekaligus.
Tapi dengan Raja Mayat, bahkan jika ada ratusan Mayat Besi, dia bisa mengendalikannya semuanya sekaligus.
Dengan cara ini, dia akan memiliki pasukan zombi yang menakutkan di bawah komando eksklusifnya, setara dengan Tentara Tao Tingkat Dua!
Di Perbatasan Prefektur Tingkat Dua, pasukan mayat ini bisa mengalahkan segalanya, tak terkalahkan!
Sejenak, hati Zhang Quan berkembang dengan kegembiraan.
Namun, saat Zhang Quan tengah tenggelam dalam fantasi, dia sama sekali tidak menyadari bahwa Mayat Besi di seberangnya telah menggerakkan mata tatapannya, pandangannya sedikit membelah ke kiri, perlahan-lahan berbalik ke arahnya.
Mayat Besi itu membuka mulutnya, menampilkan gigi-gigi kebiru kefasikan.
Tanpa suara, ia melaju diam-diam di belakang Zhang Quan, membuka mulutnya dengan lebar, giginya tajam dan menyebar bau busuk, dilapisi dengan Racun Mayat warna hijau kebiru yang mengoyollah ke lehermu Zhang Quan!
Angin dingin yang berbahaya merebak!
Zhang Quan tersentak, merasakan rasa dingin di punggungnya, seolah-olah ada sesuatu yang berdiri di belakangnya, menyprayangkan napas Busuk di lehernya, membuat rambutnya berdiri.
Di sudut pandangnya, dia melihat wajah kebiru yang jelek dan sepasang gigi beracun!
Zhang Quan kaget dan dengan cepat berbelok ke samping.
Namun reaksi terlalu singkat, dan meskipun dia berhasil menghindari serangan fatal, bahu kanannya masih tergores oleh gigi Mayat Besi itu, meninggalkan dua noda darah, merekahkan pakaiannya dan membasahinya dengan darah.
Racun Mayat yang dingin dan aneh, mengikuti luka, mencampur ke dalam aliran darah, menyebar ke seluruh tubuhnya.
Zhang Quan merasakan kesadaran yang sangat ingin darah, tidak manusiawi, perlahan-lah menaklukkan kesadaran dirinya sendiri.
Racun Mayat Mayat Besi!
Hati Zhang Quan berkibat-kibat dari ketakutan, dan ia buru-buru mundur beberapa langkah, mengeluarkan botol Pills dan menelannya untuk sementara menekan Racun Mayat di dalam tubuhnya.
Setelah menekan Racun Mayat, Zhang Quan menghela napas lega. Pandangannya kemudian dingin saat ia menatap ke arah Mayat Besi itu.
Mayat Besi ini ingin membunuhnya?!
Tapi dikejutkannya, setelah menggigitnya sekali, Mayat Besi itu tidak lagi bergerak dan berhenti di tempatnya.
Zhang Quan mengerutkan kening, bertanya:
"Apa yang terjadi?"
Dia tetap waspada, perlahan-lahan menginjakkan diri untuk melihat dekat.
Dia menemukan bahwa selain darahnya sendiri di gigi-gigi Mayat Besi ini, tidak ada apa-apa yang aneh.
Zhang Quan mencoba untuk mengendalikannya.
Gerakan dan mundurnya Mayat Besi ini sepenuhnya di bawah perintahnya, tanpa sedikit pun hilang kendali.
Zhang Quan menggigit bibir, mengkerutkan kening.
Tepat ketika dia bingung dan tidak bisa memahami, tanpa peringatan pun, mata Mayat Besi lainnya bergerak, pupilnya berubah sedikit, dan ia membuka gigi-gigi tajamnya, meloncat untuk menyerang Zhang Quan.
Kali ini Zhang Quan agak disiapkan, dan ia dengan cepat meluncur ke samping, hampir selamat.
Dan Mayat Besi ini, sama seperti yang lain, berhenti setelah satu serangan, pupilnya kembali kegelapan sekaligus.
Wajah Zhang Quan menjadi serius saat pikirannya berputar.
"Apa yang terjadi?"
Kehilangan kendoli secara bergantian?
Apakah Raja Mayat belum sempurna, atau ada masalah dengan kontrol Mayatnya?
Mungkin karena terlalu banyak Mayat Besi, ia tidak dapat mengendalikannya sesaat, menyebabkan situasi ini—mengamuk dengan tuduhan diam-diam?
Zhang Quan tidak yakin dan cemas.
Namun sebelum ia bisa berpikir lebih jauh, banyak Mayat Besi tiba-tiba menyerang dari belakang.
Kali ini bukan hanya satu, tapi dua, masing-masing menyerang sekali sebelum berhenti, dan setelah sebentar, jumlah zombie yang bersembunyi meningkat menjadi tiga...
Zhang Quan kesulitan mempertahankan diri, dan bekas gigitan dari zombie di tubuhnya semakin banyak...
Tapi dia tetap bingung, sama sekali tidak menyadari apa-apa yang terjadi.
Di saat yang sama, tersembunyi di balik-balcon, Lu Chengyun yang sedang mengendalikan Mayat Besi, tersenyum jahat.
Dan Mo Hua, yang menyaksikan segalanya, mengutuk Zhang Quan dalam hati sebagai seorang Bodoh.
"Lu Chengyun sedang memainkanmu. Bagaimana otakmu bisa gagal memahami hal semacam ini yang sederhana?"
Ketika Zhang Quan sudah dimainkan oleh Lu Chengyun hingga penuh luka, akhirnya ia menyadari.
Seseorang sedang mengendalikan Mayat Besi ini!
Mayat Besi ini berada di bawah kendali Raja Mayat.
Dan siapa lagi yang bisa mengendalikan Raja Mayat di tambang mayat ini?
Zhang Quan mengertakkan gigi dan berteriak:
"Lu Chengyun!"
"Brengsek..."
"Menyembunyikan kepala sambil menunjukkan ekor, keluar ke sini!"
Saat itu, Lu Chengyun tidak lagi bersembunyi, tetapi perlahan-lahan keluar dari belakang altar.
Zhang Quan terkejut, lalu berkata dengan marah:
"Sungguh kamu!"
Lu Chengyun menjawab dengan tenang:
"Tuan Zhang, aku sudah tulus padamu, namun tidak terduga kamu berusaha mencuri Raja Mayatku dan merusak rencanaku yang besar!"
Zhang Quan kelihatan kaget dan bingung, menggerutukan kening lalu bertanya:
"Kapan kamu mengetahuiku?"
Lu Chengyun tersenyum tanpa menjawab, malah berkata ringan:
"Apakah itu penting pada saat ini?"
Mata Zhang Quan bergemeter.
Memang, pada saat ini, segalanya sudah terbuka, dengan kedua belah pihak telah melepas topeng, terlibat dalam pertarungan seumur hidup. Mengetahui detail-detail ini tidak akan berarti apa-apa.
Zhang Quan mencemooh,
"Sejak kapan Raja Mayat ini milikmu? Raja Mayat ini dibuat dengan menggunakan tempat keramikan Zhang Family dan metode Zhang Family untuk Menyempurnakan Mayat. Ia harus milik Zhang Family!"
Lu Chengyun men shaking kepala,
"Tuan Zhang, kamu salah. Raja Mayat ini dibuat dengan menggunakan tubuh Lu Family Old Ancestor."
Zhang Quan mencemooh,
"Kamu bilang 'keluargamu'? Kamu hanyalah anak menantu yang beranjak dengan mencengkramki seorang wanita dan menyanyik seseorang dengan cara licik. Apa hubungannya keluarga Lu denganmu?"
Kata-kata itu seolah-olah memukul keras pada tempat yang terasa, Lu Chengyun.
Kepalanya gemetar, dan senyumnya menjadi dingin. Setelah sejenak diam, ia menegaskan,
"Tuan Zhang, aku sudah lama menyadari kebohonganmu..."
"Aku pernah memberimu tahu sebelumnya, setiap orang punya ambisi, aku tidak menggurui kamu."
"Tapi kamu seharusnya tidak pernah mencampuri Raja Mayat."
"Raja Mayat bukanlah sesuatu yang bisa dikendalikan oleh seseorang dengan kapasitas seperti kamu!"
Zhang Quan tertawa sinis,
"Kamu layak mengendalikannya? Kamu, yang mengejar kepuiban dan kekayaan, bertindak licik, punggungmu lunak dan suka membeli orang dengan Batu Spirit... Apa 'kapasitas' yang kamu bicarakan?"
Wajah Lu Chengyun berubah, dan ia mengeluarkan pisau pedang tipis. Dengan cahaya pedang
In the center of the altar, terrifying corpse Qi pervaded.
The original Lu Family Old Ancestor had now been refined into a "Corpse King."
Its eyes were pitch black, and within its pupils, a hint of blood red flared, and within that blood red, a streak of dark gold shone, making it look utterly different from the other zombies.
The Corpse King’s body was enwreathed with an almost tangible density of corpse Qi, resembling gray-black blood that twined around it.
It suddenly swelled in size; its originally withered corpse flesh, as the blood vessels coagulated, gradually became burly, towering over nine feet tall.
The Corpse King’s body surged with evil power, and its aura was cold and dreadful, with an underlying brutality and a fearsome majesty which made people quake in fear.
Zhang Quan looked on, eyes filled with obsession, muttering:
"Good! Good!"
"Worthy of being the Corpse King!"
"Worthy of commanding tens of thousands of zombies—the Corpse King has such an aura of corpse Qi, such an imposing presence, truly extraordinary!"
"I, Zhang Quan, have not let down the expectations of my ancestors, nor have I failed the bloodline of the Zhang family. I have finally refined the ultimate Corpse King of the Zhang Family’s Corpse Path!"
Zhang Quan fell to his knees with a thud and made several loud kowtows facing the empty ground on the other side.
"Ancestors above, your descendant Zhang Quan has brought glory to our lineage!"
After bowing his head, Zhang Quan stood up, took a deep breath, and then took out the pitch-black Corpse Controlling Bell that was neither stone nor wood, neither bronze nor iron and shook the bell to command the Corpse King.
At the sound of the bell, the Corpse King’s gaze shifted, as if it had "come to life."
Simultaneously, the iron coffins of the Formation of Ten Thousand Corpses began to stir.
The coffin lids were thrown open, and one after another, dark cyan hands reached out from the coffins. Iron Corpses, obeying the orders of the Corpse King, climbed out of the iron coffins, bowing before the Corpse King and then turning to kowtow toward Zhang Quan.
Zhang Quan was overjoyed!
He could feel that through commanding the Corpse King, he could control these more than twenty Iron Corpses simultaneously!
More than twenty Iron Corpses!
That meant more than twenty Foundation Building combat forces under his command.
And this was just the beginning, and there would be more in the future!
As long as he controlled the Iron Corpses to group attack and kill Foundation Building Cultivators, and then refined their dead bodies into Iron Corpses, and used the Iron Corpses to kill more Foundation Builders...
This cycle repeated itself, and he would have more and more Iron Corpses under his command.
Without the Corpse King, he could only control one or two Iron Corpses at most at the same time.
But with the Corpse King, even if there were hundreds of Iron Corpses, he could control them all at once.
In this way, he would have an army of demonic "Corpse soldiers" under his sole command, comparable to Second Grade Taoist Soldiers!
In the Second-Grade Prefecture Border, this Corpse army could sweep away all before it, invincible!
For a moment, Zhang Quan’s heart blossomed with joy.
But just as Zhang Quan was lost in his fantasies, he was completely oblivious to the fact that an Iron Corpse behind him had its stiff eyes rotate, its gaze slightly turning green as it slowly turned its head towards him.
The Iron Corpse opened its mouth, displaying its dark cyan fangs.
It silently moved behind Zhang Quan, opening its gaping maw, its fangs sharp and foul-smelling, coated with a yin-green Corpse Poison as it viciously bit down on Zhang Quan’s neck!
Cold, dangerous winds blew in waves!
Zhang Quan jolted alert, feeling an icy chill on his back, as if something were standing behind him, its rotten breath spraying on the back of his neck, making his hairs stand on end.
In the corner of his eye, he saw an ugly dark cyan corpse face and a pair of venomous fangs!
Zhang Quan was horrified and quickly twisted his body to the side.
But the reaction time was too short, and although he managed to avoid a fatal attack, his right shoulder was still grazed by the fangs of the Iron Corpse, leaving two bloody marks, tearing his clothing and soaking it with blood.
The cold and strange Corpse Poison, following the wound, mixed into the bloodstream, spreading throughout his body.
Zhang Quan felt that a bloodthirsty, non-human consciousness was gradually taking over his own.
Iron Corpse Corpse Poison!
Zhang Quan’s heart trembled with fear, and he hastily retreated several yards, taking out a bottle of Pills and swallowing them to temporarily suppress the Corpse Poison in his body.
Having suppressed the Corpse Poison, Zhang Quan breathed a sigh of relief. His gaze then turned cold as he looked towards the Iron Corpse.
This Iron Corpse wanted to kill him?!
But to his surprise, after biting him once, the Iron Corpse no longer moved and stopped in its tracks.
Zhang Quan frowned, "What’s happening?"
He remained cautious, inching closer to take a look.
He found that aside from his own blood on the fangs of this Iron Corpse, there was nothing else unusual about it.
Zhang Quan tried to control it.
This Iron Corpse’s movements and retreats were completely under his command, without a hint of loss of control.
Zhang Quan furrowed his brow.
Just as he was puzzled and unable to understand, without any warning, another Iron Corpse’s eyes moved, its pupils changed slightly, and it opened its ferocious fangs, lunging at Zhang Quan to attack.
This time Zhang Quan was somewhat prepared, and he quickly rolled back to dodge, barely avoiding it.
And this Iron Corpse, just like the other one, stopped after a single attack, its pupils turning dull and lifeless once again.
Zhang Quan’s face grew stern as his mind raced.
"What’s going on?"
Intermittent loss of control?
Was the Corpse King not well refined, or was there a problem with his Corpse control?
Could it be that because there were too many Iron Corpses, he couldn’t control them momentarily, leading to this feign-death situation?
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Zhang Quan was uncertain and apprehensive.
But before he could think further, more Iron Corpses suddenly attacked, lunging from behind.
This time it wasn’t just one, but two, each attacking once before stopping, and after a brief moment, the number of ambushing zombies gradually increased to three...
Zhang Quan was hard-pressed to defend himself, and the bite marks from the zombies on his body grew more numerous...
But he was still clueless, utterly unaware of what was happening.
Meanwhile, hidden in the shadows, Lu Chengyun who was controlling the Iron Corpses, smiled malevolently.
And Mo Hua, who had been watching everything, cursed Zhang Quan in his heart for being a fool.
"Lu Chengyun is playing you, How can your brain fail to figure out such a simple thing?"
When Zhang Quan was played by Lu Chengyun to the point of being covered in wounds, he finally realized it.
Someone was controlling these Iron Corpses!
The Iron Corpses were under the control of the Corpse King.
And in this corpse mine, who else could control the Corpse King?
Zhang Quan clenched his teeth and shouted, "Lu Chengyun!"
"You motherfucker..."
"Hiding your head while showing your tail, come out to me!"
By now, Lu Chengyun no longer hid, but slowly came out from behind the altar.
Zhang Quan was taken aback, then said with hatred, "It really is you!"
Lu Chengyun replied calmly, "Brother Zhang, I’ve been sincere with you, yet I never thought you’d attempt to steal my Corpse King and ruin my grand plan behind my back?"
Zhang Quan looked surprised and confused, frowning as he asked, "When exactly did you find out?"
Lu Chengyun smiled without giving an answer, instead said lightly, "Does it even matter at this point?"
Zhang Quan’s eyes twitched.
Indeed, at this point, everything was out in the open, with both parties having torn their facades, engaged in a life-and-death struggle. Knowing these details was meaningless.
Zhang Quan sneered, "Since when did the Corpse King become yours? It was refined using my Zhang Family’s bronze coffin and my Zhang Family’s methods of Corpse Refinement. It should belong to the Zhang Family!"
Lu Chengyun shook his head, "Brother Zhang, you are mistaken. This Corpse King was made using the body of the Lu Family Old Ancestor."
Zhang Quan scoffed, "What do you mean ’your Lu Family’? You’re just a son-in-law who climbed up by clinging to a woman and opportunistically sycophanting. What does the Lu Family have to do with you?"
Those words seemed to strike a nerve in Lu Chengyun.
His eyelids twitched, and his smile became colder. After a moment of silence, he sighed, "Brother Zhang, I’ve long known about your duplicity..."
"I’ve told you before, everyone has their own ambitions, I don’t blame you."
"But you should never have meddled with the Corpse King."
"The Corpse King is not something someone of your caliber can control!"
Zhang Quan burst into mocking laughter, "You are fit to control it? You, who seek after fame and fortune, conduct yourself in sneaky ways, have a spine of jelly, and go around bribing people with Spirit Stones... What caliber do you speak of?"
Lu Chengyun’s face twisted as he drew a slender sword. With a flash of the blade, he went straight for Zhang Quan’s face.
Zhang Quan spat out a curse and swallowed a Corpse Blood Pill. He underwent Corpse Transformation suddenly, his flesh turned iron-blue and his eyes crimson, and he clashed with Lu Chengyun.
For a time, the sword light was overflowing and the Corpse Qi was rampant.
The surrounding coffins were also shattered into fine dust by the sword Qi and the punch winds.
Mo Hua looked into the distance and saw that the coffin of the little zombie under his control was far enough not to be affected by the battle. He breathed a sigh of relief and then continued to watch.
The two had harbored grudges against each other for a long time, but each had been biding their time. Now that the old resentment had erupted, they spared no effort.
However, Zhang Quan, who had taken pills, was clearly no match for Lu Chengyun, especially since he had previous wounds from being ambushed by Lu Chengyun with the controlled Iron Corpses. At the moment, he was barely holding on.
After fighting for a while, Zhang Quan repelled Lu Chengyun with a punch and thought about controlling the Corpse King to kill Lu Chengyun.
The Corpse King, under his control, constricted its pupils, and its blood color intensified.
But at the same time, Lu Chengyun also moved his Divine Thought, using the Spiritual Pivot Evil Formation to control the Corpse King.
Both were trying to control the Corpse King.
The Corpse King’s pupils flickered between brightness and darkness, its blood color deepened and lightened by turns, its killing intent waxing and waning. After a while, it became as motionless as wood or stone, silent and still.
Mo Hua’s thoughts stirred slightly.
It seemed that when the control from both sides clashed, and neither could overpower the other, the Corpse King would not help either side.
Unable to control the Corpse King, Lu Chengyun and Zhang Quan began trying to control the Iron Corpses through the Corpse King.
Zhang Quan rang a bell, and Lu Chengyun controlled the Formation.
After a standoff, they each controlled a portion of the Iron Corpses.
Zhang Quan managed to control eleven, while Lu Chengyun, being stronger than Zhang Quan, controlled thirteen Iron Corpses.
Zhang Quan and Lu Chengyun went back to fighting each other.
And the Iron Corpses they controlled started fighting to the death as well, making the scene even more chaotic.
Mo Hua climbed further up the altar to keep away from the fray.
From atop the altar, Mo Hua peered down to find the situation becoming increasingly clear.
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