Chapter 510: Betrayal
Chapter 512: Betrayal
At the Mao hour two days later, day and night met, and the morning glow broke the dawn.
The sunrise pierced through the toxic miasma and the stench of corpses, spilling over the grave mound, yet it carried a grayish hue, dim and deathly silent.
The Dao Court forces launched a full-scale attack, beginning the final extermination battle.
Everything had been meticulously arranged.
First, dozens of highly destructive second-grade talismans were activated.
Surging spiritual energy condensed into massive destructive force, forming arrays of blades, fireballs, or water arrows, sweeping across the grave mound.
The zombies on the mound were instantly overwhelmed by the spiritual might of the talismans.
Masses of zombies were shredded by blades, burned by fire, drowned in water, ultimately annihilated by the power of the talismans.
Then came waves of the walking dead.
Yang Jishan waved his hand, and a line of cultivators stepped forward, forming hand seals to unleash various spiritual implements.
These implements transformed into hundreds of flying swords, condensed into thousands of silver needles, or summoned a torrential rain of fire, striking the surging tide of walking corpses.
One by one, the walking dead fell, pierced by the implements or reduced to ash.
Still, more came in relentless waves.
Once again, the Dao Court forces combined talismans and spiritual implements.
Masses of walking corpses were obliterated…
The Dao Court cultivators mostly hailed from longstanding families or sects, with deep-rooted traditions and solid foundations—far beyond what Lu Chengyun, a man who relied on marriage ties and opportunism, could match.
Even if their trump cards were truly deployed, these zombies could not withstand them.
Under the coverage of spiritual implements and talisman firepower, most of the walking corpses had no chance but to be destroyed.
A few iron corpses were also difficult to escape being cut down.
But these trump cards were extremely precious and limited in number; sooner or later, they would be used up.
Half an hour later, after exterminating a portion of the zombies and weakening the enemy’s strength, the frontal assault began.
Yang Jishan glanced at Mo Hua beside him, his gaze tinged with concern.
Mo Hua nodded slightly, signaling there was no need to worry.
He was just following along, being careful under the watch of senior brothers and sisters, so there was no danger.
Yang Jishan sighed, then looked forward, his expression grim, voice solemn:
“Kill!”
The Dao soldiers behind him raised their blades and shouted in unison:
“Kill!”
The arrays on their armor activated, spiritual energy surged, resonating in waves.
The sound shook the forested mountains, boosting morale to the skies.
The Dao soldiers charged, colliding with swaths of zombies.
It was like cold water hitting hot oil.
The grave mound boiled violently…
Mo Hua, Bai Zisheng, and Bai Zixi followed Yang Jishan, mainly to protect themselves, refraining from rash attacks to avoid being engulfed by the corpse tide.
Only at critical moments did they use spells to relieve pressure on the surrounding battlefield.
The fierce battle raged on for an entire day…
Cultivators were continually injured or killed, or succumbed to the zombie poison and turned into walking corpses.
Meanwhile, vast numbers of zombies fell, including a few iron corpses and countless walking dead.
Yet the number of zombies remained overwhelming.
And Lu Chengyun was still nowhere to be seen.
Yang Jishan led the charge into the depths of the grave mound, where Lu Chengyun was hiding.
Other Foundation Establishment cultivators followed him.
The deeper they went, the more desolate and eerie the grave mound became.
The corpse clusters grew denser.
Iron corpses increased, and the corpse poison intensified.
Yet the cultivators’ combined techniques were more than the zombies could withstand.
By dusk, all factions had penetrated the grave mound’s depths, encountering Lu Chengyun and the corpse king behind him in a chaotic burial ground.
Dozens of iron corpses guarded him on all sides.
Outside, thousands upon thousands of walking corpses continued to surge inward, seemingly to protect their “king.”
Dao soldiers raised shields, forming a human wall to block the outer walking corpses.
Yang Jishan and his companions prepared to confront Lu Chengyun head-on for the final encirclement.
Lu Chengyun’s face was pale, but he remained relatively calm.
He glanced at Yang Jishan, his eyes slightly cold, then swept over the crowd, sighing:
“Impressive, Dao Court soldiers. Even with so many zombies, you still push through…”
Yang Jishan’s voice was stern:
“Lu Chengyun, your end is here. Surrender the corpse king and yield.”
Lu Chengyun shook his head.
“With the corpse king, I still have a chance to survive. Surrender it, and I am doomed.”
Yang Jishan sneered:
“You intend to fight to the death?”
“Without fighting to the death, how could I survive? The Dao Court will never spare me, and neither will you.”
Lu Chengyun raised an eyebrow, then said curiously:
“But before the final battle, there’s something I don’t understand.”
His gaze turned cold as he examined each of them:
“I want to know—among those present, who discovered the secrets of the corpse mines, saw through the array I set, and forced me into this position?”
The cultivators exchanged glances, remaining silent.
Yang Jishan’s eyes darkened, a trace of astonishment crossing his mind.
Mo Hua’s actions were completely unknown to Lu Chengyun?
Yang Jishan scanned the surroundings and saw Bai Zisheng and Bai Zixi at his side, but Mo Hua had disappeared.
Hidden?
“Even I could be deceived by this concealment?” Yang Jishan thought, mildly shocked.
Seeing no one admit it, Lu Chengyun sneered:
“I thought it was some flawless mastermind, but it turns out to be a sneaky rat hiding its head and tail!”
Hidden among the crowd, Mo Hua snorted disdainfully.
This provocation was childish, incapable of stirring the slightest emotion.
He had far harsher words to curse with.
Yang Jishan’s eyes narrowed as he sneered:
“Lu Chengyun, skillless, relying on petty words—you have nothing more to show.”
Lu Chengyun released his Divine-Sense, scanning everyone again, but found nothing.
Among the cultivators present were those with profound cultivation, those with keen Divine-Sense, and some evidently skilled in arrays.
Yet none gave him that eerie, pressing feeling.
None resembled the cultivator who had woven the net, relentlessly closing in on him.
Lu Chengyun shook his head.
It didn’t matter; reality was here, knowledge irrelevant.
True life-and-death battles relied on strength; mere trickery was insignificant.
He looked at Yang Jishan with a cold gleam:
“You underestimate this corpse king…”
“This corpse king belongs to me. No one can take it!”
“Today, you will all die here!”
“Your flesh and blood will become offerings for the corpse king.”
“Let this corpse king complete its true transformation, becoming the supreme master of filth, the king among corpses!”
Lu Chengyun’s expression brightened, eyes wild.
Yang Jishan frowned, sensing something amiss.
At that moment, the corpse king behind Lu Chengyun shifted its aura, becoming bloodthirsty and furious. Its exposed skin gradually turned from iron-blue to a deep, ancient bronze…
A bronze corpse!
Yang Jishan’s heart trembled.
Lu Chengyun intended to refine this corpse king into a bronze corpse!
Bronze corpse was a rank; corpse king was a status.
Once fully transformed, its strength would skyrocket, and it could command the horde of corpses—there would be nothing they could do.
With a bronze corpse king protecting him, even Lu Chengyun could not be killed.
Yang Jishan drew the Sunset Spear and shouted:
“Give it everything! Kill all the zombies and Lu Chengyun!”
Others recognized the danger and fought without holding back.
Foundation Establishment cultivators clashed with iron corpses; their spiritual power fierce, corpse energy dense, and the aftershocks cracked the surrounding rocks.
As Yang Jishan charged at Lu Chengyun, the half-bronze corpse king blocked his path.
Its eyes glowed red, bronze skin and iron bones gleamed, long fangs protruding, and corpse poison oozed from its fingertips, dark green in hue.
Every move carried a stench of blood.
Yang Jishan attacked with all his strength, yet the corpse king suppressed him.
Nearby Foundation Establishment cultivators hurried to assist, including the gaunt elder and a reluctant middle-aged cultivator.
Even so, it took multiple cultivators’ combined effort to barely match the half-bronze corpse king.
For a moment, all were shaken.
If the corpse king fully transformed, they might all fall here.
After dozens of exchanges, Yang Jishan knew this couldn’t continue, gritting his teeth:
“Kill Lu Chengyun first!”
Lu Chengyun sneered.
Qi-refining Dao soldiers restrained the walking dead, Foundation Establishment cultivators held back the iron corpses, and even Yang Jishan and his high-combat peers were suppressed by the corpse king.
How could they kill him?
Yang Jishan’s eyes went cold, a red light flashing along the Sunset Spear, flames rising with terrifying power.
Lu Chengyun’s expression shifted slightly.
“Hold him off!” Yang Jishan shouted.
He retreated a few steps, leaving the corpse king’s attack range, entering a safe zone, his qi rising, all his spiritual power flowing into the Sunset Spear.
The spear blazed, spirit fire roaring.
Behind him, the flames condensed like a miniature sun.
Lu Chengyun panicked, driving the iron corpses toward Yang Jishan:
“Stop him!”
Iron corpses lunged with claws and teeth.
The corpse king roared, charging at Yang Jishan.
The gaunt elder shouted: “Protect Commander Yang!”
He produced several copper coins, inserting them between his fingers, infused them with spiritual energy, and struck the corpse king’s joints.
The coins transformed into ropes, binding the corpse king.
The middle-aged cultivator sighed, reluctantly producing a jade-inlaid folding fan. Using spiritual energy, he created a wall of wind, shielding Yang Jishan.
Each fan strike broke a rib of the fan.
The charging iron corpses were blocked, unable to reach him.
Other Foundation Establishment cultivators also acted, some using spiritual implements to repel iron corpses, others restraining the corpse king with spells.
After a few breaths, the Sunset Spear trembled.
All surrounding flames compressed into the spear.
Yang Jishan’s face was pale, but his eyes burned with intensity.
The gaunt elder hurriedly said:
“Hold the corpse king! Everyone else, step back!”
Cultivators near the corpse king withdrew.
Others restrained it with golden chains, wooden cages, and water nets, while spellcasters suppressed its movement.
Yang Jishan leveled the spear, merging body and weapon, qi surging, thrusting toward the corpse king’s chest.
As the spear tip touched, the roaring fire exploded.
A boom shattered the ground, creating a deep crater.
Cracks spread across distant rocks.
The aftershock threw nearby cultivators and iron corpses aside.
Smoke and fire filled the air.
When it cleared, everyone stared in shock.
The corpse king was still alive.
At the critical moment, it used its arm to block the spear.
The Sunset Spear pierced its arm, tip pressed against its chest, but lacked the strength to pierce further.
The corpse king bore scorch marks, heavily wounded.
Its aura weakened, but in moments, its corpse energy began to recover…
Everyone was alarmed.
Such a strong corpse king!
Yang Jishan’s heart trembled, then he shouted:
“Quick, kill Lu Chengyun while you can!”
The corpse king was temporarily incapacitated. Now was the chance to kill Lu Chengyun!
Otherwise, once it recovered, the stalemate would resume.
The cultivators snapped to attention, unleashing all swords, blades, and spells toward Lu Chengyun.
Lu Chengyun panicked.
What kind of spear was this?
It could truly suppress the corpse king?
Seeing the cultivators advance, he tried to flee. Without the corpse king, his strength was greatly reduced. He didn’t get far before the gaunt elder restrained him with copper coins, and other Foundation Establishment cultivators engaged him closely.
Yang Jishan tried to withdraw the Sunset Spear, but it was lodged in the corpse king’s arm and couldn’t be pulled free.
He gritted his teeth, left the spear, and drew a regular spear to strike at Lu Chengyun.
Lu Chengyun’s opening sword technique was formidable, yet against so many Dao Court cultivators, it was comparatively weaker.
Even with the iron corpses, he could only barely hold out.
At that moment, Yang Jishan struck.
Using the Sunset Spear had drained him greatly.
His face was pale, his aura weakened, yet he pushed himself, seizing Lu Chengyun’s opening, breaking his sword technique, kicking him to the ground.
He raised the spear high, aiming for Lu Chengyun’s heart meridian, intending to kill him in one thrust.
But the spear didn’t go through.
It was deflected by several copper coins, grazing Lu Chengyun’s ribs, breaking the skin.
Lu Chengyun seized the chance to escape, protected by iron corpses.
Yang Jishan was furious, eyes like blades, turning to the gaunt elder:
“Old Wen, what’s the meaning of this?”
Without those coins, he could have killed Lu Chengyun with a single thrust!
The gaunt elder’s expression was fearful:
“Cannot kill him!”
Yang Jishan frowned:
“Why not?”
The elder pointed at the corpse king lying in the crater, arm pierced by the spear, motionless, trembling as he said:
“Its blood has turned a pale golden…”
Yang Jishan’s heart jolted.
He saw that the corpse king’s arm bled along the spear to the ground.
The blood, once dark green, now carried a strange golden hue.
Yang Jishan shuddered.
“Mutation?”
“How could it happen so quickly?”
The gaunt elder said in terror:
“It has developed its own consciousness. Killing Lu Chengyun would be like removing the shackles from it—that is the truly terrifying part…”
The vision of total annihilation, the corpse king roaring in blood, flashed again in his mind.
Yang Jishan’s face turned pale. Gritting his teeth, a chill ran through him:
“Everything has been calculated!”
“If the corpse mines remain secret, Lu Chengyun will keep refining corpses, deepening grievances. After decades or even a hundred years, the Corpse King would evolve into a Dao-Sin Calamity…”
“But if the corpse mine’s secrets were revealed, the Dao Court would besiege Lu Chengyun.”
“In large-scale battles between cultivators and zombies, with deaths and blood merging with corpse energy, the corpse king’s evolution would be accelerated…”
“And Lu Chengyun’s death… is the final key!”
“The key to unlocking its shackles, to let the Corpse King become a Dao-Sin Calamity!”
“Once Lu Chengyun is killed, the Corpse King will break free of its chains and instantly become a true ‘king’ among corpses, commanding thousands of zombies, evolving into a genuine Dao-Sin!”
“What a sinister scheme… what a deep, calculating plan!”
“The frightening part is, there’s no trace of it—all of this happens naturally, without anyone noticing…”
And Lu Chengyun, along with themselves, are all just pawns…
This is a deadlock!
The gaunt old man had realized it too, which explained his terrified expression.
Among the other cultivators, some had also grasped the truth, and a hint of despair appeared in their eyes.
Yang Jishan felt both anxious and fearful, his mind in turmoil.
Yet as the commander of the Dao soldiers, battle-hardened and responsible for the lives of the brothers fighting alongside him, he knew that in moments of crisis, he must remain calm.
Yang Jishan forced himself to settle his mind. After a brief moment of thought, he gritted his teeth and said:
“At this point, we can only capture Lu Chengyun alive.”
“Capture him, use him to control the Corpse King, and then plan our next move!”
This was the only way.
The gaunt old man knew it too.
But killing Lu Chengyun was one thing; capturing him alive—far from easy…
At that moment, a sudden, savage low growl reverberated.
Following the sound, everyone saw that the Corpse King’s aura had revived, and it slowly stood up again.
The graveyard was filled with blood energy, corpse energy, filth, and death energy.
Its wounds healed at an astonishing speed.
The Corpse King’s eyes were icy. It drew the Sunset Spear from its arm and tossed it aside, then in a few swift movements, positioned itself behind Lu Chengyun once more.
For a moment, every cultivator felt a bitter weight in their hearts, despair deepening on their faces.
Seeing the loyal Corpse King quietly standing behind him, Lu Chengyun felt considerably reassured.
And witnessing what had just happened, Lu Chengyun finally understood.
He looked at Yang Jishan with a triumphant smile:
“You don’t dare kill me!”
“That’s right—you don’t dare kill me!!”
“Because if I die, the Corpse King goes out of control.”
“And if the Corpse King goes out of control, it means all the zombies and iron corpses in Nanyue City will go berserk.”
“The Corpse King would become a Bronze Corpse, leading the iron and walking corpses, forming a terrifying tide of the dead—slaughtering the city, killing and devouring people, even turning the dead into zombies!”
“This tide of the dead would grow, sweeping across the entire Lesser Wasteland Prefecture, and spreading to neighboring second-grade prefectures…”
“This would be a great disaster!”
“Why hasn’t it happened yet?”
Lu Chengyun pointed to his chest. “Because I am still alive!”
“Because I am still alive, the Corpse King obeys my command and hasn’t committed all those killings!”
“The cultivators of Nanyue City can survive, barely!”
“The entire Lesser Wasteland Prefecture hasn’t been reduced to slaughter!”
Lu Chengyun’s eyes gleamed with madness, his voice rising:
“All of this… is because I am still alive!”
“I am still alive!”
“But the moment I die…”
His words abruptly stopped. The smile on his face faded as he looked down, only to see sharp fingertips piercing through his chest.
The fingertips were stained with fresh blood and dark green corpse poison.
Yang Jishan, the gaunt old man, and every cultivator present stared in horror.
They saw a zombie, seizing the moment while Lu Chengyun was careless, claw straight through his chest.
And silently delivering this fatal blow was none other than the “loyal” Corpse King that had been standing behind Lu Chengyun all along!
The Corpse King… had betrayed them?!