Jiang Chen, standing in the six-pointed formation, was completely stunned.
His Wuhun… was actually a zombie!
Countless thoughts flashed through his mind.
Was it because he practiced the Celestial Corpse Change that his martial soul took the form of a zombie?
Or was it the other way around—did this zombie martial soul give him the technique to transform corpses in his mind?
What was the truth?
He had no answer.
Fortunately, the thick black mist surrounding the zombie martial soul hadn't spread. Otherwise, the entire Saint Soul Village would be infected by corpse poison.
Very few people could resist such a potent toxin; after all, most villagers were ordinary folk.
He tried to retract the zombie martial soul with his mind, but it was useless.
The zombie martial soul continued to roar silently toward the sky. Though no sound emerged, Jiang Chen felt the overwhelming hatred and unwillingness emanating from it.
Outside the door, the villagers stared at Jiang Chen in horror, muttering, "Such an evil spirit… He's a disaster waiting to happen!"
Suddenly, a roar erupted in the cloudless sky, and darkness quickly swallowed the heavens.
Black clouds, heavy as lead, rolled in, as if ready to collapse.
Countless bolts of thick thunder and lightning shot through the churning clouds with deafening rumbles that pierced the ears.
"Everyone get out of here immediately!" a majestic shout rang out, briefly overpowering the thunder's roar and echoing in everyone's ears.
Tang San looked up suspiciously, sensing the voice was familiar, though he couldn't recall where he had heard it before.
Old Jack reacted instantly, anxiously leading everyone away. He kept glancing back worriedly at Jiang Chen, still inside the Spirit Hall.
The black clouds grew lower, the thunder more terrifying.
They had never seen lightning like this—purple, black, red, even golden—all strange and otherworldly.
But it was Tang Hao who felt it most deeply.
While the ordinary villagers only felt immense pressure, he sensed a deadly threat.
He had a strong premonition: if that terrifying thunder struck, he might be turned to ashes!
Luckily, the thunder wasn't aimed at him—but at the child standing motionless below.
Su Yuntao burst out embarrassed and fearful, joining the villagers at a distance. The horror on his face was plain; his legs shook uncontrollably.
"Lord Su Yuntao, what's going on?" Old Jack asked tremblingly.
Su Yuntao shook his head repeatedly, utterly terrified.
Standing inside that house under the roaring thunder, he almost knelt down.
In that moment, he'd felt a deathly crisis and escaped with all his strength.
"Master Su Yuntao, you're the strongest! You must save Xiaochen!" Old Jack shouted anxiously.
"Shut up!" Su Yuntao shouted back fiercely.
Would he not be courting death by going back inside?
Panic had already swept through the villagers, and they were whispering wildly.
"He must be a man abandoned by Heaven. Now God punishes him."
"Awakening a Martial Soul can bring the wrath of the skies. I hope it doesn't destroy our Holy Soul Village."
"Even if he survives, we must not let him stay. Otherwise, he'll kill us all someday!"
Why did Jiang Chen stand there, frozen, not running?
Because he found himself unable to move.
The entire Holy Soul Village seemed plunged into night, punctuated by flashes of thunder and lightning.
The explosive crashes nearly shattered his eardrums.
He felt trapped, as if the thunder itself locked him in place.
He didn't understand—he'd just awakened a martial soul. Why did he provoke such terrifying thunder?
Was it truly the will of Heaven, trying to kill him?
Even if he was a zombie, why would the world reject him so fiercely?
At that moment, Jiang Chen sensed another power stirring from the zombie martial soul behind him.
This power was completely opposite to the corpse poison, radiating violent, turbulent fluctuations.
The terrifying aura made his soul tremble.
He faintly realized this power was very similar to the breath of the thunder in the sky.
While he was lost in thought, the thunder and lightning above gathered into a multicolored storm, barreling down toward the wooden house below inside the vortex formed by the black clouds.
"What—!"
Countless horrified screams erupted as people collapsed limply.
Tang Hao stood beside Tang San, his resolute face as stern as iron.
The majestic soul power within him was ready to move, prepared to carry Tang San away at a moment's notice.
Just as the multicolored thunder was about to strike, a thick golden lightning shot out from the wooden house, aiming directly at the approaching storm.
Boom!
High above, two thunderbolts collided, exploding with a sound like the sky splitting open.
The collision spot blazed with blinding light, like a miniature sun, illuminating the dark world as if it were daytime.
An overwhelmingly oppressive atmosphere pressed down on everyone's hearts.
Su Yuntao wanted to flee many times, but his legs had weakened; he was powerless against the sky's might.
The little sun formed by the thunderbolts radiated terrifying fluctuations.
Tang Hao was certain—had he been caught there, he wouldn't have lasted a breath before turning to slag.
Suddenly, the little sun vanished.
The multicolored thunder recoiled, submerging back into the leaden clouds.
The golden lightning returned to the wooden house, sinking into the zombie martial soul, and then disappeared.
Everyone except Tang Hao, Tang San, and Su Yuntao remained paralyzed on the ground.
Fortunately, the black clouds began to fade, disappearing mysteriously in the blink of an eye, as if they had never existed.