Seeing such an eerie scene, everyone around felt their hair standing on end.
The chubby monk, Miaoshan, looked uneasy, clutching the skull prayer beads in his hand as he stepped back, staring intently at Taoist Yunxu, "Friend, this isn't what we agreed on."
Taoist Yunxu's face was indecisive, clenching his fists and gritting his teeth, lost in thought.
Meanwhile, the heartbeat of the corpse ball grew faster, beginning to expand and contract, as if something was about to be born from it.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The sound seemed to have a kind of magic, making everyone's hearts and blood resonate and throb along with it.
Zhang Kui gritted his teeth, his knuckles white from gripping the sword hilt, feeling as if his blood was flowing in reverse, his body losing control.
He had originally planned to eradicate the zombie first, then eliminate these guys, but now the situation was clearly out of control.
Whatever was inside made his skin crawl.
The chubby monk, Miaoshan, was even worse off, swallowing hard and starting to retreat secretly, "Taoist Friend Yunxu, we should withdraw for now..."
But Taoist Yunxu did not answer him, instead standing there with his head lowered, his eyes rolling white, shoulders twitching, and his neck making a crackling sound.
You old bastard!
Zhang Kui's pupils suddenly contracted, and without another word, the rocks under his feet shattered as he shot towards the cave entrance like lightning.
Behind him, a vast ghostly aura suddenly rose!
It was the ghost from the main hall!
To avoid alarming the other, Zhang Kui had only taken a few glances from afar in the main hall, but that profound and dark aura was unmistakable.
This was a trap...
The guy had somehow hidden within Taoist Yunxu, and the Cave Abyss Skill level was too low to detect anything amiss.
A gust of wind swept by, and Qing Gu, cloaked in ghostly skin, moved even quicker than he did, with the chubby monk, Miaoshan, falling farther behind.
Some say, when facing a tiger, you only need to run faster than the others.
But Zhang Kui's heart had already sunk.
The cave exit was over a thousand meters away, a distance he could cover in under ten seconds at his speed.
And now, he'd been running for a minute...
Suddenly, Zhang Kui and Qing Gu both stopped.
The hall with the corpse ball was still in front of them.
They had returned to the starting point...
Ghost Wall!
Zhang Kui's face was indecisive; the Cave Abyss Skill also failed to perceive anything, not even the slightest abnormality.
Behind Taoist Yunxu was a vague shadow, his hands behind his back, not even glancing at them, but instead, intently watching the corpse ball.
Old Huang was right; this ghost dwelling in Black Water City must have been in the Grain Avoidance Realm for countless years.
Grain Avoidance doesn't just mean abstaining from grains; it refers to massively absorbing the Qi of Heaven and Earth, causing mana to multiply until an unpredictable change triggers a Celestial Tribulation.
Undoubtedly, Zhang Kui, whether facing the corpse ball inside or the ghost outside, was like an ant facing an elephant, with no skill that could avail him.
He now had two skill points and could upgrade the Tongyou Skill to level two, enabling him to see through deeper illusion arrays.
But would that help?
Zhang Kui felt no certainty in his heart.
Footsteps approached once more, and it turned out that monk Miaoshan had finally caught up. Seeing the situation before him, his face turned ashen, not knowing what to do.
Compared to them, the half-human, half-ghost Qing Gu felt the terrifying pressure more acutely. The ghostly skin began twitching and cracking, with all kinds of illusions flooding her mind, driving her completely insane.
A piercing scream echoed.
Qing Gu transformed into a stream of light, a suddenly appearing short sword in her hand stabbing straight at Taoist Yunxu's head.
However, just a meter away, her body suddenly halted, as if frozen mid-air like an amber sculpture.
Crackling...
The sound of bones breaking rang out, a spray of flesh and blood erupted, and Qing Gu's body was twisted like a wrung towel, falling with a plop into the pool of blood.
Miaoshan's face turned white, collapsing to his knees, shivering uncontrollably, continuously kowtowing.
"Great King, spare my life, Great King, spare my life..."
Zhang Kui stood at the side with a grim expression, saying nothing.
"Hehe, no need to be afraid, gentlemen..."
Taoist Yunxu suddenly turned his head, eyes rolling white, yet with a relaxed expression on his face.
"Do your utmost for me, and you shall have your rewards."
The shadow behind him was blurry, but the voice coming from Taoist Yunxu was that of a deep male voice.
"Y-Yes."
Monk Miaoshan got to his feet, relief written all over his face as if having survived a calamity, "Great King, about the thing inside..."
The ghost-possessed Taoist Yunxu smiled faintly,
"I originally heard someone here was cultivating a Flying Corpse, intending to capture it as an Outer Body Incarnation, but now it seems these people have other plans."
Monk Miaoshan hastily flattered with a smile:
"No matter what they intend to do, they can't escape the Dharma Eye of the Great King."
"Don't flatter."
Taoist Yunxu chuckled, turning back to gaze at the corpse ball, "Though I don't know what this is, it is steeped in death yet has birthed a hint of vitality. This transformation of life and death makes the Flying Corpse an excellent body."
He then nonchalantly instructed:
"You two, break open this thing."
"Yes, Great King!"
Without a word, Monk Miaoshan launched a string of skull prayer beads, glancing sideways at Zhang Kui.
He thought, though Hei Shan is formidable, his lack of insight is a path to destruction.
No matter, saving oneself comes first; as long as I make it out alive, Buddha Master will immediately flee far away.
The skull prayer beads moved swiftly, weaving through the stalactites with a sharpness like grenades in flight, repeatedly striking the corpse ball.
Zhang Kui had witnessed the power of these beads before, akin to aerial grenades.
However, to his astonishment, when the prayer beads shot into the corpse sphere, it was like beans being embedded into dough, with no impact whatsoever, quickly absorbed and eroded.
The magical treasure was destroyed, and Miaoshan monk spat out a mouthful of blood, a face full of disbelief.
"Idiot!"
The ghostly entity within Yunxu's body snorted coldly.
"Didn't you notice the cave is empty? This corpse sphere has already absorbed all the Yin energy inside. We need to extract the Yin energy."
Saying this, glanced sideways at Zhang Kui.
"Didn't you want high-quality evil Qi? There it is, you two go, one breaks the evil, one splits the corpse sphere."
"Huh?"
Miaoshan monk swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his face full of reluctance.
Yunxu smiled indifferently,
"Don't worry, as soon as the outer wall is broken, I, the ancestor, will immediately seize the inside. If you don't dare, you will be useless."
Zhang Kui gritted his teeth, lifted the Lu Li Sword, and walked towards the corpse sphere, Miaoshan monk tremblingly following behind.
Getting closer, they could more clearly see the horror of this corpse sphere.
The corpses seemed to have been melted and fused together, with the swelling and contraction of the sphere, dead faces staring firmly at them both.
The overwhelming stench of corpses hit them, the screams of countless men and women echoed in their minds, Zhang Kui felt nauseous, his vital energy and blood in turmoil, almost unable to stand.
Miaoshan monk immediately kneeled to the ground and vomited, eyes full of blood veins, face alternating red and white.
Zhang Kui took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and continuously tapped on the panel to activate two skills.
Clone Skill (Level 1): Active Skill
Skill Description: Consumes 100 mana, creates a clone possessing half of one's strength, dissipates upon receiving strong attacks.
Invisibility Skill (Level 1): Active Skill
Skill Description: Consumes 50 mana, enters a state of invisibility, attacking or being attacked ends the invisibility, easily seen through by high-level enemies.
Opening his eyes, Zhang Kui gritted his teeth, "Zen Master, things have come to this point, we have no retreat, we can only fight."
With that, he immediately activated the Demon-slaying Skill, his hands facing the corpse sphere, instantly extracting a chilling, fierce blue Evil Light that coiled and condensed along his arms.
Yunxu didn't deceive him, this Qi was of extremely high quality, the previous Blood Evil was immediately dispelled, and after his refining, it instantly turned into a ghostly blue, even causing the surrounding area to start freezing with ice.
The Qi within the corpse sphere was astonishing, Zhang Kui gritted his teeth, desperately extracting it, and before long, the center of the ghostly blue Evil Light even turned black, his arms felt as if they would burst.
"What are you waiting for, hurry!"
Zhang Kui roared.
Miaoshan monk's face was unreadable, glanced at the stern-faced Yunxu, gritting his teeth, he picked up the Zen Staff and charged forward.
Boom!
A crack appeared on the corpse sphere.
Unfortunately, it was too thick, still layers upon layers of corpses.
Yunxu floated over with his hands behind his back, saying calmly, "Continue..."
Perhaps encouraged by Yunxu beside him, Miaoshan monk shouted, madly waving the Zen Staff.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The corpse sphere was continuously being broken open.
Suddenly, Miaoshan monk felt the Zen Staff strike emptily, breaking open a dark hole in the corpse sphere.
Inside, a pair of blood-red eyes slowly opened...
"Ah..."
Miaoshan monk screamed, seeing nothing but blood red in front of him, instantly sucked in.
Zhang Kui also felt his blood reverse, feeling an irresistible suction coming from within the corpse sphere.
Clone Skill!
With a bang, Zhang Kui instantly turned into two people.
The clone activated the Demon-slaying Skill, hands igniting with a rich blue light, dashing into the corpse sphere.
The main body rapidly retreated, holding onto a sturdy stalactite to resist the suction.
"Oh..."
Yunxu glanced, seemingly not expecting Zhang Kui to pull this trick.
But he no longer paid attention, instead focusing on the opening, revealing a slight smile at the corner of his mouth.
"Indeed a good physique!"
Finishing, a more terrifying aura exuded than the corpse sphere, rolling black mist enveloped Yunxu's body and directly drilled inside.
The corpse sphere began violently shaking, terrifying howls and maniacal laughter continuously emanated, while the crack on the corpse sphere gradually closed.
The horrifying suction disappeared, Zhang Kui fell to the ground, gasping for breath.
The corpse sphere was still shaking, the beast-like howls gradually weakened, the laughter of the ghost entity grew louder.
"Hahaha, the ultimate Yin transforming to Yang, with this body, I fear no Celestial Tribulation, let's see who can control me..."
The laughter shook the entire cave, causing it to collapse.
Zhang Kui's heart sank steadily.
He seemed to witness the birth of a peerless demon, it's over, better to escape first...
Suddenly, the ground began to rumble, stalactites from the cave ceiling constantly falling.
No good, the cave is collapsing!
Zhang Kui protected his head while dodging, quickly rushing towards the exit.
Behind him, the ghostly entity suddenly let out a tragic scream.
"Ah, what is that!"
Zhang Kui turned his head almost involuntarily, his pupils contracting.
Amid the swirling dust and rubble, the ground suddenly erupted, a large dark cyan hand reached out, grabbing the corpse sphere and pulling it underground.
Like grabbing a meatball...