With the yin energy scattered by Qing Han’s cyan and violet palm strikes, hundreds of human-headed octopi of varying sizes came into view. Some were the size of a regular human head, while others spanned three hundred meters, nearly reaching full maturity. Their human features, however, were still somewhat discernible.
The octopi zigzagged and released more yin energy to cover the area anew. They were the reason there was such a dense miasma here!
Qing Han’s two blows had been powerful enough to smack an august immortal to pieces, but the octopi remained unscathed. Even the one that’d been vigorously hurled back turned around vigorously with a neat flip.
“No, no no.... Run!” Lu Yun yelled when he got a good look at the octopi, color draining from his face.
Putting away his compass, he grabbed Qing Han and the Deaf Prince and made a mad dash for safety. The Sugato Sword hovered before him, radiating beams of sword energy. Escape was the only thing on his mind.
Fucking hell, the octopi have formed a Great Formation of Corpse Refinement! How is that possible?! he cursed inwardly. Although the octopi were powerful, they weren’t enough to send Lu Yun fleeing. When Qing Han had scattered their yin energy, though, he’d seen the trajectory of their movement, which matched the Great Formation of Corpse Refinement. How was that even possible?!
Had the octopi been disciples of the Corpse Refiners in life? Or had those from the sect entered and exerted control over them?
No, no, that can’t be! The qi in the realm tomb hasn’t leaked out yet, so it’s clear that no one has been here before. Is this just a crazy coincidence?
The Sugato Sword’s energy parted the sea waters before them as Lu Yun pushed his speed to the limit. Still, he couldn’t escape the shadow of the yin energy the octopi were releasing, and started panicking.
“The Great Formation of Corpse Refinement?” Qing Han was stunned by Lu Yun’s identification. “You mean the octopi have set up a formation?”
“That’s right! I know what I saw. They’re moving along the lines of a Great Formation of Corpse Refinement! Although it hasn’t been completed yet, it’s gradually taking shape. Once it does, we’ll all be turned into zombies!
“Dammit,” Lu Yun snapped, mentally beating himself up. “There’s a corpse formation circling us in addition to the octopi, and the yin, yang, heaven, and earth in this area are in utter chaos. I can’t make any correct calls.”
He’d thought he’d be invincible in ancient tombs with his luopan, but he’d nearly fallen into a trap the moment he stepped into the real tomb, and now had set both feet into another one.
“If the formation hasn’t taken shape yet, it must have a flaw,” Qing Han said hurriedly in response to Lu Yun’s panicked look. “I can help you adjust the terrain with the Scroll of Shepherding Immortals and break the formation!”
“That won’t work.” Lu Yun shook his head. “I’ve studied this formation many times and it can’t be broken from the inside, not even if it hasn’t fully taken shape yet! The only way you can do so from the inside is if you apply brute force that exceeds the formation’s maximum capacity!
“This particular formation, though, has become one with the body of water, and there’s a formation of corpses outside. Unless we can destroy the real tomb, we...” his voice trailed off as a sliver of hope occurred to him.
Though the formation had taken its basic shape, it wasn’t complete yet. If he could lead the octopi on a merry chase and prevent them from finishing it, that might result in a weakness he could exploit.
He didn’t dare stop at all, though.
The Great Formation of Corpse Refinement had almost reached maturity. If he stopped for even a moment and allowed the octopi to gather and complete the last rune, the formation would activate and refine them into zombies before Qing Han could deploy his scroll.
Although Lu Yun, Qing Han, and the Deaf Prince were no run-of-the-mill cultivators, they were still just cultivators. They couldn’t counter the great formation with their current level of strength.
“I’ll do it!” growled the Deaf Prince. Lu Yun and Qing Han had been conversing through transmission, keeping the prince in the loop.
He manifested his silver box, which was what made it possible for him to carry the unusually heavy crystal mountain. Originally, it’d been entrusted to Hongxiu, but the prince had taken it with him since they were exploring an ancient tomb.
“Don’t!” Lu Yun stilled. “Your crystal will bring the entire water tomb down. That’ll just kill us even faster!”
The Deaf Prince scowled. “What can we do, then?”
“I’ll deal with it!” Lu Yun had pushed his sword manipulation technique to its limit. The Sugato Sword almost disintegrated and circled about the three men and a fox in wisps of light. Violetgrave transformed into a haze of purple radiance as well, lurking in the shadows and waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
Within hell, Feinie prepared the Formation Orb. Its light shone on the Great Formation of Corpse Refinement through the Gates of the Abyss, but even she couldn’t identify the flaw in the formation. The heavenly forces were in utter chaos here, and there was that mass of corpses they’d come through earlier. Given that the octopi hadn’t finished forming up yet, the Formation Orb could only reveal the flaws in the corpse formation.
“Wait.” Qing Han stopped suddenly. “One of the octopus tried to attack the little fox!”
Lu Yun’s eyes brightened as Qing Han continued, “That octopus must be the flaw! It wanted to eat her because she was scared.”
Lu Yun hadn’t been scared, and the prince’s fear of the poison ghost was crushed by Lu Yun as soon as it’d arisen. Qing Han naturally wouldn’t fear anything here. The little fox was the only one who was afraid, and her fear drew the octopus, creating a flaw that prevented the almost finished formation from reaching completion.
“Fear....” Lu Yun inhaled deeply. “Ah, so they’re ghost zombies! Creatures transformed from zombies that were killed!”
If a zombie was killed with its body intact, it would become another zombie again after tens of millions of years—a ghost zombie.
Ghost zombies fed on fear, and living souls who were afraid were irresistible to them. That was why the tentacles had targeted the light barrier of the Celestial Exorcism Armor to get to the little fox, and why the formation remained unfinished.
“If that’s the case....” Lu Yun grabbed the little fox.
“What—what are you doing?!” the little fox screamed as Lu Yun dug her out from Qing Han’s shirt, where she’d been trembling in fear.
“I’m using you to break the formation!” Cackling, Lu Yun flung the little fox away.
“Eek! Save me, big sister Mo Yi! Help, ugly thing!!” the golden immortal burst out in loud sobs as she sailed away, her heart filled with abject terror.