A mutation referred not to the zombification of the body, like it did back on Earth, but an even more terrifying transformation. The corpse would turn into something that even Lu Yun couldn’t comprehend, and mutations that took place in ancient tombs were worse.
Su Xiaoxiao’s soul was now an immortal ghost wreaking havoc in the corpse coffin overhead, while her mutated body was fighting something unknown.
Terrifying shrieks and howls rang out from the dark pit of extreme yin before them, each of them accompanied by bursts of crimson light. Together, they propelled the water around the premises into violent water jets.
Lu Yun and Qing Han jointly shattered the water jets that rippled their way. They were both top cultivators who could rival august immortals, but the Deaf Prince behind them hadn’t reached their level. He would be dusted to ashes if he were hit.
The prince poured all of his power into operating his Celestial Exorcism Armor and coin longsword, keeping an unending swarm of water monsters from approaching. However, that left him with no energy to spare for other defensive treasures.
“It’s Diexi!” Qing Han perked up. “Diexi’s here!”
He’d already refined two connate spirit roots—the Embittered Bamboo and Fusang Purewood. Despite being handicappted by the poison, his strength had been improving continuously, and his senses were now keener than Lu Yun’s. Through the bursts of crimson light, the disguised girl could sense the traces left by Diexi’s passage.
It was indeed the zombie king!
With Lu Yun’s help, Diexi was gradually transforming into a regular human, both in behavior and thought. When she’d been stationed at the seaside stronghold, Nephrite court immortals had forced her into the North Sea, whereupon she’d gone missing. What a great surprise to encounter her here!
“No wonder Su Xiaoxiao’s body mutated. It’s because of Diexi!” Realization dawned on Lu Yun.
Diexi was a zombie king born out of a tomb for the living, and the presence from that tomb hadn’t yet dissipated fully. Now that she’d entered someone else’s tomb, the presence clashed with that of the tomb owner and triggered a mutation of the owner’s body.
“Take this and protect the Deaf Prince.” Lu Yun broke a water ripple with a singular downward motion and quickly handed Qing Han his luopan. “I’ll go take a look!”
“Be careful!” Qing Han let him go. He knew what Lu Yun had come here for: to resurrect Su Xiaoxiao, Doctor Poison herself!
Lu Yun had let on that he could resurrect the dead. His secret would be safe, if the disguised girl was the only one on this excursion, but the little fox and the Deaf Prince were here as well. Lu Yun would have to leave the two of them behind and have Qing Han watch over them.
“Hm? He went in just like that? Shouldn’t we follow him?” The Deaf Prince resembled those golden armored warriors Lu Yun could summon. Clad in armor gleaming with golden radiance, he looked utterly magnificent.
Instead of answering, Qing Han quietly manifested another sword and blew another incoming water pulse to pieces. The prince hunched in on himself.
……
The moment he entered the cavern of the extreme yin, Lu Yun vanished, becoming a dust particle with the Size Manipulation death art. This was no regular transformation technique, because he could turn himself into a particle so fine that average immortals wouldn’t be able to sense him in the surrounding environment.
Upon entry, he felt a burden lifted from his shoulders. Gone was the endless sea water, and left in its place was a current of warm air. This was a serene grotto bursting with vitality, where birds chirped and butterflies fluttered. There was even a swing tied to a large tree.
His speculations had been borne out, and the extremity of yin had turned into pure yang. Still, the extent to which the layout of pure yang had evolved caught him by surprise.
Diexi looked the same as ever. A worn, gray robe accentuated her curves, and her features were delicately outlined in her face. Her hair and nails were carefully groomed. If not for the endless crimson light blazing from her eyes, no one would’ve guessed she was a zombie king, rather than an ordinary girl.
She’d made enormous improvement in her cultivation and reached peerless immortal realm by now. Her presence as a zombie king was evolving quickly, and she was one step away from becoming a real person.
However, Lu Yun could clearly see a strange talisman in her body that was preventing her from fully evolving. In fact, it continuously consumed her vitality in an attempt to turn her back into a zombie.
Next to Diexi was a softly beautiful girl. She looked no older than twenty and wore a clean, white dress that left her dainty, jade-like feet uncovered. Long, jet-black hair flowed down her back, and a pristine crown of flowers rested on her head.
Her eyes were screwed tightly shut, and there was a serenity to her even as she attacked. She looked so lifelike that she didn’t look like a mutated corpse at all.
“That’s Su Xiaoxiao?” Lu Yun paused. The presence radiating from the girl in white was the same as the one suffusing an ancient tomb. She was clearly the master of this place. However, she wasn’t fighting Diexi, but fighting another being with Diexi!
Their opponent was a tall, strongly-built zombie with pus oozing out of lesions all over its rotten body. However, the clothes it wore were intact, rather than worn and tattered rags like those of regular zombies. It had two heads, which were emitting the awful screams he’d heard before entering!
“What the hell is that?!” Lu Yun jumped and reverted back to his regular size. “Diexi, what’s going on here?!”
“Lu Yun!” Crimson light reeled back into her eyes when she noticed Lu Yun, her expression brightening. “What a surprise to run into you in the skydragon tomb!”
“Huh? Skydragon tomb?!” Lu Yun looked at her in incomprehension. This was the skydragon tomb? Wasn’t that in the capital of the North Sea?
“Lu Yun, help, help extract the talisman from my body! If this keeps on, I’ll turn into a zombie again!” she said urgently and quickly as her hands moved like butterflies, sending out rays of crimson light to block the two-headed zombie.
“Scaled-Dragon King, Yuchi Tianhuang!” commanded Lu Yun. The Gates of the Abyss swung open and released two figures that rushed at the two-headed zombie.
Bam! Bam!
The zombie that Diexi and Su Xiaoxiao had fought for an unknown period of time staggered back.
Yuchi Tianhuang was Lu Yun’s most powerful Infernum! While Beigong Yu and the Scaled-Dragon King were the top two powerhouses in the North Sea, even the two of them combined couldn’t rival Yuchi Tianhuang. He was a true divine king, one of the White Tiger bloodline.
Lu Yun had also invested more resources in him, channeling his Mastery of the Five Elements and summoning elemental gold power to help the divine cultivate.
The scaled-dragon and White Tiger’s descendent took over, giving Diexi some reprieve. She hurried to Lu Yun with a relieved sigh, while Su Xiaoxiao remained where she was, at a bit of a loss as to what to do. Her corpse had mutated, but what had triggered her mutation was the double-headed zombie, not Diexi.
“What’s going on?” Lu Yun asked as he considered the talisman radiating corpse energy in Diexi’s body. “Did you say this is the skydragon tomb? But how’s that possible?”
“Isn’t this the skydragon tomb?” Confusion flashed through Diexi’s ruby-like eyes and she turned to Su Xiaoxiao.