Volume 1 Volume 6 Chapter 55

Volume 6 Chapter 55: Hard Battle, Displaying Power (Part 2)

Regretting his arrogance in challenging the three members of the Zhong family and that zombie master alone, Xu Qingfan struggled until he regained his freedom of movement, and his counterattack was terrifying.

Not only did he unleash the fastest attack in the "Formula of Life and Death"—the "Life and Death Finger"—with all his strength, not caring about the consumption of Spirit Qi in his body, but he also maximized the power of the magical tool "Rainbow Ruler," and then brought out his trump card against those Zhong family disciples, the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic."

However, the energy contained in the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic" was too pure and immense; even now, Xu Qingfan could only control a small part of it. At this moment, he took it out mainly for its protection function to safeguard himself just in case.

After Xu Qingfan attacked with all his strength, facing the storm of "Life and Death Fingers," Zhong Ling and the zombies all dodged, but still got hit by a few fingers. The "Life and Death Finger" was powerful; the destructive force created by the collision of life and death energies was immense. The weakest "Copper Poison Corpses" were either severely injured or, due to bad luck, were hit two or three times, causing their bodies to explode. The slightly stronger "Ecstasy Corpses" were not shattered, but still sustained some injuries.

The strongest Zhong Ling had the strength of a late-stage Golden Core Stage cultivator, but after inhabiting a zombie body, he had been busy merging his soul and body, making him unfamiliar with the zombie’s combat style. Thus, he was always underperforming, but as a Mahayana Stage master, even though his strength had dropped sharply, his knowledge and insight remained unchanged. At this moment, although he had only fought for a little while, he could still unleash the true power of this body. Facing Xu Qingfan’s onslaught of "Life and Death Fingers," he didn’t dodge; instead, he braced himself and took the hits, his body surrounded by thick black death energy. The "Life and Death Fingers" hit him, pushing him back and causing him to cry out in pain, yet they didn’t truly harm him.

However, just as Zhong Ling braced himself against the "Life and Death Finger" and prepared to attack Xu Qingfan again, he looked up to see a dazzling array of rainbow-colored light in front of him. Before he could discern what the colorful light was, he instinctively sensed danger and barely had time to lean slightly to the side, only to feel his body lighten and uncontrollably fall backward.

After finally managing to control his body, Zhong Ling looked down and saw a crazed glint in his eyes, for he discovered that his left arm, under the passing of the colorful light, had vanished completely. At that moment, Zhong Ling, in his zombie form, did not feel any pain, but the repeated defeats at Xu Qingfan’s hands made him angrier than pain ever could.

Far away from the battlefield, Dongfang Qingling felt anxious when she saw Xu Qingfan in trouble. Ignoring the difference in their strength, she rushed towards the battlefield to assist Xu Qingfan. Dongfang Qingling’s actual power was only comparable to that of an "Ecstasy Corpse," but just as she moved, the situation changed rapidly. Under Xu Qingfan’s fierce counterattack, nearly half of the zombies were killed or injured in an instant, making her realize that Xu Qingfan’s current strength was indeed far greater than his peers, giving her a sense of deep awe.

What Dongfang Qingling did not know was that Xu Qingfan was currently troubled by his own lack of strength and the blind optimism and arrogance he felt when making decisions earlier.

In fact, Xu Qingfan’s powerful counterattack this time was partly due to luck. First, he had not hesitated to consume his Spirit Qi for a fierce attack when he saw the urgent situation, but such attacks could not last. Second, Zhong Ling and the zombies had thought Xu Qingfan was only focusing on defending against the death energy and corpse poison within him, without realizing that during this critical moment, Xu Qingfan had recovered his strength and attacked fiercely, catching them off guard and allowing Xu Qingfan to achieve much.

Zhong Ling, now familiar with his new body and driven mad, was incredibly destructive. At the beginning of the fight, he was the least threatening to the Zhong family of the four, but now he was no longer below Zhong family’s Fourth Brother.

Zhong Ling touched the blood from the wound where his arm had been severed and quickly drew strange, mysterious patterns on his body and face. A wave of inexplicable danger radiated from him, and his already heightened strength from absorbing the black mist surged again. Then, disregarding Xu Qingfan’s "Life and Death Finger" attack and the magical tool "Rainbow Ruler," he charged straight at Xu Qingfan once more.

Xu Ying, who had been knocked aside by Zhong Ling earlier, had now reached Xu Qingfan but was struck by Zhong Ling again. This time, when their fists collided, Zhong Ling’s body didn’t even wobble, while Xu Qingfan’s "Life and Death Finger" continued to hit Zhong Ling without slowing his advance. The "Rainbow Ruler," which had previously severed Zhong Ling’s left arm with one blow, was sent off to the side after Zhong Ling landed a punch.

Although Xu Qingfan was aware that he had consumed too much Spirit Qi with his previous attack and intentionally controlled its power, Zhong Ling’s sudden rise in strength could not be ignored. In the fight, he fully utilized the unique strength and indestructible body of a zombie.

Since he could not repel Zhong Ling, Xu Qingfan reluctantly used the "Flying Satin," protected himself with the "Five Spirit Bell," and fought while moving to take advantage of his speed. However, this meant that while Zhong Ling could not threaten Xu Qingfan in the short term, Xu Qingfan could not support the other Zhong family cultivators either.

During Xu Qingfan’s counterattack, the Zhong family’s Fifth Brother kept summoning various zombies to besiege Xu Qingfan, such as the "Two-Headed Corpse King," "Blood Vine Corpse," and "Vampire Zombie." These legendary zombies emerged endlessly in great numbers.

Since Xu Ying could not help Xu Qingfan face Zhong Ling, Xu Qingfan decided to send him, along with Xu Zhiyuan and Little Black, to resist the zombies summoned by the Zhong family’s Fifth Brother. However, although the zombies were weaker than his spirit pet clones, their overwhelming numbers made the defense still very precarious.

The "Dark" magic that the Zhong family’s Eleventh Brother was using had yet to end, but the black mist gathering around him grew thicker and stronger.

The Zhong family’s Fourth Brother continually made hand signs, yet it was unclear what new Taoist spell he would cast. At that moment, the black flags around the battlefield were vibrating wildly, creating a piercing buzzing sound that made Xu Qingfan feel uneasy.

"This can’t go on like this!"

While dodging Zhong Ling’s pursuit, Xu Qingfan observed the battlefield and thought to himself.

The four members of the Zhong family worked together with great skill. The zombies summoned by Zhong Ling and the Fifth Brother engaged in close combat, preventing Xu Qingfan from attacking the other two or escaping the battlefield. Meanwhile, the Eleventh Brother was responsible for long-range attacks, which, though silent, posed a great threat, keeping Xu Qingfan on constant alert and hindering his full power. Coupled with the Fourth Brother’s spell that provided additional support, their combined strength was far beyond what just four golden core cultivators could achieve. Xu Qingfan had fought valiantly to resist until now, showing remarkable prowess, but if this continued, he could only face defeat and death.

After making up his mind, Xu Qingfan saw Zhong Ling charging toward him again, gritted his teeth, and instead of avoiding him, he rushed quickly at Zhong Ling.

Upon seeing Xu Qingfan charge at him, Zhong Ling felt elated and raised his right arm. But just as Xu Qingfan reached him in an instant, Zhong Ling’s arm suddenly swelled to more than three times its size, with veins bulging and muscles coiling, seemingly filled with endless power, before swinging down hard at Xu Qingfan.

"Bang…"

The power of this punch was surprisingly incredible. As his arm swung, the air made a sharp, piercing sound. It seemed like the space around him was shaking slightly. Then, a loud crashing sound echoed, and the "Five Spirit Bell," the "Tianyu Robe," and the "Ice Spirit Jade Pendant" around Xu Qingfan burst forth with dazzling colors and bright white light, maximizing their effects to help Xu Qingfan block Zhong Ling’s attack.

In that brief moment, Xu Qingfan seemed to hear the sound of the "Five Spirit Bell" beginning to shatter.

As Zhong Ling became more familiar with the zombie body, his Mahayana Stage knowledge began to show. The power of this punch no longer felt like an attack that a late-stage Golden Core zombie should have.

Suddenly, Xu Qingfan felt intense pain in his body, and he lost control, flying backward far away.

However, this was exactly what Xu Qingfan wanted.

Although Xu Qingfan was sent flying, the direction he flew was towards the location of Zhong family’s Eleventh Brother. With Xu Qingfan intentionally speeding up, he moved like lightning, and by the time Zhong family’s Eleventh Brother noticed, it was already too late to escape.

He had to deal with this ranged attacker first. Otherwise, not only would he be unable to fight effectively against Zhong Ling and the zombies, but he also wouldn’t know when he might be ambushed.

This was what Xu Qingfan was thinking at that moment.

Originally, the Zhong family Fourth Brother posed a greater threat to Xu Qingfan, and he should have dealt with him first. However, whenever Xu Qingfan saw the Zhong family Fourth Brother, he always had a strange feeling that his sneak attack wouldn’t harm him. So, to be safe, he decided to target Eleventh Brother instead.

As the Zhong family Eleventh Brother approached him, Xu Qingfan held back the blood rising in his throat, tightly gripping the "Holy Spirit Buddhist Relic," with determination in his eyes.

"Eleventh Brother, be careful!"

"Eleven, quick, dodge!"

Seeing this scene, the Zhong family Fourth Brother and Fifth Brother both panicked and shouted.

However, Eleventh Brother realized he had not expected Xu Qingfan to attack at this moment. Caught off guard, he didn’t have time to dodge.

Although the Zhong family Eleventh Brother looked solemn, he was actually a courageous person. Seeing there was no way to avoid the attack, he ignored Xu Qingfan’s strike, quickly forming hand signs. He successfully cast the "Dark" technique, compressing endless black mist into a point, transforming it into a strange talisman that floated before him and then rushed towards Xu Qingfan.

Attack against attack!