Although the zombie horde overall has greater Half Step Golden Core combat power, a single Half Step Golden Core corpse servant is no match for a Half Step Golden Core cultivator.
The reason these corpse servants can contend with human monks is that they rely on their overwhelming numbers to drain the enemy’s energy.
Now that the zombie numbers are decreasing, these corpse servants can no longer effectively counter the Foundation Building monks in the various defense zones, let alone be properly mobilized by Sun Fu.
If additional troops are withdrawn, the zombie swarm might be completely defeated.
"Stop! No need to chase!" someone shouted.
Even though Sun Fu saw Luis slaughtering the horde, he knew that further pursuit would yield the same outcome.
The best they could do was ensure that the enemy could never drag them by the nose again.
With that in mind, Sun Fu identified a weak defense zone and led nine Half Step Golden Core corpse servants to attack it—targeting Defense Zone 37.
The Half Step Golden Core commander from Jin’an Prefecture was so frightened when he saw ten Half Step Golden Core zombies charging toward him that he broke out in a cold sweat.
"Defense Zone 37 calls for help!" he yelled into his communication device, immediately activating the sub-array of Cangzhou Fairy City.
This sub-formation, modeled on the fifth-level mountain protection formation of Cangzhou Fairy City, is arranged in every defense zone there.
Although its defensive capabilities cannot match the full fifth-level formation, it is by no means weaker than a standard fourth-level array.
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
"Boom!!"
The sound of hammer strikes pounded against the transparent defensive light curtain of the sub-formation, sending ripples through it.
Even a Golden Core boss would not dare allow ten Half Step Golden Core zombies to continue their assault.
How could a sub-array, comparable only to a third-order defensive array, hold out forever? In just the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, this formation appeared on the brink of collapse.
On the other side, Luis—whose spiritual awareness encompassed the entire Cangzhou Immortal City—turned his head, frowned, and said, "Brother Zhou, now that each defense zone is stretched thin, only you can relieve the siege on the 37th Defense Zone!"
A sweep of his spiritual sense confirmed the dire situation there.
"But you here..." someone began.
"Don’t worry. As long as Sun Fu’s group of zombies doesn’t come to trouble me, I can still escape even if I can’t defeat every zombie. Besides, our Half Step Golden Core monks in the other defense zones will cover me, so I’ll be fine."
After weighing the pros and cons, Zhou Mubai nodded.
If Defense Zone 37 were breached, it would be a heavy blow to our current favorable situation—even if we eventually won, the losses would be enormous. Zhou Mubai naturally did not want that to happen.
"Okay, Brother Luis, be careful!" Zhou Mubai called out before flashing off to provide support at the 37th Defense Zone.
Just then, Fairy Chi Yao, who had been watching the battle from the sidelines, nodded and said, "Let’s go—it’s our turn!"
The pretty face of the female cultivator in the goose-yellow gauze dress shone with eagerness as she prepared to join the fight.
With one swift move, they killed three Half Step Golden Core corpse servants on the spot.
In Defense Zone 37, when Sun Fu saw that three of his men had fallen in the first clash, his expression immediately changed. Then he smiled sinisterly, "Hehehe, you Qianyuan Sword Sect really have a backup plan!"
Sun Fu laughed as if those who just died were not his subordinates at all.
"Two Half Step Golden Core sword cultivators—truly, their master is as mighty as a god! But do you really think that two such sword cultivators can easily defeat us? At this point, do they have any cards left?"
Zhou Mubai scanned the void with his spiritual sense, trying to discern Sun Fu’s hidden backup plan.
"What cards do they have?" he wondered aloud.
Chi Yao replied coldly, "They’re nothing more than stray dogs of the old demon Shen Jue."
"Snort!" Sun Fu sneered at Chi Yao’s insult. His face twisted with malice, yet a hint of pleasure flickered in his eyes.
"Zhou Mubai, you don’t need to search—my master won’t come. You can’t even fool me with this little trick, and you still expect my master to fall for it? Ridiculous."
"The old demon Shen Jue is as greedy for life and as afraid of death as ever," Fairy Chi Yao added.
"Of course, he’s afraid of death—if he weren’t, how could he hide for four hundred years and only send two of you to stir up trouble?"
"Yeah?" Sun Fu replied with a cold smile, "That’s not necessarily true!"
Meanwhile, Luis’s sword energy rain curtain covered the entire 53rd Defense Zone, annihilating the zombies that surged out in disarray.
After five days, Luis had gained considerable experience in bullying weak opponents.
He was confident that in the Sea of Ten Thousand Stars, no one was more adept at slaughtering low-level zombies than he was.
After all, even among Golden Core and Nascent Soul cultivators, few could match him. In just five days, he had spent nearly all his time cutting down low-level corpses.
Although the zombies in the horde were generally much weaker than Qi Refining cultivators, many high-level zombies—whose strength was comparable to Qi Refining or even Foundation Building cultivators—were also mixed in.
However, this made little difference for Luis; at most, it slightly increased his difficulty.
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In other words, for Luis it wouldn’t matter if these zombies were replaced by Qi Refining or Foundation Building cultivators who couldn’t form effective formations.
By "Foundation Building cultivators," we mean those without spiritual armor. Cultivators in the Foundation Establishment Stage, wearing second-grade top-tier spiritual armor, were completely impervious to his sword energy rain curtain.
Absorbed in the battle, Luis maintained his sword energy rain curtain while using his spiritual sense to monitor the situation in Defense Zone 37.
When he heard Sun Fu say, "That’s not necessarily true," his heart suddenly tightened.
"What are you looking at?" an extremely terrifying voice boomed behind him, causing Luis to break into a cold sweat. He slowly turned around.
There, standing behind him, was a silver-haired old man—his hair silver, his blood golden, his bones like jade, with the very essence of Tao flowing over his entire body.
"Who am I?" the silver-haired old man asked with a smile. "You’ve worked so hard to lure me out, haven’t you? Now that I’m here, why do you still wear that expression?"
"Shen Jue!" Luis looked straight into his eyes and spoke deliberately, "It is me." The old man smiled, then raised his legs and began to move toward Luis, gliding effortlessly through the air.
In Defense Zone 53, the entire formation—from Foundation Building cultivators to Qi Refining cultivators—stood in stunned silence, as if their very souls had been snatched away.
Luis’s heart pounded like a drum; he had never felt so close to death before.
"Is this your famous magical power, the Soul-Fixing Divine Light?" Luis asked.
The silver-haired old man paused and laughed, "I never thought that after all these years, there would still be people who remember my famous skill! Not bad! Really good! Hahaha!"
After a moment, Shen Jue stopped laughing and fixed his gaze on Luis. "Since you recognized it, as a reward, I will let you die under the Soul-Fixing Divine Light, so that your life may not have been in vain."
"Good!" Luis nodded. "I want to see if the Soul-Fixing Divine Light is as powerful as the rumors say. They claim it can even freeze a Nascent Soul Cultivator, but I don’t believe it."
"Nascent Soul Cultivator? That’s nothing!" sneered the silver-haired old man.
Then, a ray of divine light shot out from the void, heading straight for Luis’s face. The Soul-Fixing Divine Light tore into Luis’s sea of consciousness. Within that vast sea of knowledge, a vortex stood like an eternal, unchanging, majestic presence. The divine light shone into the sea but did not reach the soul. The vortex trembled slightly and absorbed the light without so much as a ripple.
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Shen Jue observed as Luis was "fixed" by the Soul-Fixing Divine Light, then smiled and shook his head. "Sword cultivator? Haha, nothing more than that." With a casual palm motion, he struck the top of Luis’s head.
In an instant, Luis—who had been standing motionless—vanished in a flash, his body transforming into sword light. The sword-light incarnation that remained was instantly torn to pieces by Shen Jue’s effortless palm strike.
"Umm?" Shen Jue was utterly shocked to see that Luis had broken free from his Soul-Fixing Divine Light. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he smiled, "Interesting, really interesting. I didn’t expect you to possess such a rare soul defense magic weapon!" He raised his hand, ready to end Luis once and for all.
But in the very next moment, a slight ripple appeared in the space around them. From that ripple, a hand as delicate as white jade emerged and grabbed Shen Jue’s raised right hand.
"Little mouse, I finally caught you!" came a triumphant cry.
As the spatial ripples faded, a young figure materialized before everyone. It was none other than the master of Zhenhai Palace—Qin Zhan!
Shen Jue turned his head in horror.
An extremely young Taoist priest, wearing a green Taoist robe and a Taoist ribbon on his head, had a smug look in his eyes and a grin on his lips, as if mocking him.
"Who are you?"