Chapter 2213.1: The Forefather of Ghost Zombies

The Dao Academy of Great Xia was where all of the dynasty’s geniuses gathered. They were nurtured with the full resources of the nation. Anyone who could enroll in its august halls was an unparalleled genius.

The four in front of him, however, were far from being hailed as geniuses. They were certainly accomplished and elites, but only Ling Ling could be considered a genius. Even so, she completely lacked the proper experience for her peerless potential.

Lu Yun showed none of those thoughts on his face and smiled, “Ah, so it’s fellow daoists from the Great Xia Dao Academy. I am Lu Yun, a cultivator of the Jade Ruins Realms.” He didn’t bother concealing his identity.

Startled, Ling Chu and the other four looked at each other. Wasn’t Jade Ruins Realms the weakest out of Great Xia’s three thousand worlds of cultivation? Where did a guy like him come from? The four of them had hacked at that bloody being for four hours! Although they pulverized it each time, it seemed to be undying and reassembled even when they cut it into a thousand pieces.

They’d also tried destroying its head, but it simply grew a new one each time.

“Ah…” Ling Chu looked at Lu Yun, the words on the tip of his tongue.

“There is a blood rune the width of a hair at the center of its forehead. Those things die when that rune is destroyed.” Lu Yun was very forthcoming with his knowledge.

The vicious spirits emanating bloody light were exceptionally brutal. They’d run rampant through the world of immortals and if it wasn’t for the five immortal emperors working in tandem to summon the Sword of Chaos, the world of immortals would’ve become their land.

Vicious spirits were what these bloody creatures were called, but Lu Yun somehow felt that they should be called ghost zombies. Well… they were a little different from the ghost zombies of his subconscious. The blood rune was their only weakness, but the ghost zombies to come had no weaknesses. The power of heaven and earth was their only bane.

These vicious spirits looked to be the forefather of the ghost zombies in the future, but the latter was more terrifying. Even so, these vicious spirits represented despair to Lu Yun. Each of them had once been a living being!

“Our thanks for fellow daoist’s enlightenment!” Ling Chu and the others immediately felt closer to Lu Yun when the latter spoke of this secret so easily.

Lu Yun could tell that not only were these four Dao Academy disciples, but they were also royal offspring. They were flowers nurtured in greenhouses—as strong as they were, their experience was far too lacking. They’d come to Jade Ruins Realm for tempering.

“Not at all!” Lu Yun chuckled.

“Fellow daoist, danger lurks around every corner in Immortal Burial Valley. You might run into danger if you travel alone. Why don’t you join us? It’s easier to look out for each other in a group,” Song Yi offered a friendly gesture. In their eyes, while Lu Yun knew how to kill the vicious spirits, he was still in a precarious situation since he was only initial soul projection.

Lu Yun wanted to decline, but hesitated when he looked at the four. Ultimately, he agreed to their offer.

Ling Chu, Ling Ling, and Shi Jian were very happy that he agreed. Their new companion could tell that the quartet wasn’t the sort to hide their thoughts and feelings beneath multiple layers.

……

Travel became a more boisterous affair when multiple people traveled together. Lu Yun hadn’t wanted to form a team at first because soul projection cultivators were too weak. Letting them follow him was just creating additional work for himself.

These four were different in that they were extremely powerful and only lacked experience. He was happy to make their acquaintance and gain powerful backers for the Lu Clan.

Ling Ling was a lively girl and flitted around Lu Yun like a little bird, asking him all manner of questions. When the others heard that the Lu Clan had a death feud with the Origin King, they frowned.

However, the frown wasn’t a precursor to estrangement. Song Yi gnashed his teeth, like he held a grudge against the Origin King as well.

Lu Yun didn’t ask further.

“Yan Guichi is utterly shameless!” Ling Ling waved her fists around after hearing Lu Yun’s story. He didn’t keep it from them since it was no secret. The four would easily find out once they returned.

Ling Chu didn’t say anything. He simply clapped their new companion’s shoulder.

……

Bloody vicious spirits thronged the hazy world, so the group proceeded with caution and didn’t travel too quickly. Lu Yun’s Eye of Nullification could only scan fifty kilometers around them. The vicious spirits were so swift that his art’s range was but a joke to them.

The third day.

“A massive amount of vicious spirits are coming this way from one hundred kilometers ahead!” An excited Song Yin flew back amid sword light. Being the fastest among them, he was the group’s scout as his spirit root was a mutated wind spirit root; it didn’t fall within the five elements. Mutated spirit roots were extremely rare and each one possessed unbounded potential.

Lu Yun looked in that direction with the Eye of Nullification.

“Damn it!” he cursed. There were twenty spirits and three combination cultivators flying in front of them, heading their way. The incoming trouble was less than fifty kilometers from the quintet.

Lu Yun would fear facing the vicious spirits by himself, but something was amiss if there were cultivators leading them.

“Prepare to fight!” Ling Chu summoned a scarlet lower dao rank flying sword. The other three brought out their weapons as well, ready to fight.

The three of them had killed a dozen spirits over the past three days in accordance with Lu Yun’s instructions. Morale was high and even the timid Ling Ling was eager to test her mettle.

Three resplendent rays of sword light flew over their head after one hundred breaths.

“Big brother, look, there’s some little fellows below!” A bald combination cultivator brightened when he caught sight of Lu Yun and the others. They’d sought cover and were ready to deal fatal blows to the vicious spirits when they passed.

“They can be our meat shields!” Their leader was a middle-aged man with a sinister expression. Dressed in dark-red robes, he slashed downward without second thought.

Bam!

Tremendous sword light split the earth open, shocking Ling Chu and his fellow disciples. They hadn’t thought that the fleeing cultivators would attack them!

As they hastily scrambled out from cover, Lu Yun seemed to be ready and grabbed the surprised Ling Ling.

“Haha, little guys, it’s up to you now!” The bald guy roared with laughter to see that they’d forced the cultivators into the open.

Vicious spirits possessed extremely weak consciousnesses and relied on their eyes. Preoccupied with chasing the three combination cultivators, they would’ve been hard pressed to see the five hidden in the ground.

Yet once the living appeared in front of them, they tirelessly gave chase. It was clear to see that the three combination cultivators had realized this, which was why they forced Lu Yun and the others out.

The Lu young master knew what they wished to do, but didn’t say anything because growth only came after personally experiencing certain things. Being descendents of Great Xia royalty, Ling Chu and the others had only ever enjoyed lives of smooth sailing.

“Damn it!” Shi Jian had a fiery temper and grit his teeth as he looked at the departing sword light.

“Ignore them, prepare for battle!” Ling Chu frowned tightly. With the five of them in the air, the twenty spirits immediately changed targets and pounced on them in a howling mess.

“Kill!” screamed Ling Chu, his scarlet sword of flame unleashing a long arc of sword light. It stabbed at the vicious spirit at the forefront.

Pfft!

The sword light cut the spirit’s head into perfect halves, destroying the blood rune at the center of its forehead.

Lu Yun, Shi Jian, Song Yi, and Ling Ling quickly joined the fray.

Pfft pfft pfft.

Five rays of varying sword splendor flashed through the sky, resulting in five headless bodies. However, that gave time for the remaining vicious spirits to surround them.

The spirits moved extremely quickly. While they didn’t know how to dodge, it was very hard to kill them in close quarters. The ones remaining were each initial combination, but their speed was beyond that level.

“Be careful!” Song Yi’s sword was a cerulean blade the width of a finger. Cerulean light blossomed from it and flung radiance in all directions like a scintillating firework.

Pfft pfft pfft!

The glorious sword light stabbed at the spirits’ foreheads. However, the shifting creatures were so close and flying in changing trajectories that when the light hit them, it didn’t destroy the blood rune.

“Don’t let them bite you, you’ll turn into a vicious spirit too!” Lu Yun frowned and bade light to erupt from Immortals Forbidden. It slashed at the closest spirit with a howl.

Pfft!

He pierced the spirit through with one stroke while the others hastily activated their defensive treasures.

Bam!

A vicious spirit appeared behind Shi Jian and clawed the sturdy barrier of light around him. Although the treasure remained intact, the young man was sent flying like a rubber ball.

Eight spirits immediately pounced on him.

“Damn it!” Blood trickled out of the corner of his mouth as he burned with hatred toward the three combination cultivators from earlier. If they hadn’t forced the quintet out from hiding, they wouldn’t be mired in such a difficult fight.

“Kill!” Shi Jian exploded with strength as his broadsword answered in kind, sectioning the spirits in the blink of an eye.