Chapter Seventy-Eight: The Soul-Calling of All Living Beings

At once I felt countless shadows flickering around my body, and in an instant sheets of blood-red light turned into dreadful chains that bound me fast. Those crimson chains began drilling, one by one, into my flesh.

My face changed at once, for by then I could already feel wave after wave of icy chill seeping into my skin.

"Master, hold your breath and calm your mind. Slowly relax your body!"

Just as I saw the surrounding heads, one after another, beginning to slowly open their eyes, Tu's voice rang out.

At once I did as Tu said, holding my breath, steadying my mind, and gradually loosening my body.

Suddenly, Tu plunged directly into me. In that instant I felt layer upon layer of black armor rising within my body, blocking those blood-red chains completely outside.

"Hahaha, I never expected you to have a yin-yang treasure on you. If I am not mistaken, what appeared just now must have been the Blood-Slaughter Grand Formation Diagram. Boy, you truly are my lucky star. That Blood-Slaughter Grand Formation Diagram is just right for me to devour. With it, I can refine the Nether God Armor. Rest assured, after I have conducted your holy sacrifice, I will remember you. Ahahaha..."

His voice sounded beside my ear, shaking my thoughts.

"Master, keep your mind steady. Do not open your eyes!"

I answered softly and let out a long breath. By then I could clearly feel scales growing within my body, layer by layer. Though I could not see them, I could distinctly sense that these scales were blocking those chains completely outside my body!

"Path of the Nether God, soul of the holy sacrifice!"

In an instant, the corpse-burier suddenly bit through his own fingertip and drew countless talismans in the air. These talismans linked together in the void into many diagrams, each one ancient and eerie, yet all of them giving the sense of something drained of vitality.

Then, with a fierce cry, the corpse-burier caused those talismans to surge toward me in endless succession, giving the terrifying impression that my body might shatter apart at any moment.

"Exterminate!"

Just as I felt the scales outside my body beginning to shed bit by bit, a thunderous voice suddenly boomed out, making the whole space tremble violently.

A long blade came slashing down upon me, cutting those talismans that had wrapped around me into fragments. At that moment I opened my eyes.

The countless heads that had surrounded me all opened their eyes then, their blood-red glow like blood streaming in unbroken rivulets, now revealing a savage, bloody radiance.

Buzz!

With a dull shock, I felt the space around me tremble. The countless heads that had once encircled me began shaking violently, then, with a gesture from the corpse-burier, flew back to gather around his body.

He stood amid that surging mass of heads and looked at me, then shifted his gaze to the middle-aged man beside me, the one carrying a great blade on his shoulder.

That man was none other than my elementary and middle school teacher, Zhao Wen.

Zhao Wen had arrived at the perfect moment. Just when I had been at a loss, his blade had cut through every shackle around me.

"So it is you two again!"

The corpse-burier was no stranger to Zhao Wen. After all, we had already met at the school before, and back then Zhao Wen had even used the ancient character for "break" to fight him. Naturally, the corpse-burier still remembered.

"Xiao Dong, what is this thing?"

Zhao Wen did not recognize the zombie before him. That was entirely understandable. By then, the corpse-burier had already come out of the Master Wuwang's body, and somewhere along the way he had found what seemed to be an elderly zombie. Then he had turned everyone in this house who had been bitten by Li Lina into zombies. It was fair to say that by now there were very few living people left in this building.

"This is the corpse-burier who escaped from that treasure site that night, authentic and indisputable!"

"What!"

Zhao Wen's face changed at once. Then he stepped forward, swinging the great blade in his hand twice as he said, "Wretch, I never imagined you had slaughtered so many lives. You deserve to die!"

"Ke ke ke ke... Deserve to die? I do deserve to die, but before I die, I shall first turn you all completely into a part of my own body. You are all yin-yang masters with magical treasures and power upon you. To me, you are nothing less than a great tonic. Hahaha..."

His laughter began icy and sinister, then turned into a woman's voice. Though somewhat hoarse, it was still clear enough to hear every word he spoke.

"Seeking death! Xiao Dong, let us strike together and restrain this wretch first!"

I nodded. By then I already understood how terrifying the corpse-burier was. His horror was likely far beyond that of Li Lina and Old Master Zhou.

At this point, peach wood swords and yellow talismans were naturally useless against him. At his level, he was probably at least a corpse king.

I reached out, and Nie Xiao Ke, sensing my presence, instantly flew out from the backpack behind me. The countless white wrappings coiled around the body of the Sword of All Living Beings were all torn free and cast aside by me in one motion.

"Go!"

Zhao Wen suddenly snorted coldly and stepped forward, wielding the long blade in his hand. It was actually made of paper, yet the entire blade was covered in yellow talismans, and its surface seemed to have been soaked in the blood of a rooster. One slash sent the corpse energy that had been surging toward the corpse-burier completely cutting apart, leaving not a trace behind.

The corpse-burier's expression tightened slightly. Then, with a sudden motion of his hand, the blood-soaked heads around him converged toward him in a single instant. In that moment, he was utterly enveloped by those dripping heads.

Boom!

Zhao Wen brought his blade down. A tremendous shock rang out, and two of the blood-soaked heads suddenly howled. They split open, spilling pale red and milky white fluids across the floor.

I felt a wave of nausea, but still did not spare a single wandering soul. I swung the Sword of All Living Beings down with all my force.

The instant my sword descended, the whole space began to shake violently. The wildly surging corpse energy and the sinister qi darting about in all directions burst free from the cage that had bound them and rushed toward my Sword of All Living Beings.

Because the corpse-burier had earlier used a secret art to lock those wandering souls completely within their respective heads, the heads were now trembling without cease, like a cloth sack stuffed with people inside, the trapped souls struggling madly to tear it apart and break free.

At that moment, brilliant Buddhist radiance burst forth from my Sword of All Living Beings. The light pierced straight through the brows of every blood-soaked head, and thread after thread of wandering soul was drawn out completely by the Buddha light within the sword...