It was the Sugato Sword that was reining in the giant bloodcorpse, keeping it suppressed beneath the ground. Since the immortal ghost, Yueshen, had nine bloodcorpses at her command, that afforded Lu Yun a glimpse into their true nature.

They were a zombie variant that could transform themselves into streaks of crimson light and possessed a strange, cursed power. Their unique constitution allowed them to reform with just a small amount of fresh blood, even after being completely scattered.

In other words, bloodcorpses were close to invincible.

Radiating a blindingly sharp energy, the Sugato Sword firmly suppressed the crimson zombie, cutting into its flesh and leaving behind open wounds.

“It hasn’t finished its transformation into a bloodcorpse!” Lu Yun frowned when he noticed the creature’s condition. Though it struggled with all its might, the greater its efforts, the sharper the sword energy cutting into it became. The zombie’s crimson light surged and slammed into the ground, attempting to break it open.

“The Sugato Sword can’t keep it suppressed for long. The thing will break free sooner or later!” Lu Yun’s face darkened. So the sword was also preventing the bloodcorpse from completing its transformation. That meant it would be next to impossible for him to acquire the weapon.

This thing will be a harbinger of disaster if it’s allowed to escape. Let’s try the dispelling properties of the Thunder Palmstrike! Situated on the Path of Ingress, Lu Yun dodged a few crimson flashes and countered with a palm at the bloodcorpse’s head.

Crackle.

Dazzling lightning burst out of his palm, squarely hitting the bloodcorpse.

Snarl!

The bloodcorpse roared with pain and anger, redoubling its efforts against the Sugato Sword, which remained steady as ever, like a giant mountain. Lu Yun’s attack hadn’t been terribly effective.

“Oh?” Some new knowledge traveled back after his attack. “So if the inheritance pagoda is broken, the bloodcorpse will be able to break free of the Sugato Sword!”

What prevented the bloodcorpse’s final transformation wasn’t the weapon itself, but the sharpness of the sword energy. The pagoda was created from the sword’s edge and Lord Sugato’s power, denoting a close link between pagoda and sword. Smashing the pagoda would allow the bloodcorpse to break free.

“Of course! That explains it!” His expression shifted unsteadily. “No wonder the provincial seal is required to unearth the ancient lord’s heritage. No wonder knowledge about the Sword Pagoda and this bloodcorpse came to me!”

There’d originally been no inheritance pagoda underground in Dusk Province. The moment Lu Yun channeled the power of the land into the ancient lord’s tomb, the keenness of the sword activated the remnants of Lord Sugato’s power, which combined with the power of the land to hurtle out of the tomb as the inheritance pagoda.

Given that Lu Yun had long since refined the provincial seal and wielded the province’s power, that meant the pagoda was well within his grasp. In fact, he could collect the pagoda with a thought and slowly refine the ancient lord’s heritage, bypassing the nine hundred and ninety-nine floors altogether.

……

Berserk lightning continued to smite the bloodcorpse. The bloody figure’s flailing grew increasingly violent, with even the giant hand it’d extended gradually breaking free of Skybearer’s restraint.

“Again!!” Lu Yun raised his hand high.

Bam!

His attack pierced straight through the earth above his head. Endless lightning converged from all directions with a roar and fell into his grasp.

“Die!” he screamed. “Die, die, die!”

Crackling lightning flooded the tomb, an ocean of thunder that submerged the bloodcorpse, but didn’t drown out its struggles.

There were different levels of heavenly lightning. The kind that Lu Yun’s Thunder Palmstrike channeled was the weakest among them. It was more than enough to kill regular immortals, but ineffective when facing a bloodcorpse as powerful as this one.

He could deliver great injuries again and again, but couldn’t disperse its crimson light. The Sugato Sword had suppressed the bloodcorpse for at least a hundred thousand years, but the weapon merely prevented it from completing its transformation and was seemingly incapable of killing it.

Bloodcorpses were almost impossible to kill, and this particular one was a true peerless immortal, one step away from dao immortal! Unlike a peerless immortal with a sealed cultivation, a real peerless immortal could kill Lu Yun with a snap of its fingers.

The governor summoned divine lightning nine more times. Every instance ripped open wounds and left patches of charred flesh on the bloodcorpse, but the creature continuously healed itself with a crimson light that looked like a sword aura.

Lu Yun huffed and puffed atop the Path of Ingress, his energy reserves running low.

“It’s not invincible as long as it hasn’t finished turning into a true bloodcorpse! I must refine the Sugato Sword to take it down! Only that sword energy can kill this monster!” He looked toward the weapon. The Path of Ingress cut a shining path through the surging, crimson light of the bloodcorpse. “If I can’t take it with me, I’ll just refine it from here!”

……

The immortals outside the city were dumbfounded.

Nine instances of divine lightning had slammed into the cavity in the ground and completely broken open the earth around it. If Feinie hadn’t led the eighteen Lu immortals in protecting the city, it would’ve sunk underground.

No one knew what was happening in the tomb, and no one dared enter at the moment. The battle underground was far too intense. With their cultivations sealed, they wouldn’t even be Lu Yun’s match, let alone the giant zombie.

The enormous hand continued scrabbling in the dirt, almost breaking free of Skybearer. Blood trickled down from the corner of Lu Qingyi’s mouth, but he clenched his jaw and kept the hand suppressed.

“Put your treasure away,” called out a lilting, ethereal voice. “I will handle it.”

A girl dressed in grey robes slowly descended from the sky. A trace of crimson light flickered in and out of existence within her pupils.

“You are....” Lu Qingyi looked at her with appreciation.

“Diexi, a zombie king nurtured by an ancient tomb,” she replied frankly. “Some say I am an evil creature that will bring unceasing calamity to the world of immortals, but Lu Yun says I am an ordinary human, just like him.”

“Diexi, protector of the North Sea coast and bulwark against millions of monster spirits!” Lu Qingyi snapped to attention. “Miss Deixi saved hundreds of millions in Dusk Province by heading off the invaders. You are a major benefactor of Nephrite Major, not an evil creature!”

Diexi beamed widely at Lu Qingyi. “Put the Skybearer Gates away. Lu Yun says that everything in the world has its natural bane, and Skybearer happens to be my counter. I will take care of the hand.”

Lu Qingyi bowed to the girl and withdrew the treasure. As soon as the gates dissipated, the hand shot out and grabbed at the pagoda.

“I am a zombie king, the ruler of all undead!” Diexi howled to the sky. “You are not a true bloodcorpse yet, so you must kneel to me!”

She opened her eyes to fix her gaze at a certain point in the distance. Where her eyes passed, an ocean of blood emerged, with countless bodies floating in it.

Bam!

The ocean slammed into the arm.