"Do you really take me for a fool?"

With a cold smile, Qi Yun glanced at the shattered Array Discs covering the ground. He formed a spell, and a massive, pitch-black hand made of Hundred-refined Steel Sand took shape. It reached precisely into the depths of the Array Hub and slowly pulled something out.

It was a Taixu Jade Order.

However, this Jade Order, which should have been warm, translucent, and flawlessly white, was now almost half-stained by a deeply unsettling bluish-black color.

The bluish-black substance squirmed slowly inside the jade as if it were alive, trying to devour the remaining part. It was an incredibly bizarre sight.

"How did you find out?"

The moment Qi Yun grasped the strange Taixu Jade Order, an indifferent, cold question suddenly emerged from the dark shadows nearby.

The man wearing the face of "Yuan Sea" had appeared at some point, his eyes locked on the Taixu Jade Order in Qi Yun’s hand.

"The Da Wu Mountain Marketplace does indeed have a stationed True Cultivator named Yuan Sea. Though I’ve never met him, I imagine he looks just like you."

Qi Yun wasn’t surprised to see "Yuan Sea" arrive. He casually put the Taixu Jade Order away, turned slightly, and said:

"As for how I discovered the flaw... hehehe, that’s simple.

It’s because you were too earnest.

Look at you. To make your act convincing, you deliberately coughed and bled in front of us.

But is that something a Holy Sect Disciple would do?

A normal Holy Sect Disciple, facing so many of their own, would pretend to be robust and full of vigor even on their deathbed.

You, on the other hand, might as well have had the word ’weak’ written on your face.

So it was your professionalism that exposed you."

Qi Yun’s explanation made "Yuan Sea’s" expression shift, and he opened his mouth, a complicated look on his face.

"Just because of that?"

"What else? A severely injured Inner Mansion True Cultivator who can barely even walk wouldn’t dare appear before his fellow Holy Sect members.

And you..."

Shaking his head lightly, Qi Yun sighed.

"You really don’t understand our Holy Sect’s fine traditions."

"So does that mean the others also..." Yuan Sea’s expression gradually turned ugly.

"Your Zombie Alliance loves to act, so we decided to play along.

How else could we get you to lower your guard and wait for all the disciples of my Nine Great Outer Mansions to arrive!"

As Qi Yun’s voice fell, beams of Dharma Light suddenly shot into the sky around Da Wu Mountain, and figures moved in droves.

The remaining five hundred-plus Outer Mansion Disciples of the Holy Sect had all arrived, enveloping the very encirclement the Zombie Alliance had created to trap them.

Now, it was the Zombie Alliance that was surrounded!

"You were stalling for time, trying to corrupt my Holy Sect’s Jade Order to seize control of the Da Wu Mountain Earth Vein.

So we gave you that chance.

We gave you a chance, but you weren’t good enough to take it.

In that case, this round goes to my Holy Sect."

As Qi Yun spoke, the Nine Yin Nine Resentment Array, which had blotted out the sky with its thick black energy, began to tremble violently. Dark cracks burst open across the ground, and the vast miasma of resentful Corpse Qi began to retract into them.

In the blink of an eye, Da Wu Mountain—once dim, foul, and like a Ghost Realm—was cleansed, as if a giant cloth had wiped away all the filth from its surface. It became much clearer and cleaner.

Though it was still desolate, the suffocating and oppressive evil atmosphere had greatly diminished.

"Just as I thought—a Mother-Child Array. You hijacked the array of our Holy Sect Marketplace as a power source to run your Nine Yin Nine Resentment Array.

I was wondering how a bunch of outsiders like you could channel the Earth Vein and set up an array so quickly.

You were borrowing the chicken to lay your eggs. Now that the chicken is gone, your eggs are bound to be broken!"

Although Qi Yun didn’t know Array Formation himself, he had read many miscellaneous records and Secret Scriptures, so he understood the basic principles of some arrays.

To establish an array on the scale of the Nine Yin Nine Resentment Array, one must channel the Earth Qi and borrow its power to achieve such might.

But the process of channeling an Earth Vein is long and complicated.

Under normal circumstances, it would take at least one to two years. After all, an Earth Vein isn’t like hair you can just comb whenever you please.

One misstep could trigger a rampage from the Earth Vein. At best, mountains would shake and the earth would tremble; at worst, a backlash from the Earth Qi would annihilate everything in the surrounding hundred-li radius.

The Zombie Alliance had only just seized Da Wu Mountain, yet they were able to set up an array like the Nine Yin Nine Resentment Array. That in itself was outrageous.

So when Yuan Sea suggested he go and destroy the Array Disc of the Nine Yin Nine Resentment Array, he guessed the truth.

Yuan Sea was trying to lure the tiger from its mountain, to get him, the Champion Scholar, out of the way so they could surround and eliminate the remaining Holy Sect Disciples.

And he, in turn, simply played along. Using the Earth Vein Map Yuan Sea had given him, he found the location of the marketplace’s Array Disc.

With the mother array’s Array Disc destroyed, the Nine Yin Nine Resentment Array’s parasitic method was instantly broken.

Without the Nine Yin Nine Resentment Array, the Zombie Alliance instantly lost their geographical advantage. And without the array’s support, the strength of the zombies controlled by the Zombie Alliance Cultivators plummeted.

The situation was completely reversed.

"Holy Sect Disciples... Your reputation is truly well-deserved."

Raising his head slightly, a bitter expression on his face, Yuan Sea slowly clenched his fists.

"Five years of planning, only to be defeated by a single misstep... ruined at the hands of a bunch of madmen.

I can’t swallow this!"

"That’s simple. I’ll help you swallow your last breath," Qi Yun said with a gentle smile, his hands hidden in his sleeves already forming spells.

While the two were talking, he had already secretly scattered a large amount of Iron Sand all around Yuan Sea.

Now, he unleashed his attack. The sand instantly transformed into countless sharp, black spikes that erupted from all directions to shred their target!

However, at almost the exact same moment, the void behind Qi Yun twisted. A zombie with a Yellow Talisman on its forehead, a green face, long fangs, and nails as sharp as blades suddenly appeared, lunging to bite his neck.

Their gazes met in a flash, and both saw a hint of cold appreciation in the other’s eyes.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Three white bone skulls shot out from Qi Yun’s sleeves, tangling with the bizarre zombie.

On the other side, Yuan Sea’s figure flickered. A hideous, rotting, foul-smelling walking corpse took his place, instantly riddled with holes by the countless iron spikes like a sieve.

Forming another spell, Qi Yun turned the Iron Sand into a massive hand that lunged for the mysterious zombie. But in the next second, the zombie actually spat out the syllables of a spell, and with a shake of its body, it vanished.

"This zombie actually knows the Illusionary Body Concealing Skill?"

A look of astonishment in his eyes, Qi Yun was very surprised. He had never heard of a zombie being able to use Magic.

’Isn’t that an exclusive ability reserved for Supreme Beings at the Drought Demon Level?’

"Impressive, isn’t it? This is the newest model developed by our Zombie Alliance. We combined the Fierce Ghosts of cultivators with zombie Secret Skills. We call them: Magic Corpses!"

Seeing the surprise on Qi Yun’s face, a trace of pride appeared on Yuan Sea’s.

The emergence of Magic Corpses was enough to cause a qualitative leap in the Zombie Alliance’s overall strength.

The reason the usually low-key Zombie Alliance dared to directly confront the Infinite Demon Sect and seize Da Wu Mountain was largely due to the advent of the Magic Corpse.

Because Da Wu Mountain is an excellent Ghost Refining Land.

If managed properly, they could mass-produce Magic Corpses!

Weighing the risks against the rewards was what prompted the Zombie Alliance to take Da Wu Mountain this time!

...