Ling Tian stepped forward and thrust his sword into the zombie's eye socket. The Crimson Flame Treasure Sword, imbued with violent flame power, destroyed the energy core within the zombie's head, causing its body to collapse.
Ling Tian fell into thought. He felt the situation was tricky. These zombies seemed different from any he had encountered before. Their formidable defensive capabilities meant he might need several fire talismans, or at least two Vajra or Lightning talismans, to defeat a single one.
But the problem was the more than two hundred zombies in this cave. Even if Ling Tian possessed spatial abilities, his accumulated talismans wouldn't last such an ordeal!
Just then, Shi Xiaoyue, standing on a rock dozens of meters away, let out a chilling cackle.
"Ling Tian, stop struggling. You are no match for my zombies. Even if they don't kill you, they can wear you down to death! I advise you to give up your futile resistance and surrender obediently. I am a benevolent being, and perhaps I will leave you with an intact corpse! I will refine your body into the most powerful zombie, and then use that zombie to kill your entire family, leaving no one alive, cackle... This scene is too beautiful, I can't help but tremble just thinking about it, cackle..."
Ling Tian was enraged by Shi Xiaoyue's words. He raised his hand sharply, and a red light shot directly towards Shi Xiaoyue dozens of meters away. That red light was Ling Tian's Crimson Flame Treasure Sword. At this point, Ling Tian decided not to hold back any longer. Any trump cards he had should be used without hesitation!
As the saying goes, pride comes before a fall. Shi Xiaoyue was gloating, expecting his zombies to tear Ling Tian apart, when Ling Tian's attack arrived. By the time Shi Xiaoyue realized it was a dangerous flying sword, it was already too late. Shi Xiaoyue could only desperately twist his body to avoid vital areas.
"Chii!"
The Crimson Flame Treasure Sword pierced directly into Shi Xiaoyue's left shoulder blade. Although the Golden Lion's body possessed exceptional toughness, not all parts of its body were equally hard. Ling Tian had chosen to attack the most vulnerable spot on the zombie. Coupled with the divine weapon that was the Crimson Flame Treasure Sword, it plunged in directly. The scorching fire-elemental energy erupted, beginning to burn intensely within Shi Xiaoyue's body.
"Awooo!"
Shi Xiaoyue let out a scream. Instantly, golden light erupted from his body, and an energy burst from the Golden Lion's form, directly repelling the Crimson Flame Treasure Sword. Ling Tian raised his hand, and the Crimson Flame Treasure Sword returned to his grasp. Looking at Shi Xiaoyue now, he appeared rather pathetic. His left arm hung limply at his side, seemingly severed at the bone and ligament. He was panting heavily.
However, in the next moment, Shi Xiaoyue raised his right hand, his withered claw pressing against the wound on his left shoulder. Ling Tian could sense vast amounts of Yin energy converging towards the wound, gathering so rapidly that it formed a vortex. After more than ten seconds, Ling Tian was astonished to see the wound on Shi Xiaoyue's shoulder healing at an astonishing rate. Another ten seconds passed, and Shi Xiaoyue was able to lift his left arm, as if it had never been injured.
"Cackle... boy, you think you're safe just because you destroyed my physical body? Too naive. You have no idea how powerful this body of mine is! Even if you can wield a flying sword, with something like this, you think you can kill me? Cackle! What a joke!"
Ling Tian did not hesitate. He raised his hand sharply, and a stream of fire shot out again. However, this time, a shadowy figure swiftly lunged in front of Shi Xiaoyue! This was one of the more than two hundred zombies. It fearlessly blocked the sword for Shi Xiaoyue, and the Crimson Flame Treasure Sword was precisely embedded in the zombie's chest. Flames began to burn rapidly, but the zombie tenaciously extended its claws, gripping Ling Tian's sword. Ling Tian tried to retrieve the Crimson Flame Treasure Sword, but it remained motionless. It took over ten seconds for the zombie to be completely reduced to charcoal by the Crimson Flame Treasure Sword before Ling Tian could finally reclaim his sword. At this point, Ling Tian's expression turned grim, as he realized that the fire-elemental true essence attached to the sword had been largely consumed!
"Cackle, come on, hack at me, haha!"
Facing Shi Xiaoyue's provocation and wild laughter, Ling Tian forced himself to calm down. The immediate priority was to understand what was happening! Ling Tian quickly condensed his true essence in his eyes, fully activating his Heavenly Eye divine ability, which instantly covered an area of dozens of meters. Ling Tian's gaze fell upon the zombies, as if countless high-resolution CT scanners and MRIs were scanning their bodies.
Soon, Ling Tian discovered the crux of the matter. Although these zombies were Iron Corpses, they were actually on the verge of evolving into Bronze Corpses. This meant that while their physical strength was not comparable to true Bronze Corpses, the difference was not significant! Consider it: over two hundred quasi-Bronze Corpse level zombies were essentially over two hundred moving shields. Even more outrageous was that the surface of these zombies' bodies was covered with a large amount of Yin energy. This Yin energy, while constantly modifying and nourishing the zombies' bodies, also formed a protective film on their surface. It was the existence of this protective film that greatly reduced the killing power of Ling Tian's spells against the zombies.
"Cackle, Ling Tian, you've exhausted all your tricks. Surrender and die!"
Watching Shi Xiaoyue leap about, a cold smile appeared on Ling Tian's lips. With a flash of thought, a camouflaged cylindrical object over two meters long appeared in Ling Tian's hand. Ling Tian aimed this object at Shi Xiaoyue. Shi Xiaoyue was startled at first, then his eyes revealed ecstasy, because Ling Tian's object had appeared suddenly, indicating that Ling Tian likely possessed a magical artifact with storage capabilities! Such storage-capable magical artifacts were once thought to be mere legends by Shi Xiaoyue, until he later saw the sect leader of the Heavenly Demon Sect seemingly possess such an item, which made him incredibly envious. But no matter how envious he was, he wouldn't dare to harbor any improper thoughts towards the Heavenly Demon Sect leader; they could crush him as easily as crushing an ant. Now, seeing Ling Tian suddenly produce such a large item, he immediately realized Ling Tian also possessed such a treasure, which was an immense temptation for cultivators like Shi Xiaoyue! As for the weapon in Ling Tian's hand, he paid it no mind. In his opinion, whatever Ling Tian held was probably an RPG rocket launcher. He might not have eaten pork, but he had seen pigs run. There were many scenes of RPG rocket launchers in news and film. In his view, even if his Golden Lion's body was directly hit by a rocket launcher, it wouldn't cause fatal damage, let alone with over two hundred meat shields in front of him!