The awakened King Jian, the not-quite-human, not-quite-ghost Boss Zhou…
Two utterly evil and terrifying existences appeared before everyone at the same time, exuding a strange aura in the cramped and oppressive tomb chamber.
"How could this be…" Lin Zitong couldn't understand. Jiang Wusheng had reincarnated as King Jian, and after King Jian’s reincarnation, he became Boss Zhou. Since they shared the same soul, how could they exist as two separate individuals?
Yan Shouyi said in a deep voice, "They are Jiang Wusheng's secondary and tertiary bodies."
Long Feicheng, not understanding at all, asked, "Brother Yan, what does that mean?"
"Jiang Wusheng's true soul still resides within Boss Zhou. The reason King Jian could be resurrected is simply because his corpse retained the memories of both King Jian and Jiang Wusheng. At this moment, King Jian is controlled by a mere obsession," Yan Shouyi explained.
This was akin to the classic question: if a dead person were cloned, and the clone were given a copy of the deceased's memories, would that clone be considered a rebirth of the original?
The answer was: no.
Memories were merely the imprint of life’s experience on the world; what truly determined existence was a person's character and thoughts.
To explain it in Xuanmen terms, to prove someone is themselves, one could only judge by their soul.
However, regardless of how Yan Shouyi understood or explained the situation, they now had to face King Jian and the monstrous Boss Zhou.
The aura emanating from them made Yan Shouyi feel it was very troublesome.
Yang Li sensed that things were not looking good and angrily questioned Yan Shouyi, "Brat, what exactly do you know?"
Before he could finish speaking, Boss Zhou, standing outside the sarcophagus, suddenly lifted the extremely heavy lid with his bare hands and smashed it towards Yang Li.
Yang Li hadn't expected Boss Zhou to possess such immense strength and his attempt to escape was somewhat clumsy.
Yan Shouyi said calmly, "Once we survive, I'll explain everything from beginning to end."
At this moment, in the main tomb chamber, only Yan Shouyi, Lin Zitong, Long Feicheng, the Ma siblings, and Yang Li, with the addition of a sorcerer, were present.
And their opponents were Jiang Wusheng's secondary and tertiary bodies, King Jian and Boss Zhou.
Boss Zhou's resentment towards Yang Li seemed deeper, so after gaining mysterious power, he focused solely on pursuing Yang Li.
Yang Li cursed but was helpless. Unsure of Boss Zhou's current strength, he could only try to evade him in the main tomb chamber, contemplating how to respond after gauging his power.
Seeing this, Long Feicheng couldn't help but mock, "Serves you right for trying to be the螳螂捕蝉, 黄雀在后. Now you're caught yourself!"
"Little Long, now is not the time to mock Yang Li," Yan Shouyi said sternly. "We are all in the same boat. I and Zitong will deal with King Jian. The rest of you go help Yang Li. We can settle personal grudges after we survive!"
The others were not petty and clearly understood the current situation. The Ma siblings immediately went to help Yang Li, while Long Feicheng slowly said,
"Brother Yan, why don't I stay and help you deal with King Jian?"
"Do you think King Jian is weaker than Boss Zhou?"
"...Yang Li, I shall lend you my strength!"
Long Feicheng, holding his Caiwei Sword, charged towards Yang Li. Yan Shouyi and Lin Zitong could finally focus their full attention on King Jian, who was seated in the coffin.
King Jian wore a golden mask, obscuring his features. His armor was riddled with sword marks and was tattered, but it was precisely this battle-worn armor that held a greater deterrent power.
The long sword in his hand was also rusty, yet even so, it allowed one to feel the glory this sword once possessed.
Hiss…
Hoo…
Heavy breathing echoed in the main tomb chamber. King Jian's chest expanded like a balloon and then quickly deflated.
Suddenly, King Jian leaped from the coffin, and the rusty long sword in his hand swung directly at Lin Zitong!
Lin Zitong quickly dodged, only to find that the long sword in King Jian's hand had unleashed a sword energy two meters wide, which extended to the rock wall over ten meters away, leaving a deep sword mark!
This scene greatly surprised Yan Shouyi: "How can King Jian still use sword energy??"
His attack missing its mark, King Jian's movements were unhesitating. He turned and pursued Lin Zitong again.
Yan Shouyi could no longer stand by. He summoned his Zanpakuto and launched a surprise attack from behind King Jian. However, King Jian seemed to have eyes in the back of his head. Without turning, he raised his sword to block, his immense strength directly repelling Yan Shouyi!
"This terrifying strength!"
Yan Shouyi's hand went numb from the impact. Ever since he became a Tian Sha Corpse Puppet, his physical abilities and strength had greatly improved. He could genuinely tear apart demons with his bare hands, yet even so, he gained no advantage against King Jian.
Lin Zitong retreated while reminding him,
"Big Fool, do you smell it? King Jian has the same medicinal scent as the external Terracotta Army!"
A medicinal scent?
With Lin Zitong's reminder, Yan Shouyi also noticed this detail.
The external Terracotta Army was made by stuffing living people into them, then injecting various medicines to preserve the flesh, finally refining them into something akin to zombies.
Or perhaps, like ancient Egyptian mummies.
For King Jian to be resurrected, his corpse must have been preserved from decay, likely using a similar method.
However, the external Terracotta Army had been replaced by the armor he wore.
No wonder this fellow was completely covered, even wearing a mask on his face, not revealing his eyes.
Previously, when dealing with the Terracotta Army, Yan Shouyi hadn't used any special techniques, merely decapitating it.
The current King Jian should be defeatable in the same way, though the difficulty would be much higher.
"Damn it, if I had the true Zanpakuto in my hand now, I wouldn't worry about breaking King Jian's defenses!" Yan Shouyi thought.
King Jian's target was clear: he pursued Lin Zitong relentlessly. It was estimated that in Jiang Wusheng's memories, the State of Qing Jiang had fallen into chaos due to the arrival of the Princess of Yushu. If the Princess of Yushu hadn't seduced the General of Qing Jiang, he wouldn't have been ordered to pursue her, and consequently, he wouldn't have lost his wife and children.
Of course, all this hatred was Jiang Wusheng's one-sided obsession.
Fortunately, Lin Zitong was agile and dodged King Jian's attacks several times.
However, this situation could not continue.
Yan Shouyi seized an opportunity, intercepting between King Jian and Lin Zitong, temporarily repelling King Jian with his Zanpakuto, and turning to Lin Zitong, he said,
"Quick! The Five Ghosts Duel Fiend Spell!"
The Five Ghosts Duel Fiend Spell was a spell used by the Lushan Sect to restrict a target's movements. Lin Zitong and Yan Shouyi had practiced this move together several times before. So, the moment she heard Yan Shouyi's voice, Lin Zitong unhesitatingly shook her summoning bell.
"The four seasons and eight festivals, born of prosperity. When the spirit is not nurtured within, it becomes an external evil essence. The Nine Ugly Ghosts, I know your names. Five Ghosts Duel Fiend, heed my command. Quickly depart, do not linger. Hastily, as the decree commands!"
Five evil spirits emerged from the ground, extending their twisted hands, intertwining like shadows, and binding King Jian in place.
This was a rare opportunity!
"Thirty-six Heavenly Stars, Great King of the Central Heaven. Emperor Yan splits ghost blood, bestow upon me true kingship.
Seven Generals and Eight Yuan Lords, drive away disaster for me. True Qi transforms into thunder and fire, the Great Lord subdues the fiery light."
"Heavenly Thunder Fire Control Spell!"
Yan Shouyi quickly formed hand seals, burned a talisman, and summoned heavenly thunder and fire, which directly struck King Jian!
Since King Jian was like the external Terracotta Army, and the Terracotta Army's essence was that of a zombie, he must therefore fear the ultimate yang and supreme potent heavenly thunder fire!
In an instant, King Jian was engulfed by heavenly thunder fire. The flames illuminated the surrounding murals with a fiery red glow.
"Did it work?" Lin Zitong asked Yan Shouyi, her lips pursed.
Yan Shouyi did not answer, his eyes fixed on King Jian bathing in the heavenly thunder fire.
Suddenly, he said in a deep voice, "Something is wrong!"
Although the heavenly thunder fire had not extinguished, King Jian showed no signs of pain.
He allowed the heavenly thunder fire to burn him, but his movements were not hindered in the slightest. He directly swung his long sword and killed all five ghosts that were binding him!!
"Not good, run!"
Yan Shouyi grabbed Lin Zitong and fled to the side.
A second after they escaped, King Jian had already arrived. His sword energy swept across the ground, its sharp edge leveling several meters of the floor!
"Why isn't he afraid of heavenly thunder fire!?" Lin Zitong couldn't comprehend.
Yan Shouyi looked back and said, "It must be the armor King Jian is wearing that is blocking the heavenly thunder fire!"
"After so many years, King Jian's armor has long merged with his body, indistinguishable from his skin. We can't possibly make him take off his armor, can we?" Lin Zitong frowned.
The reality was indeed so. To deal with this King Jian, they could only leave a wound on his armor and let the heavenly thunder fire find an opening!
King Jian's armor, though appearing somewhat damaged, had no deep cracks. Strictly speaking, the armor was seamless.
Yan Shouyi weighed his Zanpakuto in his hand.
He had already tried. The Zanpakuto he obtained by burning a talisman and summoning it, though powerful, was not enough.
It couldn't even break the armor of the King Jian before him.
He once again lamented that it would be wonderful if the Zanpakuto in his hand were its true form.
Suddenly, Lin Zitong said, "Big Fool, the Zanpakuto in your hand, is it a Dharma Body borrowed through the 'Burning Talisman Summoning' technique?"
"Yes, what's wrong?"
"'Burning Talisman Summoning' is a skill of our Lushan Sect. The higher the practitioner's cultivation, the more powerful the borrowed Dharma Body!" Lin Zitong said. "Give me the summoning talisman you drew, and I will help you borrow the Dharma Body of the Zanpakuto. Perhaps it will be enough to deal with King Jian!!"
Yan Shouyi's eyes lit up. 'Burning Talisman Summoning' was, after all, a skill of the Lushan Sect. Perhaps the Zanpakuto Lin Zitong borrowed would be more powerful than his own?
So, he immediately took out the summoning talisman from his bag and handed it to Lin Zitong. Meanwhile, he ran in the opposite direction:
"You focus on casting your spell, I'll buy you time!!"
"Okay!"
Lin Zitong nodded heavily, found a corner, sat down cross-legged, and immediately began burning the talisman to cast the spell.
Yan Shouyi, empty-handed, fearlessly charged towards King Jian!
The two trusted each other, both working hard for the other!