Chapter 147: The Green-Haired Zombie

“I see.” Lu Yan suddenly understood, and to be honest, he felt somewhat tempted.

He currently possessed the Nine Bone Strengths, and breaking through to the Grandmaster level was naturally an immense challenge. Having only practiced the Heart Tempering Technique, success was far from guaranteed.

It would be best if he had the protection of Phoenix Blood Heart Soup or the blessing of the Ink Jade Heart Pearl to greatly increase his chances of breakthrough.

He definitely needed to prepare such martial consumables.

But relying on the Li family? Not a chance.

The Li family themselves were raising a second-level mutated beast king to obtain a heart pearl, a process that would take decades. Li Wenxuan and Li Wenxin were already in line; let alone someone like him.

He had to find a way on his own.

Entering Kunwu Mountain was undoubtedly a path.

Moreover, even if he couldn’t rank among the top three, the battle achievements he accumulated could be exchanged with the Zhao family for a large amount of resources and martial arts.

“Brother Lu, with your strength, you can definitely compete; it’s not without hope,” Zhao Sirong said again.

“Sirong, you think those Grandmaster-level demonic beasts are all being watched, and none would be caught alone, right?” Lu Yan asked.

He was mainly worried about Grandmaster-level demonic beasts.

If a solitary Grandmaster-level demon lurked in the shadows and suddenly clawed at him, wouldn’t that be unfair?

He had to be cautious.

Although the battle merits and the Kunwu Mountain quota were tempting, preserving his life was more important.

If he lost his life, what use were those resources?

“Rest assured, the demons have lost three Grandmaster-level beasts in a row. The number of demon Grandmasters is now fewer than human Grandmasters. The remaining Grandmaster demons are all being hunted by human Grandmasters and can hardly protect themselves. Unfortunately, I’ve been ordered to guard Lingwang City, otherwise I’d want to go out and fight. I dare not hope for the top three, but accumulating more battle merits would be good,” Zhao Sirong said.

Lu Yan nodded and said, “Thank you for your information, Sirong. I’ll head out and try my luck. Farewell.”

With that, Lu Yan turned and, using his body technique, dashed toward the northern city gate, leaving the city behind.

Along the way, he saw groups of martial cultivators hurrying on. Those daring to venture out were generally martial marquises.

Most traveled in groups; those acting alone were rare, and none were weak.

Lu Yan used the Cloud Step to increase his speed, drifting forward like a gust of wind, drawing frequent glances from passersby.

“What speed! This person must specialize in speed-based martial arts. I estimate he’s already reached the pinnacle,” many whispered.

“I think even beyond that,” others said.

Lu Yan smiled faintly but paid no mind.

In fact, given his personality, he wouldn’t be so ostentatious.

But the identity of “Lu Ren” was a one-time alias. Once he exchanged his battle merits for resources, he would vanish from the world—never to be “Lu Ren” again.

So why not be high-profile for now?

Soon, he had traveled dozens of miles.

Ahead, a group of cavalry rode back and forth, clad in battle armor and exuding a solemn aura—they were the Zhao family’s martial army.

“Martial Marquis lords, most demons have fled into the Black Moon Mountain Range ahead. Please enter the Black Moon Mountains and hunt them down,” a martial army general shouted. His voice carried far; he was also a martial marquis expert.

To the left front was a pitch-dark mountain range, stretching endlessly under the night sky.

Lu Yan saw about a dozen martial marquises split into three squads, charging into the Black Moon Mountains.

He also strode forward, entering the mountains.

The Black Moon Mountains were dense with ancient towering trees, many wide enough for several men to hug.

Bushes and thick weeds grew wildly, seriously impeding speed.

Even for martial marquises, running was tough; they had to clear a path with weapons.

Fortunately, many martial marquises had entered ahead, carving out trails.

Lu Yan’s speed wasn’t much affected as he followed these paths.

Soon he was deep within the Black Moon Mountains, more than ten miles in.

Suddenly, a demon leapt out from the bushes—eyes blood-red, muscular, claws like blades.

Lu Yan drew his blade; with a flash, the demon’s head flew off.

“Only a broken-limit level demon,” Lu Yan said expressionlessly, stepping forward.

In the dense grass, demons occasionally lunged but were easily slain by Lu Yan. Almost all were broken-limit level demons. Not a single martial marquis-level demon had appeared.

Lu Yan leapt onto a tree and used Cloud Step to jump among branches, greatly increasing his speed.

“Don’t let him escape!”

Whoosh, whoosh!

After a moment, Lu Yan saw three martial marquises chasing a martial marquis-level demon.

Two held bows, shooting arrows while pursuing.

But the demon was at home in the mountains, darting left and right with extreme agility, dodging all arrows.

The two marquises fired five or six arrows, all missing.

Lu Yan quickened his pace, leapt among branches, then pounced on one marquis.

Startled by the sound of slicing air, the marquis turned to shoot an arrow but was too late.

Lu Yan appeared before him, slashing his right palm and cutting the marquis’s wrist.

The marquis’s hand twitched as if shocked by electricity; the iron bow fell from his grasp and was caught by Lu Yan.

“Hand over the arrows,” Lu Yan said coldly.

The marquis shivered with a chill, realizing he’d encountered a formidable expert, and obediently removed his quiver for Lu Yan.

Lu Yan strapped on the quiver, leapt onto a branch, and quickly pursued the demon.

Whoosh!

An arrow shot forth, slicing through the forest like lightning, disappearing in a flash.

Pfft!

The demon’s head was pierced, tumbling to the ground.

The demon wasn’t dead yet and tried to struggle up.

Lu Yan quickly approached, severed its head with a blade, then cut open its body and extracted a demon crystal.

He then leapt forward, disappearing from sight.

From his vantage atop the tree, Lu Yan’s vision was excellent.

Some demons hiding in thick bushes couldn’t evade his gaze.

Whenever he spotted a suspected martial marquis-level demon, he shot it with an arrow, then descended to finish it off.

After half an hour, Lu Yan had slain three martial marquis-level demons.

Suddenly, he heard crashing sounds ahead.

Approaching, he saw three human martial marquises surrounding a demon.

It was a third-level martial marquis demon.

The three human marquises were one third-level and two second-level.

Though the humans held an absolute advantage, the demon fought desperately, and the three couldn’t bring it down quickly.

They preferred to wear down the demon rather than risk a fatal fight.

“Waste of time,” Lu Yan said, shooting an arrow.

The arrow cut through the air like a shooting rainbow, piercing the demon’s head.

The three marquises were shocked, forming a defensive line, staring toward the arrow’s origin.

Lu Yan leapt down, approached the demon, and finished it with a blade.

“Sir, we spotted this demon first,” one marquis said.

“Scram,” Lu Yan said, eyes sharp as lightning, his aura oppressive.

The three marquises looked grim but recalled how Lu Yan’s arrow had severely wounded a third-level martial marquis demon.

Fear flooded their hearts.

If Lu Yan could easily injure such a demon, he could kill them just as easily.

They had no choice but to leave dejectedly.

Lu Yan extracted the demon crystal and quickly departed.

For a while after, he encountered no martial marquis-level demons.

Thanks to the human marquises’ pursuit, few demons remained midway; most had fled deeper into the mountains.

Lu Yan quickened his pace toward the deep mountains.

“Hmm?”

Suddenly, Lu Yan spotted a corpse.

Its face was darkened but bore no wounds.

He looked around but found no demons nearby.

Jumping down, he approached to examine the body’s condition.

No wounds were found from head to toe.

“Darkened face—could it be poison? Some demons might harbor potent toxins; better not be careless,” Lu Yan warned himself and turned to leave.

At that moment, the corpse suddenly opened its eyes, swiftly rising and lunging at Lu Yan.

In these woods, Lu Yan’s spirit was always on high alert, able to detect the slightest movement.

He heard the motion, stepped lightly, shifting his body three meters sideways, evading the attack.

Simultaneously, he drew his blade and slashed downward fluidly from the left side.

Clang!

The corpse had black nails like metal, extremely hard.

The collision with Lu Yan’s Blood-Red Blade rang out like clashing war blades.

Lu Yan’s arm tingled slightly; the corpse staggered back three steps.

A low growl escaped the corpse, which kicked off the ground and lunged again.

Lu Yan flashed aside, evading the strike, then slashed the back of its neck.

Ssshhh...

The Blood-Red Blade struck the body like metal, unyielding, leaving only a shallow scratch with no blood.

“What is this? A zombie?” Lu Yan guessed.

He had never sensed a heartbeat from the foe.

The body was like metal.

He had heard that some warriors’ corpses, through chance and exposure to filthy qi, could become zombies.

Zombies were a kind of demon, able to condense demon crystals within their bodies.

“Equivalent to a fifth-level martial marquis, not bad,” Lu Yan said, focusing his mind.

All nine Bone Strengths burst forth, his body glowing golden.

Ssshhh!

After evading a zombie attack, Lu Yan unleashed a powerful slash.

This blade would split even metal in two.

The zombie’s chest was sliced open—a wound one and a half feet long and two inches deep.

It almost cleaved the zombie in half.

A roar burst from the zombie, gray mist swirling.

Green hairs sprouted from its dark body, writhing at the wound like threads, stitching the wound closed.

“This is the legendary Green-Haired Zombie? It can do this?” Lu Yan muttered as he pressed his attack, swinging his Blood-Red Blade relentlessly.

After sprouting green hair, the zombie’s strength and defense both increased.

Unfortunately, its speed remained poor.

Before Lu Yan, it could only take blows.

Six consecutive slashes on the same wound finally severed the zombie in two.

From it, Lu Yan extracted a dragon-eye-sized demon crystal.

One hundred battle merits gained.

“This Green-Haired Zombie is a bit tougher than ordinary fifth-level martial marquis demons,” Lu Yan thought.

Pocketing the demon crystal, he sped away toward the deep mountains.

He encountered no further martial marquis demons on the way.

Half an hour later.

“Huh? So many people ahead?”

Lu Yan stood on a big tree, looking far ahead.

He saw at least forty or fifty human martial marquises gathered before a mountain valley.

But they made no move forward, which was peculiar.

Lu Yan pushed off a branch, using its spring to leap fifty meters to another tree, then another leap dozens of meters away.

Soon he neared the group and slowed to approach.

Many glanced at Lu Yan indifferently, then returned their focus to the valley.

Lu Yan noticed the valley was wide, overgrown with dense weeds.

The ground was covered with rotting leaves, and poisonous insects occasionally appeared.

A green mist permeated the air.

Miasma.

This valley was thick with toxic miasma.

“Brother, why are you all gathered around this valley?” Lu Yan quietly asked a burly man of about forty.

“Because a large number of demons fled into this valley earlier. They probably want to use the miasma to block us. We all fear the valley’s toxic air and dare not enter,” the man explained softly.

Lu Yan nodded.

Their caution was understandable.

Demonic beasts’ special constitution, refined and transformed by filthy qi, made them immune to most poisons.

Inside the valley, they were at home, but human martial marquises were not.

After a while, more people arrived.

“How long do we have to wait? If you’re scared, I’ll go in alone,” someone snorted coldly and strode toward the valley, quickly entering the miasma.

“That’s Ouyang Zeng, ranked thirty-first on the Martial Marquis list. He’s a master of poisons and trains top-tier venom arts. It’s normal he’s not afraid of the miasma,” whispered voices nearby.

At that moment, another strode into the valley.

A tall, robust man in his thirties, carrying a long-handled hammer on his back, wielding an iron bow, with a quiver at his waist.

“That’s Gao Wanping, direct descendant of the Gao clan of the Southern Yi, ranked sixteenth on the Martial Marquis list. Rumor has it he’s mastered the Three Bone Strengths, extremely formidable,” someone murmured.

With Ouyang Zeng and Gao Wanping entering, three more followed.

All well-known experts: two on the Martial Marquis list, and the third close to ranking.

Lu Yan did not enter.

No need to take such a risk.

What if a Grandmaster-level demon resided inside?

Though unlikely, he wouldn’t risk it.

Better to wait outside and ambush.

Boom!

Suddenly, the valley’s ground rumbled, and a large number of demons burst forth.

“Were they startled out?” Lu Yan was delighted.

Gripping his Blood-Red Blade, as the demons left the miasma, he dashed forward, targeting a massive ferocious tiger demon.

This tiger demon was equal to a fourth-level martial marquis.

Lu Yan’s first slash cut off one sharp claw.

The second severed its head.

A third pierced its heart.

He quickly extracted the demon crystal and rushed to other demons without pause.

(End of chapter)