A Loose Cultivator's Path to Longevity

Lü Zhong didn’t hesitate. After ordering Baqiong to temporarily withdraw, the Star Mirror abruptly appeared above his head. With a flash of lightning, he vanished from his spot.

After using the Escape Skill several times, he quickly entered the sealed land.

With another thunderous boom, he suddenly materialized above the Corpse Demon’s head.

As lightning converged, Thunder Spears formed in his left and right hands. Lü Zhong hurled them with all his might, sending them hurtling toward the Corpse Demon.

“ROAR!”

The Corpse Demon reacted instantly. Upon seeing this, it opened its massive, fang-filled maw and let out an enraged roar. Its entire body was immediately shrouded in dense Corpse Qi, and it inexplicably grew several sizes larger. Then, with a flash, it transformed into a streak of black light and charged straight toward the Thunder Spears.

“BOOOOM!!!”

The clap of thunder echoed all around, dissipating into writhing arcs of lightning.

Gazing at the figure, whose skin was merely scorched black but had otherwise taken little damage, Lü Zhong’s heart sank. ‘This Corpse Demon’s power is even greater than I expected.’

‘Looks like this won’t be an easy fight!’

It was merely a Corpse Demon, a zombie that shouldn’t even be able to withstand the light of day. Even if it had supposedly inherited a Great Cultivator’s memories, Lü Zhong didn’t believe he would lose. At worst, it would just be a bit of a hassle.

With a wave of his sleeve, he instantly summoned another Thunder Swamp.

Countless bolts of lightning crisscrossed, completely enveloping the Corpse Demon. But a roar unexpectedly echoed from within as it forcibly broke out of the Thunder Sea. Black gas poured from its body, radiating a vicious and tyrannical aura. It then transformed into a streak of gray light and charged at Lü Zhong.

Light Mirrors materialized in its path, firing dense volleys of Mirror Light, but none of it could stop the beast.

“Hmph!”

Lü Zhong snorted coldly and flipped his hand, summoning the Thunder-Attracting Needle. With a flick of his wrist, the weapon was immediately wreathed in lightning, emitting the aura of Tribulation Thunder.

He surged forward, showing no intention of backing down.

“CLANG!”

The blade clashed against black claws, scraping out a shower of sparks.

The man and the corpse clashed head-on, exchanging dozens of blows in rapid succession.

The Corpse Demon had assumed it would gain the upper hand in a direct confrontation by relying on the advantages of its undead body. It never expected to be completely outmatched in both strength and speed.

“ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!”

In disbelief, it charged forward again.

Black flames ignited on its skin, all formed from pure Corpse Qi.

In this state, the Corpse Demon’s power surged.

Another series of metallic clashes rang out, but nothing changed.

“How is this possible!” Its bloodlust receded, and the Corpse Demon spoke in a human tongue once more. Its green, fanged face twisted into a human-like expression, its voice filled with unconcealed astonishment.

It had never imagined that a cultivator of the same Realm could surpass it in close-quarters combat.

But that was only astonishment.

The Corpse Demon was, after all, supremely confident in this body of its.

‘Not only does it lack the typical zombie’s weakness to Yang Qi, but it also has an extremely high resistance to the Power of Thunder. One could say it has no fatal weaknesses. Plus, after awakening, I devoured the Golden Cores and Nascent Souls of many cultivators and obtained several Cultivation Techniques. I successfully tempered my body to be as tough as metal, nearly impervious to fire and water. How could a mere physical body ever hope to contend with me!’

So the Corpse Demon thought, using the last sliver of clarity it possessed.

But just then, Lü Zhong took the initiative.

After their earlier exchange, he had a rough assessment of the Corpse Demon’s strength. He knew it was basically impossible to slay the beast quickly.

He could either capture it and extract its soul, reducing it back to a mere corpse, or he could establish a special sealed land to suppress it, just as had been done to the Ghost Flood Dragon in this place.

But either option would be time-consuming and exhausting.

This was Lü Zhong’s final attempt.

If this still didn’t work, he would have to find another way.

He unleashed a Shattering Star Finger. It struck the Corpse Demon, which didn’t even try to dodge, but only managed to break open a fist-sized patch of skin. Then, even with a direct thrust from the Thunder-Attracting Needle—with the beast’s Protective Corpse Qi gone—the blade still only penetrated less than half an inch, a testament to the Corpse Demon’s formidable physique.

With a BANG, the man and the corpse traded a punch.

Lü Zhong felt his fist go numb, and blood began to seep from his knuckles.

He now had an even deeper understanding of the Corpse Demon’s physical toughness.

‘Since that’s the case, I have no other choice.’

With that thought, Lü Zhong formed a seal with his left hand. A small black dot rapidly condensed three inches from his fingertip—an incomplete Singularity. Lacking most of its nodes, the Singularity began to collapse the moment it appeared, churning the surrounding space as it rapidly expanded.

On the other side, the Corpse Demon’s Divine Soul trembled violently the moment it saw the black dot.

Having awakened its Spiritual Wisdom and devoured numerous cultivators, it was well aware of its own weakness: no matter how tough its body was, it could not withstand the slicing Power of Space.

The Chankong Forbidden Land was fraught with danger, a fact the Corpse Demon knew from prior experience.

It hastily retreated, trying to put distance between them.

But how could it possibly be faster than Lü Zhong? Empowered by his Meteor Escape, he appeared before the Corpse Demon in the span of a single breath. He then thrust his finger, carrying the condensed Singularity, and mercilessly pressed it into the Corpse Demon’s body.

Silently, the Corpse Demon’s left shoulder vanished without a trace.

With a soft THUD, its massive arm fell to the ground.

Meanwhile, Lü Zhong looked at his own hand, now missing its lower half, and couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

‘This move is powerful, but it’s hard to control.’

Even though the entire process—from condensing the Singularity to pressing it against the Corpse Demon—had taken less than a single breath, the collapsing Singularity still shredded half his hand.

Any longer, and he feared he wouldn’t have been able to save his arm.

Waving his right hand over the wound, Lü Zhong first sealed it with Magical Power to prevent the injury from worsening.

As for regrowing his severed hand?

That, at least, was not something he needed to worry about.