Chapter 87: Collective Action

They had clearly seen that these moving corpses crawled out from the holes beneath the withered trees. If these corpses remained hidden beneath the trees during the day and only emerged at night, then the forest of withered trees was likely teeming with them.

The forest of withered trees contained thousands upon thousands of these trees. If each tree had a corpse beneath it, then the area where Lin Qian and the others were located would already be completely surrounded by these moving corpses.

Moreover, in order to leave this place, they would have to pass through the withered forest.

With this in mind, unless Fu Heng had an extraordinary level of strength, there was no way he could escape.

After all, while Lin Qian and the others were unsure of the exact strength of these corpses, they knew one thing for certain: these undead were not weak.

Otherwise, back then, only two out of the many disciples from the Three Sects and Five Schools would not have survived.

At that moment, Fu Heng, standing on the blue stone street below, had already engaged in battle with the undead.

Thanks to the upper-class Grade B pill Lin Qian had given him, Fu Heng's injuries and soul power had fully recovered. The immense medicinal power, more than what his current level could fully refine, burned within his chest like a raging furnace, driving him to unleash it.

As a result, with the help of the pill, Fu Heng was now displaying strength far beyond his usual limits.

The blood-red sword in his hand swung with a fierce intensity, as a river of blood-like soul power swirled around his body. Upon closer inspection, this river of blood was entirely composed of condensed, scarlet sword energy.

As the undead approached him, this river of blood swept over them. The sharp sword energy it contained struck their bodies, but only produced a crisp, metallic clanging sound.

It was as if the sword energy wasn't striking flesh but rather metal.

Initially, emboldened by the pill's effects, Fu Heng had felt somewhat triumphant, thinking that Lin Qian had been foolish to aid his escape.

However, as he clashed with the undead, Fu Heng's earlier arrogance quickly gave way to dread.

"Are these undead really this strong?" Fu Heng muttered in panic as his sword energy sparked off the undead without inflicting the expected damage.

Fueled by the potent pill in his chest, Fu Heng poured even more soul power into his attacks, unleashing a powerful technique.

"Slaughter the Four Corners!"

With a roar, Fu Heng's eyes gleamed with bloodlust as he simultaneously slashed in four directions, creating massive, blood-red sword blades that crashed towards the undead around him.

The overwhelming force of the attack caused the blue stone ground beneath Fu Heng to crack and collapse into a deep pit, while the four massive blood-red blades carved out deep trenches.

Splash! Splash! Splash! Splash!

Green blood sprayed out as Fu Heng's powerful move tore through four undead, creating pools of greenish blood on the ground. Yet, only one of the undead fell.

The other three, despite their mangled bodies, continued to charge at Fu Heng, dragging their broken limbs behind them.

The sight of these undead, undeterred by their severe injuries, caused those watching from the library tower to pale.

"These undead are truly relentless. Even after suffering such severe damage, they're still so full of energy," Ye Xin muttered in shock as she watched from the window.

The three undead rushing at Fu Heng were clearly heavily wounded by his Slaughter the Four Corners technique. Their chests had been shattered, and one had even lost half its head, yet they still growled and charged, terrifyingly resilient.

If these were ordinary soul cultivators, even if they hadn't died, they would have at least lost most of their combat strength.

"Not only that, but the physical durability of these undead far exceeds our expectations," Ding Zhirong added, his eyes fixed on the scene below. "Slaughter the Four Corners is a Grade B upper-level soul technique, correct?"

Ye Xin nodded, confirming, "Yes, with the power of Fu Heng's Slaughter the Four Corners, it should be more than enough to kill a standard second-rank Breakthrough Stage cultivator."

She continued, her gaze locked on the scene below, "Given Fu Heng's own strength, combined with the upper-class Grade B pill, these undead must be at least at the ninth-rank Nirvana Stage, having undergone eight rounds of Nirvana."

Ye Xin's analysis was met with nods of agreement from the others, though their expressions grew grim.

While ninth-rank Nirvana Stage cultivators who had completed nine rounds of Nirvana were manageable, undead at the same level with eight rounds of Nirvana and having broken through the limits of the Nirvana Stage posed a far greater challenge.

Although Lei Qian and the others could handle such undead after Lin Qian's intensive training, the sheer number of them was concerning.

The library tower had windows on all sides, and through the windows facing the withered forest, they could see the forest clearly now that the mist had dissipated.

As they had feared, beneath every withered tree, dark holes had appeared, and countless undead were crawling out, making their scalps tingle with fear.

Below, Fu Heng was struggling to hold his ground. His body was covered in a mix of his own blood and the green blood of the undead.

Around Fu Heng lay more than a dozen fallen undead, but his soul power was nearly exhausted.

The undead from the withered forest hadn't yet arrived, but the few hundred withered trees within the ruins were enough. Dozens of undead had already surrounded Fu Heng, slowly closing in.

"Lin Qian, you'll die a horrible death, a horrible death!" Fu Heng's voice, filled with hatred, echoed from below. Lin Qian and the others could no longer see him through the mass of undead.

Lin Qian, his eyes devoid of pity, continued to observe calmly.

After a while, the undead began to disperse, revealing nothing left of Fu Heng but bloodstains and his disarmed essence weaponry.

The undead, their mouths stained with blood, raised their heads and stared up at the library tower.

"This isn't good. They've detected our presence," Zhao Haiming said, his usual lazy demeanor replaced with a serious and fearful expression.

"You all came to the ancient ruins to hone your skills, not to enjoy comfort, correct?" Lin Qian turned to the group with a smile. "Let's kill them. This is a rare opportunity to test ourselves."

With those words, Lin Qian suddenly leaped out of the window, plummeting toward the ground below.

The sound of rushing wind was abruptly cut off by a heavy impact as he landed, sending shockwaves through the ground that pushed the surrounding undead back.

The moment Lin Qian landed, a white figure gracefully followed, landing beside him.

"I've always wanted to fight side by side with you, Lin Qian," Ye Xin said with a sweet smile as her essence weaponry appeared.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One after another, Lei Qian, Ding Zhirong, Zhao Haiming, Li Letian, and Wang Lanxin descended from the sky, landing beside Lin Qian.

Looking at the over two hundred undead surrounding them, Lei Qian let out a bitter laugh. "Boss, do you think we'll survive this?"

"Unless you perform well, I won't be stepping in to save you," Lin Qian grinned as his crimson-gold lightning soul power erupted with a roar.