Chapter 53#

The Apocalyptic Heavenly Master Unacquainted with the Ways of the World#

Qin Yi remained at the Song family’s residence to continue negotiations. Seeing that there was nothing for him to do there, Lu Heng bid Qin Yi farewell and left. Having witnessed Lu Heng’s formidable offensive power during the earlier clash, no one in the Song family dared to stop him.

Back in his own room, Lu Heng took out the crystal core he had extracted from the demon-possessed Pan Rongxi. It was the crystal core of the dual-attribute zombie from the cave, except its edges had all become somewhat rounded, reshaped into the contour of an inner core.

Was awakening abilities through a crystal core different from self-awakening? Lu Heng didn’t know much about this matter of awakening abilities. He happened to hear a noise from the adjacent room—it should be Qin Yi returning. Lu Heng grabbed the crystal core and the storage bag, then knocked on Qin Yi’s door.

The door wasn’t locked, and Qin Yi told Lu Heng to come right in.

The moment he stepped inside, Lu Heng saw that Mu Fei and Jiang Sile were also there. It seemed Mu Fei had already heard about what happened to Pan Rongxi.

Seeing Lu Heng enter, Qin Yi gestured for him to sit beside him.

“That’s how it was at the time. As for the reason Pan Rongxi was suddenly infected, we’re still investigating,” Qin Yi said.

Mu Fei’s expression was grief-stricken. After all, this was someone he had cared for over several years. Such a sudden and terrible mishap—anyone would find it hard to accept.

Jiang Sile patted Mu Fei’s shoulder comfortingly, but Mu Fei seized his hand tightly, as if grasping for some form of solace.

“Ah Mu and I will head down first,” Jiang Sile said, then nodded at Lu Heng before leading Mu Fei away by the hand.

“This is too strange. Even if he was accidentally infected by the demonic qi from Song Kunyu’s wound during treatment, there’s no way he should have mutated this quickly.” After hearing the sound of the two heading downstairs, Qin Yi spoke up.

“I found this in Pan Rongxi’s dantian.” Lu Heng held out the crystal core. “This awakening abilities through a crystal core—what method does it use?”

Qin Yi took the crystal core and examined it: “I’m not entirely clear on the exact method either. I’ve heard that people swallow the crystal core directly, and if fortune favors them, they can awaken abilities.”

Hearing this, Lu Heng roughly understood. Self-awakening and awakening through a crystal core followed two fundamentally different paths of cultivation. Self-awakening involved activating the spiritual root within one’s body, then absorbing spiritual energy from crystal cores to slowly condense an inner core. Awakening through a crystal core, on the other hand, involved directly grinding the crystal core down into an inner core, then using that inner core as a foundation to absorb spiritual energy, cultivate, and advance in rank.

Lu Heng explained the key connections between these points to Qin Yi, who grasped it immediately: “Pan Rongxi’s situation is most likely related to this crystal core.”

Lu Heng nodded: “How is your divine sense cultivation these days? Is there any way to probe inside this crystal core?”

Qin Yi shook his head: “I can’t guarantee it. If something goes wrong, we’d lose this only clue—it wouldn’t be worth the risk.”

“Then we’ll have to rely on this.” Lu Heng dumped the entire pile of crystal core fragments from the storage bag onto the table.

The two of them spent a miserable time playing a jigsaw puzzle in the room. Even the complete crystal cores were only the size of a peach pit at the largest, with some as small as a date pit, and they were transparent in texture. Trying to reassemble these fragments into complete crystal cores based on the faint patterns on their surfaces was an almost impossible task.

Fortunately, both Lu Heng and Qin Yi understood the basic techniques of divine sense manipulation. They used their divine senses to trace the patterns and then piece the fragments together. Though difficult, they slowly made some progress.

Hard work pays off. After an entire night, the two finally managed to reassemble several complete crystal cores.

Lu Heng carefully set aside the crystal cores glued together with all-purpose adhesive. The moment he relaxed, a wave of heavy exhaustion swept over him. Without worrying about anything else, Lu Heng collapsed onto the nearby large bed and sank into darkness.

When Lu Heng woke, he felt a throbbing pressure in his temples—a aftereffect of overusing his divine sense. He shifted, intending to sit up, but felt something tighten around his waist. Only then, in his groggy state, did Lu Heng realize there was a warm body behind him, with breaths brushing against the back of his neck, sending a tingling sensation through him.

He recognized the familiar scent. Even without turning around, Lu Heng knew who it was. Qin Yi’s breathing was still steady—he was still deep in sleep. Qin Yi’s divine sense control far surpassed his own; the majority of the fragment reassembly work had been done by him, so it was perfectly normal that he hadn’t recovered yet.

Lu Heng was lying on his side facing the floor-to-ceiling windows, with only the inner layer of white gauze curtains drawn. Through the fading light, Lu Heng saw that dusk had fallen—he had actually slept all the way into the afternoon. The setting sun had tinted the gauze in gold and red, casting the entire room in warm hues.

Since arriving in this apocalypse, one thing had followed another, and Lu Heng hadn’t had a proper rest in a long time. The atmosphere now was so warm and tender, and combined with the sense of belonging and comfort brought by the person behind him, accompanied by the steady rhythm of breathing at his ear, Lu Heng drifted back to sleep without realizing it.

When he opened his eyes again, there was no longer any light outside. Lu Heng rolled over and found that Qin Yi was already awake, half-sitting up in bed under the dim bedside lamp, gazing at him in a daze.

Lu Heng sat up: “What time is it now?”

Qin Yi blinked, seeming to snap back to reality. He reached out and smoothed Lu Heng’s tousled curls: “Almost dawn. Want to sleep a bit longer?”

Lu Heng shook his head and crossed his legs, preparing to regulate his breathing and qi flow. But then he heard Qin Yi sigh with a hint of helplessness.

Lu Heng looked at him in confusion.

“My first time sleeping with my beloved, and it was literally just sleeping. If word got out, my squad brothers would laugh their heads off,” Qin Yi said.

“Then what would one need to do to avoid being laughed at?”

Qin Yi had only meant it as a casual joke, never expecting his straightforward senior brother to throw out such a question. Things had been said to this point—if he didn’t take the opportunity now, he’d be a fool.

“Naturally, the things that ought to be done.”

Qin Yi gently cupped the back of Lu Heng’s neck and drew him closer.

Their lips drew nearer, and closer still were their hearts.

After the kiss, Qin Yi gazed at the flushed lips before him and couldn’t resist touching them lightly with his finger: “Senior brother, how would you rate the results of our experiment?”

Lu Heng immediately understood his meaning: “What I seek is no longer the Way of the Sword alone.”

Someone was gently pressed onto the bed. The already disheveled bedding became even more chaotic. And from somewhere, breathing gradually grew heavier.

The faint metallic click of a belt being unbuckled rang out.

“Junior brother.” Someone’s hand was held down. “We cannot go any further before formally becoming Dao companions.”

Qin Yi buried his head against Lu Heng’s neck, his breathing heavy and ragged. Lu Heng’s left hand resting on his back felt the taut muscles along his spine—he was straining desperately to hold himself back.

After a moment, Qin Yi sat up: “I’m sorry. I was too impulsive.”

Lu Heng shook his head. Seeing the unease on Qin Yi’s face, he added comfortingly: “Yang essence is extremely important for cultivators. Losing it before having sworn your vows under the Heavenly Dao is a waste.”

Qin Yi’s expression twisted for an instant. Finally unable to hold back, he pounced on Lu Heng—who had just sat up—and buried himself against his neck with muffled laughter: “Senior brother, how can you be this adorable?”

Outside, the sky gradually brightened. The ambiguity within the room was dispelled entirely. After the two of them got up and washed, they picked up the fruits of their labors from the entire night.

The patterns on the inner walls of each crystal core were all exactly identical. These were clearly not randomly formed markings. Lu Heng pinched one of the reassembled crystal cores, held it up to the light source, and examined it closely. He had a nagging feeling that the pattern looked somewhat familiar.

“Let me do it.” Qin Yi took the crystal core. “Once I trace the pattern with my divine sense and draw it on paper, you can look at it then. It’ll be less taxing that way.”

Sure enough, once the pattern was drawn on white paper, it was much clearer to see.

The sect’s earth vein spiritual source grand formation. The stalactite auxiliary formation.

Lu Heng finally recalled where he had seen similar patterns. Despite some differences, Lu Heng could confirm these were the same type of markings as those used to compose the formation inscribed on the stone walls.

“The patterns on the inner walls of this crystal core are a formation array,” Lu Heng said.

“What?” Qin Yi said. “How could something formed inside a zombie’s brain have an array inscribed on it? And what kind of formation array is it?”

“This formation array is likely the key to why spiritual energy crystal cores can form within demon bodies. However, I have no knowledge whatsoever of formation arrays.” Lu Heng thought for a moment, then rummaged through his storage bag.

“Here.”

Qin Yi caught the item Lu Heng tossed over. Upon closer inspection, he saw it was a jade slip with the words “Introduction to Formation Arrays” written on it.

Qin Yi smiled ruefully: “Brain work isn’t exactly my strong suit.”

“Formation arrays have nothing to do with intelligence—they rely on divine sense and comprehension.” Lu Heng added: “Sometimes people with simple minds actually have stronger comprehension.”

Carrying a subtle feeling of having just had his intelligence belittled by his beloved, Qin Yi pressed the jade slip to his forehead. The moment he looked at it, his mind was immersed within.

Seeing the expression on Qin Yi’s face, Lu Heng knew that the Way of Formation Arrays truly suited him. Those powerful formation masters of the Heavenly Master sect were all people with naturally strong divine senses, which was why Lu Heng was certain Qin Yi would reap some benefit from it.

By the time Qin Yi withdrew his consciousness from the vast and boundless world of formations, several hours had passed. As soon as he opened his eyes, he saw that Lu Heng had set up a whole table full of snack cracker bags before him.

“Want some?” Lu Heng held out a packet of crackers.

Qin Yi ruffled his head: “I’ll go get some real food for you.”

“No need—I’m full. Let’s talk about business first.”

Qin Yi had already walked to the door. Hearing Lu Heng say this, he turned back: “Haven’t shown my face in two days. If I don’t show up, I’m afraid the brothers will think I died of a heart attack in my room.”

However, when Qin Yi went downstairs, he was met with a barrage of bizarre stares that all seemed to say, “Holy crap, the boss really is an animal—two whole days, forty-eight hours!” Only then did Qin Yi remember that he had never hidden his relationship with Lu Heng from anyone. It was perfectly logical for people to think that way.

Having only smelled the meat without actually tasting any of it, Qin Yi hastily cooked a bowl of noodles under a crowd of judging, “watching an animal” gazes, then scurried back upstairs in rather a sorry state. At the end, he even heard someone mutter in confusion: “Shouldn’t he have made a pot of porridge?”

After eating and drinking their fill, the two had energy for work again. In truth, it was mainly Qin Yi studying the formation array while Lu Heng cultivated beside him. Whenever he noticed signs that Qin Yi was overexerting his divine sense, he would promptly wake him.

They spent several days like this, never leaving the room. Finally, Qin Yi had taken his first step into the Way of Formation Arrays.

Looking again at the patterns on the crystal core, Qin Yi now had a clear understanding: “This is a formation array for energy conversion.”

“Converting demonic qi into spiritual energy?” The speculation in Lu Heng’s heart was confirmed.

“I haven’t pinpointed the exact source yet, but it’s probably something close to that,” Qin Yi said.

This discovery was like a thread, linking together everything that had happened over this period of time. But before Lu Heng could untangle the jumble of events, the door was knocked.

“Brother Yi! Open the door quickly! Something terrible has happened!”

It was Jiang Sile. The moment he entered, his face was filled with anxiety. Without preamble, he said directly: “Brother Yi, I just had a dream. In two days, zombies will surround the city!”

Qin Yi and Lu Heng were both shocked. Although Jiang Sile was somewhat unusual, he would not lie about this—there was nothing to gain from lying on such a matter. This had to be true.

Qin Yi strode downstairs, calling out to the people in the room as he went: “Yu Shan, Old Qian—go find the high-level speed-type enhanced humans currently stationed at the base. Send them out to scout the situation.”

Several hours later, the scouts returned with intelligence that matched exactly what Jiang Sile had said. Massive zombie hordes were converging on W Base from every direction. The estimated arrival time was two days.

All exits in every direction had been cut off by the zombie hordes. Moreover, the base still housed large numbers of logistical personnel and civilians who could not fight. This battle could not be retreated from—nor could it be retreated from.

“Old Qian, Xiao He, Xiao Lin—split up and notify the leaders of the three factions. Yu Shan, go notify all the squads. Find a way to recall every enhanced human operating around the base.”

Seven days later.

Qin Yi stood atop a tall tower on the base’s outer wall, gazing at the boundless sea of zombies. Lu Heng stood beside him, holding his sword.

Over these seven days, the Sharp Edge squad had suffered devastating losses. Even though the cultivation method prevented enhanced humans from being infected, many still died from their injuries. The disparity in strength was simply too great. The entire base was held together by the Sharp Edge squad and a handful of loosely organized enhanced squads.

The three powerhouses controlling W Base had all left ten days ago, supposedly to attend an important conference at A Base. Only a fool would think this was a coincidence. Someone was definitely pulling strings behind the scenes.

Lu Heng and Qin Yi both suspected a particular person, but even though they had been busy studying the formation array inscribed on the crystal core’s inner walls during this time, they had not eased their surveillance of Jiang Sile. Jiang Sile had shown nothing unusual during this period—he hadn’t left the base, and barely even left the building.

But matters had come to this. Now was not the time to delve into that. The most important thing right now was how to resolve this zombie siege crisis.

“Jiang Sile told me he foresaw the cause of this zombie siege,” Qin Yi said. “The Zombie King.”

The Zombie King—an existence surpassing level nine zombies. Although enhanced humans had only ever encountered zombies up to level nine, in theory, given the passage of so much time and the zombies’ rate of evolution, zombies surpassing level nine should have emerged.

Now, this theoretical Zombie King had finally appeared, leading an army of zombies, with W Base as the first prey beneath its fangs.

“Do you believe him?” Lu Heng said.

“Even if I don’t, what can we do? This is the only way out—kill the Zombie King. The zombie army will scatter on its own,” Qin Yi said. “Even if what he says is false, I should have no problem retreating safely.”

“I will go with you.”

There was no time to lose. After handing over the responsibility of holding down the base entirely to Yu Shan, the two set off toward the location where Jiang Sile said the Zombie King was hiding.

With Qin Yi’s spiritual power scouting ahead, they tried their best to avoid areas with concentrated zombies. When avoidance was impossible, they carved a bloody path through.

“It’s right ahead—there’s an extremely powerful energy signature,” Qin Yi said.

Actually, even without Qin Yi saying it, Lu Heng could feel the demonic qi soaring into the sky: “It’s not holding back at all. This is deliberately luring us in.”

The two exchanged a glance, each seeing the battle spirit in the other’s eyes. At this point, there was only one option—to fight with their backs to the river.

They had expected reaching the Zombie King’s side would require considerable effort, but instead it went smoothly—the zombies along the way seemed to actively make way for them. Upon reaching the Zombie King, they found the area completely empty, as if it had been deliberately cleared out, knowing that low-level zombies would only be cannon fodder here.

This Zombie King likely possessed intelligence.

Standing in the clearing, the zombie had completely lost its human form. Its body was enormous, standing perhaps three to four meters tall. Knots of sinew and muscle writhed across its frame, yet its limbs were intact—there was not a single rotting place left on it. One look told Lu Heng this was what the sect’s ancient texts classified as a basic demon beast.

This plane of existence was already beginning to be assimilated by the demonic plane.

The moment the Zombie King saw them, it let out a low roar and charged. Despite its massive size, it was not slow—before the blink of an eye, it was upon them. Lu Heng drew his sword to meet it. Dichen blocked the massive claw sweeping toward him.

Lu Heng was pushed back a considerable distance by the sheer force. More terrifyingly, Dichen hadn’t even left a single mark on the Zombie King’s skin. This had never happened before.

A golden-red flame arrow seized the moment and shot toward the Zombie King’s eyeball. Qin Yi had achieved initial mastery in the cultivation of Samadhi True Fire and had grasped the basic technique of flame transformation. This flame arrow was an extremely practical move, capable of directly attacking a zombie’s weakness.

The Zombie King guarded its weakness with meticulous care. Seeing the flame arrow incoming, it raised its right hand to block. The flame arrow was crushed in the Zombie King’s palm but did not dissipate—instead, it blazed upward along its hand.

Seeing this, the Zombie King spat a stream of black qi from its mouth. After several exchanges, the flame ultimately could not withstand the black qi and was extinguished.

“This demon beast has already learned how to use demonic qi. It’s different from ordinary zombies—our attacks may not be effective!” Lu Heng sliced another cut into his palm, feeding his blood to Dichen.

Lu Heng sensed several powerful auras rushing toward their location. The Zombie King had likely called back the high-level zombies responsible for the siege. The situation turned critical in an instant—just the two of them barely handling the Zombie King was already a struggle. If several high-level zombies showed up, the two of them might as well hold hands and go through the cycle of reincarnation.

They had to end this quickly.

Qin Yi also sensed the approaching high-level zombies. He was a born warrior, long accustomed to a life of licking blood from blade tips amid a hail of bullets. The more desperate the situation, the faster his mind turned. A method for killing the Zombie King rapidly took shape in his thoughts.

“Give me some time. Hold off the Zombie King for now.” Regarding Lu Heng’s combat ability, Qin Yi had absolute confidence.

Lu Heng knew he must have come up with something. He bit the tip of his tongue and spat blood onto Dichen. Once the sword was wrapped in the power of wind and thunder, he gripped it with both hands.

Those long legs of the baby-faced young man coiled like a spring loaded to maximum, then stomped hard against the ground. His entire body rocketed forward like a cannonball—man and sword together—driving straight toward the Zombie King’s eyeball.

The Zombie King was enormous, but Lu Heng’s charge was lightning-fast. Unable to dodge in time, it could only raise its giant palm to block, just as it had before.

But this force of man and sword as one was not comparable to a mere flame arrow. The Zombie King’s massive palm was pierced clean through by Dichen. The sword’s momentum didn’t slow in the slightest—it drove ruthlessly into the blood-red, enormous eyeball.

Under the searing agony, the Zombie King erupted with tremendous force. Lu Heng was flung away, sword and all. The impact was so great that Lu Heng couldn’t even adjust his posture mid-air before slamming heavily into a large tree nearby. The tree, thick enough to require both arms to encircle, shook violently from the branches, raining down a shower of leaves.

Lu Heng’s mouth was full of a taste of rust—he didn’t know whether it came from biting his tongue earlier or from this impact injuring his internal organs. His vision went dark. He leaned on Dichen for support and barely managed to stand, only to feel a metallic sweetness in his throat—blood sprayed from his mouth in a violent burst. Lu Heng could no longer hold on, collapsing to one knee, gasping for breath in great heaves.

The Zombie King had by now recovered from its agony. With limited intelligence, it instinctively sought out the person who had hurt it most. Seeing Lu Heng kneeling on the ground, swaying, it lumbered over to slam him flat with one palm.

A thread of glaze-colored flame ignited on the ground. Rather than burning directly onto the Zombie King’s impenetrable skin, it traced mysterious patterns across the earth at tremendous speed.

Not far away, Qin Yi pressed a hand to his still-bleeding wound and walked toward Lu Heng. Without materials imbued with spiritual energy on hand, he had to use his own blood to draw this Demon-Subduing Formation, then ignite it with Samadhi True Fire. It was fortunate that Lu Heng had drawn the Zombie King’s entire attention, buying him the time to complete the formation.

The Demon-Subduing Formation was complete. The Zombie King was trapped within the array, unable to take another step toward Lu Heng. And this was far from the full extent of the formation’s power. The glaze-colored flames followed the blood to complete the final step, the formation eye erupting skyward—pillars of blazing fire rose from the ground. The massively amplified Samadhi True Fire engulfed the Zombie King completely.

Qin Yi steadied Lu Heng with one hand. Drawing on their last reserves of strength, the two watched warily as the Zombie King within the array was reduced to a ball of fire.

The flames gradually dispersed. The Zombie King had been burned into a charred, unidentifiable lump—thoroughly and completely dead. Only then did Lu Heng and Qin Yi finally relax. They collapsed to the ground, too exhausted to even move.

“Are you alright?” Qin Yi asked.

Lu Heng shook his head, mustering a sliver of strength to bandage Qin Yi’s wound. The gash on his hand was too deep—blood kept seeping out. If left untreated, the man would likely bleed to death.

Once the wound was bandaged, Lu Heng looked up, about to say something to Qin Yi. But then he saw the color drain from Qin Yi’s face—and a palm shoved him aside.

Lu Heng rolled to the ground and looked back, just in time to see a beast the size of a rat rake its claws across Qin Yi’s face. The gash was long, tearing from the eyebrow, across the eyeball, and down to the jaw. Even through the blinding pain, Qin Yi grabbed the creature with his free hand and burned it to ash.

This bizarrely appearing beast had emerged from the Zombie King’s abdomen, which was how it had evaded both of their spiritual detection, survived the Samadhi True Fire, and lurked until the very last moment to land a treacherous blow on them both.