Startled by the completely unexpected appearance of a reanimated corpse, Baek Un froze for an instant.
The first corpse burst from the coffin at that exact moment, charging with both arms thrust forward like an animal’s forelegs.
It moved so fast that the air exploded outward with a sharp crack as it closed the distance in an instant.
Baek Un twisted at the waist, narrowly avoiding its attack, then drove his qi into the tips of his feet and kicked off the ground.
KWAANG—
With an explosive roar, Baek Un shot toward the second corpse.
“Primordial Unity Quaking Form!”
Sword light bloomed from Baek Un’s blade and pierced the second corpse’s chest.
CRRRAAACK—
Its chest caved inward as it was hurled backward into a boulder.
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG—
Baek Un knocked the exploding rock fragments aside with his sword, then launched himself at the corpse that had attacked him first.
“Soaring Dragon in the Heavens!”
Waves of azure qi surged from Baek Un’s sword.
A blue flame blossomed at its tip and cleaved through the first corpse’s body.
CRACK—
The shape of an azure dragon erupted from the blade and soared into the sky, leaving a long trail of blue lightning behind it.
Beyond the corpse he had split in half, Baek Un saw the necromancer.
The man was still smiling.
Does he have more reanimated corpses?
If I cut him down, the others should stop moving.
Baek Un adjusted his grip and was about to charge the necromancer when—
CRACK!
A heavy pain tore through his shoulder.
Baek Un staggered.
When he looked down, he saw the second corpse’s claws buried deep in the flesh beside his shoulder.
His blue Daoist robes rapidly turned red. A wave of dizziness struck him, but he forced himself to remain alert and kicked the corpse away with all his strength.
As it was driven backward, Baek Un’s sword moved.
“You foul creature! I’ll make sure you never move again!”
His qi grew slightly ragged, and a thunderous roar echoed as though heaven and earth were being torn apart.
“Azure Cloud Shatters Heaven!”
The image of an azure dragon burst from Baek Un’s blade and coiled around the corpse.
CRA-CRACK!
When the dragon vanished, the corpse’s arms and legs had been severed.
THUD—
Left with only its torso, the corpse continued to writhe.
Just in case, Baek Un glanced toward the first one.
“Wh-What?”
The corpse he had split in half was fusing itself back together.
At this rate, it would soon return to normal.
Baek Un infused his sword with qi and started toward it.
CLACK—
Something caught his leg.
Looking down, he found one of the severed arms gripping him by the ankle.
“Wh-What is this...?”
Meanwhile, the corpse whose body had rejoined itself charged at Baek Un, radiating a terrifying force.
The danger was immediate.
Baek Un hurriedly tried to pry the severed hand from his leg.
But its grip was so powerful that he could not loosen it at all.
RIIIP!
He tore away the section of his trousers the hand was clutching, freed himself, and threw his body to the side.
SHIIING—
A razor-sharp sound sliced through the air.
The corpse’s claws had nearly torn him open.
“You abominations that bring chaos to the world! Begone, all of you!”
Heavenly Cycle One Path.
FLASH!
His sword swept out, and the world fell silent.
When sound returned, the corpse’s body began splitting into countless pieces.
CRRRAAACK—
RUMBLE—
Its shattered remains collapsed and scattered across the ground.
Baek Un also cut apart the limbless corpse still writhing in the distance, then turned toward the necromancer.
There had only been two reanimated corpses, yet defeating them had been this difficult.
There was good reason anyone who practiced necromancy became a public enemy of the martial world.
Now, all he had to do was deal with the necromancer.
The man had dared to damage the sacred Azure Dragon Vein that protected the Qingcheng Sect and command reanimated corpses forbidden throughout the martial world.
He was undoubtedly someone who had to be erased from existence.
When Baek Un looked at him, however, the necromancer was still smiling.
A sudden chill ran through him.
THUD!
It was the same sound the first coffin had made when it fell.
The problem was—
THUD— THOOM— THUD-THUD—
It had not come from only one or two coffins.
Baek Un slowly turned his head, dread spreading across his face.
“Th-This cannot be....”
Dozens of coffins lay scattered across the ground.
CREEEAK— CREEAK—
Their lids opened, revealing reanimated corpses within.
These, however, were dressed differently from the two he had just fought.
The earlier corpses had worn white official robes. These wore golden ones.
Is there some difference?
As if answering his question, the necromancer personally explained.
“Heh heh heh. You defeated the White Corpses with surprising ease. You have earned the right to face the Golden Corpses.”
From those words alone, Baek Un could tell that the Golden Corpses were far stronger than the White Corpses.
He tightened his grip on his sword and looked toward Jeok Wigang.
“Merchant Master Jeok! Leave this place at once! I fear I can no longer protect you!”
Had Jeok Wigang not heard him?
He did not move.
Baek Un suddenly realized his mistake.
Merchant Master Jeok had probably never seen a reanimated corpse before.
The horrifying sight must have left him frozen.
He might be strong, but he was still young.
How could Baek Un have failed to consider that?
Then he would have to protect him.
Baek Un gritted his teeth.
Jeok Wigang was the benefactor who had saved the Qingcheng Sect.
He would never allow him to die here.
The Golden Corpses began to move.
There were dozens of them, not merely two.
Worse, every one of them was stronger than the corpses Baek Un had already fought.
“The Way gives rise to nonaction.”
Faced with such a hopeless situation, he unconsciously recited the Daoist invocation.
Even so, he had to do everything he could.
For his benefactor.
And to protect the Qingcheng Sect.
HUMMMMM—
Azure qi surged across Baek Un’s sword.
At that moment, the Golden Corpses surrounding him all charged at once.
They moved far too quickly for him to respond to every one of them.
But he still had to try.
The ultimate technique of the Azure Dragon Primordial Unity Sword.
“Primordial Unity Returns to One!”
It was the realm in which sword, the Way, and man became one.
Baek Un raised his blade toward the sky, and a pillar of azure qi surged upward.
The light dyed the clouds blue. Then countless azure dragons descended from within them as though swimming through the heavens.
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG!
The azure dragons flew into the corpses charging Baek Un and exploded with deafening roars.
CLATTER—
The corpses’ shattered bodies rained from the sky.
“HAH... HAH... Hah...!”
Having unleashed his final technique, Baek Un’s inner power was temporarily exhausted.
If the necromancer attacked him now, there would be nothing he could do.
Fortunately, the man did not seem to have noticed.
Baek Un only needed a little time for his inner power to recover.
But before it could—
He saw the pieces rapidly gathering together.
“Wh-What is that?”
The fragments scattered across the ground began converging as though pulled by magnets, restoring themselves into Golden Corpses in the blink of an eye.
They were regenerating faster than Baek Un’s inner power could recover.
At this rate, he truly was in grave danger.
Damn it.... I only came out to investigate, so I left my Primordial Unity Pills behind.
He had no medicine that could instantly replenish his inner power.
Baek Un stared in despair at the Golden Corpses, which had already returned to their original forms.
What do I do?
At the very least, Merchant Master Jeok must escape.
He turned his head, but Jeok Wigang was gone.
Where did he go?
Baek Un looked around again.
What?
Jeok Wigang was walking toward the necromancer.
Baek Un misunderstood his intentions.
He must be trying to distract the necromancer and help me.
The necromancer seemed too focused on Baek Un to have noticed Jeok Wigang approaching.
Then Baek Un had to keep the man’s attention fixed on him.
His inner power had not yet recovered, but if he remained still and Jeok Wigang was discovered, the situation could become dangerous.
Baek Un steadied his breathing and forcibly drew up what little inner power he had regained.
“Ha ha ha ha! Struggle all you like! You will never escape my Golden Corpses!”
The necromancer delighted in Baek Un’s desperate resistance.
This was true pleasure.
Watching insects writhe in their desperate struggle to live.
As he savored the sight—
“That’s enough, don’t you think?”
The sudden voice startled him.
“Gah! Wh-What?”
He spun around and found Jeok Wigang standing beside him.
“Who the hell are you? Wh-When did you get here?”
“Just now. You were too focused over there to notice, weren’t you?”
The necromancer stared at him in shock, then gave a derisive snort.
“How absurd. You should have attacked me while you still had the element of surprise. It is too late now. I know you are here.”
“I don’t think it is. Stop those ugly things if you want a clean death.”
“What? Ha ha ha ha! Are you threatening me?”
“Yeah.”
“Why? Do you think I’m powerless without my reanimated corpses?”
“Yeah. You look like one hit would kill you.”
“Heh heh heh. Everyone who underestimated me ended up exactly like that.”
The necromancer pointed toward the Golden Corpses attacking Baek Un.
“Would you like me to make you into a Golden Corpse? Or perhaps a White Corpse? Just say the word.”
“You really do talk too much.”
SLAP—
THUD—
The necromancer found himself staring blankly at the ground.
What?
Why am I looking at the ground?
What?
Why is my cheek burning?
What just happened?
His mind went blank.
Slowly, he raised his head and looked at Jeok Wigang.
“You really are weak. One slap was enough to knock you down.”
Weak?
Him?
GRIND—
That was the word he hated more than any other.
Weak.
The necromancer slowly rose, glaring at Jeok Wigang with murderous fury through eyes that had turned completely black.
“I’ll turn you into an Azure Corpse and use you as my mount.”
Despite the threat, the man before him showed no reaction whatsoever. He merely looked at the necromancer and asked a question.
“I’m curious about something. If your body gets cut apart like those corpses, does it knit itself back together too?”
Was that really what he wanted to ask right now?
The necromancer blinked, staring blankly at Jeok Wigang.
“Don’t just stare at me. Answer the question.”
That is what he is curious about in this situation?
Whether I can become a reanimated corpse?
He is standing at the crossroads between life and death, and that is what he asks?
The fool appeared to have no grasp of his circumstances whatsoever.
The necromancer’s face twisted.
“Are you making sport of me?”
“No. I’m not joking. I’m genuinely curious. More importantly... you are human, right? I don’t know. Something about you feels like you might not be.”
“If you are so curious, find out for yourself!”
“Oh? Really? I can? All right.”
What exactly does he think he has permission to do?
What an infuriating bastard.
There was no need to make him into a reanimated corpse.
The necromancer decided he would simply kill him.
He thrust out one hand, and the air rippled.
At the same time—
THOOM— THOOM— THOOM—
Three black paulownia coffins crashed down before Jeok Wigang.
CRAAACK—
The reanimated corpses smashed through their coffins and charged at him with terrifying speed.
“Bite him! Devour him! Do not leave a single scrap of flesh behind!”
WHUMP-WHUMP-WHUMP—
All three corpses descended upon Jeok Wigang.
The necromancer threw back his head and laughed.
“Ha ha ha ha! Yes! That’s it! Devour every last piece of him!”
As he reveled in the sight with a crazed grin—
KWA-KWA-KWAAANG!
A tremendous explosion erupted, and all three corpses were obliterated in an instant.
“Huh?”
The necromancer stared blankly at the place where they had stood only moments ago.
“Damn it. Disgusting.”
Jeok Wigang’s annoyed voice reached him as he brushed the filth from his clothes.
“How in the world...?”