Lu Yun grabbed Qing Han and scuttled far away from the danger.

Jiangchen Wushang’s target was Jin Heyi. Even though the now-undead Corpse Refiner was imitating a zombie king to conceal the ripples of life, Jiangchen Wushang’s eyes were still fixed on him. Jin Heyi’s ugly expression marked how he felt the situation was slipping out of his grasp.

Perfect, maybe I can get this Corpse Refiner killed once and for all then.

Zombies weren’t confined by the restriction against golden immortals in Dusk Province. In other words, Jin Heyi would be able to tap into his full power in the incipient sacred land. With the large group of deadly zombies under his command, he would pose a great threat to Lu Yun.

But honestly, I don’t have to do anything. This thing here will do it!

As the two Corpse Refiners faced off against each other, Lu Yun turned both him and Qing Han into dust particles and disappeared.

……

Gurgle!

As the sound of bursting bubbles filled the air, Jin Heyi’s rotten face went unnaturally pale.

“How should I deal with him, junior brother Lu? ...junior brother Lu?”

He whirled around to find neither Lu Yun nor Qing Han beside him. Outrage translated into angry jabbering as he vented his frustration at his circumstances. However, his rage cut off when he realized with a shudder that something had a firm grasp on his left hand. His entire arm was soaked by chilly water.

“Water Ghost Grasp,” Jin Heyi mouthed shakily. An intensifying chill consumed him, like he was submerged in an icy pond. A zombie king’s body was naturally cold to begin with, so he shouldn’t feel like this. However, even with his special constitution, he was chilled to his very soul.

“Wait… a second. Lu Yun set me up…. If I’d saved Wushang earlier, the water ghost wouldn’t have been able to do anything. I was its target to begin with....”

That was his last thought before his eyes slowly closed and he lost consciousness.

When he next opened his eyes, they were all black without any white. The rotten patches and postmortem spots on his skin faded away at observable speed.

Thud!

Jiangchen Wushang toppled to the ground, lifeless.

‘Jin Heyi’ lifted his left hand and formed a fist, a smile playing at his lips. “You’re right. If you’d saved him earlier, I’d have no choice but to retreat.

“Jin Heyi? Corpse Refiners? Looks like he cultivated the zombie method as a human and turned himself into a zombie king....

“No, he didn’t turn himself into a zombie king, but refined a zombie king’s body instead. The zombie king stumbling into the dragon nest that time was his target, wasn’t it?” As he murmured, black light flashed through his body and transformed him inside out.

“I am the ghost of a dragon come back to life in the body of a zombie king. From now on, I am Ghost Dragon. Crown Prince Ao Lin of the North Sea no longer exists.”

……

Truespirit Palace.

“Dammit!” A red-haired young man’s eyes snapped open, unleashing a terrifying power that barrelled through multiple layers of formations and restrictions in a palace. By his side knelt a young woman in a crimson dress.

“This servant deserves death, Your Highness,” the girl said fearfully. She was a peak aether dao immortal, yet she remained on her knees, trembling in fear and avoiding a direct look at the young man.

The young man waved her away. “This has nothing to do with you. You're dismissed.”

The girl sighed in relief and made a quiet retreat from the hall.

“What happened, Jiuying?” asked a bodiless voice. “What angers you so?”

“My replica, Jin Heyi, has just been stolen by someone else! I put in so much effort to refine it into a zombie king, but a mere ghost has gone and benefited from it instead!” Hatred and bitterness burned in the red-haired young man’s eyes.

“You mustn’t get reckless, Jiuying,” the voice sounded once again. “You’re currently at peak arcane dao immortal. If you make any careless moves, the dao fruit tree will draw you in.”

“I know.” Yin Jiuying nodded. “But I need a new replica. Capture Yue Longsha and Zhu Yan, the two treasures of Nephrite Major, for me.”

“Yue Longsha? Zhu Yan?” the voice rose an octave and a middle-aged man donning a black imperial robe shot out from thin air, his expression incredulous. “If I bring those two little girls here, Zhao Fengyang will hunt me down!”

Yin Jiuying lowered his head thoughtfully. “Yue Longsha isn’t an easy target since she’s hiding in Xiankan, but Zhu Yan is in the North Sea. Just send some people after her. Someone will stop Zhao Fengyang for you.

“Oh, and Jiangchen Wushang—the Jiangchen old freak’s precious darling—has died as well. You need to find him another body to possess.”

The man in black imperial robes was the sect head of Corpse Refiners and the new celestial emperor of Truespirit Major. A wry smile adorned his face as he heard the young man speak; he knew he couldn’t turn his back on Yin Jiuying and the Jiangchen Clan just yet. The throne of Truespirit Major was a target painted on his back.

The Corpse Refiners needed Truespirit Major to back it up in order to keep expanding.

……

Lu Yun and Qing Han rushed through the dragon tomb as two insignificant particles, riding two flashes of sword energy.

“There, at the heart of the chamber,” Qing Han came to a sudden halt and transmitted to Lu Yun. “It’s Qing Quan!”

“What the hell, it really is him!” Lu Yun stopped to take a look as well.

They hadn’t gone deep into the dragon tomb yet. Who would’ve thought a dao immortal of the Qing Clan would still be on the fringes of this mausoleum?

Back when Lu Yun and Qing Han had first arrived at the North Sea, Qing Quan had ambushed them with a group of allies. Who would’ve thought that the dao immortal would enter the dragon tomb as well?

Through the half-opened stone door, they could see Qing Quan sitting cross-legged on the ground, absolutely covered in injuries. He seemed to be resting for recovery, and the torn body of a zombie by his side bore mute testament to where his wounds originated from.

The light of a treasure twinkled from the outer-coffin behind the Qing elder.

He appeared to have been through a bloody battle, only killing the zombie after exhausting himself. His serious injury demanded his full attention, thus he didn’t have any energy to spare for the burial goods in the coffin.