Lately, Master Nine had been feeling incredibly annoyed!
There were two main reasons.
First, a number of people had mysteriously disappeared in town. No one had seen them alive, and no bodies had been found either.
Though those who vanished were known scoundrels who preyed on common folk—people whose deaths wouldn't be mourned—Master Nine still felt something was very wrong.
Second, he noticed his eldest disciple, Chong, had been acting strangely. The young man wandered about in a daze, with heavy dark circles under his eyes, his energy clearly drained, and his Yang Qi(*masculine life force) dangerously depleted.
From experience, Master Nine could tell—Chong had definitely encountered something unclean.
After some thought, Master Nine decided the situation with Chong took precedence. He could investigate the town's missing people later.
And so…
That night, when Chong headed home, Master Nine secretly followed him. Eventually, he discovered the truth—Chong had fallen under the spell of a female ghost and was spending all his time with her.
Furious, Master Nine immediately moved to exorcise her on the spot—but Chong intervened.
"Master, please!" Chong pleaded, shielding the ghost.
Master Nine let out a long sigh. In the end, he relented, agreeing to spare the ghost—but firmly forbade them from seeing each other again.
"Humans and ghosts walk different paths," he said solemnly. "If you keep consorting with her, you'll lose all your Yang Qi and die before long."
As the female ghost prepared to leave, she left Master Nine with one chilling remark:
"Taoist Master, you're so keen on killing demons, yet someone's using human lives to raise a corpse nearby. Why don't you deal with that?"
Master Nine's eyes widened. "What did you say? Don't leave—explain! Who's raising corpses with human lives?"
The female ghost hesitated. "That person is terrifying. I didn't dare get too close. But from his appearance and clothing… he seems to be someone quite well-known in town."
"What does he look like?" Master Nine asked immediately.
"Young. Handsome. Tall. And his eyes… sharp."
Chong turned pale. "Master! I think it might be the teacher Master Ren recently hired from her description!"
"..."
Master Nine didn't answer. Instead, he asked the ghost, "Are all the lives used for the corpse-raising from the town?"
She nodded at once. "Yes, all of them. All scum, to be honest. I'm not even sure if he's good or evil! Taking lives to raise corpses, yet he only targets wicked people... It's like fighting poison with poison."
Master Nine snorted coldly. "Do you know where he's keeping this corpse?"
"I do!"
"Then take me there," Master Nine said seriously.
He didn't care about evil men being punished—but raising a corpse? That couldn't be allowed.
If someone were cultivating a powerful corpse demon, it could endanger the whole world!
The full moon hung high in the night sky.
Bathed in moonlight, a lone young man left Renjia Town and arrived at a hidden cave in the mountains. With ease, he removed the boulder blocking the entrance.
Facing the darkness of the cave, Fenric showed no fear as he stepped inside.
Almost instantly, several shadowy figures lunged at him.
Without hesitation, he swung his blade.
Slice!
The shadows were shredded instantly, collapsing to the ground in pieces.
Seeing the system prompt flash before him, Fenric gave a satisfied smile and began clearing the remains.
This place was no ancient ruin. Right beside the cave, he had dug numerous deep pits, tossing the mangled corpses of low-level zombies into them before covering them up.
While he worked, a pale-white, terrifying zombie stood silently nearby, watching him.
It was none other than Old Man Ren.
But this wasn't the same zombie as before.
The last time it tried to escape, Fenric had seen it fly with his own eyes—leaping through the air like it had wings. By traditional zombie classifications, Old Man Ren had reached the "Flying Zombie" level!
As Old Man Ren's power increased, so too did its intelligence.
It didn't understand what Fenric was doing, but some instinct told it—this human was no benevolent soul. The zombie knew it couldn't win in a fight right now and resolved to keep a low profile, biding its time and growing stronger.
One day, when it was strong enough, it would suck Fenric's blood and undergo a true transformation!
Eventually, Fenric finished the cleanup and turned to look at Old Man Ren, whose face remained eerily calm.
"A fattened pig," Fenric muttered with a faint smirk. "Once fattened, it's ready for slaughter."
He knew very well that Old Man Ren was growing stronger by the day.
Right now, he could still overpower it. But if this continued unchecked, the day would come when the zombie might surpass him.
Fenric wasn't foolish—he wouldn't raise a tiger that could one day devour him.
To prevent being betrayed, he planned to begin cultivating a second zombie starting tomorrow. Once that was done, he'd kill Old Man Ren and harvest the benefits.
As long as he maintained absolute dominance over these undead, he didn't need to fear rebellion.
Yes…
If anyone here was a true demon, it was Fenric!
Though Old Man Ren couldn't understand human speech, it could feel Fenric's gaze—like that of a butcher eyeing a prize pig. Instinctively, it trembled in fear.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Fenric frowned and turned to look behind him.
In the distance, four figures were approaching—three men and a female ghost.
If Fenric wanted to avoid confrontation, his speed was more than enough to disappear before they arrived.
But he didn't move.
In this world, no one could make him retreat.
Even if Master Ren came, he wouldn't flinch!
As a great devil… he had the pride of a great devil!
A few moments later, Master Nine and his group arrived.
Monmoi caught sight of the pale-white zombie and exclaimed in horror, "Master! There really is a zombie!"
Master Nine's face turned grim.
His vision was far sharper than Monmoi's. He immediately recognized that the white-haired zombie was no ordinary creature—it was terrifyingly strong, possibly beyond even his ability to suppress.
What confused him, though, was why the zombie hadn't attacked Fenric.
In fact… it seemed a little afraid of him?
"Mr. Fen," Master Nine said, his voice stern, "so you are raising a corpse here!"
"Do you have any idea how dangerous this is? That zombie has already reached the stage of transformation. If it turns violent, no one may be able to stop it!"
Fenric didn't answer.
Instead, he turned his gaze to the female ghost, his eyes ice-cold.
"I warned you not to meddle, didn't I?" he said quietly. "Did you really think I have no way to deal with you?"
The female ghost shrank back in terror, her body trembling as she hid behind Chong.
"FEN RIC!!" Master Nine roared. "What you're doing is no different from the demonic path! I won't let you harm the living!"
"Oh?" Fenric brushed some dirt off his fingers and smiled. "Master Nine, you want to stop me?"
He raised his head, eyes gleaming.
"Do you really think… you can?"
_____
[Translation Note: New Arc Starts
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Ps: Cover Updated]