Comprehensive Network: Starting with Martial Artists to Stack Passive Skills

Although Mayor Zhou and the people around him did not understand cultivation, they could still feel the reassuring aura brought by Lu Qingfeng, and the worry on their faces lessened slightly.

"Mr. Lu, Daoist Xuanchen, the situation is urgent, so I will speak frankly."

Mayor Zhou did not delay at all, inviting the two to sit down, his expression solemn.

"According to the descriptions of the patrol team members who escaped, and the investigation by the Taoist priest, the culprits are indeed zombies. They lurk in the mountains and forests and cemeteries where yin energy gathers during the day, and come out at night when the yin energy is strong to suck the blood of living beings."

"Even..." He paused, his voice lower, "According to the Taoist priest's speculation, deeper within the mass grave, even more powerful white zombies may have been spawned, and even... there may be traces of hopping zombies. If it really is a hopping zombie, then our town is in danger!"

Master Xuanchen added from the side, "I have already used a compass to measure it. The corpse aura in the western and northern forests and the mass grave behind the mountain is unusually strong, and it is showing a continuous increasing and spreading trend. This is not a natural formation, but is likely caused by external forces, or it may be related to the old disaster a hundred years ago."

He looked at Lu Qingfeng, "Mr. Lu, the most urgent task is to take advantage of the remaining yang energy during the day and the dormant yin forces to first clear out the zombies already discovered around the town, stabilize people's hearts, and then investigate the source of the yin energy and find a way to break or seal it. Otherwise, once the evil energy completely erupts, it will form a zombie horde..."

...gibberish gibberish.

Lu Qingfeng kept nodding, but he wasn't actually listening at all; he skipped everything. Several guides didn't mention the role of these townspeople, so he was too lazy to listen.

His thinking has always been very clear: clear out the mobs first, then find the boss, and finally solve the source problem, while also enjoying a delicious meal. He can just ignore the NPCs.

Yes! That's right! That fits the dungeon's flow perfectly.

"In that case, let's not delay any longer." Lu Qingfeng didn't want to dawdle any longer, so he stood up and said, "Please have the mayor send someone to lead the way. I'll first go to the western mountains and the outskirts of the mass grave to investigate and clear out any zombies I can find."

"Mr. Lu has just arrived, shouldn't he rest for a while?" Mayor Zhou asked with concern.

"No need." Lu Qingfeng felt his rising killing intent and didn't need to rest for even a second.

Master Xuanchen also stood up at this moment: "I will go with Mr. Lu. The arrangements around the town still need to be improved. I need to conduct an on-site inspection so that I can set up an array to block the evil energy and protect the townspeople."

"Good! Good!" Mayor Zhou was overjoyed. "Tiezhu, Wang Meng, you two take a team of skilled men and accompany the two gentlemen. Be sure to be careful!"

Zhao Tiezhu and Wang Meng clasped their hands in acceptance of the order.

A moment later, the group of more than ten people left the town hall and headed west into the mountains.

Besides Lu Qingfeng and Xuan Chen, there were eight other young men from the patrol team, carrying torches, steel forks, and machetes, with gongs and cloth bags soaked in black dog blood hanging from their waists.

The closer you get to the edge of town, the thicker the fog seems to get, and the lower the temperature becomes.

At the entrance to the forest, the trees and leaves had an unhealthy dark green color, the ground was damp, and it smelled of decaying leaves and soil.

"This is the area," Zhao Tiezhu said in a low voice, pointing to the secluded mountain path ahead. "The place where the livestock carcasses were found a few days ago is not far ahead, and the place where Li Laosi disappeared is even deeper."

Master Xuanchen took out an ancient compass, its needle trembling slightly as it pointed deep into the mountains. "Yin energy gathers, malevolent shadows lurk. Be careful, everyone, stay close, and don't get separated."

Lu Qingfeng nodded. Ever since entering this instance, his senses had never stopped, and right in front of him, he clearly sensed an unusual aura.

"About thirty paces to the left front, under a tree."

He suddenly spoke, his gaze sharply fixed in that direction.

Following his gaze, everyone saw that under an old locust tree, the soil was slightly raised, revealing a corner of tattered clothing.

"Dig it open," Lu Qingfeng gestured.

Two patrol members mustered their courage and stepped forward, carefully using steel forks to dig away the loose soil.

Soon, a twisted, mummified corpse was revealed. The body was dressed in tattered, coarse cloth, with bluish-black skin clinging to the bones, black and sharp fingernails, protruding canine teeth, and a ferocious expression.

"It's Li Laosi!" a patrolman exclaimed. "He...he really has turned into a zombie!"

Seemingly disturbed by the presence and movement of a living person, the mummified corpse's tightly closed eyelids suddenly twitched, then abruptly opened, revealing cloudy, pale eyes!

"Heh...heh..."

A low growl squeezed out of its parched throat as it struggled to crawl out of the ground!

"Demon! You dare to cause trouble again!" Daoist Xuan Chen shouted, and the yellow talisman he had prepared beforehand shot out, hitting the zombie squarely on the forehead!

Where is Lu Qingfeng? He's gathering his strength!

Just to be on the safe side, he would definitely go all out, but to avoid being noticed, he still took a picture of himself with an exorcising talisman.

Although the evil-repelling bonus is not very useful.

"Snapped!"

On the other side, the talisman was successfully applied. The zombie froze, hissing white smoke appeared on its forehead, and it let out a painful roar, but it was not completely suppressed. Instead, it twisted even more frantically!

"Ordinary corpse-suppressing talismans have limited effects! It has absorbed blood and has become powerful!" Master Xuanchen's expression changed, and he drew his peach wood sword, ready to step forward.

But Lu Qingfeng was faster.

He took a step forward, his figure as swift as the wind, and was already in front of the zombie.

He clenched his right fist, channeling his power at will, and finally concentrated it at the tip of his fist. With scorching blood and qi, he delivered a simple and straightforward punch to the zombie's chest!

"Bang!!"

A dull thud, like the deafening sound of leather being struck!

The air seemed to brighten briefly for a moment, and endless blood and energy surged into the sky.

The zombie was instantly split in two; its upper body vanished, leaving only its lower body swaying for a moment before collapsing to the ground, unable to rise again.

[Power Up! Your damage this time is increased by an additional 45%]

[Armor shattered! Target's defense has been reduced to zero!]

[Blood Moon Mark triggered! Additional True Damage +5]

You have killed one Black Zombie (Normal).

[Cleanup Progress Update]

[Materials Obtained: 2 Rotten Corpse Fangs (Gray)]

"Solved? Solved?" Zhao Tiezhu and the others stared in disbelief.

They had seen Master Xuanchen deal with zombies using peach wood swords and talismans, but they had never seen such a clean, efficient, and almost barbaric physical method of exorcism.

Master Xuanchen also gave Lu Qingfeng a deep look, sheathed his peach wood sword, and praised, "Mr. Lu, what powerful and vigorous energy you possess!"

Lu Qingfeng shook his hand, and the slight filth on his fingertips quickly dissipated as his blood and qi evaporated.

"You flatter me, everyone. I am only slightly versed in martial arts."

However, if there was only one zombie, it wasn't enough. It wasn't at the elite level, so Lu Qingfeng could only say he was utterly disappointed.

"Continue," he said, looking into the depths of the forest, "there's more in there."

Master Xuanchen's compass needle spun, pointing in several directions: "There's more than one Yin Sha node, and corpse energy is lingering there. Mr. Lu, how about we split up to clear it? It'll be more efficient. The villagers on patrol can be divided into two groups to keep watch."

Lu Qingfeng shook his head, disagreeing with his opinion. Splitting up would indeed allow for faster progress, and he was confident that he wouldn't actually be split up.

But... there's no need to split into two groups. If it weren't for the fact that these people in the back were still somewhat useful, he would have already shaken them off.

"Captain Zhao, and Captain Zhao, the eight of you follow the Taoist priest. I'll go on my own."

Lu Qingfeng's assignment naturally caused a lot of surprise, confusion, doubt, and worry, but it was eventually done.

After assigning the men to their positions, he headed alone towards the northwest, where the corpse energy was strongest, as indicated by the compass.

He leaped and bounded through the forest a few times before disappearing into the thick fog and shadows of the trees.

Master Xuanchen watched him leave, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes. He then composed himself and said to Zhao Tiezhu and the others, "Gentlemen, follow me to explore in the northeast direction. Be sure to travel in formation and do not rush forward."

…………

the other side.

The further Lu Qingfeng went, the dimmer the light became, the thicker the fog grew, and the cold, deathly atmosphere in the air almost solidified, making it difficult to breathe.

The tree branches were twisted, and scattered bones and dried, dark brown bloodstains could be seen on the ground from time to time.

In Lu Qingfeng's perception, a hundred meters ahead, near a low-lying pile of rocks, there were more than one cold and deathly aura gathered, one of which was particularly solid and fierce.

"Ready for battle!"

He couldn't help but whisper, while taking out Chongyue from his backpack.

After passing a huge reclining ox rock, the view suddenly opened up before us.

In the open space amidst the pile of rubble, seven or eight zombies stood crookedly!

They were dressed in different ways, some in tattered linen clothes and others in rotten silk, clearly indicating that they were killed at different times.

At this moment, they are surrounding the carcass of a wild deer that has recently died, bowing their heads to gnaw on it, making a sickening chewing sound.

Among these ordinary black zombies, there stood a completely different zombie!

It was much taller, nearly two meters tall, and its skin was no longer bluish-black, but a pale white with a faint bluish-gray tinge. Its ten fingernails were jet black and shiny, more than half a foot long, like iron hooks.

Its eyes glowed with a ghostly green light, its fangs protruded from its mouth, and the malevolent aura emanating from its body far surpassed that of its kind, forming a faint black mist.

Seemingly sensing the approach of a living person, the white zombie suddenly raised its head, its green eyes instantly locking onto Lu Qingfeng!

"roar--!!"

A roar far sharper and more violent than the black zombie exploded out!

It spewed out a foul-smelling black corpse gas, and the seven or eight black zombies around it stopped eating at the same time, turned around in unison, and roared as they pounced over!

Enemy encountered: 8 Black Zombies (Normal)

Enemy encountered: Elite White Zombie *1

【Characteristics: Copper skin and iron bones, infected by corpse poison, corroded by evil energy】

"Bang!"

Gravel flew everywhere! The tall white zombie shot straight at Lu Qingfeng like a cannonball!

"Well done!"