Starting with the Earth God, the path to immortality is deduced!

The coffin spirit listened in a daze, nodding as if it understood but not quite.

"I see...no wonder I felt so uncomfortable. Master, your magic is simply the nemesis of us evil spirits!"

The way it looked at Zhou Yuan now held an unprecedented level of awe.

Zhou Yuan ignored it and focused all his attention on expelling the poison.

He made a hand seal with his left hand to maintain the soul power output of the [Azure Lamp], while his right hand pressed against Ma Ling'er's dantian from a distance.

"Using my internal energy as a guide, I will help you expel the poison!"

Zhou Yuan let out a low shout, and the meager internal energy he had cultivated flowed continuously into Ma Ling'er's body through his arm.

Although this internal force was weak, it carried a pure yang energy, which perfectly complemented the yin fire of the [Azure Lamp].

The yin and yang forces, like a giant millstone, began to grind the corpse poison in Ma Ling'er's body.

This process was extremely taxing on Zhou Yuan.

His soul and thoughts surged wildly toward the [Azure Lamp] like a floodgate opened.

In the short time it takes for an incense stick to burn, fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and his face turned somewhat pale.

"This corpse poison...it's incredibly stubborn!"

Zhou Yuan gritted his teeth, his heart filled with horror.

He could sense that the corpse poison was not just poison, but more like a living thing, carrying an overwhelming resentment and hatred, stubbornly resisting in Ma Ling'er's meridians.

Just as he was struggling against that malevolent aura, his mind was suddenly jolted!

A cold, resentful thought, filled with endless hunger, surged through his mind along the connection to the corpse poison!

In that instant, Zhou Yuan seemed to see the gloomy old house of the Ren family.

Deep within the courtyard, inside a pitch-black coffin, a powerful, suffocating evil aura is slowly awakening.

That evil aura was like a monster lurking in the abyss, exuding a terrifying aura that would devour anyone it wanted!

"Such a powerful evil aura!"

Zhou Yuan was greatly shaken and almost lost control of the Azure Lamp.

This evil aura was far more powerful than the red-clothed female ghost and the drowned ghost he had encountered before!

This is definitely not something an ordinary zombie could possess!

"Cold...so cold..."

Just then, Ma Ling'er, who had fallen into a coma, suddenly frowned and began to talk in her sleep.

Her voice was barely audible, and intermittent.

"Nails... nails on the coffin... no, that's not right..."

"They weren't peach wood nails...they were iron nails..."

"It's so heavy...it's making it hard for me to breathe..."

"Second Master... Second Master's face... it's not him..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yuan's heart stirred once again.

Are they iron nails instead of peach wood nails?

Taoist practitioners often use peach wood nails to seal the seven orifices of a zombie and lock in its corpse energy.

Why would the Ren family use iron nails?

Also, Second Master's face... isn't his?

What does this mean?

One mystery after another surfaced in Zhou Yuan's mind, making him feel more and more that the Ren family's involvement in this mess was unfathomable.

"puff!"

Just as Zhou Yuan was distracted, Ma Ling'er suddenly opened her mouth and spat out a mouthful of black, foul-smelling poisonous blood.

The toxic blood splattered on the ground, making a hissing sound and corroding small pits into the ground.

After the poisonous blood was spurted out, most of the bruises on Ma Ling'er's face faded instantly, and her breathing became much more stable.

Seeing this, Zhou Yuan breathed a sigh of relief and slowly withdrew his inner force and the Azure Lamp.

The ancient bronze lamp turned into specks of blue light and dissipated into the air.

"Huff... huff..."

Zhou Yuan plopped down on the ground, panting heavily, feeling as if his very soul had been emptied out.

"Master, how is she?"

The coffin spirit sidled up and asked cautiously.

"I've temporarily suppressed the corpse poison and forced out a portion of it."

Zhou Yuan wiped the sweat from his forehead and said in a deep voice.

"But it's not over yet. The root of the corpse poison hasn't been eliminated, and the resentment is too strong, already damaging her soul. If the source isn't dealt with quickly, the corpse poison will erupt again in less than three days, and then it will truly be too late to save her."

Passive defense is ultimately not a solution.

We must take the initiative!

A fierce glint flashed in Zhou Yuan's eyes.

That zombie from the Ren family must be eliminated!

It wasn't just to save Ma Ling'er, but also to sacrifice herself to "The Book of Gods and Monsters" in exchange for stronger Taoist magic!

He stood up, walked to the bedside, helped Ma Ling'er sit up, and covered her with the blanket.

Although the girl's face was still somewhat pale and sickly, she was finally out of danger.

"You stay here and watch over her."

Zhou Yuan turned around and gave the order to the coffin spirit.

"Huh? Me?"

The coffin spirit was so frightened that it backed away repeatedly, waving its little hands like a rattle drum.

"Master, I can't! I... I'm afraid of ghosts! Especially zombies!"

"If that zombie comes knocking on my door, I'll be the first one to be torn to pieces!"

"waste!"

Zhou Yuan glared at it, annoyed.

"Don't worry, that zombie is still in its early stages and hasn't developed any intelligence yet. It will only attack the living based on its instincts. You are a yin being, so as long as you conceal your aura, it won't be able to detect you."

"Moreover, it should still be familiarizing itself with its new body in the Ren family's old house, and it won't come out so soon."

Zhou Yuan paused, then said in an unquestionable tone:

"You stay in the shop and don't go anywhere. If Ma Ling'er makes any unusual moves, or... if anything breaks in, immediately knock on the lid of your physical coffin. If it knocks three times, I will sense it."

"Well... okay."

Seeing that Zhou Yuan had made up his mind, the coffin spirit could only reluctantly agree with a bitter face.

Although it was timid, it dared not disobey Zhou Yuan's orders.

After settling everything in, Zhou Yuan returned to his room.

He took off his daytime official robes and put on a black night outfit that allowed for easy movement. He tied his hair up with a cloth band, which made him look much more capable.

Standing in front of the bronze mirror, Zhou Yuan looked at his young and resolute face reflected in the mirror and took a deep breath.

Tonight, he's going to venture into the Ren family's old mansion, a den of dragons and tigers!

"The Ren family... has a long history of producing zombies..."

"Use iron nails to seal the coffin, not peach wood nails..."

"What Ma Ling'er said, the Second Master's face isn't his..."

Zhou Yuan quickly calculated in his mind, connecting all the clues.

A bold guess formed in his mind.

The resurrection of this Second Master Ren's corpse was probably not an accident!

He picked up the shovel from the corner of the wall and rummaged through Uncle Liu's toolbox, finding several unidentified yellow talismans and a bottle of ink.

After everything was ready, Zhou Yuan pushed open the back door and left.

Zhou Yuan's figure moved silently through the deserted alley, like a ghost.

A cold wind swept by, swirling up a few withered leaves from the ground, making a rustling sound that was particularly jarring in the quiet night.

We've arrived at the Ren family mansion.

The imposing mansion of the day now casts a menacing shadow under the moonlight, like a monstrous beast lurking in the darkness, ready to devour its prey.

The vermilion gate was tightly shut, and the two bronze animal heads on the gate seemed to come alive in the shadows, staring coldly at Zhou Yuan, the uninvited guest.

Zhou Yuan did not approach the gate.

He went around to a secluded corner, a blind spot.

He gently put down the shovel and ink line, took a deep breath, and the cold air filled his lungs, making him even more awake.

"Forcing our way in is the worst possible strategy."

"The best way to deal with such evil places is to use the methods they are most familiar with."

Zhou Yuan sat down cross-legged and formed a strange hand seal in front of him.

"The soul is yang, and the spirit is yin."

"When Yin and Yang are in harmony, the spirit returns to the sea of ​​Qi."

"By imperial decree, the soul... leaves the body!"

hum!

Zhou Yuan's body trembled violently, as if all his strength had been drained away, and his head drooped downwards.

The next moment, a semi-transparent figure, exactly like him, slowly rose from the top of his head.

This figure was Zhou Yuan's soul.

The moment his soul left his body, the world in Zhou Yuan's eyes changed drastically.

The once colorful world instantly lost all its colors, leaving only three monotonous hues: black, white, and gray.

Only the "qi" that resides between heaven and earth appears in different colors in the eyes of his soul.

The yang energy of a living person is a warm, milky white, while the yin energy of an inanimate object is a cold, grayish-black.

At this moment, the Ren family mansion looked like a huge black blob in his eyes!

"Good heavens!"

Zhou Yuan gasped, feeling a bone-chilling cold even in his soul.

"This yin energy... is more than ten times stronger than during the day!"

"and……"

His soul's "nose" twitched, and an intense, pungent stench of decay, mixed with a faint smell of blood, assaulted his very soul.

He knew this taste all too well.

It's the aura of death!

Moreover, only a ferocious corpse that has already reached a certain level of power can possess such corpse energy!

Without further hesitation, Zhou Yuan's soul floated away like a wisp of weightless smoke, easily passing through the tall courtyard wall and entering the Ren family mansion.

Inside the courtyard, a chilling wind blew and a ghostly atmosphere permeated the air.

The courtyard, which was fairly tidy during the day, was now a mess, as if something had run rampant through it.

Zhou Yuan ignored all of that; his goal was clear.

Funeral hall!

He followed the densest aura of death, drifting deeper into the mansion.

Soon, the mourning hall with white banners came into view.

The solemnity of the daytime has long since vanished from the mourning hall.

The doors and windows were wide open, and the white banners fluttered in the cold wind, like ghosts beckoning.

The funeral hall was in a mess.

The offering table was overturned on the ground, and the fruits and offerings were scattered all over the ground, already rotten and black.

The ever-burning lamp has gone out, the incense burner is upside down, and incense ash is scattered all over the ground.

In the very center of the mourning hall, the heavy black lacquered coffin had its lid pried open by a tremendous force and was now leaning askew to one side.

The coffin was completely empty!

They got away!

Zhou Yuan's heart sank.

He floated to the side of the coffin and saw at the bottom of the coffin pools of thick, black liquid that emitted a nauseating stench.

It's corpse poison!

The corpse poison left a clear trail on the ground, like the footprints of some kind of wild animal, stretching crookedly towards the backyard.

Each mark exudes a faint yet pure yin energy.

"Still trying to run?"

Zhou Yuan sneered, and his soul followed the trail without hesitation.

After passing through several corridors, we went around a rockery.

The traces of the corpse poison eventually disappeared in the deepest part of the backyard, in front of a long-abandoned ancestral hall.

The ancestral hall looked like it hadn't been maintained for many years. The doors were covered with a thick layer of dust, and the two vermilion wooden doors were tightly closed, with a faded and yellowed talisman pasted on them.

A sinister aura, a hundred times stronger than that of the mourning hall, was seeping out from the crack in the door, making the surrounding air seem to freeze.

"This is it!"

Zhou Yuan's eyes narrowed.

Ordinary souls would be blocked by the talisman on this door.

But he is different.

"Walking into the underworld!"

Zhou Yuan silently recited the mantra, and his soul emitted a faint light, making his entire figure even more ethereal.

The next moment, he was like a drop of water merging into the ocean, making no sound, and directly passed through the heavy ancestral hall door!

The scene inside the ancestral hall shocked even Zhou Yuan, who was used to seeing evil spirits!

Where here is this ancestral hall?

It was clearly a crude yet evil altar!

In the center of the ancestral hall, a strange circular magic circle was drawn with the blood of an unknown beast. The lines of the magic circle were still wriggling slightly, as if they were alive.

Around the magic circle, several black candles were stuck, their flickering green will-o'-the-wisps casting a ghastly green glow over the entire ancestral hall.

At the very center of the magic circle, there was a coffin!

It was the very mouthful that disappeared in the mourning hall!

"Click...click..."

A sickening cracking sound came from the coffin.

Zhou Yuan's pupils shrank sharply, and he slowly floated over.

Inside the coffin, the body of Second Master Ren lay upright.

Do not!

That can no longer be called a corpse!

His entire body skin turned bluish-black, as if cast from pig iron.

His once emaciated body was now bulging with muscles, brimming with explosive power.

The fingernails of all ten fingers became long and sharp, jet black, and shimmered with a metallic luster.

Two sharp fangs pierced his lips at the corner of his mouth, exposed to the air.

The most terrifying thing is his eyes!

What terrifying eyes they were!

There were no whites in his eyes, no pupils, only a pure, bloodthirsty crimson!

"Black zombie...no!"

Zhou Yuan was deeply shaken.

"This isn't a black zombie! This is... a hopping zombie!"

Black zombies are only the first step in the transformation of corpses into zombies. They move slowly and only attack based on instinct.

The jumping zombie is the product of the black zombie absorbing enough yin energy and evolving again!

They are swift, incredibly strong, and have even begun to develop a faint sense of intelligence!

This thing is several times more troublesome than the woman in red!

At this moment, the jumping zombie was breathing heavily.

No, it's not breathing.

It's devouring!

Inside the ancestral hall, the wisps of black energy emanating from the magic array were being continuously absorbed into its body, amplifying its ferocity!

"What a perfect place to raise corpses!"

"What a vicious method!"

Zhou Yuan understood instantly.

It was all a setup!

Someone deliberately buried the body of Second Master Ren here, and used this evil magic array to forcibly transform him into a ferocious jumping zombie!

We absolutely cannot let this continue!

If it continues to inhale, it will probably turn into an even more terrifying "flying zombie"!

At that time, the entire city of Fengzhou will suffer!

"The Blue Ghost Lamp!"

Without hesitation, Zhou Yuan activated his strongest Dao technique with a thought!

hum!

A bronze lamp, the size of a palm, appeared out of thin air on his soul's palm.

A dark blue flame suddenly burst into flames!

The purest and most yin purifying power instantly swept through the entire ancestral hall!

"roar--!!!"

The jumping zombie, which was "feeding," seemed to sense a great threat. It suddenly opened its scarlet eyes and let out a beastly roar that was not human!

That roar carried a power that could shake one's very soul!

Zhou Yuan's soul swayed under the roar and almost dissipated.