Chapter Thirty-Two: The Successor of the Celestial Master at the Dragon and Tiger Mountain Celestial Master Mansion!

Meanwhile, two hundred meters beneath the city, hidden deep underground, stood a secret base unknown to the world. This base covered over five thousand square meters and required immense manpower and resources to construct, designed to withstand a nuclear strike. Officially, it was declared a subterranean shelter, but in truth, it was a neutrino research facility.

Within its walls, the most advanced scientific equipment and top-tier scientists from around the globe gathered, dedicating their days to the study of neutrinos. To ensure their safety, they were guarded by a contingent of Taoist masters dressed in traditional robes.

Encased in a transparent, cylindrical glass chamber about two meters tall was a woman clad in red. Her hair hung wild and disheveled, and an aura of dark energy surged around her. She scratched fiercely at the glass with sharp nails, emitting a crackling sound.

"Die! I want you all to die!" Her face twisted in rage, two streams of blood tears flowing down her cheeks. Her deep crimson eyes burned with fury and resentment.

A group of scientists, clad in white lab coats, carefully observed her, while Taoist protectors stood nearby.

"The grudge carried by this neutrino is immense—far greater than any we've studied before," one scientist remarked.

"That must be because it has killed hundreds of people, which has only fueled its hatred and power," another added.

"Take it to the lab. Let’s first measure its mental fluctuations and assign it a rating," said an elderly scientist with white hair.

At that moment, a young scientist approached the elder and whispered something in his ear. The old scientist’s face brightened with excitement, almost leaping with joy.

"Are you sure this is true?"

"Absolutely. There are eyewitnesses and surveillance footage. Even our institution’s Taoist master has faced it in combat. It’s incredibly powerful, a true anomaly—immune to talismans, able to walk and speak like a human. The higher-ups have already assigned us the task of capturing it."

"Excellent, excellent! Capturing it would greatly benefit our research. Take me to meet the Taoist master who fought it."

"Right away," the young scientist nodded.

The two left the laboratory and entered a brightly lit hall where a sofa was placed. Seated there were four figures: Taoist Masters Wufeng and Baihe, along with two others.

Upon seeing the elderly scientist, the four rose immediately. Led by Wufeng, they greeted him respectfully as Master Liu.

Liu, now eighty years old, was the founder of this neutrino research base and had indeed made significant breakthroughs. He had invented the spirit-capturing net that had ensnared numerous fierce ghosts—though they called them neutrinos.

Backed by the state, even elders from their sects treated Liu with utmost respect. When ordered from above, major sects obediently sent disciples to ensure their safety. There was no choice; though powerful, they could not defy destiny, and the one at the top embodied that destiny.

Years ago, a decree forbade animals from becoming spirits. For an entire sixty-year cycle, no animal had succeeded in cultivation.

"Wufeng, my young friend, Baihe, it’s you!" Liu said in surprise. Few knew this, but he was well aware that Wufeng was a rare genius of the One Yang Sect, having reached the early Out-of-Body Realm at a young age, able to project his soul. He was the likely heir to the sect’s leadership.

Baihe, on the other hand, was the most outstanding talent of the Five Elements Sect. If Baihe were not younger, it was hard to say who was stronger between the two.

Both were among the elite of their realm. Yet even they had failed to subdue that zombie, which astonished Liu greatly.

"Master Liu, it’s not that we lack power. That zombie is just too extraordinary. Its intelligence rivals that of a normal person, and beyond being immune to talismans, its strength surpasses many zombies of the same level. Most remarkably, it knows martial arts and the Bu Gang walking technique—we don’t know who taught it," Wufeng explained.

"Enough," Liu interrupted with a wave. "I’ve received word that tomorrow at noon, a disciple from Dragon and Tiger Mountain will arrive. This disciple is the heir to the Celestial Master Mansion there. You will join him to capture that zombie alive. If you cannot capture it alive, kill it. But under no circumstances can you allow it to continue growing. Should it reach a critical level, the consequences would be unimaginable. One thing is crucial: preserve its physical body for our research."

"The heir of the Celestial Master Mansion of Dragon and Tiger Mountain!?"

Wufeng and Baihe exchanged a glance, shock evident in their eyes.

The great Taoist sects, led by Dragon and Tiger Mountain and Maoshan, were formidable. Any disciple from these sects was a prodigy capable of fighting beyond their level. Their arts, Bu Gang techniques, and formations far surpassed those of ordinary sects.

Merely announcing their identity was enough to make common demons and fierce ghosts retreat. For third-rate sects like theirs, they dared not provoke them.

And that was just ordinary disciples. The heir of the Celestial Master Mansion held a position of unimaginable prestige and power, supported by a supreme Taoist Celestial Master.

Within the One Yang Sect and the Five Elements Sect, not even a true immortal existed. Their strongest was a Supreme Elder barely reaching the Soul Roaming Realm.

To meet such an heir and fight alongside him against the zombie was a dream they never dared to entertain before.

"Alright, rest well and recover your injuries," Liu said kindly, then turned to leave.

"Wufeng, you were right to come here for help instead of calling back to the sect. This is definitely the right move," Baihe said excitedly.

"I never expected the Celestial Master Mansion’s heir to come to Songshan City. I only wanted to reduce our sect’s casualties. After all, that zombie is so exceptional, now reaching the Maoding level—it will surely cost many lives to deal with it," Wufeng explained.

"This time, that zombie is doomed!"

"Hmph, no matter how extraordinary it is, before the heir of the Celestial Master Mansion, it has only one path—death!" the two other elderly Taoists chimed in.

"Let’s find a place to recuperate. When the heir arrives and finds that zombie, we will witness the strength of the Celestial Master’s techniques!" Baihe said with eager anticipation.

To them, disciples from great sects like Dragon and Tiger Mountain or Maoshan were figures of admiration, like a common person meeting their favorite celebrity.

Though they were considered geniuses within the Five Elements Sect and One Yang Sect, in the presence of these great sects, they lacked even the qualification to join.

Had they qualified, they would never have settled for third-rate sects.