Chapter Seven: Breakthrough, Mid-Stage Black Stiff!

"There's another zombie hiding in the cave!?"

Junior Brother Wang's expression darkened. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and flung a handful of glutinous rice.

Immediately after, he saw Qin Feng, who had been lying on the ground only moments before, "resurrect" and appear right before him.

Those sharp, elongated nails, radiating a menacing, ghostly light and imbued with corpse poison, had already reached his chest.

*Riiiip!*

His Taoist robe was shredded.

Junior Brother Wang’s eyes widened in horror. Too shocked to even process the situation, he scrambled backward. However, caught off guard by Qin Feng’s ambush, he was unable to escape in time, suffering five deep claw marks that exposed his ribs.

"Aaaahhhhh!!!!"

The excruciating pain drew a shrill, agonizing scream from him.

*Pop! Pop! Pop!*

At the same time, the glutinous rice landed on Qin Feng’s body, exploding like firecrackers. His clothes were instantly blown to tatters, and an indescribable, searing pain washed over him, as if red-hot branding irons were being pressed deep into his flesh.

"Hrrgh!!"

"Gaaahhh!!"

Qin Feng let out a low, pained growl, spewing a plume of black corpse miasma from his mouth. Where the glutinous rice had exploded, tiny, crater-like pits appeared on his skin, oozing thick fluid. The sheer number of these craters left his entire body looking pitted and scarred.

"You! You actually feigned death to ambush me!!"

Junior Brother Wang’s face twitched as he glared at Qin Feng, filled with a mixture of shock and fury. He truly never imagined that a mere Black Zombie would possess the cunning to play dead. If he told anyone, who would ever believe it was true?

Others wouldn't just disbelieve him; they would think he was joking.

*Huff!*

Junior Brother Wang let out a ragged breath. He glanced at the wound on his chest and then at Qin Feng’s five blood-stained claws, which still held fragments of his own flesh. His brow twitched violently. As an inner-sect disciple of the One Yang Sect, being wounded by an early-stage Black Zombie was a humiliation he could never wash away.

"Damn beast, you’re finished! I’m going to mince you into meat paste!!"

Junior Brother Wang gritted his teeth, his voice a low, vicious snarl. He pulled out a yellow paper talisman, formed seals with his hands, performed a ritual footwork, and began chanting a spell.

Qin Feng stood where he was, watching coldly. He wanted to mince him into meat paste? He didn't realize that he himself was already beyond saving.

"Three... four..."

Qin Feng counted the seconds in his mind. When he reached five:

*Pfft!*

Junior Brother Wang spat out a mouthful of black blood.

*Hiss, hiss...*

As the black blood hit the ground, it emitted a harsh, corrosive sound.

"Corpse... corpse poison has entered my body..."

The previously arrogant and imposing Junior Brother Wang instantly turned deathly weak, his speech slurring. It was truly a case of illness striking like a mountain collapsing—he fell the moment it took hold.

"What... what exactly are you..." Junior Brother Wang stared at Qin Feng in terror.

"Hrrrgh!!!"

Qin Feng opened his corpse-maw and exhaled a puff of miasma, then leaped forward.

*Thud!*

His heavy, rigid body landed right in front of Junior Brother Wang.

"Help... help me... Senior Brother... Deacon... save me..."

Junior Brother Wang collapsed to the ground, begging for mercy in sheer panic. He didn't want to die, and he certainly didn't want to be bitten to death by a zombie. Having witnessed the fate of Senior Brother Wu and Junior Sister Yang, he had no desire to follow in their footsteps.

*Squelch!*

Qin Feng extended his sharp, hooked claws, grabbed Junior Brother Wang’s shoulders, and hoisted him up as easily as if he were lifting a piece of foam. Without wasting any words, he opened his mouth and sank his fangs into the man’s neck.

"Mmph... mmph..."

Junior Brother Wang’s body jerked, his throat emitting pained, muffled cries before finally going limp.

Qin Feng drank deeply, his pace far faster than before. His aunt was still outside being besieged by the One Yang Sect; he had to drink quickly to increase his strength so he could go out and save her. Furthermore, his corpse poison was terrifyingly potent; for every second he waited, the poison would corrupt more of the blood. Once the blood was tainted by the poison, it lost all its energy and tasted vile. He had to race against the poison for every drop of blood. In this critical moment, every bit he consumed was another sliver of hope for survival.

*Gulp... gulp...*

Qin Feng continued to consume the blood. As it entered his body, it immediately transformed into vast, surging energy, which began to accumulate within him.

Suddenly:

*BOOM!*

Qin Feng’s entire body shuddered.

Mid-stage Black Zombie—he had achieved it.