Chapter Forty-Five: The Most Malevolent Corpse-Control Curse (Conclusion)

At first, the Gate of Six Paths was eerily calm. Just as the zombies were no more than ten meters from Uncle Mao and Wang Sheng, a vicious wind swept out from within the gate, followed by a surge of countless evil spirits who hurled themselves at the hopping zombies.

I had heard tales of such evil spirits before. In the eighteenth level of hell, there is a gate known as the Gate of Six Paths, also called the Path of Evil Spirits. It is said that those who committed heinous crimes in life and were stripped of the right to reincarnate are condemned to become malevolent specters, never to find release from the torments of hell—fiends as infamous as the zombies themselves.

Yet these summoned evil spirits do not appear of their own accord; the conjurer must sacrifice their own lifespan to call them forth. Such forbidden arts are strictly prohibited by the Maoshan sect, for their toll on the body is devastating.

As I watched, hundreds of evil spirits surged out, clashing with the horde of over a thousand zombies. The battle between these two forces of darkness erupted. In comparison to the zombies, the evil spirits were agile and cunning; they formed a defensive circle around Uncle Mao—now possessed by the Celestial Master Zhang—and his disciple, sheltering them from attack.

Celestial Master Zhang recited his incantations, sending the evil spirits, more savage and nimble than the zombies, charging into the first wave of hundreds of undead. While zombies are notoriously hard to kill, these evil spirits were formidable opponents. In this first clash, the evil spirits quickly gained the upper hand.

Like the wind, they swept through the ranks of traditional zombies, splitting them in two with ease. Even the vital corpse energy sustaining the zombies was devoured by these avatars of evil. Once robbed of their energy, the zombies writhed briefly before crumbling into white dust, disappearing from the realm entirely.

I stood in the void, witnessing the carnage as the second wave of zombies advanced, stronger than the first. From what I could see, there were five or six waves in total. A few hundred evil spirits alone would never be enough to annihilate them all.

Without hesitation, I dove toward the center of the zombie horde, striking the ground with one fist. A shockwave of psychic energy exploded in a five-meter radius around me, and a faint golden ring of power shredded all the zombies within its reach. I pressed the attack, shattering one zombie after another with each blow.

I lost track of time, but eventually sensed a surge of even greater power from Celestial Master Zhang’s direction. Driven by curiosity, I broke free from the surrounding zombies, soared into the sky, and looked toward him.

By then, the Gate of Six Paths had vanished, a sign that all the evil spirits had fallen in battle. Celestial Master Zhang, steel sword in hand and muttering spells, was leading Wang Sheng through the throng of zombies, fighting with blood and fury, as if they stood upon a battlefield from times of old.

The steel sword wielded by Celestial Master Zhang was far mightier than when Uncle Mao held it; with each sweep, dozens of zombies were reduced to white dust, vanishing from existence.

In the distant sky, Zhou Luotong and the demon were locked in combat, Zhou Luotong stepping on his Star Map as he exchanged blows with the fiend. Had I not witnessed it myself, I would never have believed that this renowned university professor possessed such extraordinary abilities.

Wang Sheng was not defenseless. After his Coin Sword shattered, Celestial Master Zhang had drawn the Sword Finger Talisman and the Sun Gathering Talisman upon his hands—two of Maoshan’s greatest treasures. Thus armed, Wang Sheng's power and defense had soared to new heights.

The Sword Finger Talisman allowed his fingers to channel a sword of pure yang energy, effective for attack and defense. The Sun Gathering Talisman could disperse the corpse energy, swiftly rendering zombies powerless.

With these two treasures bestowed upon him, Wang Sheng moved with remarkable agility and strength—no longer plagued by aches or fatigue, he fought with newfound vigor.

Every strike from Celestial Master Zhang was several times more powerful than Uncle Mao’s, and the difference was anything but negligible. Even his Taiji Diagram possessed offensive capabilities; any zombie caught within it was obliterated by the pure yang energy inside.

Celestial Master Zhang’s grand techniques, paired with Wang Sheng’s swift moves, quickly subdued the chaos. The last two zombies were reduced to dust by Wang Sheng’s talismanic strikes—in other words, they were released from their suffering.

Now, only Zhou Runfa and the demon remained locked in battle. Meanwhile, Uncle Mao, still possessed by Celestial Master Zhang, raised the ancestral short sword and shouted, “Heaven and earth without bounds, five elements return to earth—break!” At the final word, the entire space shattered into blinding shards that melted into the ground of the real world. As soon as Celestial Master Zhang uttered the last “break,” he collapsed, motionless. I knew then that Celestial Master Zhang had departed, leaving Uncle Mao utterly spent.

Summoning the ancestor’s spirit is a feat that drains the very life force of the host. This extraordinary power had eradicated hundreds, perhaps thousands, of zombies. If someone of lesser cultivation, like Wang Sheng, had attempted it, he would have lost all hope of pursuing the Dao in this lifetime, and would have been dragged off in chains by the Judges of Death, cast into the Wheel of Reincarnation with a mournful “Oh, what a pitiful child!”

As for the demon, its vital domain had been shattered and its energy depleted, leaving it unable to contend with Zhou Runfa. Not one to hesitate, I unleashed my full psychic abilities and, riding a wave of golden energy, surged into the sky to join the fight. A creature like this is a blight upon the living—it was best to destroy it then and there.

My speed matched theirs, and as I clashed with the demon, I realized its strength still exceeded mine, despite its grievous injuries and broken domain. Moreover, its very nature stood in opposition to my own as a member of the demon-zombie clan.

Fortunately, with Zhou Runfa at my side, we gradually suppressed it. At last, when the demon could do nothing but defend, Zhou Runfa intoned his incantation: “Star Map, Star Map, let not this demon stray—perish!”

With each word, the energies of the world gathered at his command. What seemed but intangible force to mortal eyes was, to the demon, a sentence of death. As the energies converged, Zhou Runfa’s Star Map quickly enveloped the demon, paralyzing it. The amassed energy, dark purple like a falling meteor, smashed down upon the fiend.

The demon, seeing its doom, opened its bull-like black eyes wide in defiance, shaking its head in disbelief: “Impossible! Impossible!”

But before it could protest further, the energy enveloped it completely, and with a resounding explosion, the demon was annihilated.

Yet at that moment, something strange occurred. Where the demon had fallen, glowing words appeared: “The day I am reborn will be the day your clan is destroyed!” Then all returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.

Zhou Runfa shattered the venomous glass jar. As the glass broke, the five poisons within dissipated into nothingness, leaving only Uncle Ma, still unconscious, inside the ruined vessel.

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(The most sinister Corpse Controlling Curse has come to an end—if you enjoyed it, please tap the comments below or send some votes and flowers. Xiaodong thanks you all~)