62: Chapter 62 Trapped in a Horde of Zombies, the Sect Master and Grand Elder Break Off All Ties

Li Siwen's five senses were instantly stripped away, as if he were falling into a bottomless abyss; only the sound of his heart drumming wildly in his ears remained clear.

In the next instant, with a muffled thud, he was slammed heavily onto a cold, hard ground. The violent shock caused all his senses to return in a flash.

This was the tactile sensation of a real Physical Body! Not a spiritual body!

He snapped his eyes open and quickly surveyed his surroundings, his heart suddenly tightening.

The sky was a deathly grayish-white, hanging so low it felt as if it were pressing down on his head.

A bizarre black sun hung within it, casting not light, but a viscous, suffocating shadow.

Beneath his feet was bone-white gravel that emitted a tooth-gritting "creak" when stepped on, sounding like an infant's wail—exceptionally eerie in this dead silence.

The air was thick with a cloyingly sweet scent that was nauseating, like rotting osmanthus mixed with the smell of aged rusty blood; inhaling it into his lungs brought waves of stinging pain and dizziness.

In the distance, a black mist as thick as ink surged and billowed like a living thing. Within the mist, countless swaying, distorted figures were faintly visible!

“Ka—ka—kacha—”

The hair-raising sound of bones grinding against each other approached from afar.

The first corpse puppet broke through the black mist and stumbled out.

It bore a pale, bloated face. Where eyes should have been, there were only two clumps of flickering, ghostly green soul-fire, which locked firmly onto Li Siwen!

Then came a second, a third... a tenth... a hundredth...

Tens of thousands of corpse puppets surged from all directions like a bursting tide!

They took various forms, letting out silent roars, carrying overwhelming Death Qi and resentment, intent on completely tearing apart and devouring this sole living being!

Li Siwen sucked in a breath of cold air, his scalp tingling and his hair standing on end!

He immediately tried to mobilize the power of his Third-Stage Extreme Realm. As soon as his Internal Energy left his body, it was rapidly corroded by the ubiquitous death-gray haze, making a "chi-chi" sound. Its light dimmed sharply, making it difficult to fully deploy!

The environment of this world was actually extremely repelling and suppressing his life force and power!

“Welcome to... my vegetable garden!”

An overlapping, distorted child's voice abruptly rang out in the air, as if hundreds of children were giggling and speaking at once. The voice was sweet yet filled with heart-palpitating malice.

The billowing black mist suddenly condensed, transforming into a giant hand that blotted out the sky. Carrying a terrifying pressure of despair, it clawed down toward Li Siwen's head!

Before the giant hand even arrived, a cold, deathly, and tempting thought of total despair surged straight into Li Siwen's Sea of Consciousness!

Just as Li Siwen's mind was reeling and he was about to be devoured by this thought—

“Calm your mind!”

A cold, ethereal low shout rang out from beside him!

Simultaneously, a pure and bright sword light, cold as moonlight, suddenly flared up. It didn't strike the giant hand but instead transformed into a light screen that enveloped Li Siwen, instantly dispelling the chill of despair in his heart and protecting his mind!

Li Siwen snapped awake and looked toward the sound, only to see a young girl standing not far from his side at some unknown point.

She was dressed in white as pure as snow, looking out of place in this dark and desperate world, yet appearing like the only light.

Above her veil, those cold eyes were looking solemnly at the giant hand clawing down from the sky, while her hand held a longsword flowing with a moonlight-like aura.

“I am Xiao Xiner, your Senior Sister!” Xiao Xiner saw Li Siwen's confusion and took the initiative to explain.

Before Li Siwen could think further—

BOOM!!!

The black mist giant hand slammed down, but it was momentarily blocked by Xiao Xiner's seemingly thin yet incredibly resilient moonlight sword screen, resulting in a deafening explosion!

The sword screen fluctuated violently. Xiao Xiner let out a muffled groan, her hand holding the sword trembling slightly; clearly, taking this hit was not easy.

But this brief moment of delay gave Li Siwen a chance to catch his breath!

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the solemnity in each other's eyes.

But at this moment, there was no time for conversation!

The black mist giant hand, having failed its strike, slowly dissipated.

However, an even greater crisis had already arrived!

The boundless tide of corpses had taken this opportunity to close in from all sides, completely cutting off all paths of retreat!

They hissed silently, waving mangled limbs, the ghostly green soul-fire burning in their eyes. Like an ocean of death, they instantly submerged the two!

Li Siwen's fengwu sword swept rapidly, its crimson Sword Qi tearing through several corpse puppets, but they were unafraid of death and surged forward one after another. More terrifyingly, the shattered corpse puppets could slowly absorb Death Qi to reconstruct themselves!

Xiao Xiner's sword light was like the moon, cold and pure. Wherever it passed, the corpse puppets dissolved like ice and snow, seemingly more efficient. But facing this seemingly infinite wave, her brow also furrowed tightly.

Back to back, the two were instantly plunged into the siege of the boundless, inexhaustible tide of corpses!

Dangers lurked at every turn!

...

Xuanjian Sect Outer Sect Square.

After the dead silence, a completely erupting, overwhelming fury followed!

“Chu! You! Cai!”

The Outer Sect Grand Deacon, Liu Qing, let out an earth-shaking roar. His terrifying Tianyuan Realm pressure became tangible, instantly enveloping the entire arena, his eyes filled with unprecedented, chilling killing intent!

“Using sinister forbidden items! Harming fellow Disciples! The evidence is conclusive! You deserve to be executed!”

He took a step forward, his figure like a ghost, his withered palm containing a thunderous rage as he struck directly toward Chu Youcai's crown!

If this palm strike landed, Chu Youcai's Divine Soul would surely be extinguished!

However—

Just as Liu Qing's palm was about to fall!

An equally powerful pressure, yet one carrying a sinister and domineering aura, suddenly descended!

Bang!

A muffled sound rang out as air currents billowed!

Liu Qing's certain-kill palm was actually steadily blocked by another suddenly appearing palm!

The one who intervened was precisely Chu Tianxing!

He had appeared on the arena at some point, standing in front of Chu Youcai with a heavy expression and cold eyes looking at Liu Qing.

“Deacon Liu, why such great anger? In a spar between juniors, accidents happen, and using some extraordinary means is inevitable. Why escalate it to a life-and-death situation?” Chu Tianxing's voice was flat, yet it carried an unquestionable dominance.

The fire in Liu Qing's eyes grew even stronger: “Chu Tianxing! You still want to shield this wretch?! He used a Void Realm forbidden item! Now he has even trapped Li Shiwen and Xiao Xiner inside! Their lives are uncertain! How can such a great crime be covered up by the word 'accident'?!”

Hearing this, the corner of Chu Tianxing's mouth instead curled into a cold and meaningful arc. His voice wasn't loud, but it spread clearly throughout the field: “Shielding? Deacon Liu, you overstate things.”

“Chu Youcai acted recklessly and used a forbidden item; he is indeed at fault. When we return, I will naturally punish him severely according to family rules.”

His tone suddenly turned sharp and bone-chilling: “But... his final strike, which destroyed the Void Vortex, although done in a moment of desperation, was an act where the merit outweighed the fault!”

“If that Void passage were still there, with so many Disciples gathered here, who knows how many might have fallen into it... Who could bear that responsibility, that loss?!”

This display of twisting facts and forced logic left everyone in the audience dumbfounded, their spines tingling with cold!

Shameless! Shameless to the extreme!

“Chu Tianxing! How dare you!”

On the high platform, the long-silent Xiao Zhuoyue finally could not endure any longer and let out a roar of extreme fury!

The terrifying pressure of the Late Stage Tianyuan Realm crashed down like a volcanic eruption, and the air in the entire square instantly froze!

“Don't think I don't know; you only see that Xiner is also trapped and want to take the opportunity to let the Chu family suppress the Xiao family. But no matter how much you talk, Chu Youcai has committed a capital offense today!”

With a flash of his figure, he appeared on the arena. His face was as cold as ten-thousand-year-old ice, and his eyes held unprecedented killing intent as he struck a palm directly toward Chu Youcai behind Chu Tianxing!

“This Seat shall clear the sect today! I'll see who dares to stop me!”

A fierce glint flashed in Chu Tianxing's eyes. He neither dodged nor avoided, striking out with a palm of his own to meet Xiao Zhuoyue!

“Sect Leader, calm your anger! Chu is merely discussing the matter as it stands!”

BOOM!!

The palm forces of the two great Tianyuan Realm experts collided head-on without any frills!

An earth-shattering explosion suddenly erupted!

A terrifying shockwave of energy swept out frantically in all directions like a tsunami!

The protective light screen around the arena flickered violently, brightening and dimming erratically, emitting an overburdened "kacha" sound as countless cracks appeared!

The ground of the square below cracked inch by inch. Disciples standing close were shaken off their feet by that terrifying pressure and airwave, their faces turning deathly pale; those with weaker cultivation even spat blood and fainted!

The entire Xuanjian Sect square seemed to shake violently under this one blow, nearly being completely blown apart!

Dust filled the air, and turbulent energy currents ran rampant!

The shock in everyone's hearts reached its peak!

The Sect Leader and the Grand Elder, because of Xiao Xiner's safety, had actually completely torn off their masks and resorted to direct combat!

The heavens of the Xuanjian Sect were about to change!