650: Chapter 640 Senichi (15)

After The Superior One Qingxu appeared, his gaze fell immediately upon the Immortal Zombie. With just one glance, the composure on his face vanished.

He recognized it.

This was no ordinary reanimation.

The skeletal frame of this Immortal Zombie and its residual Immortal Laws all carried an ancient aura far surpassing that of an ordinary True Immortal.

This was an ancient entity that had stepped into the Profound Immortal level at the very least during its lifetime.

A look of distinct apprehension appeared on The Superior One Qingxu's face.

He was well aware that he was currently a body in the midst of re-cultivation. Even if he had shaken off the constraints of the incomplete Dao Domain and the Nine-Headed Phoenix, his recovered strength was merely at the Spirit Immortal level.

Yet, although this Immortal Zombie had a confused consciousness and had only just awakened, its Physical Body at the Profound Immortal level and its thick Foundation of corpse miasma were far beyond what an ordinary Spirit Immortal could withstand head-on.

The Superior One Qingxu did not fear death, but he feared the situation spiraling out of control.

Once entangled with this Immortal Zombie, all of his plans could fall through.

The Immortal Zombie did not possess much reason; after waking, it relied solely on instinct to lock onto blood food.

Its empty eye sockets no longer looked at Qingxu, but instead slowly turned toward Chi Li.

It was a craving born of instinct.

Qin Yun and Qingxu simultaneously realized that the dormant Phoenix egg within Chi Li held a fatal attraction for this Immortal Zombie.

In the eyes of the Immortal Zombie, Chi Li was the prime blood food, while Qingxu and the others were merely dessert.

Seeing the situation was unfavorable, Qingxu's mind raced, and the apprehension on his face was instantly replaced by a look of righteous indignation.

He looked at Qin Yun and initiated the conversation.

"Little friend, this fiend is causing havoc; neither you nor I can defeat it alone."

"I propose that we join forces to slay this fiend first, and then discuss other matters."

His voice was resonant, carrying a persuasive power.

"If we let it fully stabilize its corpse body, no one here will be able to leave."

These words were spoken with high-sounding rhetoric, the logic seemingly impeccable, as if he were truly willing to set aside grievances and prioritize the bigger picture.

But Qin Yun understood after just one sentence.

Qingxu was not sincere about cooperating.

He simply wasn't confident in handling the Immortal Zombie alone and wanted to use Qin Yun's hand to exhaust this Profound Immortal corpse.

On a deeper level, he was afraid that Chi Li would fall into the hands of the Immortal Zombie.

Qin Yun did not expose him.

He simply nodded indifferently.

"Fine."

Every extra moment of delay was a good thing.

Qin Yun, Qingxu, and the Immortal Zombie formed a brief and fragile balance.

Chi Li did not trust him either; his vigilance toward Qingxu was raised to the maximum, but he could only follow Qin Yun's rhythm for now.

The next moment, the clash between the three parties erupted.

The Immortal Zombie let out a roar, relying on that tyrannical Physical Body and monstrous corpse miasma, it lunged directly toward Chi Li.

The Superior One Qingxu waved the jade ruyi in his hand, unleashing a beam of Immortal light. It appeared to be an interception, but in reality, it cleverly diverted the Immortal Zombie's offensive toward the direction where Qin Yun was.

Qin Yun tapped his foot, channeling his Spatial Law, and his figure instantly appeared ten zhang away, avoiding the frontal impact.

While dealing with the pursuit of the Immortal Zombie, he submerged most of his consciousness into the perception of this world.

Fixed Immortal Travel.

This escape technique, which he relied upon for survival, was greatly suppressed here.

Previously in the Nine Continents, he could traverse the Heavenly Continent in a single thought.

But in this realm, the range of travel, stability, and control over the landing point were all severely diminished.

At this moment, under the pressure of high-intensity combat, Qin Yun's mind was highly focused, constantly deconstructing the source of this suppression.

The Spatial Law, Life Law, and Dao Law—the three fundamental methods evolved from the Nine Heavenly Books—interwove and resonated within him.

One breath.

Two breaths.

Three breaths.

The more Qin Yun fought, the more he understood.

It was not that Fixed Immortal Travel was not strong enough.

Its essence still belonged to "Mortal means."

It was a spatial technique he had reverse-engineered while in the Mortal World, using the body of a Mortal.

It was usable in the Nine Continents because the world rules of the Nine Continents could accommodate it.

But in this Immortal Realm, the higher-level Immortal Dao order naturally weakened and repelled escape techniques on the Mortal level.

If he wanted to truly escape using Fixed Immortal Travel, there was only one way.

To turn it into an Immortal Dao means as well.

But such a transformation could not be achieved in a single thought; it required time and constant correction during combat.

Qin Yun could only stall while secretly accomplishing this task.

The Superior One Qingxu was indeed an old fox; he quickly sensed that something was off with Qin Yun's state.

During the fierce battle, Qin Yun was not blindly risking his life; instead, it seemed he was using the Immortal Zombie's offensive to constantly adjust his own Dao Law and sense the changes in space.

He was preparing an escape route.

The Superior One Qingxu's eyes turned cold, and he began to apply pressure on Qin Yun without making it obvious.

Whenever he attacked, he would intentionally or unintentionally guide the Immortal Zombie's attacks toward Qin Yun.

"Little friend, your strength is profound, why hide your skills?"

"If you don't use your full strength, I fear both you and I will perish here today."

"I am only at the True Immortal stage, my Foundation is still shallow, so naturally I cannot be of much help to you, Senior."

While The Superior One Qingxu spoke, the Immortal light in his hand struck the side and rear of the Immortal Zombie, forcing that Profound Immortal corpse to lunge at Qin Yun even more frantically.

The Immortal Zombie was smashing violently outside, Qingxu was fanning the flames on the side, and Qin Yun was rapidly calculating a path to survival.

Just as the stalemate persisted, a variable arrived.

A sound of space tearing came from beyond the sky, and immediately after, a massive warship, completely pitch-black, tore through the clouds and appeared above the canyon.

On the warship stood a dozen figures, wearing uniform black armor, with blood-colored runes carved onto the armor, emitting a grim aura.

They were not passing by by chance; their target was clear, pointing directly at the Immortal Zombie.

The moment the black-armored general in the lead saw the Immortal Zombie, intense hatred erupted in his eyes.

"It really is you, Huo Xuan!"

"Thirteen thousand years ago you escaped; today, I will surely grind your bones to dust!"

This Profound Immortal zombie had, in its lifetime, held an old grudge against their lineage.

Once the third party entered the scene, there was no idle chatter; they immediately deployed targeted suppression methods.

A large blood-colored net descended from the sky, its runes flowing and emitting an aura specifically designed to counter corpse miasma.

Several black-armored Cultivators formed seals simultaneously, and chains appeared out of thin air, winding around the Immortal Zombie's limbs.

The Immortal Zombie was caught off guard by this sudden attack and let out an angry roar, actually being briefly stalled in place.

When The Superior One Qingxu saw this, he was first startled, then overjoyed.

An Opportunity.

This was the best Opportunity.

The third party's attention was entirely on the Immortal Zombie, and Qin Yun was busy running for his life; no one could spare the attention to look after Chi Li.

Qin Yun also instantly realized that the most dangerous moment had arrived.

Not because of the Immortal Zombie, but because of the human heart.

Indeed, the next moment, The Superior One Qingxu dropped all pretense.

His figure flickered, bypassing the battle circle, and he lunged straight for Chi Li.

This strike was fast and vicious; he did not intend to kill Chi Li, but to capture him alive.

As long as he snatched Chi Li, this trip would be a success.

Qin Yun had been guarding against this move, and the moment The Superior One Qingxu moved, he forcibly channeled his Spatial Law, blocking in front of Chi Li.

But The Superior One Qingxu was, after all, at the Spirit Immortal level, and he had been planning this for a long time.

This grab still carried boundless Immortal power, pressing down fiercely toward Chi Li.

Chi Li was already weak, and being impacted by this surge of Immortal power, he felt as if his internal organs had shifted out of place.

The cyan-gold Life Pattern within him completely lost balance under the immense pressure.

Immediately after, at his chest, the long-dormant Nine-Headed Phoenix egg received unprecedented stimulation and began to throb wildly.

Crack.

A faint yet incredibly clear sound of shattering emerged from within Chi Li.

It was not a bone.

It was the egg.

That Nine-Headed Phoenix egg had cracked.

Boom!

An Innate aura that could not be described in words spewed forth from within Chi Li.

That aura was pure, ancient, and noble, instantly overwhelming all the Immortal might, corpse miasma, killing arrays, and Immortal Artifacts present.

The entire canyon, everyone who was currently fighting, stopped in this moment.

The greed on The Superior One Qingxu's face turned into a fervor that was nearly insane.

The black-armored Cultivators of that third-party force, who had originally come only to slay the Immortal Zombie, were now also shaken to their core by this Innate aura.

They immediately realized that what was hidden within that youth was no ordinary Opportunity.

It was the descendant of an Innate creature.

It was a world-shaking treasure capable of changing the Foundation of a sect.

And the Immortal Zombie, locked by the blood net, was even more berserk to the extreme; it abruptly broke free from some of the suppression and lunged frantically toward Chi Li regardless of everything else.

At this moment, the situation had completely shifted from "hunting the Immortal Zombie" to "everyone wanting to snatch Chi Li."

Alarm bells rang in Qin Yun's heart.

He even briefly entertained the thought of abandoning Chi Li, of abandoning the descendant of the Nine-Headed Phoenix.

But the moment this thought appeared, the azure pagoda within him reacted strangely.

There was no other way; Qin Yun knew that the Nine-Headed Phoenix likely had some connection with the azure pagoda.

He knew that if he didn't leave now, he really wouldn't be able to leave at all.

Qin Yun made a decisive choice; his mind sank, and he triggered his most core Foundation.

"Burn."

His Red Dust Immortal Dao Fruit, which had been forged through thousands of trials in the vast Mortal World and only just condensed, ignited with a roar at this moment.

This was sacrificing his own Foundation to exchange for this slim chance of survival.

Power so vast it was terrifying surged from within him, and Qin Yun's perception of the Immortal Realm's order was forcibly elevated by several levels.

The essence of Fixed Immortal Travel was completely seen through by him.

The next moment, he did not cast the old technique; instead, using the Immortal Dao insights gained from burning his Dao Fruit, he forcibly pushed Fixed Immortal Travel from the Mortal level up to the Immortal level.

Hum.

An unprecedented Immortal Dao escape light formed beneath his feet.

The spatial Laws of this world no longer repelled him; instead, they were briefly borrowed to open a gap.

Success.

Qin Yun grabbed the stunned Chi Li beside him and, in full view of everyone, stepped into that Immortal light in one stride.

"Don't even think about leaving!"

The Superior One Qingxu roared as he lunged, but he only grabbed an afterimage.

The third party's suppression Magical Artifact descended, but it hit nothing.

The Immortal Zombie crashed over with its corpse body, but it only shattered the gradually dissipating Immortal light.

Everyone could only watch helplessly as Qin Yun took Chi Li and disappeared from the spot.

Amidst the tripartite struggle, the one who ultimately succeeded was actually Qin Yun, who had looked the weakest from the very beginning.

The escape light traveled through the spatial interlayer, and the backlash of burning his Dao Fruit surged like a tide.

Qin Yun let out a muffled groan, forcibly steadying his mind, and rushed out of the rift with Chi Li.

The two fell from mid-air, landing heavily on a patch of soft Immortal Plant.

The surroundings were shrouded in Immortal mist, the mountains were lofty, and the Spiritual Qi was so dense it was almost impossible to disperse—a world of difference from the chaotic killing field before.

Qin Yun immediately checked Chi Li's condition; fortunately, he was only weak, the Phoenix egg had cracked but not yet hatched, and the Innate aura had temporarily converged.

He let out a sigh of relief and looked up.

Ahead, atop an Immortal mountain wreathed in clouds and mist, stood an ancient and majestic mountain gate.

On the stone wall in front of the gate, two towering ancient characters were carved in a sweeping, calligraphic style: Yaochi.