"Hold fast."
With Xu Zidong taking point, the Ancient Ink Camp took up their battle formations, using their autonomous realm power to hold the Zombie Ghostly Immortals back!
But the number of Zombie Ghostly Immortals only grew and grew, like a hive of locusts intent on overwhelming the eight Ancient Ink Camp members.
If there were but a few dozen, they could still be dealt with. But the swarm of Zombie Ghostly Immortals far exceeded that.
They knew no fear, and mindlessly marched on like hungry wolves intent on their prey. They had no weaknesses, and had to be blown up into pulp. They would only cease when the immortal designs within their bodies were broken beyond repair.
Each of them was like an elite xuan immortal.
"Wu Yu, if we cannot hold on, we might need your strength!"
Wu Yu was still smashing green stones. He moved at a frenzied pace, so the Zombie Ghostly Immortals could not catch him for now. But as their numbers continued to multiply, he might be swamped.
"Don't worry!"
For now, Wu Yu was pretty confident. He glanced at the number of green Zombie Ghostly Immortals in the hall and quickly brought out twice their number in Unshackled Doppelgangers.
Of course, the aim of these doppelgangers was not to fight the green zombies head-on. Each doppelganger was roughly a xuan immortal's equivalent, but not that elite.
Their main purpose was to be bait! Once they appeared, they started to flee from the zombies. Wu Yu knew that the advantages of these zombies were that they did not fear death and that they were difficult to kill. But they had a weakness, which was low intellect. All they knew was to attack.
As expected, once the clones appeared, the green zombies switched targets. Before, the Ancient Ink Camp was their primary target, and now they were but eight among thousands.
As the green zombies continued their rampage, Wu Yu's clones dwindled. But he had 100,000 doppelgangers, and he had only used 1,000 or so. Therefore, he could immediately replace the clones that fell, and he continued to make them run to and fro, distracting the zombies.
"Everyone, split up. Focus on taking down the green stones before we turn to fight."
Wu Yu called loudly.
Xu Zidong saw that the green Zombie Ghostly Immortals were largely preoccupied with Wu Yu's clones. Wu Yu's clones were also limited. Now that they were no longer the main targets, the pressure eased significantly, and they could definitely split up and prioritize the green stones!
"Split up! Destroy the green stones!"
At Xu Zidong's order, they immediately dispersed, the nine working together. This increased their efficiency greatly, especially for Xu Zidong. As they were faced with fewer green Zombie Ghostly Immortals, they could naturally fight better.
If not for Wu Yu's clones, they would have been overwhelmed by the green Zombie Ghostly Immortals, unable to even pass the entrance.
Wu Yu dedicated half of his attention to directing the fleeing clones, continuing to hold the attention of the green Zombie Ghostly Immortals. And then he and the other eight continued to smash green stones. In roughly 15 minutes, the number of green Zombie Ghostly Immortals had swelled to a full 2,000, but by their efforts, all of the green stones had been smashed, and their number would not grow any further!
Wu Yu knew well that in Green Ghost Hall, the most important thing was not to kill first, but to smash these openings. Once the enemies were no longer multiplying, it was time to start killing.
"Perhaps this Mark of an Immortal King is of a decent grade."
Wu Yu thought to himself as he looked out at the hellish sight.
Next, he still needed to use these doppelgangers to distract the green Zombie Ghostly Immortals. Otherwise, the concerted attack of a few thousand green Zombie Ghostly Immortals would end them.
With the pressure alleviated, Xu Zidong and the others split up to fight. Because they were not facing too many opponents at the same time, they could fight with verve. Wu Yu used his Time Warp Field and Blink Slayer Designs, basically taking one down with every blow!
After about two hours, everyone was breathing raggedly. The ground of the Green Ghost Hall was littered with the pulped corpses of green Zombie Ghostly Immortals. When Wu Yu finished off the last green Zombie Ghostly Immortal, it was finally over. Everyone slumped to the floor in exhaustion. In order to hold the attention of these green Zombie Ghostly Immortals, Wu Yu had lost a total of 50,000 unshackled doppelgangers.
"It's all thanks to Wu Yu. Otherwise, we would have been hard-pressed to even get out alive. After all, the way back has been sealed off," Xu Zidong said gratefully, looking at Wu Yu.
The members of the Ancient Ink Camp were all very respectful of Wu Yu. Although they were older, Wu Yu's improvements made them realize that this junior was a genius of rare talent.
Qin Chuan said, "Well, can we get a Mark of an Immortal King? This test was a real scare. Does that mean that this Mark of an Immortal King is of great quality?"
"Don't overthink it before we get it," Xu Zidong said.
Just as he finished speaking, the depths of the Green Ghost Hall rumbled, and the wall of the mountain moved, revealing a passage. This one led even deeper, and they were nervous, not knowing where it led.
"Perhaps it's a new challenge."
"Very likely. And probably more fearsome than the last."
"Will we die inside...."
Everyone was feeling uneasy, and Wu Yu could sense the sinister air within. He was nervous too, because those green Zombie Ghostly Immortals had been a real scare.
"Shall I scout the way?" Wu Yu said.
"Better not. We're all here to fight side by side, and pass any difficulty together. No matter what, we face it together. This is a rare opportunity. Let's go!"
"That's right. We can't always let Wu Yu take the risk."
Wu Yu had won their respect through his strength and character.
No matter what lay in his future, being able to help this band of brothers and progress together would be enough.
Because of the Nangong Wei incident, Wu Yu had thought of leaving them. Because of his own carelessness, he had offended the eternal phoenix tribe, and that might implicate them.
But Wu Yu's Immortal King Token had come from them. And all this time, they had protected Wu Yu, allowing him to reach where he had safely. Therefore, Wu Yu wanted to repay their favor and help them earn a Mark of an Immortal King.
And so, he would naturally do his best this time. If they passed up on this chance, who knew when they would get a shot at a Mark of an Immortal King again?
There was a 99% chance that the 100 years would be a flop and they would end up with nothing, perhaps even dying inside.
If they could get a Mark of an Immortal King, they could just hide for the rest of their time.
Because given their strength, they would definitely have to remain low-profile if they got a Mark of an Immortal King.
Otherwise, they might very well be killed, even after they left.
After all, even Xu Zidong would take a very long time to cultivate to a level where he could use the Mark of an Immortal King. They had been lucky to get many Immortal King Tokens this time, which was why they could risk coming in.
If he was moving alone, Wu Yu was confident in obtaining his own Mark of an Immortal King within 100 years. And he would definitely get the best one!
They had passed through the long tunnel, finally reaching an even larger hall. When they looked up, they saw a sign that said “Yellow Ghost Hall.” They were uneasy. This was evidently another test, and a more formidable one. They did not know what would appear, or how many more tests were still waiting for them.
What if they went on and on and never ended? Wouldn't that be unnerving? Because they were trapped within this star now and could not even leave.
When they arrived, things immediately began to happen! The ground before them started to churn, as though it were a swamp. From within, a huge creature emerged. It was roughly the same size as Wu Yu's maximum enlarged form. It was like a demon immortal, but clearly not a demon immortal. It was a ghostly immortal, and this ghostly immortal had yellow scales. It was covered in blood, and its skull was like a huge, meaty boil. It looked grotesque and vengeful. Most striking of all was that it had three heads and six arms below that. Each of its arms held a different weapon. They were a whole different range of destinable immortal treasures!
Seeing this Zombie Ghostly Immortal-like being, they all inhaled sharply.
"It looks like the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li's son, Third Lotus Prince Nezha! Three heads and six arms! Everyone, be careful. Who knows what powers this yellow Zombie Ghostly Immortal has!"
Wu Yu knew of Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li and Third Lotus Prince Nezha. Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li was not like Dhrtarastra, who was one of the Four Heavenly Kings. Instead, he was a commander in the Jade Emperor's Spirit of Heaven Jeweled Hall, one of esteemed status. He was on the same level as the Eastern Sublime Gracious Divine Emperor, and was even greatly favored by the Jade Emperor himself. He was the highest superior of the Four Heavenly Kings.
However, his son, Third Lotus Prince Nezha, was even more powerful. He was also hailed as the Marshal of the Central Altar, the Heavenly Master, the Prominent Supreme General, the God of the Three Seas. He did not pale in comparison to Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King Li, and even surpassed him in cultivation level and fighting power. He was the most brilliant of the immortal emperor's children, and a classic example of the student surpassing the teacher. Besides Third Lotus Prince Nezha, there were few instances in the Heavenly Domain where the child surpassed the parent.
This yellow Zombie Ghostly Immortal before them was definitely not Third Lotus Prince Nezha, who was even more powerful than the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King. However, he had probably been built in Third Lotus Prince Nezha's image. The three heads indicated that it was not just a single being. Therefore, this yellow Zombie Ghostly Immortal was probably created from three different bodies.
Although this yellow Zombie Ghostly Immortal seemed to be the only thing here, it was clear that this monster would not be easy to deal with. They would have to work even closer together. Xu Zidong and the others prepared to take up their formation, preparing for the attack. As for Wu Yu, he hid himself away, searching for a way to break this. From their experience with the Green Ghost Hall, it was obvious that the key to unraveling the task would be more important than ever if they lacked enough strength!
At this time, Xu Zidong and the others had already clashed with the yellow Zombie Ghostly Immortal. One look was enough to let Wu Yu know that this yellow Zombie Ghostly Immortal was incredibly strong, even though it did not have autonomous realm power. It was roughly equivalent to an 8-realm immortal lord. What was even more terrifying was that it did not fear death, because every wound inflicted on its body healed automatically and instantly!