Chapter 561: All Or Nothing
There was a spectral silhouette beside Corpse Taoist.
The shadow’s appearance was blurry, but he exuded an eerie aura. Dressed in black robes weaved from dark water, terrifying howls pierced the sky as a face broke the surface of the water.
This was Ghost Taoist of the Six Beast Taoists.
Even Ghost Taoist was startled by the mysterious voice. “Corpse Taoist, so your real name is Yan Yunxi!”
Ghost Taoist was unaware of that.
That was precisely the reason behind Corpse Taoist’s fear.
In his memory, only a handful of people knew his real name but they should all be dead by now. No, that wasn’t it.
Corpse Taoist suddenly came to a realization.
While many people did know his actual name in the past, ever since he became Corpse Taoist, he had stopped using this name. There was only one person who knew Corpse Taoist as Yan Yunxi.
His master, Daojun!
The soul amulet on Corpse Taoist’s forehead glowed dimly. The conflict of emotions made itself clear on his face.
That person who spoke was wearing his trademark beast-patterned mask. No doubt, he was Curator, the man whose popularity was on the rise. Through his network of spies, Corpse Taoist had learned of Curator’s arrival in Heavenly Spiral City.
Subsequently, he set out to meet Ghost Taoist, and at the same time, he made sure to bring along an army of experts.
Corpse Taoist was confident that with their strength combined, they could frighten any premium country into submission. Although they had come to Heavenly Spiral City for trouble, they emphasized that they were here for revenge, so Corpse Taoist believed that Heavenly Spiral would refrain from intervening.
To his dismay, Heavenly Spiral immediately took Curator’s side the instant he appeared in their nation.
Even so, Corpse Taoist wasn’t fazed.
He had come prepared. Although his physical body was lost, he managed to retrieve his zombie pet beast.
His pet beast shouldn’t be taken lightly as its battle prowess was much stronger than his physical body’s. What’s more, this wasn’t your run-of-the-mill zombie beast. After being nourished by death energy for several hundred years, Corpse Taoist was sure that it could destroy the world if he wanted to.
That was the reason behind his arrogance when he invaded Heavenly Spiral City.
So what if Heavenly Spiral was a premium country?
He felt no fear when he had no zombie beast, but now that he had one, coupled with Ghost Taoist’s assistance, he could invade Heavenly Spiral without being too concerned about their status.
He was way too strong now.
Despite this, the mention of his name by Curator startled him.
Corpse Taoist mused, ‘Could Curator be somehow related to Daojun?’
That must be it. Otherwise, Curator couldn’t have entered his master’s secret realm and take away his body.
The moment Corpse Taoist started having this suspicion, he figured out what he had to do next. Under normal circumstances, Corpse Taoist would have been reserved when it came to dealing with anything related to his master. Now, he felt brave.
“Curator, you came just in time!” said Corpse Taoist as he revealed himself. Thanks to Lin Jin’s Dragonfire, his body was wrapped in aged bandages. This added to his horrifying and bizarre demeanor.
“Return my body and I will be gone at once,” Corpse Taoist emphasized.
Upon hearing this, Lin Jin came to a realization.
So that terrifying zombie was Corpse Taoist’s physical body? It was no wonder he would be so insane as to invade a premium country without regard for the possible consequences.
However, a grudge had already been formed so Lin Jin couldn’t possibly return Corpse Taoist his body.
Moreover, due to the changes his body had undergone, it would be better to keep it sealed by the Demon Slayer, so that it may never appear in this world ever again. Hence, Lin Jin shook his head. “That body of yours is a calamity. I have already destroyed it.”
“What?!” Corpse Taoist felt his lungs explode with anger.
That was his actual body. God knows how heavy a price he had had to pay to refine it, and only he knew how excruciatingly difficult the process had been.
For this, he had been living like a ghost for several hundred years. He passed his days without the ability to enjoy the fleshly pleasures of life, making him a living corpse.
Now that he could finally reap the fruits of his labor, someone had destroyed it instead.
Anyone else in his position would be just as infuriated. Some might even go insane.
“I’m going to kill you!” In his rage, Corpse Taoist initiated an attack without hesitation. He wanted to dice Curator into a million bits.
From the greyish clouds came a terrorizing roar before a colossal zombie dragon came slithering out.
This was Corpse Taoist’s zombie beast.
It was also Ghost Taoist’s first time seeing Corpse Taoist’s zombie dragon. He exclaimed in shock, “Th-this is Dragon Taoist’s six-clawed golden dragon! Corpse Taoist, how did you get it?”
Ghost Taoist was undoubtedly shocked but he had a vague idea of what happened.
Back then, after the passing of their master, all the Six Beast Taoists revealed their wildest ambitions and went on to pursue their desires. The strongest among them, Dragon Taoist, disappeared shortly after that. No one knew if he was dead or alive.
Ghost Taoist had always found it strange, but he finally understood now.
Dragon Taoist must have been schemed against by Corpse Taoist and had his six-clawed golden dragon stolen away to be refined into a zombie beast.
This was too horrifying, even for Ghost Taoist.
Though, the question remained, how did Corpse Taoist manage to defeat Dragon Taoist?
Ghost Taoist failed to come up with a plausible explanation, as Dragon Taoist had been the strongest among them all. He was also Daojun’s most prized disciple.
If they engaged in a fair fight, even ten Corpse Taoists couldn’t have matched up to a single Dragon Taoist.
Hence, Corpse Taoist must have resorted to underhanded tactics back then.
With this in mind, Ghost Taoist drew in a breath of cold air as his fear for Corpse Taoist grew. Still, he had to assist Corpse Taoist in this situation.
His reason was simple. Besides the fact that they were old pals, Corpse Taoist also made him an offer he couldn’t possibly refuse.
For the sake of this benefit, Ghost Taoist would offer his help.
What’s more, Corpse Taoist had successfully refined Dragon Taoist’s six-clawed golden dragon into a zombie. Given how powerful zombie beasts were, the dragon was probably much stronger compared to before. It was no wonder Corpse Taoist was brave enough to storm Heavenly Spiral City.
He knew he had the leverage when he made the call to invade their city.
This six-clawed golden dragon alone could overwhelm Heavenly Spiral’s strongest guardian beast.
With such a power on their side, there wasn’t a need to operate in the shadows.
Such thoughts had merely happened in a flash. Meanwhile, the zombie dragon had opened its jaws to spit out a jet of emerald dragon flames.
Green dragon fire was not known to this world.
The dragon fire was aimed in Curator’s general direction, without regard for the structures or people around him. As Heavenly Spiral had declared war, Corpse Taoist found no reason to hold back.
He would massacre his enemies to vent his frustration.
Not only would he kill Curator, but he also did not plan on letting the people of Heavenly Spiral Kingdom off the hook.
Lin Jin was quite shocked himself. He hadn’t expected Corpse Taoist to possess a dragon beast. Though, because he had read Daojun’s Hieroglyphic, Lin Jin immediately recognized this zombie dragon’s origin.
‘In Daojun’s Hieroglyphic, despite mentioning that Corpse Taoist had a mysterious personality, he described him as a loyal follower. Looks like that was just a facade. Not only did he steal his senior’s pet beast, but he even refined it into a zombie beast. This alone proves how ruthless he is and how he would resort to any measures to achieve his goal!’
Lin Jin knew this wasn’t the time to let his mind wander. His priority now should be to deal with the green dragon flames that were making their way towards him.