This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

Chapter 82 Zhong Bai reveals his cultivation level, leaving Shi Jian dumbfounded.

"It's pointless to talk about this."

Zhong Bai continued in a deep voice, "We have no idea what the situation is like in that cave of corpses, and Senior Brother Simu has not gone there to investigate rashly."

All we can do is bring our own trump cards with us in case of unforeseen circumstances.

As for the bronze-armored corpse... there will be plenty of ways to deal with it when the time comes!

After Zhong Bai spoke, Lin Fengjiao and Simu exchanged a glance and then remained silent.

They knew very well that although killing the bronze-armored corpses was difficult and strenuous for Zhong Bai, it was by no means an unattainable task. What they feared was that there would be too many bronze-armored corpses or the emergence of a silver-armored corpse king, although a silver-armored corpse king could not possibly form naturally within a hundred years.

Since Zhong Bai has already said this, it proves that they only need to deal with jumping zombies or hairy zombies below the level of bronze-armored zombies.

Shi Jian clearly didn't quite understand the deeper meaning in Zhong Bai's words, but there was one thing he agreed with.

Saying anything is useless; only after they arrive at the Corpse Cave and truly understand the situation can they formulate strategies and countermeasures.

For now, just bring your trump card for survival.

............................................................

The moonlight shone brightly outside the temple in the night.

Inside the temple, a few oil lamps were lit.

At the dinner table, when Si Mu took out his 80-year-old vintage wine and opened the jar, the rich aroma of the wine immediately filled the air.

Taoist priests of the Zhengyi sect are not averse to either meat or vegetables, and even marriage is not a problem for them. The only dietary restrictions are on certain special foods such as beef and black carp.

Therefore, the meal prepared by Si Mu was very lavish, and since Zhe Gu was not present, the four of them quickly started drinking heartily.

They say "drink today, for tomorrow we may die," but while the other three were all quite drunk, Zhong Bai remained frighteningly sober. His physical strength and internal organs were truly extraordinary. Even after drinking strong liquor, without deliberately expelling the alcohol, Zhong Bai felt no signs of intoxication whatsoever.

As dawn broke, the four of them were ready to set off for the cave filled with corpses.

Three days later.

Zhaojia Village.

Although it's called a village, it actually has quite a large population. Zhong Bai glanced at the entire village and even though most of the villagers had left, he could still tell from the number of houses that there were several hundred people in the village.

The Zhao family were the landlords in the village. It is very common in China to name a family after landlords or the most prominent surname in the village.

Upon entering the village, Si Mu led the three of them straight to the landlord's house.

"Brother Zhao, come and open the door quickly. I have brought my fellow disciples from Maoshan."

bang bang bang...

The knocking continued, but no one answered after a long while.

Shi Jian's gaze grew impatient as he said in a deep voice, "Junior Brother Four Eyes, this landlord's family won't be attacked by the bronze-armored corpses from the Corpse Cave who come out to find food..."

Shi Jian didn't continue speaking, but Si Mu understood what Shi Jian meant. With some uncertainty, Si Mu knocked on the door again. After testing the waters a few times, Si Mu finally gave up completely.

With a firm grip of his five fingers, the iron lock on the gate instantly twisted.

Si Mu and the others had at least mastered the Shangqing Body Tempering Technique to a minor level before starting to cultivate. With their combined strength of a thousand jin, how could a mere iron lock possibly stop them?

Pushing open the gate and quickly stepping inside, Si Mu soon surveyed the entire courtyard.

Only when I entered the lobby and saw the letters on the somewhat dusty mahogany table did I breathe a slight sigh of relief.

Upon arriving at the table, the bright letter on it, personally opened by Master Si Mu, completely calmed Si Mu's heart.

Open the letter; the contents are as follows.

[Master Four Eyes, the howling of the corpses grew increasingly terrifying last night. Although I, your brother, consider the village's land the lifeblood, it is nothing compared to my own life. I had no choice but to leave the village tonight, leaving a letter to inform you, Master. If you return seeking help, please be extremely careful. Zhao Laosan, letter]

Looking at the contents of the letter, Si Mu frowned slightly. "Hey, they're moving pretty fast..."

"Junior Brother Four Eyes, how is the situation?"

While asking questions, Shi Jian also took the time to observe the surrounding air, confirming that the landlord Zhao family had been gone for some time.

"It's alright, Senior Brother. This family has already chosen to leave the village. I tried to persuade them to leave as well, but they just wouldn't agree."

This way, things are much easier.

"Alright, since there are no living people left in the village, let's set up some more measures. The situation inside the Corpse Cave is unknown, and the place is cramped, so going into the cave is clearly not a wise move."

"Let's lure the possible bronze-armored corpses in with blood first, then kill them and deal with them gradually."

Shi Jian's suggestion was good, and Zhong Bai had no objection. The Corpse Cave was usually a relatively closed cave. What if there was more than one bronze-armored corpse after going down? Hehe, Zhong Bai could still handle it, but it was hard to say about Lin Fengjiao and the others.

The wise approach would be to set up a trap in the village to lure the bronze-armored corpse out first and deal with it, then slowly clear out the other zombies accumulating in the cave.

"What the eldest brother said is absolutely right. It's getting late, so we should make arrangements quickly."

After all, no one knows how many bronze-armored zombies will leave the cave and come here.

In theory, as long as the cave is not too deep, the place where the copper-armored corpse can come up should also be fine for the zombie to jump. Of course, the reason why it was identified as a copper-armored corpse is because Four Eyes judged it based on the description of its skin color as copper-yellow by the village landlord Zhao.

After discussion, Lin Fengjiao and Shi Jian finally reached an agreement to use ink lines to create a net covering the entire Zhao family compound.

As for why an ink line was used… that's thanks to the Angry Sun Chicken Blood that Zhong Bai gave Lin Fengjiao and the century-old cinnabar that Shi Jian gave her. With everything arranged, a problem arose as night fell.

What if the bronze-armored corpse doesn't know there's blood food in the village and doesn't come?
Generally speaking, although bronze-armored corpses are bloodthirsty when they are first born, they are born in their lair and it is not easy for them to stray too far from their lair.

Therefore, the bronze-armored corpses should return to their caves during the day to avoid the scorching sunlight.

When night falls, they will leave the cave to go out in search of blood and food. This village has been abandoned for a month or two, and even the last household has been gone for half a month. Without any human presence, the bronze-armored corpse may not come.

Faced with this problem, all four of them felt helpless and could only leave it to fate.

In the second-floor pavilion of the Zhao family mansion, the four people waited quietly. From dusk until now, several hours had passed, but they still hadn't found anything.

"Sigh, could it be that this bronze-armored corpse knew in advance that Senior Brother and Junior Brother Qianhe were coming, so it's hiding in the cave and not coming out?"

A lighthearted exchange between them lightened the somber atmosphere in the pavilion.

Lin Fengjiao also smiled and said, "What Junior Brother Simu said makes sense. I think it is indeed possible. Knowing that there are tigers in the mountains, they still went to the tiger's den. The Copper Armor Corpse is not stupid. He probably already knew that Senior Brother and Junior Brother Qianhe had arrived."

Zhong Bai rolled his eyes at this. That was a bronze-armored corpse, not a diviner. What could it possibly know?

Shi Jian's face was flushed. He subconsciously thought Lin Fengjiao was praising him when he heard her words. This was the first time Lin Fengjiao had praised him like this. Shi Jian was so excited that he couldn't suppress the smile on his lips.

Upon seeing this, Si Mu also covered his mouth and laughed. Hmm, isn't this interesting?

However, Shi Jian will probably stop laughing once he finds out the truth...

Just as the four of them started chatting, a deafening roar of corpses came from afar.

"Tsk, with this commotion, I wouldn't believe it wasn't Junior Brother Copper Armor Corpse!"

Zhong Bai's eyes burned with fervor. Those were bronze-armored corpses! Nine hundred for one, eight thousand for two...

At first, Zhong Bai was worried that there were too many bronze-armored corpses for him to take care of, but now... the timid starve to death, and the bold get rich. The desire in Zhong Bai's eyes was not to be hidden at all!

From the moment the roar of the corpses was heard to the violent breaching of the Zhao family's gate by the bronze-armored corpses, only a few minutes had passed.

Standing on the second-floor attic, looking at the bronze-armored corpse that had broken in, Lin Fengjiao became slightly more serious, but still maintained her composure.

"Four Eyes, let's first use the Ink Mark Formation to test the level of the Bronze Armor Corpse."

Upon hearing his senior brother Lin's words, Si Mu didn't hesitate at all. After all, with Zhong Bai here, a bronze-armored corpse shouldn't be unable to stop him.

"Senior Brother Lin, no problem!"

The two of them rolled down to the first floor, where they saw the bronze-armored corpse leap ten meters and head straight for them.

"bomb!"

Lin Fengjiao and Si Mu simultaneously flicked the ink line with their fingertips, then suddenly released it, landing on the chest of the bronze-armored corpse. Instantly, sparks flew everywhere, and the burning ink line caused the bronze-armored corpse to retreat rapidly.

However, once inside the courtyard, it's too late to leave now, as the entire courtyard is covered with chalk lines.

As ink lines struck the bronze-armored corpse, its corpse energy was rapidly depleted.

Only when the last ink line broke did Si Mu and Lin Fengjiao quickly return to the pavilion.

But this bronze-armored corpse clearly hated Lin Fengjiao and Simu. In a single leap, it covered dozens of meters and headed straight for Simu and Lin Fengjiao, who were about to go upstairs.

"Junior Brother Simu, Junior Brother Lin, your senior brother has come to help you!"

"Lightning and thunder, slay the demons!"

Shi Jian leaped down from the attic, his fist crackling with thunder, and slammed it into the chest of the bronze-armored corpse. In an instant, a terrifying shock sent Shi Jian flying back to the attic at twice the speed, crashing heavily to the ground.

Of course, the bronze-armored corpse was also struck in the chest by Shi Jian's lightning, and the burning sensation caused it to tremble and roar.

"Tsk tsk tsk, this bronze-armored corpse is somewhat more powerful than the ones crafted by the disciples of the Corpse Refining Demon Sect of Mangshan. Well, that makes sense, since it's wild..."

Zhong Bai spoke calmly, seeing that even Shi Jian couldn't handle the bronze-armored corpse, Zhong Bai had no choice but to deal with it himself.

"Divine Firmament Five Thunders, unleash!"

"Thunder Whip, solidify!"

As Zhong Bai's true essence, at the late stage of the seventh level of Qi Refining, surged, the surrounding void was filled with terrifying auras, leaving Shi Jian, who had just stood up and was about to rush forward, dumbfounded.

"This is... Junior Brother Qianhe?"
Late stage of Qi Refining Level 7?

"Divine Firmament Five Thunder Technique..."

At this moment, Shi Jian's thought process pieced everything together, and an indescribable bitterness welled up in his heart.

"Yes, I was deceiving myself. Master Qianhe, a disciple of Master Qianyuan of the Maoshan Talisman Hall, slaying a fish demon at the seventh level of Qi Refining—it's just that I've been unwilling to believe it's true..."

Shi Jian was still in a daze, while Simu and Lin Fengjiao were already looking at Zhong Bai with admiration.

The flowing lightning coalesced into a whip, which lashed across the chest of the bronze-armored corpse. The pain, a hundred times worse than the ink line, turned the bronze-armored corpse's angry roar into a shrill scream.

"Holy crap, Senior Brother Lin, is Junior Brother Qianhe really the Qianhe we know?"
At the late stage of the seventh level of Qi Refining, he will probably reach the eighth level of Qi Refining very soon.

"Tsk tsk tsk, will Junior Brother Qianhe directly reach the Foundation Establishment stage in a few years?"

The more Si Mu thought about it, the more excited he became!

Waaaaah, 13,000 words in four chapters! Damn, I said I'd do 16,000 words in five chapters, but I'm just so tired... I'm so sorry, dear readers, I promise I'll do 16,000 words in five chapters this week to make it up to you all. Waaaaah, I got a lot of monthly votes yesterday, thank you so much, dear readers!
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(End of this chapter)