Cultivating Immortality in Two Realms: Sunflower Lord

The dark figure that lunged out of the gray fog became clear instantly in Ji Ruchang's eyes—

It was a humanoid being, but it had long since lost its human form.

The skin was bluish-black and ulcerated, with grayish-white bone exposed in many places.

His eyes were sunken, his pupils were cloudy like a dead fish, and his mouth was open to an unnatural degree, revealing uneven black teeth.

Its arms stretched forward at a twisted angle, its long, black fingernails creating a faint, fishy stench as they swept through the air.

Zombies!

Moreover, it was a low-level zombie that had only recently turned into a zombie and whose decomposition was not yet severe!

Ji Ruchang recalled the description in the Immortal Academy's "Illustrated Compendium of Evil Spirits": slow-moving, strong and thick-skinned, afraid of light and fire, with weaknesses in the head and heart.

These thoughts flashed through my mind in the blink of an eye.

The zombie's rotting claws were already three feet away from his face!

Ji Ruchang advanced instead of retreating, stomping her right foot hard on the ground, her body suddenly released like a taut bowstring.

He darted half a step to the side, just managing to dodge the monster's swift attack.

The fire copper sword in his hand emitted a deep hum, and the pale golden halo on the sword suddenly brightened a bit under the infusion of true essence.

It wasn't a slash, but a straight thrust.

The sword tip pierced precisely into the zombie's left eye socket—a vulnerable entrance to the skull, unprotected by bone.

"Pfft!"

The sensation of the sword tip piercing flesh (if that rotten muscle could still be called "flesh") was like piercing through waterlogged, rotten leather.

A foul-smelling black liquid spurted from his eye socket.

Ji Ruchang was prepared; she turned her head to dodge, and at the same time flicked her wrist—

"burst!"

At the tip of the sword that pierced the eye socket, the true essence of the fourth level of Qi was compressed and suddenly released!

A muffled "thump" was heard, like a watermelon being hit.

The zombie's head snapped back, its entire body stiffening for a moment.

A hole was blasted open in the rotting flesh around the eye socket, and black brain matter mixed with mucus gushed out.

It was that moment of stiffness!

Ji Ruchang reached out with his left hand, his five fingers wrapped in azure-gold true essence, and grabbed the zombie's outstretched right arm.

It felt cold, slippery, and had the characteristic viscosity of corpse fluid.

An ordinary person would probably feel nauseous upon encountering such a sight, but Ji Ruchang had seen even more disgusting corpse specimens at the Immortal Academy nine years ago, and at this moment, he felt only calm.

He used his core strength, his body spinning like a top, and using the zombie's forward momentum to pull its arm to his side—

"rise!"

With the power of the fourth level of Qi Refining and the enhancement of true essence, he forcefully swung the rotting corpse, which weighed at least a hundred pounds, up!

Then, he slammed it hard onto the ground!

"Thump!!!"

The dull thud echoed in this corner.

The zombie was slammed to the ground, right at the edge of the area illuminated by the golden sunflower's light—half its body was in the light, and half was in the mist.

Change has occurred.

The moment the zombie's body came into contact with the pale golden light—

"Hiss... hiss..."

Like a red-hot iron block falling into ice water, faint black smoke rose from the surface of the zombie's body.

Its originally stiff body began to tremble violently, not in a struggle, but in a painful spasm of being "burned".

Ji Ruchang could clearly see that the half of the zombie's body exposed to the light was shriveling, turning black, and carbonizing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Those jet-black nails quickly turned grayish-white and became brittle.

Its power is waning.

The speed is slowing down.

Even the nauseating, chilling aura quickly dissipated under the light.

"This light... its restraint on evil spirits is so strong!" Ji Ruchang was shocked.

The Immortal Academy taught that sunlight, fire, thunder, and pure yang essence can all suppress evil, but such an immediate purification effect is unheard of.

Don't miss out!

Ji Ruchang stepped forward, gripped the sword with both hands, and raised it high.

The golden light on the Fire Copper Sword reached its limit under the full infusion of true essence, and the sword even emitted a slight "crackling" sound, as if something was awakening.

cut!

The sword's edge traced a pale golden arc, landing precisely on the zombie's neck.

"Click—"

Contrary to expectations of a chopping motion, it felt more like cutting a piece of rotten wood.

The sword encountered almost no resistance and cut through in one stroke.

Glug glug...

The zombie's head rolled away and stopped in the corner, face up, its dead fish-like eyes still holding a last trace of bewilderment.

The headless corpse convulsed violently a few times in the light, then suddenly—

With a "poof," it turned into two thick clouds of black mist.

The black mist churned and contracted, as if pulled by an invisible force, and quickly surged toward the golden sunflower at the bottom of the dry well.

The sunflower's flower head turned slightly toward the direction from which the black mist was coming, and the pale golden light seemed to brighten a little.

Ji Ruchang stood holding her sword, her breathing slightly labored.

The series of movements just now seemed smooth and effortless, but in fact they were extremely taxing.

Especially with that last sword strike, he poured almost half of his remaining true essence into it, leaving less than 30% of his true essence slowly circulating in his dantian.

But he didn't have time to adjust his breathing; his first thought was to look at the Golden Sunflower.

After the black mist formed from the zombie was absorbed by the sunflower, the "status information" of the sunflower in his mind was updated:

[Tier 1 Sunflower: Golden Sunflower (Growth: 3/100)]

[Status: Recognizing the Lord (Slight Satisfaction)]

[Requirement: Defeat demons and monsters, and devour their bodies to grow stronger]

[Ability: Absorbs turbid and malevolent energy and transforms it into the power of the sun's essence (weak)]

[Current daily energy reserve: 0.3 units (each unit can accelerate cultivation for one hour)]

The information is clear and concise.

"Killing a low-level zombie increases growth by 3 points... In other words, you need to kill about thirty-three of these zombies to accumulate 100 points?" Ji Ruchang calculated quickly.

This is not easy.

The reason he was able to kill the zombie so easily was largely due to the restraint of the Golden Sunflower's light—the zombie's strength was greatly reduced after entering the light's range, which gave him the opportunity to kill it with one blow.

If he were to fight head-on in the gray fog, with his Qi Refining Level 4 cultivation, although he could win, it would not be so easy. The consumption of energy would be much greater, and there would even be a risk of injury.

"And... the reserves of Japanese essence?"

Ji Ruchang noticed the last line of information.

0.3 units, each unit can accelerate cultivation for one hour.

He tried to mentally touch that "0.3 unit".

[Use 0.3 units of daily essence to accelerate cultivation? Yes/No]

"no."

Now is not the time for cultivation.

He needs to recover his true energy first to deal with possible subsequent dangers.

Ji Ruchang retreated to the bottom of the dry well and sat cross-legged beside the golden sunflower.

Under the light, the stinging sensation completely disappeared, replaced by warmth and comfort.

The recovery speed of his internal energy had increased significantly—he estimated that it would take about half an hour to fully recover.

"Recovering here is at least several times faster than outside," Ji Ruchang thought to herself with secret delight.

As he regulated his breathing, he reviewed the battle he had just fought:

"First, the radiance of the sunflower is our greatest asset."

Within the range of the light, I had the advantage of terrain, and the power of the evil forces was greatly reduced.

However, the area affected by the light is not large; we must find a way to lure the enemy deeper in.

"Secondly, the Fire Copper Sword becomes more powerful when illuminated by light, and it deals extra damage to evil spirits."

Although this sword is damaged, its material is of exceptional quality and deserves careful nurturing.

"Third, switching to the sunflower's perspective can help you detect danger in advance."

If we had switched perspectives earlier, we might have been able to pinpoint the zombie's location sooner.

"Fourth... I lack practical experience."

Ji Ruchang looked at her palm.

The series of movements just now, though seemingly smooth, actually contained many unnecessary movements, and the distribution of true energy was not precise enough.

If they encounter stronger and faster evil spirits, they will likely suffer a great loss.

"More battles are needed to hone my skills."

He gazed into the depths of the gray fog.

To the due east, two more chilling auras lingered.

There are more in the due south direction, five in total.

"Once your true energy recovers, try to kill another one. But be more cautious and don't be greedy or reckless."

Ji Ruchang closed her eyes and focused her mind, beginning to fully recover.

Within his dantian, four strands of cyan-gold true essence, now somewhat withered, slowly rotated, growing stronger little by little under the nourishment of the sunflower's light.

The true essence that had become slightly disordered due to the battle was also rapidly calming down and becoming pure.

Half an hour later.

Ji Ruchang opened her eyes, a glint of light flashing in them.

My true energy has recovered to 80%.

He stood up, gripped the Fire Copper Sword tightly once more, and looked towards the gray mist in the due east direction.

"Well... it's time to prepare for the next one!"