Uncle Nine: You were supposed to drive corpses, so you summoned the Monkey King!

The further you go into the mine, the wider the passageway becomes.

The surrounding rock walls were not as pitted and uneven, but rather showed signs of being leveled by human excavation.

The puddles on the ground turned dark red, looking like blood.

Lin Chen and his two companions made a sharp turn.

There is a large space in front of us.

This underground cave is about half the size of a football field, with stalactites hanging upside down from the ceiling, dripping black water.

In the very center of the cave was an altar, entirely constructed from human skulls.

Eight black banners, each painted with strange runes, were placed around the altar.

In the center of the altar is a square pool measuring one zhang (approximately 3.3 meters).

The pool was filled with a viscous black liquid, bubbling and emitting an extremely yin energy.

On the steps of the altar, a gaunt old man sat cross-legged.

He was wearing a black mandarin jacket, and his right leg was much shorter than his left, resting on the ground.

The old cripple held a soul-summoning bell in his hand, his eyes closed as he chanted incantations.

Hearing footsteps in the passage, the old cripple stopped chanting and slowly opened his eyes.

Those eyes had no whites; they were all black.

"Lin Jiu, it's been twenty years, and you're still as nosy as ever."

Uncle Nine, carrying a peach wood sword, walked out of the passage.

"Unorthodox methods and unorthodox approaches harm both oneself and others!"

"Back then, you set up this deadly corpse-raising scheme to kill off your descendants, all for the sake of the Ren family's wealth."

"Now they are indiscriminately killing innocent people here to create armored corpses."

"I will not let you leave here alive today!"

The old cripple let out two strange laughs.

"How arrogant!"

"Back then, the patriarch of the Ren family forcibly bought the auspicious land I had my eye on. It's only right that I ruin the Ren family!"

"As for you..."

The old cripple's gaze swept over Uncle Nine and Fourth Eyes, finally settling on Lin Chen.

"This kid's energy and blood are really vigorous."

"Perfect for my precious pet to eat, to help it overcome the final hurdle!"

The old cripple stood up and shook the soul-summoning bell in his hand vigorously.

"Ring ring..."

The sound of bells echoed through the cave.

The eight soul-summoning banners around the altar began to flutter on their own.

The black pool in the center of the altar churned, and four tall, dark figures emerged from it, even larger than the green-haired water corpse from before.

Its skin was dark blue, and it was covered with inch-long black hair. Its fingernails were half a foot long and had a bluish sheen.

"A bronze-armored walking corpse!" the Four-Eyed Taoist priest exclaimed.

Ordinary zombies are afraid of fire and light, and they move slowly.

These four bronze-armored zombies were created by soaking in extremely yin water. They have thick skin and great strength.

"Lin Chen, you handle the two on the left, Four Eyes; the two on the right are yours!"

"I'm going to destroy his altar!"

Uncle Nine made a decisive decision and immediately assigned tactics.

He nimbly bypassed the bronze-armored zombies and headed straight for the old cripple on the altar.

The old cripple pulled a handful of black poison sand from his sleeve and threw it at Uncle Nine's face.

Uncle Nine used a brass Bagua mirror to block the attack.

The poisonous sand made a crackling sound as it hit the mirror, corroding the surface and leaving black spots.

Taking advantage of the lull, the old cripple drew a rusty iron sword and engaged Uncle Nine in battle.

On the other side, Lin Chen faced off against two bronze-armored zombies.

The two zombies moved extremely fast, flanking Lin Chen from the left and right, with the zombie on the left swinging its arm down on his head.

Lin Chen clenched his left fist and slammed it into the zombie's arm.

A muffled thud.

Lin Chen's fist collided with the zombie's arm, and the recoil caused Lin Chen to take half a step back.

The bronze-armored zombie was knocked off balance.

"What a hard bone!" Lin Chen thought to himself in surprise.

The zombie on the right lunged forward, its half-foot-long fingernails aimed at Lin Chen's chest.

Lin Chen twisted to the side, and with a swift motion, his lightning-struck wooden sword swept across, striking the zombie in the waist.

"when!"

The wooden sword bounced off the skin and flesh without leaving a white mark.

The righteous energy of lightning inherent in the lightning-struck wooden sword has a restraining effect on evil spirits.

However, these two bronze-armored zombies have been soaking in extremely yin water for many years, and their skin has formed a natural yin energy armor, which greatly weakens the power of thunder magic.

"Physical attacks are too ineffective."

Lin Chen's mind worked quickly, and he immediately changed tactics.

Instead of confronting the zombies head-on, he weaved back and forth between the two zombies, made a hand seal, and took out two proficient-level zombie-suppressing talismans from his waist.

Remote object retrieval activated.

The two corpse-suppressing talismans transformed into two beams of golden light and affixed to the foreheads of the two walking corpses.

Two hissing sounds.

As soon as the talisman was affixed, the yin energy on the walking corpse's forehead began to retaliate.

The golden light and the black aura clashed together.

A master-level corpse-suppressing talisman can only immobilize them for three seconds.

Three seconds was enough for Lin Chen.

He gripped the lightning-struck wooden sword with both hands, circulated the Shangqing Great Cave True Scripture, and forced the magical power within his body to the tip of the sword.

Lin Chen leaped into the air, spun around, and plunged the lightning-struck wooden sword into the eye of the zombie on his left.

The eyes are the weak point. The wooden sword sank into the hilt, and the righteous energy of heavenly thunder exploded directly in the zombie's brain.

The zombie didn't even have time to scream before its head exploded like a rotten watermelon, splattering black blood all over the ground.

The remaining zombies broke free of the corpse-suppressing talisman, their blood-red mouths wide open, and lunged at Lin Chen.

As soon as Lin Chen landed, his old strength had dissipated and new strength had not yet been generated, so it was too late for him to dodge.

He simply threw away the wooden sword, turned his hands into claws, grabbed the zombie's wrist, and the two began to wrestle.

The zombies were incredibly strong, and Lin Chen's arm muscles bulged.

"Get out of my way!"

Lin Chen roared and unleashed his strength, actually lifting the several-hundred-pound bronze-armored zombie over his head and throwing it against the rock wall beside him.

With a loud bang.

The rock face was smashed, creating a crater. Debris flew everywhere, and the zombie's spine was shattered by the impact, leaving it paralyzed on the ground, unable to move.

Lin Chen walked over, pulled out the lightning-struck wooden sword stuck in the eye of another zombie, and chopped off the head of the zombie on the ground with one stroke.

After defeating the opponent.

Lin Chen looked towards Master Simu.

Master Four Eyes, wielding a bronze greatsword, subdued the two walking corpses, which had been slashed with more than a dozen cuts, from which black blood flowed.

The most intense battle was on the altar, where Uncle Nine's peach wood sword had broken in two.

The old cripple's rusty iron sword was also full of nicks and chips; the two were completely fighting with magic power and close combat skills.

Although the old cripple had difficulty walking, his movements were extremely strange and his attacks were ruthless.

Lin Chen picked up his sword, ready to step forward and help.

Just then, the old cripple suddenly let out a strange cry, forcing Uncle Nine to retreat to the edge of the black pool in the center of the altar.

"Lin Jiu, you forced me to this!"

The old cripple bit his tongue, spitting a mouthful of black blood into the center of the black pool.

The once calm black pool suddenly began to churn violently, as if the water were boiling, and a powerful pressure emanated from the bottom of the pool.

The underground cavern swayed.

Uncle Nine's expression changed, and he shouted, "Back off! It's coming out!"

The liquid in the black pool swirled into a large vortex, and a thick aura of corpses rushed out.

The old cripple stood by the pool, looking like he was going mad.

"Come out, my baby!"

"Kill them all!"

"Bang!"

With a loud bang, a bronze-horned golden coffin flew out from the center of the vortex.

The coffin lid cracked into several pieces in mid-air, and a tall figure landed straight on the altar.

It was none other than Old Master Ren!

At this time, Old Master Ren looked very different from when he was at the mortuary; most of the black hair on his body had fallen off.

His skin turned bronze, covered with black lines, as if he were wearing bronze armor. His fingernails were half a foot long and curved like hooks. His eyes turned scarlet.

"An armored corpse?" Uncle Nine exclaimed.

The old cripple looked at Old Master Ren and burst into laughter.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

"Lin Jiu, did you see that?"

"This is a perfect masterpiece created by the extreme Yin energy!"

"Go, tear them to pieces!"