The Demonic Cultivator In Zombie World
Chapter 385: Sect Master, Save Me

Chu Xuan watched in silence as Heavenly River True Master was swiftly consumed by the Dark Palace. The entire scene unfolded before him like a nightmare. A chill of foreboding surged within him.

He didn't hesitate for even a second—without turning back, he began to retreat. The sensation of that ghostly hand and the suffocating death aura was all too familiar, reminiscent of the old monster he had encountered in Heaven-Three City. His instincts proved true—the Dark Palace was connected to that old monster!

Thank goodness, he had always been cautious, never one to venture into the unknown. Had he been reckless, he would have already fallen prey.

Seeing Chu Xuan's swift retreat, Shang Xingchen and Wei Ji exchanged a quick glance before immediately employing their own escape techniques. Not far away, the faces of Shangguan He, Kang Jia, and others had turned ashen. Without a moment's hesitation, they turned and fled.

This place was another trap—there was no time to waste.

"Since you've come all this way, why not stay for a while? Join me in my belly. How delightful it will be!"

The voice that echoed from the Dark Palace was grotesque, a chilling, malicious laugh that sent shivers down the spine.

Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet trembled violently again. From the depths of the earth, massive tree roots shot out like serpents, twisting and coiling as they struck at the fleeing cultivators.

Chu Xuan's brows twitched involuntarily. Without a moment's thought, he flickered into motion, narrowly avoiding one of the tree roots that swung toward him with terrifying speed.

Boom!

The massive root slammed down where he had stood just moments ago, creating a deep ravine in the earth—more than three zhang deep. The ground, which had been solid and hardened over hundreds of thousands of years, was torn apart as if it were paper.

The surrounding landscape, formed by the condensed earth and rock of the extraterritorial battlefield, had been worn down by the passing of time. A strike from a Nascent Soul cultivator would only shatter a few stones, at most. But the force behind these tree roots was at least on par with an early-stage Deity Transformation cultivator.

"Ahhh!"

A scream pierced the air nearby. Chu Xuan didn't even glance over—he knew immediately that a Nascent Soul cultivator had failed to dodge in time and had been crushed by one of the roots. The person's body was undoubtedly reduced to a bloody pulp, a mixture of torn clothing and shattered bones.

Chu Xuan, however, was no stranger to the Taotie Tree. He had planted one on a small island on Blue Star. In the beginning, the tree's aggression had been intense, and he had spent quite a bit of time sparring with it. Over time, he had come to understand its patterns and rhythms. Dodging its strikes had become second nature to him.

He knew exactly how to read its attacks.

As another massive root shot toward him, Chu Xuan effortlessly sidestepped, his movements smooth and precise. The Taotie Tree's hunger was insatiable, but his experience with it made it easy to avoid the wrath of its vicious assault.

"Why is this person able to control the Taotie Tree?" Chu Xuan wondered, evading another vicious strike from the Taotie Tree. His mind was a whirlwind of thoughts, but after some contemplation, he could only sigh in resignation. There were so many things he could not understand in this world—like the true origins of the extraterritorial battlefield, the source of the Taotie Tree, or the true identity of the old monster.

Shang Xingchen and Wei Ji were following closely behind Chu Xuan. At first, both were struggling to avoid the relentless attacks of the Taotie Tree, narrowly escaping death multiple times. They had come dangerously close to becoming nothing more than paste.

However, Shang Xingchen quickly noticed Chu Xuan's graceful movements, slipping through the Taotie Tree's strikes with ease. It was as though he had already discerned the rhythm of the attacks, moving with practiced fluidity.

Shang Xingchen's eyes narrowed as he focused on Chu Xuan. In less than a hundred breaths, he had gone from cautiously dodging to confidently evading each strike, as though he too could now follow the tree's patterns. With each leap and dodge, he mimicked Chu Xuan's motions.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

Wei Ji was suddenly flung into the air by a shockwave generated by a Taotie Tree root. Spitting dirt from his mouth, he looked on in awe as Chu Xuan and Shang Xingchen moved with the elegance of dancing dragons, effortlessly weaving between the roots. His jaw dropped in astonishment.

"Teach me!" Wei Ji cried out, desperation lacing his voice.

Shang Xingchen didn't look back but called out loudly, "If you can see the rhythm of the Taotie Tree's attacks, you'll survive."

With that, he accelerated, flying even faster. Wei Ji gritted his teeth, barely able to grasp the full extent of the situation before another root slammed down from above.

"Damn it…" Wei Ji cursed under his breath, only to be sent flying once again, crashing into a cloud of dust and rock.

The Taotie Tree roots continued to rain down relentlessly. Despite their best efforts, Chu Xuan and the others were barely able to make any progress. Instead, they found themselves surrounded by a growing number of dark shapes. Chu Xuan's heart sank as he recognized what they were.

They were the Wood Corpses—foul, reanimated husks of the dead. Among them were the dreaded Nether Crocodiles, the Dark Nether Hawks, and various other demonic beasts, not to mention the fallen cultivators.

These Wood Corpses had been hidden within every stone, buried beneath every inch of ground, and now, like hungry beasts smelling blood, they surged forth with ravenous hunger, intent on devouring everything in their path.

Chu Xuan gritted his teeth and raised his hand. The Ice God Pillar shot up, a towering column of frozen power, smashing through the nearest Wood Corpses and sending them flying in all directions.

But Shang Xingchen wasn't so fortunate. His surroundings were flooded with even more Wood Corpses—over sixty, to be precise. Among them was a particularly menacing figure, one that had once been a Deity Transformation cultivator, now reduced to a soulless corpse. This one, no doubt, had fallen in the long and bloody years of the Heavenly Metal Battlefield, and now it was under the control of the Taotie Tree.

The situation was becoming more dire by the moment. The Taotie Tree was not just a simple enemy; it was a malevolent force that had manipulated the dead, drawing from a pool of ancient corpses to form a terrifying army. Even the best of them—cultivators at the Deity Transformation stage—had become little more than pawns, caught in a web they could not escape.

Chu Xuan's mind raced, but his focus remained sharp. The Ice God Pillar was a potent weapon, but it was only a temporary measure. If they didn't find a way to break free from the Taotie Tree's control, they would soon be overwhelmed by the sheer number of Wood Corpses closing in on them.

Shang Xingchen's expression changed slightly. Without hesitation, he summoned two small shields, magic treasures, to block himself. Pouring his Spiritual Qi into them, he shouted, "Sect Master, save me!"

Chu Xuan, however, ignored the plea and continued to fly forward.

Shang Xingchen gritted his teeth, pouring even more Spiritual Qi into the shields as he cried out once again, "I'll give you the formulas for the Great Soul Spirit Pill, the Boiling Blood True Pill, and the Focus Spirit Pill! I'll also give you the inheritance of the Supreme Bliss Pill King!"

At this, Chu Xuan abruptly stopped, turned around, and shot back toward him. "Ah, Fellow Daoist Shang, your call for help was too soft. I didn't hear it properly! I'm coming now, Fellow Daoist Shang, hold on!"

Shang Xingchen couldn't help but grit his teeth in frustration. His situation was becoming increasingly dire, and yet, Chu Xuan's nonchalant tone seemed to add salt to the wound.

Chu Xuan stretched out his hand, and the Ice God Pillar rose suddenly, slamming into the Wood Corpses before him, sending them flying. Around him, the Evil Soul Chain whirled, felling everything in their path.

The Evil Soul Chain coiled like a giant black serpent, strangling any Wood Corpses that attempted to approach. The steel wires, invisible to the eye, sliced through the corpses with terrifying precision, tearing them into dozens of pieces.

In that moment, Chu Xuan displayed an astonishing level of lethality. Everywhere he passed, the ground was littered with the scattered limbs and shattered bodies of the Wood Corpses.

One particularly powerful Wood Corpse, with strength rivaling that of a Deity Transformation cultivator in the early stages, roared and swung its fists toward him. Chu Xuan didn't even consider fighting it head-on. Instead, he expelled Nascent Soul essence, performing a quick teleportation to the left.

"Great Extinguishing Thunder Fist!" Chu Xuan shouted as his fist erupted with immense power, obliterating the Wood Corpses in front of him and tearing open a gap.

Without hesitation, Shang Xingchen tossed a spiritual sense jade slip toward Chu Xuan, then followed, flying at top speed. He knew exactly what Chu Xuan was after, and the situation left him no room to delay.

Shang Xingchen could tell that although he still had the strength of a Nascent Soul cultivator at the early stage, he was barely holding on, keeping a part of his power hidden.

Meanwhile, Chu Xuan's previous strikes carried the force of a Nascent Soul cultivator in the late stage, while his aura remained at the mid-Golden Core stage, clearly hiding most of his strength. If he didn't hand over the object immediately, his life might be forfeit.

The two of them simultaneously consumed Nascent Soul essence and used teleportation to avoid the Deity Transformation early-stage Wood Corpse's attack. They twisted their bodies, darting off in separate directions to escape.

The Deity Transformation early-stage Wood Corpse howled in frustration, unsure who to chase. At that very moment, Wei Ji, injured and barely managing to stand, looked up. His eyes met those of the Wood Corpse in an unexpected moment of stillness. For a brief instant, everything seemed to quiet down.

Then, the Wood Corpse let out a furious roar and stomped the ground, charging toward Wei Ji.

"Damn…" Wei Ji cursed bitterly, and without further hesitation, he turned and fled.