Chapter 89: Ma Yi Battles the Corpse King

Just as Ma Yi had anticipated, these advanced zombies were indeed powerful, but utterly incapable of any strange techniques. Their combat was nothing more than brute force clashing against brute force. Secret skills belonged solely to humanity, products of their own research into slashing techniques. Even those slashes owed their existence to thousands of years of cultural inheritance—wasn’t this simply the sword aura from martial arts tales?

The shockwave seemed akin to the so-called internal martial arts of ancient times, though its form was different. It was the third day of battle at the first line of defense. Zombies possessed astonishing endurance. So far, Ma Yi hadn’t discovered any creature whose stamina surpassed theirs—they could go a month without food or water, march endlessly without sleep. Sometimes, Ma Yi felt as though fate itself intended for humans to become zombies. This thought had plagued him long before this great war erupted.

Moreover, in these past days, Ma Yi sensed something watching him, or perhaps observing the battle itself. He’d tried several times to grasp the source of this feeling, but found no way to do so, unable to tell where it originated. He even asked Ru Hua, but she felt nothing, leaving Ma Yi to believe he was slowly uncovering the truth. Yet new questions arose in his mind: how could the ancient Eight Tribes, inheritors of tens of thousands of years, coincidentally witness the world’s collapse, and moreover, how could the so-called forbidden land’s corpse beasts so resemble zombies? What was happening? Ma Yi felt his mind was overwhelmed; all he could do now was meet each challenge as it came.

News from Swiftwind reported that in three days, Iron Pillar and Erha, using their superior strength, had eliminated nearly 1.7 million advanced zombie soldiers at the first line of defense. It could almost be said that each of their own warriors had claimed at least three lives of equal-level zombie soldiers, with some exceptional fighters boasting over ten.

“Tell Iron Pillar—if he spots the enemy corpse king, don’t confront it directly. If things look bad, begin retreating.” Ma Yi judged that after three days, the enemy corpse king must be impatient, and would surely deploy their most elite warriors.

Upon receiving the order, Iron Pillar, together with Erha, kept watch on the battle atop the slope. In three days, the slope had all but disappeared, trampled down by more than a million high-level enemy soldiers, leaving only a few meters of height, and in some places, even lower than the edge of the deep pit—a result of the relentless fighting.

Throughout, Iron Pillar and Erha had never truly joined the fray; instead, they observed their subordinates’ battles and adjusted the formations accordingly. Both were terrifying beings of the eighth level, and showed little interest in opponents several levels below.

At last, they saw the opposing corpse king. The moment they laid eyes on it, Iron Pillar was stunned, and Erha was speechless—not because of the king’s strength, which perhaps surpassed theirs but was still far inferior to their leader—but because the corpse king was not in human form. Though guarded by humanoid elite fighters, it was unmistakably a massive lizard. The enemy corpse king, wings folded, lounged lazily on a towering golden throne, clutching a huge crystal goblet filled with some unknown red liquid.

With each breath, small flames burst forth from its mouth and nose, and red light flickered constantly between its armored scales.

“So that’s the enemy corpse king?” Iron Pillar stared in astonishment at the giant creature, estimating it to be at least a dozen meters in size.

“Look at all those eighth-level guys surrounding it—it can’t be anyone else. My goodness, isn’t that just a monster?” Erha muttered, clearly shaken. This was his first time seeing a corpse king in this form, and it was a terrifying presence right from the start.

“What now? Hold the line, or fall back?” Iron Pillar glanced at Erha. There were unexpectedly many eighth-level warriors on the enemy side, a clear advantage gained by sheer numbers.

“Forget it. Didn’t the boss say, if you see the enemy corpse king, retreat? Let’s pull back—the enemy has a dozen or so of equal-level fighters, and we only have the two of us. Their corpse king is just watching; how are we supposed to fight?” As soon as Erha finished speaking, Iron Pillar nodded and ordered all warriors to retreat together.

“Retreating?” The dragon opened its mouth, speaking in human tongue. Flames and smoke billowed from its mouth and nose, its pupils locked firmly onto the retreating opponents.

“Charge! Leave none behind!” The dragon corpse king, annoyed at having been stalled by these hundreds of thousands for three days and nights, gave the order. It had brought such a massive force, only to lose millions without gaining an inch of advantage.

Upon receiving the order, all zombie soldiers roared and charged forward. The advanced ones leapt across, while the lesser zombies continued filling the deep pit. Those burned to charcoal below remained glowing red, but the influx of new low-level zombies was so great that the fire could not keep up.

“Time to move.” Ma Yi, seemingly inactive in the villa, sprang into action as soon as he saw the first line of defense retreating. After issuing instructions via the radio, he soared into the sky, flying toward his own retreating fighters.

“Hm?” The dragon corpse king, leisurely savoring the liquid in its crystal goblet, suddenly sensed something. It looked up—a small black dot was speeding through the air toward him.

“Interesting!” A sinister smile appeared on the dragon corpse king’s scaly face as it gently set down the goblet and slowly rose from the golden throne.

“Keep attacking!” With a command, it spread its wings—over twenty meters wide—and leapt into the air, flapping powerfully to accelerate its flight.

Passing over the retreating warriors of the Peerless Legion, the dragon corpse king wore a wicked smile, opening its mouth wide.

“You dare!” Ma Yi shouted furiously, doubling his speed, but he was still a moment too late. At least several hundred fifth-level warriors were incinerated by fire columns from the dragon corpse king’s mouth.

Enraged, Ma Yi’s body grew larger—at the terrifying level, he now stood over fifteen meters tall. His enormous fist, crackling with silver lightning, slammed into the dragon corpse king’s head, knocking its tongue out and splattering magma-like blood.

Reeling from the blow, the dragon corpse king staggered back several meters in midair before shaking its head and fixing its gaze on Ma Yi. Now Ma Yi, at fifteen meters, was only slightly smaller, and, bizarrely, stood in midair without wings. Lightning danced across his massive frame, his aura no less intimidating. A huge arc of electricity, like a flowing ribbon, wrapped around his body, making the dragon corpse king deeply wary.

“How dare you harm my warriors!” Ma Yi gave the corpse king no time to react. After landing the first punch, he instantly appeared before it, raining gigantic fists down on its head like a storm.

The dragon corpse king roared, finally snapping out of its daze. Its initial blow had landed because it was preoccupied with slaughtering ground troops and hadn’t noticed this small figure. Now that its attention was focused, it wouldn’t be caught off guard again. It sprayed a column of fire at Ma Yi, while its claws lunged for his chest under cover of the flames.

Ma Yi was no fool—the fire looked merely red, but its temperature was extremely high. Though his defenses could withstand it, he saw no reason to take the hit needlessly. With a swift uppercut, he struck the dragon corpse king’s jaw, blocking the fire with his left arm. The heat was intense, but Ma Yi had underestimated this cunning opponent. The dragon’s sharp claws sliced across Ma Yi’s chest, leaving three deep wounds.

The dragon corpse king felt a sharp pain in its jaw, nearly biting off its own tongue, but fortunately only grazed some flesh.

Its army, relying on sheer numbers, was gradually filling the deep pit, and the sea of corpses surged toward the villa.

Iron Pillar and Erha, as their leaders battled in the sky, had already reached the second line of defense. Compared to the first, this one was wider. They looked up at the two terrifying bosses in aerial combat—no tricks, just pure brawling. At this level, close combat was the most direct and effective method, reminiscent of a game where two characters’ ranged abilities cancel each other out, leaving only their close-range skills and techniques to determine the outcome.

“Incredible!” Iron Pillar smacked his lips in admiration, watching the two terrifying beings in the sky. From his vantage point, he could see faint shockwaves radiating outward with each clash.

“Of course! They’re both terrifying-level existences. No worries—if we work hard, we’ll be at the terrifying level next.” Erha nodded, encouraging Iron Pillar.

Inside the villa, Liu Wen’s parents, Liu Wen, Ru Hua, Liu Xue, and others stood on the balcony, gazing at the distant aerial battle. To ordinary eyes like Liu Guoliang’s, nothing was clear; he could only hear the relentless, drum-like sounds booming from far above.

Liu Wen’s mother, Chen Fang, could barely make out something in the sky, mostly relying on the muffled thuds of fist striking flesh.

Liu Wen and Liu Xue, the sisters, occasionally caught glimpses during brief pauses in the fight, but the speed was so great they couldn’t discern details—only a vague sense that the enemy was not human.

Ru Hua, on the verge of entering the terrifying level herself, was the only one in the villa able to see the two combatants clearly. One, magma spilling from its scales, covered its body for protection, resembled a fire demon. Ma Yi, wreathed in thunder, glared fiercely—like a fallen thunder god. Amid high-intensity blows, both sustained injuries, but it was obvious which was worse: the dragon corpse king’s wings were tattered, its scales falling in droves. Clearly, it had suffered the heavier wounds.