The undead have descended upon the world? I possess a sword that can cleave the heavens once more!

Above the stronghold, Elder Wei and several torchbearers with three sword-shaped golden bars on their shoulders hovered in mid-air.

"Five to seven Rank 10 corpses, and an unknown number, but definitely more than ten Rank 9 corpses..."

"Even if they are all Lustful Corpse Species with relatively weak combat power, I'm afraid they are not something we individuals can contend with."

Beside Old Wei, a middle-aged man in a black trench coat with a square face and high brow bones, wearing three sword-shaped gold epaulets, spoke solemnly to the crowd.

After he finished speaking, the other torchbearers, who wore three sword-shaped gold epaulets, also nodded solemnly.

"really!"

"We only have one Tier 10 combatant on our side, Commander Wei, and only five Tier 9 combatants."

"Facing so many super-high-level corpse species directly would probably be beyond our capabilities."

Another man in a black trench coat with three gold bars took over the conversation.

"Moreover, with the riots in the restricted area, it's estimated that they definitely won't be able to spare any manpower on the border side."

Upon hearing their words, Old Wei frowned deeply.

But then, as if struck by a sudden thought, he shook his head.

Everyone was taken aback upon seeing this. One of the torchbearers, who also wore three sword-shaped gold shoulder insignia, couldn't help but ask, "Commander Wei, do we have other reinforcements?"

Old Wei shook his head again: "I haven't received any news about support."

"So, why did you shake your head just now...?"

"You just misspoke in one place."

As he said this, Old Wei seemed to be thinking of someone, and his tightly furrowed brows relaxed a little.

Upon hearing Elder Wei's words, everyone exchanged glances.

"Wei Zhenshou, what do you mean by 'there's something wrong'?" The square-faced ninth-rank torchbearer spoke again.

"We now have more than five ninth-tier combatants on our side."

Upon hearing this, the five torchbearers, each carrying a golden sword-shaped staff, exchanged glances again. Then, one of them spoke up: "Could it be that Hu Lie has broken through to the Void Realm?"

Elder Wei shook his head again: "Although Hu Lie is very close to the Void Realm, he still needs at least two weeks to truly break through."

The five Void Realm cultivators in black trench coats were somewhat puzzled: "Then it seems we don't have any other eighth-tier cultivators who are very close to the Void Realm here, right?"

"Who exactly broke through the illusion without a sound?"

The five looked at Old Wei with some curiosity.

Old Wei simply smiled and said, "A young man you've never met before."

"Someone we haven't seen before?" The square-faced torchbearer repeated the word, his brow furrowing slightly. "Logically, this shouldn't be the case. Are there any eighth-tier beings in this stronghold that we haven't seen before?"

"And young people? How young are they?"

Old Wei nodded: "Are this year's newly selected trainees young enough?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was taken aback.

This year's pre-selected students? Ninth-tier Void Realm?

Is there some misunderstanding when these two words are put together?

Aren't the pre-selected trainees supposed to be under 25 years old?

A false appearance under the age of 25?

Is that correct?

Old Wei didn't say anything more, but simply raised and lowered his hands slightly: "You'll see this person soon. Now let's discuss how to deal with the upcoming zombie horde."

The five ninth-tier torchbearers also brought their thoughts back to the present.

Although there is an additional ninth-tier combatant, it still cannot play a decisive role in the current situation.

After all, it's only at the ninth rank.

But Old Wei continued speaking.

"To activate the stronghold's defensive ritual, all the portals on the city walls must also be closed."

"But now, at least a hundred of our comrades are still outside the stronghold and have not returned."

"And judging by the movement speed of those corpses, it will be at most half an hour later."

"They will then reach the walls of the stronghold."

Upon hearing this, everyone's expressions turned serious once again.

Hundreds of comrades-in-arms—that's no small number!

Those who can enter Jiuli are all geniuses selected from various regions.

Losing any one of them would be an irreparable loss!

They were silent for a moment, then the square-faced middle-aged man in a black trench coat, wearing three sword-shaped gold epaulets, spoke up: "I have an idea."

His voice was exceptionally clear in the quiet air, and everyone suspended in mid-air looked in his direction.

"We will select one person to guard the outpost and be responsible for activating the outpost rituals."

"The rest of you leave the base and disperse to search various danger zones near it, to see if you can rescue some of your comrades."

"Minimize personnel losses as much as possible!"

Old Wei was the first to shake his head: "I'm afraid that won't work."

His voice was a little heavier than before.

All eyes turned to Old Wei.

Old Wei simply gazed towards the area outside the stronghold's walls and uttered a somewhat alarming statement: "The Dark Mist Tide might arrive ahead of schedule today!"

Everyone was startled upon hearing this and quickly looked towards the direction outside the city wall.

That was a Class C danger zone near the base, which should have been a relatively safe area with light fog.

But at this moment, the dark fog there is also becoming thicker and denser at an extremely rapid pace!

This is the most obvious sign of the dark fog tide!

The appearance of such a precursor usually means that the dark fog tide will not be more than 15 minutes away from its full eruption!

"I checked the forecast when I woke up this morning, and there should have been two more hours!"

"Why did the Dark Fog Tide suddenly arrive early today?"

"Now, there are less than fifteen minutes left..."

Someone said in a low voice, their tone tinged with confusion and helplessness.

Everyone's face was solemn with disbelief.

Old Wei looked at the ever-thickening, gray-black mist outside the city walls, his eyes flickering: "Those corpses in the S-level restricted area chose this time to start their uprising; they must have some purpose."

"It is estimated that the abnormality of the dark fog tide is also related to them."

The crowd's gazes darkened once more.

During the Dark Mist Tide, not only will the strength of the Corpse Species in the Deep Dark Domain increase significantly.

Those corpses soaked in the dark mist tide will become more ferocious, faster, and more difficult to deal with.

Moreover, during the Dark Fog Tide, almost all of their means of communication will be rendered ineffective!

This means that once you go out, if anything happens, you'll be completely helpless!

The danger level has increased dramatically!

At the same time, during the Dark Fog Tide, visibility in the deep dark domain will decrease significantly, and normal sense of direction will also be affected!

If you're not careful, you could easily lose your way in the thick fog!

Normally, as long as one doesn't get lost in the S-class restricted area, there's still a chance to survive.

But that was normal. In today's world, where super-high-level zombie species could appear at any time, and where dark mist tides and zombie hordes arrive simultaneously, everyone is well aware of what losing one's way means.

The atmosphere grew even heavier.

Old Wei looked at everyone, and then finally spoke: "You will stay in the stronghold and be responsible for its defense."

"I'm going out to rescue some people."

As soon as Elder Wei said this, everyone immediately objected, saying, "Absolutely not!"

"Wei Zhenshou, you are in charge of this stronghold and are responsible for all matters within it."

"If anything happens to you..."

Before they could finish speaking, Old Wei waved his hand and said, "We can't just watch those seeds go to waste like that."

"Besides, with my True Yang Realm strength, as long as I don't encounter the main force of the corpse species breaking out from the border, I should be fine. And my speed is comparable to..."

His voice trailed off halfway through his sentence.

His ears suddenly twitched, as if he had heard something.

He then immediately stepped off the ground and landed quickly next to several torchbearers who had just returned from outside the stronghold.

Those people were still panting, some covered in dust, some with their collars soaked with sweat, and some were still looking back in the direction they came from.

When Old Wei landed in front of them, the torchbearers were taken aback at first, then recognized him and instinctively stood up straight.

But Old Wei didn't give them a chance to speak. His voice, tinged with urgency, cut off their lips as they opened them: "You just said you saw a white-haired figure heading out of the stronghold?"

His gaze fell on the torchbearer who had just been talking to his companion.

Upon hearing Elder Wei's question, the man nodded subconsciously.