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

Within the black fog.

"Sizzle—sizzle—sizzle—"

The monster's head slammed into the surrounding solidified black mist again and again. Each impact caused the once still mist walls to tremble slightly, and transparent cracks spread across the mist walls like a dense spider web.

Wu You stood behind it, stabbing its body again and again with his sword.

Insert it, pull it out. Insert it again, pull it out again.

The wound appears, heals. It appears again, heals again.

It's like trying to chop up a lump of rotten meat that can never be cut open.

"Useless, useless, useless—" the monster laughed as it rammed into the monster, its voice full of mockery. "I already told you, you can't kill me until you're at level three!"

Wu You ignored it.

But his mind was racing.

If this continues, it will eventually run away.

Next time, there won't be such a good opportunity.

This time it was injured, this time it was trapped by the Dark Domain Locker, and this time it just happened to misjudge its own strength—all these conditions combined to force it to this point.

If it gets away, wait until it recovers from its injuries before bringing it back...

Wu You dared not think any further.

He swung his sword while opening the Sword Manual panel.

Sword Master: Wu You

Level: Two

Swordsmanship: Basic Swordsmanship (Mastery) (22/300), Phantom Cloud Swordsmanship (Beginner) (0/500)

Allocable experience points: 160

Ten Thousand Swords Return to the Hidden Realm: 0 (0%)

160 points.

It was from killing those ordinary zombies earlier, a total of sixteen, for a total of 160 experience points.

He stared at the two lines of sword techniques on the panel, his mind racing with calculations.

Fully upgrade the basic swordsmanship? Reaching the next stage after mastering it requires 300 proficiency points. He's currently at level 22; even adding 160 points only brings him to 182, which isn't enough to break through. He'll remain at the master level.

Full-power Phantom Flowing Cloud Sword Technique?

Beginner, 0/500. Even after adding 160 points, I'm still a beginner.

Adding either one won't directly lead to a breakthrough.

Click—click—

A creaking sound, as if it were about to break under the weight, emanated from the surrounding solidified black mist. The cracks grew larger and denser. The blockade device was on the verge of collapse.

The monster noticed it too.

It stopped crashing, hovered in mid-air, and laughed loudly.

"Hahahaha—"

The laughter echoed in the black mist, grating and triumphant.

"See you next time, kid!"

It turned its head, its pure black eyes staring at Wu You with a mocking look in them.

"Don't die, kid." It licked its lips. "Only I can collect your flesh and blood."

Wu You frowned; there was no time to hesitate.

He had a sudden thought.

Allocable experience points: 160 → 0

Phantom Cloud Sword Technique (Beginner) (0/500) → Phantom Cloud Sword Technique (Beginner) (160/500)

boom--

Information flooded in.

It wasn't the massive surge of the past, but a gentler, more ethereal feeling, like the wind blowing, like clouds drifting by, like something gently creeping into my mind.

My heart moves with the clouds, my will roams with the sword.

When dispersed, it fills the universe; when gathered, it concentrates at the tip of a blade.

My body is not real, my sword is not true. What appears on the left is actually on the right; what attacks is in front, what strikes is the body.

A single thought arises and vanishes, and illusions are born...

At the same time, a peculiar power mixed into the cool air within his body.

That power was as clear as the wind and as light as the clouds, seemingly both completely different from the original coolness, yet also as if they were destined to be together.

They met, hovered, and probed within Wu You's body, and then—

Fusion.

It's not the kind of complete fusion, but rather a harmonious blend, where each element is present in the other, and they can function together or function separately.

They do not interfere with each other, yet they respond to each other.

Wu You gripped his sword.

It feels... different now.

The sword was still the same sword, but it seemed lighter, more alive, and more like an extension of my own arm.

Click—click—

The black fog surrounding them was about to break.

A look of joy welled up in the monster's dark eyes.

"Just one more time—"

Without hesitation, it launched a final assault: its head ejected, heading towards the already cracked wall of mist—

But it didn't even get close to the black mist.

Wu You was moved.

It's not about rushing over.

He simply raised his hand and swung his sword.

A streak of grayish-white sword light flashed past.

It was very light, very fast, almost impossible to see its trajectory. It was like a beam of light that drifted off the sword and landed lightly on the monster.

The monster didn't dodge at all; it was even laughing.

"Didn't I already say that..."

It stopped abruptly before it could finish speaking.

The head, still suspended in mid-air, wore a mocking smile, but its pure black eyes suddenly widened, revealing an expression of disbelief.

"What...what is this...?"

A thin line appeared from the very center of its head.

A straight line from top to bottom.

Then, its body split in two from top to bottom.

The two halves of the body fell to either side.

There was no healing, and no granulation tissue was moving.

Only thick plumes of black smoke billowed from the wound, like something burning, evaporating, and utterly disappearing.

Wu You was stunned for a moment.

it works?

He looked down at the sword in his hand.

The chilling aura, infused with that strange power, could inflict irreversible damage on this monster? Wasn't it said that it couldn't be killed unless it reached the third tier? Could it be that this strange power has reached the third tier?

He didn't have time to think it through, rushed forward, and swung his sword several more times.

The grayish-white sword light flashed one after another.

The two halves of the body were cut into several pieces, then into fragments. With each strike, the black smoke grew thicker, and with each strike, the fragments became smaller.

After a while.

Those pure black eyes flashed one last time.

Then it completely disappeared from the world, leaving nothing behind.

Only one message appeared on the Sword Codex panel:

Allocable experience points +800

Wu You stared at the number, stunned for two seconds.

800? ? ?

Eight hundred!!!

He only gets 10 points for killing one ordinary zombie. 800 points is equivalent to killing 80 ordinary zombies!

It's out! This time it's really out!

He stood there, gripping his sword, a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth.

There was a noise behind me.

Old Hu struggled to sit up from the ground. His thigh wound was still bleeding, and his face was deathly pale. But he didn't care about that. He just stared blankly at Wu You and at the empty space.

That third-tier corpse species, that source-level monster that almost swallowed him whole.

Gone.

He was killed by this boy.

His eyes turned fiery.

What does it mean to be able to kill a Tier 3 Corpse? It means that you don't need to hone your skills for several years as a candidate for Torchbearer; you can directly apply to become a Torchbearer!

The torchbearer.

That is the true core strength of the Bureau of Abnormal Investigations—masters who can stand alone and protect a region.

And this boy looks to be only a teenager.

. . .

Beyond the Dark Realm.

Gao Buhuan's face was tense as he stared intently at the countdown on his watch.

She was ready to go in.

The countdown was almost over, and Lao Hu's life-saving light was still on. No matter what happened inside, she had to go in.

drip-drip-

The phone received a message.

She took out her phone and glanced at it.

Then she froze.

On the phone screen, the data from the dark area detector is fluctuating wildly.

Dark energy field strength: is rapidly decreasing.

reduce?

She blinked, thinking she was seeing things.

Looking again, the numbers were still dropping, faster and faster.

"This..." She looked up, "The dark energy field is starting to dissipate?"

The group of people in black trench coats nearby also received the message and all looked down at their phones.

Then they all looked up.

They looked at each other in bewilderment.

"The third-order dark domain energy field... is starting to dissipate?" Someone repeated her words, their tone full of disbelief.

"How is that possible?" another person said. "There are Tier 3 zombies in there!"

"And this rate of dissipation only applies to the elimination of the corpse species..."

He hadn't finished speaking.

Two people suddenly appeared out of thin air not far in front of everyone.

One was standing, and the other was sitting.

The one standing there was a boy, wearing an ordinary T-shirt, holding a silver-gray sword in his hand, the blade still gleaming with a faint grayish-white light.

The one sitting there is Old Hu. His thighs are covered in blood, and his face is deathly pale, but he is still alive.

There is nothing else.

Gao Buhuan opened his mouth.

The others also opened their mouths.

No one spoke.

A night breeze blew by, carrying the coolness of early summer.

A few barks came from afar.

Wu You turned his head and glanced at the group of men and women in black trench coats who were staring in disbelief.

He turned back and looked down at the sword in his hand.

Then he chuckled softly.