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

Despite his doubts, Hu Lie did not question what Wang Qi had said.

An army of undead that obeys commands and forms a faction may contain extremely high-ranking undead.

Realizing the seriousness of the situation, he immediately waved to Zhao Xuan, who was in mid-air.

Upon seeing this, Zhao Xuan immediately stepped into the air and landed next to Hu Lie and the other two.

Upon seeing the three sword-shaped golden bars on Zhao Xuan's shoulders, Wang Qi and Gongsun Baizhan immediately saluted Zhao Xuan.

"Lord Impermanence!"

"Lord Impermanence!"

Zhao Xuan nodded to the two of them before turning to Hu Lie and asking, "What's wrong?"

Hu Lie relayed the entire situation to him.

After listening, Zhao Xuan suddenly remembered what Elder Wei had said earlier: there are more than five ninth-tier combatants at this stronghold.

Then they asked Elder Wei who had broken through the illusion without making a sound; at the time, they suspected it was Hu Lie.

But Mr. Wei said: It's a young man who just joined this year.

Now it seems that what Elder Wei was referring to was the student chief named Wu You.

Zhao Xuan's reaction was similar to Zhu Yuanzhi's earlier; he frowned and said, "Too impulsive!"

"Having just broken through to the ninth rank, he dares to directly confront an army of corpses with at least a ninth-rank corpse commander!"

"And this happened during the eruption of the Dark Mist Tide!"

Upon hearing this, Hu Lie scratched his head sheepishly: "Old Zhao, Xiao You just has a strong killing instinct towards the corpse species..."

He wanted to say a few words to defend Wu You, but Zhao Xuan interrupted him before he could finish: "I hope Elder Wei can bring him back safely."

"Otherwise, our situation will be in serious trouble!"

Hu Lie naturally understood what the other party meant.

Because Wu You went out without permission, Wei Lao, who was the highest-ranking combatant guarding the stronghold, had to go out to search for him, which was indeed extremely detrimental to the overall situation of the stronghold.

Then, before Hu Lie could say anything more, Zhao Xuan glanced at Wang Qi and the other man, and said to them, "This is very important intelligence. After this battle, you will receive corresponding contribution points in your personal accounts."

After saying that, he took to the air and moved towards Zhu Yuanzhi.

After Zhao Xuan left, Hu Lie took out some special medicinal herbs for them to eat, and then simply treated their external wounds.

After doing all this, Hu Lie stood up and said to the two of them, "The situation is special right now, so you should rest here for the time being."

Wang Qi and Gongsun Baizhan both nodded: "Thank you, Uncle Hu/Mentor Hu."

. . .

On the other side, Zhu Yuanzhi stood in mid-air, his gaze still fixed on the churning dark gray fog outside the wall.

He had just heard Zhao Xuan's report when his brows furrowed deeply: "One person against an entire army of zombies!"

"Who does he think he is!"

"Although he has broken through to the ninth rank at such a young age, that is no excuse for his unauthorized actions!"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xuan, who had been quite displeased upon hearing the news, now spoke up for Wu You, saying, "He's a young man, and a genius at that. He just joined Jiuli and doesn't know his own limitations yet, so it's inevitable that he'll be a bit impulsive."

"I understand."

He paused for a moment, as if searching for the right words: "Right now, the main thing is to consider how to handle it."

"Given Elder Wei's cautious nature, he certainly won't get entangled with that army of corpses for long, after all, there are still several 10th-tier corpses lurking outside."

"So the best-case scenario right now is to wait for Elder Wei to bring back that genius named Wu You, and then we can immediately close the teleportation gate on the city wall and activate the city protection ritual."

"But that's only the ideal scenario."

"Those zombies are definitely not just one large army."

"What if the rest of the zombie army arrives at the stronghold before Elder Wei..."

"Or perhaps something even worse—"

"That army of zombies, together with other zombie armies, surrounded Elder Wei and his group..."

He didn't finish his sentence, but there was no need to say anything more.

Hearing what Zhao Xuan hadn't finished saying, Zhu Yuanzhi naturally understood that he had to make a decision as soon as possible.

If we wait until those terrible situations actually happen, the outpost will be in danger.

He paused for a moment, then looked at the mobile device in his hand and said something Zhao Xuan had never expected:

"I'll go out and meet Old Wei and the others."

"Two minutes from now, regardless of whether we return or not, you must seal the portal on the city wall and then activate the city protection ritual."

Zhao Xuan was stunned for less than a fraction of a second before he immediately reacted: "Old Zhu, Old Wei appointed you as the temporary person in charge of the stronghold! What are you doing! Are you abandoning your post?!"

Zhu Yuanzhi simply shook his head, his tone calm: "Everything at the base is almost settled now. I've completed the task Elder Wei assigned me."

"Moreover, once the city protection ritual is activated, it won't make much difference whether there's one more or one less ninth-tier member in the stronghold."

"But Elder Wei is unaware of the situation, which may be exactly when he needs support."

"Old Wei is very important, and that incredibly talented young man is also very important."

He paused for a moment, then added:

"Furthermore, judging from the information brought back by those two comrades, the place where Elder Wei and the army of corpses are located should not be too far from the stronghold. We can definitely try to go and provide support."

Zhao Xuan was about to speak: "Then let's all go together..."

Before he could finish speaking, Zhu Yuanzhi interrupted him:

"I've calculated it. Maintaining the main node of the city protection ritual will require about three Tier 9 nodes, plus one Tier 9 node that can support various locations as an emergency measure."

"The four of you are sufficient to maintain the city's protective rituals and handle most situations."

"Moreover, my strength is slightly superior to yours, and I am more flexible and mobile if I go alone."

"So going is the best option for me."

Zhao Xuan looked at him and suddenly realized that he couldn't say anything to refute him.

Zhu Yuanzhi, along with himself and several other ninth-rank colleagues, were all the same kind of people.

Although it was certainly inappropriate for the young man named Wu You to act without authorization, this does not diminish his importance.

They all knew what such a young ninth-ranked individual represented.

So they may talk a lot, but when it comes to taking action, they won't hesitate for a second.

Just like Elder Wei, so too are they.

Zhao Xuan sighed, wanting to say something, but suddenly noticed that Zhu Yuanzhi next to him had started staring blankly in a certain direction outside the city wall.

He immediately followed Zhu Yuanzhi's gaze.

The next moment, he was stunned:

Two streaks of light, one emerald green and the other silvery white, were seen rapidly passing through the layers of dark fog outside the stronghold, quickly approaching the stronghold.

The two streaks of light stood out vividly against the dark gray background, as if someone had drawn two bright lines in the thick fog that would never be covered up.

Zhao Xuan's pupils contracted slightly, and Zhu Yuanzhi's gaze also froze. Neither of them spoke, but they simply watched the two beams of light getting closer and closer, temporarily putting aside all the words they had just spoken.

. . . . . .

(I have to take a break today, so there's only one chapter for now (〒︿〒). I'll make up for it later when I have time.)

(The situation can only be described with a line from a song: You said you were too busy with work and had to work overtime until late at night (╥﹏╥))