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

Wu You frowned slightly.

The moment that sticky sensation enveloped him, the chill within his body jolted—not out of alertness, but more like an instinctive reaction. Unlike the feeling of being pulled by the corpses before, this time, the chill carried a... disgust?

He did not resist.

The next moment, the scenery changed abruptly.

Black fog, swirling black fog that filled the sky.

At the same time, black mist was flying everywhere.

The black mist resembled countless twisted snakes, intertwining and coiling in the air, obscuring the sky and the sun. Each wisp was writhing, as if it had its own life.

Deep within that black mist, a blurry outline could be vaguely seen—radiating the aura of a third-tier being.

Wu You glanced around and saw someone not far away.

A young man, covered in wounds, was struggling to move through the black mist. He was fast, his feet barely touching the ground, but the black mist was even faster. Every time he dodged one, three more would swarm in from other directions. He was already in grave danger.

Xu Ji also saw Wu You.

In that instant, he saw the badge on the other person's chest—a small, plain torch with bronze trim.

Torchbearer!

They are the torchbearers!

He opened his mouth, as if to shout something. But the next second, the black mist seemed to have discovered new prey, and a large portion of it surged towards Wu You, covering the sky.

"careful--"

He hadn't finished speaking.

A sky filled with gray-white sword light.

At that moment, Xu Ji thought he was seeing things.

Countless sword lights appeared simultaneously, weaving an impenetrable net before his eyes. Each sword light precisely struck a wisp of black energy, and each wisp of black energy that was struck instantly disintegrated.

It was just a fleeting moment.

The black mist that filled the sky was cleaved into pieces.

Wu You stood holding his sword, the blade still bearing a faint grayish-white halo.

The third-tier corpse was clearly stunned for a moment.

Then it seemed to get angry.

The remaining black energy surged wildly, reformed, and transformed into countless thicker and faster tentacles, attacking Wu You from all directions.

One, two, ten, a hundred—each one was as fast as lightning, each one carried a sharp killing intent.

Wu You didn't move.

He simply gripped his sword tighter.

next second.

A gray-white sword light appeared.

This time, Xu Ji saw it clearly—it wasn't just one sword light, but many, many sword lights. Each sword light met a black mist, and each black mist was cut off by a single sword. The black mist was fast, but the sword lights were even faster; the more black mist there was, the more sword lights there were.

One sword can shatter all laws.

After the three sword strikes, the black mist that filled the sky dissipated completely.

The third-tier corpse finally started to panic.

It wanted to run away.

The remaining black energy recoiled wildly, forming clusters of black energy in an attempt to conceal its true form.

But it's too late.

Wu You's gaze had already locked onto it.

A flash of grayish-white sword light passed by.

That sword strike was as fast as light itself.

The sword sliced ​​through the black mist, through the air, and through the layers of black energy defense, striking precisely the body hidden within.

From the middle.

split into two.

The corpse remained frozen in place, in a fleeing posture. It looked down at the crack running from its head to its abdomen, its pure black eyes filled with disbelief.

Then it tries to heal.

The granulation tissue at the edges of the wounds writhed frantically, trying to reconnect—but to no avail.

A grayish-white light clung to the wound, burning every inch of flesh that was trying to heal like flames. The granulation tissue that had just emerged turned into black smoke as soon as it appeared.

It opened its mouth, as if to say something.

He didn't say anything.

It gave a look of resentment, and then the next moment...

boom--

His entire body turned into black smoke and completely dissipated.

Allocable experience points +500

Then, the black mist, symbolizing the dark realm, began to dissipate.

. . .

Xu Ji stood there blankly.

He stared wide-eyed, mouth agape, at the figure wielding the sword, utterly incredulous.

The scene from just now kept replaying in his mind.

The sky was filled with black mist and countless sword lights. One sword cut it all down, then another, and another—the last sword cleaved the third-tier corpse creature in two, rendering it unable to regenerate.

Is this... the strength of the official torchbearer?

He looked down at his own injuries, then at the figure, and suddenly felt that his experience over the past week was a joke.

Just then.

boom.

A muffled thud came from the side.

Xu Ji turned his head to look.

A cloud of black mist was dissipating, and a figure fell out of it and crashed to the ground.

He was a man in his thirties, covered in blood, his black trench coat tattered, and his face as pale as paper.

Xu Ji's pupils suddenly contracted.

"Brother Peng—!"

He rushed over, knelt on the ground, and hugged the blood-covered man tightly. The tall man, over six feet tall, was trembling all over, and tears streamed down his face.

"Brother Peng... Brother Peng..."

He cried so hard he couldn't speak, he could only call out again and again.

Peng Yong remained motionless.

Xu Ji's tears flowed even more fiercely, and he sobbed loudly like a child.

Then the "corpse" in his arms moved.

"He's...not dead yet..."

A weak voice came out, tinged with helplessness.

"I...I think...I can still be saved..."

Xu Ji was stunned.

He looked down and saw Peng Yong opening one eye and looking at him.

Although his face was deathly pale and he was covered in blood, his eyes were indeed open and he was looking at him.

"It...it wants more...more negative emotions, so—"

It turned out that the corpse didn't kill Peng Yong directly in order to absorb more negative emotions, but instead chose to torture him little by little.

However, it was precisely because of this that Peng Yong was able to survive.

Xu Ji's expression instantly became extremely interesting.

Tears still clung to her lips, snot still dripped from her nose, but the corners of her mouth had begun to turn upwards, a mixture of crying and laughing. Finally, she collapsed to the ground, laughing and crying at the same time, repeatedly muttering the same sentence:

"It's good that you're alive... Brother Peng, it's good that you're alive..."

Peng Yong rolled his eyes at the sight of him, but still managed a weak smile.

. . . . . .

The Dark Domain has completely dissipated.

The three returned to the real world—next to a remote, abandoned factory.

Xu Ji helped Peng Yong sit down against the wall, then turned to look at Wu You.

"My lord..." he took a deep breath, his voice still choked with emotion, "Thank you so much for saving my life!"

Peng Yong also struggled to stand up and express his gratitude, but Wu You stopped him by raising his hand.

"Don't move," Wu You said. "You're badly injured."

Peng Yong cupped his hands in a respectful gesture and did not press the matter further.

Xu Ji hesitated for a moment before asking, "May I ask who you are, sir...?"

Wu You glanced at him and tapped the bronze badge on his chest with his finger.

"Wu You, the torchbearer with the bronze emblem."

Xu Ji's eyes lit up.

No wonder he's a bronze-level official torchbearer!

No wonder those sword strikes were so terrifying!

He wanted to say something more, but before he could speak, he did not.

A black SUV drove up from a distance and came to a steady stop in front of the three people.

The car door opened.

A man in a black trench coat jumped down, a cigarette dangling from his lips. His stubble was unkempt, making him look somewhat slovenly, but his lazy demeanor exuded a menacing aura that commanded respect.

Wu You's gaze fell on his chest.

Silver.

A small, pure silver torch badge.

Silver Emblem Torchbearer.

Fifth rank and above.