The battle outside had already begun, but Xiao Fei remained within the space, fully focused on analyzing the composition of the Bone Corroding Heart Devouring Pill.
He was beginning to get a handle on this medicinal pill and had even managed to refine an antidote.
However, he was unsure of its effectiveness and dared not test it on himself.
He could only scrape some powder from the Bone Corroding Heart Devouring Pill and forcibly ordered several Iron Fire Ants to consume it.
Then, he used the antidote he had refined to detoxify them.
Regrettably, these Iron Fire Ants, which could have lived for some time longer, all died after ingesting his antidote.
The first attempt at refining the antidote ended in failure.
It was alright; failure is the mother of success. Xiao Fei summarized his experience and continued refining.
Only the corpses of the Iron Fire Ants on the ground silently recounted the immense importance of this matter, a matter of life and death.
...
The Danxin Sect's protective mountain formation was composed of 108 formation eyes. Each eye could function as an independent formation yet was also connected to the main formation, making it incredibly difficult to breach.
The original plan of the rogue cultivators was a surprise attack, intended to prevent the Danxin Sect from activating their defensive formation prematurely. Who knew there would be a mole within their ranks, leaking the information?
At this moment, three Golden Core stage experts were jointly bombarding one of the formation eyes.
Zhu Yu, with a resolute expression, stood behind the formation's light screen, unleashing a magical artifact to clash with the three Golden Core stage rogue cultivators.
Today, he was determined to prove to everyone that his handsome appearance was merely the least significant of his many virtues.
He was brave and decisive, unyielding, exceptionally intelligent, cheerful, and generous...
Yet, everyone only knew of his handsomeness.
Whenever the night was deep and quiet, he felt a sense of loneliness, of being misunderstood.
Zhu Yu unleashed a jade flute magical artifact, personally bestowed by Ancestor Shangguan, which possessed considerable power.
However, for some inexplicable reason, he had never quite liked this artifact.
As the artifact was unleashed, it transformed into eight jade flutes in the air, striking from eight directions.
Furthermore, this artifact was accompanied by sonic attacks, causing dizziness, disorientation, nausea, and vomiting.
The three Golden Core stage rogue cultivators were not entirely incapable of defeating Zhu Yu; it was the protective mountain formation that obstructed them, blocking their attacks.
This put them at a disadvantage.
Besides Zhu Yu, True Master Guangling and the Golden Core cultivator skilled in artifact refining were also assisting in the attack, causing the rogue cultivators assaulting the mountain to suffer significant losses.
Just as the Danxin Sect disciples believed they could hold on with the protective mountain formation, the light screen of the formation flickered a few times before disappearing.
Zhu Yu was fully engaged in the attack and had not made any defensive preparations. This sudden turn of events caught him off guard. Before he could even summon a defensive magical artifact, a sword light dozens of feet long descended towards his head.
This was a strike unleashed by True Man Xie Gu with his full power. Even with Xiao Fei's zombie physique, it would have been cleaved in two.
Just as Zhu Yu was about to be split in half, a white light emanated from his body, shielding him at its center.
The Golden Core sword energy struck the white light. The two flickered for a moment before simultaneously vanishing.
Concurrently, a jade pendant at Zhu Yu's waist instantly lost all its spiritual energy, shattering into dust.
Zhu Yu was startled by this sudden turn of events and quickly summoned a defensive magical artifact to protect himself.
"What is happening? Why did the formation disappear so suddenly!"
True Master Guangling roared and flew towards the core of the protective mountain formation. The core was located behind the Sect Master's Hall on Ningcui Peak and was usually guarded by at least one Foundation Establishment disciple.
As he arrived, he saw a figure flying out of the Sect Master's Hall – it was the previous Sect Master.
At the same time, in the Danxin Sect's miscellaneous affairs room, a group of dozens of zombies surged out, attacking the Danxin Sect disciples.
At this moment, the Danxin Sect disciples, deprived of the formation's protection, were also facing attacks from the rogue cultivators and the suddenly appearing zombies.
Caught between two fronts, casualties were soon incurred.
"Heh heh heh! Junior Brother Guangling, it's been a while!"
Pus constantly seeped from the Sect Master's狰狞 (zhēng níng - ferocious/hideous) and rotten face. His laughter sounded even more eerie and terrifying.
"So it was you causing trouble!"
True Master Guangling roared and immediately summoned his magical artifact to strike at the old Sect Master.
On the other side, Zhu Yu and the artifact refining master, facing the attacks of three Golden Core stage rogue cultivators, quickly fell into a disadvantage.
As for the Foundation Establishment and Qi Refining disciples, dozens of them perished in an instant. In the blink of an eye, several Danxin Sect disciples would fall.
"Kid, it's only a matter of time before the Danxin Sect is wiped out. I see you're fair-skinned and tender. Why not pledge allegiance to me and become a happy flute-playing attendant?"
The Golden Core expert from the Joyous Union Sect was a rosy-cheeked old man. Seeing Zhu Yu's handsome appearance, he felt a pang of appreciation and intended to spare his life.
"You old scoundrel! Die!"
Although the old man's intentions were good, Zhu Yu reacted violently. It seemed he recalled some unpleasant past experiences, and his blood surged, his anger erupting!
The jade flute he had summoned into the air glowed brightly, emitting a series of piercing, discordant sounds.
All those present, friend and foe alike, were affected by the flute's dissonance, immediately feeling dizzy, nauseated, and unwell.
Only the zombies released by the old Sect Master were unaffected by the sonic waves and continued to pursue and kill the Danxin Sect disciples.
Just then, a secret chamber door was opened a crack. First, countless Iron Fire Ants swarmed out.
Then, dozens of zombies also emerged from this secret chamber.
Upon their appearance, these zombies and Iron Fire Ants immediately charged at the zombies released by the old Sect Master.
The zombies and the Iron Fire Ant swarm even demonstrated coordinated tactics.
Often, a zombie would charge forward and knock an opponent down, after which the Iron Fire Ants would swarm over, gnawing the enemy down to mere scraps.
"Who! Who's lurking in there sneakily?"
The first to express surprise was the old Sect Master. He discovered that the method of refining these zombies was identical to his own.
However, certain key aspects were different.
Furthermore, he was also very familiar with these Iron Fire Ants.
"Xiao Fei! Get out here, you old scoundrel!"
While fighting True Master Guangling, the old Sect Master was surprisingly at ease, even able to spare a moment to call out to Xiao Fei.
Just then, the secret chamber door opened completely, and indeed, Xiao Fei emerged from within.
"You old scoundrel, I was just planning to find you for revenge. Instead of hiding, you dare to show yourself before me."
At this moment, Xiao Fei's mouth was sharp, not yielding an inch. Even if he couldn't win in a fight, he would win the verbal sparring.
Since the other party wouldn't spare him anyway, he might as well curse him a few more times while he could still catch his breath.
Simultaneously, another zombie materialized beside him.