Corrupted Lands-II

After bidding farewell to the skeleton of the wild boar, Zhu Shen continued with his journey. On his way, he met multiple small corrupted animals.

"This land doesn't seem natural… the dark corrupted qi is generating at the centre of this land…"

The golden heart said to Zhu Shen.

Zhu Shen also noticed abnormalities around him and asked,

"Do you think it is man-made…? Should we investigate at the centre…?"

He knew that this particular land was normal until recently when corrupted qi was found within the lands. If it was a man-made disaster, he had to immediately report back to the sect. The golden hear advised him,

"Let's get closer to the centre and see the actual situation…"

After hearing the golden heart's advice, Zhu Shen decided to move toward the centre of the corrupted lands.

After walking for a while, Zhu Shen surprisingly found a valley at the centre of the corrupted land. There was a massive amount of corrupted qi being released from the valley. As Zhu Shen got closer and closer to the valley, he had to use all his concentration just to not get corrupted.

"Watch out…"

Just as he was walking he heard a warning from his golden heart. A human claw came from his right aiming at his neck. Zhu Shen hastily stepped aside and dodged the attack from hair's width.

But, before he could see what attacked him, another claw came from behind him. This time, with no way around it, Zhu Shen used his sword to block the upcoming attack.

"Clang…"

A loud metal clang was heard as Zhu Shen flew backwards. He used 3 steps to stabilize himself. The power behind the claw made Zhu Shen stupefied.

'It was at least the power of a Qi sensing level cultivator…'

Zhu Shen thought as he looked at his trembling hands with excitement as he looked at the zombie-like creatures in front of him. This was the first time after reconstructing his body, that he met someone with greater power than him.

"These are ghouls… After evil spirits take control over the body, they kill the original spirit and turn the bodies into ghouls. Be careful of their claws, they contain poison."

The golden heart explained Zhu Shen.

"Rawr…"

The ghouls in front of Zhu Shen growled as they charged at him at full speed. Already prepared, Zhu Shen used dragon steps to nimbly avoid their charge. But, the ghoul changed directions in front of Zhu Shen directly kicking Zhu Shen's abdomen.

'A faint…'

Zhu Shen thought as he hastily blocked the incoming kick. The ghouls were much more intelligent than he thought.

'I need to end this quickly…'

Zhu Shen directly charged at one of the Ghouls he aimed to eliminate one of the ghouls before they could adapt. He appeared in front of the ghoul and stabbed his sword towards the neck of the ghoul.

The ghoul managed to dodge the sword in time. But to its surprise, the stabbing motion of the sword converted into a hacking motion.

'Big dipper sword…'

Like the big dipper constellation back on the earth, the sword suddenly hacked into the shoulder of the ghoul. While the sword was still stuck between the ghoul's shoulder blade, Zhu Shen directly punched the head of the ghoul.

"CRACk…"

With a loud crack, the head of the ghoul came right off…

Although it seemed like an eternity, these actions happened within a single breath and before the other ghoul could react, his comrade was already lying on the ground.

"Grawl…"

Enraged, the ghoul's eyes turned scarlet red. It looked at Zhu Shen with resentment like he had just killed someone closer to it.

Suddenly,

Its body started to turn bigger as spikes started coming out of its spine. While the changes were taking place, the baleful corrupted Qi started rolling and turning towards the ghoul.

"Not good, it is forcefully evolving itself using the surrounding corrupt Qi. kill it before it completes its evolution…"

The golden heart warned Zhu Shen urgently. If the ghoul completes its evolution, its power will be equivalent to Qi condensing level practitioner. At Zhu Shen's current level he couldn't compete against a sea forming level cultivator.

Understanding the urgency of the situation, Zhu Shen directly stabbed his sword toward the ghoul's heart. But the blade only managed to dig half an inch before being stopped by an invisible force.

Like before, Zhu Shen punched the ghoul's face but, unlike the first time, he felt like he punched an iron plate. There was not a single scratch mark on the ghoul's skull.

As he was looking at the unscratched ghoul, he heard the golden heart say, "Normal attack won't work… you need to use Qi infused attacks if you want to kill the ghoul…"

"How do I infuse my Qi into my attacks…?"

Zhu Shen asked hastily. He never used Qi infused attacks before. Unlike normal attacks, Qi infused attacks did not need the precision and control over your breathing; they needed Qi to flow from your dantian towards your attacking body parts.

This Qi once reached the desired part can be converted according to your imagination like a shield or a sword.

The golden heart instructed Zhu Shen, "Just use your imagination… imagine your hand turning into the sharpest sword and then attack the ghoul. Imagine all the energy in your body running towards this sword."

Zhu Shen took a deep breath and started imagining a warm flow running across his whole body started flowing towards his right arm. He could feel the meridians in his right hand getting warm.

This flow then got converted into a sword. As soon as Zhu Shen finished completing his imaginary sword, he ran towards the howling ghoul.

"Splach…"

This time, Zhu Shen's hand directly went through the ghoul's skull. Like a hot knife cutting through a stick of butter, Zhu Shen cut the ghoul's head into two pieces.

"Huff… Huff…"

Zhu Shen started breathing heavily as he watched the ghoul's body turning into black smoke. The surrounding corrupted Qi also stopped rotating.

"Bravo…!!"

The golden heart congratulated Zhu Shen. but, in its mind, it was shocked. This was the first time he saw a body tempering cultivator successfully using a Qi fusion attack which was only possible when one reached the Qi sensing realm.