The Zombie
"Mother" changed her clothes, cleaned the bloodstains from her body, and left the room to find her mother sitting in the courtyard, staring straight at the gate. He Lian Wu Ji knew that his mother hoped to see the father she had only met a few times appear there.
"Wu Ji, did you get into another fight with them today?" A woman in her thirties, dressed in luxurious attire, looked at her son's bruised face and asked with a pained expression.
"Yes, they insulted you," He Lian Wu Ji replied.
"Thud." He Lian Wu Ji knelt heavily on the ground.
"Mother, I'm sorry. It's all my fault, making you endure this humiliation with me," he said.
The woman hurriedly went to He Lian Wu Ji's side and helped him up from the ground. "Child, it's not your fault. It's your mother's incompetence that couldn't provide you with a happy childhood and a better environment. It's not your fault."
"No, if it weren't for me..."
"Enough, don't say more. As long as you live well, that's better than anything. Mother never received the love of the family head, but at least I have you as my companion," the woman said, tears welling up in her eyes.
"Mother, don't worry. I will make sure you get everything you deserve, and anyone who insults us will face consequences," He Lian Wu Ji vowed.
"Child, don't hold so much hatred in your heart; it will make you unhappy," his mother advised.
"But..."
"Enough, don't say more. Go back inside," she said, returning to her original spot and sitting quietly, day after day, year after year.
Watching his mother's lonely figure, He Lian Wu Ji felt guilt welling up within him. If it weren't for me, she and her son should be living a good life. If it weren't for me, none of this would have happened today.
"But do I really have to expose myself?" He Lian Wu Ji asked himself. Due to his frustration, he had left a deep handprint on the wall with his right hand.
"Yehan," the spirit within He Lian Wu Ji, now known as Yehan, was originally an ordinary college student on Earth. During the Golden Week, he went mountain climbing with his classmates, but he accidentally fell off a cliff and encountered a battle between an ancient zombie and a cultivator.
The battle was so intense that neither side could defeat the other. In the end, both unleashed their most powerful attacks, tearing open space. The immense cosmic force sucked them and the ground, with Yehan, into another space. There, they were eventually torn apart by the space storms. But when Yehan woke up, he found himself in a mother's womb. Inside the baby's body, there was a red sphere continuously absorbing the baby's essence. When Yehan was born, he had the appearance he had now, with a full head of white hair.
However, he also gained many memories from his previous life, including the ancient zombie Yehan, with some memories of a powerful Immortal King. Yehan's soul had been saved by the Zombie Core of Flame Hell, fusing his soul and turning him into a zombie, albeit without the blood of a zombie, meaning his bloodline hadn't awakened.
Zombies were a unique group of beings transcending the universe and all its life forms. Dead beings that housed a soul, powerful zombie cultivators were known to possess incredible strength. Yehan's memories revealed that Flame Hell was a first-level zombie, a Zombie King.
Zombie Ranks:
- Zombie God: The highest rank of zombies, a legendary existence. Zombie Gods were said to exist, but no one had ever witnessed one in person. The Zombie God's existence was shrouded in mystery, and some even questioned whether Zombie Gods truly existed. Their eyes were gold.
- Zombie Ancestor: Zombie Ancestors were known to have appeared in history, boasting unimaginable power. Fortunately, they were a rarity, and the world had not been overrun by Zombie Ancestors. As for where Zombie Ancestors disappeared to, it remained a mystery. Their eyes were silver.
- Zombie King, Zombie Emperor: The highest-ranking zombies apart from Zombie Gods and Ancestors were the first-level zombies, which meant they were not afraid of sunlight or anything sacred. They possessed the power to annihilate entire realms, with abilities equal to those of deities. Zombie Kings had red eyes and were classified as first-level zombies, while Zombie Emperors had purple eyes. There were no further classifications above Zombie Emperor.
- Zombie Devil: Second-level zombies were also unaffected by sunlight and anything sacred. They could withstand most physical and supernatural attacks and were not limited in quantity. They had green eyes.
- Violent Zombie: Third-level zombies were also unaffected by sunlight and anything sacred, could withstand most physical and supernatural attacks, and were not limited in quantity. They had blue eyes.
- Master Zombie: Fourth-level zombies were afraid of intense sunlight and certain high-level divine artifacts, and their supernatural abilities were moderate. Their numbers were average, and they had gray eyes.
The rankings of zombies were strictly controlled, and to advance a level, one had to absorb a certain amount of human blood and practice for a specific period of time. In the world of zombies, there were no shortcuts.
- Seventh-level Zombie: The weakest zombies, with no intelligence and the ability to frighten ordinary people. They bounded around and sucked out human vitality with no significant abilities.
Back in his room, Yehan sat cross-legged on the bed, using his spiritual power to examine his body. He watched the blood flow happily in his body, his heart beat rhythmically. "I can see everything inside my body, which means my spiritual power is incredibly strong, but why?"
Yehan released his spiritual power, enveloping the red Zombie Core within his body. This Zombie Core suppressed his spiritual power, making it impossible to release it from his body. This was why he had received the test result.
According to Yehan's memories, he was currently a zombie, but his zombie bloodline had not awakened. Over the past decade, he had diligently practiced the Zombie Art of Fàn Shī, but his bloodline had not awakened. His body was incapable of storing even a small amount of Yin energy, yet his strength had grown significantly. At present, his strength was on par with a second-tier swordsman in this world.
"I can't continue like this. I have to find a way to awaken my zombie bloodline."
According to Yehan's memories, the fastest way to awaken his bloodline was to transform his human body into a zombie body. A zombie body not only possessed immense power but also nearly perfect defense. Most importantly, it would accelerate his cultivation and make it easier to break through level barriers. In his thoughts, he replayed the method for transforming into a zombie that he had learned from Flame Hell's memories.
Unbeknownst to Yehan, night had fallen, and the moon and stars filled the night sky. Darkness gradually enveloped the land. Yehan got up and left his room. He quickly had dinner and returned to his room.
Zombies had two methods of formation: natural formation in specific environments and conditions with an abundance of Yin
energy. These naturally formed zombies were typically seventh-level zombies, often called "zombies."
These zombies were easily killed by humans, and even if they survived, they would not achieve significant advancements. Normally, they would only reach the second-level zombie stage and would not progress further. In the world of zombies, they had a very low status.
The second method involved inheriting the memories of higher-level zombies, granting the new zombie some initial power. Only third-level zombies and above possessed this ability, but the new zombie would be one level lower than the one they inherited from. This power would become more apparent with time and practice, with the initial stage being short-lived. Such zombies did not have level restrictions in their cultivation, but breaking through level barriers was challenging. This was nature's way of balancing things. There were gains and losses in this process.
However, Yehan did not fit into either of these categories. While zombies typically transformed into zombie bodies first and then integrated their souls, Yehan's situation was the reverse, something that not even Flame Hell had encountered in his millennia of cultivation. Flame Hell's memories contained a forbidden technique for turning a human body into a zombie body, but the pain involved was unimaginable.