Pursued

The Hengduan Mountain Range is divided by the inhabitants into the peripheral area, the middle area, and the central area. The peripheral area is generally frequented by demon beasts of fifth rank and below. The middle area is home to beasts of the eighth rank and below, with the occasional ninth rank or even saint-tier demon beast; encountering one would simply be bad luck. The central area, however, belongs to demon beasts of the ninth rank and above, where entry for anyone not of the saint-tier meant certain death, hence it is known as the graveyard of the saint-tier.

As for divine-tier demon beasts, they are only part of legends, as no one has ever seen one. Those who venture into the depths either die or go mad upon their return.

It is said that five hundred years ago, a highly talented geomancer, who possessed both wind and water magics, reached the saint-tier in just fifty years, becoming one of the top experts of that time. Due to his extreme arrogance and pride, he ventured alone into the central area to unravel its mysteries but was never heard from again. Three years later, an SS-ranked mercenary group found him, deranged, in a cave within the central region and brought him back. No matter how much he was questioned, he only uttered four words, "Darkness, powerful," with endless fear in his eyes, and died in terror within five years. Since then, no one dared to venture into the central area.

Ye Han glanced around and saw several skeletons of demon beasts, indicating that this area was not safe. He looked in the direction and ran towards the right. Moments later, he arrived at a relatively open space. He quickly gathered some stones and after some busy work, Ye Han's hands once again formed seals. The place where the stones were distributed suddenly lit up, but the light and the stones themselves disappeared instantly. Satisfied, Ye Han walked into the center of the stones. Anyone who saw this would be shocked, for after a few steps, a slight fluctuation surrounded Ye Han, and he vanished within it.

What Ye Han had used was a technique called array magic, a type of cultivation art. The simple array he set up was only meant to hide anyone inside from the outside world, making them invisible and undetectable.

The blow to Ye Han's abdomen would have been crippling to anyone else, but to a zombie like Ye Han, whose energy came from the core in his heart, not the dantian in his abdomen, it was impossible to nullify his cultivation.

After entering the array, Ye Han began forming seals, and the space around him became indistinguishable from the outside, leaving no trace. He took out more stones and set up another simple array called the Spirit Gathering Array, which could quickly accumulate the energy of the world, allowing the person in the middle of the array to absorb spiritual energy much faster.

Previously, Ye Han couldn't store energy in his body, so he never used the simple arrays he learned. These arrays didn't require much energy to set up, just a spark to activate them. The powerful arrays in the memory of the immortal king, however, relied on vast energy to maintain their operation.

After setting up the array, Ye Han soon felt the yin energy around him become much denser and continue to increase. Without hesitation, he sat down and began cultivating with the Fanzhi Decree, fiercely drawing in the yin energy. After circulating through his body, it gathered at his heart and then flowed out, purer than when it had entered.

The flowing yin energy washed over his body, healing internal injuries. Seeing his empty blood vessels, Ye Han sighed. He needed to consume fresh blood within three days, or the yang energy would corrode his body.

The strength of a zombie came from absorbing yin energy, and blood provided additional power. Blood wasn't a significant source of power, but it was crucial for neutralizing external yang energy. Only upon reaching the third level, the Explosive Corpse, could a zombie stop consuming blood. At that level, external yang energy could no longer harm them.

"Never mind, heal first," Ye Han thought, sinking into his cultivation. A day and night passed quickly. The next morning, upon waking up and inspecting his body, he found that all his wounds had healed, and his body's strength had slightly improved. Even the yin energy depleted the day before had fully recovered, with a slight increase.

This was the formidable self-healing ability of a zombie's body; no matter how severe the injury, as long as the body wasn't shattered, it could recover in a short time.

Coming out of his introspection, Ye Han spread his spiritual awareness and his expression suddenly froze, turning cold.

"I didn't expect them to arrive so quickly. And the people coming are not weak," he sensed two fourth-tier swordsmen and two mages, one at the fourth tier and the other at the late fourth

 tier. It was unclear whether they were from the Helian or Patrickley families.

"Whoever wants to kill me must die," Ye Han thought coldly, his right hand slowly reaching for the dagger at his waist.

"It has been a long time since you tasted blood," he said with a cold smile.

"Everyone, be alert. The person we're after could appear at any time," the late fourth-tier mage warned after discovering Opus's body.

"Behind!" A wind blade flew out swiftly.