New Party Member?

"Then, what did you do to the corpse of the infected just now?" He continued bombarding me with questions.

"It's something to do with my summoning element." I lied. "I could copy the physique of any beasts I killed and for some reason, it includes rabid humans. Since it's a stage two, I figured I should copy it since I only have a stage one as a copy. That way, I could summon it and take care of all the other rabid humans without doing much of an effort."

"I see... your element is very convenient and pretty useful." Luo Zehn concluded. For some reason, he believed all the lies I told him. "Still, let me ask you one question... are you hiding your true strength?" He asked, getting his katanas and pointing them at me.

How troublesome. To think that a mere disciple of mine would dare threaten my life? This is preposterous.

Still, I can't overstep my boundaries. At the moment, he's stronger than me so I have to play it safe. It would be infuriating however if he finds out about my real identity so for now, I have to focus on surpassing his level. If I'm correct, I'm guessing that he's in the Emperor Realm, one rank higher than me. It would be best if I conform peacefully with him. "No, this is my true strength. Although I'm a bit stronger than those on my level because of my Constitution."

"That's right. I could tell that your Constitution is on par with those in the Dao Realm. You probably already know this but you got the potential to be strong." Luo Zehn smiled as he snorted. "I would like to formally invite you to our shelter as a zombie hunter. Of course, you'd be greatly compensated and we'd fully support you in your cultivation through the use of essences and the like. In terms of resources, we have a lot of them, but what we need the most is extra protection and food for the shelter."

To explain, Constitution has got something to do with how sturdy someone's body is. No matter how much someone trains their element, they should also build their bodies to keep up with their elemental power. That's why all the other cultivators who reached the rank of King Realm upwards could be seen training in martial arts or body strengthening skills. As for me, I've already reached the rank of Transcendence Realm for my Constitution five years ago. I wouldn't have tried to breakthrough the Transcendence Realm if it wasn't for that.

"Thanks for the offer, Luo Zehn, I'll think about it," I responded. "For now, are you done with your reconnaissance? I need to check something up north."

"I mean, I don't have anything to do except to come back to the shelter and report everything to our leader." Luo Zehn grabbed his chin as he thought of what to do next. "Tell you what, I'll accompany you to where you're going, and then we'll head together to the shelter, which is two cities away. I mean, if you're fine with a lone swordsman tagging along in your journey, then please let me."

...

For the next few days, my disciple accompanied me on my travel towards the cannibalistic shelter. I don't know what else to call it except that. Along the way, we've encountered countless Stage-2 High-Leveled rabid humans, increasing my zombie master proficiency by level 4 as I gathered ten of them. Counting all the subordinates that I've gotten, I finally have eleven of them, including the Stage-1 High-Leveled rabid human I've captured by the mall.

I wonder what's happened to Lin Xian and Yu Sying, I hope they're doing all right.

One of the highlights of our journey was when I received a prompt, telling me that my Stage-1 High-Leveled rabid human was about to level up. As it turns out, even my subordinates gain exp every time they fight. By now, the System was becoming more and more useful so I didn't complain.

<Congratulations, your Stage-1 High-Leveled Zombie leveled up.>

<Would you like to name your Stage-2 Low-Leveled Zombie?>

"What? Why is it that I could give this one a name but not the other ones I've caught? As far as I know, they have a higher level than him." I asked out of confusion.

"Sorry, Yongrui. But I think it's all about the affinity of the subordinate to its master. Once a rabid human evolves while under your leadership, they'll form a bond, enabling you to give them a name." The System responded.

"I see, that makes sense. So I just have to level them up, right? Are there any perks if they reach a certain level?" I asked out of curiosity. Of course, they'll get a lot stronger compared to before but it wouldn't hurt to ask if they would learn a few skills or something, right?

"Yes, Yongrui. As far as I know, those rabid humans in the higher levels are much more powerful. Unfortunately, I can't divulge anything I know since you're still under-leveled. For more information, please level up, Yongrui."

"I know, I know," I mumbled.

Creak!

The entrance to the building, where Luo Zehn and I stayed for a stop-over, creaked open and in came Luo Zehn, all battered up. There were bruises all over his body and adding to that, he was limping. He struggled to go towards the fire which I built. Upon sitting down, he reached out towards our food supplies and grabbed a bottle of water. Although he was struggling to breathe, he still gulped the water as if he didn't drink for days.

"Are you all right?" I asked out of concern, not because I was worried about Luo Zehn, but because I was worried about the potential threat behind Luo Zehn's wounds.

"I've experienced worse... anyways, I heard you talking to someone. Do we have a new member or something?"

"No no... I was just talking to myself. That's it, I was just talking to myself." I responded.