Su Shenyun looked around, scanning the Medicine Corpses crawling through the ruins of the house. "There must be a basement under that house," she said.

Finished speaking, she pressed the communicator in her ear. "Everyone, move together. Take care of these Medicine Corpses."

At her command, figures flashed through the night.

「Meanwhile.」

Zhang Yi staggered to her feet. To everyone's astonishment, the wounds on her body were healing at a rate visible to the naked eye. Her hair, shaved off after the car accident, grew rapidly, reaching her waist in just an instant.

Liu Dexuan suddenly held his blade horizontally across his chest, his expression grave. "It seems she's undergoing some kind of transformation."

Zhou Jingong also wore a grim look, cold sweat beading on his forehead. "What a terrifying aura... It feels like this girl is even more trouble than that boy from before."

If Luo Xiu hadn't been with them, the two old men would have probably fled on the spot. The Zhang Yi of this moment was not someone they wanted to face.

Liu Dexuan asked, "Mister Luo, what should we do? Kill her, or...?"

Luo Xiu narrowed his eyes, watching Zhang Yi without an immediate answer. After sensing her condition for a moment, he discovered that Zhang Yi, who had been dead, now showed signs of life. Her heart was beating and her blood was flowing. Unlike the walking dead—the Medicine Corpses—Zhang Yi was a true living person.

Since she was alive and not a Medicine Corpse, she naturally couldn't be killed.

With that in mind, Luo Xiu retrieved a coil of rope from his Jade Pendant and tossed it to Liu Dexuan. "Restrain her first."

Hearing this, Liu Dexuan and Zhou Jingong exchanged a look. Each grabbed an end of the rope and swept toward Zhang Yi from either side, quickly winding the rope tightly around her.

"SNAP!"

"SNAP! SNAP! SNAP..."

But in the next moment, the rope wrapped around Zhang Yi's body began to break apart with a series of dull sounds. Her seemingly delicate and weak body had erupted with immense strength!

Suddenly, she roared like a beast and pounced. She moved so fast that Liu Dexuan had no time to react and was sent flying with a single slap!

Seeing this, Zhou Jingong was horrified, but he didn't back down. He picked up the broken rope from the ground and charged toward Zhang Yi. But in the next instant, she appeared behind him like a specter and sent him flying with a kick.

Luo Xiu watched the two old men fly into the distance and couldn't help but purse his lips. At the same time, his heart felt heavy. Clearly, the members of the Holy Boi Religion had done something to Zhang Yi, causing the Spirit Martial Markings on her body to awaken to some degree.

As Luo Xiu was lost in thought, Su Shenyun suddenly darted forward. However, her Mesmerizing Flame Technique was useless against someone who had already lost their sanity.

As she neared Zhang Yi, Zhang Yi had already initiated an attack, raising a hand to claw at her.

Su Shenyun's heart sank. Survival instinct drove her to dodge sideways, narrowly avoiding the swipe.

"RIP—!"

Nevertheless, the front of her clothes was torn by the sharp wind from Zhang Yi's claw. Four deep, bone-visible scratches appeared on her snow-white skin, blood streaming from the wounds.

Such terrifying strength. Su Shenyun clutched her chest, her heart pounding with residual fear. That was just a casual swipe from her, but if I had taken that head-on, its power would have torn my body to pieces! She has no sanity, yet her strength, speed, and reflexes have reached a terrifying level. And all her attacks are purely instinctual. Could this be the power of the Spirit Martial Markings? What on earth did the Holy Boi Religion do to her?

Su Shenyun crouched on the ground, staring at the dazed Zhang Yi, completely baffled.

Suddenly, her gaze sharpened, and she lunged forward, throwing a punch directly at Zhang Yi. At the same time, Liu Dexuan and Zhou Jingong emerged from the darkness, rushing toward Zhang Yi from two different directions.

However, just as the three were about to reach her, a powerful wave of energy erupted from Zhang Yi's body, instantly blasting them away. The three were sent flying, spitting blood as they crashed heavily to the ground.

"AHHH—!"

Zhang Yi suddenly trembled and fell to her knees. Clutching her head, she let out a long howl to the sky as her long hair whipped about wildly. Strange and mystical purplish-gold markings began to emerge on the surface of her pale skin.

As the markings appeared, the aura erupting from her body began to multiply endlessly.

"CRACKLE..."

The ground beneath her kneeling form began to collapse and crack. The fissures spread outward like ripples on a calm lake, the area of destruction expanding with each circle.

Under that terrifying pressure, Su Shenyun, Liu Dexuan, and Zhou Jingong felt an overwhelming weight on their bodies that made it difficult to even stand. Veins bulged all over Zhou Jingong's body as he trembled uncontrollably. "What... What is this young lady's origin?" he said with great difficulty. "She's truly terrifying!"

"It's the Spirit Martial Markings... This must be the Spirit Martial Markings!" Liu Dexuan, still on one knee, struggled to support himself, his face flushed crimson as he suddenly cried out in alarm.

His gaze trembled as he looked at the mysterious purple-gold patterns on Zhang Yi's body, a storm of shock raging in his heart.

"According to legend... the mysterious, ancient Zhang Family produces a descendant who randomly possesses the ancestral markings every few decades! By awakening these markings, one can acquire the power of the Zhang Family ancestors!"

Hearing Liu Dexuan's words, Zhou Jingong's expression shook.

「A short while later.」

Zhang Yi gradually calmed, her howling ceasing. Her wildly thrashing hair slowly settled, soft as gauze, draping over her pure, beautiful body. She stood up slowly and looked at Su Shenyun's group with an expressionless face, her eyes devoid of any emotion.

Her beautiful face looked as if she were wearing heavy makeup, with purple-gold patterns around her eyes that resembled eyeshadow. It was a beautiful sight, yet also strangely eerie.

In the silence, she slowly raised her right hand, aiming her palm at the kneeling Su Shenyun and the others.

The three of them panicked, wanting to scatter and flee, but at that moment, Zhang Yi also raised her left hand. Her seemingly delicate, fair hand merely pressed down lightly, and the Void trembled with a terrifying aura of Spiritual Power.

With a muffled boom, Su Shenyun and the other two were forced back to their knees, their kneecaps shattering and bleeding freely. A moment later, they felt a mysterious power crushing their skeletons, which emitted a chorus of horrifying cracks that made one's scalp tingle. The three felt as if an invisible mountain was pressing down on them, its weight increasing relentlessly.

"Sect Master Uncle... I can't... hold on much longer..." Zhou Jingong's body twisted as he vomited blood, his eyes rolling back in his head. Under this horrific pressure, his entire skeleton felt like it was about to fall apart, his organs on the verge of rupturing.

Just then, a gale howled through the world. Wisps of Spiritual Energy converged toward Zhang Yi's palm, rapidly coalescing into an energy sphere. The translucent sphere's radiance grew stronger, and the Void around it twisted violently.

"BOOM!"

As the Void shuddered, the energy sphere shot through the air, flying straight toward Su Shenyun and the others. In that instant, all three shut their eyes in despair.

But the death they anticipated never came.

They slowly opened their eyes. Looking up, they saw only the tall figure standing before them.

It was Luo Xiu.

With his back to them, Luo Xiu looked gravely at Zhang Yi. "Take a deep breath," he said. "Cover your ears."

The three were stunned but did as he said without hesitation.

"RUMBLE—!"

The very next moment, a sound like the heavens collapsing erupted from behind them. They instinctively clamped their hands over their ears and turned to look, their eyes wide with shock.

In the distant night, a hill had been completely leveled. The terrifying residual aura had yet to dissipate, stirring up dust and debris to form a spectacular tornado above the hill's remains.

"Just now... did Elder Luo save us?" Zhou Jingong swallowed hard, his voice trembling. If that energy sphere had hit him, he feared he would have vanished from this world in an instant. And if it had struck the bustling provincial capital, countless people would have...

At this thought, all three turned pale, not daring to imagine further.

In the quiet, Luo Xiu glanced back at them. "Leave at once. Have everyone retreat immediately."

"But what about you?" Su Shenyun asked, looking at Luo Xiu with worry.

Luo Xiu smiled faintly. "I'd love to take a break, but it looks like this situation still requires me." He added, "If we leave her unchecked and she reaches a crowded place, the Audit Bureau will have a massive problem on its hands."

Su Shenyun looked at Luo Xiu, her heart filled with both concern and resentment—resentment for herself. She hated her own powerlessness, always needing Luo Xiu's help while being unable to do anything herself.

"Then... you be careful."

Luo Xiu nodded lightly. "Go on. With you all here, it's harder for me to go all out."

"..."

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