Chapter 238 - 236: Burn Through That Sky

A boundless tide of the Corpse Calamity advanced, resolute and silent.

A ferocious, majestic figure descended from the sky.

Two Tiger-Headed Sabers, each two meters long, swept about like a whirlwind. The True Gang emanating from them formed a fierce gale tens of meters wide, and a single horizontal sweep obliterated a thousand of the dead, turning them to ash.

Their power was no less than that of heavy weaponry, yet they were far more agile and lethal.

A squad of Martial Artists arrived right after, plunging into the unprepared tide of the dead.

They charged in teams of three.

There were warriors with longswords who beheaded a hundred corpses with a single strike.

Giant axes whirled, mowing them down like grass.

There was even a giant with bulging muscles, dual-wielding heavy Gatling guns, his body draped in ammo belts as he spewed a torrent of lethal metal.

And Yang Shen had also unleashed his full firepower!

Literally!

His body was wreathed in golden flames. Like a flash of gold weaving through the black tide, he used his extraordinary agility to split the Corpse Calamity apart.

When their millennium-long expedition was disturbed, all the undead seethed with rage.

A ferocious and silent undead beast, its original form unrecognizable, charged forward. Yang Shen’s black spear suddenly shot out more than ten meters, piercing the creature’s skull from afar.

Then, with a mere thought, the spear, now over ten meters long, went pliant like a steel cable. As Yang Shen charged forward, it whipped around and bound a hundred of the undead together.

The next moment, golden flames erupted, setting all the bound corpses alight.

The undead, having been mutated by the Source Climate, contained Nourishment within their bodies that could be ignited by the Rising Sun Flame. In fact, the effect was exceptionally good.

The Rising Sun Flame was like the bane of all things foul; any corpse it incinerated would not rise again.

But given the absolute disparity in numbers, this was still not enough to decide the battle’s outcome.

Given the Martial Artists’ destructive power and momentum, it wouldn’t take long to punch through this tributary of the dead, but they needed to wait for the rest of the party to catch up.

So, after breaking through, the Martial Artists had to hold their ground and maintain pressure to prevent the tide of corpses from "healing" shut.

With a thought, Yang Shen drew upon his brimming Qi Sea and leaped high into the air. He made a "pistol" gesture with both hands, and a dense shower of golden sparks shot out.

They didn’t need speed or mass, they just had to land where the dead were most densely packed.

Against these things, fancy Martial Arts techniques like Overlapping Waves were irrelevant.

Whatever was most efficient at mowing them down was the best tactic.

Many other Martial Artists shared Yang Shen’s thinking, and they all chose the simplest, most efficient methods of killing.

The corpses were packed shoulder to shoulder; igniting one would set off a chain reaction through a whole group.

An entire section of the black tide turned golden.

Yang Shen shouted, "Don’t get hit by my fire! It’s trouble! I’ve got this direction!"

He could extinguish the flames at will, but it was easy to get distracted in the heat of battle.

The others understood and moved to other sections. The Rune Warriors from Europe and the Curse Engraving users of the Hei Race from the rear also moved up to join the fight.

The situation seemed to have stabilized. A mere tributary of the dead couldn’t possibly stop them!

Yang Shen kept leaping into the air to get better firing angles.

This was where the benefit of levitating with True Gang became clear; others didn’t have to keep jumping like he did.

This was the first time he had used the Rising Sun Flame so freely. He suppressed an entire sector all by himself, his kill count even surpassing that of Huo Jun, who was breaking through the enemy lines at the vanguard.

The thousand-strong party behind them knew there was no time to waste and ran to keep up, having already crossed more than half the distance.

The power of Cyan Blue’s Martial Arts heritage was undeniable. So long as their goal wasn’t total annihilation, a few dozen elite Martial Artists could charge in and out of a million-strong army of the dead at will.

Yang Shen even saw Xu Mo take action. The Mid-stage Jade Viscera Realm professor wore a pair of black gloves. With a wave of his hand, two ripples of air shot out, instantly expanding to sweep across a wide area.

It seemed like a simple shockwave, but it was more than that. He was the only Martial Artist present using a distinct Martial Arts technique, probably because as a scientist, he wasn’t suited for charging into the fray.

As for the Curse Engraving users, the strongest among them were only at the Marrow Refining level. Their physical constitutions were not even in the same league, and they tired easily.

Even Black Rope, whom Yang Shen had slain when he was in the Marrow Refining Realm, was already considered a pinnacle expert in the Noon Realm.

However, breaking out of a siege was not the same as simply traveling. Their speed slowed once more, and this caused the path of the Corpse Calamity’s tributary to shift again...

It was like someone crossing a river only to be caught in a rising tide; a channel that had been a few dozen meters wide was now swelling to hundreds of meters.

Under the influence of the River of Calamity and Pestilence overhead, the gap between the tributaries grew ever smaller...

The entire group was on the verge of reaching the other side, yet they found the "shore" was getting farther and farther away.

The ordinary Noon Realm People in the group trudged forward with their heads down, oblivious to the changes in the distance, but the battling Martial Artists frequently leaped into the air and could see everything clearly.

Despair began to spread through the ranks of the Hei Race’s Curse Engraving squad.

The Clan Leader of the Hei Race, also fighting desperately, saw this and gritted his teeth. He rushed to the very front and cried out in broken Yanhua:

"Sir! Don’t abandon us! Don’t abandon us!"

Huo Jun, wielding his massive blade, shattered an elephant-like corpse from afar with a single slash. He glanced back and sneered, "What? Are you trying to command me?!"

"I wouldn’t dare, sir, but please, you must not give up on us! There are so few of the Hei and Mo Races left!"

He knew very well that with the "outsiders’" strength, they always had a final option: to abandon the Noon Realm People and leave on their own.

The survival of the nearly 1,500 people from both races depended entirely on these powerful figures.

Huo Jun snorted. "Just do your own job!"

With that, he charged out again, unleashing a whirlwind of death amid the Corpse Calamity.

’If I protect you, what concern is that of yours?’

’If I destroy you, what concern is that of yours?’

Huo Jun had never even considered the so-called "final option." He simply refused to believe in impossible missions or insurmountable predicaments.

"Deng Ming! You’re cleared to engage!"

"Here I come!"

Deng Ming, who had been providing support from high above, plummeted toward the front like a comet.

With a single strike, the ground split open. A fissure several meters wide spread rapidly, momentarily halting the tide of the Corpse Calamity.

It was the first time Yang Shen had seen a Late-stage Jade Viscera Martial Artist use their full power, and Deng Ming had chosen the most powerful and visually stunning method possible.

Huo Jun bellowed, "Squads One and Five, swap out! Ji! Front and center!"

Clad in her Rune Armor, Jill looked like a warrior wreathed in Holy Light as she led several of her subordinates to the front line. "Don’t call me Ji!!"

Huo Jun’s bravery had ignited the battle spirit of all the Cyan Blue Martial Artists!

Courage has an infectious power that transcends civilizations!

"Temple Warriors!"

"Present!"

"Charge with me!!"

"Charge! Charge! Charge!!"

As a powerhouse comparable to the Early Stage of Jade Viscera, every slash from Jill’s blade was tens of meters long. Furthermore, her Rune Armor possessed an effect similar to a Repulsive Force. Ordinary corpses that attacked her up close could be ignored, as they would simply shatter themselves upon impact.

Yang Shen, following orders, retreated to the second line. He still had strength to spare but had to obey the chain of command to avoid disrupting the formation.

He still remained on the flanks, however, periodically shooting out golden flames to maintain pressure on the surrounding area.

But when he occasionally glanced forward at the ever-receding "shore," he still felt a touch of anxiety.

’I’ll always be safe. I have plenty of ways to get out of here.’ But this was the first time he had felt anxious about someone else’s mission.

He had long since become a part of the vanguard team.

Sure enough, when Squads One and Five switched places again, they were even farther from success than they had been before the previous rotation.

The vanguard’s breakthrough attempt was like a dam in a river; the dead accumulated faster and faster, their mass growing ever larger.

They were now completely trapped in the center of the Corpse Calamity tide, and their forward progress slowed to a crawl.

No matter how peerless the vanguard’s might, no matter how powerful Deng Ming, Xu Mo, Huo Jun, and Jill were, in the face of such an absolute disparity in numbers, they were merely a reef holding firm against a tidal wave.

Casualties began to appear. Many in the Curse Engraving squad died, torn to pieces by the dead. The Martial Artists, on the other hand, were holding up well.

But the civilians’ pace grew slower and slower, their courage faltering...

Yang Shen found himself hoping for someone like Black Text from the Big Pharmacy to appear and unleash some kind of ultimate move. The black space that had sealed off the five senses had left a deep impression on him, but unfortunately, it seemed the Hei Race no longer had such a powerful expert...

’Besides, those complicated moves are probably useless against these corpses anyway...’

By the time Yang Shen was rotated out for the second time, even he was starting to feel fatigued. It felt like a battle with no end in sight.

Just then, a small, thin figure squeezed through the crowd to the front. It was the shepherd girl.

She had wanted to find Yang Shen for a while, but the adults around her wouldn’t allow it. Only now that the formation had lost its cohesion did she find an opportunity.

But when she ran up, she only said what sounded like a piece of nonsense:

"Sir! Sir! Your flames are more effective than anyone else’s! The corpses you burn are the only ones that are completely destroyed, and your fire can’t be extinguished, right?"

Yang Shen frowned slightly. "That’s right. What are you getting at?"

He didn’t have time to explain to her what it meant to be able to burn the "Source."

The Noon Realm’s understanding of the Source was very shallow.

The shepherd girl pulled down her mask, revealing a determined expression as she raised a finger. "If the fire burns on its own... is it possible... that you could burn *that*, too?"

"That’s what’s drawing the Corpse Calamity here, isn’t it?"

Yang Shen’s gaze followed her small finger... which was pointing at the sky.

There was only one thing in the sky.

The River of Calamity and Pestilence!

Yang Shen froze. His first instinct was to dismiss it as nonsense. ’Is she telling me to burn the sky?’

’Besides, even if the River of Calamity and Pestilence isn’t a real aurora, it’s at least three or four thousand meters high. Not even Deng Ming can fly that high.’

But then, a flash of insight struck him...

’Wait a minute... it might actually be possible!’

The more Yang Shen thought about it, the more he felt it was worth a try. He licked his lips unconsciously.

This time...

’This is going to be insane!’