NOVEL NEXT Chapter 225: New Job
If this continues for another ten days or even half a month, the entire zombie tide will be quelled by Luis alone!
The thought made Sun Fu feel an overwhelming sense of absurdity.
The zombie horde, which had made all of Cangzhou seem to face an unbeatable enemy, was being wiped out by a mere foundation-building cultivator?
Sun Fu felt as if he were holding his breath, unable to exhale—a sensation that made him extremely uncomfortable.
"Withdraw!!" someone commanded.
After the order was given, the zombies' assault suddenly slowed. All the zombies retreated on command; none dared to continue fighting.
This was the true horror of the zombie tide: the monk army simply could not defy the orders of their controller.
"Call!" Luis shouted as he watched the receding black tide. He breathed a sigh of relief.
Behind him, Yang Linyuan and Yang Gongwan looked at him with shock and puzzlement. Luis turned around, noticed their expressions, and frowned. "What's wrong?"
"Nephew Luis..." Yang Linyuan began, pausing as he struggled to find the right words. "You are..."
Yang Gongwan, not hesitating as much, asked, "How did you do it? I've only heard that the sword essence of a sword cultivator is more powerful than ordinary true energy, but I've never heard of reserves being so vast—so much so that they're greater than the mana of an early Golden Core cultivator!"
She frowned. "I'm afraid your reserves of true energy are extraordinary!"
"Fairy Yang, thank you for your compliment," Luis replied with a smile.
"It's not that I have an abundance of true energy; rather, the sword intent I've mastered makes me efficient in group attacks, so I end up consuming much less true energy."
Just then, his voice dropped as he staggered slightly and his face turned pale. "If the zombies don't retreat, I won't be able to hold out much longer."
"Is that so?" Yang Gongwan asked, her eyes narrowing in suspicion.
Luis nodded sincerely. "Absolutely true."
"All right," Yang Gongwan said, her expression conveying, "I'll trust you for now."
Compared to his granddaughter's naivety, Yang Linyuan was far more shrewd. He didn't buy into the claim that Luis's sword intent enabled him to perform group attacks while consuming less true energy.
Sure, if Luis managed to hold out for several hours, one might argue it was because his sword intent was energy-efficient—but Luis maintained his offensive for a full ten hours.
Even a cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Building would likely exhaust the true essence of ten such practitioners over that time. Yet, Luis remained as calm as ever.
If Yang Gongwan hadn't repeatedly questioned him, Luis's complexion would have stayed as rosy as always. Clearly, Luis had his own secrets—secrets that others were reluctant to discuss and that he could not disclose.
Afterward, he glanced at the defensive formation outside the wall of Cangzhou Immortal City. Yang Linyuan smiled and said, "Let's go—let's head to the headquarters hall together."
"Senior Yang, please go first!"
"No, no, no—together!" Yang Linyuan quickly gestured in invitation, unwilling to appear arrogant.
Luis nodded and walked with him toward the headquarters hall, with Yang Gongwan following behind.
Soon, the commanders and deputy commanders of the ninety-seven defense zones in Cangzhou had gathered in the headquarters hall.
At the head of the hall sat Zhou Minghao, the commander of the Cangzhou coalition forces.
His face was solemn—a marked contrast to his usual gentle demeanor—but upon closer inspection, one could detect a hint of joy beneath his seriousness.
"Everyone!" Zhou Minghao's voice boomed through the hall.
"Today, we repelled the zombie tide's attack. The facts show that the horde is not as formidable as we once feared.
Aside from their sheer numbers, the strength of a single zombie is negligible— even a cultivator at the lowest level of Qi Refining can easily dispatch one."
He paused before continuing, "In this battle alone, it is roughly estimated that our forces have killed over 50 million zombies!"
At this, a fierce discussion broke out.
"So many!" someone exclaimed. "I never expected the zombie tide to be so vulnerable!" another added. "Yes, if that's the case, Cangzhou Immortal City can definitely be defended!"
After a while, Zhou Minghao pressed his hand gently downward, and silence returned to the hall. "Especially our 43rd Defense Zone—in that zone alone, the number of zombies killed is nearly ten million!"
Zhou Minghao continued, "Therefore, we have every reason to believe that our Cangzhou coalition will be able to quell this corpse chaos!"
"Defense Zone 43?" someone asked.
"Is this the defense zone commanded by Fellow Daoist Yang?" another queried.
"It seems so!" came the reply.
"I didn't expect Brother Yang to be so strong—one defense zone has killed more zombies than our other ten combined!" someone marveled.
"Yes," Zhou Minghao agreed.
Hearing the discussion around him, Yang Linyuan, standing in the crowd, felt very uncomfortable. He looked at Luis uneasily and said, "Nephew Luis, may I say a few words?"
"No need!" Luis smiled and shook his head. On such a fierce battlefield, only the monks in the two nearby defense zones had the luxury of watching my performance.
The others were too busy fighting desperately to resist the zombie horde and had no time to worry about the battle performance of different zones, encouraging their troops and redistributing supplies.
Soon, the commanders of each defense zone began to leave the hall.
"Nephew Luis, please stay!" Just as Luis was about to leave, Zhou Minghao stopped him.
"Senior Zhou!" Seeing everyone depart, Luis bowed respectfully.
"My dear nephew!" Zhou Minghao stepped forward, grasping Luis's right hand excitedly. "I never imagined that my Guang'an Prefecture would produce such a talented swordsman as you!"
"Well," Luis quickly cupped his hands together modestly, "Senior Zhou, thank you for your praise. I happened to comprehend a sword intent that excels in group attacks, which is very effective against these low-level zombies—but it isn't as effective against high-level ones."
"I see!" Zhou Minghao nodded in understanding. "But now we're facing a problem with sheer numbers. There are hundreds of millions of zombies. Even if we have over a hundred Half Step Gold Core monks, we can't hold them all back! Nephew Luis, do you understand what I mean?"
"What Senior Zhou means is..." Luis began.
"I mean, I want you to be the firefighter in this war!"
"Firefighter?" Luis asked, puzzled.
"I want you to take care of the entire Cangzhou defense line and support every defense area at all times. Although you're in charge of Defense Zone 43 and the zombies can't cross the city wall there, the other defense zones remain vulnerable and have almost been breached by the horde!"
Luis hesitated. "I wonder what you're getting at, Senior Zhou."
"Don't worry—I will send someone to ensure your safety. You just need to focus on clearing out the low-level zombies!" Zhou Minghao declared.
At that, Zhou Mubai, who had been standing nearby, smiled and added, "Does it make you feel any better if I serve as your bodyguard, Brother Luis?"
Luis glanced at Zhou Mubai and smiled, "Brother Zhou is protecting me, so I'm naturally relieved!"
He then turned to Zhou Minghao and asked, "Senior Zhou, do you mean that Brother Zhou and I should form a special battlefield rescue team—ready to intervene whenever any defense area is about to be breached—to relieve the pressure there?"
"Right!" Zhou Minghao nodded.
"To prevent the zombies from sending their top-level corpse servants after you, I've arranged for Mu Bai to guard your safety so you can do whatever you need."
At that moment, Luis finally understood Zhou Minghao's meaning.
Clearly, his performance in Defense Zone 43 had not only astonished Zhou Minghao but also made him reconsider how to defend Cangzhou Fairy City.
"Originally, I thought our chances of defending Cangzhou Immortal City were slim," Zhou Minghao continued, "but in today's battle, we annihilated 50 million enemy zombies! If we fight like this ten more times, the zombies will eventually be wiped out.
And you, nephew Luis, are the biggest variable in this battle! Neither I nor our enemies expected you to master such a terrifying group attack method!"
After the war, tasks were carried out in an orderly manner in each defense zone—treating wounded soldiers, providing relief for fallen monks, burning corpses, and ensuring that no one was overtaken by evil spirits and turned into zombies.
Although more than 50 million zombies were wiped out in this battle, nearly 100,000 monks were killed.
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Even though the Cangzhou coalition forces numbered in the millions, most of these casualties came from elite troops in the late Qi Refining and Foundation Building stages. In short, the battle inflicted serious damage on the entire coalition force.
However, among all the defense zones, Defense Zone 43 suffered the least damage—with zero casualties!
For a full ten hours, every monk in Zone 43 had watched Luis's performance. As a result, the pressure on the neighboring zones was greatly reduced, and their casualty numbers remained very low.
Consequently, the monks in these three defense zones were extremely grateful to Luis.