Because zombies were appearing more and more frequently, the pressure on the defensive line beside the Corpse Mirror multiplied.
To prevent the situation from collapsing, many Yang Spirit Realm cultivators joined the watch rotations themselves, resulting in the town becoming strangely deserted instead.
The Lion Buddha monks were the most active of all. Even Elder Monk Zongqing, a Yang Spirit Realm cultivator, would occasionally intervene personally to heal other cultivators.
However, anyone with eyes could tell that Zongqing seemed to have ulterior motives.
He would deliberately carry away some of the slain zombies from the camp, seemingly trying to extract their memories and investigate the secrets of the Mirror World.
Unfortunately, Ren Qing's avatars had already erased every trace of bacterial souls. Even their brains had been corroded by yin qi into a mush of flesh.
The situation around the encampment gradually stabilized. Some Yang Spirit Realm cultivators even began treating zombie flesh as food to fill their stomachs.
After all the avatars Ren Qing had sent into the Mirror World died off, the Corpse Mirror gradually quieted down. The occasional zombie that emerged was nowhere near as terrifying without the support of bacterial souls.
The Yang Spirit Realm cultivators all assumed that the calamity brought by the immortal gate had finally passed. One after another, they recalled their subordinates back into the town, leaving only a portion behind to guard the area.
As methods similar to insect egg incubation continued to be displayed, the number of cultivators steadily increased, making things appear not much different from before.
Little did they know that the name of the Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal had already taken root among the various factions.
Aside from the rather stubborn Lion Buddha monks, every other faction had at least some cultivators who worshipped the Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal and had even erected statues in its honor.
Several days later, the calm was shattered by violent tremors.
Bang bang bang bang...
One White Bone Mountain after another began to collapse. Massive quantities of bones slid down from the heights, exposing the carrion insect nests buried deep underground.
These insects possessed astonishing vitality, like centipedes that remained alive despite being cut apart.
Ordinarily, once their nests were damaged, they would swarm out immediately.
Yet now, not the slightest movement could be seen.
The sight was exceedingly strange.
Layman Molting Shell narrowed his eyes and ordered his subordinates to investigate.
The result was startling.
The enormous nests were packed full of densely clustered dead insects, all killed by the corrosive corpse qi.
Before Layman Molting Shell could react, a sizzling sound spread across the ground for several miles around.
Dark green corpse fluid began seeping from the earth.
Yin qi gathered into massive vortexes and surged toward the Corpse Mirror before pouring into it.
Zombie roars echoed from within the opening, mixed with countless murmuring voices.
"What's happening?"
Elder Monk Zongqing's face flushed red.
As he summoned the monks and hurried toward the camp, he glared angrily at the cultivators responsible for patrol duty during that period.
"How would I know, you bald donkey..."
The cultivator was intimidated by Zongqing's presence and stopped talking after a few words.
Zongqing coldly declared,
"Gather everyone and head to the camp. If you don't want to die, get over here immediately."
The cultivator wanted to argue but felt killing intent locking onto him and could only obey.
Among all the factions in Dead Man Land, only Zongqing's Lion Buddha Temple belonged to the Buddhist path.
The others were all Daoist sects or unorthodox paths.
Logically speaking, Lion Buddha Temple should have been pushed out of the town long ago.
Yet the truth was that Elder Monk Zongqing vaguely held the upper hand over the other Yang Spirit Realm cultivators.
After the message was passed on, nearly all cultivators rushed toward the encampment.
On one hand, they did not wish to offend the mysterious Buddhist sect.
On the other, they did not want the fragile stability here to be destroyed.
A short while later, more than ten thousand cultivators gathered atop the city walls, staring fixedly at the Corpse Mirror.
Heavy breathing echoed from within.
They seemed to hear an oddly familiar voice drawing closer and closer to the exit with each step.
The factions immediately dispatched cultivators to investigate.
Yet before those cultivators could even approach the Corpse Mirror, merely coming into contact with the corpse qi on the ground caused most of their flesh and bones to rot away.
Magical artifacts fared even worse.
The moment they were flown into the Corpse Mirror, metallic chewing sounds emerged from within, sending chills down everyone's spine.
The Yang Spirit Realm cultivators all felt their scalps go numb.
Unable to help themselves, they looked toward Elder Monk Zongqing.
He appeared to know quite a bit about the immortal gate.
"Amitabha..."
Zongqing ignored them and simply continued chanting Buddhist scriptures.
Suddenly, a surge of corpse qi erupted.
The zombie's figure finally emerged.
A shadow more than twenty meters tall pressed down upon the cultivators' hearts.
Its aura was nearly tangible, making their hair stand on end.
The one who had escaped the Mirror World was naturally Daoist Lingxiao's true body.
But its appearance completely exceeded expectations.
There was not the slightest trace of humanity left in Daoist Lingxiao.
Its massive body had become an indescribable mass.
It appeared to be stitched together from thousands of corpses.
Countless people could be seen struggling within the flesh, their faces filled with despair and terror.
Every step Daoist Lingxiao took caused chunks of limbs and flesh to fall away.
Yet under the nourishment of yin qi, each corpse underwent corpse transformation.
Though they had only reached the level of Hairy Zombies, this was still a fusion of thousands of Hairy Zombies.
The strength displayed was enough to rival the Yin Difference Realm.
"Come with me and kill this zombie. Otherwise, we'll all be trapped here forever."
Elder Monk Zongqing swept his gaze across the Yang Spirit Realm cultivators.
His tone allowed no refusal.
Dense Buddhist qi condensed within his palm.
And he was not wrong.
If Daoist Lingxiao was not destroyed now, then once it advanced further, it would be capable of wiping out the entire town.
Zongqing took the lead, transforming into a streak of golden light and diving toward Daoist Lingxiao.
The remaining Yang Spirit Realm cultivators still held hopes of leaving Dead Man's Forbidden Zone through outside assistance.
None of them wished to see the town destroyed so easily.
They followed immediately, reaching the Corpse Mirror in the blink of an eye.
Daoist Lingxiao still retained fragments of consciousness.
Facing Elder Monk Zongqing, it spoke in a hoarse voice:
"I... should have... listened to you... There is a Yellow Springs Underworld... inside the immortal gate..."
Zongqing did not respond.
With a raised hand, he released a golden lion formed from Buddhist qi.
Daoist Lingxiao was blasted backward.
More than a dozen corpses on its body instantly turned to ashes.
Yet the attack failed to truly wound it.
Enraged, it glared at Zongqing.
Every face across its body opened its mouth simultaneously and expelled corpse qi like dark clouds covering the sky.
Zongqing sidestepped and immediately pressed down with a seal-shaped Buddhist attack.
The resulting shockwave spread for hundreds of miles.
White bones were reduced to dust and scattered in every direction.
Ordinary people would undergo corpse transformation and die merely by breathing it in.
The Yang Spirit Realm cultivators all displayed their abilities.
Countless techniques descended upon Daoist Lingxiao.
The other cultivators had no way of participating in the siege.
Being brushed by the aftermath alone was enough to result in death.
Layman Molting Shell hovered in midair and could not help glancing back.
The encampment should have been in complete chaos.
Yet it was strangely calm.
Against the backdrop of continuous zombie roars, the scene appeared eerily unsettling.
Perhaps it was only an illusion, but beyond the Buddhist chants of the Lion Buddha monks, Layman Molting Shell thought he heard familiar Insect Nest language.
They seemed to be calling upon the Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal.
A shiver ran down his spine.
Surveying the endless land of white bones, he felt as though an enormous insect stretching across all of Dead Man Land lay coiled beneath the earth.
Layman Molting Shell forcibly suppressed his distracting thoughts and directed his flying sword into the battle against Daoist Lingxiao.
Daoist Lingxiao's body continuously shrank.
From over twenty meters tall, it dwindled to just over ten meters.
It was obvious how many fused Hairy Zombies had been destroyed.
Yet its aura did not weaken in the slightest.
Instead, it grew stronger and stronger.
Elder Monk Zongqing inwardly cursed.
The zombies contained within Daoist Lingxiao were decreasing, but the remaining yin qi was nourishing its true body.
At this rate, it would soon advance again...
The moment the thought appeared, a crack split open along Daoist Lingxiao's back.
Thousands of spines burst out and began whipping wildly through the air.
After advancing, Daoist Lingxiao had become capable of contending with Yang Spirit Realm cultivators.
Its spinal bones also released terrifying corpse poison.
Faced with such a troublesome enemy, some Yang Spirit Realm cultivators immediately began considering retreat.
A vicious expression appeared on Zongqing's face.
He struck a nearby cultivator with one palm and shouted,
"Do you know why I came to Dead Man Land?"
Layman Molting Shell froze briefly.
Then he heard Zongqing continue:
"There truly is a secret to becoming an immortal or a Buddha within the immortal gate."
Seeing that Zongqing appeared prepared to risk his life against Daoist Lingxiao, they believed he genuinely had a reason for remaining near the immortal gate.
The moment they heard of immortality, their eyes turned red.
Thoughts of retreat disappeared.
Under the combined assault of the Yang Spirit Realm cultivators, Daoist Lingxiao's body shrank even further.
Yet bone armor gradually spread across its body.
"Immortal..."
it muttered.
The few hundred heads remaining on its body gathered toward the center and ultimately fused into a corpse brain that pulsed like a heart.
After discarding the excess bodies, Daoist Lingxiao officially stepped into the Hairy Zombie realm.
The Elder Monk Zongqing who had just been shouting moments ago immediately turned and fled without hesitation.
The other Yang Spirit Realm cultivators scattered in all directions.
But they were already half a step too late.
Aside from Zongqing, every Yang Spirit Realm cultivator was pierced by the spines.
Their nutrients were siphoned away as they were suspended from Daoist Lingxiao's back.
Zongqing's face twisted.
It looked as though years of planning had completely fallen apart.
Grinding his teeth, he fled into the depths of the Corpse Mirror.
What he failed to notice was the tiny disease seed attached to his shoulder.
Daoist Lingxiao came to a halt.
Irritably shaking its head, it tried to recall memories from before death.
Yet its mind was completely blank.
For some reason, it also had no intention of killing the Yang Spirit Realm cultivators outright.
Instead, it felt an instinctive desire to use them as a source of nourishment.
Daoist Lingxiao did not pursue Elder Monk Zongqing.
Instead, it strode toward the encampment.
It knew that devouring souls could increase its size.
The ten thousand cultivators within the camp would serve perfectly as prey.
A single breath of corpse qi reduced the walls surrounding the Corpse Mirror to ruins.
What puzzled Daoist Lingxiao was that the camp lay right before it.
Yet the cultivators appeared astonishingly calm.
Only the Lion Buddha monks were fleeing.
Its dim intellect could not understand the reason.
But the repeated cries of "Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal" somehow filled it with inexplicable fury.
As for the Yang Spirit Realm cultivators hanging from its back, only despair remained.
Layman Molting Shell discovered that his spine had been completely pierced through.
Corpse qi suppressed the aura of his technique so thoroughly that he could not even move a finger.
Yet his consciousness remained crystal clear.
He could distinctly feel his flesh and bones liquefying before being drained away.
When Daoist Lingxiao came within a hundred meters of the encampment, terror drove the crowd into hysterical cries for the Fortune Virtue Earth Immortal.
Zhen Xuzi stepped out from the shelter of a building without the slightest fear.
Standing before Daoist Lingxiao, his eyes burned with fervor as he looked toward the gigantic Corpse Buddha.
At some unknown point, a human figure had appeared atop its head.