Tiger Taoist pondered before saying, “Brother Lin, this is too dangerous. Why don’t we forget about it? I’ve been living with this corpse energy for so long now. I’m sure I can continue living with it.”
Lin Jin shook his head. “Brother Tiger, I’m sure you are aware that you’re nearing your end. In a few more years, you’ll be corroded by the corpse energy and turn into a zombie. Things will be worse then.”
It was true and Tiger Taoist knew it. After giving it another thought, he did not raise any objections.
Lin Jin now had to worry about another thing. He feared that Corpse Taoist might detect the Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy and find his way here. Trouble would surely ensue should that be the case.
If they could solve this now, it was best not to delay.
In most cases, problems would grow even more difficult due to procrastination.
Lin Jin still had to figure out how to go about it. He had experienced the brutality of the headless zombie firsthand, and the Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy wouldn’t be easy to handle either. After being in Tiger Taoist’s body so long, the Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy had started to grow spiritual intelligence. Lin Jin feared that when he expelled it, the energy might refuse to clash with the zombie, so his plan would be rendered pointless.
He had to lure it into a fight.
But how?
That was the key question.
Lin Jin turned to glance at Tiger Taoist, and an idea came to mind.
The Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy only harassed Tiger Taoist for so many years because it wanted to convert Tiger Taoist into a zombie. That was the trigger behind the development of its spiritual intelligence, and it was a form of obsession.
The more it couldn’t succeed, the stronger its obsession grows.
That’s why this Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy was so tough. Even Tiger Taoist couldn’t do anything to it with his strength, and he was now losing.
However, if the headless zombie tried to take over Tiger Taoist’s body with his corpse energy, the Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy would surely retaliate.
Lin Jin initiated his plan the moment this idea came to mind.
He told Shu Xiaolou to further reinforce this realm layer. Then, he led Tiger Taoist down to the ground to observe the headless zombie at closer proximity, which took sizeable courage.
Even though the zombie was subdued by the Demon Slayer, the death aura here was incredibly dense. The ground had been completely corroded, turning into a murky, sticky substance that continued to spread further.
Lin Jin’s heart ached for Shu Xiaolou when he saw this.
The painting realm was Shu Xiaolou’s core. Every moment the headless zombie was sealed here, the environment continued to be corroded by the aura.
Corroding the painting realm meant corroding Shu Xiaolou.
It was like having a thorn in one’s heart. Although the effects were barely noticeable in the short run, a thorn was still a thorn. It wouldn’t disappear just because of its size.
Lin Jin didn’t understand the pain but he knew Shu Xiaolou must feel uncomfortable.
This was another reason he decided to take this risk. He suspected that the Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy would subdue the headless zombie significantly.
With this, the headless zombie’s death aura might stop flowing and even start contracting.
Only with this, could Lin Jin venture close enough to the headless zombie. He planned to feed the large mouth on his stomach a monster-locking pill.
This was an idea he came up with spontaneously. The headless zombie was a condensation of death aura come alive. In a sense, it was like a corpse monster.
If that was the case, feeding it the monster-locking pill might produce unexpected results.
Lin Jin was fine even if the plan failed. At least he took a shot at it. At most, Lin Jin would just lose one monster-locking pill.
He had prepared a sizeable quantity of these pills for the sake of capturing the monsters of Dark Wind Cave anyway. However, due to his new alliance with Tiger Taoist, he managed to save them, so they could be used here to deal with the zombie.
As they got nearer to the headless zombie, they could see how sturdy its build was. Even without a head, he was much taller than Lin Jin. His body was bent backward from being impaled by the Demon Slayer. In spite of this, its dangerous aura was not diminished at all.
“Brother Tiger, stand here later and don’t move no matter what happens. Only run when I tell you to. Otherwise, don’t make any sudden movements,” said Lin Jin.
Tiger Taoist gave a hearty laugh. “Don’t worry, Brother Lin. Proceed with your plan.”
Lin Jin nodded. Tiger Taoist was incredibly strong. Even though his growth was stunted by his constant battle with the corpse energy, he was still powerful beyond measure. His steel-like physique was what helped him endure the insanely overbearing Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy.
It gave Lin Jin confidence to try out this method.
Had it been anyone else, Lin Jin wouldn’t have dared to make such a foolhardy attempt.
“Alright, let’s begin. Brother Tiger, go over and grab the headless zombie’s hand!”
Lin Jin’s instruction stunned Tiger Taoist.
“Grab his hand?” Tiger Taoist felt his scalp prickle as he stared at the headless zombie’s hand.
Seeing Lin Jin nod in response, Tiger Taoist who had spoken courageously earlier gritted his teeth as he followed Lin Jin’s instructions.
He went over, steadied himself, and then reached out to hold the headless zombie’s hand. Immediately, the unmoving zombie jolted back to life. The eyes on his chest peeled opened and his purplish-green hand moved to grab Tiger Taoist by his wrist.
“How strong!” Tiger Taoist was shocked. However, he was no prey. He began combating the headless zombie’s strength when he detected its rage.
He had to. Otherwise, his arm would be ripped off by the headless zombie.
This was a contest of physical strength. Perhaps only someone like Tiger Taoist could compete with an entity as malicious as the headless zombie.
Lin Jin retreated about a hundred feet away to observe the battle.
The veins in Tiger Taoist’s body popped and his physical size doubled. His tiger features began to show and he was actually overpowering the headless zombie by pure strength now.
Very tough indeed.
Just then, death aura emerged from the headless zombie’s hand. Lin Jin knew it was time and he invoked a spell, firing a dozen needles into Tiger Taoist’s body.
Lin Jin wanted to force out the Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy in him.
In fact, Lin Jin only gave it a slight nudge and the Immortal-Corroding Corpse-Refining Energy commenced its attack on the headless zombie’s death aura. The battle happened in Tiger Taoist’s arm.
Tiger Taoist was overwhelmed by excruciating pain, but he endured it with gritted teeth as he began sweating profusely.
Lin Jin continued to maneuver his needles, giving it his all in trying to force both types of corpse energies out of Tiger Taoist’s body and into the headless zombie.
Once there was no corpse energy left, Lin Jin shouted, “Run!”
Tiger Taoist had been waiting for this signal. He quickly broke free and retreated about a thousand feet away before collapsing to the ground. There, he panted heavily.
His arm was covered in wounds, a byproduct of the corpse energies tearing each other apart.
Still, in Lin Jin’s opinion, Tiger Taoist was saved now. These minor injuries weren’t an issue at all. Even the large slash wound on his back had begun to heal thanks to his powerful regenerative ability.
