Before long, right when the horde of corpse kings were about to attack Lu Yin and the others, the humans stepped into Red Beam. As soon as they did so, the void warped, and the sourcebox array came to life, rising to connect the ground to the sky as it started emanating beams of red light in all directions. The moment the beams of red light made contact with the monsters, countless corpse kings were reduced to ashes. With the Red Beam’s omnidirectional offense, it soon carved out a space free from the encroaching monsters. The sourcebox array was ten times more efficient at directly killing the corpse kings than the humans.
Lu Yin looked tense as he scanned the horizon. Red Beam was arranged with seven sourceboxes. Lu Yin had Che Zhan, Brother Hong, Matriarch of the Eastern Mountain, and Mr. Guo each take charge of a sourcebox. Then, he gave control of the remaining three to Enlighters who were on the cusp of becoming Envoys.
“From now on, everybody needs to listen to my commands. I’ll instruct you guys on how to move around, but you need to keep in mind that the moment you make a single wrong move, the array might attack us as well,” Lu Yin warned in a solemn voice.
Che Zhan and the rest all looked stern. “Understood.”
“Understood.”
“Understood.”
…
“Let’s go. Che Zhan, take the vanguard. Matriarch of the Eastern Mountain, go to the right, twenty steps away from Che Zhan. Ten steps past her—Brother Hong, stay right where you are…” Lu Yin began giving out directions one after one. Everyone attentively listened to his commands, which helped maintain the full power of the Red Beam and wipe out the corpse kings in all directions. This allowed them to slowly make their way forward in the direction that Zhou Tang had indicated.
From a distance, they looked like a giant red sphere slowly moving across the ground, and any corpse king that touched the red light was immediately vaporized. This Red Beam sourcebox array had once protected the second forward basecamp, so such extraordinary power was actually to be expected.
Marquis Green Bamboo gasped in shock; even if the array had been fully repaired by Shaman God, Lu Yin was truly gifted as a peerless Lockbreaker since he had learned how to control and utilize the array within just a few days. His skills were truly jaw-dropping.
Once the various elements of a sourcebox array were set in place, it was difficult to shift it around. If someone wanted to relocate an array, they had to have a thorough understanding of the sourcebox array down to every last detail. Even Master Song had not mastered this array to that level. The truth was that Lu Yin would have been similarly incapable of mastering the sourcebox array if he hadn’t retreated into the Timestop Space and dedicated an entire year to thoroughly researching it.
What Lu Yin had pulled off was enough to overwhelm even a Semi-Progenitor like Marquis Green Bamboo.
Nobody asked how far they were from the Forsaken Soldiers, or more likely, nobody dared to ask. There might be a great distance to cover, or they might be quite close. All the survivors needed was a strand of hope to cling onto, a hope that they would never have if they were forced to sit and wait to die in the underground crevice.
As the group walked over within the protection of the powerful attacks of the sourcebox array, the crumbled ruins of the second forward basecamp drifted further and further away while the shadow up above slowly faded from view. They were going off on a journey across the New World.
The unending horde of corpse kings continued to surround them, and there was no end in sight. There were also times when corpse kings with the strength of Envoys would attempt to forcefully break into the sourcebox array to destroy the array. But to counter these attempts, the three Enlighters carrying the sourceboxes had been placed in the center of the array while Che Zhan and the other Envoys were in the outer positions. This allowed the humans to hold out even against corpse kings with the strength of regular Envoys.
Soon, more than half a day had passed. The sky remained the same dusky color, but the sunset red beams of the sourcebox array were a stark contrast, making for a breathtaking and never-before-seen sight in the New World.
The ground began to violently tremble. A hundred meter tall giant corpse king had appeared.
Lu Yin’s face twitched a bit when he saw the enormous corpse king. Things were no longer looking so good for them. Those oversized corpse kings were specially made to counter sourcebox arrays. These giant corpse kings could absorb sourceboxes into their bodies, damaging the arrays. This was how the defensive sourcebox arrays at both the second array base and the second forward basecamp had been destroyed. Back then, Zhou Tang had been forced to use his aurelian force to eliminate the giant corpse king attacking the second forward basecamp, and that move had overexerted him and severely injured his body.
Sensing that the situation was quickly growing beyond their means to handle, Lu Yin cursed Shaman God in his heart. If the Skygod really intended for Lu Yin to survive to the end, then why did that doll have to act so seriously and make things so difficult for him?
The beams of the sourcebox array continuously etched away at the massive corpse king while the giant stretched out a hand in an attempt to grab the people inside the array. However, the beams of light severed its fingers this time. This giant corpse king was much weaker than the one that had attacked the second forward basecamp, though its comparative weakness did not stop it from slapping its palm down onto the humans turtled under the array.
Just when Lu Yin was about to unleash his last Void Rip, he felt a fluctuation sweep by the nearby space. The void twisted as though it was being burned, and it started to collapse onto itself. This was a familiar feeling; was it aurelian force?
“Leave that one to me,” Zhou Tang said as he stepped forward.
Che Zhan grinned. “Looks like he’s recovered.”
Zhou Tang stared up at the giant corpse king, waiting for the wounded hand to strike down. At a precise moment, the Envoy lifted his hand and threw a palm attack at the giant corpse king. The attack cleanly sliced off the corpse king’s entire arm. Without any hesitation, Zhou Tang leaped forward and shot out of Red Beam. Another Envoy level corpse king suddenly appeared beside the man, but Zhou Tang just grabbed it as he raised his hand.
When fighting against corpse kings, there was almost no one who could be like Zhou Tang, who could crush them with his strength.
The grabbed corpse king growled in fury and unleashed an unknown sonic attack with its snarls. This attack actually managed to distort the void, but Zhou Tang’s aurelian force just shattered the void entirely as he sent the Envoy level corpse king flying with a fierce slap. In front of Zhou Tang, the giant corpse king’s fist was just about to strike the Envoy. Zhou Tang’s eyes went wide in surprise, but he was invincible when he used his aurelian force.
There was an incredible boom as the giant corpse king’s punch struck Zhou Tang’s body, but Zhou Tang continued to stand tall in the void, towering above his opponent. He was not pushed back even a single step. Then, he raised a hand and slashed it upwards along the corpse king’s body. Just as he had done to the corpse king that had attacked the second forward basecamp, this giant corpse king was also sliced in two, instantly dying.
Zhou Tang suddenly coughed, spitting out a mouthful of blood as his drained body fell back into the sourcebox array.
“Take care of him!” Lu Yin yelled in a deep voice. He was finally able to sigh in relief after seeing that the giant corpse king had been taken care of. Unless a corpse king with the strength of a five stellular tribulation Envoy appeared, the corpse kings would not be able to overcome the soucebox array, which meant that Lu Yin’s companions would be able to live. What’s more, Shaman God definitely would not allow such powerhouses to make a move against Lu Yin, as if that happened, how could Lu Yin reasonably be expected to survive? Shaman God’s entire plan would end up failing if such a thing happened.
Marquis Green Bamboo continued to observe everything from a distance, and he was almost unable to stop himself from making a move. Someone who had managed to cultivate battle force to aurelian force was worthy of the marquis personally taking action. If such a person could be defeated and then transformed into a corpse king, that would truly be perfect.
Sadly, the marquis was not allowed to do anything.
“Brother Hong, move seven steps back and watch out for the incoming sneak attacks from the corpse kings! Che Zhan, stop looking around!” Lu Yin chided.
Che Zhan was startled. He had caught sight of an oddly shaped corpse king, and it had drawn his attention. Even after Lu Yin’s scolding, the Envoy still felt a bit anxious about what he had seen.
During the entire time that Red Beam moved forward, Lu Yin was constantly busy eliminating incredibly powerful enemies and repairing the array that was giving hope and life to everyone with him. The fact that Lu Yin had to constantly give orders to adjust the array also conditioned the various powerhouses to execute Lu Yin’s orders as though they were edicts from god. In some way, it was as though they were all his subordinates.
No one realized it, not even Lu Yin himself, but he had started to command his comrades as though they were members of the Great Eastern Alliance.
The second forward basecamp had long since disappeared from sight, though the second array base above them did not show much of a change. No matter how far they traveled, the second array base remained in the same place in the sky, much like an unmoving sun.
“There’s a city up ahead!” someone yelled excitedly.
Everyone else eagerly looked ahead, and bit by bit, the outline of a city appeared.
Lu Yin turned to look as well; had they arrived?
“That’s not where the Forsaken Soldiers are stationed. This city belongs to the monsters,” Mr. Guo glumly informed everyone.
Everybody’s hearts sank. They stared off into the distance, and sure enough, countless corpse kings were charging out of the city and towards them.
“What do we do now? Do we need to go around the city?” someone asked.
Everyone turned to stare at Lu Yin, waiting for him to make a decision.
Lu Yin turned to Mr. Guo and asked, “Does this city have any sourcebox arrays?”
Mr. Guo shook his head. “Not one of this size. The monsters wouldn’t bother setting up a sourcebox array within a city unless it has great importance. This doesn’t qualify.”
Lu Yin’s expression chilled. Even if there was an array within this city, Shaman God would never allow it to be activated. At that thought, Lu Yin loudly yelled, “Then we continue charging straight through! We don’t have time to make any detours. If another giant corpse king shows up, none of us will be able to deal with it.”
Everyone gritted their teeth as they ferociously glared at the distant city. “Charge!”
“Charge!”
“Charge!”
…
From a distant location, Marquis Green Bamboo was dumbfounded at the scene he was witnessing. The humans wanted to charge straight into the city? Though, it didn’t matter, as such cities were unimportant!
The closer the humans moved to the city, the more corpse kings that appeared. Regardless, the monsters were not able to stand up to the killing power of the sourcebox array’s red beams. Even if these corpse kings had no fear of death, they were not willing to sacrifice themselves for nothing either. Besides, they actually possessed some intelligence of their own.
Finally, the humans managed to force their way into the city while under the array’s protection.
For the vast majority of the survivors, this was their first time seeing a city inhabited by monsters, and they were naturally intrigued and curious about it.
The city was not much different from a human city, and the biggest difference lay in the architectural styles. Still, compared to a human city, the corpse kings’ city felt decidedly more disturbing. There was not a single living creature within the entire city. In fact, the city felt more like a plastic display that had been set up to store corpse kings.
Rather than a city, it felt much more suitable to call it… a coffin.
Houses, buildings, and even the ground below them had all been completely destroyed by Red Beam. The survivors had not once slowed in their journey to the east. Lu Yin and the others plowed their way straight through the city center without pause, and their passage essentially split the city in two with the power of their array. The red beams even scoured away the top layer of the ground.
They did not sacrifice even a single person due to the array’s protection, which was perfectly in line with Lu Yin’s greatest hopes.
After leaving the city, they were greeted by the sight of an endless space. However, there were several massive planets overhead that spiraled around and crashed down towards the survivors.
While crushing humans with stars might sound like a domineering move, it was actually rather useless.
The red beams of light pierced through the sky and shattered the stars, which tore open the void and produced spatial cracks that spread out in all directions.
“Those guys behind us, aren’t they human?” someone hesitantly asked within Red Beam.
Many heads turned to look behind them, and they quickly saw what that person had been referring to. A human figure was emerging from beneath the city that they had split in two. This person was moving slowly, and instead of charging straight towards the Red Beam like the corpse kings, this figure was trying to avoid the corpse kings. Before long, more and more humans rose out from underground.
Lu Yin stopped them from moving forward and turned back to look. He saw a pair of lost and desperate eyes. That person really was a human.
“They’re humans!” Che Zhan shouted in surprise.
Mr. Guo explained, “This is one of the ways in which Aeternus births new corpse kings. They forcibly transform humans, which produces corpse kings from ordinary humans.”
Lu Yin had once visited Aeternus Nation, and although he had never seen a human be converted into a corpse king, he had certainly seen humans be treated as food, and he had also witnessed their efforts to integrate death energy into both humans and corpse kings to remodel them. Thus, this sight was not unfamiliar to Lu Yin, though it still impacted him emotionally. To think that they would stumble upon humans in this New World that was swarming with nothing but corpse kings. How helpless, miserable, and defeated must these people feel? They all stared at Lu Yin and the others with hope and begging expressions.
After the people rose out from under the ground one by one, they began to crowd together out of fear, and the nearby corpse kings quickly surrounded them.
“What do we do?” Che Zhan asked, looking at Zhou Tang.
Zhou Tang silently stared at Lu Yin.
One by one, everyone else eventually turned to look at Lu Yin as well. All of them had already begun to view him as their leader.
Lu Yin gritted his teeth and said, “We save them.”
Even though none of them wanted to die, and although their search for the Forsaken Soldiers was their last hope of survival, they were also not yet at the point where they could abandon helpless humans who clearly needed their help to be saved from a horrible death. Even if everyone was aware that trying to save these humans who had appeared would most likely draw the attention of powerful enemies, they still wanted to try. There was an ingrained sense of duty that was an intrinsic part of their human nature.
After hearing Lu Yin’s decision, the other survivors heaved sighs of relief before crying out in fury, “Save them!”
Red Beam turned around and moved back towards the city.
Outside the city, more humans endlessly rushed out from underground. The fact that they were on the battlefield behind the Mother Tree meant that they were also all cultivators who had fought against corpse kings before. However, they had been weakened by Aeternus’ efforts to remodel their bodies, and there were some who might have even been forced to kill their own companions after a successful transformation.
