Chapter 41: The Blasphemer

"Are you alright?"

"How is it? What did you see?"

Several familiar comrades from the Seventh Corps gathered around, asking anxiously.

Chi Shaomu stood up and waved his hand at the crowd, signaling that he was fine.

Chen Xianyun also returned safely at this moment, frowning as he said, "Let's fall back first."

The moment the order was given, everyone turned around instantly, scattering in a neat and orderly fashion.

The formation was shaped like an arrowhead, with Yan Fenghua leading at the very front as the tip of the blade.

The entire group jogged away from the city center.

Chi Shaomu walked up to Chen Xianyun and said with a strained voice, "That thing inside..."

Chen Xianyun stopped him with a look and pulled him back to slow their pace.

Only after making sure that none of the new recruits of the Seventh Corps could overhear did he let Chi Shaomu speak again.

"Inside the tower, there is only a never-before-seen zombie." Chi Shaomu paused, then continued, "Its life force is extremely high."

"Stronger than a Zombie King?" Chen Xianyun probed.

Chi Shaomu nodded solemnly and continued, "Not only that, Corps Commander."

"The entire high tower is linked by zombie spores. Once these things drift across the entire Jiangning city area, it is very likely to trigger a secondary mutation!"

"I understand."

Chen Xianyun's gaze gradually turned sharp. His speed suddenly increased as he leaped into the air.

His body was as light as a feather, not resembling a human at all.

Shoving Yan Fenghua aside, he himself became the tip of the formation's blade.

Taking a deep breath, he shouted loudly, "Everyone! Keep up my pace!"

With that shout, Chen Xianyun kicked off the ground fiercely, changing direction.

His speed more than doubled compared to the previous jog.

Even Suo Hao had to grit his teeth to keep up this time.

Chen Xianyun calmly observed the path ahead, his thoughts racing.

If things truly were as Chi Shaomu described, he had to contain the spread of the zombie spores!

No sooner had they changed direction for two minutes than a massive, roaring explosion echoed from behind them.

Chi Shaomu, running at the tail end of the formation, reacted immediately.

It was that thing inside the tower—it had broken out into the world!

The high tower, forged from the corpses of zombies, suddenly burst into a fierce blaze.

The mycelium networks binding the corpses together turned to ash in the intense flames, drifting away on the wind in all directions.

A crack appeared at the base of the tower, and a blazing path of fire paved the way forward.

A figure emerged from the crack.

Its tall and massive physique far exceeded that of ordinary zombies and humans alike.

Its skin was entirely rough and dull.

Key parts of its body bore textures resembling scales or keratin.

Its forehead was exceptionally wide, and its entire face was as deformed as a demon's.

Its face was covered in mysterious rune-like tattoos that flickered with every heavy breath it took.

It was a special, unprecedented mutant!

Stepping out of the fiery path, its gaze shifted, sweeping past the humans running desperately for their lives.

Finally, its eyes locked onto the due east direction.

It leaped forward in a single stride, heading straight toward the Seventh Corps!

"Yan Fenghua! The drifting spores are yours. You can handle that, right?!"

"Everyone else... stay alive!"

Sensing the rapidly approaching pressure, Chen Xianyun roared at the top of his lungs.

Without waiting for a response from behind, he directly drew a pair of short sabers from his waist.

The sabers were scabbardless, styled similarly to traditional Huaxiya Bajandao, but with longer blades and hilts.

With a crisp clang, the sound struck like a heavy hammer against everyone's heart.

"The Corps Commander... has drawn his blades."

"Could these twin sabers be the legendary [Slashing Hong] that once shook all of Asia?"

"That name really doesn't match our Corps Commander's sloppy appearance," Yan Fenghua joked, two steady whirlwinds manifesting beneath his soles to carry him backward through the air.

The rest gritted their teeth and continued running forward, their formation gradually spreading out.

Chen Xianyun's slender figure now rose into mid-air, confronting the towering new mutant from a distance!

Down on the ground, Tang Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth and clenched her right arm.

An earthy-yellow micro-light flashed, transforming into a small banner that flew onto Chen Xianyun's shoulder and neck.

"Xiaoxiao?!"

Having done this, Tang Xiaoxiao abruptly lost consciousness and collapsed, ultimately being hoisted onto the back of Suo Hao running behind her.

Chen Xianyun gave a slight nod toward the ground.

Then, gripping the hilts tightly, he frowned as he watched the menacingly approaching mutant.

Out of habit, he cursed, "You turtle-spawned bastard..."

The mutant's eyes were deeply sunken, exuding an inexplicable evil and chill.

It reached out with its bare hand to grab Chen Xianyun.

Chen Xianyun showed no fear whatsoever, his suspended form suddenly surging into motion.

Without any external force assisting him, he slashed his twin sabers diagonally from top-right to bottom-left, carving out a massive sweep of blade aura.

The surging power instantly burst open the sleeves on the Corps Commander's arms, revealing a layer of enchanting, demonic patterns etched onto his skin.

The mutant did not dodge or parry; instead, it transformed its palm into a fist and met the blade aura head-on!

The blade aura was ultimately shattered by the blow, but the mutant's forward momentum was also brought to a halt.

Taking advantage of this window, Yan Fenghua swept past, capturing the drifting spores one by one into his wind cages.

The mutant's charge was checked, but Chen Xianyun had no intention of letting it go.

His twin sabers fluttered like butterflies among flowers as he pursued and slashed at the mutant.

An overwhelming, sweeping momentum erupted from the Corps Commander's slight frame.

For a moment, this newly born special mutant was forced into passive defense.

This was the pinnacle of the ordinary-tier Chosen Ones—the [Demon Body]!

The mutant's cold and evil gaze remained unchanged; Chen Xianyun's attacks left only shallow marks on its forearms, still some distance away from truly breaking its defense.

Perhaps annoyed by Chen Xianyun's persistent assaults, the mutant opened its mouth, revealing a jumbled row of sharp fangs.

"Roar!"

A soul-shaking low roar burst from its throat.

Chen Xianyun reacted instantly, crossing his twin sabers in front of him in a defensive posture.

Sure enough, a scorching pillar of fire instantly surged from its mouth, lunging straight for the Corps Commander's face.

"Tch, you turtle-spawn sure have bad breath."

The earthy-yellow small banner resting on Chen Xianyun's shoulder and neck floated before him.

The heavy, earthen power shaved off a significant portion of the fire pillar's might.

Even so, Chen Xianyun was blown backward through the air by the impact.

Ahead of the Seventh Corps, a massive commotion suddenly erupted, as if responding to the roar that had just sounded.

After a bout of earth-shaking tremors, the red fog fell into an unaccustomed silence.

The twelfth squad could no longer afford to care about the new mutant pursuing them from behind; they all ground to a halt.

"That li—life force... it seems to be... that Fallen God."

Lu Xuening closed her eyes, her eyeballs twitching frantically as a powerful instinct drove her to try and flee the scene.

Yet her trembling limbs pinned her firmly in place.

As soon as Lu Xuening spoke, the group of Dongming Military Region recruits fell into an eerie silence.

Even the usually optimistic Suo Hao lost his voice, his fists clenched so tightly his nails dug into his palms.

"Why would Xiangliu appear here?"

Despair blanketed the hearts of these newly ascended Chosen Ones.

"Sigh, what a pity I'm only Tier 1."

Chi Shaomu sighed, stepping out in front of everyone.

"The status of an [Observer] should be enough to buy me some time. You guys hurry and flee toward the north and south."

"Living a miserable life is still better than dying a glorious death, wouldn't you say?"

Xiao Qi, having roughly figured it out, stepped closer and warned in a low voice, "Don't play the hero. Maintaining a high-tier state consumes your life force..."

"Rest assured, this Xiangliu is probably here to hunt down that mutant just now. I'm just buying you guys a little time."

Chi Shaomu removed his black-rimmed glasses and tossed them to Xiao Qi, repeating once more, "Everyone... stay alive!"