Chief, don't hit me in the face

Chapter 33: Boundless Wasteland, All Spirits Bow!

Xia Yang suddenly surged forward, charging at the Undead Hero’s back, ready to follow suit and kick it in the lower back to draw it closer to Xia Ye. But who could have known that Xia Ye was even faster? He darted forward in a single bound, his right leg lashing out from the right side with blinding speed. Boom! The Undead Hero staggered, then spun around to search for the enemy. By then, Xia Ye had already darted like a rabbit into the blind spot of its field of vision. Xia Yang, who was a split second too slow, was spotted and once again found himself entangled. “Damn it!” Xia Yang was so furious he felt like he was about to spit blood. How could his positioning be worse than that of a half-blind guy? This reality dealt him a crushing blow. With three teammates down and Xia Ye going through the motions without putting in any real effort, Xia Yang was in deep trouble. He had no choice but to give it his all. With Xia Xiong’s support, he tangled with the Undead Hero for over a minute, attempting to break free several times—only to fail each time. “No way!” Xia Xiong was stunned. Xia Ye’s positioning was simply too masterful—he’d stayed in the Undead Hero’s blind spot the entire time, leaving Xia Yang no chance to pass the blame. “If this keeps up, I’m going to go down with the Undead Hero!” Xia Yang was utterly frustrated. Just as he was hesitating over whether to be a little less principled and simply retreat from the fray, the Undead Hero’s heavy punch suddenly accelerated toward him. Boom! Caught off guard, Xia Yang was struck squarely in the chest and sent flying backward. “Damn it… cough, cough!” Xia Yang wanted to curse, but all that came out was a violent cough, followed by a gush of fresh blood that sprayed out like dots of plum blossoms. “Help me!” Xia Xiong panicked and, without holding back, drew his bow and fired rapidly. Whoosh! Arrows flew through the air, intercepting the undead hero. “If you don’t act now, I’ll kill you first!” Xia Yang felt at least two of his ribs snap; he lost his temper and roared furiously at Xia Ye. “I’m waiting for the right moment!” Xia Ye explained. It might have looked like he was scared and had taken the initiative to counterattack, but in reality, he felt it was time to call it quits—if this kept up, Xia Yang and his partner would end up killing the Undead Hero in a desperate fight, and his plan would go down the drain. “Are you okay?” Xia Xiong ran over, pulled out a pill, and shoved it into Xia Yang’s mouth. “Let’s go!” Xia Yang urged, shooting a venomous glance at Xia Ye before sprinting toward the tower gate without looking back. “Alright!” Xia Xiong flashed a smug grin, satisfied that his scheme had succeeded. “Song Guo, be on guard!” Xia Ye shouted, quickly leading the Undead Hero to a blind spot near the tower gate and window to avoid being spotted. “Okay!” The little girl was smart—she’d already moved into position. Upon hearing the command, she immediately darted toward the tower gate, circled around, and, seeing no one there, gave an “OK” gesture. Time was running out. Xia Ye charged forward, deliberately crossing paths with the Undead Hero to create a gap of nearly thirty meters, then reached behind his waist and pulled out the “Great Wasteland Scripture of Ten Thousand Spirits” scroll. Whoosh! With a tug of both hands, the scroll unfurled. Xia Ye raised his hand, bit down hard on his thumb to draw blood, then drew a line across the surface—which was neither paper nor leather—while infusing it with a portion of his primordial energy. Sizzle! A trail of blood appeared. The Great Wasteland knows no bounds; all spirits bow in submission! Hum! A golden glow illuminated the scroll, and an ancient seal character—mysterious, esoteric, and completely indecipherable—emerged from its surface. With a whoosh, it shot toward the undead hero like a dragon spear. Boom! The golden seal struck its target, shattering into specks of light, and immediately, a chain appeared around the Undead Hero’s body. Roar! The Undead Hero roared in fury, trying to break free from the bonds, but alas, the golden seal characters kept pouring forth. Bang! A full eight seal characters were fired in an instant, and chains coiled around his body one after another. “Did it work?” Watching the undead hero’s struggles grow weaker, Xia Ye swallowed hard. “Ah-woo!” While keeping an eye on her surroundings, Song Guo watched the battle unfold, her little face etched with tension. Roar! The undead hero roared once more, and a massive burst of white frost suddenly erupted from his body, spreading like thick fog. Crack! The chains froze and began to crack. “Did it fail?” Just as that thought flashed through his mind, Xia Ye had already drawn “Song of the Four Seasons” and charged forward. He had no choice. Biting his finger to smear fresh blood on the sutra while channeling his vital energy had drained more than half of his reserves in a single moment—he didn’t dare try it again. Roar! With a violent shake of the Undead Hero’s arms, the chains shattered with a clatter. Just as it broke free, turned around, and was about to strike down its enemy, Xia Ye struck from the side. Bone-Shattering Blast! Boom! Xia Ye slammed into the Undead Hero with full force, then aimed for its neck and unleashed a finishing move! Soul-Shattering Slash! Whoosh! The blade sliced through, a bronze glow flashing, and then a head rolled to the ground. Thud! The corpse crashed to the ground, sending shards of ice flying in all directions as a wisp of freezing mist rose! “Looks like it won’t work!” Xia Ye pursed his lips and was about to put away the *Great Wasteland Sutra of Ten Thousand Spirits* when the corpse suddenly shattered with a *snap*, breaking into countless white specks of light that surged into the scroll. “Huh?” Xia Ye felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, as if his body had been drained of all energy, but he still quickly looked down to investigate. A lifelike full-body portrait was imprinted on the scroll’s surface—a figure clad in heavy armor, with shards of ice glistening on it. “Ah-woo!” Song Guo ran over, standing on tiptoe to get a better look. She reached out to touch it; not only was it ice-cold to the touch, but a wisp of white frost also wafted out. Xia Ye hurriedly flipped to the preface and immediately understood. Enemies killed by the user’s own hand could, after their souls were devoured by the *Great Wasteland Scripture of Ten Thousand Spirits*, have a 10% chance of being transformed into a spirit servant. This time, the forced contract formation had failed, but another ability had been triggered instead. “That was a close call!” Xia Ye was immensely relieved. The General Principles stated that transforming an enemy into a spirit servant not only had an extremely low success rate but also consumed a vast amount of spiritual awareness. If one forcibly transformed an enemy whose spiritual awareness far exceeded one’s own, there was an eighty to ninety percent chance the servant would end up mentally impaired. “I must have killed him too quickly—the spell’s effect hadn’t worn off yet, so it just happened to take effect on the corpse!” Xia Ye wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. It was only because the Fengjing tribe had been wiped out—and there were no longer any clan members to perform rituals—that the will of the undead hero had greatly weakened; otherwise, doing something like this would have been a sure path to self-destruction. “How do you use it?” Song Guo asked curiously. “I’ll show you when the time comes!” Since he had killed it himself, summoning it required no sacrifice—simply smear it with blood to activate it, communicate with it through spiritual awareness, and then infuse it with vital energy to power it. “Mm-hmm!” Song Guo glanced at the tower—the more smug it looked, the less they believed it. “Who are you calling names?” Xia Yang flew into a rage. “I’m cursing you, of course. What? Don’t like it? Come on, bite me!” Xia Ye curled his finger. Since the plan had been accomplished, there was no need to beat around the bush with these guys anymore. If he couldn’t kill them, he’d just cripple them. “All right, stop arguing!” Xia Qingyuan felt a headache coming on. Just as he was about to say something, he saw Xia Qiufeng—who had gone ahead to scout the area—racing down the stairs in a panic, his face deathly pale. “Run!” That warning was followed by a deafening beastly roar that sent dust swirling from the floor. A translucent ghostly white tiger leaped down, bursting into the group’s line of sight. Xia Ye reacted with lightning speed, snatching up the Song Guo and tucking it under his arm before charging headlong downstairs. If it had terrified Xia Qiufeng to this extent, that ghostly white tiger must be truly terrifying. Outside the Tower of Glory. “Ang, there are signs of a struggle—someone must have gone in just a short while ago!” Cao Bing examined the footprints around them: “There must have been six people—including a little girl!” “Hide first!” Cao Ang gave the order, planning a surprise attack, but just as everyone was about to retreat, the roar of a fierce tiger rang out. Immediately afterward, a young boy wearing an eye patch leaped out of a broken window on the second floor, clutching a little girl to his side. The single ponytail at the back of the boy’s head fluttered in the wind, like a black battle flag!