As the lingering Resentment and corpse Qi within the dungeon were completely absorbed by the newly unsealed Gu Hongchen, her cultivation instantly soared to Refining Qi Stage Eight.
Although her current cultivation was only Refining Qi Stage Eight, with Gu Hongchen’s profound understanding of the Demonic Arts of the Demon Sect, she could easily take on cultivators at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage!
Gu Hongchen clenched her fist, feeling her current combat power level, then let out a sinister laugh and commanded the Cognition Modification System within her.
“System! Activate Cognition Modification! Full Power Mode!”
With Gu Hongchen’s sinister laugh, countless images of herself suddenly appeared like phantoms in front of the Foundation Establishment-stage white-robed zombie, all launching attacks simultaneously.
Real and fake, fake and real, impossible to defend against!
Gu Hongchen’s true body stood at a distance, scoffing as she scraped the dirt from beneath her nails, disdainfully complaining to herself.
“Hmph… A divine artifact capable of modifying cognition, and you waste it on invisibility tricks like some useless scrap!”
“Indeed, a waste is always a waste! Such narrow vision!”
Though the Heart Demon Gu Hongchen had just cursed her true body as useless in her mind, she had already internally developed the entire combat combo using the Cognition Modification System!
Following that, Gu Hongchen crossed her hands, and the Love-Thread Sword instantly materialized into her grasp.
Almost at the same moment, under the influence of the Cognition Modification System, the zombie was angrily unleashing brute force into thin air, roaring fiercely.
In its vision, countless phantom clones of Gu Hongchen raised their spirit swords in unison, shouting curses at it.
“Heh heh! You zombie trash… are you ready to be shattered to pieces by me?”
With a thought from Gu Hongchen, the Cognition Modification System instantly ran at full power!
Inside the cell, the scene completely twisted and went mad in the white-robed zombie’s simple perception!
Dozens of “Gu Qingying” phantoms appeared out of thin air before the zombie, surging like a tide, sword light flashing, murderous intent boiling.
Gu Hongchen’s true body flickered like a ghost among these phantoms, elusive and unpredictable.
She did not rush for a fatal blow but began to use a voice full of demonic charm and extreme venom to continuously torment the monster before her—a creature that had just gained some semblance of intelligence and still acted on instinct.
“Heh heh… you stupid thing~”
a teasing voice suddenly whispered close to the zombie’s left ear, warm breath nearly brushing its skin, as if someone were standing right beside it.
“Hey hey hey~ Where do you think you’re hitting? I’m right here, you know?”
The white-robed zombie suddenly swung its claw to the left but only shredded a phantom made of thin air.
Almost simultaneously, a sharp sword qi sliced across its right shoulder, leaving a shallow scar.
Gu Hongchen’s true body flashed past its right side, leaving a mocking whisper.
“Your skin is pretty thick~ Too bad… your brain’s completely empty~”
The white-robed zombie turned furiously, its blood-red eyes fixed tightly on its right side, but saw nothing.
“Heh heh~ Look above you, you fool~”
The mocking voice came from overhead.
The zombie instinctively looked up, only to see Gu Qingying’s figure hanging upside down, the sword tip pointing straight at its brow, aiming for a vital spot!
The white-robed zombie roared, reaching upward, but again grasped nothing but empty air.
Then a sharp pain exploded in its knee pit, causing it to stagger.
Gu Hongchen’s voice slithered like a worm from its back, suddenly close.
“Hey~ Can’t even stand steady? Miss Zhao, is your Foundation Establishment cultivation paper-thin?”
The white-robed zombie spun wildly, claws stirring a bloody wind that shredded several phantoms nearby, but it could never catch Gu Hongchen’s slippery true body.
“Oh dear~ Getting angry?”
Gu Hongchen’s voice shifted—sometimes distant and ethereal as if hanging in the clouds, sometimes close like a whisper:
“You really stink… dead for two years, and your dad’s perfume can’t cover up this rotten smell~”
“So honestly, I don’t understand how Zhao Zongchang can look at your pathetic face every day without puking.”
Gu Hongchen’s words seemed to touch a deep chord within Zhao Mingyin’s primitive zombie soul—the instinctive yearning for life and loathing of decay.
The zombie let out an even more miserable roar filled with resentment and hatred; its attacks became increasingly chaotic.
“Heh heh~ Yes, that’s right! Powerless rage!”
At the moment the phantoms shattered, Gu Hongchen’s true body appeared beside Zhao Mingyin, the Love-Thread Sword striking like a viper toward the zombie’s elbow joint.
“Get angrier! Let your corpse Qi boil!”
“After all… that’s what makes this fun!”
“Clang!”
The white-robed zombie barely used its other arm to block the sword, sparks flying.
It glared at Gu Hongchen who suddenly appeared before it, emitting threatening hoarse sounds from its throat.
But Gu Hongchen had no desire to prolong the fight; her figure blurred again, melting into new phantoms, leaving behind a chilling, silver-bell-like sinister laugh.
“Heh heh… can’t catch me~ Annoyed? You were a short-lived ghost when alive, and now as a zombie, you’re still a useless corpse!”
“Even I can’t touch you, yet you want to resurrect? Want to see your daddy again? What a dream!”
Gu Hongchen’s words were like vicious curses, relentlessly striking at the zombie’s simple consciousness core.
At last, it was completely lost in the endless phantoms and unceasing mental assaults.
Zhao Mingyin tore and roared madly into the air, the dense corpse Qi around her rapidly consumed, but the wounds Gu Hongchen inflicted only deepened.
Clawed broken fingers, damaged joints, sword scars deep enough to see the bone…
Gu Hongchen was like the most brilliant hunter, using system phantoms as her net and words as her whip, slowly wearing down this powerful zombie monster.
Clearly, she reveled in the pleasure of toying with her prey in her hands—each appearance, each whisper and curse pushed Zhao Mingyin closer to collapse.
Finally, when the zombie’s strength sank to rock bottom and its fledgling self-awareness was on the verge of dissolution, Heart Demon Gu Hongchen lost interest in the game.
“Sigh~ Bored now.”
With these cold words, her true body teleported instantly to the front of the zombie’s weary, drooping head, the Love-Thread Sword gathering a dim Soul-Killing Thrust that swallowed light.
“Heh heh~ Since you’re about to become my nourishment, my seal to suppress Gu Qingying, as your senior, here’s a piece of advice—next life, remember to be born with a bigger brain!”
Having said this, Gu Hongchen slowly extended her hand, ready to absorb all the corpse Qi and cultivation from the zombie, breaking through to Foundation Establishment Middle Stage and completely suppressing Gu Qingying.
However, at that moment, a dark green Bone Spirit Shuttle suddenly appeared behind Gu Hongchen, stabbing straight at her vital spot on the back.
Sensing the sudden anomaly behind her, Gu Hongchen, who was about to absorb Zhao Mingyin’s cultivation, dodged to the side just in time, narrowly avoiding the poisonous bone-made secret weapon launched from behind.
Turning around, she smiled mockingly at the ambusher releasing the weapon behind her.
“Oh? And who might you be?”
“So it’s Fourth Senior Sister… you creepy, shady woman who loves to stab others in the back like a pervert~”