Global Abyss: My Skills Can Enhance Infinitely

The bright moon hung high, its pale luminance scattering across the earth, providing a trace of visibility.

About twenty figures shuttled through the sandy, barren land, kicking up clouds of dust as they rapidly headed in the direction of Chang'an.

Accompanying Tao Yu, with Bai Qing'er to one side and Wanwan to the other, the latter now seemed somewhat dissatisfied as she pouted and said,

"Sect Master is hateful, turning someone into that state and then taking the opportunity to control them with a secret technique, it's not fair."

Her words carried secretively, yet with Grandmasters making up nearly half of the nearby travelers, it was probably no different from conspiring aloud—almost certainly intentional.

"There's nothing unfair about it, I am the Sect Master of the Demon Sect, this is just a normal method. I asked you both before, and you agreed," Tao Yu said, causing Wanwan's pretty face to blush slightly as she grumbled softly,

"How could one disagree in that situation? If you asked me to open my mouth, I'd obediently do so…"

Gorgeous, are those the kind of words you should be saying out loud?

Tao Yu directly felt that several of the Grandmasters, previously rushing forward, had slowed their pace and quickly distanced themselves.

Is this any different from telling me you've heard?

"Humph, don't be ungrateful for your good fortune. Serving the Sect Master should be considered an honor for us," Bai Qing'er murmured with a bit of hostility towards Wanwan, feeling that she had been usurped even though she was there first.

From the moment she had entered the sect until now, she had never won even once!

"Ah yes, yes, it's our honor~" Wanwan retorted while maintaining her lightness skill following Tao Yu, her hands clasped behind her back, ignoring Bai Qing'er.

She had always had a psychological advantage over Bai Qing'er.

"All right, we're almost at Chang'an, I hope we're not too late…" Tao Yu mused.

Despite selecting only Grandmasters and first-class experts for the nonstop journey, even finding time for training had been a challenge.

But with the Fortune Thief Alliance moving ahead of schedule, Tao Yu knew it was unlikely to prevent what was about to happen.

It was just a matter of seeing how difficult it would be to tidy up the aftermath…

"There are torches ahead, it's the army," someone observed.

Tao Yu frowned slightly at the sight of a serpent-like trail of torches moving in the distance.

To be marching so urgently at this late hour, something important must have happened—most likely, it had already begun...

...

Chang'an, the western capital of the Great Sui Dynasty, was left in the care of Emperor Yang Guang's grandson, Yang You, the Prince of Chang'an, when Yang Guang went south.

However, once the threat from Tujue in Taiyuan had lifted, the Li family easily took control of Chang'an and proclaimed Prince Yang You Emperor.

In truth, nearly every captured member of the Sui imperial family was declared Emperor.

It was nothing more than the last flicker before extinction.

Because Bi Xuan had taken Li Shimin as his disciple, Tujue, without a doubt, naturally stood with the Li family as their loyal ally.

In the Central Plains, now engulfed in a Chaotic Era, the power of Tujue was relatively strong, providing significant support for the Li family.

Even beyond Chang'an, Tujue armies were stationed, commanded by 'Demon Marshal' Zhao Deyan!

This man was the third most powerful in Tujue, second only to Bi Xuan.

Yet, even now, deep into the night, the main tent of Zhao Deyan still glowed brightly.

Zhao Deyan looked at the man before him, Shi Zhixuan, whose face bore an air of scholarly refinement, and at Shi Shaojian, who recently rose to prominence within the Demon Sect with his Zombie Fist, with a bitter expression,

"Evil King really wants me dead..."

He never would have imagined that the world's number one assassin could sneak someone into his own camp so effortlessly.

"If I wanted you dead, do you think you would still have the chance to speak?" Shi Zhixuan's tone was even, seemingly without a hint of murderous intent.

"'Demon Marshal' worries too much; our visit is to offer you a chance at riches and honor, the opportunity to join our team," Shi Shaojian said, smiling broadly, yet his zombie form made the smile seem somewhat sinister and terrifying.

But compared to the classical zombie appearance, he, with obvious fangs, would not reveal them unless he opened his mouth, and though his fingernails were long and his body stiff, he managed to maintain the movements of a normal human as much as possible.

It's already much more advanced than the traditional zombie.

"Now that my life is in your hands, I am naturally at your mercy."

Zhao Deyan was by no means a man who did not fear death, or at least the matters at hand were not worth his life to him.

If he could live, he had a very strong will to survive.

Being able to mix it up in the Demon Sect and then on the grasslands, and even become the Tujue's third in command, 'Demon Marshal', his opportunistic abilities were quite remarkable.

"The water source in Chang'an has been contaminated by us, but the will of heaven and earth in this world is not weak, suppressing our powers, so we need the help of Brother Zhao."

Upon hearing this, Zhao Deyan's face twitched. So the zombies were your doing!

That bunch of righteous folks ran off to Ba Shu to intercept some 'Saint Heir', and that was your guidance too, wasn't it?

"Hehe, don't worry, that Bi Xuan is currently in Ba Shu, and over there, we've also left some arrangements to delay them, buying us enough time to complete our original setup."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Zombies have already appeared in the city, but not enough. I need you to take the intelligence about the 'zombies' to Li Shimin,"

Shi Shaojian said with a cold laugh.

This caused Zhao Deyan to be slightly taken aback.

"Take the intel to Li Shimin? Why?"

"Just do as you're told, and to ensure our cooperation goes smoothly, please take this pill..."

... Experience new stories with empire

"Where did this come from!"

Li Shimin looked at the human-skin scroll brought by Zhao Deyan, and as he read the contents, his face turned dark and then light repeatedly.

"Several people died before we could kill two zombies, which I suspect are part of the forces behind this."

Zhao Deyan had people drag in two zombies.

Both zombies were covered with wounds, their heads twisted off, but one could still feel the sturdiness of their bodies.

Li Shimin used his own sword to poke at them a couple of times and, finding that even bending the blade couldn't penetrate them, his face grew somber; then he picked up the human-skin scroll again.

"Mr. Zhao, I need some quiet."

In the end, Li Shimin sighed, stood alone inside the tent by the light of the fire, and looked at the contents of the human-skin scroll, his face changing colors.

According to the record in this scroll, anyone who drank from the contaminated source would eventually turn into a zombie; it was just a matter of time, and the later ones became zombies, the greater the threat and the stronger the contagion.

During this period, some incidents had already occurred in the villages around Chang'an, and Li Shimin keenly felt how troublesome these fearless undead who could convert others were.

And just before Zhao Deyan brought over this human-skin scroll, Li Shimin had confirmed that many of the critical water sources in Chang'an had been found with rotting corpses—the source of these zombies!

The extent of decay on those bodies suggested that there might be very few in Chang'an city who hadn't been contaminated.

If it wasn't for the fact that the stationed troops had always been outside the city, using external water sources that hadn't been contaminated, they might have been affected too!

The goal of this Corpse Refinement into an army must be to create a vast zombie army to sweep across the world!

At the moment, only a few cases have appeared in Chang'an City, quickly extinguished by Li Shimin's excellent response.

But if the whole city were to be infected,

Even if he controlled it well, it would be meaningless!

And once a zombie army formed from all citizens, with Chang'an's population and location, it would probably sweep across the lands immediately!

Not long after, Chai Shao hurried in.

"Your Highness, Prince of Qin, we've been attacked at night..."

And just then, soldiers outside the tent were thrown in, as countless bats flew in and condensed into a pale-faced figure who didn't seem to be from the Central Plains.

The figure looked at the two zombies on the ground with an emotionless voice,

"Did you kill these?"

*Chang~*

Chai Shao drew his weapon and stood in front of Li Shimin, and as Li Shimin watched the figure that seemed to have employed sorcery to transform into bats and fly in, his expression grew solemn, and he then rebuked in a deep voice,

"So the zombies are your handiwork?!"