Rise of The Abandoned Husband

Two brilliant beams of light erupted from the array platform, shooting skyward like twin pillars. The blinding flash caught everyone's attention, even the formidable pair from the Frostfall Sanctum.

Through my pain-hazed vision, I watched as the corpses on the platform began to flicker. Their lifeless bodies twitched, subtle at first, then violently as the power surged through them. The Man with the Mustache stepped back, eyes wide with a mixture of fear and triumph.

"It's working," he whispered, voice barely audible over the crackle of energy.

The platform beneath the corpses suddenly collapsed, sending fragments of stone flying in all directions. But the bodies didn't fall. They remained suspended in the air, bathed in an otherworldly light that seemed to infuse every cell.

I could feel the immense power gathering—ancient, primal, and utterly terrifying. The ice encasing my Astral form cracked as I struggled to turn my head for a better view. One of the male corpses twitched violently, and its eyes snapped open.

"What have you done?" Zhao Kwan demanded, his composure finally breaking. He leapt off my chest, positioning himself between the suspended corpses and Shu Yin.

I seized this moment of distraction. "HELP!" I screamed, my voice raw and desperate. My Astral form was failing, the starlight dimming as my energy reserves depleted. The ice continued to spread, threatening to entomb me completely.

The Man with the Mustache scrambled toward me, ducking behind fallen trees to avoid being seen. "Use your divine sense!" he hissed urgently when he reached my frozen form. "You must control them with your divine sense before they become autonomous!"

"What?" I gasped, fighting against the crushing pain.

"The corpses! They're now vessels for ancient power, but they need direction!" His face was inches from mine, terror evident in his eyes. "If you don't control them, they might destroy everything—including us!"

I closed my eyes, reaching deep within for what little remained of my divine sense. The effort was excruciating, like trying to grasp smoke with bleeding hands. My divine sense was nearly depleted from maintaining the Astral Titan form while under attack.

"I can't," I groaned.

"You must!" he insisted. "Use your blood essence if necessary. Just do it now!"

I bit through my lip, tasting the coppery tang of blood. Drawing on blood essence was dangerous—it meant burning my life force—but I had no choice. I channeled what remained of my power, forming a thin strand of divine sense infused with my blood essence.

The pain was indescribable. It felt like my soul was being torn apart, filament by filament. I directed the strand toward one of the floating corpses, fighting to maintain control as my consciousness wavered.

"Hurry," The Man with the Mustache urged, glancing nervously at Zhao Kwan and Shu Yin, who were now advancing cautiously toward the reanimated corpses.

With one final push, I sent my divine sense into the nearest corpse. The connection formed like a hook sinking into flesh—immediate and visceral. I could feel the ancient power coursing through the dead body, cold and alien yet somehow responsive to my will.

"Get me out," I commanded through the connection.

The corpse moved instantly, its movements unnaturally fluid for something that had been lifeless moments before. It glided across the clearing toward me, ignoring Zhao Kwan's startled attack. His gauntlet-powered strike glanced off the corpse's shoulder without leaving so much as a mark.

"Impossible," Shu Yin breathed, taking a step back.

The corpse reached my frozen form and simply tore through the ice-blue light that had been immobilizing me. The enchanted ice that had resisted my Astral strength shattered like common glass under the corpse's touch. As the paralysis technique broke, I felt my Astral form collapse, shrinking rapidly back to my normal size.

I fell to my knees, gasping as my consciousness fully merged with the corpse I was controlling. Through its eyes, I saw my own body—broken, bleeding, barely conscious. The sensation was disorienting, like looking at myself through a distorted mirror.

"What manner of necromancy is this?" Lonnie demanded, his voice laced with disgust and fear.

I forced my borrowed body to turn toward him and Shu Yin. The second corpse had also risen now, moving with the same eerie fluidity though without direction.

"You wanted to see power?" I spoke through the corpse, its voice a hollow echo of sounds it shouldn't be able to produce. "Let me show you true power."

Lonnie's face contorted with rage. "Frostfall Titan's Ultimate Strike!" he roared, his gauntlets glowing blue-white as he charged.

His fist connected with my borrowed chest with enough force to pulverize mountains. The impact created a shockwave that flattened trees for hundreds of yards—but the corpse didn't move an inch.

"My turn," I whispered through dead lips.

The corpse's hand shot out, grabbing Lonnie's gauntlet. With a simple squeeze, the legendary artifact—said to have been forged in the heart of the Divine Ice Mountain—cracked. Lonnie's eyes widened in horror as the gauntlet shattered completely, crushing his hand in the process.

He screamed, a sound cut short as the corpse's other hand closed around his throat. Even at his level—Peak Military Marquis—he was powerless against whatever ancient force now animated these dead vessels.

"Wait!" Shu Yin cried out. "We can negotiate!"

I considered her briefly through the corpse's eyes. My real body was slumped against a tree trunk, The Man with the Mustache frantically applying medicinal paste to my worst wounds.

"Too late for that," I replied.

The corpse tightened its grip on Lonnie's throat, then casually slapped the side of his head. The effect was catastrophic—his head simply exploded, spraying blood and bone fragments across the clearing. His headless body dropped to the ground, twitching.

Shu Yin's scream was primal, filled with shock and rage. She backed away, ice daggers forming around her in a defensive pattern. "You'll pay for this," she snarled. "The entire Frostfall Sanctum will hunt you to the ends of the earth."

"Tell them to get in line," I said through the corpse. "Now go, before you join him."

She hesitated, pride warring with survival instinct. The corpse took one step toward her, and survival won. She disappeared in a flash of ice-blue light, her retreat so rapid it left frost patterns in the air.

I directed the corpses to stand guard while The Man with the Mustache helped me to my real body. The transfer back was disorienting, my consciousness snapping back into my damaged flesh with a sickening lurch.

"You need to let go of them," he urged, gesturing to the corpses still standing motionless. "Maintaining that connection is draining what little energy you have left."

With reluctance, I severed the connection. The corpses immediately collapsed, the animating force dissipating as quickly as it had appeared. The array's light faded, leaving only charred symbols on the ground.

"What was that?" I asked, my voice barely audible.

"Ancient corpse reanimation," he explained, checking my pulse. "Forbidden knowledge from the Burial Mounds. I didn't think it would actually work." He looked troubled. "You shouldn't have been able to control them so easily. It typically requires years of practice."

I didn't have the strength to contemplate the implications. Instead, I dragged myself toward Lonnie's remains. His gauntlets lay shattered, but around his neck was a golden cord that I recognized.

"His core," I mumbled, reaching for it.

The Man with the Mustache helped me retrieve the golden core from the headless corpse. Even in death, the energy radiating from it was immense—the crystallized essence of decades of cultivation.

"This will help," I said, clutching it tightly.

"Liam, wait," he cautioned. "If you absorb that now, you'll break through to Military General. The surge of power might—"

"I know," I cut him off. "But I need strength for what comes next."

I pressed the core against my chest, feeling its energy begin to seep into my meridians. The power was intoxicating, rushing through my damaged body and accelerating my healing. I could feel my cultivation base expanding rapidly, pressing against the boundary to the next realm.

The breakthrough was imminent. Just a little more absorption, and I would ascend to Military General—a quantum leap in power that would reshape my very essence.

But I couldn't allow it. Not yet.

With tremendous effort, I suppressed the advancement, forcing the energy to circulate without triggering the realm breakthrough. The effort was agonizing, like damming a raging river with my bare hands.

"What are you doing?" The Man with the Mustache asked, alarmed. "You're fighting the breakthrough?"

I nodded, teeth clenched. "Have to... save the advancement... for later."

"Why? This makes no sense!"

I looked up at him, determination burning through my pain. "People at the Veridia City Martial Guild need me. Isabelle needs me." I forced myself to my feet, swaying dangerously. "I can't afford to be incapacitated by a realm breakthrough right now. I'll save it for when I really need it."

He stared at me, mustache twitching in disbelief. "You're either the bravest or the most foolish cultivator I've ever met."

I managed a bloody smile. "Probably both."

With the partially absorbed core sustaining me, I turned my gaze toward the path that would lead us to the Veridia City Martial Guild. The power I'd glimpsed through the corpses lingered in my memory—ancient, terrible, and now somehow connected to me.

Whatever that connection meant, I would deal with it later. Right now, I had a mission to complete and people to save. The mysteries of my growing power would have to wait.