Chapter 580: Who Has a Brain?

The sky was dark red.

The metal wreckage of bat‑armored sky vehicles lay scattered around the battlefield, damaged and burning.

Strands of black smoke slowly drifted up into the sky.

Cavalrymen who died in the Corpse Horde raised the spears in their hands, their bodies eviscerated, yet, propped up by their armor, they stubbornly lurched forward.

The warhorses beneath them knelt on the ground, half their bodies gnawed down to skeletal steeds.

At least they kept their whole corpses.

The dead human remains and the undead 'embraced', and spears thrust from behind skewered them together.

Soldiers infected with the Zombie virus, when viewed only from behind on the battlefield, looked exactly like a brutal war between humans.

The ground was pitted and uneven, with scorched black soil mixed with pulpy flesh visible everywhere.

"We won! We won! The Blood Corpses have retreated!!"

Deafening cheers rang out across the entire battlefield.

Standing on a small hill piled with Blood Corpses, Lin An calmly sheathed Cain's Blade back into his ring.

Inside the soul‑soothing sword sheath on his back, he simply nurtured Blood Abyss.

Seeing the soldiers cheering around him, he also feigned a gentle smile and raised his arm in a call.

In everyone's eyes looking at Lin An, there was excitement and anticipation.

They did not know how the other positions fared.

But they knew that if it weren't for Lin An constantly stepping in to save people, protecting tens of thousands of troops including themselves, they would surely have suffered heavy casualties.

Even the entire army could have been wiped out.

The final wave of Blood Corpse assault could be called a suicide attack.

Forcibly breaking through the Blood Corpses entangled by the Ascetic Practitioners, they charged into the crowd like suicide trucks.

Fortunately, Lin An single‑handedly sliced off the limbs of a large number of Blood Corpses in an instant; otherwise they could hardly imagine what the consequences would have been.

"Some are happy, some are sad."

In the distance, the Ascetic Practitioners among the various legion contingents couldn't help but keep glancing toward Lin An standing on the corpse pile.

Their faces were ashen; many of their figures had even become illusory, like translucent phantoms.

Apart from being able to constantly regenerate and revive.

This group of Ascetic Practitioners numbered in the hundreds, even thousands, and were not much stronger than ordinary soldiers.

During the final wave of Blood Corpse assault, many Ascetic Practitioners simply didn't have time to block it.

Large numbers of soldiers were killed by the explosions; amid the broken formations, hordes of Zombies surged in, and the number of infected was countless.

"He's really strong... Is this person truly an Ascetic Practitioner?"

Originally, many Ascetic Practitioners who harbored hostility toward Lin An now saw their jealousy slowly turn into shock.

Whether it be speed, strength, or physical toughness.

Lin An's performance was almost the strongest they had ever seen.

With such strength, perhaps only a few top‑tier Ascetic Practitioners could match him.

However, when comparing pure strength, Lin An's performance simply exceeded their imagination.

They set aside their hostility and contempt.

Originally they were dissatisfied that Lin An appeared not to be an Ascetic Practitioner at all, and even his gear seemed to defile the meaning of being one.

But after this battle, many people looked at Lin An with a hint of awe in their eyes.

If someone is a bit stronger than you, you will envy her.

But if someone is strong enough to make you feel hopeless and powerless, then you will feel awe.

People are like that; even a newly ascended Ascetic Practitioner who could be called a madman is no exception.

Unlike the legion where Lin An serves, which is filled with jubilant cheers,

in their legion, pleas for mercy and anguished cries occasionally ring out.

"No.. cough cough.. don't..."

Lying on his back on the ground.

Several soldiers whose leg armor had been bitten through by Zombies, faces full of terror, desperately begged their former comrades.

A youth who looked no older than sixteen or seventeen flailed his hands in panic, his immature face full of helplessness.

He knew he was infected; he wanted to beg for mercy, to ask his former captain to spare him a 'life'.

But seeing the curved blade pressed against his throat, he trembled and could not utter a word.

If he is not killed, he will die anyway.

He will still turn into a man‑eating monster.

The squad leader in charge of cleaning up the battlefield and dealing with all the infected soldiers sighed with a complex expression.

He knew this child.

At not yet seventeen, he had enlisted to earn a meal for his family.

Inside, there were Ascetic Practitioners who did not engage in production; outside, Blood Corpses invaded.

The people of the Great Xia Dynasty lived a bitter life; either they hid in the mountains as hillfolk, or they became Ascetic Practitioners serving the court.

Besides that, the only way to fill one's stomach was to join the army as cannon fodder.

"In the next life, don't rush so far ahead..."

A sigh.

The squad leader, gripping a horse‑cutting saber in his right hand, slowly closed his eyes and then, without hesitation, chopped off the soldier's head with a single stroke.

"Gurgling"

Heads rolled on the ground, rolling together with the other severed heads.

"Give the brothers a swift kill!!"

After wiping out a large number of the infected, one after another, decisive, sorrowful roars erupted.

Severely wounded, a soldier whose body had been blasted in half writhed his lips, giving a grim smile as he watched the spear thrust toward himself.

In the final suicide attack, the zombies that exploded upon charging into the crowd killed far too many people.

Under the hail of flying shrapnel, most of the soldiers who had narrowly escaped death also ended up disabled.

Faced with soldiers suffering grave injuries, the only thing those who survived could do was let them end this suffering sooner.

Of course, there were also many extremely fortunate soldiers who, amid death and pain, ascended from ordinary men to Ascetic Practitioners.

War sustains war.

After each brutal battle, they could replenish a batch of Ascetic Practitioners.

But this way of promotion, compared to voluntarily becoming an Ascetic Practitioner, exacts a painfully high cost.

At the horse's side, Zhang Yan diligently held Lin An's reins, striding forward with head held high and chest out.

The battle ended; they would have no missions for a short time!

Lin An belongs to their legion, so the zombies he slain naturally count as their military achievements.

The excitement in his heart was hard to put into words.

Feeling the gazes of envy from all directions, even from the legion's supreme commander, he felt utterly thrilled.

This thigh, I truly latched onto the right one!

Just thinking of the silver-helmeted commander who died in the zombies' jaws, he couldn't help but let out a cold chuckle.

"Number 1001? That kind of trash isn't even worthy of being compared to our Lord Lin An!"

With Lin An taking action, and the bald, burly man named Zhang Tie slaying the enemy, their squad could be said to have suffered hardly any losses.

The soldiers following in the rear chatted lightly with quick steps, their eyes brimming with uncontainable excitement.

"Lord Lin An is too strong!"

"Number 99... I think even those ranked in the top ten Ascetic Practitioners might not be as strong as the lord!"

The speaking soldier's eyebrows danced with excitement, and many other soldiers gathered around, eager to join their squad.

"Yeah, it really feels like this is the strength an Ascetic Practitioner ought to have..."

"Before, the Ascetic Practitioners in our squad could only barely hold off monsters."

"I even feel that this zombie horde will be repelled, all thanks to Lord Lin An's merit!"

Praises welled up from the heart, ringing on endlessly as if they were free.

The stronger Lin An performed, the greater their sense of safety.

This battle truly was the easiest they've ever fought!

Just.

Unnoticed by anyone.

With their backs to the crowd, Lin An and Zhang Tie, riding back to the city, exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with solemnity.

Zombies..

There's a problem!