Chapter 177: Imprint

Jiang Tian was already severely wounded. At this moment, he held a breath of pure True Qi in his chest and slowly raised his head. When he saw clearly that the one walking toward him was a Zombie holding twin blades, he shook his head with some bitterness.

"Swish! Swish!" The twin-blade Zombie wielded both long blades simultaneously; the blade light was like a galaxy flowing in reverse, enveloping Jiang Tian's entire body.

If he hadn't been wounded by the sixteen Congreve Rockets, Jiang Tian should have been using sword techniques right now to parry the Zombie's long blades.

Unfortunately, Jiang Tian's body was currently pierced by at least a hundred pieces of shrapnel. Even moving slightly caused his whole body to feel excruciating pain, as if small knives were cutting his muscles. In his current state, he was simply no match for the twin-blade Zombie.

"Meng Yifan, you little brat, I don't accept this!" Jiang Tian roared, then took a deep breath. His stomach swelled up suddenly like an inflated balloon, and then he clenched his fists and smashed them down hard onto his distended belly.

"Boom!" Jiang Tian's body self-destructed. Those hundred-plus pieces of shrapnel were simultaneously ejected, scattering in all directions.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!" The twin-blade Zombie danced its long blades, blocking some of the shrapnel, but these fragments, propelled by Jiang Tian's final aura, were heavy and sharp, impossible to stop completely.

The twin-blade Zombie had great strength and was a master of the blade, yet its body still shook violently, and it was forced back step by step. More than fifty pieces of shrapnel broke through the Zombie's defenses and pierced its body.

One piece of shrapnel, over ten centimeters long, even sliced a twenty-centimeter-long gash directly into the twin-blade Zombie's neck, revealing the bones inside and making it look extremely miserable.

"Damn!" Meng Yifan watched, dumbstruck. He hadn't expected Jiang Tian to have this trick up his sleeve. Fortunately, he hadn't rashly gone up to deliver the finishing blow; otherwise, such a long piece of shrapnel slicing across his neck would surely have severed his major neck vessels, and he would have been dead or at least severely wounded.

"Ding! Killed a Third-grade Intermediate Martial Artist, gained 600 Experience Value." The Game Panel's notification sound rang out again.

Jiang Tian died by self-detonation, his soul leaving his body. He looked around in confusion, then finally saw Meng Yifan. He roared and charged over, still wanting to fight Meng Yifan.

Meng Yifan smiled coldly and flicked his Ghost Head Blade. A strange suction force appeared out of thin air, enveloping Jiang Tian's Yin Soul.

"No..." Jiang Tian's Yin Soul struggled desperately, trying to break free from the Ghost Head Blade's devouring, but Meng Yifan now channeled his Yin Spiritual Power into the ghost head, and the suction force increased instantly. No matter how Jiang Tian's Divine Soul struggled, it was useless, and it was directly swallowed into the mysterious space within the Ghost Head Blade.

The twin-blade Zombie had been covered in wounds from Jiang Tian's self-detonation. It suddenly opened its mouth and swallowed a piece of Jiang Tian's flesh.

Meng Yifan was stunned. It wasn't him driving the twin-blade Zombie just now; rather, the Zombie itself was filled with a craving for flesh and blood, and it had opened its mouth to eat the flesh not far from it.

"Huh!" Meng Yifan watched in surprise as, after the twin-blade Zombie swallowed Jiang Tian's flesh, the wounds on its body were actually healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

"Eat... eat..." The twin-blade Zombie transmitted a strong craving to Meng Yifan; it seemed Jiang Tian's flesh was a great tonic for it.

Meng Yifan knew that Zombies could fight, but they also needed energy to sustain themselves. Besides absorbing Yin Qi, the flesh and blood of a Martial Artist were filled with dense energy, which could not only restore the Zombie's injuries but also make the Zombie even more powerful.

Meng Yifan did not stop the twin-blade Zombie, letting it swallow all the pieces of flesh scattered on the ground.

As the twin-blade Zombie feasted, the Bloodthirsty Ghost Rat Shuke was also filled with desire for these meat chunks. Meng Yifan patted its head, feeling somewhat speechless, and said, "Go on."

"Squeak! Squeak!" Shuke cried out, then also rushed over.

Shuke and the twin-blade Zombie were like they were racing to see who could eat faster. Both guys were gorging themselves, and soon they had eaten the meat chunks from Jiang Tian's self-detonation until not even the bones were left.

Logically speaking, after eating so much, the twin-blade Zombie should have bloated up, but its stomach was like a bottomless pit; it seemed that no matter how much it ate, it remained unchanged.

The injuries on the twin-blade Zombie's body were completely recovered, and its strength had even increased slightly. Not only that, it stored a large amount of energy within its body, which it could slowly digest to continuously improve its combat power.

Shuke also swallowed a large amount of meat, and its strength had surged to the Third-grade Intermediate level. Unfortunately, the stronger its power, the closer it was to self-detonating. Meng Yifan could only use the Ghost Head Blade to control the chaotic energy within its body to prevent it from exploding.

Shuke was very handy to use, but as long as the problem of its tendency to self-detonate wasn't solved, its strength could only be maintained at a level comparable to a Second Grade High Stage.

After Meng Yifan learned the Nine Yin Corpse Refining Art, he had an idea. Once he finished dealing with the Three Great Gangs, he could experiment on Shuke; perhaps he could solve Shuke's problem.

To take down Jiang Tian, Meng Yifan had released sixteen Congreve Rockets. The commotion was massive, truly earth-shaking. Even with the illusion array blocking it, Long Guxing and Liu Sheng both felt the vibrations of the ground and the air.

Especially Jiang Tian's final cry before death, which had clearly reached the ears of both Long Guxing and his companion.

Long Guxing was shocked. He had exchanged a few blows with Meng Yifan and knew Meng Yifan's strength was only that of a Third-grade Lower-tier Martial Artist. How could he have so quickly killed the Third-grade Intermediate Jiang Tian?

The three gang leaders all made a living in Luolong County. Although the three of them would fight and scheme in private, most of the time, their three gangs were united and stood together against outsiders.

Jiang Tian, Long Guxing, and Liu Sheng were also like brothers, and their relationship was quite good. He hadn't expected that after so many years of weathering storms together, Jiang Tian would now die at the hands of Meng Yifan.

"Jiang Tian was killed by Meng Yifan." Liu Sheng was terrified, his back feeling cold. His strength was about the same as Jiang Tian's—both were Third-grade Intermediate Martial Artists. If Meng Yifan could kill Jiang Tian, he could do the same to him.

"What should I do?" Liu Sheng's mind raced. If he could be with Long Guxing, the chances of them surviving together would be much higher. But this damn illusion array had separated them, and Liu Sheng couldn't find where Long Guxing was at all, so naturally, he couldn't fight alongside him.

From this, it was clear that the illusion array released by the Array Disk was truly formidable. The illusion array expanded, changing the surrounding environment, separating the enemies, and creating a favorable situation of many against few in local areas to defeat them one by one. Even though the three gang leaders were all Third-grade Martial Artists, Meng Yifan was confident he could wipe them all out.

Unfortunately, the Array Disk relied on a few Yin Spirit Stones to release the illusion array. After this great battle, the energy in these Yin Spirit Stones was about to be exhausted. If he couldn't replenish the Yin Spirit Stones, Meng Yifan wouldn't be able to set up the illusion array anymore.

Just as Liu Sheng was anxious and burning with impatience, a tree-man in front of him suddenly spoke: "Boss Liu, do you want to die, or do you want to live?"

Liu Sheng was stunned, realizing this was Meng Yifan talking to him, and hurriedly said, "What if I want to live? What if I want to die?"

"If you want to die, I'll send you to keep Jiang Tian company. If you want to live, swear allegiance to me, and then come with me to kill Long Guxing," Meng Yifan said.

Liu Sheng felt a surge of joy. He was just worrying about how to reunite with Long Guxing. Meng Yifan actually wanted him to swear allegiance—how naive! He could completely agree to pledge allegiance on the surface, then go back on his word once he got close to Long Guxing. By then, Liu Sheng and Long Guxing would be together, and they could come back to take revenge on Meng Yifan.

Liu Sheng cupped his hands and bowed to the tree-man, saying, "Alright, Boss Meng, I am willing to swear allegiance to you. My life, Old Liu's, is sold to Boss Meng. From now on, I will definitely follow Boss Meng's lead."

Meng Yifan said, "You think it's that simple? I'd believe you just because of a few light words? What a joke."

"Then Boss Meng, tell me, what must you have for you to believe me?" Liu Sheng said.

"Open your mind. A wisp of my Divine Soul will enter your Mud Pill Palace. You will bow down and worship my Soul Imprint, and my Soul Imprint will enter your Spirit Core. From now on, if you dare to betray me, I can make your soul scatter with a single thought."

This secret technique to control others' lives was something Meng Yifan had learned from the Nine Yin Corpse Refining Art after becoming an Immortal Cultivator. This secret technique was very miraculous and could control enemies, but it required the enemy to open their mind.

Moreover, this secret technique had limitations, because casting it required splitting off a Soul Imprint, which was also a form of damage to Meng Yifan himself.

With Meng Yifan's current strength, he could separate at most one Soul Imprint. If he forcibly separated a second one, his own Divine Soul would be severely wounded, or even damage his Spirit Core, which would be a loss that outweighed the gain.

Meng Yifan had also thought about directly controlling Long Guxing, but after considering it for a moment, he gave up, because this secret technique could only control enemies at most one level higher than himself.

Meng Yifan was currently a Third-grade Lower-tier Martial Artist and could at most control a Third-grade Intermediate enemy. Long Guxing was already a Third-grade High Stage, and might even break through to a Fourth-grade Martial Artist. If Meng Yifan tried to control him by force, he would very likely suffer a backlash, which would be disastrous.