Fang Yuan exited his immortal aperture and returned to the same underground tunnel.
"Damn it… does this mean I have no other way but to climb out of here?"
He looked around. He was searching for a way to escape when his eyes suddenly fell on the underground water table.
"Maybe it's worth a try…"
He said this and jumped into the underground water table.
He swam downwards. With the faint light from the algae, he could see his surroundings. The advantage of being a zombie also improved his vision.
Zombies didn't need to breathe much; they could survive for several hours without breathing. However, zombies were divided into several different categories.
Some zombies died after two or three years, while others lived for hundreds of years. Zombies with a lifespan of one to ten were called mortal zombies, and the latter was called immortal zombies.
Mortal zombies were created through dark magic, the madness of death disease, or the transmission of disease from other mortal zombies; whereas immortal zombies were created through a specific cultivation technique.
Although Fang Yuan had turned himself into a zombie with magic, he was a semi-immortal because he had a soul and cultivation. He had perception, basic cultivation techniques, and relatively high intelligence. He had another advantage which was Bai Mo's will. The will prevented Fang Yuan's brain from deteriorating and took care of it. To keep the brain functioning well, he refined the blood entering the brain with a blood technique, preventing the spread of decay. The brain needed air, so Fang Yuan's breathing rate was higher than that of zombies but lower than that of humans.
He realized that he could turn himself into an immortal zombie and, by suppressing the death aura, become a semi-immortal again.
He had deduced all this through reasoning.
Fang Yuan could hold his breath for a maximum of two hours in a semi-immortal state and 20 hours in an immortal state.
However, he didn't want to experiment. But he kept a general assessment of his physical condition in the back of his mind.
Although his body was heavy, he managed to balance his weight with black techniques. Like a squid, he expelled a bit of ink from his mouth every few moments and swam forward.
As the number of glowing algae increased, the path became brighter.
Fang Yuan saw a glimmer of light and swam towards it.
When he emerged from the water, he was in another tunnel. A vast space with a height of over two hundred meters.
From somewhere in the cave ceiling, light was shining in, and a paved path lay before him.
The remains of stakes driven into the ground beside the pavement indicated that a civilization had existed here.
He followed the paved path with his eyes and said, surprised, "Oh? So ancient cities still exist?"
Fang Yuan stepped onto the ruined pavement, and suddenly the self Gu said to him: "You're not being honest with yourself, zombie…"
Fang Yuan ignored it and continued on his way. The self Gu continued: "Then why did you keep the corpse in your immortal aperture?"
Fang Yuan laughed and said: "What a talkative Gu you are!"
Then, staring at the massive stone gate and the two guardian statues before him, he said: "You're right, I'm not being honest with myself. But I never miss a chance to survive."
Suddenly, he pulled Patricia's corpse out of his immortal aperture and threw it in front of the gate. The giant statues moved. Their eyes glowed red. They had jackal-like heads and human bodies. They raised their long stone spears and aimed at Patricia's lifeless body.
The self Gu screamed: "You devil!!! Your essence has rotted and decayed along with your body!!! You know nothing of respect and honor!!!"
Fang Yuan laughed and said: "Maybe so… but a dishonorable living being is far better than an honorable corpse!!!"
One of the guardians thrust its spear into Patricia's corpse. The ground cracked, and a loud noise echoed everywhere.
A little later, as the dust settled, only a ruined circle was visible. There was no sign of blood or the crushed flesh of the corpse.
Fang Yuan turned his cold gaze towards the gate.
"So if I get close to that spot, I'll be attacked."
The self Gu was so shocked that its mouth hung open, and it screamed: "Magic!!! That was dark magic!!!"
The demonic art of illusion was one of the high-level demonic techniques that allowed a person to create a real illusion in front of observers. However, the demonic art of illusion didn't work on tomb guardians. That's why Fang Yuan used Patricia's corpse as bait and, at the last moment, swapped the corpse with an illusion he had placed in his immortal aperture using a displacement technique.
Fang Yuan laughed loudly and mocked the self Gu: "Ha ha ha!!! You foolish worm!!! Yes, that was dark magic!"
Magic was divided into three categories: magic, dark magic, and cursed magic.
Ordinary magic fed on mana aura, dark magic on death aura, and cursed magic on lifespan.
The death aura was the basis of a zombie's power. If he exhausted the death aura too much, he would die, and if the death aura overwhelmed him, he would become an immortal zombie.
Fang Yuan muttered: "Now how do I get past the gate?"
He didn't have a high cultivation level and could only rely on two elements: dark magic and the power of will. However, he needed the power of will for thinking and assessing the situation.
"Using dark magic is the only possible way…"
Dark magic was more powerful than ordinary magic. However, frequent use of it would endanger Fang Yuan.
First, if he overdid it, he would die. He was a zombie and somewhat slow-witted. This made it difficult for him to know when to stop casting the spell.
Second, suppressing the seeping death aura was much harder than suppressing a stable death aura.
Fang Yuan waited a bit. As he stared at the two statues, he assessed the possibilities. Suddenly, he fell to his knees.
"Damn it!!! So soon??!"
After continuous reasoning and analysis, Fang Yuan's thoughts were severely depleted. Now he had consumed a third of his thoughts. Fang Yuan composed himself. He kept his eyes open with difficulty.
Although he didn't feel pain, he could clearly understand the depletion of his energy and stamina.
The self Gu said: "In the end, you are still a zombie, a corpse with the same conditions…"
Fang Yuan had no other choice. He muttered: "Nothing in life comes easy. Sometimes sacrifice and risk-taking are necessary; especially when you're surrounded on all sides… In such situations, you can still escape to the underground or the sky!"
The self Gu looked at the massive stone gate and its guardians. It sighed and returned to Fang Yuan's heart.
Fang Yuan ignited his death aura. His eyes turned black. He smirked and raised his hand.
In his rough voice, he said: "I may be weak in power but …"
He gathered all his strength in his legs.
"I'm quicker than you bastards!"
In a few breaths, he reached the attack range. The statues moved, their spears rose and fell.
Fang Yuan dodged in a zigzag pattern, closing the distance to the gate. He was about to succeed when one of the statues struck his side with the stone shaft of its spear, pushing him back.
His side was bruised, but he felt no pain. He got up from the ground and lunged. He focused his strength and took a deep breath.
"I must open that door at any cost… maybe something beyond my imagination is hidden there."
He was ready to run towards the gate, but the statues' strange behavior made him reconsider.
He asked in surprise: "What are they doing?"
Then, staying alert, he took a step back, waiting for the statues' next move.
"Damn it!!! Are these bastards kidding with me?!"
Fang Yuan clenched his fist, his gaze fixed on the statues that had moved from their positions and stood in front of the gate.
"So when they sensed a real threat, they took it seriously?"
He looked around. Apart from the gate carved out of the mountain's stone, the rest of the area was just like an ordinary cave. The only difference was its enormous size.
Two giant stone figures with jackal-like heads stood before him. Their gaze was on him. Fang Yuan spat out the blood that had pooled in his mouth and planned his next move.