“Heaven and Earth are like a chessboard, and the common people are like chess pieces…”

At that moment, Mohua gained a deeper understanding of this saying.

As Mohua was touched by these words, a familiar evil thought suddenly spread, and a strange silence emanated from beneath the earth.

It was as if something had come back to life.

Mohua was startled, then his pupils trembled slightly, and he immediately shouted:

“Lugu, be careful!”

This exclamation was sudden and broke the current atmosphere.

Lugu, immersed in sorrow, was somewhat confused.

The next moment, the soil beneath his feet exploded, and a huge, bloody hand reached out from the ground, gripping Lugu’s right leg tightly.

Lugu’s expression changed.

Everyone else looked shocked as well.

They were very familiar with this hand.

It was this very hand that had just crushed the heads of many barbarian soldiers and torn apart dozens of bodies.

Mohua immediately said, “Step back!”

Everyone suppressed the panic in their hearts and retreated.

The Yuangu heavy soldiers, sensing the anomaly, quickly gathered around Mohua, protecting him.

Lugu’s right leg was held firmly, making it impossible to break free.

Just then, the tombstone Lugu himself had erected completely burst, and amidst flying dirt, a colossal figure, like a ferocious deity, climbed out from underground again.

It was as if a dead ghoul had returned to the living world.

Everyone looked on with horror.

“Shigu!”

“He’s still alive?!”

The first thing Shigu did after crawling out from underground was to attack Lugu.

His bloody, dirt-stained arm firmly grasped Lugu’s right leg.

His fingertips pierced Lugu’s flesh, preventing Lugu from escaping.

And Shigu’s enormous body, which was like a monster when he was alive, now became abnormally soft, like a boneless mass of flesh, transforming into a giant python that tightly coiled around Lugu.

Then Shigu opened his massive mouth, exhaling a rotten, foul stench, and bit towards Lugu’s neck.

He wanted to “eat” Lugu—his own younger brother—just as he had devoured the third of the Shugu Five Fiends.

In the nick of time, the battle-hardened Lugu twisted his arm and plunged his demon-slaying bone saber diagonally into his own back.

The demon-slaying bone saber cut into Lugu’s back, but at the last possible moment, it jammed into Shigu’s man-eating mouth.

Shigu’s mouth split open, his teeth biting fiercely on Lugu’s bone saber, looking hideous.

Lugu’s fresh blood stimulated the craving within Shigu.

His younger brother had killed him, cutting off his last trace of life.

And now, he was going to “eat” his own younger brother, to taste his kin’s flesh and blood.

A profound hunger filled Shigu’s heart.

Shigu began to exert force, his limbs like giant pythons, locking Lugu with astonishing strength, his teeth gnawing at Lugu’s neck through the bone saber, little by little.

Even though his mouth was being cut open by the bone saber, his gums deformed, putrid blood seeping out, and his head seemed on the verge of being split in half by the bone saber.

But Shigu’s eyes remained excited, and he desperately bit Lugu’s neck.

It seemed that eating his brother’s flesh and blood was worth it, even if it meant a split jaw and a cracked skull.

Even Lugu, entangled at close quarters, couldn’t break free immediately.

Mohua said in a deep voice, “Everyone, attack together!”

Danzhu and Chifeng immediately joined forces, one activating his Xuanhuo Lingyu to burn Shigu’s limbs, the other wielding a fiery long spear, thrusting it directly at Shigu’s face.

The other dozen or so Jindan cultivators also took action, their various magic artifacts, bone implements, and witchcraft all striking Shigu.

With so many Jindan cultivators attacking simultaneously, their power was not to be underestimated.

Shigu’s flesh immediately became a bloody mess, covered in wounds, and the arms that were tightly gripping Lugu also loosened somewhat.

Lugu finally seized this slight opportunity of loosened strength, roared, inverted his bone blade, and with all the immense power of his late-Jindan stage, fiercely slashed at his own arm.

Shigu’s flesh and blood body was entangled with him.

To kill Shigu, he would inevitably cut himself as well.

But at this moment, he could no longer care about such things.

Lugu’s strike indeed wounded himself by a hundred points, shearing off a large piece of flesh from his own right arm, leaving it bloody.

But it also, in the same motion, directly severed Shigu’s right arm.

One of Shigu’s iron-like arms, which had bound him like chains, was severed.

Lugu felt the restraint suddenly gone, and he turned his left hand, delivering a punch to Shigu’s chest.

A large section of Shigu’s chest collapsed, and he was forced back four or five steps.

Lugu also retreated in the same motion, completely breaking free from the gnawing attack. After he stood firm, his whole body ached with piercing pain, his right arm’s flesh was exposed, and blood flowed freely.

But Lugu paid no mind to these injuries, instead raising his head to carefully examine his “resurrected” elder brother.

If the previous Shigu was a “living dead” man, whose vitality still lingered but whose sanity was almost annihilated by hunger.

Then the current Shigu was an indescribable “flesh monster,” completely devoid of vitality, and even his sanity was annihilated.

His heart meridian had been dug out, leaving a dark hole in his chest, from which black blood flowed.

His limbs had also been severed, only to be crudely reassembled when he was buried.

But now, Shigu moved without a heart, his limbs and body merging into one, like a monster that had stitched its own flesh back together.

“Corpse transformation?!”

Lugu’s pupils contracted.

But even a corpse transformation couldn’t happen this quickly…

Corpse transformation requires absorbing yin energy from heaven and earth, the essence of the sun and moon, or foul energy accumulated from the earth over many years.

It doesn’t happen just by being buried and then transforming instantly.

Neither could he have been refined into a zombie; no one could refine his incredibly powerful brother into a zombie, and refining corpses also takes time.

There were no signs of Shigu having been “refined” either.

Then what was this… why?

Shigu was clearly truly “dead,” and now he had no trace of life in him, nor any form of “driving force.”

Yet, he just crawled out from underground and continued to “eat” people.

“What exactly is going on…”

Lugu frowned, his expression extremely grim.

The others were also both shocked and fearful, their faces pale with terror.

And soon, everyone had no time to think further.

Shigu, with one arm severed, stood silently in place, truly like a dead object. There was not a single trace of aura around him, and even spiritual sense found it difficult to detect his presence.

Yet, his flesh kept wriggling.

The arm that Lugu had severed seemed to have a life of its own, wriggling and crawling back to Shigu’s broken arm, fusing itself back through wriggling flesh buds.

He was clearly dead, yet he seemed to be alive.

And he was alive in a very eerie way.

The next moment, Shigu’s eye sockets suddenly caved inwards, becoming even darker.

Everyone’s hearts skipped a beat.

Chifeng immediately said, “Be careful, it’s going to eat people!”

Before his words had fully faded, Shigu’s figure vanished again, reappearing in front of Chifeng.

Chifeng was startled and hastily blocked with his spear.

But he didn’t even have time to clearly see Shigu’s movements before he felt a sharp pain in the web of his hand, and his long spear was knocked askew.

Under a mighty, inhuman force, Chifeng’s legs braced against the ground, sliding back more than ten steps, spitting blood.

Before he finished spitting blood, a腥臭味 reached his nose again.

Chifeng looked up and saw an ugly face, with dark, sunken eyes staring at him.

At the same time, a pair of bloody hands came slamming down towards his skull, seemingly intending to split his head open directly.

Chifeng’s old strength was depleted, and new strength had not yet arisen, leaving him no time to resist, his face pale.

Danzhu was greatly alarmed and quickly activated a Xuanhuo Lingyu, sending it towards Shigu. But he was only at the early Jindan stage, and the power of this profound fire was simply insufficient to stop Shigu.

Just then, a demon-slaying bone saber flew through the air, directly severing Shigu’s arm and saving Chifeng.

With his arm severed again, Shigu roared in fury, a deep, guttural sound.

This sound, though low and not sharp, caused annoyance and fear deep within one’s heart.

Everyone was temporarily stunned, their minds reeling.

Seizing this interval, the arm that had fallen to the ground, its bloody sprouts wriggling, began to merge back with Shigu.

Chifeng seized the opportunity, enduring the irritation and fear in his heart, and immediately activated his long spear, thrusting it out, hoping to pierce Shigu’s arm and pin it to the ground, preventing Shigu from re-merging.

His spear indeed struck Shigu’s severed arm.

And it firmly pinned Shigu’s severed arm to the ground.

But the next moment, Shigu’s severed arm began to directly decay into formless flesh, bypassed Chifeng’s long spear, and merged back into Shigu’s body.

Shigu’s arm grew back again.

Seeing this, everyone’s faces turned ashen.

Lugu took a deep breath and said, “Everyone, full strength… kill Shigu.”

He had completely given up hope.

His brother was indeed dead; what stood before them now was merely an indescribable monster of flesh and blood.

The siege on Shigu began again.

A Jindan-level siege was incredibly imposing.

And soon, not just Shigu, but those remnants of the Shigu tribe who had been buried also “came alive,” one by one, crawling out from underground, seeking to devour people.

The barbarian soldiers of the Danque tribe and these Shigu remnants clashed again.

The situation seemed to be repeating itself.

However, the previous Shigu tribe members, after all, still had a trace of vitality.

But now, they were completely dead, “walking corpses” that defied common sense and had no life whatsoever.

Moreover, these “walking corpses” were even more troublesome.

For living beings, as long as their heart meridian is severed, their limbs are cut off, their body loses its “power” supply, and their vitality is completely extinguished, they are considered “killed.”

But these “dead people” before them, even if killed and dismembered, could still crawl back up as their flesh merged.

In front of the Yuangu heavy soldiers and six thousand barbarian soldiers, these Shigu remnants were outnumbered. Although troublesome, they were not impossible to suppress.

One just had to keep killing them.

Kill them when they came alive, kill them again and again.

Mohua’s barbarian soldiers also had this capability.

The truly problematic one was still the late-Jindan general, Shigu.

The previous Shigu was already very strong.

But now, having died once, not afraid to die again, and with flesh that could merge and regenerate, this “Shigu” was almost invincible, truly terrifying.

A group of Jindan cultivators teamed up, engaging Shigu in a bitter battle.

They followed the “wheel-crushing” tactic Mohua had previously described.

Lugu also genuinely harbored murderous intent towards his “brother,” no longer holding back in the slightest.

But no matter how they killed, they couldn’t truly “kill” Shigu.

Shigu’s limbs were cut off, but then they would merge back together.

His chest was pierced, but the flesh would mend itself.

Once, his head was even chopped off, but the headless Shigu continued to fight against everyone as before.

He was like a terrifying, “undying and indestructible” battle general.

And soon, Shigu re-“attached” his head.

Despair began to grow in the hearts of the Jindan barbarian cultivators.

They simply didn’t know how to “kill” Shigu, didn’t know why Shigu, who was already dead, couldn’t be killed no matter what they did.

Once despair sets in, the human heart develops a flaw.

The fourth of the Shugu Four Fiends was the first to feel fear; he dared not face a “monster” that could never be killed.

He fled.

And with his escape, the original wheel battle developed a gap, and “Shigu” had one less round of suppression.

Seizing the opening, Shigu’s first target was precisely the fleeing fourth of the Shugu Fiends.

Shigu bypassed Lugu, broke through the blockade of Chifeng and Danzhu, and with a few flashes, directly seized the fourth of the Shugu Fiends, who was trying to escape.

A cold, foul-smelling large hand gripped the fourth fiend’s neck.

The fourth of the Shugu Fiends’ eyes widened, filled with terror.

Lugu watched as the fourth fiend fell into Shigu’s hands, his heart greatly alarmed.

Shigu, even without “feeding,” was already so terrifying.

If Shigu truly ate the Jindan-stage fourth fiend, and gained the nourishment of Jindan flesh and blood, no one knew what kind of mutation he would undergo.

Lugu and Chifeng wanted to save the fourth fiend, but it was already too late.

Shigu had not eaten for too long, he was too hungry, and his movements were faster than anyone else’s. Almost the moment he grabbed the fourth fiend, he had already opened his huge mouth and bit down.

Blood splattered, and flesh was instantly sucked away like “liquid” by the immense suction.

The fourth fiend wailed in horror, like a child mourning a parent.

And Shigu, having consumed Jindan flesh and blood, his aura instantly soared, and his bloody, mangled skin began to self-repair at an astonishing speed.

Lugu, Chifeng, and the others’ hearts instantly plummeted to rock bottom.

“It’s over…”

Just as Lugu was seized by this almost desperate thought, a figure suddenly appeared before him.

This figure was not tall, thin, dressed in the robes of a wizard-priest, with a handsome and solemn face.

It was precisely “Wizard Master” Mohua.

Mohua knew better than anyone present why Shigu had become like this.

The current Shigu was a “flesh puppet” of an evil god.

His flesh was dead, and his divine consciousness had vanished.

But the will of the evil god had taken possession of Shigu’s body, controlling this body to act as a fleshly servant of the divine way, to devour the flesh and blood of others.

Therefore, throughout the previous battles, Mohua had been trying to locate Shigu, aiming for his eyes.

But Shigu was too strong, his cultivation too high. Mohua dared not easily involve himself in such Jindan-stage combat, otherwise, even a slight misstep would lead to annihilation.

And Shigu’s figure was constantly shifting during the battle, making it impossible for Mohua to aim.

But the fourth of the Shugu Fiends being devoured by Shigu just gave Mohua a rare, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

When Shigu grabbed the fourth fiend, his figure would inevitably be fixed.

As Shigu sucked the fourth fiend’s flesh and blood, biting his neck, the direction of his head and eyes was also determined.

This momentary freeze gave Mohua the chance to lock onto him with his spiritual sword.

Mohua performed the Rushing Water Step, his figure flashing, and he cut into the battlefield, his gaze fixed on Shigu’s dark, terrifying eye sockets.

“Wicked beast!”

Mohua pointed two fingers at his forehead, his eyes blazing with golden light like swords, and said in a deep voice:

“Kneel!”

This command to kneel was soul-stirring.

At the same time, Mohua pointed two fingers, his spiritual consciousness exiting his body, breaking through the barriers of reality and illusion.

An invisible killing intent suddenly appeared, a subtle, brilliant golden light abruptly erupted, like thousands of dazzling sword lights, sending shivers down their spines.

Lugu and the others only felt a flash of golden light before their eyes, a terrifying wave spread, and their sea of consciousness felt the pressure of sharp edges.

Moments later, everything dissipated.

When everyone looked again, they witnessed an almost unbelievable scene.

The late-Jindan general Shigu, who had crawled out of purgatory, as tall as a mountain, bloody and terrifying, and almost immortal, actually… knelt on the ground like a servant.

He knelt before… that Foundation Establishment wizard-priest.

Lugu, Chifeng, Danzhu, and all the Jindan barbarian cultivators present, all felt their chests tighten, their faces filled with utter horror.

(End of this chapter)