The third update and the bonus chapter for reaching 700 votes have been combined; it totals six thousand characters. Please spare a Moon Ticket.

Although the number of malevolent spirits attacking this time was less than the last onslaught, their quality seemed improved. Since the enemy was now aware of his existence, it was inconvenient for Lin Luo to casually reveal his full strength. Throwing in the "Lily Blossom" technique was just an extra favor; his strongest asset remained the Destruction Black Flame.

Lin Luo wielded a common nodachi, swinging it about with an air of casualness, yet the power behind it was unmatched. The essence of the Second Katana was woven into every move, every strike. With a mere light draw of the blade, dozens of malevolent spirits were instantly disintegrated into ash.

Arthur continued to charge through the fray like a Spartan; the Knight's Spirit demanded relentless forward momentum, so his attacks were entirely frontal. Relying on sheer power and speed, most malevolent spirits couldn't even get close to him.

Isayama Yomi and Tsuchimiya Kagura fought back-to-back, their synergy perhaps unparalleled. Furthermore, bonded by the same World Heart, the combined power they unleashed far surpassed the sum of their parts. One commanded the spirit beast Lion King, the other possessed the supreme spirit beast Bai Rui. Every malevolent spirit that approached them was instantly obliterated.

Of course, the fiercest attacker was Bai Rui. After Lin Luo's "foster care," its strength had increased considerably. Now returned to its original world, it was subtly pushing toward the peak of the Human Tier, tearing through malevolent spirits in massive swaths. A single roar could shatter a group.

Strange, something feels off... As he fought, Lin Luo couldn't help but frown. Although this batch of malevolent spirits was somewhat stronger, to him they were mere dregs with a combat rating of five. Even the other three dealt with them effortlessly, and since their true objective wasn't merely killing these spirits, Lin Luo hadn't exerted much effort.

But now, he suddenly felt the spirits were gradually growing stronger. With the same amount of force, where he previously slew dozens, he could now only manage a dozen... Something was definitely amiss!

"Did you feel that? These things seem to be evolving," Lin Luo remarked to the other three, casually slicing through several lunging spirits.

"Brother, you're right, I felt it too. A few are exceptionally powerful," Arthur roared back.

On the other side, Isayama Yomi also nodded. "If we categorize them using our Exorcist system, the initial strength of these spirits was only Type B, but now several of them have reached Type A, and the number seems to be increasing."

"Are they truly evolving? How is that possible!" Tsuchimiya Kagura looked genuinely shocked, yet she too felt the combat becoming slightly more taxing—not due to fatigue, but because the enemies were objectively stronger.

"Malevolent spirits evolving through combat does happen, but it shouldn't be this frequent. I suspect that Wanderer is manipulating this. Everyone, be careful," Lin Luo said grimly, increasing the force of his blows. The power of the Second Katana was amplified by at least thirty percent. Simultaneously, iron sand from beneath the earth surged upward under his command, engulfing countless malevolent spirits and the walking dead like dark water.

Iron sand was a purely physical attack, effective only against corporeal beings. Fortunately, most malevolent spirits in this world possessed physical forms, making them easy to eliminate. As for the formless spirits, the Second Katana handled those; anything visible had already been sliced by Lin Luo.

"Ah!" Suddenly, Tsuchimiya Kagura gasped, her voice laced with terror. Lin Luo spun around instinctively. He saw a walking dead lunging at the girl with incredible speed, mouth agape to bite.

Tsuchimiya Kagura instinctively swung her sword. With the low combat power of a walking dead, a single direct hit should have cleaved it in two, but this time everything defied expectation. Although the blade struck the creature, the metal became lodged inside; not only could she not sever it, she couldn't even pull the sword out!

"This... how is this possible?" Tsuchimiya Kagura could hardly believe it. Her iai sword was specially crafted by compressing air three times over, giving her strikes far greater intensity than ordinary swordsmen. The residual force from the air compression alone could launch her tens of meters into the air in an instant. How could she fail to cut through a mere walking dead?!

But Tsuchimiya Kagura had no time for shock, as the creature's maw was now inches from her face, less than thirty centimeters from her throat. The fangs in that cavernous mouth could certainly crush her neck instantly.

The sensation of impending death was so vivid that Tsuchimiya Kagura froze, her face turning ashen in a split second.

Bai Rui above was too far away. Isayama Yomi, behind her, couldn't turn in time to help. Just as the girl was about to have her neck severed, a surge of black energy erupted from the ground. When the walking dead's teeth were less than ten centimeters from her neck, the black energy sliced its body clean in half.

Smack!

The severed remains dropped to the floor. Tsuchimiya Kagura was pale, visibly shaken.

"Kagura!" Isayama Yomi immediately pulled her behind her, her face etched with worry. Bai Rui and Honglian swiftly moved to shield the pair, attacking the approaching malevolent spirits and walking dead with renewed vigor.

"I'm fine," Tsuchimiya Kagura said, offering a smile in response to Isayama Yomi's concerned gaze. However, a lingering shadow of past-the-danger relief remained on her face. Though it wasn't her first brush with such peril, this encounter was utterly unexpected, leaving her completely unprepared.

"The situation looks grim," Lin Luo commented, walking toward the girls. His expression was somewhat shadowed. If the Nether Sovereign himself had acted, such danger would be understandable, but to nearly get killed by a mere walking dead while under his protection felt like a massive lapse in vigilance, stirring a hint of self-reproach within him.

"Brother Lin Luo, thank you for saving me again." Tsuchimiya Kagura forced a smile. Only Lin Luo could command the black iron sand here; he was the one who saved her. If he hadn't intervened precisely when he did, there would have been no hope. Subconsciously, her favorable impression of Lin Luo deepened.

"It's nothing, it’s what I should do," Lin Luo nodded, then crouched down to examine the severed walking dead. To his surprise, this wasn't an ordinary walking dead... it seemed to have undergone various enhancement procedures. Its body wasn't fragile like a normal corpse; instead, it was incredibly tough. This toughness greatly increased its elasticity and strength, even its resistance to impact. Unless struck by overwhelming force, one couldn't sever its body; a weapon would only get stuck.

This was precisely why Tsuchimiya Kagura couldn't draw her sword earlier. Although the air compression gave her strike considerable power, the resistance she met upon impact was greater, and her follow-up force couldn't sustain the initial momentum. Lin Luo, however, could sever it in one blow because the vibration of the iron sand completely destroyed its molecular cohesion, allowing the blade to cut through effortlessly.

Next, Lin Luo directed his gaze toward the horde of walking dead. Because the iron sand was still attacking under his control, combined with Bai Rui and Honglian, the evolved walking dead couldn't break through for the moment. But the issue wasn't that simple.

Lin Luo noticed that more and more walking dead were evolving to higher tiers—their speed increased, their attack power grew, and their durability strengthened. Furthermore, some were ceasing to maintain human form, sprouting long tails, razor-sharp claws, and even developing snake-like tongues that flicked in and out of their mouths. Others simply flattened themselves to the ground, using their hind legs to spring incredible distances with a single push...

This situation immediately caused Lin Luo's brow to furrow. Even if the walking dead evolved further, to him they were still weaklings with a combat rating of five, capable of nothing but snarling and howling. However, for Tsuchimiya Kagura and the others, this presented a severe threat. While they might handle one or two, a large horde would inevitably lead to disaster.

The quantitative change leading to a qualitative change—while not universally applicable—held true here.

Lin Luo currently lacked sufficient defensive measures. He needed to simultaneously protect them while fighting, and if that Level 3 Wanderer decided to use Rule Power, things would go terribly wrong.

"Stop fighting separately, everyone gather together," Lin Luo decided, wasting no more time. As long as the distance wasn't too great, he could protect them adequately.

Hearing Lin Luo, Arthur quickly dispatched the several walking dead near him and rushed over... Despite being one of the Nine Knights, he was astute in combat. He avoided engaging the evolved specimens, instead focusing on slaughtering the ordinary walking dead. This strategy not only eased his fighting but also prevented more enemies from evolving.

As for Isayama Yomi and Tsuchimiya Kagura, they were already near Lin Luo and quickly closed the distance. Such powerful walking dead exceeded their existing understanding. After hearing Lin Luo's analysis, a chill crept into their hearts. They were sword wielders; if their cutting power was negated, their combat effectiveness would drop by more than half. How could they fight off such numbers with just magic?

"In fact, you don't need to be so pessimistic," Lin Luo said while maneuvering the iron sand to cut down the horde and retreating with them. "Although the bodies of these walking dead are tough, it's only their structure. Their joints are still bone. If you strike at the joints, severing them shouldn't be difficult. Watch..."

Saying this, Lin Luo demonstrated. Two swords made of iron sand moved simultaneously under his control toward a single walking dead. One blade targeted the legs, the other, the abdomen. Although both cuts penetrated the creature, the blade aimed at the legs moved noticeably faster, and with residual momentum, it slashed toward another walking dead nearby.

The other blade, aimed at the abdomen, dissipated into iron sand after cutting through after meeting resistance.

"I see!" The three immediately understood. They weren't fools, especially when it came to battle tactics. The constraint of toughness was significantly lessened. Moreover, bones could not possess much elasticity. By targeting the relatively vulnerable joints, they could achieve twice the result with half the effort.

Once they grasped the weakness of these evolved walking dead, Isayama Yomi and Tsuchimiya Kagura rejoined the fray as a team. Even Arthur looked energized, unwilling to lag behind, and charged forward first.

In Lin Luo's estimation, the evolved walking dead were somewhat analogous to the Crawlers from Resident Evil, only perhaps stronger. Their tongues and tails also possessed formidable attack power, making them similar to the Xenomorphs. He couldn't fathom how that Wanderer named Nether Sovereign had managed to modify them to this extent, but the result was undeniably a manifestation of terrifying, enhanced strength in the walking dead.

Such creatures could no longer simply be called zombies; perhaps "Xeno-Crawlers" would be more appropriate.

Both the Xenomorph and the Crawler are lethal threats to humanity, and combining them made them exponentially more terrifying. The danger faced by the two girls when fighting these monsters was not minor. After all, they were essentially still ordinary humans, unlike Lin Luo, who possessed the body of a Dead Apostle, or Arthur, who had an immortal body that made him immensely durable.

Though Lin Luo worried about their safety, these two girls were not decorative dolls who could only be protected. Furthermore, their strength was still too low; if they entered the Divine War at this level, the danger would escalate drastically.

Thus, Lin Luo intentionally allowed them to grow through this battle, refraining from stopping their engagement while simultaneously constricting his own attack range to maximize their effectiveness. Of course, to prevent disaster, he wasn't completely unprepared, keeping most of his attention on them so he could intervene instantly if danger arose.

Because they were prepared, although the fighting remained challenging, they could now manage the Xeno-Crawlers. Both Isayama Yomi’s Lion King and Tsuchimiya Kagura’s iai strikes possessed enough cutting power to sever their joints and put them down.

The battle proceeded at an uneven pace. Because Lin Luo deliberately held back, the fight dragged on for an unusually long time. It was already late afternoon when they started, and by the time they snapped back to reality, it was night, yet the numbers of attacking walking dead and malevolent spirits had not significantly diminished.

"This isn't sustainable," Lin Luo muttered, looking at the three across from him. The battle had clearly reached a point where the Wanderer known as Nether Sovereign had deployed this massive legion of walking dead, enhancing their strength specifically to bog down his movements.

What was the purpose? Lin Luo could only deduce that it was to prevent him from analyzing the Rule Power. He couldn't think of any other reason, although eliminating Yomi and Kagura might have been a secondary goal, which was unlikely to succeed with him nearby.

Moreover, Lin Luo sensed a pair of eyes constantly watching him, tracking his every move. This feeling was utterly unsettling, yet he couldn't locate the source... Wait! Could it be...?

Lin Luo suddenly recalled: since Nether Sovereign's ability allowed him to control and modify malevolent spirits, it wasn't impossible for him to observe Lin Luo through them.

Realizing this, Lin Luo felt a surge of relief. He hadn't used the Destruction Black Flame yet; if the enemy had known about that trump card, it would have alerted him prematurely. What he had exposed so far were only the Illusionary Law and a few Contract abilities. The enemy should already know that Lin Luo couldn't use Rule Power, so... it was time to play along!

"Alright, let's retreat for now."

With this decision, Lin Luo moved instantly, leaping forward and pulling Yomi and Kagura back, while signaling Arthur.

"Brother, I'm not tired yet! My immortality grants me nearly limitless stamina. I could fight these walking dead until my hands blister, and I wouldn't feel a shred of fatigue," Arthur shouted, perhaps to prove a point, increasing the force of his strikes.

"I know you're not tired, but they are girls. Fighting for this long will have a detrimental effect on their bodies," Lin Luo indicated Yomi and Kagura with his gaze.

"No, we aren't that tired either..." The two girls blinked in surprise, quickly protesting. Logically, after fighting continuously for several hours, their stamina should be failing, but currently, aside from slight weariness, they felt no ill effects.

This also struck them as odd. If their constitution had strengthened from previous battles, this was still excessive. Perhaps it was due to the World Heart... Both girls considered this possibility.

"Even if you aren't tired, who knows how long we'll have to fight this quantity of enemies? And they are continuously streaming in. If the city has a million people, we still have eighty thousand more to kill, which isn't a good thing. By the time you get tired, we won't be able to escape."

"...That is true."

Hearing Lin Luo's reasoning, they nodded, and Arthur also retreated from his position. The four pulled back while fighting, protected by Lin Luo's Iron Sand Wall and Illusory Light defense net, making it difficult for the malevolent spirits to break through. Soon, the spirits before them thinned out. Even those that occasionally broke through couldn't get close under Lin Luo's attack.

This continued until, half an hour later, no malevolent spirits remained in sight. They had retreated deep into the mountain forest, with Lin Luo's barriers set up along the path, automatically diverting the spirits in other directions.

"The barriers I set up should last about half a day. We shouldn't face any attacks within that time," Lin Luo finally said, sitting down on a patch of grass.

"But if we do this, we can't attack the enemy either?" Isayama Yomi voiced her question. While they were certainly safe now, the Wanderer wouldn't willingly appear for them to kill, and hiding achieved nothing.

"This is indeed a troublesome matter..." Lin Luo sighed, understanding the logic, but the current issue was that he couldn't locate the Wanderer at all. Otherwise, he could simply charge over and burn him with Black Flame, ending everything. Having power but nowhere to apply it was the most frustrating thing.

"Actually, besides this, I have another major concern," Lin Luo said solemnly, looking up.

"What is it?" Isayama Yomi quickly asked, and the other two turned to Lin Luo as well.

"Necromancy control..." Lin Luo said, frowning deeply. "Since Nether Sovereign can control the malevolent spirits in this city, and based on my deduction, he hasn't fully unlocked his Rule Power yet—at most, just a sliver. But if his strength continues to rise, there's no guarantee he won't be able to control the malevolent spirits of the entire world..."

"Ah!" Hearing this, Isayama Yomi and Tsuchimiya Kagura's faces went pale. Dealing with just the spirits of one city was already a headache; an entire world’s worth—billions upon billions! Even if they were all the most basic walking dead level, how many eons would it take to kill them all... They couldn't even imagine it.

"This... this probably isn't possible, right?" Tsuchimiya Kagura stammered. Although witnessing the power of Lin Luo and Nether Sovereign had deepened her understanding of what Wanderers were capable of, controlling this scale was still hard for her to believe.

"No, Brother's concern is actually plausible," Arthur said suddenly, raising his head with a serious expression. "I actually fought Nether Sovereign in the previous world. Of course, I was just a foot soldier then; Nether Sovereign was targeting the natives of that world. Back then, he controlled the majority of the undead and turned an entire nation into a kingdom of the walking dead, encompassing tens of millions of people... If the Dark King hadn't suddenly appeared afterward and scared him off, the entire world might have been doomed!"

"This..." The two girls were struck speechless.

"It seems we must prepare for the possibility of making the entire world our enemy," Lin Luo stated, letting out a sigh. He looked up at the sky. In the night, the moon was as bright as a mirror, yet this world had already descended into darkness—the darkness of Hell.

Lin Luo vaguely felt that the Zero-Consumption World might... collapse!

"Hahahaha!" In a room as dark as the abyss, strewn with blood and the wails of the damned, someone let out a fit of maniacal laughter. This person was Nether Sovereign. As he rose from the ground, his body trembled slightly, and countless vengeful spirits erupted from the void behind him, shrieking and screaming—a scene that resembled an endless purgatory.

"This feeling is absolutely magnificent!" Youming threw his arms wide open, and the legions of vengeful spirits instantly streamed out from behind him, coalescing before him, gradually forming four distinct entities. "Fifty percent of the Rule Power is finally unlocked. This world truly suits me. Already, one-third of humanity has become my strength. Next, all I need to do is bring the entire world under my sway, and I can recover to my absolute peak—perhaps even surpass it then... Ha ha ha!"

"Congratulations, King of Hell!"

The four entities, shrouded entirely in impenetrable darkness, immediately dropped to their knees and cried out in deep reverence.

...

: A gaggle of trolls arrived in the comments section today, and they really managed to spoil my mood. I rushed this chapter a bit; please forgive the sloppiness. A