Ye Chen frowned slightly, glancing around, noting that this shop specialized in selling ornaments. Amidst the dazzling river of seven-hued light, numerous trinkets cycled endlessly, much like an escalator powered by an inexhaustible flow of energy, sustained simply by the light present within the store itself.

Upon the metal-leather sofas and chairs inside the shop lay several bloody limbs, and near one sofa, even a few coils of intestine. Furthermore, filth from internal organs permeated the air, emitting a foul, nauseating stench.

“Ye Chen…” Kaba’s voice suddenly held a tremor, as if struggling for breath. “Quickly look over there.” He pointed ahead with a trembling hand.

Ye Chen followed the direction of his finger, and his pupils contracted sharply. Standing at the front of the shop’s main hall was a corpse, rigid as a wood carving, its eyes a malevolent jade green. A strip of intestinal skin was wedged between its teeth, dangling down and swaying against its chest. The corpse’s mouth was coated in dried, scabbed blood, some of it turning a dark, almost black hue.

Calm! Calm!

Ye Chen seemed deaf to everything around him; all he heard was the violent pounding of his own heart. His feet instinctively shuffled back a step, and his gaze shifted away from the corpse, slowly sweeping to the side. Right beside the corpse, not far off, was the elevator leading to the second floor.

This was no ordinary metal lift. It was a glass tube—a type of elevator Ye Chen recognized, manufactured by the mechanical civilizations of the Ancient Continent. Once inside and activated, it performed a short-range teleportation directly to the second level. These were fairly common in certain luxury establishments across the Ancient Continent.

Just then—

The corpse, which had been staring intently at the two of them, lifted its feet and staggered toward Ye Chen and Kaba. It raised an arm, thick and blood-soaked, its fingernails sharp as blades, the crevices packed with shredded flesh. The entire palm was drenched in blood, presenting a horrifying sight.

Its eyes burned with hunger and bloodlust, and its tongue darted out to lick its lips, like a ferocious, starving wolf.

Ye Chen clenched his hand, quickly passing the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword he held to Kaba, and murmured, “Let’s go all out!” He took a few steps back himself, clearing the immediate combat zone and giving Kaba a look that said, You’ve got this.

Kaba nearly struck him down with the sword. He rolled his eyes, gripping the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword, and watched the approaching corpse. His throat bobbed as he swallowed hard, then he gritted his teeth, a savage fury flashing in his eyes, and charged toward the undead figure.

Thwack! Thwack!

The Heaven-Mending Divine Sword whipped up two streaks of light as Kaba swung it directly at the corpse’s head.

The corpse swayed, seemingly aware of the danger, and managed to dodge the strike. Then, its hand, resembling a claw, shot out, aiming to tear open Kaba’s chest.

Kaba’s forehead beaded with sweat. He urgently retreated, twisting his waist as he brought the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword across in a horizontal slash toward the corpse’s midsection.

The razor-sharp Heaven-Mending Divine Sword radiated chilling air as it swept through with lightning speed. The corpse’s entire chest was severed, yet the cut wasn't as effortless as slicing tofu. When the blade hit the central spine, the sword paused slightly, requiring a noticeable effort to cleave the corpse in two.

The bisected corpse collapsed onto the floor, its eyes blazing with crazed ferocity. It stared fixedly at Kaba, its mouth curved into a sinister, mocking smile, and it began to crawl toward him.

“Get lost!” Kaba roared, spinning the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword in his hands, gripping the hilt with both hands, and driving it down in a powerful thrust.

Splat!

The Heaven-Mending Divine Sword pierced the back of the corpse’s skull with pinpoint accuracy, driving straight through and embedding itself into the metal floor plating before finally stopping.

The struggling body of the corpse ceased its movements entirely.

Kaba let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, wiping sweat from his brow. Even these few simple actions had required immense effort; the gravity of this world was severely diminishing his capabilities across the board.

Kaba turned, gave Ye Chen a sharp, exasperated glare, and said, “It’s dead. Come here.”

Ye Chen looked at the dark, viscous blood coating the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword and frowned. Just as he prepared to step toward Kaba, his gaze flickered, and he saw the hand of the corpse lying behind Kaba suddenly twitch. His expression changed instantly. “Get away quickly!”

“Huh?” Kaba paused, confused.

The corpse whose head had been completely pierced suddenly lifted its head, its face contorted in a vicious snarl. Its sharp-nailed hand shot out and clamped around Kaba’s ankle. The sheer force caused Kaba’s entire ankle to compress several degrees, as if it were about to shatter.

Considering that Kaba’s puppet body was composed of metal rivaling Pseudo-S-grade alloys, the fact that it was visibly denting under the grip of this corpse’s hand was unbelievable.

Ye Chen felt a jolt of disbelief. Kaba was horrified. He looked back and saw the massive hole in the back of the corpse’s head, yet it was still alive. Terrified out of his wits, he violently shook his foot, slamming the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword down again, pinning the corpse’s skull firmly in place.

Thwack!

The Heaven-Mending Divine Sword plunged straight down from the Baihui point on the corpse’s crown, boring all the way through to its jawline. The corpse’s lips moved slightly, emitting a raspy sound from its throat, grating and unpleasant, like fingernails scraping against a windowpane.

Ye Chen’s expression was one of uneasy speculation. He hadn't expected these corpses, which looked identical to Earth’s zombies, to be so relentlessly savage—surviving even after their brains had been perforated. On Earth, destroying the brain meant instant immobility.

A thought suddenly struck him. He quickly transmitted to Kaba, “Try piercing its heart!”

Kaba hesitated for a moment, then, without another word, retracted the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword and aimed it at the corpse’s chest, driving the blade directly through the cloth and flesh, completely obliterating the heart.

The corpse, which had been gripping Kaba’s ankle so tightly, gave a final, shuddering twitch, and then went utterly still.

Kaba let out a long breath, panting heavily. He felt as though his back was drenched, even though his puppet body couldn't sweat. He retrieved the Heaven-Mending Divine Sword, kicked the hand still clutching his ankle to release it, and quickly backed several steps away, terrified that the corpse might reanimate again—that would have been too dreadful.

After a short while, the corpse remained inert, confirming it was truly dead and showed no signs of revival.

Ye Chen felt a slight measure of relief. With Kaba’s physical strength reaching the level of the True Void God realm, he did have some means of dealing with these things; they weren't entirely helpless.

He looked toward the horde of corpses rapidly closing in on the shop entrance. A quick count showed over a dozen. He immediately urged Kaba, “Hurry and hold the door!”

Kaba gasped for air. “Quickly give me energy stones! I need to replenish my body. Running and fighting that thing drained too much—my energy reserves are almost gone.”

Without hesitation, Ye Chen opened his Rune Space, but a moment later, he sensed something was wrong. “Why can’t I open the Rune Space?”

Kaba’s eyes widened. “You’re kidding me, right?”

Ye Chen tried a few more times before he could barely manage to tear open an opening about the size of a ping-pong ball. He gave a wry smile. “The oppressive force in this world is too strong. The Rune Space can only open this wide.”

Kaba nearly fainted. “A Pseudo-Divine Stone is the size of a fist! How am I supposed to fit one through an opening this small?”

“Don’t worry,” Ye Chen said calmly. He sent a mental message into the Rune Space. After a moment, he contacted the old man from the Green Rune and Xiao Hei, swiftly giving orders: “Move all the stored Demigod Stones to the entrance!”

“Why is this opening so small?” Xiao Hei sounded puzzled.

“Hurry up!” Ye Chen snapped.

Xiao Hei muttered something under his breath, turned, went to the storage compartment of the Rune Ship, and brought out a large pile of Pseudo-Divine Stones, stacking them near the small, ping-pong ball-sized opening.

Ye Chen clenched his hand, and a miniature black hole materialized in his palm, radiating tearing forces that began to devour and absorb the Demigod Stones pooled near the opening. Through the compression of the Heavenly Dao Scripture, they merged with the Demi-Divine Power within his body.

Ye Chen beckoned Kaba over.

Kaba immediately understood and hurried over, gripping Ye Chen’s palm. Kaba activated the energy absorption stone within Ye Chen’s palm, greedily drawing out the Demi-Divine Power surging within Ye Chen. However, despite expecting to drain Ye Chen quickly, he was shocked to find that no matter how much he drew, the energy within Ye Chen didn't diminish; if anything, it seemed to increase.

Kaba blinked dumbly, then rolled his eyes in annoyance. “Freak!”

Through the absorption process, Kaba quickly realized the anomaly. With his puppet body's capacity, replenishing with Divine Stones would restore 100% energy rapidly. But using Pseudo-Divine Stones to substitute required absorbing a staggering amount of Demi-Divine Power to fill the tank.

Yet, he was stunned to discover that Ye Chen’s Demi-Divine Power was not thin or weak like other similar powers; it was profoundly rich and dense, nearly on par with Pseudo-Divine Power itself!

He shot Ye Chen a look of shock, a flicker of understanding in his eyes. Without saying more, he lowered his head and rapidly drew power. In about a few minutes, he managed to restore roughly 30% of his reserves.

“Let’s get to work first,” Ye Chen said, pulling his hand back and closing the Rune Space as he watched the corpses nearing the shop entrance.

Kaba didn't argue. He quickly moved the metal sofas inside to barricade the shop entrance and then locked the glass-like doors from the inside.

A dozen corpses swarmed the entrance, clinging to the glass door outside and roaring as they pounded against it. However, this was no ordinary glass; it was reinforced, photo-synthetic metal glass with a strength comparable to S-grade alloys. It would take these corpses a considerable amount of time to break through.

“Let’s go to the second floor first,” Ye Chen said quickly, seeing that the main door was temporarily secured.

Kaba caught his breath and rushed after Ye Chen toward the elevator. Although they didn't know how long the disaster had been unfolding here, the energy cabinets in the shop suggested that the power supply hadn't diminished or dried up, meaning the shop’s intelligent systems were likely still operational.

Ye Chen pressed the red switch near the glass tube elevator, but the door remained firmly shut.

Ye Chen frowned, then pressed a green button located beneath the red one. Still, the elevator gave no response.

“Huh?” Kaba queried. “Is it broken?”