The Patriarch of the Maoshan Sect, sensing something, looked up to see a beautiful woman in a purple cloak standing atop a serpent of lightning in the sky. The woman in the purple cloak also spotted the strangely garbed Maoshan Patriarch. She paused only for a moment before reacting instantly; with a sweep of her right hand, a small lightning serpent detached from the massive one beneath her feet and shot out like an arrow toward the Patriarch.

The Maoshan Patriarch flickered away swiftly. The lightning serpent missed its target, slamming instead into the yacht behind him. The vessel immediately erupted in a flurry of electric arcs and sparks. High-voltage current raged across the yacht, completely destroying all its electronic instruments. Everyone aboard was instantly electrocuted into charcoal husks, including the Second Elder and the Ninth Elder, who shared the same fate.

Witnessing the destructive power of that lightning strike, the Maoshan Patriarch felt a cold shock. But this quickly turned into blazing fury. This purple-cloaked woman, without question or warning, had moved to kill instantly upon meeting him, taking out his two junior martial brothers and successfully igniting his rage.

Despite his immense anger, the Maoshan Patriarch remained exceptionally calm within his heart. From the woman’s attire, he deduced she was likely one of the legendary Western mages. Moreover, judging by her effortless control over lightning, she must be one of the so-called Electromancers.

Upon arriving at the "City of Starlight," the Maoshan Patriarch immediately encountered this powerful Electromancer. It instantly brought to mind the rumors he had heard about a mysterious expert guarding the Starlight Group. Could this purple-cloaked woman be that guardian, the Black Knight? However, the legendary Black Knight was not described as dressing like this.

As the Maoshan Patriarch wrestled with his doubts, the purple-cloaked woman in the sky, seeing her lightning attack miss, waved her hand again. Another lightning serpent broke away from the massive one at her feet and shot toward the Maoshan Patriarch. As this bolt flew, the overall size of the great serpent beneath her feet noticeably diminished, shrinking to only two-thirds of its initial size.

The Maoshan Patriarch dodged the attack again. This time, the lightning serpent struck the ground where he had just been standing, blasting a deep crater filled with residual, shimmering electric arcs.

Having evaded the strike, the Maoshan Patriarch strained his back. The coffin strapped there shot up into the air. Amidst the raging thunderstorm, a colossal figure enveloped in golden light burst forth from the coffin, hovering suspended in the sky.

When the purple-cloaked woman saw the giant shimmering with golden radiance, she was momentarily stunned before recalling an ancient record. She became visibly agitated, waving her hands repeatedly. Two more lightning serpents separated from the giant one below her feet and darted toward the hovering golden giant.

Meanwhile, on the ground, the Maoshan Patriarch swiftly bit through his finger and rapidly inscribed a mysterious symbol onto a huge talisman. He then hurled this massive talisman skyward, spitting a stream of vital blood onto it. The moment the huge talisman touched the Patriarch’s vital essence, it burst into roaring flames that even the torrential rain overhead could not extinguish. In an instant, the huge talisman burned away, leaving behind a fiery red orb hanging in the air.

The Maoshan Patriarch took out another talisman and slapped it onto his forehead. He roared, "Golden Zombie, merge into my body! Divine power unrivaled, heaven and earth defy!" Then he pointed a finger at the golden zombie in the sky and shouted, "Hasten!"

Thus, the fiery red orb shot into the body of the golden zombie in the sky. The golden zombie immediately opened its previously sealed eyes. At that very moment, the two lightning serpents shot out by the purple-cloaked woman struck its frame. High-voltage arcs flashed across the golden zombie’s body, continuously coursing over it, yet they inflicted absolutely no damage to its structure.

Ignoring the arcs writhing over it, the golden zombie fixed its gaze on the Maoshan Patriarch on the ground and swiftly flew toward him, violently slamming into the Patriarch’s body. Strangely, the Maoshan Patriarch was not sent flying by the impact of the enormous golden zombie. The two figures fused together, becoming a single being. The golden zombie’s height immediately swelled past three meters, and its flat countenance began to shift, finally resolving into the face of the Maoshan Patriarch.

Seeing that her lightning attacks were useless against the golden zombie, the purple-cloaked woman paused, then remembered it was merely a zombie, possessing no sensory organs capable of feeling pain. Next, she watched as the Maoshan Patriarch and the golden zombie merged, and a thrill of delight surged through her. Zombies feared no lightning, but the Maoshan Patriarch did. Therefore, she swiftly waved her hand again, causing the electric serpent at her feet to manifest three smaller lightning serpents that sped toward the golden zombie that had just successfully merged on the ground.

After merging with the golden zombie, the Maoshan Patriarch immediately felt endless power surging within him. He opened his mouth and let out a silent roar directed at the purple-cloaked woman in the sky, just as the three lightning serpents struck his body.

The unknown runes inscribed on the exposed skin of the golden zombie began to writhe, manifesting inexplicable functions that absorbed a large portion of the electrical energy from the three lightning bolts. The remaining energy struck the golden zombie’s body but caused no physical harm whatsoever. The Maoshan Patriarch, now merged with the zombie, had also suppressed his pain receptors, feeling no sense of paralysis at all.

Attacked again by the purple-cloaked woman from the sky, the Maoshan Patriarch grew furious. He began to run continuously on the ground, venting the rage boiling in his heart.

The purple-cloaked woman in the sky watched as her lightning attacks proved entirely ineffective against the golden zombie. The creature showed no abnormal reaction, let alone paralysis. In fact, her lightning seemed to be energizing the golden zombie, making it more vigorous. She was deeply astonished. Her lightning magic, usually foolproof, had lost its sharpest effect—the ability to paralyze—when facing this inexplicable zombie.

And just as the purple-cloaked woman was stunned, the running Maoshan Patriarch suddenly bent low, then propelled himself upward, launching toward the sky. He shot up a hundred meters, reaching exactly the height needed to touch the lightning serpent beneath the purple-cloaked woman’s feet.

The Maoshan Patriarch delivered a heavy punch right into the heart of the lightning serpent. With just one solid blow, he shattered the already significantly weakened serpent supporting the purple-cloaked woman, causing her to cry out and plummet rapidly downward.

But just then, lightning flashed and thunder roared overhead. A massive bolt streaked across the horizon. As the purple-cloaked woman fell, she beckoned toward that lightning bolt, which instantly transformed into a huge lightning serpent that swiftly flew to her feet, lifting her back up toward the high heavens until she stopped at an altitude of three hundred meters.

The Maoshan Patriarch was moments away from smashing the purple-cloaked woman into the ground, seeking vengeance for his two junior brothers. He never expected the woman to be rescued by a sudden flash of lightning, whisking her high into the sky. This enraged the Patriarch immensely. He lunged toward the discarded coffin on the ground, retrieved a massive spear, and hurled it toward the startled purple-cloaked woman suspended high above.

The colossal spear, crackling with the sound of wind and thunder, shot toward the woman in the sky. Having ascended three hundred meters and still shaken, she never anticipated the Maoshan Patriarch suddenly throwing a spear that was aimed directly at her high altitude. Seeing the spear coming with fierce momentum, she only had time to summon one lightning serpent from beneath her feet to block in front of her. The massive spear struck the defensive serpent, shattering it, and continued its trajectory toward the purple-cloaked woman.

The purple-cloaked woman desperately dodged but could not avoid it entirely. The tip of the spear grazed her arm, which she held up to shield her chest. Fortunately, due to her great height and the initial obstruction by the lightning serpent, the spear had expended nearly all its formidable energy upon impact. It merely pierced her arm before its power completely dissipated, failing to penetrate through to her heart for a killing blow.

The purple-cloaked woman breathed a sigh of relief. Just as she was preparing to retract the massive spear, she saw the Maoshan Patriarch gesture on the ground, and the spear detached from her body, flying back toward him. Only then did she clearly see that the Patriarch held a thin line in his hand, connecting him to the spear he had thrown, allowing him to reel back his projectile for a second attack.

Watching the spear return to the Maoshan Patriarch’s hand with lightning speed, the Patriarch gripped it, poised to throw again. The purple-cloaked woman was greatly alarmed and quickly commanded the lightning serpent beneath her to retreat far away, outside the Patriarch’s throwing range. The Maoshan Patriarch stood on the ground, spear in hand, yet unable to launch another attack. He was deeply frustrated. This electric-serpent woman, suspected to be a Western mage, had initiated lethal force the moment they met, turning two of his martial brothers into charcoal, and then attacking him. This drove the Maoshan Patriarch, brimming with confidence after merging with the Golden Zombie, into a violent counterattack. Yet, the electric serpent woman remained safely positioned high in the sky, far beyond his reach. He could only watch helplessly as the purple-cloaked woman hovered above him, completely untouchable.

On this rainy night, it was not just the Maoshan Patriarch who was utterly frustrated; the purple-cloaked woman in the sky felt equally vexed. She had come to the "City of Starlight" to complete a specific objective, only to become embroiled with this strange-looking Golden Zombie encountered mid-way, before even meeting her primary target. Her Electromancy was supposed to be the most tyrannical magic in the world; any human struck by it would instantly suffer full-body paralysis and loss of combat ability. To her astonishment, the opposing Golden Zombie was completely immune to her electrical assaults, rendering her overwhelmingly potent magic useless.

Although the purple-cloaked woman could manipulate lightning and fly, she possessed no means of counterattack after her body had been injured by the spear. This was something her noble status as a mage strictly forbade. Moreover, she was secretly alarmed. Having broken through her confinement, she had expected to dominate the world, only to meet an opponent in her most advantageous environment—a thunderstorm—who was so tenacious, possessing strength equal to her own. If she was not careful, she risked meeting her end right here, causing her to start doubting her own power. The Maoshan Patriarch on the ground could not reach the purple-cloaked woman in the sky, while the woman’s electrical attacks launched from above could not harm the Maoshan Patriarch. Unable to overcome the other, they were locked in a stalemate.