Chapter 23: The Fierce Battle — Thunder Ancestor’s Whip

Bang!

A deafening sound rang out, followed by the faint crack of bone.

"Damn it!" Ao Xin cursed under his breath. The zombie's skull was as hard as steel! His customized, reinforced, and weighted baseball bat had snapped in two, and all he had managed to achieve was a tiny crack in the creature's cranium.

"Roar!" The zombie Taoist let out a savage howl, its putrid, foul-smelling fangs snapping toward Ao Xin's neck.

Ao Xin retreated rapidly, simultaneously exhaling a blast of heat and a surge of thunder to temporarily hold the zombie at bay.

"Brother!" A cry of alarm came from behind. It was Ao Chen, who had climbed down from the armored vehicle upon hearing the sounds of battle. This was her first time witnessing Ao Xin being forced back by a monster.

"Xiao Chen, burrow underground! Don't come out until I've killed it!"

He had expected a mere flesh-zombie, but it had turned out to be a two-star monster! With its monstrous strength and iron-clad skin, human armored vehicles were no longer enough to protect against it. For Ao Chen, the underground was the only safe place.

Knowing she could not help in such a fight, Ao Chen immediately shifted into her beast form—a palm-sized white mouse with golden markings—and quickly tunneled into the earth.

Ao Xin was panting heavily. The consecutive use of his heat breath and the maximum output of his lightning had drained his stamina rapidly. Furthermore, the recoil from that strike had sent his blood churning.

The zombie Taoist leaped again, closing the distance in an instant, its ten gray nails lashing out like blades.

Ao Xin let out a roar, his dragon claws clamping onto the zombie's wrists as they locked in a test of strength. Although the zombie had reached two-star status—theoretically requiring a human of the Iron Bone Realm to contend with—Ao Xin relied on his Azure Dragon-enhanced physique to hold his ground for the moment.

As they struggled, the zombie lunged forward to bite again. Driven to desperation, Ao Xin ducked his head, using his dragon horns to ram the zombie’s forehead. The horns were sharp, and with his full force, he gouged out one of the zombie’s eyes and drove the horn deep into its brain.

Any normal creature would have died instantly, but the zombie felt no pain. It tilted its head back, pulling itself off the horn, and let out a roar as its arms began to flex and bend.

Ao Xin’s eyelids twitched. The stiffness of a zombie’s limbs was caused by the accumulation of the zombie virus in its flesh; once the virus was fully absorbed and integrated, the creature regained its flexibility. The fact that its arms were bending meant it was accelerating the absorption of the virus!

He couldn't stay in this stalemate! The zombie’s stamina was infinite; he would be worn down to death!

With another shout, he flung the zombie’s arms aside and transformed into the Azure Dragon, soaring into the air. He lashed out with his tail, sending the zombie staggering, and followed up with a bolt of lightning that left the creature’s body charred.

"Demonic Wind!"

Countless wind blades erupted from the dragon’s maw. Even with its iron-clad skin, the zombie was shredded into pieces. Amidst the swirling wind and clouds, the Azure Dragon dove, clutching the zombie’s arms in his talons and dragging it into the sky.

"Roar!"

He applied pressure, attempting to rip the zombie in half, but the creature was resisting with equal force—he couldn't tear it apart! His own cultivation level was still too low; while he could suppress the zombie in his dragon form, killing it was no easy feat. Moreover, after only these few moments, he was already beginning to feel exhausted. He could maintain his dragon flight for a while longer, but he could not sustain such an intense battle.

He soared back into the clouds and hurled the zombie downward with all his might.

BOOM!

The zombie’s body crashed directly into the massive statue enshrined in the main hall of the Taoist temple. But how could a clay statue withstand the zombie’s rock-hard frame? The idol shattered into countless pieces.

The zombie rolled onto the ground, its once-indestructible body now riddled with pits and gouges—some from the wind blades, some from the heat and thunder, some from the impact of the fall, and the bone fracture from the earlier baseball bat strike.

The Azure Dragon descended and reverted to human form. Ao Xin gasped for air. This was his first time fighting with his full strength in the Azure Dragon form. It was indeed powerful, but it was still too much for him to handle at his current level. Kaido was strong because he was a powerhouse who could destroy countries on his own; the Azure Dragon fruit was merely the icing on the cake. Ao Xin, however, was entirely dependent on the fruit, and the resulting gap in capability was immense.

"Brother, eat this!"

As he struggled to catch his breath, Ao Chen popped up from the ground behind him, offering him a piece of "Water-Water Meat." She had anticipated that he would run out of stamina and had used the God-Given Space to exchange for the meat to help him recover quickly.

Ao Xin took the meat and chewed it hungrily. Ao Chen, being sensible, burrowed back underground to avoid becoming a burden.

With his stamina partially restored, he saw the zombie Taoist struggling to rise. Ao Xin shifted into his hybrid form, coating his dragon claws in Armament Haki, and circled the zombie. The combination of Haki and dragon scales provided an effective defense against the zombie virus. Even so, he knew that if this dragged on, he would eventually be worn down.

He needed a weapon!

Bang!

After another clash, he retreated quickly, but it was too late to exchange for a weapon in the God-Given Space, and Ao Chen didn't have enough points. As he searched for a strategy, his gaze fell on a metal rod lying amidst the rubble of the shattered statue.

"That is...?"

Right! He suddenly remembered that this was the Temple of the Thunder Ancestor. This bamboo-jointed metal rod was the steel whip held by the statue of the Thunder Ancestor himself! That had to be sturdier than a baseball bat, right?

Ao Xin lunged for it and grabbed the steel whip. Because the statue was massive, the whip was long and thick. A typical whip-mace would be less than eighty centimeters, but this one was over a meter and twenty! The shaft was thicker and felt heavier in his hand—perfect for his current strength!

Just as he picked it up, the zombie Taoist charged at him again. Its body was in tatters, but its assault remained ferocious.

Ao Xin poured every last ounce of his remaining strength into the weapon, releasing a violent current of electricity. With both the lightning and his Armament Haki surging through the bamboo-jointed steel whip, he brought it crashing down upon the zombie Taoist’s head!

Bang!

The massive recoil shattered the dragon scales on his palms, but the zombie’s head was pulverized into fragments under the blow! The violent current surged through the zombie’s flesh, filling the air with the stench of charred meat, and the virus within the creature’s body was burned away by the intense heat.

"Whew..."

As he collapsed out of his hybrid form, he no longer had the strength to hold the heavy steel whip and dropped it to the ground. Ao Xin felt nothing but soreness and exhaustion throughout his entire body.

Hearing the battle stop, Ao Chen emerged from the ground. Seeing Ao Xin slumped on the floor, gasping for breath, she rushed over to provide him with more Water-Water Meat and fresh water.