Chapter Nine: The Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Formation, Encircling Qin Feng!

One of them was unmistakably Junior Brother Wang.

"It's Junior Brother Wang!"
"And Senior Brother Wu and Junior Sister Yang as well!"

The expressions of the three inner-sect disciples darkened. They simultaneously formed a Daoist seal and struck out.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The three white-furred zombies were sent flying in unison. The disciples had held back their strength; otherwise, a single strike would have reduced the creatures to a puddle of foul liquid. After all, they were fellow disciples, and they hoped to leave them with an intact corpse.

"Hiss!"

After landing, the three white-furred zombies exhaled a puff of corpse miasma. Fearless, they charged forward once more. Lacking any sentience, they knew only to obey Qin Feng’s commands. They would not even knit a brow if ordered to brave a mountain of blades or a sea of fire, let alone fight their enemies.

As they attacked, Qin Feng seized a wooden club and swung it toward one of the inner-sect disciples. He remembered this man; it was he who had struck him with heavenly lightning earlier.

"Slap!"

After retrieving a "Zombie-Fixing Talisman" to immobilize the attacking Junior Brother Wang—and before he could even marvel at how quickly Wang had turned—the disciple saw Qin Feng’s club descending upon him.

"You court death! Do you truly think we have no way to deal with you?"

The disciple’s expression darkened. He stepped through a "stride of the Dipper" (a mystical footwork pattern), his body weaving left and right with agility.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Qin Feng swung the wooden club with such force that it whistled through the air, yet he could not even graze the man's hem. This was the legendary footwork of the Daoist sects. Beyond such footwork, they also possessed profound sword arts, fist techniques, and more. It was only because Qin Feng was a zombie with immense strength and a weapon in hand that they dared not engage him in close-quarters combat. Had he been any other demon or vengeful spirit, they would have already drawn their swords and unleashed their blade arts.

"Five Elements and Eight Trigrams Formation!" the disciple suddenly hissed, waving his hands.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"

Thirteen yellow talismans flew out, arranging themselves according to the positions of the Five Elements and the Eight Trigrams, encircling Qin Feng.

"Haste!"

The disciple formed a seal with both hands and pointed at one of the yellow talismans.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."

The thirteen talismans immediately erupted in golden light.

"Hiss, hiss!"

As the golden light shone upon Qin Feng, it produced a harsh, corrosive sound. Qin Feng immediately channeled the corpse miasma within his body to resist the radiance. The miasma surged forth like a protective shield, shielding him and offering some relief. However, this could not last. The power of the golden light was too intense, and his corpse miasma was being corroded rapidly. He would not be able to hold out for even five minutes before his defense was completely eroded.

"My strength is still too weak. If only I could reach the late stage of the Black Zombie rank," Qin Feng sighed inwardly.

It was not that his opponents were exceptionally strong, but that he was simply too weak. He had to find a way to break the formation, or he would surely perish. Qin Feng’s mind raced. Finally, his black, zombified eyes landed on the wooden club nearby. He wondered if the formation’s golden light would have any effect on the wood. If it had no effect, breaking the formation would be simple.

Without hesitation, Qin Feng grabbed the wooden club and thrust it into the golden light.

"Whoosh!"

The club pierced through the golden light with ease. In the face of the wooden club, the golden light was truly nothing more than light—it possessed no destructive power whatsoever.

"Ha! It actually worked!" Qin Feng felt a surge of joy.

With a wide sweep, he struck.

"Crash!"

More than half of the floating talismans were swept away. Without those paper talismans, the golden light vanished instantly.

"Damn it! He broke my talisman formation!"
"This zombie is truly cunning; he actually knew to use a wooden club to break the array!"
"What a pity. It seems talisman formations are ineffective against him. If only we had mastered a true Dharma array."

The three inner-sect disciples spoke one after another.

*So, this is what my aunt called a talisman formation,* Qin Feng realized suddenly.

His aunt had previously explained the difference between a talisman formation and a Dharma array. A talisman formation relied on paper charms to set up an array and could only be used against demons and vengeful spirits; it had no effect on ordinary humans. A Dharma array, however, was set up using ritual flags or specialized yellow cloth banners. Once someone or something entered such an array—be it human, demon, or spirit—they would be shredded to pieces. Powerful Dharma arrays were said to possess the ability to alter the heavens, shift the stars, and change destiny itself. His aunt had even mentioned that some aging Daoist masters would set up Dharma arrays to extend their own lives. It was rumored that Zhuge Liang had used the Seven-Star Lamp to extend his life—that, too, was a Daoist Dharma array. In short, Dharma arrays were far more potent than talisman formations and were among the most important tools of the Daoist sects.

"Junior Brother, it seems we have no choice but to engage him in close-quarters combat."
"His wooden club loses its advantage in close combat. As long as we snatch it away, dealing with him will be easy."
"Agreed. Let’s go together!"

The three men stepped through their mystical footwork, moving with meticulous, subtle motions to close in on Qin Feng rapidly. While Qin Feng was busy attacking one of them with his club, the other two rushed behind him. One grabbed the wooden club from his hand, while the other formed a seal and delivered a powerful "Daoist Lion Seal" strike squarely onto Qin Feng's back.

"Boom!"

With a muffled thud, Qin Feng felt as if he had been struck by a speeding truck. His body flew uncontrollably, crashing against the cave wall before slumping to the ground.

"Hiss!"

Qin Feng exhaled a puff of miasma and rose, standing straight as a rod. Fortunately, it was nothing serious; his body had not suffered any major damage. Only the spot on his back where he had been struck burned with a stinging pain. The saying that zombies possessed "copper skin and iron bones" was certainly no lie. Had he been a creature of flesh and blood, the force of that strike combined with the impact against the wall would have at least shifted his internal organs, if not killed him outright.

"He's actually fine? Is the defense of a mid-stage Black Zombie really this heaven-defying?!"

The disciple who had struck him stared in disbelief. His full-strength blow had been like a mere tickle. He found it impossible to accept.

"Die!"

Another disciple leapt into the air, his body horizontal as he lashed out with his legs. Like a flurry of shadow kicks, he struck Qin Feng’s chest repeatedly.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Each kick carried immense force. Qin Feng’s feet slid along the ground, pushed back over two meters. Finally, the opponent gathered all his strength for one last kick.

"Bang!"

Qin Feng was knocked backward, falling flat on his back. Yet, the very next second, he stood up, straight as a post.

"Hiss!"

Opening his mouth, he exhaled a puff of miasma, leapt forward, and clawed at the disciple with his razor-sharp fingernails.

"Get out of the way, let me handle this!"

The final disciple, holding Qin Feng’s wooden club, bit his index finger and used his own blood to quickly trace a blood-talisman onto the wood. With a running start, he exerted all his power into his legs and vaulted into the air. Holding the club high above his head with both hands, he brought it down toward Qin Feng’s skull with every ounce of his strength.

"You monstrous creature! With this blow, I shall make your head explode like a watermelon!!!"

"Boom!"

The wooden club smashed fiercely against Qin Feng’s head. Qin Feng felt his head sink slightly. Then, with a loud snap, the wooden club shattered into two pieces.