“How can you be in the mood to joke in such a situation?” exclaimed Chu Chuyan.

“Since I’m already injured, shouldn’t I at least try to maximize whatever benefits I can get for myself? Otherwise, I would just be getting hurt for nothing,” Zu An replied as he dodged an incoming attack from one of the zombie spearmen.

Chu Chuyan was rendered momentarily speechless.

She was really having difficulties trying to follow Zu An’s leaps in logic. Is this what a normal person should be thinking about in a situation like this?!

Despite Zu An’s casual tone, he was already giving this fight everything he had. He hurriedly consumed a Blood Replenishment Pill to heal himself up. Without it, he would probably die right away if he suffered another strike.

A warm burst energy flowed through his body and his limbs. While the rate of recovery afforded by this medicine wasn’t instantaneous like ‘Faith in Brother Spring’, it was still rather fast by conventional standards. He could feel his injuries slowly closing up, and his mind felt invigorated once more.

Zu An was earnestly glad that Ji Xiaoxi had teamed up with him earlier on and given him so many precious medicines from Divine Physician Ji. Otherwise, he would have most certainly died by now.

In any case, this pill restored his stamina and gave Zu An the strength he needed to continue his fight against the zombie spearmen. His arm still ached persistently, but he forced himself to ignore it, pushing himself even further. Whenever his spear tip grew blunt from overuse, he simply tossed away his spear and snatched a new one from his enemy’s hands.

Through sheer force of will, he eventually managed to defeat the dozens of zombie spearmen around him.

Zu An stabbed the spear in his hand point-first into the ground and leaned his body against it in order to remain standing. He was desperately gasping for air, and his chest was heaving intensely. His face was red and his hair was drenched in sweat, which dripped down on the beauty that he was carrying. 

Chu Chuyan took a good look at the man who was giving his all to protect her. She knew deep down that, were it not for him insistently holding onto her, he would have been able to use his formidable movement skill and speed to easily escape.

Is this how it feels like to be protected by someone?

Zu An wasn’t exactly strong, but his persevering spirit and tenacity touched her heart deeply. She had never been protected by a man in such a manner before. The sweat and blood that had soaked part of her cloak carried a thick scent of masculinity that made her heartbeat hasten.

Seeing that Zu An was looking at her, Chu Chuyan quickly averted her gaze.

“Thank goodness there were only these many of them. If there were any more zombie soldiers, I might not have been able to last this long,” said Zu An.

He immediately regretted raising that flag, because the sound of coordinated footsteps came once more, right after he had made that remark. He lifted his head to take a look, only to see yet another platoon of zombie soldiers marching over. This time around, they were holding swords instead of spears.

Sensing a far greater aura from them than from the zombie spearmen, Shi Kun’s expression turned livid. “Zu An, you really have a foul mouth!”

You have successfully trolled Shi Kun for 666 Rage points!

Zu An was also rendered speechless. 

First zombie axemen, then zombie spearmen, and now zombie swordsmen. What the hell is this, Civilization V? Bloody hell!

Zu An cursed under his breath, but he still steadied his feet under him. His hand was still trembling at the moment, not from fear, but from having overexerted himself earlier on.

“Put me down! You might still stand a chance if you run away now. You’ve already saved me many times so far, and I’m earnestly grateful to you. However, there’s no need for you to carry on. Even if I don’t die at their hands, I don’t have much time left to live. You don’t have to give up your life for me!” 

Pressed against each other like this, Chu Chuyan could clearly sense his body trembling. She knew that he had already reached his limit, and his death was certain if he faced off against these zombie swordsmen.

“Say no more. You’re my wife! How can I abandon you?” Zu An smiled bitterly. “Of course, if you wish to help me, you’re more than welcome to give me a kiss. You might just be able to unlock my hidden potential with that.”

Chu Chuyan wanted to hit him.

How can you still act like a scoundrel at a time like this?

Zu An was about to elaborate further,  but those zombie swordsmen weren’t about to cut him any slack. They charged toward him with their swords in hand, moving at a speed that was a third faster than the zombie spearmen.

Astonished, Zu An quickly raised his spear to protect himself.

*Bam!* 

Spear and sword collided with one another heavily, and the powerful impact nearly sent his spear flying out of his hand.

Incredibly, the individual prowess of these zombie swordsmen was at the fourth rank!

Now that he was in his berserk state, Zu An should have been able to overpower them with his enhanced strength and speed. However, his severe injuries and the prolonged battle earlier on had left him weakened and utterly exhausted, and he was in no state to clash head on with these zombie swordsmen.

While he was exchanging blows with the first zombie swordsman, the others flew forward to launch their own attacks. Zu An hurriedly swept his spear horizontally and barely managed to fend off their attacks. Unexpectedly, one of the zombie swordsmen suddenly lifted its leg and kicked him squarely in the chest, sending him flying three meters away.

The impact of the kick left the ki in Zu An’s body in disarray, leaving him momentarily powerless. The zombie swordsmen near him had no intention of allowing him to recover, and quickly charged forward to cut him to pieces.

Zu An thought that he had met his end, but a green silhouette suddenly appeared in front of him. The woman in front of him quickly weaved a massive net made out of vines, blocking off the blades that were swinging at him from all directions.

Taken aback, Zu An stared at the slender woman standing right before him.

Qiao Xueying glared at him and said, “What are you looking at me like that? I’m not saving you! Anyway, you owe me two lives now!”

Zu An chuckled cheekily and replied, “Yes yes. It looks like there’s no other choice for me than to repay your magnanimity by offering myself to you in marriage.”

Qiao Xueying’s face reddened. “One of these days, I’ll make sure to rip off that stinky mouth of yours!” she replied furiously, while blocking the attacks of the surrounding zombie swordsmen.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for 233 Rage points!

Zu An burst into laughter. “You’ve never tasted it before. How do you know whether it’s stinky or not?” 

Qiao Xueying glared at him, and even Chu Chuyan seemed rather embarrassed.

Unable to take it anymore, Qiao Xueying snapped, “If you have the strength to talk, hurry up and get to your feet. I can’t hold on much longer!”

Many more zombies had surrounded her and Shi Kun earlier on compared to Zu An, so she had been fighting for her life as well, despite her higher cultivation. It was true that the life force from her wood element cultivation was able to give her a slight edge against these zombies, but the reverse was true as well. The deathly aura lingering around the cavern was also suppressing her prowess.

Because of this, the difficult and prolonged battle with the zombie spearmen had sapped most of her strength. Her net of vines began to wither slowly under the relentless sword blows.

Just as the vines were about to collapse, Zu An suddenly stood up, his spear moving so quickly it became a blur. In an instant, he threw out over a dozen thrusts, piercing through several zombie swordsmen that were closest to them and killing them instantly.

“Y-you… How did you…” Qiao Xueying was shocked.

The strength and speed Zu An had exerted in that split second were greater than what he had revealed thus far in the entire battle!

Zu An shrugged in response. “Well, I managed to make a breakthrough while I was fighting.”

One of the reasons why he was caught off guard earlier, other than the fact that his ki was in disarray, was because he realized that he had made a breakthrough.

Phoenix Nirvana Sutra allowed him to raise his cultivation by suffering hits, and he had sustained significant injuries over the course of the battle. The earlier heavy kick he suffered had provided him with the last few golden specks required to fill his fourth formation.

Whenever a cultivator gained a step of cultivation, they could recover some of their vitality and heal some of their injuries. This breakthrough had provided Zu An with the strength needed for him to continue fighting, at least for the moment.

Qiao Xueying and Shi Kun both stared at him, speechless.

Chu Chuyan found this absolutely bewildering as well.

In this world, making a breakthrough of a single cultivation step was incredibly difficult, even for prodigies like them. It was unthinkable to them that a person could actually make a breakthrough in the midst of a battle!

To make things worse, Zu An had said it so matter-of-factly, as if it was perfectly normal for everyone else. It made it seem like their own efforts that they put towards advancing their cultivation ranks had been in vain.

You have successfully trolled Qiao Xueying for +211 Rage!

You have successfully trolled Shi Kun for +444 Rage!

It looks like my wife is the best after all. She doesn’t get jealous of my increase in cultivation, unlike the other two. Hmmm? Why didn’t I receive any Rage points from the other fourth rank cultivator?

Curious, Zu An turned to look over at Shi Kun’s party, to find that the only surviving fourth rank cultivator had been pinned on the wall. His body was filled with glaring wounds, which made it seem like he had been hacked to death. His eyes were wide open, a sign that he had died with many grievances in his heart.

Why is it that a third rank cultivator is able to hold his ground here whereas a proud late fourth rank cultivator like me ended up biting the dust? Goddamnit!

Zu An could roughly fathom the thoughts of this fourth rank cultivator in his final moments, but he had been so preoccupied with fighting the zombie soldiers that were facing him that he couldn’t spare any attention toward the Keyboard notifications, so he didn’t know if the fourth rank cultivator had provided him Rage points.

All of a sudden, Zu An heard the sound of wind whooshing around him. The zombie swordsmen had begun swarming around him once more.

He quickly activated Sunflower Phantasm and waded into the crush of enemies. From time to time, whenever he spotted an opening, his spear would dart forth to launch a surprise attack.

Unfortunately, these zombie swordsmen were far more skilled than the earlier zombie spearmen. Most of them were able to react on time to block his surprise attacks, and he had to trade at least ten blows before he could end his target’s life.

*Shoosh, shoosh… *

The sharp sound of something piercing through the air whistled across the cavern. Zu An’s heart skipped a beat as he raised his gaze to track the source of the sound. Just as he had expected, several arrows were headed from different directions toward him and Chu Chuyan. 

He counted about eight archers around them!

Zu An was able to deflect these arrows with his spear, but he felt no relief. The worst-case scenario had indeed happened.

He had witnessed the prowess of these zombie archers back in the valley. While there weren’t too many of them at the moment, their ability to coordinate with the zombie swordsmen made them a major threat. It would be nigh impossible to fight the archers and the swordsmen simultaneously.

Zu An’s worries were swiftly proved right.

Every time he was about to kill a zombie swordsman, an arrow would whiz in his direction, leaving him with no choice but to retract his spear and go on the defensive. And if he tried to go for the zombie archers first, the zombie swordsmen would swiftly tie him down with a barrage of attacks.

He had to weave around the zombie swordsmen using Sunflower Phantasm and use their bodies to hide from the zombie archers. He was still barely able to hold on for the time being, but now that his movements had become severely restricted, it had gotten far harder for him to launch counterattacks.

He knew that he would be a goner at this rate. If he lost focus for just a split second, he would be either pierced by an arrow or hacked to death. Of course, he would also fall over as well once he ran out of ki.

“Brother Shit, why don’t you come over and lend me a hand? We’re on the same boat now. Why don’t we put aside our grievances so as to tide through this crisis together?” said Zu An.

He was a little perplexed as to why these arrows had been aimed at him but not at Shi Kun. He found it weird that these zombies were specifically coming after him.

Shi Kun had already noticed the situation that Zu An was in, and he said with a chuckle, “With Brother Zu’s formidable skills, I believe that dealing with those minions shouldn’t be a problem for you. I shan’t embarrass myself here.”