There Are Differences Even Among Locked Health Bars

They forcibly snapped the iron hooks piercing through their bodies, ignoring the searing pain of torn flesh.

They were hungry beasts, pouncing from mid-air toward the four below.

They looked just like a horde of zombies.

"Welcome to my private exhibition hall, the proud talents of Huaqing Academy."

The refined male voice rang out again, tinged with morbid delight.

"Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Yue Teng."

"And these—these are my finest creations."

Yue Teng's voice brimmed with pride, as if showcasing rare treasures.

"They know no fatigue, no pain. What perfect warriors they are."

"Roar."

The words had barely faded when the dried corpse closest to Long Ao lunged at him, its withered claw aiming straight for his face.

Blazing with fury, Long Ao threw a thunderous punch, smashing squarely into the corpse's chest.

"Craaack."

A dull crack of bone echoed clearly. The corpse's entire chest caved in, and its body flew backward like a kite with a broken string.

But before Long Ao could catch his breath, the flying corpse twisted mid-air and somehow halted its retreat.

Strands of pitch-black vapor, visible to the naked eye, seeped from within it, coiling around the shattered breastbone.

Amid the grinding of bones, its chest swelled back to its original shape at an eerie speed.

Long Ao's eyes widened. He could feel that his punch packed enough power to shatter steel plates.

The monster landed on the ground, unharmed, and charged again.

"There's more than one."

An Changqing's voice sounded as he swung his sword, its sharp energy severing the arms of another dried corpse lunging at Su Yuehe.

The severed arms hit the ground but didn't lose their vitality.

They writhed wildly in the icy slush mixed with blood, then slithered back onto the corpse like snakes, reattaching under the glue of the black vapor.

"These things can't be killed."

Long Ao grunted in frustration, blocking the monster’s attacks.

Every time his fist landed, it caused massive damage, but the wounds healed in an instant under the swirling black vapor.

It felt like punching cotton—agonizingly futile.

"Yuehe, what about your Word Spirit?"

An Changqing asked, his swordlight holding several dried corpses at bay.

"It's useless, Changqing."

Su Yuehe shook her head.

"They have no spiritual fluctuations at all—just hollow puppets being controlled. My Word Spirit can't find a target to act on."

She could only restrict their movements, not control them like Chen Guan could.

Unless she outright destroyed them—but these people in front of her were merely poor souls being manipulated, not true villains.

Her gaze drifted toward Yue Teng at the top.

The battle hit a stalemate.

An Changqing's swordsmanship, though exquisite, could only restrain these indestructible foes, and his spiritual energy was draining rapidly.

"Ha ha ha ha!"

Yue Teng's mocking laughter echoed through the cold storage again.

"Give up, Master An."

"Your struggle is utterly feeble before the divine power of the Lord."

"Your resistance means nothing, except to entertain me with a more thrilling show."

Yue Teng's voice grew fanatical.

"See? This is the grace bestowed upon us by the Lord."

"Soon, you too will become part of my collection, sacrifices for the arrival of the great sovereign."

"Shut up!"

Long Ao roared, pulverizing the upper body of the monster before him with a single punch, but the shredded flesh and broken bones, pulled by the black vapor, began to slowly writhe and reassemble.

[Damn, this blood-lock cheat is way too unfair.]

[Hey, I just thought of someone else who has a blood-lock cheat.]

[But cheats vary in quality.]

Chen Guan watched the comments scrolling across his retina, then glanced at the black vapor swirling around the monsters.

To others, the source of that vapor might be nearly invisible, but in his vision, it shone like searchlights in the dead of night.

Threads of black energy descended from the ceiling of the cold storage, connecting to every corpse.

He lifted his black scythe and swung it at those connecting threads of vapor.

As the blade's edge traced its arc, it felt like countless invisible strings in the air were severed at once, humming faintly.

In the next second, every wildly attacking dried corpse in the cold storage froze simultaneously.

They stood rigid, still in the midst of their clawing poses.

Then, the black vapor enveloping them dissipated like a popped balloon.

Without the vapor's support, the undying monsters instantly collapsed into stinking black puddles of blood, pooling on the floor.

The entire cold storage fell silent in an instant.

Long Ao stood there, still in his punching stance, staring at the pools of filth before him.

"That... that's it?"

He lowered his fist, utterly bewildered. Those unkillable monstrosities had just collectively dissolved?

Su Yuehe suddenly understood. These things weren't living humans at all—just husks wearing human shells.

No wonder they couldn't be killed.

An Changqing and Su Yuehe both turned to look at Chen Guan.

They hadn't seen exactly what he did, but it didn't take a genius to figure out he was behind it.

Chen Guan stowed his scythe and looked up. The man calling himself Yue Teng had vanished at some point.

He had slipped away even from Chen Guan's perception. Chen Guan frowned thoughtfully.

"No," Su Yuehe noticed something first, pointing at the ground. "Look at your feet."

Everyone looked down. The black pools of blood weren't staying still—they were being pulled by an invisible force toward the very center of the cold storage.

"I've got this."

Su Yuehe suddenly spoke. She closed her eyes, pressed her hands together at her chest, and the power of absolute order radiated from her.

"Freeze."

The moment the word fell, a white frost, visible to the eye, surged outward like a tidal wave from her.

The black blood flowing across the ground froze instantly upon contact, and a layer of ice covered the entire floor of the cold storage, locking the eerie scene in its final moment.

With the blood's flow halted, a massive circular outline emerged beneath the ice at the center.

It was a metal manhole cover, engraved with intricate, twisted patterns, seamlessly embedded in the floor with no gaps visible, let alone a keyhole.

"The entrance should be below," An Changqing said, kneeling to tap the metal with his sword scabbard; a dull thud resonated.

"This thing looks like it was cast as a single piece—no lock, no leverage. Not easy to open."

"It might require a specific key," Su Yuehe analyzed.

"Who needs all that trouble?"

Long Ao cracked his knuckles, a cocky grin spreading across his face.