Serial Player
Chapter 958 - 612: The Situation

Chapter 958: Chapter 612: The Situation

Li Kun was born in the nineteenth year of Guangxu.

In his long life, he had experienced far too much.

Great sorrow, great joy, great rage...

So much so that no matter what situation he encountered, he could remain calm and composed.

Even when he learnt from Pan Ke’s mouth that both he and his disciples were destined to die at the hands of Yanyun, his state of mind only stirred slightly and then returned to calm.

As a child, he was separated from his parents during a disaster and was taken in by an elderly Daoist as a disciple.

In his youth, he delved into the magical skills of Daoism, achieving extraordinariness. The elderly Daoist took him to the mountain gate to become a formal disciple of Daoism. He and a senior sister developed affection for each other, but it never progressed further.

In his middle age, World War II broke out. Various sects of transcendent beings descended from the mountains to resist the Japanese. His team, unfortunately, encountered ’Seven Knives,’ the Japanese transcendent renowned for severing the Dragon Vein of Hua Country - the most powerful enemy. After a bloody fight, his master and brothers all died in battle. That senior sister also passed away in front of him, full of regrets. In great sorrow and rage, he left the military camp alone and tore off the enemy’s head.

After World War II, he became an Earth Level Extraordinary. He became the strongest master in Hua Country’s Extraordinary Realm and also the leader of the Extraordinary Association. He developed the association to its current scale.

Latterly, he poured his heart and soul into teaching his disciples.

Decades passed in this way, and one day, while he was paying homage to his master and senior sister in the mountains, he accidentally found an abandoned baby girl.

Without any hesitation, he took the baby girl back to the mountain gate.

Just like having a child in his old age, he doted on the girl very much.

Although the girl had a defect, unable to speak,

she was very hardworking and showed remarkable talent at a young age.

And naturally, that girl was the mute woman among the Thirteen Heroes.

After that... for Li Kun, things began to go downhill.

It was on the day of a charitable porridge temple fair.

He took the mute woman and other disciples down the mountain to distribute porridge, and ended up with his beloved daughter being targeted by some bastard.

Li Kun would never forget the scene of the little shaver, who hadn’t yet grown a full set of teeth, approaching the little mute girl with a flower.

At the time, he was very pleased, bragging to Kongchan and others about how pure and clever his daughter was... and didn’t take it seriously.

In the following years, he couldn’t laugh anymore.

Whenever he thought of this incident, Li Kun regretted it immensely. Why did he bring the mute girl down the mountain...

It’s not the theft that’s feared, but the thief’s coveting!

And then... came the present.

These people claiming to come from twenty-one years in the future appeared, one of whom was a Heretic Tian.

The heretic Tian said he was a person from Yanyun with the surname Li, and that he was nineteen years old....

Li Kun calmed down. It couldn’t be such a coincidence... could it?

"Senior?" Li Changhe frowned, feeling that something was off about Li Kun’s expression. "Is the Three Corpses God that dangerous?"

"....Yes, it’s very dangerous for us Transcendents." Li Kun looked at Li Changhe with a complex gaze but continued, "The Three Corpses are the delusions of our human nature; it’s rare for anyone to remain unaffected by such fantasies. When the Three Corpses invade the body, it’s what we call falling into Demonic Possession. At best, it greatly alters one’s mood; at worst, it shatters the spirit and soul, turning one into what’s now referred to as a vegetative state."

"You mean to say, in fighting against it, there’s a good chance that, in the midst of battle, an ally could lose the ability to fight or even turn into an enemy?" Qiu Wentian pondered and said, "That’s the same as being infected with a zombie virus."

In the disaster fog, the zombie virus had appeared for a time but, fortunately, was dealt with by a player through a headshot, incineration, and dispersion of ashes. Otherwise, it would have been extremely dangerous if it had spread, possibly escalating to a World-Destruction-Level Catastrophe.

After listening to Qiu Wentian explain what a ’zombie virus’ was, Li Kun shook his head and said, "There are similarities, but also differences. According to the disciples’ descriptions, they began to feel their Dao hearts destabilizing inside the motorcade. If they stayed within that range, they feared they would soon fall victim to the Three Corpses invasion. From the overheard voices, just one glance or a word from the enemy could stir the Three Corpses within you. Otherwise, not a single Japanese Transcendent would have escaped."

"Is there a cure or healing method?" Li Changhe asked, "As an Earth-Level Transcendent, you must have done a considerable amount of research on the Three Corpses."

"Indeed, the Clear Heart Mantra of our magical tradition is precisely a skill developed by the forebears to suppress the Three Corpses." Li Kun said, "This can be used to stabilize our Dao hearts and temporarily suppress the Three Corpses. However..."

"It can only suppress, not prevent. Therefore, it’s very likely that one could fall into Demonic Possession during battle." Li Changhe analyzed, "In our history, some amongst you died from infighting. Perhaps because one of them had been taken over by the Three Corpses."

"That’s the only possibility." Li Kun said somberly.

He had already envisioned the scene they were facing.

If they had followed the original plan, they would have found the enemy in a few days.

And to train their disciples, members from each sect had participated in the encirclement.

The moment the Divine Corpse awakened, a massive number of disciples would be taken over by the Three Corpses. It would be a one-sided massacre.

Transcendents of lower realms would be possessed quickly.

If the Divine Corpse also had the ability to command other Three Corpses, it would be like instantly handing over a huge wave of combat power to the enemy.

Moreover, caught off guard, even Earth-Level Transcendents could be taken over.

Li Kun could imagine how terrified the survivors would be. Their own disciples, masters, and brothers... suddenly turned into enemies in an instant.

"Judging by the results, this chaos-inducing ability of the Three Corpses would clearly affect the common people as well and might even be somewhat contagious, so... we must have used the Eight Strange Arrays or another such trick to trap the Divine Corpse back then." Li Kun continued his analysis, "And we didn’t dare leave ourselves, likely because we carried some form of unstable factor. So, some of us committed suicide to prevent the spread... alas."

At this, Li Changhe and the fishpond owner’s expressions changed slightly.

If it was contagious, they were in the greatest danger.

Because, during infiltration, they had been very close to the Divine Corpse the entire way.

"Rest assured, the two of you are fine. I checked with Heavenly Eye when I arrived," Li Kun said.

"That means, if one cannot see karma, they also couldn’t tell if someone was possessed by the Three Corpses?" Qiu Wentian said, "And to see karma, one would need the Daoist ’Heavenly Eye’ or an even higher-level Transcendent. If we don’t have a Daoist around, we can’t even tell if someone is friend or foe, right?"

"Moreover, if a Daoist has been taken over, they might report falsely, potentially killing those who haven’t been possessed yet." Li Changhe analyzed, "It’s truly a troublesome ability. No wonder you lot managed to hold out for over a year back then."