Day by day, the air thickened with dread. Luo Yu knew the war was drawing near—he would soon witness its horrors firsthand. From the way the Arcane Society moved, they were set to strike the Corpse Realm first. Yet the Immortality Society would surely exploit the bloodshed, reaping their own sinister rewards.
After the massacre in the small town, many in the Arcane Society seethed with rage at the zombies—every atrocity orchestrated by Luo Yu. Some practitioners slain by the Immortality Society were fed to the undead under Luo Yu’s command, forcing the zombies to gnaw on the corpses of their enemies. The stench of vengeance hung heavy, and horror crept into every heart.
Luo Yichen confronted Luo Yu again, his voice sharp with suspicion. He demanded to know what Luo Yu was hiding about the town’s carnage. The Corpse Realm knew well—their zombies had been slaughtered by Immortality Society hands, and the truth was as bitter as death itself.
Luo Yu only shook his head, telling Luo Yichen that he had once aided the Corpse Realm—he personally destroyed the bodies of the zombies, leaving behind only the corpses of Immortality Society members. Luo Yu had even leaked secrets to the Arcane Society. Luo Yichen was stunned, but the trust between them had already turned to ash.
Luo Yu sensed the change in Luo Yichen, but neither voiced their suspicions. Soon, the Arcane Society could no longer restrain themselves—they surged toward Gourd Village, encircling it from every direction. Determined to end the zombie plague, countless sects joined the brutal campaign to cleanse the Corpse Realm. The tension was suffocating, the promise of carnage inevitable.
Only now did Luo Yichen realize Luo Yu had betrayed them. The Immortality Society learned the truth as well. Luo Yu finally confessed—he had set every piece in motion, his schemes twisting the three factions into conflict. The evil ghost inside him kept the Immortality Society blind to his true intentions, and darkness crept ever deeper into his soul.
Xu Fu wasted no time. He ordered his followers to Gourd Village, planning to collect the bodies of fallen Arcane Society members for grisly research. Under the cover of war, he aimed to ally with the Arcane Society and annihilate the Corpse Realm. Ruthlessness and ambition radiated from every word he spoke.
Everything unfolded just as Luo Yu had calculated. He knew this war would leave all three powers in ruin—even if none were destroyed outright, the losses would be staggering. Yet one day, in the chaos, Luo Yu spotted Zachary Justice’s silhouette. Panic stabbed through him; he didn’t want Zachary to be another casualty of this nightmare.
Zachary Justice mingled among the Taoist sects, but they scorned him as a wandering priest, refusing to show any respect. Zachary remained calm, telling the Arcane Society that, as one of their own, he only wished to contribute—his resolve unbroken by their contempt.
One moonless night, Luo Yu seized his chance to meet Zachary Justice alone. He warned Zachary to flee as far and as fast as possible—if he stayed, death was certain. But Zachary only smiled, dismissing the warning as if the shadow of doom meant nothing to him.
Luo Yu could not explain it—he admired Zachary Justice, and felt certain this man should not die yet. To force Zachary to leave, Luo Yu quickly went to the place where Zachary had entrusted his young disciple, Zhang Wuju, and kidnapped the boy. Then he sent a message to Zachary, summoning him.
As expected, Zachary Justice returned—drawn by the letter claiming a ghost had abducted his disciple, demanding Zachary come in person. By now, Zachary’s reputation had grown; he’d slain many evil spirits on his travels. He suspected an old enemy, not Luo Yu, and went to the appointed place. There, he found his disciple unharmed—but it was Luo Yu waiting for him.
At this point, Zachary Justice was far from Gourd Village—he could not return within a month. He sighed with sorrow, asking Luo Yu why he had deceived him. Luo Yu replied that he saw Zachary as a truly good person, and did not want him to die. Luo Yu confessed everything he had done. Zachary was shocked, pleading with Luo Yu to stop before it was too late, before he fell into a pit of endless ruin. Zachary resolved to try to stop the coming catastrophe.
But Luo Yu overpowered Zachary Justice, trapping him. He ordered Zhang Wuju to care for his master, ensuring Zachary would not interfere any further.
Zachary Justice understood all too well what Luo Yu intended, and tried desperately to dissuade him. Luo Yu told Zachary that his heart had long since died—he was no longer human. No matter what he did, at least in the end, he needed this war to ease the agony of all he had lost. Because of these three factions, he had lost everything—he could not let them escape so easily.
Zachary Justice kept trying to persuade Luo Yu, but Luo Yu left, his resolve unshaken.
War erupted in the Corpse Realm. The Arcane Society broke through its gates, flooding in. The fighting grew more brutal by the day—practitioners and zombies fell constantly, the ground soaked in blood and horror.
Luo Yu watched in silence as the Nine Dao Gate Elders suppressed Luantian Xuekui with overwhelming power. The other two chiefs of the Corpse Realm had yet to return, and the Immortality Society’s agents crept into the rear of the Arcane Society, plotting in secret. By the time the Arcane Society realized they were being ambushed by mysterious foes, it was already too late—they were beset on all sides.
Luo Yu reveled in the slaughter—he killed zombies, Immortality Society members, and practitioners from the Arcane Society alike. The bloodshed was endless; madness had long since taken root in him. It was then that Xu Fu stepped before him.
The battle in Gourd Village grew chaotic beyond measure—death played out daily on that small patch of land. None of the Arcane Society retreated; when they saw their own sect members die, they too lost all reason. The Nine Dao Gate Elders still fought fiercely with Luantian Xuekui. Luo Yichen was gravely wounded and near death, and the Corpse Jade was destroyed by the Taoists.
Xu Fu knew Luo Yu was the mastermind behind it all. He admired Luo Yu, promising to take him to the Immortality Society’s stronghold and teach him well. But Luo Yu lashed out, venting his fury—shouting and striking at Xu Fu, whose calm deflected every attack as if swatting away dust.
In the end, Luo Yu collapsed before Xu Fu. Xu Fu crushed Luo Yu’s heart without hesitation, telling him, "The Immortality Society has no use for a madman with no purpose, no direction. You are no longer needed."
Just then, Luo Yichen—feeling his family’s last thread of blood about to vanish—rushed over. He seized his final chance, draining all the blood from Luo Yu before he died, but leaving Luo Yu’s body intact.
Luo Yu rose once more, staring at the hollow place where his heart had been. Yet emotion lingered—he charged madly into the battlefield, fearless, desperate for death. But now, as a zombie, he could not harm his own kind. So he hunted the Arcane Society, attacking their practitioners relentlessly.
Within the Corpse Realm, the Nine Dao Gate Elders had already gravely wounded Luantian Xuekui. At that moment, the other two chiefs returned, sweeping through the battlefield like a storm—slaughtering countless Arcane Society members, killing the Nine Dao Gate Elders, and wiping out every practitioner in the Corpse Realm. Only Zhang Jizheng was spared.
Just as Zhang Jizheng was about to be killed, Luo Yu appeared, demanding to end him personally. Tan Tian agreed. Zhang Jizheng, barely clinging to life, was bitten and slowly tortured by Luo Yu. When Zhang Jizheng’s soul finally escaped, Luo Yu shattered it, leaving him to vanish completely. Luo Yu placed Zhang Jizheng’s corpse in the center of Gourd Village, refusing to turn him into a zombie—he needed to see his old enemy every day, hoping for solace.
Luo Yu began to lose all feeling, day by day. Hatred became meaningless to him—he no longer knew what it was, nor could he understand it. At this moment, Luo Yichen found Luo Yu and revealed certain truths.
The one who had betrayed his master years ago, forcing him onto the path of a Corpse Handler, was now the newly appointed sect leader of the Nether Syndicate.
But Luo Yu no longer cared about any of it. Luo Yichen explained that he kept the Luo Family alive not to gather power, but because only by keeping the family could he one day discover the identity of the person who made him a Corpse Handler. Perhaps that person would return for the Luo Family. Yet after all these years, he never came. When Luo Yichen finally met the Nether Syndicate’s sect leader, he realized it was his former master—Old Cat. But that man was too powerful—even clan chief Tan Tian said his strength was born of darkness.
Luo Yu cared about nothing anymore. He simply lived quietly in Gourd Village, his heart empty and cold.
But chaos was stirring in the Living World again. The Immortality Society planned to make its move, hoping to exploit the Arcane Society’s heavy losses. Yet seven evil ghosts, escaped from Infernal Hell, rose to dominate the Living World. Beneath them, countless Specter Fiends rallied, and the Corpse Realm began working with a notorious ghost named Yuna Ji.
The first time Luo Yu met Yuna Ji, he saw the radiant smile on her face. For some reason, that joyful expression always drew him in, unsettling him with its brightness.
"Everything has returned to dust, Roxie."
I gazed quietly at Luo Yu before me. Such a sorrowful story, yet his voice was cold as ice. The figure sitting there was nothing but a lifeless corpse.
"Is Old Cat the sect leader of the Nether Syndicate?"
I asked, and Luo Yu nodded, forcing a hollow, empty smile. I smiled back, offering something genuine and bright. Luo Yu’s gaze became vacant again, his expression heavy and lost.