Chapter 591: Rotten Flesh and Rotten Roots

Chapter 591: Rotten Flesh, Stench of Roots

At the center of the flesh-and-blood fields, atop the spiraling tower.

Rising from the throne, the Lord of Causality City, Zheng Chu, was nothing less than a demonic fiend bursting forth from a broken prison.

He was clad head to toe in armor forged from interlocking white bones, his bone dagger wrapped in layers of dark cyan veins and bright red arteries, the hilt set with a fist‑sized heart that pulsed like a living organ, as if just awakened from slumber; Zheng Chu’s black eyes gathered pale pupils, staring at the black‑red meteor streaking down from the heavens.

“A fresh Martial Sequence Four!”

Zheng Chu’s handsome face lit with excitement, his chest thundering, the gaps in his bone armor filling with swelling scarlet muscle.

Bang!

The tower shuddered under the recoil’s immense force, Zheng Chu shot upward, twin blades whirling, unleashing a dreadful howl as he collided head‑on with Li Jun.

Boom!

A substantive shockwave rippled through the air and exploded, the lofty spiral tower sheared at its waist, collapsing downward amid shrill wails.

Dust of shattered bone rose like a sky‑darkening cloud, swallowing the two intersecting figures.

Upon the blood‑stained ground, the Causality Tree led its cultivated flesh‑fruits to kneel and kowtow, paying homage to the vague, terrifying silhouette looming above.

Though it was unclear what organ they used to voice, they erupted in a roar like a mountain‑shaking, sea‑surging cheer.

The sound waves clanged harshly, unsettling mind and spirit.

“What are you howling for? Shut your mouths!”

Whoosh!

A searing arrow streaked forth, carving a straight gap several zhang wide through the tightly packed eerie creations, shattered limbs and arms clattering down like rain.

Where the arrow struck, Zhang Shiyuan stood with legs apart, his green robe’s front tucked into his waist, gripping a peculiarly shaped ancient longbow.

If Li Jun were here now, he would surely be greatly shaken.

For the bowstring trembled with clearly intertwined Buddhist Sequence wisdom‑roots; the crescent‑shaped bow limbs bore intricate Daoist script engravings, and the grip was inlaid with a thrumming, restless Martial Sequence weapon‑core.

Though it seemed a haphazard patchwork, under Zhang Shiyuan’s domineering archery it unleashed a fearsome power.

“Find your own hiding spot, watch the master show you how to clear these foot soldiers. Even clinging to a thigh demands the proper attitude—you can’t just stand there gawking.”

Zhang Shiyuan gave a word of advice to the pallid Danzhu, then cast a contemptuous glance over the emerging State‑and‑Harvest Sequences and flesh‑monsters; his bowstring sang like tearing silk, arrows sweeping in all directions.

In the high sky, the blaring suona drowned out the heartbeat’s drum.

Zheng Chu’s form slammed down like a cannonball, kicking up a mist of bone‑dust, yet landed with eerie silence, sinking deep into a patch of flesh‑field.

Bang!

After absorbing Zheng Chu’s force, the flesh‑field fell silent, then bulged with huge sacs that popped with soft puffs, forming a pit roughly a mu wide, which instantly refilled with surging flesh and blood.

“An unrecorded new strain of Martial Sequence.”

Soaked in blood, Zheng Chu seemed to finally awaken fully at this moment.

He lifted his gaze to the hovering Li Jun; his strange eyes held no fear, only excitement and longing.

“Ah, it’s you, Fire‑Keeper Li Jun. I never imagined you’d infiltrate my Causality City.”

Beneath his scarlet single eye, Li Jun’s face turned grim.

This expression wasn’t due to the revolting appearance and power of the agricultural sequence before him.

Rather, on him Li Jun detected a scent both intimately familiar and sharply nauseating.

It was the rotting primal flesh of the Martial Sequence!

This bastard’s body was clearly stitched together from the corpses of two sect Martial Sequence warriors, dead who‑knows‑how‑long.

“In our original plan we sought no conflict with you. If you’d lay down your arms, I could bear no grudge and let you leave Causality City.”

Zheng Chu’s right‑hand muscles twitched continually; the severed half of his bone dagger, slick with nauseating ooze, fell into the blood‑pool beneath him, while a fresh blade of white bone sprouted anew from his palm.

“However, given our study of lone Martial Sequences, you’re unlikely to yield so easily, so this battle is inevitable. Though my current completeness may not suffice to defeat you, I’m eager to see how far you can grow under free, unguided development.”

“This lump of a brain isn’t working right—what the hell is it mumbling?”

The Horse King cursed: “Old Li, quit dilly‑dallying—just chop him up and be done with it!”

Crackle!

Black‑red lightning coiled around him, Li Jun’s form flashed before Zheng Chu, arm outstretched, spear thrust forward, a blade of icy light aiming for the foe’s head.

The assault came with terrifying speed; Zheng Chu seemed unable to react, his two bone daggers just lifted from the lake’s surface when the sharp force already reached him.

Clang!

The oncoming cold light halted abruptly.

At the point where the spear tip struck, a shimmering translucent crystal wall of radiant hues sprang up.

This Li Jun knew all too well; in Jiangxi Province he’d shattered countless of them.

It was the Dao Sequence’s mental‑will barrier!

“Huh?”

Li Jun’s brows knit slightly; he twisted his hands, and black flame coiled around his spear, igniting.

With a flick of the spearhead, violent force tore the mental‑will barrier to shreds.

Yet before the shattered crystal fragments could dissipate, a fresh barrier coalesced, once again blocking Li Jun.

These mental‑will barriers weren’t particularly strong—only Sequence Four level—but they formed with astonishing speed.

It felt as if several Dao Sequence cultivators were taking turns casting their arts.

Li Jun’s gaze pierced the distorted light, settling on Zheng Chu’s abdomen.

There, what had been distinct muscles had fused into four fist‑sized Dao foundation golden pellets, spinning like wheels within his half‑opened belly.

Ting!

The bluish‑black spear‑light twisted, shattering the stacked mental‑will crystal walls again and again, only for them to reform.

Fist‑sized balls of flame scattered everywhere, splashing into the blood‑colored lake and steaming up a foul, pale‑red mist.

The two figures advanced and retreated, their unleashed force rolling up wave after wave of zhang‑high surges.

Bang!

The spinning Dao foundation pellets in Zheng Chu’s belly finally slowed, the nearly depleted mental will unable to keep pace with Li Jun’s destruction.

Li Jun, long weary of the struggle, swept his spear without hesitation; keen force lashed out like a long blade, aiming straight for the opponent’s throat.

“Buddhist Realm, unfold!”

In that instant, a vertical slit a finger’s width split Zheng Chu’s brow, revealing a bright yellow Buddhist Sequence wisdom‑root sigil.

A surge of Buddhist thought roared like a tempest, almost instantly engulfing the Li Jun standing close at hand.

Li Jun’s spear thrust stalled; in his sight Zheng Chu’s form vanished, replaced by a rapidly expanding sea of barley.

Conceal the heavens!

Overcome the enemy!

Two doors of martialarts cultivation opened simultaneously.

Crack!

The newly born Buddhist nation was crumbling inch by inch, yet a sudden cold light erupted within the fading emerald.

Li Jun seemed to have anticipated this, subtly tilting his head as the cold light first appeared.

In a fraction of a second, a white bone long sword pressed against his ear, howling as it sliced through.

“Cobbled together a body of rotten meat and decayed roots—this is the true face of your farming sequences, after all.”

Gazing at the man before him, his expression now brimming with arrogance, Zheng Chu’s calm eyes finally flickered with surprise.

All of this had been nothing more than the other’s test and restraint.

Without hesitation, Zheng Chu, sensing the tide turning, chose to retreat.

Yet his right foot had only lifted half a step when a powerful force suddenly halted his movement.

Splash!

The lightning spear flew from his hand, plunging into the blood-red lake.

Li Jun’s left hand clamped the bone sword, a plain dark-gold faceplate sliding silently from his forehead, covering his face.

Each new sequence he killed, he first assessed the opponent’s strength—this was Li Jun’s consistent habit.

His goal was to face them again, to kill with ease and precision.

Now that it seemed clear, it was time to act decisively.

In an instant, Zheng Chu’s pale eyes constricted into needles, a crushing sense of crisis surging through his body!

The arm bone had already stretched, the bone sword cracking with a sharp *crack*, and as Zheng Chu’s foot had not yet touched the ground, a violent fist struck his vision!

Dragon Tiger, Dragon and Tiger Converge!

Zhubei Law, fully unleashed!

Canglan Technique, fully unleashed!

Zheng Chu’s handsome features twisted in terror, a shrill cry escaping his mouth as his arms trembled in desperation, shielding his face.

Bang!

The clash of fist and arm sent a sharp soundwave through the air.

Zheng Chu was thrown backward, his body colliding with the blood lake, the violent force of his attack slicing through the viscous surface.

His consciousness, still fragmented from the shock, had not yet reknit when a black-red thunderbolt suddenly appeared beside him!

A whip leg swept his waist, sending Zheng Chu soaring through the air, his upper body’s bone armor shattered, a stream of black, foul blood spewing from his mouth.

Li Jun vanished again, reappearing in the air, facing Zheng Chu’s rising form with a punch.

“Even the Lone Walker cannot stop me—my body is also a martial sequence!”

Zheng Chu, battered by consecutive strikes, seemed to have reserves, roaring in fury, his body tensed with blood, forcing a mid-air twist, his shoulders expanding to meet the sky with a punch.

Bang!

The two fists collided, and the verdict was clear.

Zheng Chu’s arm began to shatter from the point of impact, as if sliced by an invisible blade, torn into shreds of flesh, leaving only a skeletal hand.

Before he could comprehend why his body felt so fragile before Li Jun, a violent fist engulfed him.

Zheng Chu’s form swayed like grass in a storm, the short, sharp sounds of falling punches merging into a final, thunderous roar.

A circular gust of wind erupted behind him, and Zheng Chu’s figure condensed into a line, piercing the earth.

Boom!

This time, the blood-soaked field at his feet could no longer bear his weight.

In a massive explosion, Zheng Chu’s landing point erupted in a rain of blood, the once-bloody field now revealing the true soil beneath.

Li Jun slowly stepped to the edge of the deep pit, not rushing to deliver the final blow, but staring coldly at the factor city lord kneeling on one knee.

“Where are the other experimental sites of your community? Tell me all, and you can die a satisfying death.”

Once towering like a deity, his massive form now seemed on the brink of collapse under Li Jun’s destruction.

His abdominal path foundation had turned to rotting flesh, the wisdom roots in his brow bleeding, muscles twitching and snapping as they broke.

Especially the horizontal line connecting the two martial sequence corpses at his waist, already torn and misaligned, ready to snap.

“Among the twelve major sequences defined by the Tiyuan Emperor’s ‘Three Teachings and Nine Flows,’ your martial sequences are undeniably the near-combat masters. It seems your strength surpasses even the sects. To achieve such a transformation at this stage of decay is truly a miracle.”

Zheng Chu, using his remaining left hand to support his knee, managed to stand, his once-vibrant features now devoid of expression, a single eye reflecting an unnaturally calm gaze.

“This body is built from the remains of two martial sequence four corpses, containing four sequence four path foundation pills, two sequence four wisdom roots, all accumulated over ten years by the Factor City.”

“Unfortunately, despite their coexistence, they could not produce the martial arts, techniques, or divine powers from their genes. Moreover, after the injury, their collapse accelerated beyond my expectations. Otherwise, even if you were a Lone Walker four, I wouldn’t have lost so easily today.”

Zheng Chu straightened his back, his body already half-destroyed, blood flowing over his thighs.

“Yet your Lone Walker sequences have clear flaws.” Zheng Chu, devoid of deathly emotion, analyzed like an experienced farmer assessing seeds.

“Your spiritual will can only suppress opponents and resist external invasions. Against sequences like Buddha, Dao, or Yin-Yang, which rely on spiritual power, you have almost no ability to prevent their escape.”

“Including the Minggui in your three-grade black armor—he is equally inept. These products, born through consumption, are not even seeds.”

“Do you think you can run today?” Li Jun asked coldly.

Zheng Chu remained silent, but his faint smile spoke volumes.

“To kill a true farming sequence in a mature farm is rare. Clearly, you are not one of them. Your problem is something I need not address.”

Zheng Chu smiled, “Though you destroyed my Factor City and ruined this precious experimental body, I still wish to invite you to join ‘Community.’”

“Lord Li Jun, if you cooperate with us, exploring the limits of blood and flesh, when the blood meat fields produce a body that perfectly accommodates all twelve sequences, the entire Ming Empire will have no one to rival you.”

“Your strength is lacking, but your arrogance is immense. Before you spoke, you should have asked the Zhang family’s son—would his father agree to your ‘invincible’ claim?”

Ma Wangye scoffed.

“Zhang Fengyue is also a unique seed, his mind a treasure we longed for.”

Zheng Chu said, “But I believe that day will come. Unless Zhang Fengyue truly suppresses the world and rises to sequence one, he will eventually be planted in our fields. Otherwise, he will only return to dust and soil.”

Clang!

The lightning spear, shattered by the lake, flew out as a beam of light, landing in Li Jun’s hand.

For such a mouthy one, Li Jun had his methods.

“Excess thoughts and emotions only hinder a sequence from making the correct judgment. The ancient path sequences are the best example—yet the new path sequences have taken the right path.”

Feeling Li Jun’s bone-chilling killing intent, Zheng Chu sighed in regret.

“Li Jun, if you refuse us, you will regret it soon.”

“Without our help, how can you continue forward on this path with no precedents?”