Even before the living corpses had reached the city walls, he began to incite the people.
Many rogue martial artists, commoners, and city guards were indeed swayed by his words.
However, Transcendents were beings they looked up to; they did not dare to speak out directly and could only look up at the sky with hope in their eyes.
Seeing this scene, the West Island Lord’s lip curled as he let out an annoyed “Tsk.”
Following his annoyed sound, another even more hot-tempered Transcendent acted immediately.
The person did not even show himself; the crowd only saw the man who had been speaking suddenly pinned down as if by a heavy weight, sprawling on the ground, unable to move.
“Noisy.”
As that word was uttered, the Transcendent struck a palm toward the horde, blasting a gap through the dense mass of living corpses.
This served as both a punishment for that man and a way to steady the hearts of the others.
They, the Transcendents, would take action against these monsters and protect the city.
The crowd, which had been terrified because the speaker was attacked, now calmed down because of that single palm strike against the horde.
Just as they thought they would be safe now that the Transcendents had acted, a sudden change occurred.
Six living corpses soared into the air, heading straight for four different locations.
Seeing this, Lian Li and Brother Yun’s pupils constricted.
Four of those corpses were heading exactly toward the positions of the West Island Lord and the South Island Lord.
Brother Yun saw the appearance of one of the corpses even more clearly.
He had seen that corpse back when it was still a living person.
He was six years old then; a Transcendent had come to Zuimeng Island to spar with the East Island Lord.
Since it was his first time seeing another Transcendent, he had memorized the man’s face.
If he wasn’t mistaken, one of the corpses looked exactly like that Transcendent.
According to the East Island Lord, she hadn’t been in contact with that Transcendent for ten years and hadn’t heard any news of him.
Brother Yun knew all too well how difficult living corpses were to deal with, and now six Transcendent living corpses had appeared, with four of them heading for the West and East Island Lords.
Brother Yun had only ever dealt with corpses made from top-tier experts, and even then, he had struggled immensely.
If he had to face two at once without any help, even if he won, he would pay a devastating price.
Now, the intention of these six corpses was too obvious: they were meant to deal with the East and West Island Lords.
For a moment, Brother Yun almost forgot their mission to scatter powder on the corpses; he drew his blade, wanting to give chase.
However, he forced himself to stop. If he struggled so much against corpses made from top-tier experts, charging in now wouldn’t be helping his seniors—it would only be dragging them down.
Lian Li didn’t recognize the Transcendent-turned-corpse, but seeing Brother Yun’s reaction, he knew something was wrong.
He gave Brother Yun a gentle tug to snap him out of it.
Brother Yun turned, and their eyes met.
Lian Li saw the deep worry in Brother Yun’s eyes.
Immediately, unease began to stir in his own heart as well.
“Those six corpses are too powerful. Is something wrong?” Lian Li asked in a low voice.
Brother Yun did not hide it from him: “One of those corpses was a Transcendent when they were alive.”
Brother Yun’s voice was very quiet, but the Qinghong Sword Sect disciples standing with them heard him clearly.
Compared to Lian Li’s surprise, they could barely keep their composure.
Someone even lost their cool and said, “Brother Yun, are you sure you’re not mistaken? How could a Transcendent be turned into a living corpse?”
Brother Yun replied, “He looks exactly like the Transcendent I saw back then. And if I’m not mistaken, another one is a Transcendent who vanished after leaving Chuangfengling Villa wounded years ago and was never heard from again.”
Now the disciples’ voices were even more strained: “So, all six of these corpses are made from Transcendents? How can this be?”
To the vast majority of the martial world, Transcendents were beings to be looked up to, a level they could never reach in their lifetimes.
Even though many couldn’t even reach the top-tier level, they didn’t feel that top-tier was quite so unreachable.
But now, six corpses made from Transcendents had appeared before them—how could they not be shocked?
It made them realize that Transcendents were not invincible.
They were still human, and they could still be killed.
Lian Li was the first to regain his composure. He said, “Keep your voices down. Don’t let others hear, or someone will start spreading rumors that ruin morale again.”
“Captain Zheng has already contacted the local government. These thousand guards are under their command now. The officials are being cooperative and will organize the citizens to help defend the city.”
“As long as we hold out until the rain at noon, the crisis will be over.”
The Qinghong disciples finally snapped out of it. Their reaction was so much stronger than Lian Li’s because they had been immersed in martial arts since childhood, growing up on legends of Transcendents.
If a Transcendent had simply been killed, the shock wouldn’t have been as great.
But for a Transcendent to be turned into a living corpse—it was enough to shatter their entire worldview.
Lian Li, after all, had come to this world midway; though he knew Transcendents were powerful, he didn’t deify them like the others did.
Brother Yun and Lian Li were standing very close; he gave Lian Li’s hand a gentle squeeze.
Lian Li looked at him and saw that he had regained his usual calm.
Captain Zheng had already ascended the city wall; he was perhaps the most composed person there.
He was organizing the guards and the citizens who had found the courage to help defend the city.
He wasn’t afraid of the siege; a siege was a siege. It was just that in the past, it had been barbarians from beyond the pass, and now it was living corpses that couldn’t use tools and possessed only brute, beast-like strength.
Besides, they only needed to hold out until noon.
Under Captain Zheng’s command, the chaotic scene gradually became orderly.
However, Captain Zheng had little reputation in the martial world, so it was impossible for him to command all the martial artists.
Captain Zheng didn’t force them; those willing to listen, he arranged properly.
For those unwilling to follow his lead, he absolutely would not let them interfere with his troops.
The temporary leader of the Qinghong Sword Sect saw that only a small portion of martial artists chose to follow Captain Zheng. Others stayed to defend but preferred to follow the major sects rather than take orders from a government official.
After some thought, the Qinghong leader dispatched half of his disciples to assist Captain Zheng.
Brother Yun and Lian Li no longer stood by watching; they went to Captain Zheng’s side to take his orders.
Most of the martial artists here looked to the Qinghong Sword Sect for leadership, and Brother Yun and Lian Li were quite famous among them as well.
