Everyone had just finished stargazing and was about to head back to rest when a sudden crash echoed from the courtyard below. A figure burst through the perimeter wall and bolted into the darkness at terrifying speed.
"!!!"
"What the hell is that!?"
It was too dark for anyone to make out the shape clearly.
But Yang Bin saw it perfectly. A grin spread across his face.
He'd never expected it to actually work. After raising those things for so long, he'd genuinely cultivated a Yaoguang Realm zombie.
That's right - the escapee was one of the Tier-5 Zombies he'd kept locked in the iron cage. After all these days, one had finally broken through to the Tier 6.
What he hadn't anticipated was that its injuries would heal upon reaching the Yaoguang Realm. And it wrecked his cage on the way out. Bit rude, honestly.
"You guys go fix the cage. Don't let the others escape too. I'll go grab it."
"Boss, let me come. I'm fast - I can catch up." Zhao Kun volunteered immediately.
Freshly promoted to the Yaoguang Realm himself, he was itching for a real fight.
"Fine. I'll cut it off first. Catch up quick." Yang Bin vanished mid-sentence - one blink and he was gone.
Zhao Kun leapt straight off the rooftop and tore after the zombie's trail.
The others shook their heads and headed downstairs to the backyard.
They stared at the mangled cage. Helpless sighs all around.
Meanwhile, the zombie sprinted for its life. It had to escape this hellhole.
Once it got back, it would rally a horde. It would annihilate every last one of these monsters.
These people - they weren't human. They'd snapped its limbs like twigs and stuffed it in a cage. This debt would be repaid.
But just as freedom seemed within reach, a figure materialized directly in its path.
The zombie's eyes flickered with fear.
Him. The one who'd broken its limbs.
Then it remembered - it was Yaoguang Realm now. Confidence surged back.
Every ounce of rage and humiliation condensed into raw power as it lunged.
"Oh? Still got some fight in you!"
Yang Bin raised one foot and punted it backward.
"You're a fresh Yaoguang rookie. Where do you get the nerve?"
He'd rushed out without a weapon, but it didn't matter. Yang Bin was approaching Yaoguang Peak, and with his bonus stats stacked on top, his actual combat power had long surpassed that threshold.
This zombie had just scraped into the Yaoguang Realm. The gap was enormous. Yang Bin's kick sent it tumbling across the ground like a ragdoll.
But the thing still hadn't grasped the difference. It scrambled up and charged again.
Yang Bin kicked it back.
It charged. He kicked.
Charged. Kicked.
After several rounds of this, the zombie finally got the message. It pivoted and bolted in a different direction.
It made it about thirty meters before running headfirst into Zhao Kun.
Zhao Kun didn't waste a syllable. Metal Arms activated, he swung a devastating punch.
BOOM.
The zombie cratered into the ground, its torso riddled with puncture wounds. The spikes lining Zhao Kun's arms were no joke.
"Haha, that's the stuff!"
Zhao Kun laughed and laid into the zombie with a barrage of strikes. Iron fists, every single one connecting with meat.
Yang Bin stopped where he was. Arms crossed, he watched the show.
Zhao Kun's ability was genuinely vicious. Even Yang Bin figured he'd have a bad time taking one of those punches head-on.
The poor zombie had just broken through to the Yaoguang Realm. Hadn't even gotten to enjoy its new zombie life before running into two absolute freaks. It was pummeled to death without ceremony.
"Nice work."
Yang Bin shot Zhao Kun a thumbs up.
"Boss, don't praise me. Everything I have came from you. Without you, we'd probably have died back at school. No matter what happens from here - even if you need me to die, I, Zhao Kun, won't so much as flinch." Zhao Kun's expression was dead serious.
"Yeah, yeah, cut the sappy shit. We're alive and well - who's dying? Hurry up and dig out the crystal."
"On it."
Zhao Kun cracked open the zombie's skull and extracted the crystal, then walked back to Yang Bin.
"Boss, who gets this one?"
Currently, only Old Hei, Skinny Monkey, and Zhong Yuansen hadn't reached the Yaoguang Realm.
"Who do you think?" Yang Bin lobbed the question right back.
Zhao Kun considered it for a moment. "I'd say Zhong Yuansen. His ability is actually incredibly versatile. If he hits Yaoguang Realm, I think he'll surprise us."
Yang Bin nodded. That had been his thought too.
But Zhao Kun and the original two had joined first. They probably wouldn't complain openly, but feelings were feelings. Since Zhao Kun himself suggested it, though - problem solved.
"Done. Head back. You hand it to him."
"Got it."
They returned to the courtyard. Chen Hao and the others were still wrestling with the cage.
The cage was solid material - reinforced, thick bars - which was the only reason it had held Tier-5 Zombies in the first place.
Two bars had snapped clean through, and without welding tools, repairs were a pain.
In the end, they muscled the bars back into alignment and wrapped the breaks with steel wire, loop after loop after loop.
Not as sturdy as before, obviously. But the Tier-5 Zombies inside still had broken limbs. They weren't going anywhere.
"Didn't expect that thing to regenerate even with snapped limbs. Zombie recovery is insane."
"Right? Why don't we just chop off the limbs of the ones still inside? I refuse to believe they'll grow back from that."
"Chop them off... wouldn't they bleed out and die?"
"Uh... do zombies even bleed out?"
"Who knows? They're zombies, but they used to be human."
"So are we chopping or not? If we don't, and a few more hit Yaoguang Realm, this cage is scrap metal."
"Relax, stop overthinking it." Yang Bin smiled. "This thing's only useful for now. Once everyone hits Yaoguang Realm, we'll retire it anyway. You really think this cage could hold a Yaoguang zombie?"
"Ah... fair point. Let's just leave it. Long as the Tier-5 ones can't get out, we're fine."
"Yeah."
"Ah Sen, this is for you." Zhao Kun walked up to Zhong Yuansen and held out the crystal.
"For me?"
Zhong Yuansen blinked. He'd joined last - by all rights, he should be last in line.
"Yeah. I figure you going first makes the most sense. Your ability's got serious utility."
"Thanks." Zhong Yuansen took the crystal, visibly moved.
He sat down right there, barely containing his excitement, and swallowed the crystal.
Old Hei and Skinny Monkey didn't bat an eye.
Yang Bin's play was subtle. Zhao Kun used to be Old Hei and Skinny Monkey's leader. The three of them were tight.
Having Zhao Kun be the one to hand it over meant neither of them would feel slighted.
Five minutes later, Zhong Yuansen opened his eyes. His expression was... complicated.
"What's wrong?"
Everyone looked over.
"I fucking picked another Earth-Type Ability!" Zhong Yuansen said, caught somewhere between laughing and crying.
"......"
The others stared at him. The luck on this guy was something else.
"You and Earth-Type are soulmates, man. No wonder you look so down-to-earth." Old Hei cracked up.
"......"