Chapter 127: Piles of Zombie Rats

Inside the hollow underground palace, rats the size of human heads lifted their faces. Their blood-red eyes fixed on the white beam of light Chen Xiyi shone into the space.

“These aren’t normal demon rats. They’re zombie rats.”

Chen Xiyi was so annoyed he nearly jumped in place. This was a terrible investment.

There was a huge difference between demon rats and zombie rats. Demon rats were living creatures. They had life.

Zombie rats, these things, were dead.

“No wonder something felt off before. Thinking back now, it makes sense. Li Hao was the one who led me down the wrong path.”

If the Shu King Palace really housed a huge number of demon rats, what did they eat daily? Plus, considering the breeding rate of rat-type demons, how could such a large group exist only within the Shu King Palace?

Even monsters, as biological populations, still have the instinct to reproduce.

If this group of demon rats had lived without worry about food and shelter in the Shu King Palace for just ten years, their numbers would have become shockingly huge. And the palace has been here for who knows how many years.

Only zombie rats, being undead things, wouldn’t need food. They wouldn’t increase their numbers. And they could easily wipe out the men Li Hao brought with him.

Zombie rats, in other words, were rat versions of Jiangshi. They were comparable to Jiangshi.

Chen Xiyi’s magic required Souls. Jiangshi were mindless, bloodthirsty monsters, corpses reanimated by the fusion of Yin Qi and Death Qi. They completely lacked the Souls he needed.

Stimulated by the light, the zombie rats began to riot. Their low, chittering growls filled the air.

Thick Corpse Poison rose continuously among the seething mass of zombie rats.

One zombie rat might not produce much Corpse Poison, but there were simply too many of them.

[Bloodthirsty Zombie Rat. Health Points: 100%. Status: Bloodthirst]

[Ability 1: Corpse Body]

[Ability 2: Corpse Poison]

[Experience…]

[…]

Chen Xiyi looked at this description of the zombie rats. They were clearly categorized as monsters.

But Chen Xiyi hesitated. Should he continue exploring the Shu King Palace? Judging by this setup, there had to be something worthwhile inside.

It just might not be the kind of reward he was imagining.

“Since I’m already here, turning back wouldn’t feel good. Success feels so close.”

Chen Xiyi felt like he was climbing a mountain—exhausted and almost ready to collapse—but the peak was right there. He couldn’t just give up.

So, even though he was exhausted, he gritted his teeth and pushed forward.

Chen Xiyi stored the Alloy Pickaxe. He held the flashlight and took out an Alloy Shield attached with an Object Manipulation Talisman to use as a flying device. Then, he descended.

He pointed a finger. Formless Astral Energy erupted, carrying immense pressure. His action instantly provoked the zombie rats, triggering mayhem.

Hordes of zombie rats surged towards Chen Xiyi, wave after wave.

But under the influence of the Formless Astral Energy, vast numbers of the rats either turned into dried husks, crumbled to dust, or turned frenzied, attacking their fellow rats.

In an instant, the Formless Astral Energy caused massive disturbances, cancellations, and clashes within their Qi Mechanism and the Yin Qi and Death Qi inside the rats. Utter chaos erupted.

Seeing this, Chen Xiyi threw a punch through the air. The escaping Qi Mechanism, combined with immense force and shockwaves, blasted a bloody clearing through the zombie rat swarm.

For ordinary people, zombie rats were a nightmare. Their massive numbers, plus their Jiangshi-like bodies and the pervasive Corpse Poison, were terrifying.

But for a Qi Refiner like Chen Xiyi, they were just minor annoyances.

No matter how many there were, it just meant a little extra trouble.

[You dealt 100% Health Point damage to the Bloodthirsty Zombie Rat. You killed the Bloodthirsty Zombie Rat.]

[You dealt…]

The slaughter of the zombie rats naturally generated countless Game Log alerts. Chen Xiyi felt a small regret.

His Formless Astral Energy attack power was too strong. Especially the zombie rats he actively attacked were mostly reduced to blood and bones. Collecting materials probably wouldn’t be possible.

But since he was here, how could he abandon such a massive amount of materials? Even if he might not need them now, he absolutely wouldn’t leave them behind.

A Sandbox Game Player had to hoard resources. You never knew when something might come in handy.

“That’s an incredible number. Why would the Shu King keep so many zombie rats in his tomb? Unless… the Shu King was actually a Rat King, and stories just twisted him into the Shu King?”

Chen Xiyi couldn’t help but mutter a complaint, finding the whole idea ridiculous.

To deal with this, Chen Xiyi deployed his Eye of Qi Observation to survey the entire Shu King Palace further.

The Eye of Qi Observation had built-in invisibility and was undetectable. Though it hadn’t developed night vision yet, he could use the shared Qi Sensitivity as a substitute. By observing changes in the Qi Mechanism, Chen Xiyi could detect any anomalies within the Shu King Palace.

“If killing monsters gave experience, maybe I’d see an ‘EXP +1′ symbol floating above my head.”

Sadly, the Home Game didn’t have experience points for leveling up, nor a level System, let alone attribute points.

If he wanted to level up, he’d have to wait and see if any future Modules offered that possibility.

“Missing the thrill of leveling up through fights makes the game feel less exciting. If it weren’t for the looting and collecting functions, I’d definitely bail.”

Chen Xiyi was finding the fighting less and less satisfying.

However, he hadn’t come away empty-handed. At least he’d discovered some minor Bugs in his Formless Astral Energy.

He’d use this enormous swarm of zombie rats to test the Formless Astral Energy. Otherwise, he would have just used TNT. Failing that, he could have relied on endless shield deflection. He wouldn’t have needed to personally blast the rats with Formless Astral Energy.

As he kept adjusting, Chen Xiyi realized the limitation of using punches as his primary method for Formless Astral Energy area attacks. It was too restrictive.

While it was useful for pinpoint attacks, it needed modification for large-scale brawls.

Adjusting data flows swiftly, Chen Xiyi centered himself. Formless Astral Energy exploded outward in all directions. This single move instantly cleared a large space around him of zombie rats.

“Targeted ranged and close-combat applications are now improved. Minor Bugs are fixed. Time to move to the next testing phase.”

Chen Xiyi picked up the flashlight and began exploring the Shu King Palace. The Formless Astral Energy had been expanded into a ring-like attack method. Any zombie rat that came within ten meters of him was instantly killed by the Formless Astral Energy, creating large safe zones wherever he went.

This let him explore the entire palace while continuing to test the effects of his Formless Astral Energy.

The results were decent. It was an enhancement based on his range-based intimidation ability. He’d shrunk the range to ten meters. The range could be increased further, but costs would also rise, and effectiveness would weaken with distance, making it counterproductive. So, Chen Xiyi kept testing.

“This Shu King Palace is odd. Technically, I dug into the main burial chamber, right? But why isn’t there a coffin?”

“Also, zombie rats don’t seem to be appropriate tomb guardians. They’ve flooded even the main burial chamber.”

Chen Xiyi explored the perimeter of the main burial chamber. Besides the zombie rats, there were only piles of ruined debris, clearly caused by the zombie rats over time.

The chamber walls were unnaturally smooth and devoid of any lighting fixtures.

After all, who installs electric lights in their own tomb? To welcome grave robbers?

After the Eye of Qi Observation returned to him, Chen Xiyi continued testing his Formless Astral Energy while mentally reconstructing the structure of the whole Shu King Palace.

Because the palace layout completely defied logic.

“An anti-theft layer and an area gathering Yin Qi.”

Chen Xiyi guessed that this level was just the first layer of the Shu King Palace.

“So that escaping craftsman was just an outsider.”

Chen Xiyi hadn’t encountered any traps during his journey. Partly because he didn’t use the normal paths—he’d dug straight into the main burial chamber. Another part was that the zombie rats had destroyed traps. Also, time itself could have rendered the traps useless over the years.

Weaving all the reasons together meant the guide in the craftsman’s journal was useless aside from the location of the Shu King Palace.

Because the guide described only a small, and purposefully deceptive, part of the palace.

Without specific knowledge, it was impossible to discern truth from deception within it.

“But before that, I need to clear out these zombie rats. Otherwise, if they follow me to the lower level and damage the Shu King Palace’s structure, things could get messy.”

Deciding that dealing with the zombie rats was essential before descending, Chen Xiyi had to get serious.

“Qi Refiners, Qi Refiners… The essence lies in mastering Qi .”

Deep within his formless, invisible Primordial Spirit, all the Yin Qi inside the underground palace instantly solidified.

The zombie rats grew even more frantic, as if sensing something terrifying.

In the next instant, all Yin Qi within the zombie rats’ bodies was violently drained. In one moment, the plump rats shriveled into emaciated husks.

CRUNCH!

Sounds erupted constantly all around. Terrifying cracks split across the bodies of countless zombie rats.

Chen Xiyi clenched his fist. Massive surges of Yin Qi were forced back into the zombie rats’ bodies.

They flooded in. In just a split second, unable to resist, the zombie rats swelled up like balloons from their dried-out husks.

Then, with a POP, they burst into countless fragments of bone and gore.

In that cycle of forcing out Qi and shoving it back, the Yin Qi within the entire underground palace calmed.

“That was still a bit forced. Controlling such massive amounts of Yin Qi is difficult. These were only zombie rats. If they were Jiangshi, it wouldn’t have been so easy.”

This was quite standard for a Qi Refiner. Why were Qi Refiners in this world called Qi Refiners? Because of their unparalleled mastery over Qi Mechanisms.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t dare call themselves that.

Whether it was Ritual Implements, talismans like Object Manipulation ones, or spells, they were all extensions built upon a Qi Refiner’s Primordial Spirit manipulating Qi Mechanisms.

For a novice Qi Refiner like Chen Xiyi to provoke such large-scale Qi Mechanism changes solely with his Primordial Spirit was exceedingly rare.

Of course, he relied on his bonded spirit Zhangliu, which granted him status benefits concerning Yin Qi. That made it possible.

If it were a type of Qi he hadn’t mastered, without the corresponding connection and affinity, it probably wouldn’t have been this simple. He’d have needed Formation Arrays, Ritual Implements, spells, or similar tools to manage the task.

Still, the cost to Chen Xiyi was significant. He needed a moment to recover.

Though Qi Refiners didn’t have fixed ‘mana pools,’ their Primordial Spirit had limits. Without quantifiable markers, they relied on their own judgment to know their boundaries.

While he recovered, Chen Xiyi wasn’t idle. As he collected zombie rat body parts, he also used his Qi Sensitivity to calculate and assess details about the lower level of the Shu King Palace. He intended to determine the best entry point.

Streams of data flowed through his mind. Within a minute, he pinpointed precisely where he would land on the lower level.

After gathering all the zombie rat remains, Chen Xiyi picked up the Alloy Pickaxe, thought briefly, and raised it to start digging.

The location below was set. Still, Chen Xiyi didn’t know the exact structure beneath him. He’d only understand once he broke through. He didn’t have X-ray vision, so how could he possibly know?