Moreover, when that bolt of lightning appeared, everyone present was crushed by the overwhelming pressure, so heavy that they could barely breathe. Even Su Mu’s face turned slightly pale.
What they did not know was that Luo Beiyao had deliberately restrained his pressure. Otherwise, they would already be pinned to the ground, unable even to crawl.
The power of a Nascent Soul cultivator was not something to take lightly.
The corridor floor was covered in zombie ash. Scattered among it were countless zombie crystal cores—crystal-clear red, about the size of peanuts. It was hard to believe that something so beautiful came from the heads of such grotesque creatures.
Su Mu was the first to recover. He had long sensed that something about Luo Beiyao was off, but he had never said it aloud. This time, however, he was certain—the man had been hiding his true strength all along.
He stepped forward to where the high-level zombie had fallen and rummaged through the ash, pulling out a crystal core slightly larger than a peanut. It was transparent, with a beautiful jade-green light flowing inside.
This was a Zombie Emperor’s crystal core.
A Zombie Emperor’s core was entirely transparent, and the color of the flowing light within corresponded to its awakened ability.
In the later stages of the apocalypse, ordinary zombies above level five would begin to awaken abilities. However, their crystal cores were not something just anyone could absorb. For example, a wood-type zombie’s core could only be absorbed by a wood-type ability user—anyone else would explode and die on the spot.
As for zombies without abilities, their cores had not yet differentiated attributes, meaning all ability users could absorb them. But once an ability user reached level five, absorbing level-four cores became nearly useless—the energy difference was too vast.
Zombie Emperor cores, however, were treasures eagerly sought after by all ability users in the apocalypse.
If an ordinary zombie possessed exceptional talent, it could ascend directly to a Zombie Emperor during its evolution from level one to level two. Upon becoming a Zombie Emperor, it would immediately awaken an ability. Their crystal cores contained purer and richer energy, and as they leveled up, that energy would become even more refined. Most importantly—
Zombie Emperor cores could be absorbed by any ability user, regardless of attribute.
There were people in the apocalypse who grew greedy, imprisoning Zombie Emperors and feeding them human flesh, hoping to raise their level further and obtain an even purer crystal core.
The outcome of such schemes, however, was almost always the same—outsmarted by their own cleverness. The ones raising the Zombie Emperor would inevitably be devoured, after which the Emperor would escape and massacre nearby survivors.
That was why most people did not dare entertain such thoughts. Once they discovered a Zombie Emperor, ability users would band together to eliminate it immediately.
Even so, this phenomenon happened from time to time. There would always be those who loved courting death, convinced they alone could maintain control.
Of course, that did not apply to someone whose strength was truly overwhelming.
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For example, Luo Beiyao.
Su Mu felt that with Luo Beiyao’s power, even if he raised zombies, there would be no risk of backlash. However, raising a Zombie Emperor required feeding it fresh human flesh. Given Luo Beiyao’s character over all these years in the apocalypse, Su Mu doubted he would ever do something so morally reprehensible.
Everyone present had been together for a long time. Trust had already formed among them. Even if something went wrong, Luo Beiyao was confident he could suppress it. So, since no one asked, there was no need for him to conceal anything. He calmly collected the crystal core together with Su Mu.