Rebirth as a Demonic Cultivator: Starting with a Zombie Planet

Chapter 58: I Suggest the Three of You Invite the Cultivator at the Haotai Hotel

Meanwhile, at the Linjiang Army’s temporary encampment.

Situated right next door to the Black Vanguard Security Company, the military camp dwarfed the mercenary group’s meager cluster of buildings. It reeked of the sharp, disciplined efficiency of a regular army.

Inside a squat building at the center of the camp, seven figures gathered around a circular table.

Three wore the crisp uniforms of the Linjiang Army, occupying the seats of honor. Their leader was a hulking, bald brute named Xiong Xing. To his left sat Lin Qiao, a woman with a deceptively slender build, and to his right was Li Tiemu, a man as lean and tough as dried sinew. These were the three commanders of the Linjiang Army.

The remaining four wore civilian clothes, flanking the officers. They were the Espers of the Black Vanguard Security Company: the crew-cut Wang Jiangang, his wiry cousin Wang Yong, the obese Tang Jinchuan, and the one-armed Song Dayi.

“I’m telling you, we don’t have the manpower to stop the Two-Headed Python from reaching the lower Long River,” Li Tiemu said, his expression grim. “We need to call headquarters for reinforcements.”

“Have you forgotten?” Lin Qiao countered, shaking her head. “That beast broke through a blockade manned by five of us and over three hundred soldiers! But it was severely wounded in the process. Recently, it fought some unknown Awakened creature and took even more damage. It’s definitely holed up in East Lake right now, licking its wounds.”

“If we wait for headquarters, it’ll be fully healed by the time they arrive!” she continued. “We need to act now. Set up an interception line immediately. We absolutely cannot let it reach the lower Long River.”

“That isn’t our territory,” Xiong Xing muttered, rubbing his temples. He shifted his gaze to the four Black Vanguard mercenaries, who had remained conspicuously silent.

“Donghu City is your turf, Wang Jiangang,” Xiong Xing said. “What’s your play?”

Wang Jiangang offered an awkward, obsequious smile. “What play could I possibly have? We’ll follow your lead, Commander.”

He wasn’t stupid. He was just a retired grunt. If it weren’t for the Linjiang Army’s initial conscription and his own Fated Chance to Awaken, he never would have founded Black Vanguard or claimed Donghu City. He knew exactly where he stood in the pecking order.

But while Wang Jiangang knew when to shut up, Tang Jinchuan did not.

“I suggest the three of you go and invite the Cultivator staying at the Haotai Hotel,” the fat man blurted out. “If he steps in, intercepting the Two-Headed Python—hell, even killing it—would be a walk in the park!”

The temperature in the room plummeted. Xiong Xing, Lin Qiao, and Li Tiemu all scowled.

Wang Jiangang and Wang Yong exchanged a panicked glance. Idiot.

When the Linjiang Army commanders first arrived in Donghu City, their superiors had ordered them to make contact with the mysterious Cultivator at the Haotai Hotel. They had gone. They had shouted their demands at the entrance. They had been met with dead silence.

When they tried to force their way inside, they found themselves trapped in a dense, disorienting fog. After wandering for hours with splitting headaches, they had stumbled back out, right where they started.

The message was clear: the Cultivator had zero interest in seeing them.

As high-ranking officers of the Linjiang Army—the undisputed hegemon of the province—their egos couldn’t handle the rejection. They weren’t about to press their hot faces against someone else’s cold ass a second time.

“That man does not wish to see us,” Xiong Xing said, his voice dangerously flat. “Do not bring him up again.”

Tang Jinchuan opened his mouth to argue, but Song Dayi yanked hard on his sleeve. The fat man reluctantly sank back into his chair.

Tang Jinchuan had seen the Cultivator’s divine might with his own eyes. He had watched that monstrous Broodmother get butchered like a helpless pig. He knew, deep in his bones, that the Cultivator existed on a plane of power that Espers couldn’t even fathom. Even General Ye Nantian, who had advanced to a Level 4 Esper a few months prior, would likely be slaughtered in seconds.

But these three commanders were blinded by their own arrogance. They had knocked twice, gotten their egos bruised, and given up, terrified of looking weak.

Pathetic, Tang Jinchuan sighed inwardly.

A moment later, Xiong Xing slammed his fist onto the table, finalizing the plan. “It’s settled. We set up a blockade where the Long River crosses into Hanhai Province. Within a week, we will butcher this Two-Headed Python and end its plague on Linjiang!”

“Yes, sir!” the room chorused.

Hanhai Province bordered Linjiang to the south, connected by the rushing waters of the Long River. Hanhai was the territory of the Boat Gang—a faction that despised the Linjiang Army. Their relationship was limited to cold, heavily armed trade agreements.

If the Two-Headed Python crossed that border, the Linjiang Army’s hands would be tied. It would be an act of war to pursue it. And a high-tier Awakened creature like the python possessed a priceless spiritual energy crystal. The Boat Gang would never let them have it. The political fallout would be a nightmare.

***

“Hmm?”

High above the ruined world, Chu Xuan soared through the clouds on his Heavenly Dipper Flying Sword.

Looking down, he spotted a heavily armed motorcade speeding south along the banks of the Long River. They halted at the provincial border, rapidly deploying a series of brutal obstacles across the water. Thick, industrial-grade steel nets bristling with vicious barbs were anchored into the riverbed. Even a passing fish would be shredded to ribbons.

It was a highly professional setup. In this apocalyptic wasteland, only the Linjiang Army still possessed the industrial machinery to manufacture such gear.

Chu Xuan watched the ants scurry below with mild amusement. They were setting a trap for the Two-Headed Python.

Perfect. He needed to evaluate the beast anyway. He was looking for a main soul to power his new Formation. If the python proved unworthy, he wouldn’t even bother dirtying his hands. He’d just let the army deal with the trash.

BOOM.

A muffled explosion echoed from the direction of East Lake. The Linjiang Army’s vanguard had launched their assault.

“Looks like they found its little hiding spot a while ago,” Chu Xuan murmured, a cold smile touching his lips.

Down at the lake, the water erupted. A massive, scaly tail whipped out of the depths, slamming into the shoreline with the force of a freight train. Tons of water crashed over the banks, uprooting massive trees and sending them flying like toothpicks.

The Linjiang soldiers caught in the blast radius—even the Level 1 Espers—didn’t stand a chance. The sheer kinetic force of the tail strike pulverized their bones, instantly reducing them to bloody paste.

Chu Xuan hovered in the sky, observing the slaughter with clinical detachment.

The combat between these Espers and Awakened creatures was fascinatingly primitive. The Cultivation world had spent countless millennia refining their arts, perfecting their techniques into a flawless, lethal science. But Hailan Planet’s spiritual energy eruption had only happened five years ago. These Espers were fumbling in the dark, trying to invent a combat system from scratch.

The result was a bizarre, disjointed mess.

One second, a soldier would clumsily channel spiritual energy to enhance a strike; the next, they would fall back on modern kinetic weapons, spraying useless bullets and artillery fire at the beast’s armored scales.

To Chu Xuan, it looked like toddlers throwing a tantrum.

As a Foundation Establishment cultivator, he had long outgrown the threat of conventional firearms. Unless they dropped a bunker-busting missile or a tactical nuke on his head, modern thermal weapons couldn’t even scratch his skin.

“Hmm? Did that actually hurt?”

Below, the Two-Headed Python let out a furious, agonized hiss. A barrage of heavy artillery had finally managed to crack its scales. Unwilling to fight a war of attrition, the massive beast dove headfirst into the murky depths. A trail of churning water marked its rapid escape down the Long River, heading straight for the blockade.

“I haven’t seen anything special about it yet,” Chu Xuan muttered, shaking his head. “Let’s watch a bit longer.”

If this was all the beast had to offer, the little snake was going to be a severe disappointment.