Facing Su Mu, whose strength rivaled that of an Elite Skeleton, and his forty-six Skeleton Minions, each possessing an Advanced Class, the Zombies in Deadman's Canyon were comparatively weak.
In just half an hour, Su Mu led his Skeleton Minions from the entrance of Deadman's Canyon all the way to its deepest point.
Along the way, they slaughtered hundreds of Zombies, the majority of which were "Walking Corpses," while only a dozen or so had the Advanced Class Template of "Staggering Dead."
However, after dozens of attempts, Su Mu still failed to enslave a single Zombie!
Fortunately, the first function of the [Erosion] Talent remained effective—he could still absorb essence from their bodies to enhance his Four Attributes.
In the process, he also acquired the Advanced Class Template of the Zombie race.
[Template]: Staggering Dead
[Class]: Advanced Class Template
[Bonus]: HP +500, Strength ×5, Agility ×1, Constitution ×8, Spirit ×0.1
[Skill]: Claws
"Claws: Passive Skill. After prolonged exposure to deathly auras, these living corpses grow ever stronger. Their fingernails harden into sharp claws, aiding them in tearing their enemies apart."
Like the "Walking Corpse," the attributes of the "Staggering Dead" also focused heavily on Constitution.
Its class advancement remained exclusive to the Zombie race.
Pushing forward to the deepest part of Deadman's Canyon, Su Mu had already culled more than half of the Zombies in the gorge. At the same time, the structure he had spotted at the entrance was now fully revealed before him.
It was an altar.
Towering over ten meters tall, square in shape, and constructed entirely of black stone, the altar occupied nearly half the space at the canyon's floor!
Such a structure could only be described as majestic and monumental.
However, what caught Su Mu's attention was not the altar itself, but the countless Zombies standing upon its steps!
The altar had nine tiers.
Starting from the first tier, the level and class of Zombies steadily increased. The lower tiers were crowded with "Walking Corpses," while from the sixth tier upward, "Staggering Dead" began to appear.
Moreover, the higher the tier, the higher the level of the Staggering Dead standing upon it.
Su Mu had killed merely a few hundred Zombies while clearing much of Deadman's Canyon. But here, standing upon this altar alone were over five hundred Zombies!
If these Zombies were on the altar to receive some kind of benefit, that might have made sense.
But in Su Mu's perception, the altar was clearly drawing the death energy from within the Zombies, channeling it upward!
Every Zombie that stepped onto the altar was having its death energy extracted—essentially the life force for Undead. Once a Zombie's death energy had been drained to a certain threshold, it would collapse off the altar.
Then…
The Zombies roaming around the altar would rush in to seize the vacant position!
The position… to be drained of their death energy!
It was as if… some unknown entity was manipulating these Zombies, commanding them to act out this ritual endlessly!
The death aura in Deadman's Canyon was purer and gentler.
Su Mu had already confirmed this.
By staying in the canyon, both he and his Skeleton Minions could evolve at a faster pace.
And the same applied to the Zombies.
Once the Zombies had absorbed enough death aura and reached a certain level, they would gather around the altar.
Whenever a Zombie fell from the altar, those nearby would scramble for the spot—to be the next vessel for death energy extraction!
Repeating endlessly.
A ritual, evil in its very nature.
Through this, all of the canyon's death aura was being harvested—channeled toward some singular, unknown presence!
Such a grand scheme… was certainly not the work of mindless Skeletons or Zombies!
Countless thoughts raced through Su Mu's mind.
After clearing the Zombies around the altar, he seized control of a Skeleton Guard and used its sturdy body and durable defense to cautiously step onto the altar.
Skeleton Guards had the highest defense and the best survivability in the face of danger.
And until he fully understood the altar's purpose, Su Mu wasn't about to risk his real body.
Crack!
Under Su Mu's command, the Skeleton Guard pushed past a few Zombies and stepped onto the first tier.
Other than those few displaced Zombies struggling to reclaim their spot, the rest remained eerily still.
It was as though… every Zombie that set foot on the altar had lost all consciousness and self-awareness, falling into a trance-like slumber.
Su Mu took note of this.
While guiding the Skeleton Guard higher up the altar, he issued a command for his other Skeleton Minions to ascend and begin slaughtering the unresponsive Zombies.
One tier.
Two tiers.
Three tiers.
Fifth tier.
As time passed, Zombies on the lower tiers of the altar were all killed by the Skeleton Minions. The Skeleton Guard, controlled directly by Su Mu, was now about to step onto the summit.
Just like before, the altar did not attempt to drain death energy from the Skeleton Guard.
Step by step…
Finally, as the last step was crossed, the Skeleton Guard reached the summit of the altar.
And through its vision, the scene at the top of the Dark Altar was revealed to Su Mu!
It was a small plaza.
Over 100 square meters of floor space, covered in intricate and eerie symbols. These symbols interconnected to form a massive magical array spanning the entire area.
But that wasn't the focal point.
The real focus… was that the plaza was divided into four zones.
At the center of each zone, a hulking Zombie—stronger than even the Staggering Dead—was bound in place.
And at the very center of the entire formation… stood a towering Zombie, exuding a terrifying and savage aura, now being nourished… and incubated… by the endless stream of death energy flowing in from below!
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