Chapter 132.2: Long Night (3) (2) |
As Centaur screamed, his regenerated arms and claws seized the chainsaws, grinding violently against the specially treated chains forged by Ji Jue. The piercing screech of metal rang nonstop as he forcibly snapped one of the chainsaws apart with brute strength.
“Get the fuck off me!” Centaur shouted. His wounds rapidly sealed shut, bone structures regenerating in an instant. Blood-vapor blasted from the exhaust pipes along his raised arm like an engine under turbo boost. Then came a savage punch that shook the ground, leaving a clear fist-shaped dent in the armor covering Horsey’s face.
After being fully armored, Horsey weighed over two tons, yet that single punch still sent it staggering backward.
Immediately after, under Ji Jue’s control, Horsey turned around. The broken chainsaw mount detached, and instead, the scooter pulled a massive single-edged axe from the huge storage box mounted behind its back.
The axe Ji Jue had directly machined out from a lathe had never even gone through sharpening or tempering. He had simply reinforced it through alchemy in the crudest manner possible. It could hardly even be called a weapon. At most, it was just an exceptionally heavy and durable slab of iron.
But combined with Horsey’s output and sheer mass, it was more than enough to crush anything standing in its way.
Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!
Since the journey through the rift realm ended, this was the first time it had shed the disguise of a three-wheeler and revealed its true form.
After successive modifications by the furnace and the Seer, the purified dragon blood had greedily absorbed spirit matter and operated at violent capacity. Compared to its former beastlike appearance, it had now grown two reverse-jointed legs, while the three thick upper limbs served as arms.
It felt as though someone had accidentally wandered onto the set of a horror movie and stumbled into a battle between a steel monster and a flesh monster. Neither side bothered with defense. They simply swung steel and bone claws at one another in savagery to slaughter the other.
The already devastated corridor and villa wing were on the verge of turning into total ruins. Countless steel fragments and iron shavings rained down continuously.
Within the spreading flames, Centaur howled as his entire body swelled once again. The living muscle regenerated ever denser and tougher. Ignoring the hacking blows of axe and chainsaw, he rammed forward without mercy. As Horsey lost balance, Centaur hoisted the entire machine overhead and smashed it straight into the ground.
“Trash! Trash! Trash! Trash! Trash!!!” Centaur burst into wild laughter as he swung his fists down like pile drivers, brutally hammering the armor.
The horrific wounds covering his body shrank. His bone armor also regenerated rapidly. And then, suddenly, his head jerked backward violently, and a huge section caved in. His brain was practically smashed to pulp.
But even having his brain destroyed was only a momentary inconvenience for a Vortex-type Chosen One. He could regenerate in the blink of an eye, after all.
That absurd vitality completely transcended common sense. Back then, Lawrence, who was at the Rebirth Realm, had relied on sheer toughness alone to exchange a few blows with Ms. Wen even while she kept both hands behind her back. The horse-headed gorilla in front of them now was regenerating at nearly half of Lawrence’s speed. Crushing someone like Ji Jue should have been effortless.
Sensing Ji Jue’s attack from afar, Centaur turned around with a grin. He was just about to charge over when his ankle was suddenly seized. From beneath the shattered remains of the armor on the ground, a sharp mechanical claw shot out and locked tightly around his ankle before violently yanking backward!
Horsey’s entire body sprang up from the ground, wrapping itself around Centaur. With the facial armor peeled away, its enormous maw opened wide and bit down savagely.
It was like a greedy and voracious taotie[1], refusing to let go.
Once again, the two became entangled in brutal close combat. Ji Jue emptied the entire magazine of armor-piercing rounds with a flick of his hand, the recoil numbing his arm, yet he still did not dare use the corruption bullets.
This bastard’s vitality was just too outrageous. If he mutated after being hit, he could still drag himself around for another ten minutes or so. By then, Ji Jue would probably end up completely obliterated, earning a glorious spot on the world’s list of most humiliating deaths.
What was more, there was still an Entropy-type powerhouse lurking in the courtyard outside. Just sensing those intense fluctuations of spirit matter was enough to leave Ji Jue drenched in sweat.
Lightning cried continuously as arcs of electricity battered the entire villa, yet the opponent still had not truly made a move. What exactly was he waiting for?
Meanwhile, Jin Wujiu had fallen into unprecedented hesitation. Ignoring the cries and pleas from his subordinates, he stared at the pitch-black villa ahead, as though he could feel something lurking within the darkness, coldly watching him, making his skin crawl wave after wave. What the hell was hidden there? Whatever it was, things could not continue dragging on like this.
After hesitating for a moment, he carefully took out a bell-shaped object from his robes, then meticulously attached the clapper wrapped in silk. The ancient bell dangled from his fingertips. Even in the howling wind, it remained perfectly still.
Only after Jin Wujiu’s spirit matter poured into it, swallowed like water disappearing into a bottomless abyss, did a ringing sound finally emerge. It sounded so distant, yet so close, as though it had rung beside every person’s ear at once, echoing through the endless night and darkness, bringing with it waves of bone-deep chill.
Even Jin Wujiu’s face had turned faintly pale. Clearly, even someone at the Rebirth Realm struggled to bear the tremendous burden imposed by this Blessed Creation.
Mournful wails rose from the darkness around the villa and from within it alike. One blurry translucent figure after another emerged from thin air. The Soul-Summoning Bell rang, and all dead souls awakened. Every lingering spirit within ten li gathered.
The second ring sounded, and every dead soul fell into a frenzy of hunger and bloodlust, bent on destroying every living thing in sight!
Jin Wujiu gritted his teeth, trying to ring the bell a third time, but he could no longer withstand the horrifying strain. Left with no choice, he raised a hand toward the villa. In an instant, countless shattered spirits shrieked as they rushed forward.
Sparks of ghostly light gathered, as if it were a tide from the underworld.
Ji Jue sensed the spirit lock he had left in the basement being disturbed, as though someone was trying to break free from the mercury restraints from the inside. He froze in disbelief.
The hell? Don’t tell me there’s actually some corpse-revival ghost bullshit going on?
Immediately afterward, he heard Blondie scream, “G-g-g-ghosts!!!”
Ji Jue was so annoyed he nearly rolled his eyes. At a time like this, could you stop stammering already? Get a grip!
But now, inside the villa, one blurry outline after another emerged. Those fragmented souls and broken spirits did not even possess faces, yet they were indescribably savage.
It was not only the graveyard outside the villa. Even within the corpses that had just died inside the villa, faint green ghostlight gradually emerged.
Driven and empowered by the Blessed Creation, the power of Supreme Benevolence manifested itself, transforming the dead into puppet-like remnants of spirit that lunged once more at the living. What kind of utterly depraved grandmaster had crafted equipment this vicious?
Ji Jue had no time left to marvel at it because the souls of those he had just killed were already shrieking as they dove toward him. They were filled with malice and bloodlust, and were ravenous beyond restraint.
And then Ji Jue saw it. The ferocious remnant spirit charging at the very front suddenly slammed to a halt right in front of him, freezing stiff, as though it had actually seen a ghost.
Ghostly flames illuminated its hollow eye sockets. It was like someone storming in with a machete raised high, kicking open the door of their mortal enemy’s house to exact vengeance, only to find that beyond the doorway lay a grand hall of endless infernal fire, where countless faces twisted by pain, malice, and despair all turned in unison to stare back at the entrance.
Holy shit. Uh, sorry for disturbing you. Fuck this, I’m leaving!
The terrified remnant spirit convulsed violently, instantly trying to flee, but a tattoo-covered hand seized it before it could escape. To its surprise, it couldn’t break free!
“Where the fuck do you think you’re going?” Ji Jue asked, exploding with fury as he watched the prey try to escape. “Get your ass back here!”
This was ready-to-use spirit matter!
Pacifier’s spirit manipulation manifested, gripping the pure spirit remnant soul, forcing it to undergo sublimation and refinement until it was compressed into a marble-sized spirit particle between Ji Jue’s palms. He loaded the marble into a pistol, then pulled the trigger at Horsey without hesitation.
The spirit matter particle, wrapped in dense resentment and ferocity, shot out and sank into Horsey’s body. Within seconds, it was devoured by the even more ravenous and violent dragon blood, replenishing its losses and exhaustion. Even the cracks on its limbs began to seal shut again.
Ji Jue’s eyes lit up. So such a nourishing supply was being delivered to his doorstep?
Big thanks for the donation, bro!
Unfortunately, the spirit matter in these remnants was still too low. Even though Ji Jue frantically tugged and grabbed with both hands, deliberately releasing his own spirit fluctuations to lure more remnants closer, it still wasn’t quite enough.
Until a mutilated corpse staggered forward, parasitized by a massive number of residual spirits, and passed through the corridor. It met Ji Jue’s gaze for a brief moment. Then it saw Ji Jue’s warm, friendly smile.
“Since you’re already here, why rush off?”
The hand of Pacifier reached out without hesitation and seized the zombie’s head. Then, a violent absorption followed. Amid piercing screams and wails, massive amounts of spirit matter converged and actually condensed into tangible form. All of it was injected by Ji Jue into Horsey’s body.
Under such an abundant supply of spirit matter, the temperature of the boiling dragon blood increased once again. Horsey let out an exhilarated, warlike roar, its joints practically venting flames. It continued to entangle Centaur, forcibly holding its ground against his attacks, even showing signs of further growth.
Unfortunately, even residual spirits knew how to pick on the weak and fear the strong. After sensing the bizarre changes in this area, most of them actually began to avoid him altogether.
No matter how much Ji Jue released his own spirit matter, it was completely useless. Watching this, he grew anxious, almost so frustrated he wanted to beat his chest and stomp his feet. Damn it, he couldn’t even fish anymore! Was he really going to be forced to go out and set bait manually?
Wait...
In that sudden flash of inspiration, Ji Jue froze, then slowly turned his head to look at Blondie, who was slumped on the ground and wiping cold sweat off his skin. Blondie looked back blankly, then instinctively flashed a flattering smile. And so, Ji Jue smiled back.
Very soon, Blondie’s screams once again echoed throughout the villa. As he wailed and ran frantically, a long line of remnant spirits chased after him, forming a long train behind.
In the end, they were twisted into a bundle in Ji Jue’s hands and stuffed straight into Horsey’s mouth, becoming an even more violent blaze of engine fire!
As Centaur roared furiously, Ji Jue did not relax even for a moment. On the contrary, his expression grew increasingly grave. An Ran had not provided support for a long time, as if he had vanished into the distant darkness.
1. The taotie is an ancient Chinese mythological creature that was commonly emblazoned on bronze and other artifacts during the 1st millennium BCE. Taotie are one of the Four Perils in Chinese classics like the Classic of Mountains and Seas, alongside the Hundun, Qiongqi, and Taowu.
According to the Classic of Mountains and Seas (Shan Hai Jing), the taotie is described as having “the body of a sheep and the face of a man, with eyes beneath its armpits, tiger-like fangs, and human hands, its cry resembling that of an infant.” It is regarded as a symbol of greed and is often used to describe people who are gluttonous or excessively avaricious.
Here is an image for your reference.