Chapter 62: Soul Absorption and Gathering, Advancement to Intermediate Level |
The valley floor was littered with the fragmented remains of seven to eight hundred people. The dense white threads bursting from the Wood Puppet Abomination's body had precisely connected to every single corpse fragment without missing a single one.
When they had first returned to the valley earlier, the ground had been covered with severed limbs. Everyone had assumed the horrific scene of scattered corpses resulted from the camp members fleeing in all directions during the Wood Puppet Abomination's massacre.
Now it became clear this had been the Wood Puppet Abomination's deliberate doing.
"Don't just stand there! Cut these white threads quickly!" Yang Ning's voice came from behind the group. He raised his sword and swiftly severed the nearest white threads before turning with a grave expression, shouting urgently at everyone.
The others snapped into action, hurriedly following his lead in hacking at the white threads. Unfortunately, while Yang Ning's silver longsword could slice through the threads with sparks before they snapped apart, their heavy blades proved ineffective.
"Your weapons won't work - go distract it instead!" Realizing their weapons were useless, Yang Ning quickly issued new instructions.
Li Hu coordinated most seamlessly with Yang Ning - he had already charged toward the Wood Puppet Abomination before Yang Ning finished speaking. Besides him, Xia Hong had also recognized early that their blades couldn't cut the threads and advanced on the creature.
Luo Ming and his three companions only charged forward after hearing Yang Ning's words.
Yang Ning moved with unbelievable speed, having severed hundreds if not thousands of threads already. Yet compared to the overwhelming sea of white threads bursting from the Wood Puppet Abomination's body, his efforts were like trying to extinguish a burning cartload of firewood with a cup of water.
But they were ultimately one step too slow.
Before their blades could descend, the Wood Puppet Abomination suddenly raised its head. Its crimson pupils contracted to needle-thin slits as a sinister smile spread across its face. Slowly opening its mouth, it emitted a series of bizarre, ear-piercing laughs.
"Giggle... giggle... giggle..."
The six men's determined blade strikes abruptly halted. Not only did their weapons stop, but their expressions all changed drastically.
It wasn't because of the creature's laughter - they had simultaneously sensed deadly danger approaching from behind.
"Hu Zi, dodge now!" Yang Ning's shout came from furthest away. Li Hu reacted reflexively, abandoning his attack on the Wood Puppet Abomination to sheathe his blade and dive sideways in an awkward evasion.
Though Yang Ning had only called to Li Hu, the other five naturally heard too. Without hesitation, all five abandoned their strikes and hastily retreated from the Wood Puppet Abomination, their scrambling no less graceless than Li Hu's.
Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh...
Before the six could even look up after dodging, rushing wind sounds reached their ears - clearly many objects were moving at incredible speed.
When they finally looked up, their faces paled in terror.
Through the countless white threads bursting from its body, the Wood Puppet Abomination was pulling all the corpse fragments from the valley floor back into itself at alarming speed.
The remains of seven to eight hundred people represented an astonishing quantity. As these fragments continuously poured into the wound under its right armpit, the Wood Puppet Abomination's body began rapidly expanding.
Two meters... three meters... five meters... ten meters...
No, it wasn't just its size.
"Leader, why didn't you save me..."
"Father, you shouldn't have killed me, you shouldn't have killed me..."
"Why am I the only one who died? Wuwuwu... you should all die too..."
"I died so horribly... my head is gone, my legs are missing..."
"My intestines... give me back my intestines..."
Suddenly, countless eerie, miserable voices emerged from within the Wood Puppet Abomination's body.
The voices varied between men, women, elderly and young, but all without exception dripped with venomous malice - and all were directed at the seven men.
"My head hurts so much..."
"Ahhh... it hurts, my head hurts so much."
"Pfft..."
As these voices echoed through the valley, the one to two hundred people recently rescued from the wooden houses began swaying unsteadily, clutching their splitting heads. Some in worse condition even vomited blood and collapsed, writhing in agony on the ground.
Even Huang Zhao, Hong Gang, and all the Lumberjack Realm cultivators from various camps began showing signs of distress. This naturally included Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng and others from Great Xia Camp.
Not just others - even Xia Hong's expression gradually grew dazed as the voices relentlessly assaulted his ears, sending stabbing pains through his mind.
"Soul Absorption and Gathering! It's evolving! Stop it now! If it advances to an Intermediate Abomination, we'll all die here! Hurry!"
Soul Absorption and Gathering?
Forcing himself to endure the mind-splitting pain, Xia Hong's heart sank like a stone when he heard Yang Ning's words. He didn't actually understand what Soul Absorption and Gathering or Intermediate Abominations were, but the unmistakable fear and panic in Yang Ning's tone - considering the man's background and strength - made the potential consequences all too clear if the Wood Puppet Abomination succeeded in advancing.
"Yuan Cheng! Throw all your torches over here! Now!" Xia Hong turned and shouted at Yuan Cheng and the others not far behind.
"Leader, six torches coming your way!" Despite their splitting headaches, Yuan Cheng, Yue Feng and the others reacted swiftly, tossing a bundle of torches through the air toward him.
Each of the six had carried one torch, making exactly six in total. After catching them, Xia Hong quickly distributed one to each of the five - Luo Ming and the others.
"These torches can hurt it!" When Luo Ming's group caught the torches and heard Xia Hong's words, delight flashed across their faces - clearly recalling the Concentrated Fire Oil used earlier in the wooden houses.
Yang Ning and Li Hu on the other side remained skeptical, initially reluctant to accept the torches. But seeing Luo Ming's group's expressions, they took the torches with some hesitation.
How could these puny torches possibly harm the Wood Puppet Abomination?
Xia Hong had no time to explain. Rubbing his torch violently against the ground to ignite it, he charged straight at the Wood Puppet Abomination, flaming torch in hand. This wasn't suicide - the demonic voices from the creature were making his headache increasingly unbearable. Any delay might mean losing his chance to attack altogether.
Luo Ming, Shang Ping and Li Baihe quickly followed suit, igniting their torches before charging at the abomination. Surprisingly, it was the doubtful Yang Ning and Li Hu who, after gritting their teeth for a moment, chose to trust Xia Hong and joined the assault.
By now, the Wood Puppet Abomination had grown over twenty meters tall, surrounded by swirling black mist, its aura vastly more formidable than before. Yet its eyes remained tightly shut.
Xia Hong dared lead the charge precisely because the creature seemed to be at a critical juncture. With no white threads blocking his path, he reached the base of the towering abomination unimpeded. Gritting his teeth, he swung his blade with all his might at the creature's leg.
Crack...
Without the white threads' protection, the Wood Puppet Abomination's body wasn't indestructible. Still, Xia Hong's full-powered slash only opened a half-meter long wound that didn't bleed. Instead, it revealed the jumbled flesh and corpses inside - even faint glimpses of faces belonging to Rogge Camp's dead.
Suppressing his revulsion, Xia Hong forcefully shoved his burning torch into the wound with his left hand.
Sizzle sizzle sizzle...
"Aaaaaahhhh!!!"
The torch ignited the flesh inside the wound, instantly producing thick black smoke accompanied by the Wood Puppet Abomination's piercing shriek of agony.
"It really works!" Witnessing this, Yang Ning and Li Hu froze momentarily before accelerating their charge.
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