Chapter 40: Blood Soul
Was Zuiyasi instantly killed? Of course not, that bastard did it on purpose.
The moment the blood qi monster chopped off Zuiyasi's head, numerous tentacles sprouted from the war scythe in its hand, writhing wildly as they coiled toward it.
Black tentacles wrapped around the blood qi monster's left arm, shoulder, and head. When the tentacles touched its skin, a sizzling corrosion sound arose, accompanied by signs of aging.
Zuiyasi's headless body, which had fallen, stood up. He bent one arm, assuming a charging posture. After a brief buildup, he reached his hand toward the blood qi monster from a distance. Gray-white tentacles surged forth, accompanied by translucent psychic energy. Though tentacles were not inherently hard objects, they now carried tremendous impact force.
Boom!
The blood qi monster staggered back several steps. The tentacles growing from the scythe in its hand still entangled its body, preventing it from counterattacking properly.
Zuiyasi's arms underwent dark tentacle transformation. He crossed his arms, now multiple tentacles, as if embracing his own shoulders, assuming a bizarre and twisted posture.
After a brief pause, countless tentacles radiated outward from Zuiyasi as the center point. At some unknown moment, each tentacle sprouted mouths lined with densely packed teeth.
The blood qi monster's flesh splattered everywhere. Though it hadn't been touched by Zuiyasi's tentacles, it seemed as if it were being gnawed on.
This was Zuiyasi's characteristic. Several of his trump card abilities had slow activation speeds, yet he never worried about enemies escaping or interrupting his attacks.
If they tried to escape, they would die horribly. Zuiyasi's abilities locked onto the target's life fluctuations; as long as they weren't extremely far away, fleeing was useless.
Interrupting his attacks was even worse. Dark Revenge was Zuiyasi's specialty. During his ability usage, the more severely the enemy harmed him, the stronger his abilities became. Coupled with his lack of vital points and super-regenerative body, this was utterly unsolvable.
After Zuiyasi clashed with the blood qi monster, Su Xiao did not take the opportunity to attack. The situation was too strange. Zuiyasi was actually suppressing the blood qi monster.
In reality, not only was Su Xiao puzzled, but Zuiyasi himself was also bewildered. He was even a bit panicked. The monster he was fighting was definitely overwhelmingly powerful. Yet, against such an enemy, he was beating it as if it had no power to fight back.
Bang!
Zuiyasi's giant fist, wrapped in tentacles, slammed down, hammering the blood qi monster to the ground, causing it to roll backward.
Zuiyasi casually pressed his head back onto his severed neck. Skin, muscles, and bones healed. He twisted his neck left and right, producing two crisp cracking sounds. The severed neck injury recovered completely. The Ancient God System: Undying Branch's life force was so strong that it could do whatever it wanted.
What was expected to be a tough battle turned into Zuiyasi's solo performance. Watching from the sidelines, Molei was dumbfounded. She wanted to help but noticed Su Xiao and Wude hadn't moved forward, so she held back. Lilim, also watching, shared the same thought as Molei.
"This is... very bad."
Zuiyasi's hands, enlarged and wrapped in tentacles, grabbed the blood qi monster's head. The eerie gnawing sound of tentacles arose. The densely packed sharp teeth on them began biting the blood qi monster's head.
Zuiyasi grew increasingly panicked. He dared not use his two most powerful abilities. If the blood qi monster had a damage reversal ability, he would be in danger. He seemed immortal, but he knew in his heart that he merely lacked vital points and could withstand extreme injuries. He still had a long way to go before true immortality and indestructibility.
Zuiyasi's two large hands, entwined with tentacles, exerted force. At that moment, the blood qi monster released the war scythe in its hand, grabbed Zuiyasi's arm with one hand, and slowly twisted it, forcing him to release its head.
"Why... don't they... come... to slay... me."
The blood qi monster spoke in a hoarse voice. Hearing it speak, Zuiyasi's heart sank. His inner thought was: It's over, the enemy has gained intelligence. This thing is evolving over time.
Zuiyasi now confirmed that the blood qi monster had gained intelligence. It had deliberately shown weakness earlier, waiting for Su Xiao, Wude, Lilim, and Molei to attack, then wipe them all out.
The blood qi monster's pitch-black eyes narrowed. With a rumble, a blood qi spike shot up from the white rock ground, skewering Zuiyasi, covered in tentacles, like a squid on a stick. His feet left the ground.
After continuous rumbling, nearly four-meter-long blood-red spikes thrust up from the surrounding ground. These blood-red spikes had no fluctuation, and the attack was extremely sudden. Though it seemed like a simple method of attack, it was actually one of the blood qi monster's strongest abilities.
Seeing the ground spikes around the blood monster, Molei instinctively tightened her stance, her face turning pale. If she got hit by that, it would go straight through her skull.
'Madness: Faith.'
Zuiyasi, impaled midair, raised his arm and pointed at the blood qi monster. A thin, pitch-black tentacle, as thick as a little finger, grew from the blood monster's lower back, wrapping around it layer by layer, briefly restraining its movements.
Zuiyasi's entire body transformed into tens of millions of tentacles, using this to escape the impalement of the ground spikes. The next moment, after reforming his body, he used the ground spikes as footholds and leaped toward the blood qi monster.
Boom.
Blood qi erupted, not from the blood qi monster, but from Su Xiao's blood qi. Within the blood qi, Su Xiao streaked like an afterimage, charging straight at the blood qi monster. The white rock ground along his path was stripped away by a layer.
Clang!!
Two long blades clashed. The impact spread. The rock ground around Su Xiao and the blood qi monster cracked, with square-shaped rock fragments flying up.
The blades scraped against each other. The blood qi monster's fangs ground together with a clicking sound, and a low growl came from its throat. Earlier, when fighting Zuiyasi, it hadn't used its full strength because its target wasn't Zuiyasi.
The blood qi monster had gained rudimentary intelligence. It knew why it was born and what it needed to do to continue existing. It had to kill six people, in this order: Primordial Human (Su Xiao), Wude, Zuiyasi, Molei, Yueshitu, and Lilim.
This kill order, except for Su Xiao, was determined by the "projections" the blood qi monster had devoured. After the blood qi monster killed Su Xiao, it could undergo a transformation. After that, if it killed Wude, it could use the already absorbed "Wude Projection" as a medium to completely devour Wude.
In principle, the blood qi monster was most terrifying after gaining intelligence. This meant it had a mind. In this desert, its mind could reflect its body. That is, once it discovered this trick, as it strengthened the concept of "power," which became deeply rooted in its mind, its body would become even stronger.
Long blades pressed against each other. Su Xiao and the blood qi monster locked eyes. A pair of scarlet pupils appeared in the blood qi monster's eyes. Its body suddenly swelled by a notch, reaching nearly three meters in height. It pressed its long blade forward with full force.
The immense force transmitted through Dragon-Slaying Flash to Su Xiao's hand. With a screech, the blades of the two swords scraped past each other. Su Xiao retreated several steps, holding his long blade diagonally in front of him, the tip angled downward, to block any possible incoming attacks.
Black smoke spread, corroding the blood qi monster with a hissing sound. It was Wude providing cover for Su Xiao.
Bang!
A nearly five-meter-long energy arrow embedded into the ground, barely missing the blood qi monster. Molei felt a bit speechless. She had almost hit the enemy, but the monster started teleporting again.
The black-red blood smoke around the blood qi monster became more pronounced. As its body reached nearly three meters, the long blade in its hand also changed.
This blade was now about 1.5 meters long, the blade widened to the width of a palm, and the edge was covered in serrations. A metal skull the size of an egg appeared at the end of the hilt. Several blood-red threads extended from the skull's mouth, piercing into the blood monster's forearm. Without guessing, this blood qi monster had gained a blood-draining ability. When it wounded an enemy with this blade, it would drain a large amount of blood while also restoring its own health.
Whoosh. The blood qi monster vanished. Everyone activated their perception to the fullest. But the moment the blood qi monster reappeared, it vanished again.
At that moment, Su Xiao received a notification from Reincarnation Paradise.
[Notification: You have triggered a unique event of this world: Devour the Blood Soul of the Mind Beast.]
[The soul on the Endless Desert, after absorbing a small amount of your blood qi, has transformed into a Blood Soul. Contrary to someone's expectation, it did not become your Mind Beast. However, the Blood Soul has devoured too many Mind Beasts, becoming a special and dangerous existence. Only by eliminating it can you leave this desert.]
[Number of participants in this event: 6 (not counting followers).]
[In this event, the amount of World Source obtained and the recipient of the treasure chest will be determined by battle contribution (Only the Hunter himself, Apocalypse Paradise Battle Angel Molei, and Contractor Yueshitu can obtain treasure chests in this event. Therefore, battle contribution will only be judged among you three to determine the chest recipient).]
[World Reward: Title: Blood Intent (★★★★★★★).]