Translated by: Hypersheep325
Edited by: Michyrr
Although Lu Wu had limitless strength, his every move enough to shatter mountains, he was at this moment nothing more than a plaything in the hands of w.a.n.g Chong, Li Siye, and w.a.n.g Xiaoyao.
Just the choice of target made Lu Wu indecisive. He spent the majority of his strength on his constant hesitation.
"Haha, fun, so fun!"
w.a.n.g Xiaoyao giggled, fully immersed in this game with Lu Wu. As for Lu Wu"s dangerous violet flames… as a "monster" who possessed a natural divine strength, she was little affected by such a thing.
Buzz!
An endless stream of icy and domineering energy was transferred from Lu Wu"s ma.s.sive body to w.a.n.g Chong. Lu Wu roared constantly, but every time he tried to punch w.a.n.g Chong, Li Siye would block the attempt.
Lu Wu was constantly growing weaker while w.a.n.g Chong was getting stronger and stronger. He even managed to break into Tier 2 of the Imperial Martial realm, well on his way to Tier 3.
There was also another important point. When w.a.n.g Chong"s Berserker Syndrome broke out in the southwestern war, although he had managed to kill more than ten thousand people, his strength had been too great, his speed too fast. This had injured his bones and blood vessels.
This was an unavoidable result of getting strong too quickly.
This was why w.a.n.g Chong"s body sweated blood when he was cultivating.
Now, however, w.a.n.g Chong could clearly sense that as he absorbed more of this monster"s frigid energy, his cells were filling with life. It was like the best medicine in the world, healing and mending w.a.n.g Chong"s internal injuries.
This was quite the surprising harvest!
Wonderful!
w.a.n.g Chong"s eyes flashed with a bright light, his morale invigorated. As long as he could maintain this state, he might be able to suck this monster completely dry.
Although he didn"t know where this energy came from, w.a.n.g Chong could be sure of one thing: this energy was extremely beneficial in suppressing his Berserker Syndrome.
Suddenly, Li Siye noticed a little black dot on Lu Wu"s neck. His eyes widened, and he immediately warned, "Young Master, be careful—this monster can regrow his scales!"
"Don"t panic. First think of a way to restrain him!"
w.a.n.g Chong"s voice was extremely cold and calm, imbued with a persuasive power. He was far more sensitive than Li Siye. Lu Wu"s flesh was tough beyond belief, and while w.a.n.g Chong"s fingers were stabbed into his neck, he could sense that layer after layer of energy was pus.h.i.+ng back, attempting to force out his finger.
And the hard and fine texture he could feel from his finger was clearly one of Lu Wu"s scales. If it weren"t for the fact that these impervious scales that could even stop Wootz Steel swords grew so slowly, w.a.n.g Chong"s Little Yinyang Art would have already been rendered ineffective.
"Little Sister!" w.a.n.g Chong said without hesitation.
Woos.h.!.+ w.a.n.g Xiaoyao shot into the air. In the blink of an eye, another scale fell to the ground, another victim of w.a.n.g Xiaoyao"s G.o.dly strength. That frigid energy began to flow once more.
As this cycle repeated, w.a.n.g Chong"s plan began to bear fruit. w.a.n.g Chong got stronger and stronger as the Little Yinyang Art sucked away at Lu Wu"s constantly rising energy, which began to slow, and even show signs of decreasing.
Swoos.h.!.+
In a flash of light, w.a.n.g Chong took out the Wootz Steel dagger and stabbed it in. But it wasn"t able to make it very far before it was stuck.
What tough fles.h.!.+ w.a.n.g Chong mentally noted in shock. After all his years of battle and all the opponents he had fought, this was the only monster he had encountered that not even Wootz Steel weapons could do anything against.
The flesh beneath the scales seemed more akin to reinforced steel than flesh. w.a.n.g Chong could not remember ever encountering such a bizarre foe.
The wound is still too small. I can"t get it in!
w.a.n.g Chong"s mind whirred as he looked at those tiny wounds.
w.a.n.g Chong"s Wootz Steel dagger was quite small, but it still wasn"t enough. The two-inch-wide daggerhead was still too big for the small openings on Lu Wu"s neck.
…Even his ears have scales!
His gaze flitting over the ears, w.a.n.g Chong could clearly see that scales had completely covered his ears, circle after circle of scales extending down into the depths of the ear.
Using this as the point of entry was clearly not realistic.
I have to think of a way to kill him as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Li Siye won"t be able to hold on for much longer, w.a.n.g Chong quietly said to himself.
Li Siye had still not matured into the future Invincible Great General. After fighting for so long, he had lost much of his Stellar Energy to the violet flames. It appeared like he was barely managing to hold on.
w.a.n.g Chong s.h.i.+fted his gaze, switching his target to Lu Wu"s eyes. This was the greatest weakness on Lu Wu"s body. If he wanted to kill this monster, the eyes were the best starting point.
But when w.a.n.g Chong turned to look at Lu Wu"s eyes, he instantly paled. Lu Wu"s crimson eyes were now roaring b.l.o.o.d.y bonfires, dripping tears of blood. The entire eyes had turned a b.l.o.o.d.y red and were filled with a desire to destroy and rampage. And w.a.n.g Chong could also hear the sound of bones cracking and growing.
Kaclack!
The figure of Lu Wu, which had already grown to about 2.9 meters, seemed to be growing even more ma.s.sive under the influence of some invisible energy.
Not only that, many appendages made of keratin, as tough as iron, were growing out from his ma.s.sive body. Lu Wu"s human shape now underwent a complete transformation, a dreadful transformation.
"s.h.i.+t! Li Siye, Little Sister, get out of the way!"
Sensing extreme danger, w.a.n.g Chong immediately leaped backward. Just a moment later, a ma.s.sive hammer of keratin howled through the air and hammered past the place on Lu Wu"s neck that w.a.n.g Chong had occupied seconds ago.
Although the blow had missed, the ma.s.sive strength in the blow still caused the earth to shake.
"Owwww!"
A ma.s.sive cry rose into the sky. Intense violet flames imbued with destructive energy began to spread out from Lu Wu, engulfing the entire area. Booooom! As the violet flames roared past, plum trees were flattened, and even the cloth used to block out vision burned to ash.
"Ah!"
w.a.n.g Xiaoyao yelped as she was struck by the edge of this wave of Stellar Energy and sent flying. On the other side, Li Siye also groaned as he was stuck by the edge of this wave. As he crashed against a shattered wall, his complexion instantly turned as white as paper.
"So powerful!"
The two silently counted themselves lucky. If not for w.a.n.g Chong"s prompt warning, they would have endured the full force of this wave, and then they wouldn"t be walking away with a few minor injuries.
"What is that?" w.a.n.g Xiaoyao said in alarm as she got up off the ground. When she saw the scene behind her, her eyes widened and her face filled with fear.
The site of the plum tree forest was now covered in dense smoke.
The giant Lu Wu had vanished, replaced with a ma.s.sive demonic beast, its body covered with sharp horns of various sizes, and a long tail of keratin ending in a hammer extending from its back1.
This monster"s four claws were planted on the ground, its eyes crimson red. It was around three meters tall, and as for length… if one counted its tail, it was more than five meters long.
Anyone standing before this monster would feel a terrible fear.
w.a.n.g Xiaoyao might have possessed G.o.dly strength, but she was still a girl of eight or nine years old. The sight of this nightmarish beast instinctively stirred fear in her heart.
"A human turned into a monster… What in the world is this thing?"
At this moment, the only person who kept their cool was w.a.n.g Chong. He had personally witnessed the process of transformation. A few moments ago, Lu Wu had still been a human monster about 2.9 meters high, but soon after, his body had swelled, becoming this inhuman monster.
This was the first time in w.a.n.g Chong"s life that he had seen a living human transform into a true monster. This already surpa.s.sed w.a.n.g Chong"s understanding of martial arts, and could not be explained with common sense.
Roar!
The ma.s.sive monster opened its mouth and suddenly spit out a pillar of fire at Li Siye ten-some zhang away. Boom! As the flame shot forward, even dirt and stone were set ablaze.
With a desperate jump, Li Siye barely managed to avoid this gout of flame.
Boom! The earth quaked as the demonic beast suddenly took a leap, traveling through the air like a lightning bolt as it shot toward Li Siye.
"Not good!"
Li Siye"s face grimaced. His internal energy was already exhausted by the violet flames. He no longer had the strength to dodge the monster"s leap.
Just when it seemed like Li Siye was about to die under the monster"s feet, a dragon roared and a cold light flashed in the sky. w.a.n.g Chong descended from the sky headfirst, cras.h.i.+ng into the monster"s head.
Bang! Embers splashed and a wave of energy exploded from the collision of w.a.n.g Chong"s sword and the monster"s head. Just as expected, the monstrous transformation had made Lu Wu"s defense even more terrifying. w.a.n.g Chong"s Wootz Steel sword remained useless.
"Beast, this way!"
w.a.n.g Chong shot backward as if he was fired from a cannon. He did not rest, but leaped from the ground and ran off. In the blink of an eye, he had vanished to the southwest.
The monster behind him roared and went off in pursuit.
Boom!
A few moments later, there was another shockwave of energy and the ground toward the southwest quaked, accompanied by a ma.s.sive boom. As the rest of the people watched on, w.a.n.g Chong lured the monstrified Lu Wu to crash straight into the southwestern wall.
The several-zhang-high wall of the w.a.n.g Clan fell apart like it was made of paper under the force of Lu Wu"s collision. Carried along by the momentum, Lu Wu crashed into the black shroud beyond the wall.
Bzzt! A ripple suddenly appeared in the empty sky. At this moment, Madam w.a.n.g, the old steward, and all the servants and maids of the w.a.n.g Clan saw that there was a black shroud in the sky.
______________
1. It is at this point that it might be appropriate to mention that Lu Wu, 陆吾, is the name of a mythological beast/G.o.d in Chinese mythology. It is mentioned in the Cla.s.sic of Mountains and Seas and is described as a G.o.d with the body of a tiger, the claws of a tiger, a human head, and nine tails.