Chapter 181: Aberrant Armor
Chapter 181: Aberrant Armor
Damn it!
I, Wei Gu, was actually going to die here.
Why… How could a mere human do this…
The fierce power burst along every inch of the bones throughout his body.
The immense strength generated by the “Twin Dragons” descended like a massive seal, covering the sky like a mountain.
Under the crushing force of such power, his muscles, bones, and internal organs were flattened into a pulp.
Wei Gu, now a pile of meat paste, felt immense unwillingness, anger, and regret surging in his heart.
However, Fang Jing, who now had complete control, did not give him any chance.
As soon as the Corpse Hound’s body began to regenerate, Fang Jing punched again, scattering the flesh and blood.
The Corpse Poison Curse flowed like a liquid from his fists and palms, eroding, corrupting, and extinguishing all signs of life within the Corpse Hound’s flesh.
Occasionally, a clump of flesh tried to escape, but it was burned by the Black Flame, turning into immovable gray dead meat.
The Black Flame burned and circulated continuously, relentlessly consuming the Essence Qi within the Corpse Hound Wei Gu, while channeling strands of life force back to Fang Jing.
Fang Jing quickly realized that by first releasing the Corpse Poison Flame and then repeatedly absorbing it back, he could more effectively strip the Corpse Hound of its regenerative power source, gradually squeezing out the abundant life force, which was then absorbed back into his own body by the “Seal of the Asura Hand.”
As this process repeated, Wei Gu’s will grew weaker and weaker. He felt as if his heart had turned to ashes, the flame of will at his core growing dimmer until it could no longer hold on. The remnants of his spirit shattered like fragments, bursting apart with a final roar.
Fang Jing pressed down with his hands, and a surge of air swept through, scattering Wei Gu’s remains like ashes.
Finally dead! Even an Elder Class Corpse Hound could not survive such a frenzy of attacks.
Fang Jing’s eyes shone with intense excitement. He knew that, at this moment, he had finally achieved a real victory against the monster known as the Corpse Hound.
At the moment of Wei Gu’s death, clusters of abnormal air currents were drawn into Fang Jing’s body.
He had expected to gain a new Fate Grade, but instead, he received a large amount of “Miscellaneous Fate.”
“An Elder Class Corpse Hound actually contains so much Miscellaneous Fate!”
This was an unexpected surprise. Although he did not obtain a new Fate Grade, opportunities to gather a large amount of Miscellaneous Fate were rare.
Fang Jing clenched his fists and took a deep breath.
The Fate Fragment of “Yuan Armor” swelled, absorbing a majority of the Miscellaneous Fate in one go.
A purplish-red abnormal membrane also proliferated within his bones and flesh, growing densely like a network, covering every inch of his body. Through internal observation, Fang Jing could clearly see that beneath his skin, the purplish-red abnormal membrane-like substance had taken over, as if another layer of tough skin had formed beneath his own.
He could even see that the purplish-red abnormal membrane granted by “Yuan Armor” had fine textures, like tiny scales, forming another protective layer within his body.
The Fate Grade “Yuan Armor” also underwent a change in an extremely short time. This Fate Fragment glowed like a star.
(Fate Fragment: Aberrant Armor)
The name of the Fate Grade had also changed, from the original “Yuan Armor” to “Aberrant Armor.”
(Those with a will as strong as iron will receive the protection of the “Aberrant Armor” Fate Grade. With each step of growth and progress, you will gain steel-like reinforcement.)
“…The annotation has also changed, but for now, it’s unclear what special uses the transformed ‘Aberrant Armor’ Fate Grade has!”
He could feel a new change in his body, but he did not understand what abilities the new Fate Grade “Aberrant Armor” would bring him.
Awoo!
The wild roar of beasts came from the other end of the lawn. Dozens of black-furred Corpse Hounds leaped out of the forest. They had sensed the death of Elder Wei Gu and let out mournful howls.
“The Elder is dead!”
“We must avenge him…”
A bone-chilling killing intent radiated from the other side. The Corpse Hounds stared at Fang Jing with eyes full of hatred.
“It seems you are all Corpse Hounds from the ‘Baiqian’ lineage. That’s perfect. It saves me the trouble of hunting you down one by one!”
Fang Jing sneered coldly, his eyes once again burning with icy killing intent. As he activated the “Seal of the Asura Hand,” black flames once again ignited in his palms, blazing fiercely as if to destroy everything in sight.
“Are you ready for hell?”
From a distance, the air around Fang Jing seemed to distort. The black flames spread in all directions as he stepped forward. The Corpse Hounds, who had sworn to kill him, suddenly felt an inexplicable pressure.
The human man who had killed the Elder, even unarmed, exuded an extremely dangerous aura.
Moreover, at this moment, flames surrounded him, making him appear like a demon from hell.
A sense of foreboding arose in their hearts.
Hodai Shiki was grateful to be alive, though half of his arm felt useless, whether due to a fracture or dislocation.
He had been ambushed by a group of Corpse Hounds. Fortunately, Hodai Shiki, relying on his agility, managed to kill several Corpse Hounds and found the location of the Exorcism Blade, which Kita had last informed him about.
After obtaining the blade, he felt more confident. Although he encountered some trouble along the way, he managed to escape safely.
What a mess!
After killing those Corpse Hounds, he realized something.
It wasn’t that his ability to identify Corpse Hounds had failed.
It was that the Corpse Hounds had likely found a way to counter the Fang Hunters’ identification abilities.
(No wonder! So many strange incidents have happened recently! I also heard that some ‘Named Blades’ failed in their extermination missions. This is terrible! If even the Fang Hunters lose their ability to detect the Corpse Hounds’ movements, how bad will the situation get?)
“What is this…”
He paused and looked down at a strange corpse.
It was a mangled carcass covered in black fur, reeking of a beastly odor.
This “thing” was not far away, as if scorched by high heat, emitting intense steam.
Could this be a Corpse Hound’s limb… Why is it here? And it looks like it was doused in strong acid!
The edges of the corpse had turned to ash or were charred black.
However, this was different from being cut by the Exorcism Blade. Some of the flesh and limbs were still twitching and moving, indicating residual life force.
“This wasn’t done by the Exorcism Blade. The regenerative ability hasn’t been completely suppressed. The flesh and cells still retain some activity.”
Without hesitation, he drew his blade and pierced the active flesh.
The Blade Poison naturally countered the Corpse Hound’s regenerative power, turning the flesh to dust.
He continued forward and found more scattered body parts and shredded flesh, most of which belonged to Corpse Hounds.
The mangled pieces of the Corpse Hounds had turned a deep gray, as if torn apart by beasts.
Entrails, intestines, and dark brown flesh rolled together, emitting abnormal steam.
Hodai Shiki noticed that the more intense the steam, the weaker the regenerative activity of the body parts. Some completely gray sections had cracked and lost all regenerative properties.
“It’s as if something has stolen the Corpse Hounds’ regenerative ability…”
The grayed parts appeared to have been eroded by something.
“Ah! It hurts so much! Why does it feel this terrible…”
A Corpse Hound with only its upper body remaining, its head transformed into that of a black dog, coughed up blood from its split beastly mouth and desperately crawled forward with its hands.
“I didn’t choose to become a Corpse Hound to end up like this. I could have had…”
Its lower half seemed to smolder, and its internal organs continuously slipped to the ground. The bloody, pus-like shreds of flesh turned into gray matter as if corroded by sulfuric acid.
Whoosh!
Hodai Shiki swung his blade and cut off its head, ending its suffering.
“…”
He let out a deep sigh and looked around the forest. He found chaos in every direction, blood splattered everywhere, and bodies of various forms piled together in gruesome death.
It was like a living hell, a scene of suffering and despair under the night sky!
In the lonely night, the stench of corpses and beasts mixed with the evening breeze.
“What the hell happened here?”
Hodai Shiki could only let out a helpless bitter laugh.
“All the bodies on the ground are Corpse Hounds from the ‘Baiqian’ lineage. They overestimated themselves and ended up like this.”
A calm voice came from behind Hodai Shiki.
His scalp tingled. He quickly stepped aside, turned, and swung his blade in one fluid motion.
Swish!
The cold gleam of the blade froze in an instant.
Hodai Shiki’s throat moved as he swallowed.
He realized that the Exorcism Blade he had swung was pinned by two fingers gripping the back of the blade.
Because of this, his green blade was firmly “locked” inches away from the other person’s throat. That small distance seemed completely insurmountable.
The two fingers clamped the blade like iron pincers.
“…It’s me.”
Fang Jing raised his face and released the two fingers holding the blade.
“Are you Oreki Tsuyoshi? No, who are you? What are you?”
Having realized that Kang Cang Shu’s identification method had failed, Hodai Shiki naturally grew suspicious of Fang Jing based on the series of events.
“Don’t be so tense, old man.”
Fang Jing carefully placed the paper crane he was holding in his arms on the ground.
“Sister Kamichiruzuru was frightened earlier and hit her head. She hasn’t woken up yet, but thankfully, she’s not injured.”
The battle against the lower-class Corpse Hounds of the Baiqian lineage was completely one-sided. It didn’t take him long to resolve the fight, and he also saved Kamichiruzuru, who was trapped in the car.
“Are you human? Or a Corpse Hound?”
A human couldn’t possibly grip his blade with two fingers so easily.
The keen eyes, finger strength, and reflexes Fang Jing displayed in that moment far exceeded those of a normal human.
Hodai Shiki gripped his blade with both hands, carefully observing his every move.
“Is that important? Don’t you think there are more pressing matters at hand, old man?”
Fang Jing neither denied nor confirmed. He had no intention of revealing his identity. In the current situation, it was even harder for Hodai Shiki to guess whether he was human or something else.
“This… is the reason why the Corpse Hounds can evade your identification abilities!”
He casually tossed a bottle of medicine over.
“What is this?”
“A specially made drug that can conceal a Corpse Hound’s aura for one or two hours. It was created to counter the Fang Hunters.”
Fang Jing thought seriously for a moment and decided to share the information he had obtained from the captured Corpse Hounds with this middle-aged man.
“This drug only lasts for one or two hours and can only be used once a day. However, it can disrupt the sensory abilities of nearby Fang Hunters. In short, the Fang Hunters’ identification abilities haven’t completely failed. I suggest you spend some time figuring out how to solve this problem.”