Chapter 562: Hell (II)
After distancing himself from the node's rift, Lin Zheyu began fully absorbing the demonic qi in the air. His powerful perception spread outward as surrounding demonic qi roared toward him. Crackling sounds rang out as his body rapidly swelled, transforming into a terrifying yao over nine meters tall.
With a thought from Lin Zheyu, the golden runes on his body, no, the purple-black runes, began flickering.
Wave after wave of mysterious energy spread from the runes. Lin Zheyu's massive yao body slowly but steadily shrank until it finally stopped at around three meters tall. No matter how much he activated the power within the runes, it would not shrink any further.
"Three meters seems to be the limit. Still, that's acceptable. In the demon realm, a three-meter body is practically a dwarf. It shouldn't stand out too much."
A smile appeared across Lin Zheyu's savage face, looking rather unsettling. This was an ability he developed after more than a month studying demonic patterns and combining them with the systematic knowledge he had previously learned. Today was his first time using it. Although he could not shrink to human size, around two meters tall, three meters was still acceptable. The results were fairly good.
Looking at the dense flesh tumors covering his body and the black holes leaking smoke from them, Lin Zheyu felt somewhat disgusted. "If I could get rid of these flesh tumors and replace them with sleek, magnificent scales, it'd be perfect."
He was not some pervert who would enjoy such an ugly appearance. After testing out his newly acquired ability, Lin Zheyu moved and charged toward the magma region.
The wings behind him flapped, and Lin Zheyu instantly turned into a black phantom that vanished into the darkness. Fierce winds howled past his ears. He discovered that after shrinking his body, although his strength had decreased slightly, his overall speed had increased by nearly 20%. This form was perfect for escaping.
Arriving at the region filled with purple-red magma, Lin Zheyu dove straight into it. Intense heat surged toward him. Thick black smoke suddenly billowed out from the countless black holes covering his body. The smoke wrapped around him, forming an insulating layer that separated him from the scorching magma.
These flesh tumors and holes might be ugly, but they were still useful. Spreading out his powerful perception, Lin Zheyu began searching through the magma-filled underground for traces of yaos. He had been here many times already and was thoroughly familiar with the place. After searching through the magma for quite some time, his eyes suddenly lit up.
"Peak Foundation Establishment realm strength. That one will do."
Lin Zheyu suddenly accelerated and charged toward the yao hidden within the magma, cultivating in silence. The commotion immediately drew its attention. It abruptly opened its eyes, and a terrifying aura spread from its body.
Roar!
A deafening roar echoed through the magma. Then Lin Zheyu watched as the yao abruptly turned and fled.
"??? The yao chickened out?" Lin Zheyu froze briefly as he muttered, "That's rare."
This was the first time he had seen a yao roar threateningly only to turn and run immediately afterward. Clearly, this yao was different from ordinary ones. It possessed intelligence and was no longer a muddle-headed monster driven solely by instinct and slaughter.
A faint smile appeared at the corner of Lin Zheyu's mouth, looking rather sinister on his monstrous face. "Interesting. I wonder how this yao differs from the unintelligent ones."
A massive burst of black smoke burst from his body like artillery fire, propelling him forward with tremendous force. This was the yaos' home territory. Although its strength was inferior to Lin Zheyu's, its speed within its own domain was astonishing. Unfortunately for it, the difference was still too great. The moment Lin Zheyu burst forth with full speed, the distance between them rapidly closed.
Lin Zheyu threw out a punch. His fist rapidly expanded within the purple-red magma, crashing through it with thunderous force and sending waves of scorching magma surging in every direction.
Sensing the terrifying aura approaching from behind, the yao let out a panicked roar. It realized it could no longer escape, abruptly turning around and opening its savage maw wide. In an instant, a powerful purple-red energy sphere condensed within its mouth. The sphere rapidly absorbed the scorching aura of the magma, swelling larger and larger as its aura became increasingly terrifying.
Another roar echoed out. Feeling the danger rapidly closing in, the yao had no choice but to fire the purple-red energy sphere before it had fully reached its peak.
The fist collided head-on with the purple-red energy sphere, which exploded with a thunderous blast. Lin Zheyu felt a horrifying wave of heat and impact. The black smoke wrapped around his fist was instantly annihilated, followed by the energy barrier formed from the purple-black runes. Only then did the countless black holes and flesh tumors covering his arm begin glowing red from the heat, as if they were melting apart.
At the same time, a vast surge of vitality flooded through him, rapidly healing the injuries caused by the exploding energy sphere. Even before cultivating a divine repository technique, Lin Zheyu's recovery ability in yao form was already not much weaker than that of a true yao.
After cultivating a divine repository technique and greatly increasing the vitality within his human form, Lin Zheyu discovered that his yao form had improved as well. Though his strength was still only at the limit of a five-pattern yao, his life force was likely comparable to weaker six-pattern yaos. His fist burst through the center of the explosion, the flesh upon it mangled and bloody.
Yet the horrific damage vanished at astonishing speed. Within only a few breaths, the mangled fist had completely regenerated and continued hurtling forward without losing speed or force, smashing toward the yao whose eyes were now filled with terror.
The yao could not understand why this opponent had not dodged. That attack was its trump card. Even newly advanced six-pattern yaos from its own tribe would not dare withstand it head-on. What baffled it even more was that not only had Lin Zheyu refused to evade, he had not even suffered serious injuries. Unfortunately, no matter how incomprehensible it all seemed, Lin Zheyu would not give it the time to think.
The savage giant fist crashed into the yao's head with unstoppable force. Its enormous skull burst apart like a smashed watermelon. The headless body convulsed violently as immense vitality surged within it, attempting to regenerate the destroyed head. But Lin Zheyu had no intention of giving it the chance. His fist abruptly opened into a claw, seizing the headless corpse. Vast amounts of purple-black energy flowed down his arm into the body, suppressing the yao's formidable regenerative power.
Peak five-pattern yaos really aren't easy to capture. That caused way too much commotion. I need to leave quickly. This is their nest. I can't afford to attract six-pattern yaos, Lin Zheyu thought to himself. Without hesitation, he grabbed the headless yao body and shot upward toward the surface.
The instant Lin Zheyu burst out from the underground magma, wave after wave of yao roars erupted from below. A terrifying pressure spread from the depths of the magma, controlling the purple-red lava and condensing it into a massive molten pillar that blasted toward him.
"A six-pattern yao! I actually drew out something this troublesome."
Feeling the aura rising from below, Lin Zheyu felt somewhat relieved instead. Luckily, he had escaped quickly enough. Had he been even a few breaths slower, getting away would not have been nearly so easy.
Comments