Chapter 100 - 98: Fighting the Door Gods
Lin Ye felt the completely different Qi and Blood within him, which seemed to surge like molten mercury.
Over the past two-plus weeks, his level had only increased by 1, barely reaching LV.17.
His leveling speed was far from the breakneck pace of before.
But Lin Ye had completed a truly significant transformation in his martial arts realm.
With a thought, he called up his attribute panel.
[Host: Lin Ye]
[Race: Goblin Warrior]
[Level: LV.17 (11024/21500)]
[Life Value: 3052/3052]
[Energy Value: 540/540]
[Physical Strength Value: 1000/1000]
[BOSS Mechanics: Healing out of combat (White), Soul Furnace (Green), Crush (Green), Taotie (Purple)]
[Current Phase: P1, other phases not unlocked]
[Strength: 75.2]
[Agility: 75.6]
[Stamina: 92.8]
[Spirit: 66.1]
[Free Attribute Points: 0]
[Skill Points: 0]
[Temporary Skill: Crystalization]
The various basic attributes on the panel hadn’t shown any explosive growth.
But Lin Ye understood that numbers couldn’t fully define his current combat power.
The truly terrifying aspect of a Vein Opening Realm Martial Artist was that their use of their own Qi and Blood had entered a whole new level.
Lin Ye raised his spear.
His eyes narrowed, the muscles in his arm tensed, and he thrust casually at the rusty metal factory wall half a meter away!
In that instant, Lin Ye clearly felt that the total amount of Qi and Blood he could mobilize was several times more than before his breakthrough!
That power, so condensed it was almost tangible, flowed down his arm and into the spear’s shaft.
HISS!
A sharp, piercing sound cut through the air!
A sharp gust of wind, almost invisible to the naked eye, shot from the tip of the spear, tracing a straight white line through the air before slamming ferociously into the distant wall!
PSHH!
A gash was torn straight through the wall!
Lin Ye looked at the masterpiece his spear had created, and the memory of Yan Hui’s blade strike flashed through his mind.
Yan Hui’s realm was definitely higher than his own, which was just the beginning of the Vein Opening Realm. Yan Hui had probably already cleared the twelve regular meridians and might have even started on the Eight Extraordinary Meridians.
But in terms of the power he had just displayed, his spear thrust wasn’t far behind.
Lin Ye knew very well that Yan Hui had been holding back with that strike.
But then again, he hadn’t used his spear’s momentum or a charged power strike either.
Lin Ye didn’t know who would win or lose if he fought Yan Hui again now.
But he definitely wouldn’t be defeated so quickly like before.
Besides the improvement to his martial arts foundation,
Lin Ye was also very curious about how much the [Crystalization] skill had been strengthened after devouring so many Source Crystals.
All of this required a sufficiently powerful opponent to test it on personally.
Lin Ye stood up, his gaze passing through the factory’s broken window and settling on the deeper, deader heartland of the ruined city.
He glanced at the advancement quest on his task panel, which had been there for a long time.
[Advancement Quest: Goblin Centurion]
’It’s time to go meet those two gatekeepers who’ve taken over this area.’
...
Lin Ye wasn’t overconfident.
Even though his level was now on par with the two Fusion Monsters and he had even achieved a breakthrough in his realm,
he still began the tedious process of observation and planning, just as he had when hunting the mutated black panther.
This time, however, Lin Ye only took one day.
A single day was enough for him to confirm a few things.
First, although the two giant Fusion Monsters were once human, they had now completely degenerated into monsters dominated by instinct and strange commands.
Their intelligence far surpassed that of ordinary mutated beasts, but their behavior patterns were rigid and predictable—
prioritize eliminating all mutated beasts within their line of sight.
Second, the two giants’ abilities were clearly distinct.
One was a pure strength type. It had a powerful build and astonishing strength, capable of easily breaking apart and tearing up tons of reinforced concrete, then hurling the pieces like cannonballs.
The other was an agility type. It was relatively slender, its speed was ghostly, and its hunting method was to rely on a massive, mutated pincer on its right hand to deliver a fatal blow with a single stab.
Third, and the most troublesome point,
they had no rivals in this third ring area of the ruined city. All mutated beasts were killed in an instant, making it impossible to test their Defense Power or find any weaknesses.
Furthermore, although the two giants’ patrol areas weren’t fixed, they always maintained close contact, never letting the other out of their sensory range.
Lin Ye’s goal was to defeat them one by one; it was the most reliable strategy.
To this end, Lin Ye chose an abandoned multi-story parking garage as the battlefield.
Six floors above ground, three floors below.
This kind of complex terrain, with its interlocking internal structure and abundant obstacles, was perfect for setting traps and an excellent location for splitting up the battlefield and kiting the monsters.
Lin Ye spent half a day setting up several traps at key points in the parking garage.
All preparations were complete.
He then caught a few low-level mutated beasts to use as bait to lure the monsters.
The night was as black as ink.
The hunt officially began.
"AWOOOO!!!"
A howl mixed with pain and hunger erupted from a mutated hyena whose hind legs had been broken by Lin Ye.
The scent of blood, mixed with its desperate cries, carried far across the silent streets.
Before long, heavy footsteps, like the beating of a drum, sounded from the other end of the street.
The strength-type Fusion Monster had been successfully lured by the bait.
Lin Ye’s figure was hidden behind a load-bearing pillar on the third floor of the parking garage, his aura concealed to the absolute limit.
He watched the giant monster drag its clumsy feet, stepping one by one into his pre-set trap area—a patch of fragile ground where he had weakened the foundation beforehand.
’Now!’
Lin Ye shot out from behind the pillar, his spear striking like lightning, precisely hitting the rebar supporting the last suspended concrete slab.
RUMBLE!!!
A huge roar echoed!
The ground beneath the strength-type giant’s feet instantly collapsed! A massive crater over five meters in diameter appeared with a deafening crash!
Rubble and dust shot into the air.
However, there was not the slightest hint of joy on Lin Ye’s face.
The moment the trap was sprung, he heard an increasingly furious roar from the bottom of the pit!
Amidst the dust, the giant leaped, crossing the five-to-six-meter distance in a single bound. Its thick right arm caught the edge of the crater, and it pulled itself up.
It only had a few superficial scratches on its body, not even any real bleeding.
The collapse trap was almost completely ineffective!
"ROAR!!!"
The enraged giant locked onto Lin Ye’s figure with its crimson eyes, let out a deafening roar, and charged forward with huge strides!
Lin Ye’s eyes were cold. He didn’t linger for a fight, instead turning and retreating deeper into the parking garage.
As he ran, he detonated the second trap.
It was several barrels full of gasoline that he had placed at the entrance to the second floor.
BOOM!!!
Flames shot to the sky, forming a scorching wall of fire that instantly engulfed the giant’s massive body.
The acrid smell of burning flesh filled the air.
But in the midst of the raging inferno, the giant’s steps only faltered for less than two seconds.
It roared, its entire body ablaze, like a Flame Demon from hell. It crashed straight through the wall of fire, its speed not only undiminished but actually increasing!
The fire, too, was unable to cause it any substantial damage!
Lin Ye’s heart sank slightly.
These two traps were the most powerful conventional methods he could think of.
And yet, they had merely tickled the beast.
’It seems that as these monsters grow stronger, traps are gradually becoming meaningless.’
’In the end, I’ll have to rely on raw power to take them down.’
However, although he hadn’t managed to injure this Fusion Monster, his main objective was gradually being achieved.
Just as the enraged strength-type giant madly pursued Lin Ye, charging up toward the upper levels of the parking garage,
at the dark entrance to the underground levels of the garage,
another slender figure appeared silently.
It was the agility-type giant Fusion Monster.
A mutated serval, which Lin Ye had released earlier and was now fleeing in a panic, happened to dash past it down the underground ramp.
The strange command engraved deep in its genes, "prioritize eliminating mutated beasts," drove it to pursue the mutated serval.
The battlefield had been successfully divided.
Sixth floor of the parking garage.
Lin Ye stopped in his tracks.
Behind him, the strength-type Fusion Monster was rapidly closing in with an overwhelming presence.
Lin Ye turned around, no longer choosing to flee.
’Now that my objective has been achieved, it’s time to end this quickly.’