Chapter 101 - 99: Trump Card
Getting closer, Lin Ye finally got a clear look at the strength-type monstrosity’s full form.
The pointed ears and pupils of a feline, the long snout and sharp teeth of a canine, goat horns, fish fins, bovine hooves...
These organs, which should never have appeared on the same creature, coexisted in a twisted, grotesque fashion upon its enormous body.
The monstrosity’s knotted muscles bulged, and thick, green veins, like writhing earthworms, covered its body, pulsing slightly with each breath, exuding a sense of explosive power.
This was once a person.
Lin Ye couldn’t imagine what kind of horrors it must have experienced in its previous life to end up in its current state.
"ROAR—!!!"
The monstrosity roared, and a foul blast of air filled with Frenzy rushed toward him, making the entire floor buzz and vibrate.
With no superfluous movements, it swung its massive arm—thicker than Lin Ye’s waist—and launched a fist straight at Lin Ye’s face!
Before the fist arrived, a gale from it tearing through the air had already slammed into him.
Faced with this power, pure to the extreme, Lin Ye’s gaze sharpened. Instead of retreating, he advanced, putting force into his back and waist as the muscles in his arm tensed instantly.
He instantly mobilized the brand-new Qi and Blood surging like liquid mercury within him, channeling it unimpeded through his three newly opened, wide meridians and into his long spear!
He raised his spear and thrusted straight forward!
This thrust had no spear momentum to enhance it, nor was it a charged power strike.
All it had was the purest, most direct explosion of Qi and Blood from a Vein Opening Realm Martial Artist!
A spear and a fist.
They collided violently in mid-air!
SQUELCH!
Lin Ye felt a tremendous resistance from his hands, but after a moment’s pause, the Qi and Blood power, condensed to its absolute limit at the spear’s tip, erupted, tearing through the monster’s defense as if it were rotten wood!
The tip of the long spear pierced directly through the monster’s giant palm!
Black, foul-smelling blood, mixed with shattered bone, sprayed from the wound.
The monster’s enormous body shuddered violently. It reeled from the pain, staggering back several steps, a trace of bewilderment in its eyes as it stared at its pierced palm.
But Lin Ye’s eyes narrowed slightly.
He keenly observed that around the edges of the bloody hole that went straight through the monster’s palm, a layer of fine, light-blue crystals was rapidly precipitating and spreading from the flesh and blood.
The crystals covered the wound, squirming as if alive, forcefully pulling the torn flesh together and knitting it shut.
In the time it took to take just two or three breaths, the horrific puncture wound actually began to heal at a visible rate!
Although it didn’t recover completely, the bleeding had at least stopped, and its grip was no longer affected.
’What astonishing self-healing ability!’
Lin Ye was reminded of that Level 8 mutated black panther; it had also displayed a similar healing ability.
However, it had only injured its tail back then. Compared to this Level 17 fusion monstrosity, it was like a novice meeting a master.
"ROAR—!"
The excruciating pain and the rage of being provoked by an ant drove the monstrosity into a complete frenzy.
It let out another furious roar and charged at Lin Ye.
But this time, the posture of its punch made Lin Ye’s heart clench.
It was no longer a wild, artless smash, but now carried a clearly discernible Martial Artist’s stance!
Dropping the shoulder, sinking the elbow, twisting the waist, then thrusting the hip!
It was clearly the most basic and core power-generation technique from a fundamental fist style!
What made Lin Ye’s pupils shrink even more was that a faint, crimson glow now swirled around its massive fist!
That was Fist Force, which could only be formed when a Vein Opening Realm Martial Artist highly condensed their Qi and Blood and imbued it into their attacks!
Although this Fist Force was impure and chaotic, far from being as condensed and pure as Yan Hui’s.
Nor was it primitive and frenzied like his own.
But it was, undoubtedly, the power of the Vein Opening Realm!
This discovery completely confirmed Lin Ye’s suspicions.
Before its death, this monster had not only been a human, but also an official Martial Artist who had successfully broken through to the Vein Opening Realm!
Lin Ye didn’t dare to be overconfident.
Faced with this heavy punch containing Fist Force, he chose not to block it head-on with his spear.
With a light tap of his toes, his figure slid sideways like a phantom, narrowly dodging the earth-shattering punch by a hair’s breadth.
BOOM!!!
The fist smashed into the load-bearing pillar behind Lin Ye, and the frenzied Fist Force erupted.
The reinforced concrete pillar instantly exploded, leaving a huge gap as countless cracks spread upwards like a spiderweb.
Stone fragments flew everywhere!
Just as Lin Ye dodged, his ears twitched slightly.
A series of urgent, muffled roars came from far below the parking garage.
The sounds were filled with anxiety and savagery.
It was immediately followed by a loud roar and a scalp-numbing, grating noise of sharp claws scraping against walls—the sound of something climbing rapidly with all four limbs!
Lin Ye’s heart sank.
’The other one is here.’
The strength-type monstrosity’s roar was more like a call for help.
And the moment the agility-type monstrosity received the signal, it immediately gave up chasing the bait and rushed over recklessly.
There wasn’t the slightest trace of tension or panic on Lin Ye’s face.
Facing two fusion monstrosities at once was something he had long anticipated.
He just felt a wave of relief.
’I’m lucky I was so cautious before, that I didn’t rashly come to challenge them before my breakthrough.’
If he hadn’t also stepped into the Vein Opening Realm, if he hadn’t devoured a massive amount of Source Crystals and caused his body to undergo a fundamental transformation, then facing the combined assault of these two monsters—both also in the Vein Opening Realm, with bodies modified to be incredibly terrifying—he would have had no chance of survival in this battle.
As he pondered, alarms blared in Lin Ye’s mind as a fatal sense of crisis came from directly above him!
Relying almost purely on combat instinct, he threw himself forward into a sudden roll.
The next moment!
A sharp, black spike that seemed capable of piercing through anything stabbed down violently from directly above where he had just been standing!
SHIIIIING—!
The parking garage ceiling was instantly pierced by the black spike as if it were made of paper!
A huge hole appeared with a bang, and chunks of concrete and rebar rained down.
Amidst the spreading dust and smoke, a slender, agile figure leaped down from the hole, landing silently on the ground.
It stared at Lin Ye like a predator, its scarlet eyes filled with pure killing intent.
Lin Ye’s gaze fell on the monster’s right arm.
It no longer bore any resemblance to a human arm’s structure.
In its place was a massive, ink-black chela that glinted with a cold, metallic light.
The tip of the chela was incredibly sharp, like a natural spear, and was covered in fine barbs, making it look savage and deadly.
SWOOSH!
The agility-type monstrosity gave Lin Ye no chance to catch his breath or regroup his defenses.
The instant it landed, its hind legs exploded with power, and its entire body shot toward Lin Ye, becoming a blurry black afterimage!
’So fast!’
Lin Ye’s heart clenched.
This speed had completely surpassed the Level 17 benchmark, even exceeding the normal range for a typical Vein Opening Realm Martial Artist!
’This must be some kind of unique innate ability of this monster, allowing it to burst out with extreme speed in a short period!’
’The distance is too short!’
It was so fast that Lin Ye’s reaction speed was already struggling to keep up with its movements.
In his motion-sensitive vision, all he could see was a black line shooting straight toward him.
’I can’t dodge it completely!’
In that split second, Lin Ye made the most rational judgment.
He twisted his torso violently, turning his body to the side, doing his best to move his heart out of the way of the fatal blow.
The black chela, carrying a bone-chilling cold, stabbed with pinpoint accuracy toward the left side of Lin Ye’s waist and abdomen!
However, just as the spike was about to touch Lin Ye’s body, a layer of armor that looked as if it were carved from the purest amethyst suddenly emerged from beneath his skin!
A mysterious violet light flowed across the armor’s surface, giving it an indestructible quality.
Crystalization!
CLANG!!!
A crisp, clear sound, like jade striking metal, rang out abruptly across the chaotic battlefield!
The charging figure of the agility-type monstrosity came to a sudden halt.
Its chela, which could pierce anything and easily penetrate several meters of reinforced concrete, was now firmly blocked by a thin layer of purple crystal!
It didn’t even leave a white scratch!
’It didn’t break my defense!’
Lin Ye also clearly felt the huge impact force coming from his side, but that force was perfectly deflected by the Crystal Armor.
His body had not sustained any actual damage.
At this moment, Lin Ye finally, truly realized just how ridiculously his Crystalization skill had been strengthened after devouring so many Source Crystals!
Right now, when Lin Ye activated it with his full power, the Crystal Armor’s coverage was already large enough to completely encase the vital areas of his waist and abdomen.
Its thickness and durability were far beyond what that thin layer of crystal flakes from before could compare to.
This was no longer just a minor life-saving skill.
It could now be a true ace in the hole, capable of turning the tide of battle at a critical moment!