Chapter 116: Artifact Spirit

There was also a large red rat that was very fast; after eating three soldiers, dense, blood-red scales actually grew on the outside of its body.

Its claws and fangs also grew by a centimeter, making its attack power even more formidable; it was obvious that these terrifying creatures could continue to strengthen themselves by devouring flesh and blood.

Meng Yifan tapped his toes on the ground, covering over twenty meters in a single step, formed his right hand into an eagle claw, and grabbed forward, catching a large red rat.

"Squeak! Squeak!" The large red rat struggled desperately, but it was like an ant trying to shake a tree; it simply could not break free from Meng Yifan's palm.

The large red rat grew anxious and bit at Meng Yifan's palm with its sharp teeth, but Meng Yifan smiled with contempt and pinched the rat's neck with two fingers, preventing the large rat from turning its head to bite him.

"Crack!" An incredible thing happened: the large red rat's head actually rotated one hundred and eighty degrees, twisting around by force to try and bite Meng Yifan's palm.

"What the..." Meng Yifan was greatly startled; his left hand struck out like lightning, slapping the large rat's head back, bruising it, yet the large rat's eyes radiated a light of madness and Bloodthirsty intent.

Its head could actually rotate three hundred and sixty degrees, and even with its neck twisted like a braided rope, it kept rotating, forcibly twisting around to bite Meng Yifan whenever it had the chance.

Meng Yifan did not crush the large red rat to death immediately; he knew that if he crushed the large rat, it would explode.

The power of that explosion was comparable to a close-range blast from an Explosive Shell; with Meng Yifan's current physical defense, if he let the large rat explode in his palm, while his right hand would not be blown off, he would still inevitably be left with torn skin and mangled flesh.

"The large red rats that just appeared are not very strong, only about two or three times that of an ordinary person; a First Grade Martial Artist is enough to deal with them."

"But if you kill a large red rat, it can still explode, comparable to a close-range blast from an Explosive Shell; even a First Grade Martial Artist would be killed by its close-range explosion."

"After devouring flesh and blood, they continue to evolve, their strength soaring; this is truly a terrifying kind of monster."

"How was that Special Bomb manufactured just now? It actually contained seventy or eighty of these special creatures?"

Meng Yifan furrowed his brows, pondering how to deal with these terrifying creatures.

"Huh!" The Dharma Artifact Ghost Head Blade at Meng Yifan's waist suddenly trembled, vaguely conveying to Meng Yifan that it wanted to devour the large red rat in his hand.

Meng Yifan was stunned for a moment, then gripped the Ghost Head Blade with his left hand and slowly approached the large red rat.

"Squeak..." The large red rat acted as if it had encountered something terrifying; it stopped trying to bite Meng Yifan and struggled violently, wanting to get further away from the Ghost Head Blade.

Meng Yifan possessed immense strength and easily suppressed the large red rat's struggles until the tip of the Ghost Head Blade touched the large red rat.

The green-faced, fanged ghost head on the hilt of the Ghost Head Blade seemed to come alive, especially its pitch-black left eye, which suddenly snapped open; a strange suction force appeared out of thin air and enveloped the large red rat.

"Squeak! Squeak!" The large red rat shrieked in terror, as if it had met its natural predator; it dared not struggle anymore and shivered, soon being absorbed by the Ghost Head Blade into that special space.

The Ghost Head Blade had devoured the large red rat and seemed very satisfied, as if it had eaten a delicious meal; it trembled slightly and once again transmitted a message to Meng Yifan.

"You want more large red rats, they can help you recover?" Meng Yifan was stunned; he currently possessed two Dharma Artifacts, the Ghost Head Blade and the Binding Demon Rope, but relatively speaking, the Ghost Head Blade was more special, as it contained an Artifact Spirit.

It was just that Meng Yifan was not an Immortal Cultivator, so the Ghost Head Blade's Artifact Spirit had always been indifferent to him; now that it wanted to devour the large red rats, it had taken the initiative to establish a connection with Meng Yifan.

Meng Yifan had been worrying about how to dispose of the large red rats, and since the Ghost Head Blade was willing to devour them, Meng Yifan was naturally willing to help it.

However, before helping, Meng Yifan asked in his mind: "I can help you catch the large red rats, but you haven't acknowledged me as your master, so why should I help for free? Let's treat this as a transaction; I help you catch the large red rats, what benefits can you give me?"

The Ghost Head Blade was stunned; it had only barely recovered a bit of intelligence, and it seemed that in its memory, it had never encountered such a shameless master.

Asking for benefits while helping it recover—was this something a prospective master should do? This was too shameless!

The Ghost Head Blade vibrated again and transmitted a message: "Aren't you worrying about how to deal with these large rats? I'm helping you solve the large red rats, isn't that helping you?"

"This counts as helping? I can use the Binding Demon Rope to tie all these large red rats up and then throw them to their deaths from a distance; even if they explode, it won't affect me."

"Anyway, either you acknowledge me as your master now, or you give me benefits; otherwise, I won't help you catch the large red rats," Meng Yifan said in his mind.

The Ghost Head Blade hesitated for a moment; its Artifact Spirit had originally suffered heavy injuries and had only just barely recovered a little bit of intelligence, so it truly needed the special energy within the large red rats to recover from its injuries.

But the Artifact Spirit was very proud; its master should at least be an Immortal Cultivator so that it could better unleash its power. Meng Yifan was completely unqualified right now, so it was impossible for it to acknowledge him as master now.

It seemed it had to give this prospective master some benefits; the Ghost Head Blade vibrated again and transmitted a message to Meng Yifan.

"If you devour forty large red rats, I can help you control one large red rat." Meng Yifan was overjoyed; these large rats could continue to evolve by devouring flesh and blood, and on a cruel battlefield, everything might be lacking, but fresh flesh and blood was never in short supply.

"Control one large red rat and let it continue to evolve—I wonder to what extent it can eventually evolve?" Meng Yifan was extremely excited; he agreed to the Ghost Head Blade's conditions, then gripped the Ghost Head Blade and began to quickly capture the large red rats.

When Meng Yifan communicated with the Ghost Head Blade's Artifact Spirit, it was done in his mind; it seemed like a lot was said, but in reality, it took less than a second.

The special shell fired by the Divine Machine Battalion had released a total of sixty-eight large red rats; they scurried along the Trench, crazily biting Meng Yifan's soldiers. The soldiers' screams kept reaching Meng Yifan's ears, which made his heart ache as if it were being cut by a knife.

These soldiers were all Meng Yifan's Subjects, and their Loyalty was very high; Meng Yifan had intended to cultivate them well as seeds for officers, so they could serve as the backbone when he expanded his army in the future. He did not want to lose a single one.

But this Special Bomb from the Divine Machine Battalion had caused heavy losses to Meng Yifan's soldiers; at least thirty soldiers had already been bitten to death by the large red rats, and five soldiers had perished together with the large red rats.

"Sigh! In war, how can there be no deaths? All I can do is minimize their casualties as much as possible."

Meng Yifan sighed, executed the Lingbo Microsteps, and kept increasing his speed. Whenever he encountered a large red rat, he only needed to point the Ghost Head Blade forward, and the large red rat, which was difficult for ordinary soldiers to deal with, would soon be devoured by the Ghost Head Blade.