Chapter 247: Cannibalism Among Aberrations

Boom!

A violent surge of phase force erupted somewhere in the dead forest, snapping dozens of trees mid-trunk, and Li Luo was blasted backward in disarray.

A shadow flashed behind Li Luo; Student Xin Fu slapped his back, helping him dissipate the impact, and then both landed on the ground.

Huh.

Li Luo Heavily exhaled, his gaze fixed on the center of the battlefield, where a withered tree was slowly disintegrating—its trunk grotesquely sprouting two enormous human hands.

Clearly, this was another kind of aberration.

This aberration was extremely cunning; it stood motionless, indistinguishable from an ordinary dead tree. Though Li Luo's trio had used illusions to scout ahead, it endured their deception until their true forms passed—then it struck without warning.

This posed grave danger to Li Luo's trio.

Within mere breaths, all three were wounded.

Fortunately, this withered-tree aberration seemed to have a limited attack range, granting them a moment to catch their breath and devise a strategy to slowly wear it down.

Bai Bai Mengmeng carefully collected the residual fragments of malice from the tree-ghost aberration, then frowned at the black scar on her slender arm.

An inexplicable force seeped from the wound into her heart, filling her with unease.

Li Luo hurried over, grasped Bai Bai Mengmeng's delicate wrist, and gathered phase force into his fingertips, condensing it into a single droplet of healing energy that dripped onto her scar.

Ssssh!

Faint black smoke rose, faintly emitting a piercing, agonized wail; soon, the scar on Bai Bai Mengmeng's arm began to heal, and within moments, it was restored to perfect skin.

Bai Bai Mengmeng was overjoyed, tracing her still-smooth, supple skin, then smiled sweetly at Li Luo: "Thank you, Captain!"

For a girl, flawless skin was vital—Li Luo's healing technique was truly delightful.

"Captain, can I get some too?"

A somewhat dark arm extended toward him; Student Xin Fu watched Li Luo with hopeful eyes.

Li Luo's bright smile froze slightly, then he spoke solemnly: "Xin Fu, scars are a man's medals. This little pain is also training for the soul—if you can't endure this, what are we even doing in the Dark Caves?"

Student Xin Fu fell into deep thought at this profound wisdom; though it felt off, he ultimately nodded and said: "Captain, there's some truth to that."

Li Luo wore a look of satisfaction, secretly exhaling in relief—my healing energy drains phase force heavily. Bai Bai Mengmeng is a girl; a little care is natural. But if we two men needed treatment for these minor wounds, that'd be wasteful. The Purification Tower hasn't even activated yet—how could we afford such luxury?

"Cough, how many White-Erosion-class aberrations have we cleared so far?" Li Luo changed the subject.

Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng nodded.

"Based on direction and distance traveled, there's likely only one region left," Bai Bai Mengmeng estimated, pointing right.

Li Luo stared at that direction, his expression tightening—it was the place he'd deliberately avoided, for the black mist there was denser, and he sensed danger within.

Clearly, the strongest aberration in this dead forest resided there.

The four aberrations they'd encountered before were all White-Erosion-class, but strictly speaking, they were merely average within that tier.

Even an average White-Erosion-class aberration rivaled the Second Mark of the Life-Engraved Stage.

If the aberration over there is stronger than this, it could be Third Mark—or even Fourth Mark… that would be extremely troublesome.

Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng said nothing, but their expressions grew grave—they both understood: that aberration in that direction would be their greatest obstacle to activating the Purification Tower.

"Let's go take a look."

After brief contemplation, Li Luo no longer hesitated, speaking decisively.

If possible, we should first scout its nature and intelligence.

Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng had no objections; the trio then cautiously approached that direction, sending three illusions ahead as decoys.

They passed through the black mist, but to their surprise, they encountered no aberrations at all.

The aberrations in this region had vanished completely.

"This is odd," Li Luo murmured. "Earlier areas had at least some low-level aberrations—but here, it's as clean as if purified."

Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng also frowned.

Boom!

As the trio hesitated, violent malice surged far ahead in the black mist, as if something was colliding.

Li Luo's trio exchanged glances, phase force flaring around them, and advanced cautiously.

As they drew nearer, the black mist before them gradually thinned.

Li Luo's trio saw what lay ahead—and their pupils shrank slightly.

On the forest clearing, the ground was in ruins, as if a great battle had raged.

There, a flesh monster roared, its body exposed with glistening red flesh, writhing into grotesque tentacles.

Yet wrapped tightly around its body were gray-white chains, binding it fast—no matter how it roared or struggled, it could not break free.

Li Luo's trio stared in shock—the flesh aberration was stronger than any they'd faced before, likely reaching Third Mark of the Life-Engraved Stage.

But its current state seemed… unfavorable?

"What's going on?" Bai Bai Mengmeng whispered.

Li Luo's gaze locked on the violently churning black mist: "It's an aberration fighting another aberration."

Student Xin Fu and Bai Bai Mengmeng were startled—so aberrations fought and killed each other too?

As they stared, the black mist in the clearing grew denser—until, in horror, they saw a pale human skin slowly drifting out.

The skin was deathly white, with two eyes constantly moving across its surface.

Gray-white energy currents rose from the skin-aberration; its power matched the flesh aberration's.

Somehow, it had trapped the flesh aberration.

Li Luo's trio held their breath. As they watched, the pale skin-aberration glided toward them, emitting faint, muffled, eerie wails.

Then it dove down, swelling uncontrollably, transforming into a sheet of skin-paper that instantly enveloped the flesh aberration.

Boom! Boom!

Beneath the pale skin, violent tremors and piercing shrieks erupted—bumps of flesh bulged outward, yet never ruptured the skin.

Clearly, the skin creature intended to devour the flesh creature.

Li Luo and the other two stared in horror at this act of mutual slaughter among the creatures—the eerie, terrifying sight sent chills down their spines.

Yet in the struggle, the skin creature held the upper hand; the resistance within its interior was gradually weakening, while countless pale white tentacles slowly grew from its surface.

Faintly, threads of crimson energy began to emerge from the skin creature.

"Its power is steadily rising—it may even reach the Fourth or Fifth Stripe of the Life-Engraved Stage," Student Xin Fu said in a Solemn tone.

"Should we take this chance to ambush it?" Bai Bai Mengmeng suggested.

Li Luo pondered for several breaths, then declined the proposal, for he felt that launching an attack now might trouble the skin creature, but they would gain little advantage in the end.

"No rush. This skin creature needs time to absorb the flesh creature..."

"Let's use this opportunity to activate the Purification Tower. If it's too occupied absorbing the flesh creature to stop us, all the better—once the Purification Tower is activated, it will be suppressed outright."

"If it still comes..."

Li Luo's eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze sharpening.

"Then we'd better prepare in advance."