Chapter 71: Boundless Flesh and Blood

Xu Yuan said nothing, manipulating the sword pellet to flash dozens of times rapidly.

Dozens of pieces of flesh and blood fell off the Flesh Idol with a splashing sound.

The seasoned seventh-rank sword pellet was razor-sharp.

But more flesh and blood writhed upward to replenish the idol’s body.

“Your so-called effort is meaningless!” Mr. Gao sneered with pure malice.

Yet Xu Yuan acted as if he heard nothing, accelerating the sword pellet, peeling layer after layer of flesh from the idol.

It was a race against the flesh: see whether you replenish faster or I carve faster.

Xu Yuan sped up, and the flesh followed suit.

On the surrounding flesh carpet, flesh surged into waves, frantically rushing toward the altar.

“Truly ridiculous!”

But Xu Yuan paid no heed, relentlessly continuing to slice the flesh with his sword pellet.

The vast, grotesque flesh entity—the Flesh Idol or the entire ruin—was finally enraged!

The Flesh Idol lifted one arm; its writhing palm opened toward Xu Yuan.

All the stupa-like structures within the ruin surged forward in rapid motion.

Each stupa opened its orifices—hiss, hiss, hiss—

Streams of filthy blood swords spewed forth.

Xu Yuan dodged midair while unfolding his umbrella, using its surface to block what he couldn’t evade.

After seven or eight blood swords, the umbrella’s surface was corroded, emitting foul-smelling green smoke.

More stupas appeared; after firing blood swords, they rotated to expose fresh orifices on the opposite side.

The firepower never ceased!

Mr. Gao wore a cruel smile, watching Xu Yuan silently.

The moment he entered the bloody mist, his tragic fate was sealed.

Yet this brat held out so long—and he swallowed six clumps of “Water” without turning grotesque. Truly remarkable.

Does he carry some powerful “restraining object”?

But it doesn’t matter. With this much layered contamination, no restraining object can withstand it.

The Flesh Idol lifted its other hand; massive flesh tentacles sprouted rapidly across the carpet.

Each tentacle stretched dozens of zhang long, its tip morphing into a horse’s head—fangs everywhere, nostrils spewing fire, and ghostly claws protruding from its eyes!

Thick tentacles opened their jaws and lunged at Xu Yuan; if they missed, they spat fire to burn him.

Xu Yuan recalled his sword pellet, slashed through one charging tentacle with a crisp sound—the grotesque horse head, spewing flame, fell and was reabsorbed by the carpet.

Swish, swish, swish!

The sword pellet moved swiftly, severing several tentacles.

But more tentacles rose from the carpet, charging at Xu Yuan with ferocious momentum.

Xu Yuan flicked his fingers, launching one Yin Soldier Pill after another, each exploding midair with a series of pops.

These Yin Soldier Pills came from Old Qian.

“Gek gek gek…”

A tinkling laugh rang out; the ghost bride, draped in a red veil, flew from her crimson palanquin and lunged onto a tentacle.

“My lord!” the ghost bride cooed.

“So mighty!”

“I fear I cannot bear it…”

The ghost bride opened her cherry-red mouth and sucked in the thick qi-blood of the tentacle.

She burped, and the tentacle shrank noticeably.

Another Yin Soldier Pill exploded into a swarm of locusts—brown-yellow bodies, blood-red eyes, jaws splitting open into two halves, each filled with countless sharp hooked teeth, swarming a tentacle and devouring it greedily.

The half-human, half-scorpion ghost shrieked, transforming its entire body into a black sand whirlwind that wrapped around a tentacle; chewing sounds echoed within the storm.

Seven or eight Yin Soldier Pills held the tentacles at bay, allowing Xu Yuan to turn the tide.

But the idol had not only fully restored itself—it had grown another chi taller!

Xu Yuan flicked his hand; the bamboo cage flew out, skillfully dodging three tentacles, then soared above the Flesh Idol and suddenly expanded, descending to engulf it.

The Flesh Idol sensed the danger; suddenly, a trumpet-shaped fleshy membrane burst open atop its head.

Three zhang wide, it stretched to hold back the cage.

The bamboo cage kept growing; the membrane grew with it.

Flesh was nearly infinite; the membrane could expand endlessly.

The bamboo cage expanded to ten zhang before reaching its limit.

The idol’s membrane grew to match it—ten zhang.

From afar, the Flesh Idol resembled a giant dark-red mushroom.

The bamboo cage descended and pierced into the membrane.

The membrane closed like a blooming flower, attempting to swallow the cage whole.

The blood tide beneath the altar surged even more wildly.

Fleshy membranes spread upward from all sides; the cage could not resist—it was slowly, inevitably, completely enveloped.

The ghost bride, draped in red veil, sucked down three tentacles; her airborne form staggered, nearly toppling.

These grotesque flesh entities were not living beings; though they contained “qi-blood,” it differed from that of the living. Eating too much contaminated her, making her body heavy.

The locust swarm had half their bodies turned dark red; the group scattered, movements growing sluggish and unresponsive.

The half-human, half-scorpion ghost tried several times to turn into a black sand whirlwind—each attempt failed. His eyes grew dull, his body sinking slowly, merging with the carpet.

“Hahahaha! Cornered and defeated!” Mr. Gao’s face sneered again: “What else do you have?”

Xu Yuan grunted: “I do.”

Then Xu Yuan turned and flew backward.

The Yin Soldiers dissolved back into their outer pills, following Xu Yuan as he retreated.

Mr. Gao mocked loudly: “Then why run? Is your so-called trick just fleeing in disgrace?”

Xu Yuan retreated over a hundred zhang; Mr. Gao was still taunting—when suddenly, a terrifying force erupted from within the Flesh Idol!

BOOM!

The explosion shattered the entire Flesh Idol!

A ten-zhang-tall Flesh Idol, plus its ten-zhang-wide membrane, was utterly obliterated; flesh and blood sprayed as far as dozens of zhang away.

An external explosion would have severely damaged the Flesh Idol—but not shattered it completely.

But this explosion erupted from within—the idol was utterly destroyed.

Mr. Gao’s face was also torn apart, his eyes blown out of place.

The original altar became a massive crater.

Yet Mr. Gao’s face soon reappeared atop one of the stupas, startled: “What was that?”

“You wild brat really know how to surprise me.”

Before entering, Xu Yuan had quietly replaced the musket’s bullets with his own Golden Pellets.

Xu Yuan had fully anticipated the difficulty of today’s battle.

A single musket wouldn’t do much—but he brought it anyway, planning precisely for this move.

The Golden Pellets had infused nine-tenths of the cannon’s inner pill’s “properties,” shrinking the pill to the size of a grain of rice.

That was why the explosion was so devastating.

Xu Yuan’s relentless slicing of the idol’s flesh was not futile—it forced the flesh to actively replenish the idol.

In that process, the Golden Pellet buried in the flesh was carried deep into the Flesh Idol.

“Pity,” Mr. Gao’s face murmured mockingly. “Still meaningless!”

Flesh writhed, filling the crater—first forming the altar, then coalescing again into a new Flesh Idol!

Unless you utterly destroy the entire carpet, burning every scrap of flesh to ash, the idol cannot be destroyed!

“I told you already—the moment you stepped into this place, your fate was sealed!”

Here it comes.

Today’s pace was a bit slow.

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(End of Chapter)