Chapter 2601: Splitting

Gaske was the closest to the Life Dragon Essence, so he grabbed it first. However, the moment he seized it, black-red tentacles coiled around his body.

Gaske, who had undergone beast-fication, saw his skin rapidly wither. Being entangled by the Gourmet's black-red tentacles was certainly not a pleasant experience.

With a *snap*, the arm Gaske used to grab the Life Dragon Essence withered until it shattered, but he didn't care in the slightest. The sharp claws on his other arm extended, swiping toward the Gourmet's head.

Gaske's arm suddenly thickened and elongated by half a meter. After grabbing the Gourmet's head, he squeezed with all his might, intending to crush it.

The black-red tentacles exploded. The Gourmet's entire body shattered, transforming into thousands of black-red tentacles. These tentacles coiled together, their tips forming a small hand that reached toward the Essence in mid-air.

Before the Gourmet's tentacles could grab the Essence, Su Xiao, his left arm wreathed in smoke, had already seized it, activating his Devourer Core to its limit.

*Boom! *

The crystal layer clinging to Su Xiao's side shattered. The charging Tank Man slammed into him, and he broke through the air with a whistle, flying off to the side.

In mid-air, Su Xiao's left hand suddenly felt empty; the Life Dragon Essence had been pulled away by some energy. Including him, none of the people present dared to grip the object too tightly. Once the Essence was crushed, the life energy inside would disperse into the surroundings, its purity would be greatly diminished, and the energy would lose its value.

The Essence floated in front of the Priest. He pointed his finger toward it. Seeing this, Gaske, nearby, was furious. He didn't know what the old man's goal was, but he was actually going to destroy the Life Dragon Essence. He guessed that the other party likely wanted to sacrifice the energy within the Essence to some kind of deity.

Before Gaske could act, the Gourmet slapped the ground with one hand, and the black-red tentacles all over his body surged.

*Boom, boom, boom... *

Earth spikes, each over half a meter thick and several meters long, enveloped the Priest. He had to retract the hand he was pointing at the Essence to avoid having his arm pierced. He did not possess the monster-like physique of Gaske or the Gourmet.

With a *thud*, the earth spikes were smashed apart. It was Tank Man; it seemed there was nothing he couldn't smash.

*Sss~*

The Boundary Line shot out, entangling the Life Dragon Essence. Su Xiao pulled with his arm while the long blade in his other hand blocked his side.

*Clang! * Zhan Long Shan blocked three hook-like claws. Gaske's vertical pupils stared at Su Xiao. The flesh at his severed arm surged, and a new arm instantly grew out.

"Bai Ye, I won't be polite about this."

The black-red tentacles clung to Su Xiao's left hand but did not absorb the life force of his arm—after all, they were on the same side. Su Xiao pulled with his left hand; although he withdrew it from the tentacles, the Essence was snatched away by the Gourmet.

*Boom! *

Black-red tentacles splattered everywhere. The red-eyed Tank Man slammed into the Gourmet. This guy was stubborn to the extreme; whoever held the Life Dragon Essence, he would ram into them.

The black-red tentacles gathered, and the Gourmet, blood flowing from his nose and mouth, stumbled backward. A blast of wind pressure surged from his side—it was Tank Man. At this moment, the biological armor on his back had transformed into two rows of exhaust pipes, and brownish-yellow energy surged out from within.

With a *bang*, Tank Man charged into the distance. Because the kinetic energy of the charge was too strong, he even began to fly at low altitude.

"Destruction Cannon!"

Tank Man, in the middle of his charge, stopped abruptly. After tossing the Life Dragon Essence into his mouth, he clamped his hands together. All the biological armor on his body concentrated on his hands, forming a cannon barrel nearly half a meter thick. The Gourmet, Gaske, and the Priest, who were pursuing him, were perfectly aimed at by the cannon.

The Gourmet and the Priest both vanished; one used a spatial item, and the other possessed innate spatial abilities. Only Gaske lunged forward. If it came to who was more reckless, Beast Gaske was undoubtedly number one.

*Thud! *

A beam of light over ten meters thick roared past. After affecting a straight line for several kilometers, the violent energy slowly dissipated.

A semi-circular crater, ten meters wide and several kilometers long, appeared on the ground. The interior of the crater was glowing red, with sparks flickering.

The Gourmet, with nearly half his body gone, collapsed on the ground. Dozens of meters away was Gaske, whose body was reduced to only bones and organs. In front of him was Tank Man, whose entire arm had vanished. The stump at his shoulder was irregular, as if the entire arm had been bitten off.

"Roar!!"

Gaske roared at the sky; he had already swallowed the Essence.

Seeing this, Tank Man, clutching his severed arm with one hand, cursed under his breath and turned to retreat. Gaske had gone mad, getting serious on only the third day. On the seventh and tenth days, there were still purple supply boxes and Saint-level sets to be dropped.

The flesh on Gaske's body regenerated rapidly. This guy seemed completely feral, but he turned and charged toward the water source area—he was very rational.

The Gourmet, his body surging with black-red tentacles, stood up. The smile on his face vanished. A smiling Gourmet was not dangerous; he was only dangerous when he wasn't smiling.

A rumbling sound came from afar. Su Xiao did not continue to fight for the Essence. Four-fifths of the life energy within the Essence had already been devoured by him, and this life energy was currently stored in his Devourer Core.

As for the Essence that required 24 hours to gain ownership of, he had no interest in it. It wasn't worth fighting over 200 contractors for that remaining one-fifth of life energy.

From the very beginning, Su Xiao never intended to take the entire Life Dragon Essence; the probability of that was too low. Now that his goal had been achieved, leaving this place was the wisest choice.

He glanced at the hundred-meter-tall tree stump in the distance. For some reason, Su Xiao always felt that thing was dangerous. He didn't even want to fight strong enemies in this vicinity.

Two hours later, at the edge of the swamp area, Gaske, whose body had thinned by a circle, stopped. After confirming no one was following, he made a retching gesture and spat out a fist-sized Essence from his mouth.

"It actually cracked. What did that guy do?"

Gaske examined the cracks on the surface of the Essence. This outer crystal shell completely sealed the energy within. Using the cracks, Gaske permeated his perception into it.

Suddenly, Gaske's eyes widened. The life energy inside the Essence... seemed a bit scarce.

Upon realizing this, Gaske recalled the scene earlier where Su Xiao was shrouded in black-blue smoke.

"Gaske, it would be wiser to hand it to me. You are severely injured."

The Priest walked through the swamp mud. As for which Paradise he came from, that was an obvious question.

"Fine."

Gaske tossed the Essence in his hand. Facing this old rival, he knew clearly that fighting him in his current state would mean certain death, and it wasn't worth it.

After the Priest caught the Essence, his eyes showed confusion. Based on his understanding of Gaske, the other party shouldn't have given up so easily.

"More than half of the energy inside has been absorbed. I have no interest in being hunted for 24 hours while carrying an empty shell."

Gaske walked into the depths of the swamp with a look of annoyance.

"Old friend, have you completely undergone beast-fication?"

"Completely undergone beast-fication? Hah."

Gaske sneered and strode forward without looking back.

"Use it to suppress it first, don't let your own ability conquer you."

The Priest tossed the Life Dragon Essence in his hand. Gaske, with his back to the Priest, raised his hand and caught the Essence steadily.

"I don't believe an old guy like you would be so kind."

"I don't even believe it myself. Stay away from me, lest I regret it."

The Priest shook his head with a smile and turned to walk into the swamp.

Gaske looked at the Priest's back, snorted coldly, and sat in the mud. He held the Life Dragon Essence with both hands, preparing to use the pure life energy inside to restore his own life force first, then find a safe place to absorb it slowly.

A wisp of life energy peeled away from the cracks in the Essence. Gaske absorbed this life energy into his body. His skin-and-bones body recovered at a speed visible to the naked eye, returning to his original physique in seconds.

"So pure it makes one want to swallow it in one gulp."

Gaske exhaled slowly. Suddenly, he spat out a large mouthful of blood with a *wah*. His entire body felt as if it were being torn apart. His eyes were filled with disbelief; he had checked just now, and there was nothing wrong with this life energy.

"Priest!"

Gaske's roar carried far. At this moment, not only had the Life Dragon Essence cracked, but his mindset had also cracked. There was something wrong with the energy inside this Essence.

In reality, the Priest was an innocent bystander. The energy mixed into the Essence was "Dissociative Vitality Extract," which was extracted from a certain plant in the Void, and the finished product was in energy form.

In 99.99% of cases, this alchemical extract was non-toxic. Not only was it non-toxic, but it could also significantly stimulate cell regeneration. However, this regeneration had no limit until the life force was exhausted. If absorbed together with life energy, the effect was even better.

The Priest, walking in the swamp, paused and looked toward the direction the roar came from, a smile appearing on his face. After he touched the Essence just now, he had activated one of his abilities. He saw a scene where he was hunched over in the mud of the swamp, his flesh surging, wailing in his mouth.

"Old friend, you are still all brawn and no brains."

The Priest changed direction, preparing to finish off Gaske first; the other party was very likely to affect his plan.

Half an hour later, in the muddy swamp, the Priest, his clothes tattered and covered in blood, leaned against a giant rock. His aura was completely restrained, and he had a look of having seen a ghost. The reason he was in such a miserable state was that the current Gaske was ridiculously strong, almost immortal. Half his body was blown away, and he regenerated within 0.5 seconds.

A monster over six meters tall with gray skin walked in the mud. Its muscles were knotted, its sharp claws were like half-meter-long metal hooks, and it was full of fangs, with pale yellow saliva dripping from the corners of its mouth.

Ten meters away, the Priest leaning against the giant rock could hear the monster's heavy breathing.

*Pitter-patter, pitter-patter~*

Like lizard-like feet stepping on the giant rock, the gray-skinned monster lowered its head, looked at the Priest leaning against the rock, opened its mouth wide, and smiled. ===== CHAPTER 2602 =====