Chapter 505: Eternal Life (5K)

Wanli Fengdao's eyelid twitched violently; just by his expression, you could guess what he wanted to complain about.

First, this group of otherworldly transcenders weren't human to begin with.

Second, damn it, Lei Yesi is right there in your left field, hopping around like crazy! And this guy doesn't look anything like me, hey! Even if he got beaten to a pulp, how could he suddenly grow a beard?

Are otherworldly players spraying minoxidil on their fists while punching?

At that moment, the Fungus King, moving at high speed, slashed through the Bai Ma Mu Bei, stomped the ground, and drifted beneath the Centipede Octopus, raising a small, delicate glass fish tank filled with seawater in his mushroom arm.

The fish tank itself was a high-tier item; the Centipede Octopus shrank rapidly mid-fall, finally reducing to the size of a palm before landing inside the tank.

The Dark Duel wagered not only eyeballs but also current Qi and maximum Qi capacity; the Centipede Octopus had lost half its combat power. Li Cheng didn't look at it—he tucked away both Centipede Octopus eyeballs and raised his gaze toward the towering, expanding thunderstorm fire tornado high above.

The entire primordial forest was lit as bright as day by fire and lightning, yet something slightly puzzling occurred: within the intense light, the arrow of the 【Pathfinding Radar】—which should have pointed to a fixed direction—slightly deviated.

A hair's breadth off can lead to a thousand-mile error; a deviation of one or two degrees in the radar could send the final destination soaring across an entire continent.

No time to ponder further—Li Cheng heard Wanli Fengdao shout: "Below your feet!"

The hairs on the back of Li Cheng's neck stood rigid—he had already learned from the Death Notes that this primordial forest carried a probability of death.

Instantly, he pulled from his 3D storage a pre-prepared circular, multi-layered titanium alloy vault door and held it before himself.

Clang!

The vault door was struck by an invisible object, leaving a hole the thickness of a pinky finger. After an extremely brief delay, the hole exploded violently.

The roar briefly drowned out the thunder of the storm clouds.

Li Cheng raised an eyebrow as the front of the vault door split open, metal shards fanning out like tulips, their edges melted.

Judging by the shape of the gap, the explosion had been triggered by an invisible arrow.

Shhh—

The Rabbit Rogue leaped repeatedly off the tree trunks of the primordial forest, soaring high, drawing back his bowstring with force aimed at Li Cheng.

A barrage of invisible, transparent arrows shot forth; Li Cheng activated 【Knight Never Dies by Bare Hands】, flipping and spinning the vault door like Jackie Chan in a furniture store, blocking every arrow.

The Rabbit Rogue's fur rippled wildly in the gale; her gaze sharp, she drew a bloodstained iron arrow etched with runes from thin air with deliberate, slow motion—yet astonishing speed—and nocked it to her bow.

Just by the arrow's design, you knew this was her ultimate technique. Lei Yesi shouted, "Our fight isn't over yet!"

Simultaneously, he raised his right hand, jamming his nails deep into his left shoulder and tearing hard.

His transcendent power allowed him to effortlessly peel off a whole slab of skin from his chest and abdomen, revealing bloody tendons, pale yellow fat, and an intricate web-like tattoo carved beneath the dermis.

It depicted a female skeleton clad in a wedding gown, holding a crystal orb—named "Death Saint God," a newly emerged symbol of faith in Mexico over the past decade.

Its followers were mostly people living at society's bottom or on the fringes of the law: street vendors, taxi drivers, thieves, hooligans, gang members, and so on.

As Mexico's gang wars intensified, many gang members even performed ritualistic killings to worship the Death Saint God, seeking good fortune.

The Death Saint God's appearance predated the Arrival of the Killing Grounds; otherwise, the GOC would have definitely concluded this was some transcender attempting to achieve divine status through real-world faith—and would have unleashed a full-force punch, sixty blows per second.

In short, when this pattern merged with Lei Yesi's power system, the result was:

Pattern Fruit: Death Saint God: Embrace of Love.

The wedding-gown-clad female skeleton detached from Lei Yesi's skin, floated lightly, and instantly teleported before the Rabbit Rogue, opening her arms to embrace her.

The Rabbit Rogue's pupils contracted; she decisively kicked the air and shot backward like a released arrow.

The wedding-gown skeleton clung like a leech, pursuing relentlessly; no matter how she twisted or dodged, she couldn't shake it free—and had no chance to fire the rune arrow.

Li Cheng nodded at Lei Yesi, gripped the ruined vault door with his left hand, clutched the levitation engine in his right, and aimed at the tornado's center.

Light-speed elbow strike!

He vanished from his spot; the ground beneath him collapsed instantly. Grass and trees within a hundred-meter radius were incinerated into ash by the superheated compressed air, and the rolling shockwave erased all drifting spores like an eraser wiping a chalkboard.

The once perfectly spherical fire tornado was forcibly torn open—but inside the gap, there was no griffin.

【Skill Scroll Name: Thunderstorm Nova】

【Attribute: Consumable (limited to three uses)】

【Type: Spiritual Energy】

【Usage: Active】

【Rank: Epic】

【Effect: Star Transformation. Transform yourself into a mobile storm of lightning, destroying everything along your path; all elemental attacks received during this time are converted into fuel for the storm. Immune to physical attacks or interruption/silence effects. After charging for 30 seconds or accumulating sufficient energy, trigger a massive explosion.】

【Cost: 70% of total Qi capacity】

【Cooldown: 3 hours】

【Requirement: Intelligence attribute ≥ 15】

【Note: "I totally dodged the lightning, folks." The weakened second-generation Olympian king Cronus pointed weakly at his traitorous son, Lei Shen.】

The light-speed elbow strike failed to shatter it; the Silence effect of the Sea-Soul Lock Bell couldn't interrupt it either. Li Cheng made an instant decision, drew the 【Ape Regression Gun】, aimed at the gap, and fired repeatedly.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

The first few bullets melted in the flames; the final two successfully penetrated the storm's core, triggering regression and shrinking the tornado's diameter.

But the thirty-second timer had expired.

The storm rapidly contracted, nearly collapsing into a tiny pinpoint of light.

The otherworldly transcenders clearly knew the explosion's power—the Fungus King clasped the glass fish tank with both arms, turned his back to the storm, and used any remaining active mycelium to form a shield wall across his back.

The Rabbit Rogue, risking being caught by the wedding-gown skeleton, altered her trajectory and fled in a straight line at maximum speed away from the epicenter.

On the player side, the Bai Ma Mu Bei lifted the coffin and plunged it into the ground ahead.

Claudia gritted her teeth, tore open several defensive skill scrolls, clutched the fragments in her right hand, and raised layered, overlapping magical shields to protect herself.

Lei Yesi peeled off his bloody skin and summoned more tattoos, wrapping himself in layer upon layer.

As for Grey Rain, she had a sudden idea: the glass prison had been crafted by an elite otherworldly player and was indestructible. She immediately shoved Wanli Fengdao in front of her and hid behind him.

Boom—

Great sound is silent; at the instant the thunderstorm exploded, the surrounding air was compressed into a paper-thin layer, making it impossible to discern how loud the blast truly was.

Intense light, sufficient to blind the retinas of ordinary people, illuminated every corner of the primal forest.

Some wild beasts fleeing in panic instinctively turned their heads, and the final sight they saw was a magnificent scene like the birth of a miniature star.

Then, there was nothing more.

At the epicenter, vegetation was incinerated, soil vaporized, leaving behind a deep crater.

Hundreds of beasts too slow to escape turned to carbon powder, radiating outward, "imprinted" upon the ground.

"Whoosh"

Li Cheng, seven hundred meters from the epicenter, slowly exhaled a stale breath; in that instant, he decisively used the Assembled Puppet · Modified to fuse the vault door with himself, then activated the Unyielding Stone Rooting Technique.

The effect of the Unyielding Stone Rooting Technique was to petrify the user, greatly enhancing defense—equivalent to withstanding most of the damage using a reinforced vault door.

The original one-meter-thick alloy door had been melted down to a thin layer; Li Cheng retrieved it and turned to look at the others.

Bai Ma Mu Bei's entire skin had melted, exposing bones and organs; she struggled to raise a vial of Life Elixir to her mouth. Though it leaked through her esophagus, under the power of the Killing Field, it still worked, slowly healing her body.

The other two humans were not so lucky.

Claudia's right hand, still clutching the protective scroll, and her right half remained unharmed, while her left half had vanished into thin air; her gaze dulled, and she died on the spot.

Lei Yesi's body began disintegrating from his feet, inch by inch; as his legs vanished, his upper body crashed to the ground, still shouting: "Impossible, absolutely impossible. I asked the Navigator's Guild—they told me I wouldn't die here."

His voice gradually faded to silence; the Rabbit Ranger also perished—this non-human had finally been caught by the God of Death, unable to fully escape the Thunder Nova's range; his body was charred black, pierced through and through by lightning, staggering as he fell, left hand stretched forward, right hand resting on his back.

With two human companions dead, the mission was now shadowed. Li Cheng frowned, pulled out the battery-shaped 【Hidden Back Energy Source】, violently drained spiritual energy, then aimed at the reformed griffin and struck with light-speed elbow.

The second elbow strike—griffin, deeply depleted of spiritual energy, could not resist; it barely managed a single eagle cry,

then was crushed into powder, feathers scattering. Wrong feel!

Li Cheng whirled around, only to see the griffin's body, from powder form, slowly then rapidly restoring to its original state.

Not just the griffin—even Claudia, presumed dead, had her left half regenerated as if new; she suddenly opened her eyes, gasping for breath, touching her head and heart in disbelief.

"The Navigator's Guild takes money and does nothing, tricks customers with pre-made prophecies! I'm filing a complaint! I demand tenfold compensation!"

Lei Yesi raged, then suddenly realized he was still alive, jolting upright as if from a deathbed.

Far away, the charred rabbit ranger, the charred forest creatures, even every blade of grass and tree in the primal forest, rapidly regenerated and healed under an unknown force.

"What the hell is going on?"

Bai Ma Mu Bei stared in shock, instinctively turning to Li Cheng: "Your skill?"

"I wish it were."

Li Cheng frowned; the regenerated forest spanned over a thousand hectares, and the revived lifeforms were countless. Such power rivaled that of a Life Deity.

In astonishment, Li Cheng noticed the 【Radar Guide Device】 pinned at his waist—the arrow it projected began sharply veering, snapping toward the twelve o'clock position.

Everyone present—including Grey Rain, the dazed Wanli Fengdao, and the Fungus King, who had shaken off charred debris and risen—turned their heads toward that direction.

High in the abyss, two beams of intense light tore through darkness, slowly expanding like the eyes of a great dragon, diving close to the ground.

Hss—

A piercing whistle suddenly blared; the light halted. It was an old green-skinned train with twenty-two cars, its surface painted with elaborate floral patterns.

The green-skinned train slowly pulled to a stop amid the forest. A headless reindeer, standing upright on two legs, nearly two meters tall, wearing an Archetype windbreaker, stepped out like an ordinary passenger from the carriage, stretching lazily.

Three pairs of bright yellow eyes on its neck stump immediately spotted Li Cheng and Grey Rain, exclaiming in surprise and delight: "Master Pi Fu? Long time no see."

". Long time no see, Reindeer Brother."

Li Cheng scratched his head, recovering from his shock.

During the last Shaking Mission—the battery escort—he and Zhao Zijing, Red Car Driver, and others had boarded this green-skinned train with its genuine leather sofas, wool carpets, and retro lighting.

The difference was that back then, the train's exterior had no floral patterns.

From gathered intelligence, the green-skinned train originated directly from the Killing Field's entity; it could teleport through space, stop at fixed platforms, and appear beside passengers who held strong travel intentions, delivering them to the nearest station to their desired destination.

None present knew this primal forest was also a station platform—meaning the train had arrived here according to schedule.

As for the headless reindeer, Li Cheng had seen it on the train before; it was a native Killing Field creature, possessing power equivalent to Lv33 and high intelligence.

Because it enjoyed fishing, it maintained good relations with Earth humans who gifted it various fishing tools.

During the battery escort mission, Li Cheng had enlisted the headless reindeer to eliminate the mastermind BOSS, Silverite.

Times had changed; Li Cheng was now Lv24, and the headless reindeer seemed stronger too. He weighed his words: "Reindeer Brother, this train is…"

"Eternal Vacation Themed Train."

The headless reindeer shrugged, pointing to the train's surface—its theme-park-like flowers, balloons, and liquor decorations: "During this journey, a circle of Eternal Life Field surrounds the train. All life within the field will not age, not fall ill, not die.

You happened to be standing on the platform, so you were enveloped by the Eternal Life Field in advance."

"That's too coincidental."

Li Cheng instinctively sensed something off; the Energy Backflow Mission, tied to time reversal and the birth of the Truth Side, had felt entirely pre-scripted.

Had the situation allowed, Li Cheng would have pulled out his phone to call the Truth Side and ask Brother Side whether this time involved causal interference.

"All events in the world are combinations of coincidences."

The headless reindeer casually remarked, calmly: "The train departs in two minutes. Will you board?"

The answer was obvious: as the train appeared, the 【Radar Guide Devices】 in the human players' hands, as if magnetized, locked their arrows firmly onto the train, demanding they board.

"I—"

Li Cheng feigned opening his mouth to speak, then suddenly gripped the Levitation Engine and struck the Fungus King with a light-speed elbow.

Boom!

The Fungus King, caught off guard, disintegrated into fine mycelium; under the influence of the Eternal Life Field, it regenerated slowly.

But the oval glass fish tank in his hand, containing the Hundred-Legged One, had already fallen into Li Cheng's grasp.

"Monkey, what are you doing?"

The revived Rabbit Ranger nocked an arrow, tense and shouting: "Let go!"

"Yes, there's an Eternal Life Field here—but with my high-speed mobility, I can instantly relocate hundreds of kilometers away, beyond the field's range, and calmly eliminate the Hundred-Legged One."

Li Cheng held the fish tank in his hands and said calmly, "If you don't want him to die, exchange Barthemoss, Wanli Fengdao, and two other humans. Let them out of their glass prisons."

The atmosphere grew so solemn that a falling pin could be heard; finally, the Fungus King, who had remained silent until now, spoke: "Four for one? We're at a huge disadvantage."

Li Cheng froze in place. "Oh my god."

Hui Yu's eyes widened. "What the fuck kind of noise is that?"

Even Wanli Fengdao, who had seen it all, stared in shock. "WTF."

Everyone was stunned because the Fungus King's voice, utterly incongruous with his massive, towering frame, was a childish tone thick with nasal congestion—like a baby dragon mixed with a lazy sloth.

In short: An Lushan enters Chang'an—the sugar's done.

The Fungus King seemed oblivious to how absurd his voice sounded, and continued calmly: "Four for one is too much of a loss. At most, two."

"Either all four, or none."

Li Cheng said firmly: "From the unspoken understanding and mutual concern among you four otherworld players, I can tell you've known each other for a long time, with deep bonds—you wouldn't abandon any one of them."

"But I'm different. I barely know Barthemoss—just nodding acquaintances. As for Wanli Fengdao, with his face full of three-tenths sleaze, I'd never even seen him before. No connection whatsoever."

(At this moment, Xiao Dao Ge rolled his eyes helplessly. "Hey, was it really necessary to add that malicious description? Watch out—I'll sue you for defamation!")

"I'm making this exchange because I can extract benefits from these four—ask their guilds for money. If they pay, great. If not, I can live with it."

To strengthen his argument, Li Cheng activated the 【Visual Memory】 skill on the miniature centipede octopus, and sure enough, it projected a scene from long ago: the four otherworld players training together in combat. "So, what's your choice?"

The Fungus King, the Griffin, and the Rabbit Rogue exchanged glances, then silently stepped forward, pressed a few buttons on the glass prisons holding Barthemoss and the other two players, entered the password, drained their spiritual energy, and released them.

Only after Li Cheng set down the glass fish tank and returned it to the Fungus King did they finally release Wanli Fengdao, his spiritual energy completely depleted.

"Master Pi Fu, thanks. When I get back, I'll transfer the money to you."

Wanli Fengdao rubbed his wrists weakly; if not for Master Pi Fu's intervention, he might truly have been doomed.

Li Cheng waved his hand. "Hey, we're all Special Affairs Bureau folks—why be so formal? Just transfer me a couple million in-game coins."

Wanli Fengdao instinctively retorted: "Even if I broke myself down into parts and sold them, I couldn't scrape together a million! Are you mixing up in-game coins with Zimbabwean dollars?"

"Impossible. Haven't you heard the story of Zi Gong ransoming people from Lu? Confucius himself said: if you save someone, you must follow Lu's law and demand a generous reward."

Li Cheng declared loudly: "I'm especially fond of a line from Confucius's Analects—calling out all Shandong folks! Lu-A Jinan cars, Lu-B Qingdao, Lu-C Zibo, Lu-D Zaozhuang, Dongying—all Lu geese."

"Ooooh, that's so cool—Confucius said that? I'll hang myself with a bean stick right now."

Wanli Fengdao's eyebrow twitched violently. Suddenly, he rubbed his chin, inexplicably feeling a strange sense of déjà vu—like this conversation had crossed time and space.

Déjà vu?