Chapter 39: Unkillable?

Jiang Fanxin's face slightly reddened as she thanked Lu Jing, then she twisted her body, intending to get down from his embrace.

However, the sensation coming from her body made her somewhat surprised.

"Ah!!"

A sharp scream rang out, unusually piercing in the silent red mist.

It turned out that while Lu Jing was cutting the tentacles with his blade, he inadvertently sliced Jiang Fanxin's clothing.

Even her close-fitting garments were cut off, falling to the lakeside.

In Lu Jing's embrace, Jiang Fanxin's jade-white shoulders and her subtly revealed curves presented themselves in an alluring manner.

Previously Jiang Fanxin had always presented as a heroic woman, but now her face was full of bashfulness, giving her a maidenly charm all its own.

I have to say, this girl really has plenty of potential.

"Huu~"

Lu Jing took a deep breath, steadied his mind, and placed the curled-up Jiang Fanxin on the ground.

Then he took out a set of clothes from his own backpack.

"Here, wear mine for now."

Lu Jing laid the clothes on the ground, then turned his back and gazed at the blood lake that was bubbling up.

"Tha... thank you."

From behind came Jiang Fanxin's soft, weak voice.

"What the hell is in this lake? Even just the extending tentacles are this hard to deal with."

Lu Jing furrowed his brow in thought.

The rustling sound of putting on clothes rang out, and Jiang Fanxin slipped on the garments as quickly as possible.

"I'm dressed... this monster isn't something we can handle; if not, we should notify the Martial Association to deal with it—this place is too dangerous."

Jiang Fanxin panted heavily; the recent events still left her shaken.

As a Third‑Realm Martial Artist, she actually had no power to fight back against those tentacles.

Although the tentacles had an element of surprise, this unknown thing was the most frightening.

Just now she had been blindfolded and couldn't see how Lu Jing rescued her, so she still didn't know that he was a Talent Endowed in mental power.

"Let's go quickly; staying too long in this blood mist makes even breathing feel difficult."

Jiang Fanxin's current thought is simple: quickly retreat from the blood mist's range, report to the Martial Association, and collect a cash reward.

Moreover, this place is too sinister; we don't know which organization created it, and if we delay, something bad might happen.

Having said that, Jiang Fanxin prepared to pull Lu Jing along to leave.

However, Lu Jing did not move.

Although the blood pool's tentacles are very strong, they pose no threat to Lu Jing.

And even if he couldn't defeat them, he could still retreat unharmed.

Having made up his mind, Lu Jing told Jiang Fanxin, "You go first; I can handle this myself."

"Ah? You yourself?"

Jiang Fanxin blinked slightly, doubting she had heard wrong: "You just said you'd go deal with that monster yourself?"

"Yes, believe me; I'm still quite confident in my own strength."

Lu Jing spoke with weight and full of confidence.

"Hurry up and leave; give me half an hour, and I'll come out to meet you."

Having said that, Lu Jing turned, picked up his long blade, and walked toward the lake.

It seemed his confidence in his words had steadied her; Jiang Fanxin stood frozen in place, not blocking Lu Jing's steps.

Before Lu Jing returned to the lake, the blood water that had been about to overflow was actually rapidly decreasing.

The water level dropped at a speed of one meter per second.

In no time, the lake turned into a pit tens of meters deep.

Lu Jing stood at the bank and looked into the pit.

The lake had nearly dried up, exposing the rugged, stone-strewn bottom.

At the very center of the lakebed stood a blood-colored altar.

Around the altar, thick wrist‑sized iron chains were spread everywhere, bent into the pattern of a formation, looking extremely mysterious.

Lu Jing's eyes narrowed; above the altar sat a humanoid monster covered all over in tumors.

The monster also saw Lu Jing; a tear split its face, as if mocking his overconfidence.

The next moment, the tumors on its body quivered, and it straightened itself upright.

"What the hell is this thing... it's truly grotesque."

Lu Jing observed the monster at the lake bottom, and goosebumps rose involuntarily on his skin.

This monster should possess some intelligence; it stretched its body and yawned, its tumors expanding and contracting with its breath, absorbing all the remaining blood in the lakebed into its body.

"Kieh kieh!"

The monster emitted a strange cry, extending several tentacles from its body toward Lu Jing on the shore.

"Again with this move?"

Lu Jing remained calm, swinging his Thousand‑Blade Demon Sword to cut off all the tentacles.

"Swish swish!"

Just then, a shower of arrows fell from the sky, piercing into the lake monster's body.

But these arrows inflicted no damage on the lake monster; only its tumors quivered, and the arrows fell to the ground.

Its wounds also returned to their original state.

"How did you come back?"

Lu Jing turned his head and saw Jiang Fanxin standing behind him.

Jiang Fanxin whispered, "I was worried about you......"

Lu Jing's face warmed, and he said, "You cover me from above; I'll go down and meet it."

After saying that, Lu Jing jumped down directly; halfway down, he plunged the Thousand-Blade Demon Sword into the nearby stone to stop his fall.

Then he pulled out the Thousand-Blade Demon Sword and landed steadily on the lake bottom.

Looking at the monster not far away, Lu Jing did not attack immediately; close observation let him discover many interesting things.

On the lake monster's tumors were distributed various Demon Beast faces, constantly howling.

These should be the Demon Beasts it absorbed, all turned into tumors parasitic on its body.

"What a disgusting thing, you shouldn't exist in this world!"

Lu Jing kicked off the ground, sending shards of stone flying, and charged at the monster.

"Clang!"

The Thousand-Blade Demon Sword traced a brilliant blade of light in the air.

The next moment, a wound as deep as a finger appeared on the monster's body.

"Pfft!"

Blood spattered, staining the ground red.

However, Lu Jing's expression turned somewhat solemn.

Just now, that slash felt like he was cutting rubber, almost failing to break the opponent's defense.

Was it that the Thousand-Blade Demon Sword wasn't sharp enough, or was his own strength too weak?

Probably neither.

Lu Jing shook his head; it was that the monster's defense was too strong, its fleshly defense even surpassing that of an ordinary fourth-level Demon Beast.

The monster, wounded by the slash, let out a howl and actually reabsorbed the fresh blood that had just spurted from its wound.

Soon, the wounds on its body healed automatically.

"Hiss...... can't kill it?"

Lu Jing sucked in a breath of cold air; this monster was far more troublesome than he thought.

"Lu Jing, this monster can absorb blood to heal itself; you can't kill it, come up quickly!"

Jiang Fanxin saw everything from above and shouted anxiously.

Lu Jing didn't reply, but instead gripped his sword and charged up again.

Seeing Lu Jing ignore her, Jiang Fanxin stamped her foot in anger, nocked an arrow in her bow, and shot at the monster.

Although the arrow could not harm the monster, it could slightly impede it.