Chapter 151: Hunting the Phantom

Feng Shifu, wrapped in the cold wind, walked slowly along the street under the night sky.

In these past few days, martial artists have been found dead on the streets one after another, their states of death miserable, causing quite a stir for a time.

Every martial artist felt insecure, fearing they might be targeted by the killer and suffer a disaster from the heavens, so they rarely went out after nightfall.

Because the killer's strength was unfathomable, the victims targeted had varying levels of strength, ranging from those with Force to those with Qi and Blood.

After the cases broke out, for some unknown reason, they were actually suppressed by the City Gate Guard and did not cause much impact among the common people.

If it weren't for an important matter tonight, Feng Shifu would not have risked going out.

The fist technique he practiced was passed down by his ancestors and named after his family, which fellow practitioners called Feng Family Fist.

With the strength of Qi and Blood 4th Stage, although he was not qualified to open a school and take on Disciples, he still recruited a few Disciples to teach them the fist technique.

If any of his disciples or grand-disciples were to break through to the Martial Master realm in the future, his school of fist technique could also enter the hall and be on par with the Tiger-Subduing Fist and Rock Fist within Gongliang City.

"If that killer doesn't come, so be it; if he dares to come, I'll let him see the power of the Feng Family Fist!"

Feng Shifu clenched his fists, his eyes filled with powerful confidence.

The killer really came! Swish, an abnormal sound of wind swept across the ground, emitting a hair-raising murderous aura.

A silhouette like a mountain cast onto the ground brought Feng Shifu's footsteps to a halt on the spot.

The opponent's face emerged from the dark shadow.

"It's you!"

Feng Shifu was both shocked and angry, "Du Yan Lu Zhigang, so it was you."

The killer who was the talk of the city was in reality Du Yan Lu Zhigang.

Feng Shifu breathed a sigh of relief; a martial artist who had just broken through the Qi and Blood stage, relying only on his Poison Palm skills, posed no threat to him.

The corners of his mouth split into an eerie angle, "Du Yan Lu Zhigang, you delivered yourself to my door."

The flesh at the corners of his mouth tore, extending from his cheeks to his neck and the back of his head, almost splitting his head in two.

How could this be something a living person of flesh and blood could do? It was clearly a monster...

... A Void Phantom! It had revealed its true form.

Zhou You looked at the monster before him, his heart as calm as an ancient well.

"Trial Project (One Star): Accumulate 3 kills of Phantom entities, currently 4/3 completed."

That's right, the killer who had been hunting martial artists everywhere during this time was none other than him, wearing the skin of Lu Zhigang.

In order to complete the Trial Task, he searched everywhere for Void Phantoms, only to discover a massive secret.

To this day, the Void Phantoms that had mixed into the city with the refugees had long since passed their initial weak stage.

Now, the lurking Phantom entities had grown by devouring flesh and blood, invisibly becoming a force to be reckoned with.

The Qi and Blood of martial artists were more nourishing and sweeter than the flesh and blood of ordinary people, making them the primary target for Phantom entities.

Therefore, most Phantom entities put on human skin, disguised themselves as martial artists, and secretly hunted martial artists for food.

Yet, the disguises of the Phantom entities were seamless; unless they exposed themselves, it was generally difficult to distinguish the true from the false.

However, Zhou You had the system panel's task prompts; approaching a suspicious target would trigger an alert, catching them every time.

During these days, he would lock onto targets during the day and go out to hunt at night.

The hunting target of 3 Phantom entities had long been completed, but he was reluctant to finish early, wanting to test a hypothesis.

If one exceeds the Trial Task, is there an extra reward?

"Void Phantom, no, your disguised identity is a Qi and Blood martial artist, already fused with this human skin."

"Already upgraded from a Void Phantom to... a Living-Form Phantom."

Phantom entities are a living-form species, having mastered bizarre means such as Parasitic, Seed-Stealing, and Fusion, disguising themselves from nothingness into flesh-and-blood spirits.

Once they transform from void to reality and ascend to the level of a Qi and Blood martial artist, they are a higher-level Living-Form Phantom.

The 'Feng Shifu' before him was the second Living-Form Phantom Zhou You had ever seen.

The Phantom entities he hunted at the beginning were all small fry, just Void Phantoms, on the same level as Fang Guiqi back then.

He had slaughtered 2 of them like cutting vegetables, only to hit a snag with a Living-Form Phantom.

Recalling it now, he still felt lingering fear; it was too tragic. "So what if you're Du Yan? I can still digest you."

'Feng Shifu' blinked, his pupils melting into a large patch of gray-white, which, combined with his blood-filled maw, looked even more ferocious.

No need for words; both knew clearly that neither would let the other go.

He pounced, fast as lightning, directly gouging a trench the size of a water vat into the ground.

The rammed earth was as hard as steel, and even a refined steel heavy axe would spark upon striking it, yet before him, it was like dregs of tofu.

The evil power of a Living-Form Phantom was a step above the strength of a Void Phantom, posing a greater danger.

"Well come!"

Zhou You clasped his palms together, his footwork drifting and uncertain, with colorful mist emerging around his body.

The palm poison of the Seven Step Poison Sand covered the surroundings, the air filled with a deadly toxin that killed upon contact with blood.

A flash of smugness crossed the corner of 'Feng Shifu's' eyes as he charged headlong into the palm poison, directly clawing into Zhou You's chest.

"Are you stupid? Your so-called deadly poison has no effect on us Phantom entities."

The palm poison sizzled as it landed on him, vanishing into thin air in an instant.

The sinister power of the Living-Form Phantom poured madly into Zhou You's body through the claw in his chest.

According to his experience, it would be fatal within an hour or less.

Zhou You grinned, "Coincidentally, your power has no effect on me either."

The skin on his chest took on a metallic iron-gray hue, penetrating half an inch from the surface, all within the scope of his Hard Qigong.

General Unloading Armor Great Mantle lv5, the limit that Qi and Blood 3rd Stage can enhance.

The City Gate Guard's primary duty is to hunt Phantom entities, and the Thousand Army Breaking Evil Fist they practice has both offensive and defensive means established specifically against Phantom entities.

When this Hard Qigong is raised to lv5, it lays a layer of shielding over the body's surface, isolating it from the infiltration of the evil Qi of specters.

After he encountered a Transformed Specter last time and survived by a hair's breadth, he directly exhausted his remaining balance to raise this Hard Qigong to lv5.

When dealing with specters, stacking a layer of safety armor on oneself is never wrong!

"If it were the Thousand-Scale Sunflower Ten-Thousand Helmet, the defensive power could be even stronger."

Zhou You used Hard Qigong to block Feng Shifu's claw technique, his hands shooting out like lightning to thrust directly into the opponent's bloody maw.

One hand propped up the upper jaw, while the other pressed down on the lower jaw.

Zhou You exhaled, his entire body's Qi and blood boiling, and thousands of catties of immense force surged into his shoulders.

With a tearing sound, he exerted force with both arms and ripped Feng Shifu's head into two halves.

The suddenly erupting powerful Qi and blood came from the Profound Heart Secret Art of the Beyond, a secret technique that acted like a stroke of genius at a critical moment.

This Transformed Specter never dreamed that it would die so easily.

In one round, its head was torn to shreds, and its corpse was beaten into a pulp.

A prompt from the panel sounded in his ears, "Trial Project (One-Star): Accumulate 3 specter kills, currently 5/3 completed."

"Task completed. Do you wish to delay settlement? It will cost..."

Zhou You did not hesitate and chose to settle it on the spot.

"Settling. One-Star task completed perfectly, exceeded by 67%."

"Experience Points +1000, additional bonus Experience Points +666."

"New Trial Project (Two-Star) added: Accumulate 10 Transformed Specter kills, currently 0/10 completed."

The new task has arrived; the star rating increased by one, and the difficulty multiplied several times over.

10 Transformed Specters—not to mention that he couldn't gather them all at once, even if he did, killing them all would be a massive undertaking.

No rush, just take it slow!

A fair amount of Experience Points have come in recently; between training and task rewards, he has seven or eight thousand.

(End of chapter)