Chapter 125: The Giant-Form Li Yu (5k Chapter)

An army composed of hundreds of extraordinary soldiers, a fusion of flesh and machinery, was surging forward.

Each individual was equipped with psionic firearms, electric blades, and other weaponry, far surpassing ordinary anomalies.

Not to mention that some of the special individuals emitted terrifying auras, nearly all of them reaching the "Sequence Seven" level.

The leader, Brother Brother Shang Yang, had undergone a drastic change in appearance.

Although still a mechanical body, it was no longer cold or rigid; it seemed to have transformed into a special metallic material, soft as silk and shimmering with brilliant light—one look was enough to tell it was extraordinary.

Embedded in his chest were six gems radiating intense psionic energy.

In his hand, he gripped a special weapon, resembling a long spear, though the tip was more akin to a diamond-tipped drill.

A scarlet cloak several meters long fluttered behind him.

As he flew toward them, hovering, everyone felt an indescribable sense of oppression.

"This guy didn't just upgrade and mass-produce troops; he even brought a set of top-tier gear?"

"Screw you, no wonder he was so sure he could kill me."

Li Yu cursed incessantly in his heart.

At the same time, he made a move that left both Brother Brother Shang Yang and the two camps behind him astonished.

Ostensibly acting as a Merciless One, following his previous behavior, if he were to run into the menacing and clearly malicious Brother Brother Shang Yang, he would inevitably try to hang Brother Brother Shang Yang and his extraordinary army.

After all, the true god, the Hanging King, loved it when his followers did that.

Yet, Li Yu did not even look back; without delaying for even half a breath, he turned and dodged, his speed skyrocketing. In the blink of an eye, he had escaped to an unknown distance and soon vanished without a trace.

This scene left everyone stunned.

Who was that?

Just like that, he ran?

What happened to that momentum of indiscriminately despising both sides and wanting to hang everyone?

Even Brother Brother Shang Yang, upon seeing Li Yu's actions, had his flickering mechanical eyes glitch for a moment.

With his current speed, it would not be difficult at all to catch up to that "Merciless One."

However, he did not do so!

Between robbing one person and robbing a group, he did not need to choose.

He led his army, with an air of disdain for everything, and descended upon the sky above this Black Vortex City.

Within the city, besides him, there was an "Abbot of the Black Lotus" and a "Sick Corpse," both at Sequence Six.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing the wariness and helplessness in each other's eyes.

If any other Sequence Six had arrived, they would have spoken up by now to invite them to join in surrounding and annihilating those transmigrators.

But it just had to be Brother Brother Shang Yang.

It wasn't just the two of them; the other four Sequence Seven Demon Star Commanders also showed no signs of joy on their faces at this moment.

The reason was very simple: Brother Brother Shang Yang's reputation among all Demon Star Commanders was already notoriously foul.

In just two conquest missions!

He had achieved extremely brutal combat records.

That was to trap and kill at least ninety percent of the other commanders who entered the anomaly zone with him.

He even euphemistically called it "survival of the fittest."

"Truly bad luck; the arrogant Merciless One left, and Brother Brother Shang Yang arrived right on his heels."

"This guy is not to be befriended, but we can talk first."

After the two muttered this,

the Abbot of the Black Lotus, who appeared as a young monk, silently blocked the escape route of the transmigrators while stepping forward to say to Brother Brother Shang Yang:

"Congratulations to Fellow Daoist Shang for stepping into Sequence Six!"

"Does the fellow daoist wish to slay these transmigrators to complete the 【Kill Enemy】 mission and, incidentally, plunder some supplies?"

"That's right!"

"Shall we cooperate? If so, please have Fellow Daoist Shang swear a true god oath first."

Ordinarily, an Abbot of the Black Lotus and a Sick Corpse would not need to be so polite to Brother Brother Shang Yang.

However, the current Brother Brother Shang Yang possessed combat power far above the average Sequence Six.

Even though he had actually just promoted, it was no exaggeration to call him invincible among his peers.

With the addition of his extraordinary army, fighting two at once was standard for him.

His arrogance, which made him ignore other peers, combined with his terrifying, verifiable combat record, made the six Demon Star Commanders extremely wary of him.

And the next moment, Brother Brother Shang Yang's reply confirmed their thoughts.

"I do not need cooperation!"

"You all just need to stay out of my way when I act, and try to stay as far away as possible, and you will be safe."

"Hiss."

When those two sentences left Brother Brother Shang Yang's mouth,

even the transmigrator side, who were plotting to unleash some divine ability, could not help but glance over.

They couldn't help but look at Brother Brother Shang Yang, thinking that this person's personality was even more striking than that Merciless One from just before—were there any normal people among the Demon Star Commanders?

As for the six commanders, they were all so angry they laughed.

Especially the Abbot of the Black Lotus and the Sick Corpse, whose expressions turned cold simultaneously, killing intent rising in their eyes.

Li Yu did not yet know the subsequent movements and results within Black Vortex City behind him.

The reason he didn't even exchange a greeting with Brother Brother Shang Yang and turned to flee was that his high intuition was warning him of danger.

"Brother Brother Shang Yang clearly came prepared; he likely started promoting as soon as he entered the anomaly zone and went around collecting materials for mass-producing troops."

"After finishing, his combat power skyrocketed to the level of being invincible among Sequence Six peers before he came out."

"Even if I ate the remaining Merciless Pills and Sword Pellet Pills, I wouldn't win. Better to run."

"However, just because I can't win doesn't mean others can't. The 【City God】 on the transmigrator side, the moment he saw Brother Brother Shang Yang arrive with his army, immediately began casting some kind of strange art. The dead anomalies in a large area around him began to show slight movement..."

Almost as this thought rose in Li Yu's heart,

a huge explosion suddenly erupted in the distance behind him.

Li Yu's curiosity was piqued, and he willed the "Anomaly Rope" to take him to a higher vantage point, turning back to look at the Black Vortex City area.

The next moment, he saw a shocking scene.

War?

The normal progression and aftermath should have been Brother Brother Shang Yang leading his extraordinary army to surround and annihilate the transmigrators.

But what he saw now was the entire city's anomalies and mutated citizens rioting in unison.

They were, in turn, surrounding and attacking Brother Brother Shang Yang and his army.

Their numbers were immense, and besides "Anomaly Corpses," a large number of twisted vengeful spirits had appeared.

They used the flesh born within the soldiers' mechanical bodies to create a dragging effect, dense and swamp-like, temporarily trapping Brother Brother Shang Yang.

Until he, with extreme ruthlessness and decisiveness, began to detonate bombs.

A massive explosion completely submerged Black Vortex City.

But taking advantage of this opportunity, Qing Nü, who was already a Sequence Six 【Spirit Bird Priestess】, had summoned a powerful spirit bird phantom, wrapped everyone in it, and fled into the distance.

Ordinarily, during this process, if other commanders, such as the Abbot of the Black Lotus and the Sick Corpse, could have intervened, it would have been very difficult for all the transmigrators to escape.

But as it happened, none of the six made a move; they even stood on the sidelines, mocking them.

Although Li Yu couldn't hear what the six commanders were laughing about, he could vaguely guess what had happened:

"Anomaly Corpse resurrection... Yin soldiers passing through... Ocean of ghosts... these are all classic methods of the Earth Mother Sect."

"But it was also because the army under Brother Brother Shang Yang's command was a fusion of flesh and machinery, rather than pure psionic mechanical soldiers... otherwise, these methods wouldn't have had much effect and would have been countered by Brother Brother Shang Yang instead."

"The important thing is to strike first."

"Brother Brother Shang Yang didn't seem to expect that the 'City God' would be so decisive; the moment he saw the flesh-mechanical army, he began casting spells."

"Combined with Qing Nü's cooperation and the six commanders standing by, the two successfully led everyone to safety."

With them gone,

it was Black Vortex City that suffered—a magnificent city with exotic flair, as if dragged out from ancient times.

Not long after, it was completely blown into ruins.

"Hahaha... Brother Brother Shang Yang must have done something to make those six commanders choose to stand by."

"This guy is arrogant, viewing all living things as experimental subjects, and follows the ancient sage's rule: everything outside of me is a tool."

"He did it that way in the first conquest, and he likely did the same in the second."

"Offending other peers is simply to be expected."

"However, Sister Miaochang, Qing Nü, and the others being able to escape was also because Brother Brother Shang Yang had just promoted to Sequence Six and hadn't fully digested or mastered his combat power."

"Give him a few more days, and he will be far too terrifying."

In the blink of an eye, many judgments formed in Li Yu's heart.

The smile on his face was very bright.

Seeing one's enemy suffer is, of course, gratifying.

"Hacking and killing each other is truly meaningless."

"In this 【Vortex Country Anomaly Zone】, the struggle between good and evil has been pushed to a side quest, which shows that the real danger is yet to come..."

As this thought crossed his mind, Li Yu first looked at his own hands.

Holding dozens of "human-head balloons," the scene was terrifying and horrific.

Yet to Li Yu, it was quite wonderful.

These were all strange objects capable of resisting curse contamination.

"The task of surviving for seven days has now passed by more than one day."

"If I can live a few more days and successfully enter the core ruins area, I will be able to leave this strange domain directly."

"If there are no accidents, the supplies I have collected should be enough."

With this thought, Li Yu tucked all the human-head balloons into his scent pouch. Immediately, without a second thought, he began to flee toward the deeper core area of the map.

Judging by the distance shown on the map!

He had only explored a small half of this Wo Country area.

Even if he traveled with all his might, he might not be able to reach the deepest part after six days.

Before Li Yu could escape too far, his inner spiritual sense was triggered once again; he paused as if sensing something, then suddenly turned his head to look at the horizon, which was already extremely far away.

There, the "vortex" that devoured and swept up everything was stagnant.

At least for the moment he stared at it, it was frozen and motionless.

Until the next instant!

The vortex moved.

In Li Yu's mind, a bone-chilling prompt sounded.

"The second round of the 【Curse Storm】 has arrived."

Almost in an instant, the terrifying vortex that had been far on the horizon swallowed a huge distance in the blink of an eye.

=9+Shu_Ba

As time passed, it swept madly toward where Li Yu was located.

"Run!"

Li Yu cursed under his breath, turned, and continued to flee.

But no matter how fast he was, he could not compare to the "poison circle."

It was only a few dozen breaths!

Suddenly, at this moment, the storm swept over.

Li Yu only felt his vision go black, and the world before him completely changed its hue.

A certain intangible and formless burden of contamination directly enveloped Li Yu.

Not only did the elixirs he had consumed begin to lose their effect faster, but his Alchemist body itself suffered a weakening, and the operation of his Demon Body technique became sluggish.

As Li Yu's expression turned solemn in an instant, several thoughts suddenly arose:

"A strange domain!"

"Compared to the previous two expeditions, this can be considered a true strange domain."

"It has terrible suppression and weakening effects on all foreign living beings, while for those strange objects, it can enhance them; it is no wonder the mortality rate is so high."

"Could it be that this kind of strange domain will be the norm from now on?"

"Those who cannot pass this trial, whether they are Demon Star Command Holders or Reincarnators, will all die and be recycled."

It was as if to confirm Li Yu's thoughts.

He soon discovered the difference between this second round of the curse storm and the first.

Vortexes!

The intensity of those omnipresent vortexes had surged countless times over.

Everywhere Li Yu looked, there were only vortexes.

Wind, air, mountains, rivers, plants, the sky, the earth... and even Li Yu himself.

Waves of chill began to uncontrollably erode his body.

Li Yu's high spiritual sense meant high perception.

He raised his palms; the fingerprints and palm lines began to rotate, crawling all over his body as if they had come to life.

His hair and eyebrows curled up, his feet could not help but twist and entangle together, and his internal organs were the same...

Although his body could forcibly resist this contamination, at least for a short time, it was fine.

But in this instant, Li Yu still felt an intensely strong crisis of death.

One must know, he was a genuine Rank 7 Alchemist.

Yet after just this short while in the poison circle, he had been eroded so severely.

What about the next few days?

Without a moment's hesitation, Li Yu took out a "human-head balloon." As the horrific, dull head floated for a moment, all the contamination in Li Yu's body followed and surged into the head.

His body immediately felt lighter.

"It really works!"

Taking this opportunity, Li Yu continued his journey regardless of anything else.

But after he had dashed a certain distance, a "bang" suddenly came from above his head.

That human-head balloon had exploded.

Blood, brains, and bone fragments filled the sky, scattering like raindrops.

"It can only last for such a short time?"

Li Yu's expression became even uglier.

He then took out a second human-head balloon and continued toward the front of the map.

At the same time, he pushed his perception to the limit, carefully observing his surroundings.

Clearly, Li Yu had not forgotten that there was a new rule in the second round of the curse storm: those powerful strange objects that had gathered 【Curse Essence】 could move.

This also meant that everyone currently in the poison circle would be attacked by strange objects other than those of the opposing faction.

In such places, the thing you fear most is exactly what will come.

Just as Li Yu was holding a human-head balloon, carefully bypassing an unknown area completely shrouded in vortex-like strange mist.

Without any warning!

A hand, devoid of any skin and consisting only of flesh, blood, and fascia, as large as a millstone, suddenly thrust out of the strange mist, grabbed Li Yu's body, and dragged him into the mist.

At this moment, Li Yu felt scorching, highly corrosive blood, as well as a giant force that seemed to be crushing him.

But both were blocked by the combination technique Li Yu instinctively activated: the Alchemist Fire and the Demon Body techniques.

He even went a step further; the Demon Body resisted the damage, and the Alchemist Fire burned through the opponent's palm.

When Li Yu heard a roar of agony, his body also slowly drifted down onto a city wall.

The next instant!

He saw an extremely shocking scene.

Before him was a city that seemed to exist only in imagination; everything was extremely huge, towering into the clouds, including the "people" inside.

Giants, each looking like the "female troll" Li Yu had slaughtered earlier, were wandering in this city.

They were all born incredibly ugly, ferocious, and twisted.

Some had skin, some did not.

In Li Yu's mind, long-lost task prompts suddenly began to sound in succession:

"Congratulations to the Command Holder with the codename 'Calamity Star' for triggering side quest one: 【Pioneering】."

"A brand-new, undeveloped area has been discovered. The Calamity Star Command Holder has the right to name it. If no name is given within ten breaths, a name will be generated automatically."

"The Command Holder receives a merit reward: 800 points."

"The Command Holder may explore this place... upon leaving, a brand-new map marker and notes will be generated."

"Depending on the degree of completion of the pioneering, the Command Holder will also receive different merit points."

"Congratulations to the Command Holder with the codename 'Calamity Star' for successfully triggering the side quest 【Sacrifice Curse Essence】."

"There are unknown strange objects ahead, some of which are carriers of Curse Essence. Merit points can be obtained after sacrificing them."

"At the same time, the Command Holder also has the naming right for this strange object."

"The Command Holder has been contaminated by an unknown curse... the Command Holder may provide a description... the Command Holder has the naming right..."

At this moment, Li Yu was bombarded by the prompts.

Judging by these sentences, he had practically struck it rich.

Triggering new tasks, merit points, naming rights—they all sounded like great benefits.

But Li Yu had no time to pay attention, let alone provide any description or naming.

When he saw these terrifying giants, they naturally saw Li Yu as well.

They roared in unison and pounced toward him.

What caught him even more off guard was!

The curse infection in his body was acting up extremely rapidly.

Li Yu only felt as if endless "scorching steam" was being generated within him, filling his limbs and bones, filling every inch of flesh and even his cells.

He began to swell—a scene of change that completely defied common sense.

Li Yu began his giant transformation.

His clothes turned to ash in an instant; as if countless steam engines were operating at once, a naked giant with knotted muscles was born amidst the surging heat.

During this process, Li Yu also felt terrifying pain, as well as a bloodlust and desire for destruction that were intense beyond imagination.

He dared to assert that even a true Sequence 6 level cultivator would find it difficult to maintain their sanity during this transformation process.

But Li Yu succeeded.

That last shred of his sanity was like a natural chasm—insurmountable and indestructible.

It was precisely because of this that he did not use the Merciless and Sword Pellet elixirs, nor did he take out the head balloon, cursed iron nails, or golden honey—those curios used to dissipate corruption.

Instead, he allowed himself to be corrupted by the curse while simultaneously undergoing the giant transformation.

The reason?

He felt the benefits.

A massive increase in strength brought about by the curse.

The giant Li Yu transformed into was completely different from the other giants in the city.

Besides not being ugly and retaining clear human features, he also brought along some of the strange arts and traits he possessed as an Alchemist.

Just like this moment!

When that "flesh giant" that had abducted him and had its palm burned through roared and lunged at him again.

Li Yu followed his instinct for slaughter, slapped it to the ground, and then fiercely stepped forward to pin its head down.

His own row of giant teeth, capable of biting a hole through a city wall, clattered, and a strange fire—as if it were the magma of a volcanic mountain or the flames of a true dragon—suddenly erupted forth.

PS: A five-thousand-word chapter, consider it a two-in-one; starting tomorrow, I will post three chapters a day.

(End of chapter)