CHAPTER 55: CHAPTER 55: THE AURA COMES!

"Hook."

[5 energy points were consumed to perform one change: steel wire to Steel Wire Hook.]

The steel wire was a combat tool Lu Luo had prepared well in advance, bought from Brother Qiang next door to the studio; it was cheap and durable. Lu Luo was a practical person. Using steel wire for fusion changes saved far more energy than directly using metal blocks.

The hook caught Qian Ming. With a strong pull, Lu Luo dragged him over, narrowly avoiding the huge oral appendage of the Exotic Species subspecies, Xu Fan.

The mutation of Mother Qian Xu Fan continued; her mouth grew larger and less human-like.

Looking at Li Manting, her face full of resentment, Lu Luo sighed. "Indeed, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationship is a major barrier to human development!"

BOOM! A support pillar of the house was broken by Li Manting. Lu Luo seized the opportunity to rise, dodged the spider arms, and chopped off her not-so-hard human thigh, splattering blood.

However, the power of Holy Light soon sealed her wound. A beam of light reconnected the leg Lu Luo had severed, reattaching it to her body.

"Isn’t this just a Frankenstein’s monster! At most, it’s a Holy Light-attribute Frankenstein’s monster."

[A large amount of Holy Light power is detected to be converging. Please be careful, Host.]

Li Manting raised her body, stretching out a pale, dry arm, and grabbed the head of her subspecies, Mother Qian.

Her extending neck twisted as Mother Qian Xu Fan WAH! vomited out a spider that emitted Holy Light and had two pairs of wings.

"Be careful, Brother Luo!" Zhou Kai also sensed the danger, as his evil-warding energy began to plummet.

Looking at the Holy Light spider in front of him, Lu Luo was already considering exiting the room.

Need to dodge? he wondered.

[There’s no need for that at all. Trust me, just rush forward. You handle the front; I’ll handle the aftermath.]

The aftermath? What the hell are you talking about!

Although Lu Luo thought this, he immediately drew his Rose 390, trusting the Observer.

Using the Observer’s targeting, he shot the spider, then drew his blade and charged forward.

BANG! BUZZ!

Dazzling light burst in the air. Blinded by the intensity, Lu Luo couldn’t see at all as the exploding spider emitted a countless, needle-like rain of light. Wherever this light rain passed, objects in the room were instantly punctured and shattered. Although they were merely tiny dots of light, their power became enormous when accumulated.

Zhou Kai, quick to react, grabbed Qian Ming, dragged him into the bathroom, and quickly shut the door to avoid the light rain. He might have dodged it, but Lu Luo, right in the center of the downpour, had nowhere to hide.

PING! PING! PING!

Lu Luo swung the Wraith Blade, trying his best to block the light rain, but such dense attacks couldn’t be entirely parried. The light rain eventually fell upon Lu Luo.

[Your unarmored Constitution is 5.5, reducing some damage. Energy resistance is 5.5, reducing some energy-attribute damage. Sequence priority judgment is being conducted. Sequence D-00—Extreme Life Sequence Chain. Defense priority is higher than the opponent’s attack. Effect 1 - Toughness takes effect, reducing damage by 7%, and all damage ultimately reduced by 1.]

TAP! TAP! TAP!

The light rain continuously struck Lu Luo’s body, but he found that he hadn’t actually sustained any substantial damage. Only a small portion of particularly sharp light needles penetrated his skin.

It was then that Lu Luo understood what the Observer meant by, "You handle the front; I’ll handle the aftermath." Toughness was unexpectedly potent against such dense attacks.

Sequence D-00 - Extreme! Just this slight attribute change is so powerful!

Although Lu Luo could hardly open his eyes due to the strong light, he had more than just his physical eyes to rely on.

This one’s abilities are indeed a bit tricky, but my overall evaluation is just four words: all flash, no substance!

As Lu Luo charged forward, Li Manting also advanced, dragging her eight legs.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The large-caliber Rose 390 continuously bombarded Li Manting’s torso, spraying a large amount of red blood.

Even though she’s become an Exotic Species, the blood in her body doesn’t seem to have changed yet!

[The malformed subspecies Xu Fan has locked onto your head and heart. Please dodge to the left immediately, Host.]

WHOOSH!

Lu Luo immediately performed a somersault, dodging the subspecies Xu Fan’s spike attack. While airborne, his blade once again slashed across Li Manting’s thigh, separating flesh where the tip passed.

Squinting, Lu Luo could vaguely make out Li Manting’s condition. However, he was noticeably startled. The exoticized Li Manting was already naked. Her open chest cavity, with those two mounds practically bursting forth, swayed right before his eyes, inevitably distracting him for a moment.

[Current Exotic Species’ weakness has been fully analyzed: it’s the Li Ming Holy Tome inside the chest cavity. Although her torso is fragile, the Holy Tome grants it regenerative abilities.]

"You analyzed for so long and only came up with such useless information? Even an idiot can see there’s something wrong with that book!" Lu Luo scoffed at the Observer.

Under the blessing of Holy Radiance, all of Li Manting’s wounds were rapidly repairing. Lu Luo knew he couldn’t drag this out; he had to end the fight quickly.

"I don’t have Qi reservoirs," Lu Luo declared, perhaps more to himself than to the monster before him, "and any Qi I use cannot be recovered. So, unless absolutely necessary, I wouldn’t use it." He then focused on Li Manting. "Li Manting, if you must blame someone, blame your high value! I can’t bear to lose that money! With your bounty, I’ll have the chance to break through to the Transcendent realm!"

Qi, come forth!

Pure Qi surged from Lu Luo’s blood, muscles, and bones—this was the Qi he had painstakingly converted, normally free-floating within his body without a fixed location. This Qi gradually coiled around his blade, and the Wraith Blade began to emit a faint aura.

Twisting his body to dodge three Holy Radiance attacks from Li Manting, Lu Luo leaped into the air and kicked the subspecies Xu Fan in the face. His right hand spun his knife, the blade a flowing arc, instantly severing Li Manting’s four arms and briefly neutralizing her threat. His left hand, holding the gun, fired seven shots at the Holy Tome’s location.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!

The intense firepower severed the connection between the Holy Tome and Li Manting’s flesh, instantly depriving her of her regenerative ability.

Lu Luo lifted the Wraith Blade, now edged with Qi, and with a single downward stroke, split Li Manting in two from head to toe.

[Hmm, not bad. I’ll reluctantly give your combat performance an 8 out of 10. Indeed, tasks like this are best handled by crude martial artists like you.]

Get lost! Lu Luo mentally retorted to the Observer.

He looked at Li Manting’s corpse, recalling the silky smooth feeling of the cut, somewhat shocked by the power of Qi.

Only one thought occupies my mind now! Money! I want money! All I can think about now is getting money!

「...」

As the commotion of battle subsided, Zhou Kai stealthily snuck out of the bathroom. Gazing at the devastated room, he was speechless.

Brother Luo’s combat power is just ridiculous. How am I supposed to catch up? I guess I can only play a supporting role! Forget it. From now on, I’ll just stick to motivating employees with grand promises. Making empty promises doesn’t require much strength.

He walked over to Lu Luo and cautiously asked, "Is it over?"

"Yeah, it’s over," Lu Luo said, his gaze intensely fixed on Li Manting’s corpse.

"Are you resting, Brother Luo?"

"Nah, just thinking about what to eat tonight. Hahaha! Hehehe!"

Zhou Kai stared at the Devourer’s tendrils extending from Lu Luo’s palm, lines of exasperation forming on his forehead. You can lie to me if you want, but can’t you at least try to make it sound sincere? Brushing me off like this is so disrespectful! I’m a leader of the Circular, you know!

Zhou Kai simply tilted his head back and silently stared at the ceiling, pretending not to see Lu Luo using the Devourer.

[Friendly reminder: Brother Kane feels disrespected. Be more considerate next time; after all, you’ve shed blood together.]

[Devouring the unknown Exotic Species has provided you with partial information on Sequence D-6: Affinity of Light.]

[Devouring the unknown Exotic Species has provided you with 125 energy points.]

In terms of energy value, Li Manting really wasn’t that strong. Her energy was even less than the ghoul I faced before. It didn’t take much effort to kill her; at least she was much weaker than Red Shell. But her abilities were indeed complex and strange. This is a reminder that physical strength isn’t the sole criterion for an Exotic Species’ power. Warrior-type Exotic Species are manageable. But Li Manting was clearly a mage-type. What if I encounter a physically strong mage-type in the future? Wouldn’t that be particularly difficult to deal with? Sequence D-6: Affinity of Light is a pleasant surprise, though. I’m currently broke. My D3-Strength is only at 5/10. I don’t have any spare Sequence Values, and I still need to evolve the three major S-Sequences. Money... and going beyond the Wall... those are my urgent priorities.

He muttered to himself, "Money... beyond the Wall..."