Chapter 1457 - 1050: I Still Want to Get Stronger, Is That Okay? (2)

Chapter 1457: Chapter 1050: I Still Want to Get Stronger, Is That Okay? (2)

Rushing forward with blow after blow, I must say, zombies don’t fear pain, know no fear, and lack fatigue, making them like an ironclad perpetual motion undead.

After some effort, I finally managed to brutally dismember it.

From the waiting Mutated Skull floated a wisp of pale gray smoke-like resentment, swirling over the twitching zombie’s body, then drifting over the collapsed ruins and the scattered wandering spirits.

When it returned to the giant skull, the illusion realm began to collapse.

Like a shattered mirror, or the reflection in a rippling pond, it fragmented piece by piece revealing a true state shrouded in black mist.

[Mutated Skull Resentment +500, Attack Power +3000]

"Crack!"

The Tenth-Level Ice Flame ignited, forming a two-meter diameter circle around Jiang Yuan, beginning to burn the polluted atmosphere within the sealed area.

The sticky, polluted aura started to emit an ear-piercing screech, causing him to frown.

Checking the time, upon stepping into the war wreckage, he was teleported to a corner, trapped in the illusion for roughly five minutes. The fight was tiring, and his body hurt, but the gain was significant.

The initial value of the Mutated Skull, Attack Power +2000; last time it absorbed resentment in the void, adding another 500. This time it saw a major breakthrough, with its attack power alone reaching +5500 with just one piece of equipment!

"Hey, can you still consume resentment? Do you need to digest it?" he asked, looking beyond the circle of fire, at the countless vortexes swirling in the air trying to approach, vaguely able to spot distorted images within them, clearly all being individual illusions.

The Tenth-Level Ice Flame not only had high purification efficiency, but strong defense as well, making it impossible for the illusions coming one after another to approach.

He thought, if the skull needed digestion, he’d just unload the exoskeleton device. With the circle of Ice Flame, he would follow the light distribution and gather everyone together.

Having no experience the first time in, he learned that next time, he should come in like Xiao Bai and Xie Chenyuan, restraining each other, so they wouldn’t be teleported away separately.

"Yes! Definitely yes!" The Mutated Skull chuckled lasciviously, "Hehe, after all, it’s an ownerless object. This bit of resentment, and even more, I can swallow it all!"

"Take it easy, if you get polluted, I’ll blow you up with one punch!"

Since the Mutated Skull could grow stronger through the illusion and the team members were in good condition, Jiang Yuan gave up the idea of finding them himself and entrusted Yan Xuan to do it.

Then, he intentionally left a gap in the Ice Flame circle, baiting a vortex-like illusion to cover him at once!

"The groom and bride, time to enter the bridal chamber!"

A faint light brightened in front of him, transforming the new illusion into a traditional Chinese wedding scene. Red candles, red paper, red lanterns—the atmosphere that should have been festive felt eerie instead.

Jiang Yuan stood at the ceremonial hall, the bride on the other end of the red silk smiled charmingly, nearly catching him off guard.

Surrounded by "friends and relatives" resembling paper mache people, he flexed his crab claw, swinging it to instantly decapitate three or four "heads."

After brief silence, the NPCs still wore eerie smiles, pulling the "groom" and the bride into the bridal chamber.

"Husband~" The beautiful bride leaned softly against him, and Jiang Yuan instinctively closed his eyes, simultaneously launching a violent assault without hesitation!

The warm, sticky scent of blood filled the air, provoking a wave of nausea.

"Smash the house!" The Mutated Skull whispered in his ear, "This illusion is powerful. If any of the five senses get caught, you’ll easily die in it. Just smash everything, don’t worry about anything."

With a concentrated effort, he smashed and battered away.

This time, Jiang Yuan was more experienced, reducing the ordeal to three minutes. The Mutated Skull wandered off to harvest and came back with a big burp, "Uh, sorry for boasting earlier, seems like I’ve had my fill."

[Mutated Skull Resentment +300, Attack Power +1500]

The efficiency was indeed high!

But the appetite wasn’t that large, reaching the limit already.

He clicked to unload the exoskeleton equipment, the Ice Flame automatically closing the circle, leaving no more illusions to exploit the gaps.

"I need to carefully refine it so as not to be possessed by the host," the Mutated Skull drawled lazily. "Be extra cautious, don’t get yourself killed. And if you have the strength, I suggest you head in that direction. Feels like there should be something we need there."

The words fell, and the enriched resentment formed a giant arrow, pointing the way for him.

"You rest up, let me know when you’ve digested it." Jiang Yuan glanced at the map, finding himself randomly teleported to the northwest corner of the war wreckage.

The other members of the group were evenly dispersed. The closest to him was Clone 6, located near the center of the wreckage, and it would take at least half an hour walking over with the Ice Flame burning.

The direction pointed by the resentment was more secluded yet relatively closer, being at the northernmost edge as per the marked position on the map.

What good things could there be?

Given the Mutated Skull’s needs, it should be a larger, more significant resentment. It seemed to be a structure of ruins, a desolate war wreckage; could there be something eerie still?

Should he merge with the large team led by Yan Xuan, or venture alone to check the northern edge?

Jiang Yuan wavered for a few seconds before deciding to go check it out first, after all, it’s just a matter of a Resurrection Talisman, so what’s there to fear!

The polluted atmosphere was overly intense, offering strong resistance, greatly reducing the purification speed of the Tenth-Level Ice Flame. Enclosed tightly by the circle of fire, he observed the surrounding residual ruins, slowly making his way to the northern edge.

[Yan Xuan: Master master, I’ve collected Bi Lingxiao, his status is alright! Although the purification speed is a bit slow, having the Divine Artifact’s protection avoids too much illusionary interference, should I escort him back to the courtyard?]

Having issued the command earlier, Jiang Yuan intended to return to the courtyard himself, team up with Bi Lingxiao, and enter together, using the Divine Artifact.

Subsequently, with the Mutated Skull joining the fray, not only could it break the illusions quickly, but it also became stronger in the process, naturally rendering the opponent’s Divine Artifact unnecessary.

After ensuring Bi Lingxiao’s state was fine and that he could continue fighting, Jiang Yuan guided Yan Xuan to lead Bi Lingxiao to the nearest Clone 1, until all members were gathered together.

Once there, with the assistance of the Divine Artifact and Xiao Bai avoiding illusion impacts, the entire team could focus their time and energy entirely on purification, naturally accelerating the pace.

Bi Lingxiao was moved by Mr. Jiang’s considerate arrangement, immediately boosting his goodwill.

After all, despite having the Divine Artifact by his side, being alone in danger, unable to discern east from west, with no sight of other seniors, he felt panic. The Purification Technique battling the seemingly boundless polluted atmosphere was daunting, easily fostering a pessimistic fear.

But when the Divine Beast Black Tortoise, surrounded by divine radiance, ambled over, his eyes reddened with emotion!

Finally, a stabilizing presence was found, the Tortoise being so patient, with Mr. Jiang jointly concerned for his purification status. Further escorted by the Black Tortoise to find other seniors, Bi Lingxiao’s heart found solace.

On the map, two light dots converged and moved to the next one, while Jiang Yuan finally neared the northern edge of the war wreckage.

"Hmm? A mountain?" Throughout the journey, no trace of an eerie presence was found. From afar, he saw a towering silhouette of a majestic mountain, musing that with so many structures collapsed, this mountain remained upright.

The Mutated Skull was interested solely in resentment, could something be suppressed beneath this mountain?

Still far from the mountain, Jiang Yuan noticed that the surrounding polluted atmosphere was becoming more intense!

Previously, though the black mist was thick, a visibility of about seven to eight meters was maintained, faintly discernible were the collapsed rubble, broken walls, and deadwood nearby.

But now, the dense black mist left the visibility under two meters!

Luckily, the Ice Flame at level ten was highly effective, though the flames weakened slightly, they continually burned to purify the polluted aura. No more illusion attacks occurred either, keeping Jiang Yuan’s health bar full, replenished occasionally with sips of tea.

"Oh my god! Could it be a... What the hell! That’s not a mountain?!" As he moved closer, the visibility kept decreasing.

Yet the oppressive feeling from the shadow of the black "mountain" grew stronger, though it was impossible to see the details, only a blurry silhouette was visible.

With the Ice Flame suppressed to just a one-meter diameter circle, Jiang Yuan paused, taking a deep breath—what mountain? It was clearly a giant human head!