Chapter 166: Species Diversity

In terms of pure power, Li Ye was the weakest of the three sources of Demon Qi.

After all, the other two were directly possessed by Demon Qi, while he merely held a demonic object. What’s more, it was a two-on-one fight, a complete gang-up…

If it had been Fiona holding the scroll, she would have been deader than dead long ago, even if she had also awakened Praise of Life and Drenched in Dog Blood.

Her prerequisite skills were too trashy; they couldn’t compare to a Divine Skill like “Smite My Teammate.”

You could slowly wear down a stats-based monster with enough power, but a mechanics-based monster was just plain disgusting. You couldn’t win just by being stronger.

This is why in games, heroes with powerful stats are rarely banned, while heroes with overpowered mechanics are nerfed and banned time and time again.

…

The Sea Monster and the Skeleton Monarch were the peak of stats, while Li Ye was a squishy mechanics-based character. If he got hit even once, he would never get a chance to fight back.

In this world, he didn’t actually have any very effective killing methods.

Whether it was Attack Skills from the Xianxia World or the Magic World, they were fine against ordinary people. But against a major boss that excelled in offense, defense, and agility, many of his skills had wind-up times that were just too long. Using them would turn him into a living target.

Li Ye’s survival still depended on his Derived Skills.

Precise Timing always allowed him to escape seemingly impossible area-of-effect attacks by a hair’s breadth.

Of course, it was also possible that Drenched in Dog Blood had lowered the two bosses’ luck.

Even when they teamed up, they always managed to create some opening for Li Ye.

For example, Death Entanglement would cancel out part of the Sea Cage’s effect…

For example, when the Sea Demon was whipping up a vortex, the baby in its belly would suddenly give a kick, causing its stomach to spasm. The vortex would then land on the skeleton, who had just emerged from stealth.

…

“Idiot! When I’m intercepting him, can’t you block his escape route…?”

“You think I don’t want to? Your offspring is kicking me from inside my stomach! How is that my fault?”

“Your steel trident almost stabbed me in the stomach! Were you doing that on purpose?”

…

The Sea Monster and the Skeleton Monarch argued as they fought.

And as their bellies grew larger, both of their moods became more and more unstable.

The Skeleton Monarch felt no pain, but its massive body had already shrunk by a full size compared to the beginning.

If it maintained its previous size, it wouldn’t be able to guarantee the hardness of its bones.

The Sea Monster, sticking out its huge belly, had lost more than half of its agility.

Moreover, because its belly had swollen in such a short time, its internal organs were compressed and its muscles were tearing. The pain was constant, and it only grew worse over time…

Li Ye, in contrast, had it much easier. In the process of fleeing for his life, he even had the spare time to increase his proficiency with Binding with Ropes, creating a large number of hybrid creatures in the ocean.

A giant seagull in the ocean mist, after being hit by Praise of Life, absorbed the Life Qi of a big-headed fish it was about to swallow and became pregnant with its child. It might give birth to the first ever gull-fish…

A several-thousand-meter-long octopus entangled a sea turtle, and their union would very likely produce an octortle.

…

「One day later.」

The Skeleton Monarch went into labor first. It pulled the Sea Monster’s skull-headed child out of its belly, and the very instant it did, it flung the child far away in the opposite direction. The price was being bound once again by the elusive Purifying Cloth.

At that moment, the Sea Monster was also about to give birth. Its belly had swollen into an almost perfect sphere, and its suddenly stretched-out skin had ruptured, constantly oozing blood. It had no capacity to help the Skeleton Monarch defend itself.

Furthermore, its mood was extremely unstable.

It was male, and unlike the Skeleton Monarch’s body, which was full of holes, it had to tear open its belly to give birth…

Seeing the Skeleton Monarch’s action, the Sea Monster’s face turned ashen with fury. “Do you hate my child that much?”

“I was saving it! If I didn’t throw it away, Aragon would definitely have bound it with the Purifying Cloth. You don’t want it to get pregnant with *your* child, do you?” the Skeleton Monarch explained while desperately looking around for prey, forcibly suppressing the throbbing sensation from being bound by the Purifying Cloth.

But the creatures in the ocean weren’t idiots. The commotion these three were making was too great. Li Ye, running at the very front, was creating one violation of nature after another. Forget huge sea creatures, there wasn’t even a tiny fish left in their vicinity.

Thus, the Skeleton Monarch had no choice but to lock its sights on the Sea Monster again.

The Sea Monster was both shocked and terrified. Forgetting all about chasing Li Ye, it scrambled to dodge. “Big Skeleton, don’t do anything crazy! I’m about to give birth…!”

…

Li Ye couldn’t bear to watch the scene that followed.

‘Who would use a pregnant Sea Serpent as a belt?’

‘So tragic.’

‘It has no humanity at all.’

‘Well, okay!’

‘It’s a skeleton. It’s normal for it to have no humanity…’

…

When the Sea Monster gave birth, a huge hole tore open in its stomach. Its agonized screams and curses directed at Aragon echoed across the sky.

Blood stained the surface of the sea for a hundred miles around, and the scalding liquid even made the seawater boil.

The scent of blood filled Li Ye’s nostrils.

However, Li Ye didn’t hold back. Amidst the Sea Demon’s earth-shattering curses, he strung it up again.

Mercy and indulgence toward evil people are the greatest injustice and cruelty to the good.

His methods might have been somewhat evil, but he was absolutely doing the right thing. He wasn’t just saving himself; he was saving this world.

…

A skull-headed sea monster was born.

A half-skeleton, half-sea monster child was born.

A sea monster with skeletal wings was born…

…

The random combinations of the two bosses were full of randomness and uncertainty, greatly enriching the biodiversity of the ocean.

Three months later, Li Ye and the two bosses had traveled an unknown number of miles deep into the ocean.

There was basically no sense of direction in the mist.

For three months, the two big bosses were either pregnant or giving birth, without even a moment to catch their breath.

With every child born, their Life Energy weakened a little more.

The kilometer-long Sea Monster was emaciated, so weak it could barely control the seawater.

The eight-hundred-meter-tall skeleton had shrunk to just over one hundred meters. Its once jade-white skeletal frame was now pitted and scarred, looking as if it would fall apart at the slightest touch. Even its vigorous Soul Fire seemed to be flickering, ready to be extinguished at any moment…

Now, it was no longer the two of them hunting Li Ye, but Li Ye hunting the two of them.

They couldn’t even separate. If one tried to escape, the cloth would help drag it back, forcibly locking the two of them together.

Li Ye didn’t know what the situation was like on the outside, but he guessed it was good, because the cloth’s Demon Qi was growing stronger every day, proving its influence was expanding.

Without the protection of the Skeleton Monarch’s Undead Mist, the sunlight would greatly weaken the Undead’s combat power. They would be no match for humans…

…

“Aragon, can’t you fight fair and square?”

“Aragon, do you dare to face us in a man-to-man duel?”

“Aragon, you’re nothing but a despicable coward!”

“You bastard, don’t you have any other moves?”

“Aragon, I’m begging you, I don’t want to give birth anymore…!”

“Aragon, I was wrong! Let me go! I can give you all the wealth I’ve collected over the years!”

“Aragon, just give us a quick death! Stop torturing us!”

…

From their initial stubbornness to their later pleading, the two bosses, tortured to the point of exhaustion by Li Ye, were on the verge of going insane.

In the end, they even gave up resisting, begging only for a swift death.

However, the cautious Li Ye worried they might have some last-ditch counterattack, so he insisted on dragging it out for another month before finally ending their lives…

The moment the two big bosses’ Demon Qi was absorbed by the cloth, Li Ye saw relief in their eyes, acceptance, and even a faint trace of gratitude.

…

“Li Ye, continue to grow stronger! I have a feeling that before long, your name will resound throughout the entire universe.” After absorbing the two streams of Demon Qi, Lord Ling’s tone was rather complex.

“Lord Ling, don’t say that. It took me three months just to beat two Little Demons. I’m still too weak. When Sun Wukong fought the White Bone Spirit, it was over in a single blow of his staff!”

Li Ye was being exceptionally humble. One could never be too careful. Although Lord Ling had lofty goals, he was also afraid the guy might get a crazy idea and suddenly try to possess him!

That was something that was truly impossible to guard against!

“I wasn’t talking about your power, but your mentality,” Lord Ling said with a sigh. “You already possess the mindset of a powerful expert. But you’re still young. It’s fine to be a little arrogant when you’re young, but take Lord Ling’s advice: you should use these insidious skills as little as possible.

“Otherwise, you’ll easily be treated as a Demon and ganged up on by everyone. Look at Nezha, or Sun Wukong. Weren’t they both incredibly arrogant at first, only to eventually settle down?”

“Even the Mother and Child River only dared to control the people of a single country, and when Nuwa created humans, she did so with a purpose…”

“I understand,” Li Ye replied humbly.

After training in the ocean for three months, his proficiency with Binding with Ropes had reached a very high level—the peak of perfection. It was unpredictable and ghostly; as long as he threw out the rope, basically nothing could dodge it.

Combined with Praise of Life, it had already become his sure-kill technique. And it had no side effects, making it far superior to sacrificing a teammate.

Throughout history,

those who could create life were all Great Gods!

Like Nuwa, like Brahma Heaven, like the Earth Goddess Gaia…

Compared to those Great Gods, Li Ye was still lacking, but he could be considered to have the fledgling power to create life!

Li Ye asked, “Lord Ling, is the Mother and Child River real?”

“Of course,” Chaotic Heaven Silk nodded.

“Where is it?” Li Ye asked.

“The Women’s Country,” said Chaotic Heaven Silk.

“And where is the Women’s Country?” Li Ye asked.

“I don’t know,” said Chaotic Heaven Silk.

“Was the journey to the Western Heaven to retrieve the scriptures real?” Li Ye asked again.

“It wasn’t a journey to the Western Heaven,” said Chaotic Heaven Silk. “To be precise, it was an interstellar journey to retrieve scriptures. Sun Wukong opened up an interstellar travel route…”

“…” Li Ye’s eyes lit up. “Lord Ling, tell me more about it.”

“I can’t remember clearly,” the cloth said dismissively. “Besides, what’s the use of talking about it? The Ancient World was smashed to pieces. This is the New Era of Gods. I’m not Chaotic Heaven Silk anymore, I’m the Purifying Cloth…”