Chapter 222 - 221: Humans Are So Stupid

The human Fang Xu parasitized was an S-Class Awakener whose Soul Beast was a Red Flame Toad Lion.

At its 2S Rank Nether Level, forcefully parasitizing an S-Class Awakener wasn’t too difficult, especially since Director Fang’s spiritual power had been in chaos at the time, making it easy to take advantage of the opening.

Fang Xu was merely one of the Leader’s top generals. It had taken three long years of invading Emperor Source Star to build its forces to their current scale.

The Leader was brilliant, knowing to target high-ranking officials first.

It followed the Leader’s plan: parasitize minor officials, then major ones; evolve its underlings, train them, and provide them with bodies and ’food’.

That was how, step by step, it got to where it was today.

To avoid raising suspicion, it had even given all the slots for the Alliance’s tournament at Weis Lan Noble Academy in the Imperial City to its newly recruited first-years.

’If I’d known they’d get suspicious, I should have just given up the tournament spots and let my underlings feast. I might have even evolved a few more powerful generals.’

In mid-air, Ling Yanzhi’s long tail collided with Fang Xu’s subordinates.

After just a few clashes, he took care of a group of gifted specters that Fang Xu had so carefully nurtured.

’That one had just learned to speak human languages.’

’And that one just learned how to walk properly.’

’And then there was the one that took two whole years to learn how to control an Awakener’s Soul Beast!’

"AARGH!" It was excruciating for Fang Xu to watch.

’Maybe the fusion with this human body is too perfect. I feel like I’m about to explode with rage, and I can faintly hear a heart beating.’

Fang Xu clutched his heart.

’Useless humans. Their hearts start pounding wildly the second they get angry.’

On one hand, Fang Xu felt it should listen to its Leader—live to fight another day, find a chance to escape, and set up a new camp.

On the other hand, its face contorted with hate. It wanted to fight back. After all, it had poured its heart and soul into building these forces.

Watching Ling Yanzhi and Xi Yu mow them down was infuriating.

Fang Xu didn’t want to run anymore.

It wanted revenge. It wanted to launch a sneak attack.

’I don’t understand why the Leader is so afraid of them. They might be Level 3S, but I’m Level 2S!’

’I once killed a 3S Primordial Beast, punching above my weight, and I even successfully parasitized a military Admiral.’

At that thought, Fang Xu went still.

It began to gather its power.

Xi Yu saw Fang Xu freeze in place. His tentacles quivered as they retracted. "Why’d he stop running?"

Ling Yanzhi finished off the last few, his eyes downcast as he surveyed the field of corpses.

’I was too late.’

’Possession victims can be saved, but parasitism...’

Ling Yanzhi casually blocked Fang Xu’s fierce pounce. "Ayue, don’t space out."

Xi Yu blinked. "It can’t even jump that high."

’From the looks of it, that last leap wouldn’t have even reached my knees.’

Xi Yu looked at Fang Xu.

Fang Xu had now switched to its lion Half-beastman form, its body a mass of knotted muscle, its fur bristling.

It relentlessly swung its lion-like arms, leaping up to pounce again and again.

Xi Yu swatted it back with a few tentacles as if playing a game of whack-a-mole.

He seemed to be enjoying himself. His tentacles flushed pink with excitement, lashing out with a rapid series of cracks.

He hovered two meters in the air on an energy shield, the ground below like a vast ocean.

Fang Xu was like a drowned rat in the ocean, unable to fly out and unable to sink.

Ling Yanzhi’s eyelid twitched. "Ayue."

"Got it." Xi Yu pursed his lips. His tentacles returned to their usual black as their afterimages shot out, nimble and deceptively gentle.

Slime oozed from the tips of his tentacles, which danced through the air like venomous whips, lashing at Fang Xu’s soul and making it roil and tremble.

"ROAR!" The lion bellowed, and a translucent, pale yellow shield of light formed around its body.

Red Snake arched its serpentine body, its shadow overlapping with Ling Yanzhi’s.

Its Snake Tongue slid across Ling Yanzhi’s jaw.

Its voice was crisp and tender. "Doesn’t it like to eat Spirit Domains and soul domains? Why can it even form an Awakener’s soul shield? Could it be that it only parasitized but didn’t eat Director Fang’s soul domain?"

The reason Awakeners and Half-awakened have such high status is because ordinary people can’t use technology to kill aberrations like Soul Ghost Bodies and Mutant Beasts.

Ordinary bullets and fisticuffs can only buy time; they can’t do any real damage to abominations like Mutant Beasts.

Therefore, when attacking Alien Beasts, Mutant Beasts, and Soul Ghost Bodies, Soul Power and spiritual power are indispensable in most cases.

This applies to everything from Soul Beast Covers and Spiritual Power Shields to Instant Teleportation, from the Poison Needles and bullets they fire to the very punches and kicks they throw in an attack.

Red Snake couldn’t understand.

Yang Zhang didn’t bother thinking. In its adorably blank voice, it said, "Just wait. I’ll go kill it for you, and then you’ll find out."

The tentacles behind Xi Yu extended, pulsing with power.

A trace of contempt flashed in Fang Xu’s eyes.

Until a tentacle suddenly whipped out and viciously shattered the soul shield.

"CRACK!"

With a loud noise, the soul shield’s light dimmed instantly, and countless cracks spread like a spiderweb before shattering.

Yang Zhang seized the opportunity. "Master."

A venom-laced tentacle stabbed through the cracks in the soul shield.

"CRACK... SQUELCH."

It shattered.

Blood sprayed from the corner of Fang Xu’s mouth, but a flicker of light glinted in its eyes.

Its true form dematerialized and rose into the air, detaching from the host body.

The body of the Lion Clan Awakener collapsed to the ground.

Dead. Not a single ripple of Soul Power or spiritual power could be detected.

Red Snake: ’It really did evolve. It devoured the soul domain and can even control it directly.’

Ling Yanzhi glanced over, his eyes turning cold.

The red-eyed thing floated and condensed into a form. It had no flesh, not even a solid body.

Its eerie red eyes burned with spiritual energy, its plump, white body bobbing up and down.

A piercing Spiritual Attack exploded directly within Ling Yanzhi and Xi Yu’s Spirit Domains, carrying an unearthly power that seemed to penetrate the very soul.

"..." Xi Yu took a moment to recover and raised a barrier.

He turned his head. "Ayan, what’s wrong?"

The spectral form of Red Snake twisted frantically over Ling Yanzhi’s body, its spiritual defenses seemingly on the verge of collapse.

Xi Yu’s gaze hardened. ’Yang Zhang, play along.’

Yang Zhang held back, deliberately creating a small flaw in the Soul Beast Cover. ’Okay.’

The snake’s shadow flickered erratically over Ling Yanzhi’s body.

Fang Xu saw hope. It thought its attack had really penetrated the barrier of a 3S Awakener.

"So that’s all you’ve got," Fang Xu watched Ling Yanzhi coldly, unleashing wave after wave of spiritual power.

After a few exchanges, Fang Xu lowered its guard—only to be pierced straight through by a whistling snake tail.

"!!!"

’It couldn’t understand. ’With this kind of power, why were you even pretending?!’’

As its black soul scattered, Fang Xu glimpsed a girl running toward them. It seized the opportunity, forcing its weakened, residual soul into a familiar corpse on the ground.

’It calculated that after dying once, its Netherworld Energy would vanish. Only a faint aura of death would still cling to the human corpse.’

’The body it now possessed had been parasitized before, so the aura of death on it was already strong.’

’If I possess a dead body while I’m this weak, no one will ever know.’

Wang Qian ran over and threw herself onto Fang Xu’s body. "Brother! Someone, save my brother! He’s still breathing!"

Fang Xu slowly opened its eyes. Mimicking a disingenuous human smile, it raised a hand to touch the girl’s face. "Little sister."

Ling Yanzhi was in no mood to watch a soul and a human play the emotional card. ’Are you sure it’s in that body?’

Red Snake nodded. ’It dared to attack Master’s Spirit Domain, so I was able to tag its aura. Don’t worry, I can’t be wrong.’

Yang Zhang raised its head, its two round eyes staring blankly at Red Snake. ’Do I still need to play along?’

Ling Yanzhi raised an eyebrow.

Xi Yu reacted in a split second. His tentacles erupted forth, sweeping over all the corpses on the ground.

He was ’bestowing favors equally,’ delivering a finishing blow to every single corpse by stabbing seven livid, bloody holes into each one.