Chapter 118: Target—The Elders of the Purifying Sect (8)

Before the attackers surged forward, Wu Zui quickly swallowed the small white pill. As it slid down his throat, the damaged Achilles tendon silently began to heal.

Zhang Meng was momentarily stunned by the sudden deaths of his subordinates, causing him to miss the chance to expand their gains. But soon, a stone was hurled and landed right in front of a dozen members of the Purification Sect who were besieging Wu Zui.

This was Zhang Meng’s signal for them to act!

Otherwise, they would be the ones suffering later!

“If you can’t complete the mission, everyone knows the consequences! Charge! Charge together!”

“He’s only one person—what’s there to fear!”

Upon seeing the stone, several team leaders immediately paled. They seemed to realize something terrifying and hurriedly shouted for their members to attack.

The others naturally noticed Zhang Meng’s warning. The remaining dozen or so cautiously closed in on Wu Zui, each moving with extreme care. It felt as if they were the ones surrounded by Wu Zui, not the other way around.

From Wu Zui’s chest, the Heart-Question Chain slowly extended. Suddenly, gravity seemed to lose its hold as the chain floated and coiled around him.

Before long, it completely enveloped him.

One end of the chain was taut and straight, like a sharp sword gripped firmly in Wu Zui’s hand. Then, the chain extended its protective circle outward. Before the Purification Sect members could react to the chain encircling Wu Zui, he launched his counterattack.

With a fierce snap, the iron chain struck six of the closest members, flinging them aside. The infernal flames clinging to the chain ignited their bodies, which were already fusing with the aberrant energy.

The agonized screams that had pierced the air earlier erupted once again.

Wu Zui grew more exhilarated with each kill. His eyes glowed red, and the black substance enveloping the blue figure in his mind expanded steadily.

The remaining Purification Sect members grew fearful and began to retreat because among the recently fallen was a four-star squad leader. Perhaps due to carelessness, he was struck by the Heart-Question Chain and then...

If even a four-star leader could be taken down like that, the others dared not advance further.

Before Zhang Meng could warn them again, Wu Zui struck out at the retreating members. The chain shot out, targeting the crowd. Seizing the opportunity, Zhang Meng partially submerged underground, preparing to ambush Wu Zui from below.

Unfortunately, Wu Zui’s speed was too swift, and his fleeing subordinates were uncooperative. Time and again, Zhang Meng narrowly missed connecting with Wu Zui. He quickly triggered his aberrant transformation; his massive form moved through the earth with newfound agility, much faster than before.

It seemed Zhang Meng would soon land a hit.

Sure enough, when only two four-star spirit-possessed members remained among the eight squads, Zhang Meng burst forth from the underground circle of Heart-Question Chains and landed a punch on Wu Zui’s abdomen.

Wu Zui was hurled back, not pierced through but left with a deep, fist-shaped indentation. The skin on his abdomen was cracked, and the magnetic energy protective suit was punctured with a hole.

Though the injury was severe, Wu Zui still had the white pill to heal it. More dangerously, Zhang Meng, having witnessed Wu Zui’s rapid healing, had infused a large amount of living spirit resentment into the punch.

This energy, capable of absorbing both magnetic energy and resentment, began to wreak havoc inside Wu Zui’s body, causing his abdomen to throb with pain as if being cut by knives.

Before Wu Zui’s internal infernal flames could act, the black substance in his mind suddenly emitted a suction force. The living spirit resentment in his abdomen was rapidly drawn into his mind. After absorbing Zhang Meng’s resentment, the black mass began to swell quickly.

In an instant, a fist-sized black mark appeared on the blue figure’s neck, as if poised to snap Wu Zui’s neck in two. The suction force from the black substance intensified accordingly.

Nearby, the corpses of the fallen Purification Sect members began to emit thin wisps of black gas—residual living spirit resentment responding to some summons, converging toward Wu Zui.

Wave after wave of resentment was absorbed by the black substance inside Wu Zui.

His eyes blood-red, face twisted into a grimace, Wu Zui seemed to enter a strange state. He stared through the protective barrier formed by the Heart-Question Chains, fixating on Zhang Meng and his two subordinates.

Within him, the black substance rapidly spread over the blue figure’s chest, nourished by the influx of resentment. The mental pollution left by Han Bai regained dominance, influencing Wu Zui’s emotions and increasingly controlling his actions.

Unnoticed by all, Wu Zui manipulated the Heart-Question Chains underground to approach the last two four-star Purification Sect members. Unprepared, the chains instantly pierced through both their bodies.

As they were killed, their bodies were coiled and brought before Wu Zui. Their bodies still held abundant living spirit resentment, which was swiftly absorbed into Wu Zui’s mind by the black substance.

The black substance expanded over the blue figure. Soon, from the chest to the knees, the blue figure was completely engulfed.

Wu Zui lifted his head, eyes no longer harmless but filled with murderous intent. He said, “They’re all dead. Now it’s your turn.”

Charging at Zhang Meng, Wu Zui controlled the Heart-Question Chains to encircle and attack.

Zhang Meng, confronted by the fearsome expression and blood-red eyes, involuntarily took a step back. Then, raising his stature, he began to retreat with long strides—he was fleeing. Wu Zui, influenced by the mental pollution, pursued relentlessly.

As their battle intensified, several spirit detectives from Linben City followed the fray. But as the fight escalated, spatial singularities opened, causing the lower-ranked detectives to lose track of them.

Under the influence of mental pollution, Zhang Meng seemed to emit a special attraction to Wu Zui—more precisely, the living spirit resentment within him drew to the black substance in Wu Zui’s mind.

After some time and frequent use of spatial singularities in the chase, Zhang Meng’s living spirit resentment was nearly depleted, as was Wu Zui’s magnetic energy. However, the situation favored Wu Zui, who was now within the attack range of the Heart-Question Chains.

The chains shot out.

Direct hit!

The Heart-Question Chains easily pierced Zhang Meng’s arm, then rapidly threaded through his body, binding him tightly. Under the scorching infernal flames, the five-star Zhang Meng endured far longer than other Purification Sect members.

His veins bulged, resembling lines of black earthworms crawling over his body. At that moment, an unknown force seemed to flow into Zhang Meng’s limbs and bones, resisting the consuming infernal flames.

“Hah… hah… you haven’t… worn me down yet!”

Though unsure of the source, Zhang Meng saw the red flames on the chains dimming. Struggling to stand, he fixed his gaze on the single-kneeing Wu Zui and proclaimed triumphantly.

Crack—crack crack—

A fissure appeared on Zhang Meng’s face, freezing his arrogant smile.

“Chairman! You lied—”

Before he could finish, his skull shattered along the newly formed crack. Inside was the black skull Wu Zui had long been searching for.

Then, Zhang Meng’s body melted under an inexplicable force. Everything transformed into living spirit resentment, which flooded into the open jaws of the black skull, nourishing its advancement.

After the surrounding resentment was completely consumed, the black skull’s jaw opened and closed with two cracking sounds, as if a person licking their lips or burping after a meal. Then the skull dropped to the ground.

Much of the living spirit resentment within Wu Zui was also drained into the black skull. He temporarily emerged from the seemingly possessed state.

Looking at the remaining black skull on the ground, Wu Zui used the Heart-Question Chains to retrieve it into the internal space of the Heart-Question Sword, murmuring with some puzzlement, “Zhang Meng is dead?”

In that state, Wu Zui retained his memories, so he knew about the black skull’s backlash against Zhang Meng. However, the earlier absorption of living spirit resentment was not his own doing.

“Better retreat for now. Once I collect the four black skulls held by the elders, I’ll ask the Great Monk Wuxiang about this.”

With that thought, Wu Zui extracted a high-explosive magnetic bomb from his backpack, absorbed its stored magnetic energy, and promptly left. After all, spirit detectives in Linben City were still pursuing them!

Here, he had no law enforcement authority. If caught, he would be deported back to his country, becoming a laughingstock and possibly making headlines—alerting the enemy.

Therefore, Wu Zui did not return to the hotel; his important belongings remained in his backpack, and he considered the clothes in his luggage as given away.

His priority now was to rush to Metropolis City to retrieve the last black skull abroad. As for the one held by the Purification Sect’s chairman, Wu Zui suspected it was hidden in the Realm of the Dead.

If this guess was wrong, he would have to seek other clues.

That very night, Wu Zui boarded a plane from Linben City in Mosang Country to Metropolis City N District. Yet, he did not anticipate that the Purification Sect’s infiltration there was far worse than his bleakest expectations.

On the plane, Wu Zui used visualization to check the black substance’s current state. Originally spread from the chest to between the knees on the blue figure, it had now receded to the upper torso.

“This black skull can absorb living spirit resentment. Once back in China, I need to study it thoroughly and find a way to completely eradicate the calamity left by Han Bai.”

With these thoughts, Wu Zui sank into deep contemplation.