Chapter 33: The Essence of the Earth Vein

The soul of Mad Caesar vanished, and Ou Xiaolu and his companions swiftly headed in another direction, toward the true core of the earth vein. As they departed, Ou Xiaolu felt a strange sensation in his heart, for the mark he had left on the Boss seemed not to have disappeared yet, though he couldn’t quite figure out what was going on.

But with his senior brother and the others already on the move, Ou Xiaolu couldn’t linger. He hurried to catch up. Unlike the earlier journey, which had been smooth and uneventful, their way toward the earth vein’s core was now repeatedly blocked by monsters.

These creatures were the incarnations of graffiti come to life, but each exuded a thick, bloody aura. The moment they spotted Ou Xiaolu and his group, they would hurl themselves forward in a frenzied attack, heedless of their own lack of real power.

None of these minor monsters even got close to Ou Xiaolu. His senior brother was a battle-hardened veteran—at the first sign of attack, his trident-bladed weapon would flash and the beasts would be sliced into shreds faster than Ou Xiaolu’s eyes could follow.

Ou Xiaolu had long wanted to shout, “Let me handle those monsters!” After all, each creature meant a bit of experience for him, even if only a few points at a time; every little bit counted. But now he didn’t even get the chance to land a single blow and claim some experience—the senior brother dispatched them all. What frustrated Ou Xiaolu even more was that, though they were in a party, monsters killed by his senior brother didn’t count toward his own progress. It made no sense.

Senior brother, lost in the thrill of battle, didn’t notice how increasingly aggrieved Ou Xiaolu’s expression had become. Soon, they arrived at the core of the earth vein.

There, senior brother suddenly halted, and both Ou Xiaolu and Zhong Kui, catching up, were left speechless. Before them, the ground had collapsed into a massive pit, thirty meters across, from which a torrent of bloody aura surged upward.

Seeing this, Ou Xiaolu quickly tried to contact the outside, wanting to ask if anything unusual was happening beyond. Soon, the former Archbishop replied: all their prepared arrays to suppress the earth vein were in place, but for some reason, a stronger force was interfering, plunging the entire Shixi Campus into chaos. They were trying to regain control.

While Ou Xiaolu was relaying information, senior brother and Zhong Kui listened in, and upon grasping the general situation, their expressions grew grave.

“Our plan was to suppress part of the earth vein’s power from the outside,” said senior brother. “But it looks like, even if we manage that, the effect will be extremely limited.”

“The real problem now isn’t suppression,” Zhong Kui replied, “but where our enemy actually is.”

As the two discussed, Ou Xiaolu checked his minimap. The marker for the earth vein was still nearby, though none of them could see its physical form. After a moment’s thought, Ou Xiaolu stepped forward and peered into the deep pit. The instant he did, a mass of bloody vapor surged toward him—a tentacle-like appendage struck out ahead of the rest and lashed against him.

The blow sent splinters flying; where the tentacle struck, Ou Xiaolu had already transformed into a wooden decoy.

With the enemy revealed, things became much simpler. Senior brother’s eye at the center of his brow opened, a splendid set of armor appeared on his body, his trident-bladed weapon spun in his hands, and behind him loomed the spectral form of a massive dog, seven or eight meters long.

At the same time, Ou Xiaolu split into two clones, one to the left and one to the right, both pouncing toward the tentacles erupting from the pit. In their hands was a potion crafted from the soul of Mad Caesar.

Meanwhile, Zhong Kui tossed his newly acquired iron chain into the pit, forcibly hooking onto something and pulling upward. The mighty ghost appeared at Zhong Kui’s back, helping him haul on the chain.

Just then, the core of the earth vein burst from the pit. The creature was fully twenty meters wide, its bulk blocking the entire chasm. It resembled a mountain of flesh, six massive arms each five meters long, every hand gripping a weapon of no small destructive power. Around its waist writhed countless tentacles of various lengths, forming a defensive barrier at its front.

It bore two vulture heads, much like the figure Mad Caesar had painted in his final graffiti. The only real difference was the twisted human face on its chest—eight parts out of ten resembling Mad Caesar’s own soul.

With the earth vein’s core revealed, Ou Xiaolu and his companions instinctively fell back a distance. Senior brother, a touch disdainful, remarked, “A creature that can’t even properly manage three heads and six arms? Hardly a challenge. Let’s split up and attack.”

Ou Xiaolu studied the weapons in the core’s hands. Most were axes, shields, hammers, or pillars—heavy impact weapons, powerful but slow. Now that he was possessed by a ninja and bolstered by Booth’s abilities, he could take this on.

With that thought, Ou Xiaolu nodded slightly. Behind Zhong Kui, the mighty ghost vanished and the martial ghost slowly appeared instead. This purple-eyed imp gazed at the towering mountain of flesh with a glint of excitement.

“If everyone’s ready, let’s proceed as planned. I’ll take the front,” said senior brother, spinning his trident-bladed weapon and, with the giant canine phantom at his back, advancing directly toward the earth vein’s core.

Ou Xiaolu glanced at Zhong Kui, pointed toward the side where the pillar and hammer were, and said, “I’ll handle that side.” Zhong Kui nodded in agreement and led the martial ghost toward the opposite flank.

Ou Xiaolu did not withdraw his clones. His true self held a longsword, his clones clutched the potion, and he began to advance slowly toward the earth vein’s core.

He hadn’t yet reached the monster when, from the front, fierce barking rang out. The lithe canine phantom behind senior brother had already engaged the enemy. Senior brother stood atop its head, his trident-bladed weapon slashing with golden arcs of energy that cut into the monster’s flesh.

Meanwhile, Zhong Kui’s side had also joined the fray. Zhong Kui flung his chain, entangling one of the core’s arms, and set the martial ghost loose. Once unleashed, the martial ghost transformed into a muscular man radiating black killing intent. He didn’t need any weapons—just struck with his fists, even as the earth vein’s core’s weapons crashed down upon him, he met them all the same.

Ou Xiaolu, moving more cautiously, still hadn’t engaged the monster directly. Yet the vulture head on his side did not turn its attention to the others; instead, it fixed a keen gaze on the potion held in his clone’s hand.