Chapter 36: Slaying and Spoils

The red figure trapped in the ink net struggled fiercely at first, but when he saw Ou Xiaolu charging at him with sword in hand, a look of disdain appeared on his crimson face. He was clearly familiar with Ou Xiaolu’s fighting style—sword in hand, he would certainly use the Lion King Sword Art, perhaps adding the Frenzied Shark’s Bite. But what did it matter? Previously, Ou Xiaolu had sliced the Vulture Head into pieces, but the red figure was convinced he could withstand such a move.

Yet, just as Ou Xiaolu closed to within five meters of the red figure, the sword in his hand suddenly flew from his grasp. The sword split into five white phantoms, three in the front and two in the rear, which plunged into the red figure’s body.

The instant Ou Xiaolu released his sword, everything nearby fell silent, as if the world itself was waiting for the red figure’s reaction.

After a long pause, the red figure finally spoke, his voice slow, “What kind of attack is this?”

“Wraith Fivefold Volley, a special hidden weapon technique designed for striking spiritual entities. I don’t have the perfect hidden weapons on hand, so the effect may be somewhat diminished, but five hits should be enough to finish you off—after all, you’re only a half-formed product.”

As Ou Xiaolu spoke, he fished a vial of potion from his pocket—the very elixir Mad Caesar had given him earlier. But this bottle was clearly less than full, containing only about half its original measure.

Seeing the vial in Ou Xiaolu’s hand, the red figure fell silent for a moment, then his face twisted and shifted, taking on the likeness of Mad Caesar. “When did you figure it out?”

“You handed things over far too willingly,” Ou Xiaolu replied, affecting a nonchalant air. In truth, it was the only explanation he could offer; he couldn’t exactly say: ‘You’re a boss, the mark I set on you hasn’t disappeared, so your death must be a fake.’

“What about those white arrows of light?” The red figure knew his time was running out and wanted to clear up every doubt in his heart.

“There were two people outside laying down formations. I told them you might still be alive, that you were the final boss, and asked them to direct all the power of the formations onto your last graffiti.”

“But didn’t you tell the others outside that the boss was already defeated?” the red figure asked, perplexed. He had, in fact, been monitoring and eavesdropping on Ou Xiaolu and his companions the whole time.

“Who told you our communication was verbal?” Ou Xiaolu sneered in disdain.

“So you were on guard against me all along? Just because of some suspicion in your heart?”

“It was obvious to me you’d never played a game before. Who fights a boss these days without a first, second, and third phase? Only a single phase and you have the nerve to call yourself a boss?”

Ou Xiaolu’s words made the red figure nod in acknowledgment. “You’re right, I’ve never played games. In truth, I never wanted to oppose you all. I wanted you to rescue me as well.

It wasn’t what I wanted, but if I didn’t do this, how could I have made you help me kill this guy and inject my soul into his body? The geonexus schemed for so long—why did I have to be a puppet? I wanted power too.

I just never expected that in the end, my plan would fail because of a moment’s caution on your part. I can’t accept this!

I can’t accept it!”

With those words, the red figure slowly collapsed, his body dissolving into a pool of crimson liquid that spread across the floor.

Ou Xiaolu and Zhong Kui both leapt far back, having no intention whatsoever of touching that liquid. Who knew what effect the boss’s final transformation might have?

The two of them waited in silence for nearly ten minutes. Only after Ou Xiaolu received a system prompt confirming his completion of the mission “The Evil Geonexus of Shixi School” and the slaying of the boss—the fusion of the geonexus core and Mad Caesar—did they step forward to loot the remains.

The weapons Mad Caesar had previously given them had disintegrated into earth as the red figure melted away.

However, at the places where the geonexus core died, where it exploded, and where the red figure liquefied, there were three items left behind, each glowing with a strange light.

Meanwhile, Ou Xiaolu noticed that the half bottle of potion he’d kept seemed to have undergone a transformation under some mysterious force.

[Soul Essence, Item Card, Blue: Inject this soul essence into a character card to upgrade it to supporting character level. Requires a humanoid character. After transformation, the character will master either painting or driving skills.]

“All that’s needed is a body?” Ou Xiaolu silently stowed away the Soul Essence. He didn’t have many character cards, and only one humanoid—Lower Ninja. Clearly, the lower ninja’s combat power was now down to one, but even so, he had no intention of using the conversion on him. After all, what was the point of a ninja who could drive or paint?

At this moment, Zhong Kui had already retrieved the three items emitting that bizarre light and was showing them to Ou Xiaolu one by one.

Of the three, the one that most intrigued Ou Xiaolu came from the pool of red liquid left by the red figure. It looked like a car key. For someone like Ou Xiaolu, who might never be able to drive, the sole reason it caught his eye was because it radiated a purple glow.

The other two items both glowed blue. The object left where the geonexus core fell was a small axe, identical in style to the one the core wielded earlier. The object from the site of the core’s explosion was a stone heart, still bearing the holes made by Zhong Kui’s iron claws.

Ou Xiaolu examined each item, then said, “None of these are spirit veins. We’ll divide them up outside later. I’ll look around for the spirit vein’s hiding place.”

As he spoke, he looked toward the deep pit where the geonexus core had first appeared. The pit was no longer belching blood-red smoke.

Standing at the edge and peering down, Ou Xiaolu saw, just as he’d suspected, a large crystal-like object at the bottom.

He asked Zhong Kui to have the mighty ghost haul it up. The moment his hand touched the crystal, a screen popped up before him.

“Spirit Vein Fragment obtained.”

[Spirit Vein Fragment, Special Card, 937.3 grams, special material. Originally a fragment of the Heart of the Spirit Vein. Collect 1000 grams to fuse into a complete Heart of the Spirit Vein. If ground to powder, each gram can make 3 bottles of mysterious potion (200 combat power version).]

Looking at these numbers, Ou Xiaolu let out a long sigh. “What a pity.”

If there were just a bit more, it could become a complete Heart of the Spirit Vein, which would greatly increase its exchange value. As it was, the ratio would only be one to one. It was a shame that, in the fight, he’d had to cut corners.