After the monster regenerated, it wasted no time and launched its massive, writhing body at Hengsheng with a speed far greater than before. Hengsheng reacted instantly, dodging to the side—but it was too fast. One of the mouths on its grotesque body latched onto his left foot.
"Ah!"
A sharp, searing pain shot through him as he heard the sickening crunch of bone. His left foot was ripped clean off. Gritting his teeth, Hengsheng channeled Qi to halt the bleeding and stabilize himself mid-air. He landed far from the creature, barely maintaining his balance. His eyes burned with fury as he watched the monster chew on his severed foot, its rows of jagged teeth cracking the bones like brittle twigs.
His anger surged to an unprecedented peak. “HOW DARE YOU EAT MY FOOT! I’LL KILL YOU!” he roared, his voice echoing across the plain.
As he seethed, the monster swallowed the remnants of his foot. To Hengsheng’s horror, new clawed legs sprouted from its grotesque body, growing longer and more twisted than the others.
“What the hell is that?!” Hengsheng’s shock turned to determination. He knew close combat was no longer an option—getting within its reach again would be suicide. He quickly switched tactics, gathering Qi into his palms and launching a barrage of long-range attacks.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Each strike hit its mark, tearing apart chunks of the creature’s fleshy mass. Despite its terrifying attack power, the monster's body wasn’t particularly durable; a single Qi blast could blow large portions of it apart. But no matter how much damage Hengsheng inflicted, it kept regenerating. Not even a sign of weakness.
“This… this thing is immortal!” he muttered in disbelief. His mind churned. Even immortal cultivators—those who lived as long as the heavens and earth—were not unkillable, ways they could be killed. But this monster? Its power was nowhere near that of an immortal, yet it seemed completely unkillable. The sheer absurdity of it left him deeply unsettled.
Hengsheng continued his relentless assault, bombarding the monstrosity with Qi blasts to keep it at bay. But he knew he couldn’t keep this up forever. His stamina was draining, and the creature showed no signs of slowing down.
Realizing he needed to retreat, Hengsheng turned and dashed toward the Divine Tree. The monster screeched, sensing his attempt to flee. In a horrifying display, it detonated chunks of its own body, sending a rain of flesh hurtling toward him.
Hengsheng’s eyes widened in shock. “It can do that?!” He dodged frantically as the fleshy projectiles slammed into the ground, cratering the earth. One small piece managed to graze his arm. He felt it immediately—an alien presence burrowing into his flesh.
“Damn it!”
Without hesitation, Hengsheng ripped off the skin from his own arm where the monster’s piece had latched on, tossing it away before it could dig deeper. The pain was excruciating, but he couldn’t let the monster invade his body. Clenching his jaw, he sprinted faster toward the Divine Tree.
As he neared the tree, the air grew calm and soothing. Just as the monster lunged after him, he entered the Divine Tree’s protective aura. The moment it crossed into the tree’s energy field, a deafening roar of pain erupted from its countless mouths. Its grotesque body recoiled violently, unable to bear the tree’s divine aura.
Hengsheng collapsed to his knees, panting heavily. Safe, at least for now. His sharp eyes watched as the monster slithered back, retreating to gather its scattered flesh. Once its body reformed, it began to twist and contort. To Hengsheng’s surprise, the creature compressed itself, its massive bulk thinning into a long, slim, spaghetti-like form.
“What… is it doing now?”
The grotesque form slithered toward the ground, finding a narrow gap in the earth. Like a serpent, it slipped into the crevice and disappeared from sight, leaving behind an eerie silence.
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Hengsheng collapsed to the ground, his breathing ragged. Yunsu stayed by his side, gently licking his raw, bloody, skinless arm. Her saliva, imbued with the healing properties of the Five Phases, worked to mend his wounds.
He glanced at the other demon beasts. With the monster gone, they seemed unfazed, lazily returning to their spots near the Divine Tree as if nothing had happened. They had completely forgotten about him.
“I need to deal with this wound first,” Hengsheng muttered, gritting his teeth.
He pulled a healing pill from his space ring, popped it into his mouth, and waited for it to take effect. As the pill dissolved, a soothing warmth spread through his body, sending waves of gentle Qi to his injuries. Though his arm was still grotesque, it started to regenerate, with a thin layer of new skin slowly covering the exposed flesh.
But when Hengsheng glanced at his left foot, his mood darkened. It was gone—completely severed. He shook his head in frustration. No pill or treasure in his possession could restore a lost limb.
“I can’t stay like this,” he said through clenched teeth.
Hengsheng made a quick decision, he uninstalled his Simulator System. With a thought, he entered his mind space, where he immediately began crafting a new system tailored to this crisis.
“The monster’s recovery ability… it’s the real problem,” he mused as he worked. “No matter how many times I destroy it, it just regenerates like it’s immortal. And I didn't sense Qi from it at all—just that strange, oppressive aura surrounding it. Whatever is making it unkillable, it’s tied to its insane regenerative power. If I can strip that away...”
His fingers flew as he constructed the framework of his new system.
Ding!
Life Stealer System {75%} installed.
As the system was installed, a massive amount of Hengsheng’s Qi was consumed, and the drain was almost overwhelming. This new system, built with the same capacity as his super useful Scenario Simulation System, had a single, devastating purpose to steal the monster’s life force. Hengsheng smirked darkly. He couldn’t wait to see if the creature could still crawl back after losing the very essence that sustained it.
With a faint grin, he placed Yunsu gently on the ground. “You wait here. I’ll be back soon.”
Yunsu swung her tail, letting out a soft, obedient “Meow…” before sitting down, her eyes never leaving him.
Hengsheng stepped out of the protective aura of the Divine Tree. Almost immediately, the monster rose from where it had lain dormant, its grotesque form twitching to life. But Hengsheng didn’t flinch.
He activated his system.
Ding!
[Target locked.]
With the target locked, the system’s function was clear: any damage Hengsheng inflicted would steal the monster’s life force, nullify its regeneration, and convert the stolen energy into his own recovery.
“Let’s see how you handle this,” Hengsheng muttered as he raised his hand, gathering a massive amount of Qi. He channeled every ounce of his strength into his Qi Surge Cannon, unleashing it from afar.
Boom!—Doom!
The attack landed with devastating force, obliterating the monster’s grotesque body. The ground shook, and a cloud of dust and debris filled the air. Hengsheng didn’t rush in—he waited, his sharp eyes fixed on the aftermath, ready to confirm whether the creature had truly been destroyed.
As the dust settled, Hengsheng’s heart sank. The monster wasn’t recovering—but it wasn’t dead either. Worse, the parts of its body that had been blown apart didn’t return to the main mass. Instead, they began to twist and writhe on their own, each severed piece forming into a new, smaller monstrosity.
Within moments, the once singular abomination had multiplied into a swarm of over a hundred smaller versions, each just as grotesque as the original.
Hengsheng stared at the scene in stunned silence, his mind racing. His expression darkened. “What the hell is this…? A horror movie?”
The plain that had once held a single monstrous threat now teemed with countless nightmares, their countless unblinking eyes and gnashing mouths all fixed on him. Hengsheng couldn’t help but groan inwardly. Why did this monster always manage to turn the worst possibilities into reality?
Hengsheng immediately bolted back into the protective aura of the Divine Tree. His heart pounded as he turned to look behind him, only to see the swarm of monsters retreating into the gaps and crevices of the earth. A chill ran down his spine. He couldn’t leave now—not with those abominations lurking, ready to ambush him the moment he stepped outside.
Without hesitation, he quickly uninstalled the useless Life Stealer System. “What a scam!” he muttered, blaming the innocent system for the disaster, conveniently ignoring that it was his own overconfidence that caused the mess.
“At least I got my foot back,” he grumbled, glancing down at his fully restored leg. Although the system had caused an ultimate failure, it hadn’t been a total loss. The life force he’d stolen had been enough to regenerate his limb—a small consolation for the chaos he’d unleashed.
As Hengsheng caught his breath, he couldn’t help but wonder how such a monster could exist in a cultivation world. “This thing doesn’t make sense,” he muttered to himself, frowning deeply. “It’s like its existence follows a different set of rules entirely...”
A sudden flash of Enlightened struck him, and his gaze shifted to the towering Divine Tree. “Wait a moment...” he muttered, narrowing his eyes. “How does your aura hurt that monster? Is it because of... Dao Rhythm?”