Confronting an Apostle with the Flesh

After a while, the believers recovered from their shock and burst into tears, as if they had lost their parents. They wailed and cried, rushing towards the altar to confirm whether Shi Kelang was really dead or if it was just their imagination.

Three Dharma Kings who came up on stage with He Qichang, holding scrolls, were jolted by the crowd and lost their grip on the paintings. One of the scrolls flew out and landed in the round altar, where it was ignited by flames and quickly burst into flames.

Some people who wanted to avenge Shi Kelang were blocked by the surging crowd. All they could see were swaying figures, making it impossible for them to break through and chase the murderer. Even when they shouted "Make way!" and "We want to avenge our leader!", the believers, who were already immersed in grief, could not hear them at all and continued to push and shove upwards. Under such circumstances, a stampede was only a matter of time.

No one noticed that Shi Kelang's blood was absorbed by the High Antiquity relic hidden on his body. The white six-sided crystal turned bright red and then, as if in resonance, began to flash at a certain frequency.

Just as Si Ming was about to turn and leave, the ground suddenly trembled violently, causing people to lose their footing and nearly half of them to fall to the ground.

At the same time, with the altar as the center, a mysterious array was activated, emitting light through the ground and leaving dazzling runes on the earth.

"What's going on? Could the so-called sacrificial ceremony be genuine?"

Si Ming felt an immense pressure enveloping him. Although he wasn't completely unable to move, it required several times the effort, and his movements became sluggish. Some believers with low cultivation levels and less-than-ideal physiques were even pressed to the ground, unable to move.

Within the array's range, the soil churned, and the carcasses of wild beasts emerged from the ground, occasionally accompanied by one or two human skeletons, moving aimlessly amidst the screams of the believers.

"What the hell! Is the true form of the Primordial Ancestor Great Immortal a necromancer?"

Si Ming had just finished complaining when he realized he was wrong. The remains of those wild beasts had actually merged with the plants, evolving into a new humanoid creature.

They have human-like bodies, with clearly defined hands, legs, and a head. Their bodies are made of the bones of wild animals, mixed with leaves, twigs, flowers, and other materials.

At the same moment, Shi Kelang's headless corpse also stood up. His heart, which had stopped beating, was replaced by a High Antiquity relic, which immediately unleashed a powerful suction force, pulling a large number of wild animal carcasses and trees onto his body, piling them up in the blink of an eye into a huge monster over thirty meters tall.

Chapter 173 Physical Body Shakes Apostle

What kind of creature is this?

Murong Qing, who was originally supposed to escape to the dock, turned back to Si Ming's side after discovering the anomaly. Her face showed undisguised surprise, and she couldn't understand why the assassination of a cult leader had turned into this situation.

Si Ming wanted to warn against easily stepping into the array's range, but he found that the heavy pressure on his body had disappeared and he felt free again. He immediately realized that the previous restraints were probably to prevent others from interfering with the ritual.

He exhaled heavily and said, "I don't know. I've never heard of such a creature before. It doesn't look like an animal or a plant."

Murong Qing looked up at the enormous monster that had transformed from Shi Kelang's corpse and frowned, saying, "Could this be the divine avatar of the Primordial Ancestor Great Immortal they speak of? Are the other smaller monsters beings similar to believers in a divine kingdom?"

The followers of the Primordial Ancestor Divine Cult clearly did not think that way. Upon seeing the appearance of these strange creatures, they screamed in panic and ran away.

The alien creatures initially remained calm, like plants, but after being stimulated by the screams, they seemed to awaken and launched an attack, turning vines, thorns, bone spikes... all into weapons, leaving trails of blood.

"It's hard to draw conclusions. Judging from the name alone, the Primordial Ancestor Great Immortal should be a personal god, but it's hard to say whether these monsters are intelligent beings, let alone any belief in them. Perhaps it's a 'backdoor listing'... Shi Kelang is very likely also a victim; he has no idea what kind of mess he's created."

As Si Ming spoke, he took the spirit gun from Murong Qing and fired a tearing bullet at the enormous creature that Shi Kelang had transformed into, instantly creating a hole the size of a water vat in its body, sending bone fragments and wood chips flying everywhere.

Such an injury would be fatal to a human, but on a monster thirty meters tall, while not insignificant, it was clearly not worth taking seriously. Moreover, the wound was healing at a speed visible to the naked eye.

At the same time, the alien creatures attacked the two of them, each shooting out a dozen or so vines from their hands to grab them.

Murong Qing drew the Moon God's Tear, and with a graceful step, the sword spun, spreading cold Sword Qi, freezing all alien creatures within a ten-meter radius and tearing them to pieces.

"Is the lack of recovery due to a lack of regenerative ability, excessive damage, or being frozen?"

Looking at the motionless remains of the alien creature, Si Ming was puzzled and quickly said to Murong Qing, "Don't use your cold energy next time... Never mind, I'll do it myself!"

Such a change has long exceeded the Mohist Knight Guard's entry test, and continuing to be bound by the restriction against taking action is no less futile than trying to find a sword by marking the boat.

He immediately pushed off with one foot, swung his arm, and unleashed Bullet Fist, its force as heavy as a mountain, easily shattering the alien creature into pieces.

"Hmm? The feel is different from hitting a human body. It doesn't feel like hitting flesh; it's more like damaging furniture."

Si Ming looked down and saw that the remains showed no signs of recovery, ruling out freezing as the cause. Just as he was pondering this, several thorny vines wrapped around his legs and pulled hard.

If it were an ordinary person, even if they weren't dragged away, the barbs on their skin would still tear apart the flesh through friction, until they reached the bone.

But Si Ming remained as steady as a rock, unmoved. The barbs were worn off by the friction against his skin. He reached out and grabbed the vine, pulling the attacking alien creature to his side. Then, he grabbed the creature's arms with both hands and used a move called "Ape Demon Severing Waterfall" to tear off the arms.

The alien creature convulsed and writhed, seemingly expressing its pain, but because it couldn't scream, it couldn't bring Si Ming a sense of empathy. The faint mucus flowing from the wound also couldn't compare to the sensory impact of fresh blood.

Although there was still a feeling of discomfort, it was far from being nauseating. Even the most bloodthirsty killers would probably not be able to muster the urge to kill if they encountered this creature.

There is a huge gap between the two sides in their biological concepts, and this incompatibility even exceeds the differences between species.

When a normal person encounters an animal on the verge of death, hears its groans, and sees its blood, they will inevitably feel sympathy. However, when it comes to creatures of a different species, there is an incomprehensible sense of alienation, much like the difference between carbon-based and silicon-based life forms.

The wound on the alien creature writhed, and several thick vines emerged from it, spiraling and binding together. Like a sponge, they expanded and contracted, as if being kneaded by an invisible hand. They quickly returned to the same state as before, only slightly smaller in size.

"An astonishing recovery ability. Was the previous lack of recovery due to the severity of the injury, or because vital organs were damaged?"

The recovered alien creature attacked Si Ming again. Its abdomen trembled violently, and a thick, hard bone spur emerged, looking like a knight's lance, and viciously stabbed towards Si Ming's chest.

Then, the Root Bone was shattered.

In response, Si Ming swung his arm and delivered Bullet Fist, smashing the opponent's head apart, sending bone fragments and wood chips flying everywhere.

But this did not stop the alien creature from moving; in fact, signs of wriggling growth appeared on its neck.

"I can't see the brain. Is the head just an ornament? Is it because there are no vital parts, or is it located elsewhere?"

Si Ming recalled the many comics and novels he had read in his previous life, and a guess suddenly flashed through his mind. He reached into the other person's body and searched for her like a fish out of water, ignoring her desperate resistance.

"Found it!"

With a forceful tug, he pulled a green, six-sided crystal from the alien creature's body. Almost simultaneously, the alien creature stopped moving, as if it had become a sculpture.

"Indeed, this is the core of their will."

Si Ming looked at the six-sided crystal in his palm. It was only the size of a thumb, about one-tenth the size of the High Antiquity artifact, but the feel was completely different. Holding it in his hand felt like holding a living thing, like a beating heart. He could feel an indescribable Primal Qi contained within it. The six-sided crystal was easily mistaken for a square, but it was actually two regular tetrahedrons stacked together, with all six sides being equilateral triangles.