Obsession

Abeike felt uneasy, as if he were being watched by something dangerous.

He looked around and activated his detection magic, but found nothing unusual.

... Is it just my imagination?

No, that's not right.

Abeike, who was resting, stood up, took out a strangely shaped staff from behind him, and raised his vigilance to the highest level.

To disbelieve any illusions about danger—that was Abeike's life motto.

More than ten years ago, Abeike was just an ordinary person in the Borderlands, without magic or superpowers.

In this world, they are the kind of ordinary people whose entire lives can be seen at a glance.

Until he inadvertently obtained something that would change his life—a tooth.

To be precise, it was a tooth from Visas.

This opened the door to New World for him, making him one of the body parts holders.

But this tooth is different from the other body parts. The other body parts can be obtained with great power or rules, but this tooth cannot.

It belongs to the category of "accumulated experience leading to a sudden burst of talent".

The longer you accumulate, the stronger you become.

Its previous owner clearly didn't understand this principle and rashly revealed the tooth. In the end, he and the envious man perished together in front of Abeike. Their bodies were completely burned, leaving only this tooth that could not be destroyed no matter what.

With such a precedent before him, Abeike naturally knew what to do.

Cautious and patient.

Abeike practically had those two words etched into his forehead; for over a decade, he has consistently lived up to their meaning.

And they did indeed help Abeike escape countless crises when it was still weak.

So even after Abeike had weathered that period and become very strong, he never abandoned this life motto. As a result, even now, despite his immense power, very few people have ever heard of him.

And he was prepared to continue to endure it.

Until that day, he was pulled into Peach Blossom Paradise.

He was deeply shocked.

His pretense, the power he had gained over the past decade, seemed utterly ridiculous beneath that towering ancient tree.

That guy called "Hand Eye" could pull his consciousness and soul into that illusion with just a thought.

So powerful... inexplicably powerful.

This deeply attracted Abeike.

Before this, he had never fantasized about other body parts, thinking that having just this one piece was enough, and he shouldn't expect anything else.

After all, contact with other body parts holders is an extremely dangerous thing in itself.

But his thinking changed after that trip to Peach Blossom Paradise.

He finally began to crave the power of other corpse parts, and he also wanted to obtain the power of Peach Blossom Paradise directly after acquiring more corpse parts.

After all, that Hand Eye only had two pieces of corpse to control Peach Blossom Paradise. What would he gain if he obtained more?

Abeike dared not think about it too much, because just a slight thought would make his heart pound wildly, like a war drum being pounded.

... Moreover, even setting aside these desires and ambitions, the emergence of Peach Blossom Paradise also means that Abeike's previous survival rules are no longer viable.

Because Peach Blossom Paradise was simply too powerful, Abeike had no doubt that his methods of concealing his abilities would be completely useless against Peach Blossom Paradise.

Will anyone find out his identity through Peach Blossom Paradise?

Nobody can say for sure.

Currently, the person with the most body parts is Hand Eye, and two body parts are enough for him to become the temporary head of Peach Blossom Paradise.

What if there are Three Corpse Pieces or four pieces of body parts?

Will there come a day when all those who possess body parts will be unable to hide from him?

This is clearly a possibility.

If such a person were to actually appear, Abeike doubted how much of a deterrent effect his accumulated power would actually have on him.

After all, everything Abeike has now comes from this one piece of corpse, so he can't even imagine how terrifying a guy who has multiple pieces of corpse would be.

If that time really comes, he will most likely just be a lamb to the slaughter.

Therefore, we absolutely cannot sit idly by and wait for our demise.

Abeike had already understood this when he left Peach Blossom Paradise.

Isn't this also a form of caution?

So Abeike came here.

According to Hand Eye, the guy who is being hunted by both the Rhine and Holy Sound churches and who also possesses two pieces of his body is in this chaotic land.

Despite the oppressive atmosphere of Peach Blossom Paradise, which prevented anyone from lying, Abeike still didn't completely trust his Hand Eye. Therefore, after entering Wildfire, he cautiously probed for information. Finally, after defeating the monster that suddenly charged at him, he unexpectedly obtained the information.

That guy is right ahead.

Abeike looked up and could already see the endless valleys in the distance.

He also knew that it was once a sacred site of the Senro God Sect, which no longer existed.

Abeike didn't know much about the past Senro God Sect and the present Wildfire Sect, and he didn't want to get involved before, but now there was no other way.

Faced with the body parts of Visas, any potential danger was no longer of concern.

If only...

Abeike narrowed his eyes slightly.

His Magic Power senses had already detected something.

Sure enough, there was something there.

Just as he was thinking this, the vines closest to him suddenly trembled, and a dark shadow emerged from them, instantly lunging at Abeike.

Wow, so fast!

Abeike looked surprised, but before he could react, the dark figure bit his neck.

"Ahhh!!"

He only had time to let out a scream before his neck was bitten off.

Blood splattered out, landing on the grotesque face with seven or eight mouths.

One of the grotesque faces had its mouth biting Abeike's neck, while several other mouths were shouting in unison.

"Visas!"

"Visas!"

"Visas!"

Then all those mouths opened wide at once, instantly squeezing out the rest of the face, leaving only rings of fine fangs, as if they wanted to swallow Abeike whole.

But at that moment, the blood that Abeike splattered out turned from red to black, as if he had been infected, and his whole body instantly turned into a lump of black mud.

Huh?

The strange face tilted its head, clearly not understanding what was going on.

But then, a huge surge of heat erupted from the black mud.

With a loud "boom".

The black mud exploded.

The grotesque face and the body beneath it, composed of countless severed limbs, were instantly blasted to pieces, scattered around and twitching incessantly.

Abeike then stepped out from the other side, frowning as he looked at the monster before him.

"What the hell is this thing?" he whispered.

As soon as he finished speaking, the surrounding bushes shook once again.

His expression changed slightly, and then he looked around.

One, two, three, four.

Four stitched monsters, almost identical to the previous ones, crawled out of the forest. Their mouths were in their palms, above their eyes, and on the soles of their feet.

They all spoke in unison.

"Visas!"

"Visas!"

"Visas!"

Countless eyes were fixed on Abeike.

To be precise, they were staring at Abeike's mouth, staring at the teeth inside Abeike's mouth.

Abeike's brow furrowed even deeper, and the unease he felt earlier returned.

What exactly is this thing?

How did they know that he had Visas' Corpse Pieces's body on him? And even which piece?

Before Abeike could figure out the problem, something even more surprising happened.

The mangled limb that had been blown apart by him suddenly began to twitch rapidly again, as if it had regained its life.

Under Abeike's watchful gaze, the severed limbs quickly came together, and the mouths that had sprung from all sides swallowed the completely charred chunks of flesh whole, chewing them with a "glug glug" sound.

Then, the missing parts grew new flesh and blood at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Before long, it "recovered as before" and shouted "Visas" in unison with the other four monsters.

Abeike was completely stunned.

What the hell is this thing?!

No one could answer him; the monsters, having regrouped, once again pounced on Abeike.

Abeike also revealed a fierce expression.

Don't think you can scare him to death like that.

He planted his staff in the mud and then made a hand seal.

If Father from the Rhine were here, he would be astonished.

Because that's exactly what...

"Rhine!"

Abeike shouted, and Holy Light descended from the sky, enveloping him.

Rhine Divine Art!

He is Abeike.

Having accumulated over a decade of experience with this tooth, he can now effortlessly wield divine arts from various religious sects.

It's simply impossible for such a group of bizarre monsters to defeat him...

With a "pfft".

Abeike's eyes widened.

Because he saw those monsters easily tear apart the Rhine Holy Light.

"How is that possible!?"

Wei Ke suddenly turned around and looked behind him.

"What's wrong?" Bai Wei asked.

Wei Ke turned his head back and scratched the back of his head. "I felt like I heard someone shouting just now."

"Oh?" Bai Wei raised an eyebrow. "What are you shouting for?"

"Have no idea."

"Are you saying 'I don't know'?"

"No, I mean... I don't know," Wei Ke said. "It's too far away to hear... but it could also be my imagination, since I didn't smell anything."

"I see." Bai Wei shrugged. "That was just your imagination. Don't worry about it. You're probably just still half asleep. Let's keep going."

"...oh."

Wei Ke strode forward.

They had been walking along this path for a while, during which Bai Wei would occasionally ask him if he had remembered anything.

His answer was always no, he couldn't remember anything.

At this point, Wei Ke felt a little strange again.

Although he couldn't remember anything, he was certain that this was the path he had taken, and everything on it felt very familiar to him.

But still couldn't remember anything, so he could only continue following Bai Wei forward.

Strangely enough, even though it was Bai Wei's first time here, he seemed very familiar with everything and was even leading the way for him.

"Speaking of which," Bai Wei suddenly spoke up, "Have you ever thought about this?"

"Huh?" Wei Ke didn't react immediately. "What's the problem?"

Bai Wei slowly asked, "What happens to a god after he dies?"

"Huh?" Wei Ke was a little confused. "He's dead, what could he possibly look like?"

"Why not?" Bai Wei said with a smile. "If it's a human or an animal, after death, the body decomposes and the soul disappears. So, after a god dies, does the body decompose? Does the soul disappear?"

Wei Ke hadn't thought about the problem from that perspective; his subconscious thought was to answer, "What's the difference?"

But then he remembered what Ryan had told him that night.

The Senro God tried to fight against death, but failed.

If the death of gods is the same as that of humans, then what is the Senro God fighting against?

Wei Ke found the question profound, prompting him to ponder it further.

But the more he thought about it, the more troubled he became, unable to find an answer, as if it were beyond his capabilities.

So after scratching his head, he chose to ask Bai Wei directly, "So what happens after a god dies?"

Bai Wei chuckled, "I was the one asking you the question."

"Oh... right."

Seeing Wei Ke's stunned expression, Bai Wei smiled and shook his head, saying, "Obsession."

"What?"

"I said, obsession," Bai Wei said. "Individuals as powerful as gods, who are theoretically immortal, are mostly unwilling to accept death when they are forced to die, and this unwillingness often turns into a powerful obsession."

Wei Ke was puzzled. "Can obsession be powerful?"

"Yes," Bai Wei chuckled, "That's incredibly powerful."

Those bastards!

Abeike got angrier and angrier as the game progressed.

These monsters seem impossible to kill!

Abeike tried everything – Rhine's divine magic, Holy Sound's Movement Spell, Lyra's physical enhancements – but these monsters just wouldn't die!

What is cut can be sewn back together, what is crushed can be pieced back together.

Time and time again, time and time again!

What on earth sustains these monsters?!

After such an extremely unfair struggle, Abeike was covered in injuries.

He knew he couldn't delay any longer, so he hardened his eyes.

Since that's the case, we have no choice but to reveal our trump card.

As another monster charged toward him, Abeike reached out his hand.

The hand instantly transformed into a wolf, its enormous head clamping tightly onto the monster's body.

Instead of using its wolf head to crush it, Abeike held it directly in front of its eyes, opened its mouth, and bit down hard.

Visas's teeth easily tore off the flesh of these monsters.

He swallowed it in one gulp.

He didn't want to do this, since these creatures didn't look like they were edible.

But he couldn't care less about that anymore.

Bring it on!

With his mouth full of blood, Abeike roared, "Let me see what kind of monsters you are!"

In an instant, countless images flooded my mind.

A burning sky.

A shattered Divine Kingdom.

Compared to the mountain's body, it shattered with a deafening roar, falling like goose feathers and burning.

At the end of all this, there was a blurry figure.

Despair, anger, fear.

All the negative emotions surged onto that shadow beneath the sky, and then transformed into a name.

That name is...

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"

Abeike roared in agony.

The next second, his head exploded.