Combined Attack Breaks Body, Seemingly Accomplished; False Head Calls Friend, Startling the Soul

Two figures sprang to either side.

Almost the instant Zhuo Rui and Huo Chengping dodged.

A deep pit was smashed into the ground.

As the dust settled slightly, the attacker's true form was revealed.

Even though they had been mentally prepared, seeing it with their own eyes now still sent a wave of nausea rushing to the top of their heads.

Human corpses, long dead, were forcibly bent and twisted, then fused together. Broken bones pierced flesh and skin, interlocking with each other, joints reversed, forming a grotesquely swollen "giant."

At the apex of this massive body was a child's head, forming an absurd contrast with the giant torso below.

The entire monster, pieced together from corpse fragments, was covered by a layer of slowly, continuously writhing, viscous black substance, forming a "membrane."

This served to tightly wrap and connect the body's seams, allowing this unnatural structure to possess stability and mobility.

"A mere oddity dares to desecrate living people like this. Die!"

Seeing this, Huo Chengping put away his usual kind demeanor and struck first. Zhuo Rui followed closely behind, immediately engaging the monster.

Palm winds whistled.

Fist energy thundered.

The power of Great Accomplishment in Five Levels erupted.

True Qi fiercely bombarded the monster's body.

However, to their shock.

Most of the attacks landed on the black membrane, only to slide off or be absorbed and dispersed.

The sensation was like a Martial Artist's protective True Qi, but different. After all, this "membrane" was tangible, like living armor, tightly adhering to the Fulu Ginseng.

The child's head, the corners of its mouth stretched wide to its ears, revealing a smile. Paired with the empty whites of its eyes, it was terrifyingly eerie to the extreme.

This smile seemed to mock their incompetence, carrying contempt and provocation.

Zhuo and Huo, having prior intelligence and mental preparation, were completely unfazed by this psychological assault.

They exchanged a look and changed their strategy.

Their movement speed suddenly increased by another third. They sandwiched the Fulu Ginseng between them, left and right, and began a coordinated assault.

Their teamwork was exceptionally tacit, and relying on this fighting style, they had defeated many formidable enemies, earning them the moniker "Twin Heroes of Green Lotus."

For a time, palm shadows and fist winds poured down from both sides like a torrential storm.

Although the power of each individual attack was slightly weakened due to dispersion, it was compensated by the high frequency and numerous strikes, focusing on areas where the black membrane's flow was slightly slower.

At this point, the "membrane" visibly struggled.

While its defense was strong, it seemed to have great difficulty dealing with continuous, high-frequency attacks from multiple directions. Its flow speed couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the attacks.

The Fulu Ginseng's massive body moved clumsily, wildly flailing its twisted arms to scratch and sweep, yet it couldn't even graze their clothes. Instead, its excessive movements exposed more weaknesses.

"Waaaah!"

The smile on the child's head vanished, replaced by a sharp cry of distress.

Seeing this, Huo Chengping's heart settled slightly, even feeling a hint of disdain.

"Hmph, an oddity is still just an oddity. How can it contend with truly refined Martial Artists?"

Even so, his offensive attacks did not slow down one bit.

The coordinated assault continued for about the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. The black membrane on the Fulu Ginseng's body was visibly dimmer in many places, and its cries carried a tone of exasperated rage.

Now!

Zhuo Rui, who had been silent, roared:

"Old Shen, strike!"

The two simultaneously retreated, creating distance.

"Hahaha! Shen is here!"

A hearty laugh rang out. From a shadow above the cave, a bare-chested burly man emerged.

It was the third Incense Master for this operation, Shen Xu.

He clenched his fists together, raising them high. As his body plummeted down.

Azure patterns lit up on his arms, and True Qi surged into his clasped hands.

Like a meteor falling from the sky, or a divine general wielding a hammer, he smashed down with unparalleled ferocity towards the Fulu Ginseng below.

It was as if mountains were collapsing and the earth was cracking.

A large amount of human fragments shot out in all directions. The giant body, forcibly fused from corpses, disintegrated with a roar, like a struck toy building.

Shen Xu, having successfully landed his blow, showed no desire to linger. Using the recoil force, he executed a backflip and immediately vanished.

"Now! Release!" Huo Chengping, seeing this, did not hesitate and commanded sternly.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Special custom-made long spikes, pitch-black all over, flew out and embedded themselves into the ground, forming a perfect circular array.

As the spikes entered the earth, a faint glow lit up on their upper ends, making sizzling sounds and quickly emitting a large amount of dense white smoke.

Zhuo Rui, Huo Chengping, and Shen Xu simultaneously lowered their stances and stood firm, circulating their cultivation techniques to unleash a beam of "green energy."

Three condensed pillars of green energy shot into the white mist.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

It was like cold water being poured into boiling oil.

The instant the green energy came into contact with the white smoke, a violent reaction occurred, with countless tiny green lightning snakes writhing within.

The lightning snakes moved rapidly, crackling and intertwining until they formed a green and white electric net inside the mist. It then transformed into a cage, trapping the Fulu Ginseng within.

Only then did all the hidden Holy Cult personnel reveal themselves, drawing their swords and systematically clearing out the Living Corpses.

"Is it over just like that?"

Zhuo Rui muttered subconsciously.

From Shen Xu's surprise attack to the successful capture, the entire process was swift, lasting only a few breaths.

"Hahaha! Old Shen, well done! Let's reel it in!"

"You got it!"

Huo Chengping shouted, then patted Zhuo Rui's shoulder with a relaxed smile.

"See? I told you. What kind of trouble could a mere 'rare item' cause?

You just overthink things!

"According to the intelligence, this Fulu Ginseng still has many characteristics that haven't been revealed."

"Hahaha, there's so much information, we can't possibly pay attention to everything."

"But..."

"Alright, I know that's just how you are, but there's a limit! Let's go! I'm treating tonight. We'll get a dozen or twenty young ladies to help you relax."

Zhuo Rui nodded reluctantly, but the faint sense of unease in his heart never dissipated.

He felt it had all gone too smoothly.

Just then, Huo Chengping noticed that Shen Xu's actions were also a bit too slow, even for just reeling in the net.

"Old Shen? Still not done?"

Huo Chengping looked ahead. The green and white electric light intertwined with the mist, blurring his vision.

"Old Huo, something's not right. Come take a look."

"Huh? What could be wrong? Could it have escaped from right under our noses?"

"No, just come over and you'll see."

Huo Chengping didn't take it seriously and stepped forward to investigate.

"Careful!"

The moment he stepped forward, Zhuo Rui, standing beside him, grabbed Huo Chengping's back collar and yanked him backward forcefully.

Something flew past.

The two of them looked closely, their breaths catching in their throats.

It was a headless corpse, with a large hole in its chest and its heart missing.

"Is that... Old Shen?"

Huo Chengping asked in disbelief.

"Old Huo, hurry up and come over! Why aren't you coming?"

Shen Xu's urging voice continued to echo.

Zhuo Rui and Huo Chengping looked up, following the sound.

A figure slowly walked out from within the electric light and mist.

The figure was much smaller than the previous skeletal giant, about the height of a normal person. Its build could even be described as upright, and its skin was pitch-black.

However, upon closer inspection, one could still see the asymmetry of its limbs, clearly indicating it was also pieced together from different corpse parts, though much more skillfully than before.

On its neck sat the same child's head.

But it wasn't crying anymore.

Its right hand held a heart. As if tasting fruit, it took a bite, chewed a few times, and then grinned at the two of them again.

In its left hand was Shen Xu's head, its mouth opening and closing under control, emitting the sound:

"Old Huo, hurry up and come over!"