Creating an opening

Lu Heng's hand had already reached for the grip of Kiss of Nightmare. He grabbed it, raised the gun, shouldered it, and pulled the trigger in one fluid motion.

"Bang!"

The projectile struck the Insect Queen's side chest, denting her carapace and splattering green fluid. The Insect Queen, in pain, veered slightly off course, but did not stop.

The second shot. The Insect Queen suddenly ducked, and the bullet grazed its head armor, blasting into a shower of rubble on the rock wall.

Before the third shot was even fired, it had already arrived.

It wasn't a pounce, it was a ramming. The massive body pressed in, hugging the ground like a crashing rock. Lu Heng only had time to raise his gun slightly—

A tremendous force emanated from the gun, sending Kiss of Nightmare flying. In the instant it left his hand, he even heard the crisp sound of metal hitting the rock wall.

It's over.

He has nothing right now.

The Insect Queen gave him no chance to create distance. Her massive pincers swept across, whistling through the air with the force of a blow that could slice a person in half. Lu Heng could only raise his left arm to block—

"Click."

A crisp cracking sound came from within his own bones.

His left arm instantly lost all strength and hung limply at his sides. It was broken. The pain made his vision go black, and his teeth clenched so tightly they cracked.

But instead of retreating, he lunged forward with the force, his right shoulder slamming into the hollow of the Insect Queen's abdomen.

It's getting closer.

The closer the better.

Panting, he muttered to himself, "Blood Taisui, you better remember this: if I get injured later, you'd better replenish my energy and reconnect the broken parts. If you dare to slack off, you won't get a single point of Mental Energy later on."

The Blood Taisui stirred within his body, and the Mycelium began to crawl towards the broken bone. He could feel the coolness traveling along the bone, inch by inch bringing the misaligned ends together.

The Insect Queen's large pincers slammed down again.

Lu Heng didn't dodge. He took the hit with his right shoulder, and half of his body went numb on the spot. A bloody taste filled his mouth, but he also used the force to get closer, pressing his right hand firmly against its carapace.

Close proximity is the insect's advantage, and also its only chance.

"The Greedy Wolf Power."

He silently recited a sentence in his mind.

A scorching power surged from deep within his body, coursing upwards through his muscles. His muscles tensed, his bones creaked slightly, and his crippled left arm could move again—though each movement felt like knives twisting inside his bones.

Meanwhile, an even more subtle force was seeping out from his palm, which was pressed against the carapace, like countless invisible needles piercing into the Insect Queen's body.

The Greedy Wolf Power can absorb things.

The opponent's physical strength, energy, and the power that supports its continuous bursts of power can be gradually drained away and used to replenish itself.

But this insect's shell is ridiculously thick, so it can only suck up a pitifully small amount of food.

But less does not mean less.

When he threw the first punch, he felt like his entire arm was about to break.

When the second punch landed, he felt the pain at the broken bone subside slightly.

The third punch, the fourth punch—that faint warm current drawn back from the Insect Queen's body was slowly filling his body, like water dripping into a leaky bucket, incredibly slow, but definitely filling him.

He took a breath, and it felt like someone had stuffed a small, warm thing into the gap between his bones—not hot, but it definitely filled the void.

The Blood Taisui is cultivating over there, Greedy Wolf Power is stealing over here.

By putting both ends together, he actually managed to hold on.

The Insect Queen's attack rhythm has changed.

The shell opened and closed faster and faster, the hissing tone rising higher and higher, and the interval between attacks was compressed to an extremely short length—it no longer probed, but instead hurled everything it could at them.

Lu Heng couldn't avoid it; he had no choice but to switch.

If you hit my shoulder with your pliers, I'll punch your shell. If you ram your body into my chest, I'll bump my forehead into your compound eyes.

With each strike, the recoil traveled up his arm to his shoulder, making the bones in his arm groan. He felt like he wasn't hitting an insect, but rather smashing a piece of iron.

It hurts so much!

But he can't stop.

Stopping means death.

Once. Twice. Three times.

Lu Heng's vision began to darken, and his mouth was filled with the taste of blood. His left arm was completely useless, and the right side of his body felt numb, as if it didn't belong to him. Every breath was accompanied by a tearing pain.

But a soft, escaping sound still escaped through his teeth.

He sensed that the Insect Queen's movements had slowed down.

Several cracks appeared on its dark golden carapace, and green fluid dripped onto the ground, making a hissing sound. The reason it slowed down wasn't just because of its injuries—its strength was being drained away little by little.

Those punches didn't seem to absorb much, but in reality, they all went into his own body.

The Insect Queen's actions suddenly changed.

Instead of smashing straight down, it sank all six legs at once, its entire body sliding half a foot along the ground.

Feint.

Lu Heng's fist missed its mark and slammed into the rock wall, sending sparks flying. At the same instant, a hind leg swept in from the side, knocking him to the ground.

Before he could even turn over, the Insect Queen had already pressed down on him, raising her forelegs high, intending to pin him to the rock.

We must take him down in one fell swoop.

Right now.

Lu Heng's eyes snapped open.

The power that had been suppressed in his palm, which he had never dared to unleash, was finally unleashed without reservation at this moment.

Mental Energy.

This wasn't a test, nor was it harassment; it was everything he could offer right now.

"Buzz--"

A dull tremor, so deep it could stop your heart, reverberated through the air.

The Insect Queen froze in mid-air. Her pincers, raised to their highest point, remained stationary, the light in her compound eyes flashing violently, like lights that might go out at any moment. Her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably, and her six legs went limp one by one.

It tried to struggle and shake off, but the Mental Energy had already poured in from its head, turning everything inside into a chaotic mess.

Lu Heng stood there, panting heavily, blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

He watched the enormous creature slowly fall, then raised his still-functioning right hand and wiped the blood from his face.

"I already said that."

His voice was incredibly hoarse.

" Weakness."

He had just taken a step forward when his left leg buckled, and he almost knelt down.

The Blood Taisui was unusually quiet within his body. The Mycelium was still crawling along the broken bone, but at a rate more than half slower than usual— the Mental Energy from that attack had drained most of it.

Lu Heng slowly sat down against the rock wall, resting his left arm on his knee and adjusting the angle little by little.

'Click.'

The sound of the bones realigning was exceptionally clear inside the hole.

His vision went black for a moment, and cold sweat poured down his forehead.

Once he caught his breath, the silence in the cave returned.

Now it's all gone.

Only droplets of water remained, splashing onto the gravel, drip, drip, drip.