Infinite Terror: Infinite Reversal

Chapter 137 Urgency and Speed

Mu Xiang dared to say that this ghoul was definitely not the ghoul he knew. As for whether it was a special version for Sutter Cain or a special version for the main god, he couldn't say.

But one thing is certain: judging solely from the comparison of combat power, the rewards and time limits given to him by the main god are not unreasonable.

The main god's evaluation of my strength must be quite high... judging from the double C-rank reward, the difficulty won't be too great.

But why set a time limit...? Is there something fishy going on?

Like other ghouls, Pickman has a hyena-like face and rubbery skin... its most distinctive features are its enormous body and unsettling pale white complexion. Its lower body, pulled from the earth, is covered in various growths, as if countless things in the soil have been parasitizing it.

The rolling sword energy struck Pickman's upper body, instantly tearing holes in his rubbery skin. The punch landed squarely on Pickman's head, sending him sprawling backward.

Mu Xiang didn't take any chances and directly unlocked the first-level gene lock. With a thought, he dodged to the side.

With a loud bang, a giant claw swept past the spot where Mu Xiang had just been standing. This claw possessed incredible speed and power, and carried with it a putrid stench.

Most importantly, this claw was swung out literally... and disappeared into the night with a whoosh.

"Hmm?" Mu Xiang wasn't surprised by the claw attack yet. He looked at Pickman's gelatinous skin, which had been torn open by the Limitless Sword Qi. Beneath the pale gelatinous skin lay putrid flesh, but it was only torn open. Under Mu Xiang's gaze, the torn gelatinous skin healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

“Is that so…” Mu Xiang looked through Pickman’s body at its stomach. The naked man had completely disappeared into Pickman’s stomach, and Mrs. Pickman’s remaining flesh had also been digested, leaving only countless tentacles that pierced into the stomach and then spread throughout Pickman’s body along some kind of path.

A rapid, high-pitched sound, like crying, rang out. The sound came from Pickman's mouth, quite disproportionate to its enormous size.

Mu Xiang flashed forward and was already in front of Pickman's huge mouth in the next moment. Ignoring the gaping maw that was biting at him, he kicked upwards.

With a loud bang, Pickman's body was thrown upwards.

Mu Xiang kicked Pickman in the upper jaw with such force that Pickman couldn't close his mouth. There was even a cracking sound of bone breaking near his mouth, suggesting that his jaw might have been dislocated.

Before Mu Xiang could even put anything into its big mouth, a swarm of tentacles shot out from its throat and wrapped around Mu Xiang.

Mu Xiang raised his hand and unleashed a burst of sword energy, simultaneously retreating rapidly. The tentacles were momentarily blocked by the sword energy and failed to entangle him.

As the sword energy swept past, the cluster of tentacles swayed backward, leaving behind countless pieces of flesh. Then, the pieces of flesh vanished silently, and another cluster of tentacles spewed out from Pickman's dark throat.

Is this what your exhilarating combo is like...?

Mu Xiang unleashed a series of sword energies with both hands. Driven by his full power, the rolling sword energies twisted and turned, layer upon layer, shredding the ever-emerging tentacles into dust, and then approaching Pickman's head from different directions.

Pickman let out a crying sound, bowed his head and endured a few blows, then slapped his hands on the ground, forcibly pulling his body outwards.

"I'm here to help you!"

Mu Xiang laughed loudly and instantly appeared to Pickman's left. Although he was only slightly longer than those sharp claws, he directly twisted two of the claws, and his muscles suddenly swelled up.

Amidst his roar and Pickman's howl, Mu Xiang swung the massive, ten-meter-tall creature up and slammed it to the ground. At that moment, there was no trace of the hotel left in the courtyard…

All that was left was a deep pit.

As Pickman's entire body emerged from the ground, Mu Xiang suddenly sensed an invisible fluctuation. The fluctuation swept across his body and then dissipated without pause.

"Zhan Lan, be careful..." Mu Xiang contacted Zhan Lan in his mind.

Less than two seconds later, Zhan Lan's urgent voice rang in Mu Xiang's mind: "What's going on? We're all showing signs of discomfort!"

On the other side, Zhan Lan also vaguely sensed a fluctuation, and then Liu Xi and Qi Tengyi groaned and their whole bodies trembled violently.

When Mu Xiang saw this scene, he was contacting her. Just as Zhan Lan was about to ask what was going on, an itch from the inside out made her tremble all over.

Qi Teng instantly unlocked the first-order gene lock, and the shielding against this anomaly allowed him to utter an ancient syllable: "Liao!"

The abnormalities in the three people's bodies disappeared immediately, but Qi Teng's face turned pale. He growled in a low voice, "If it cannot be completely cured, this word will continue to drain my spirit!"

Zhan Lan immediately transferred her mental energy to Qi Tengyi. Although her total mental energy was quite astonishing, she also noticed that it was being consumed much faster.

She immediately said to Mu Xiang, "Our bodies just experienced some abnormalities, and Qi Tengyi temporarily cured us... but the abnormalities are still occurring. Can you handle it? Our mental energy can still hold for a while, but once it's exhausted, we can't guarantee the situation will be alright!"

Upon hearing the situation on the other side, Mu Xiang's expression also turned grim... They had clearly been affected by that fluctuation, causing some kind of distortion. If it weren't for Qi Tengyi, the three of them might have already turned into strange beings.

Pickman was slammed to the ground, roaring in pain as it looked up and barked at Mu Xiang. A foul, fishy stench made Mu Xiang's body stiffen for a moment, and then Pickman leaped up with a speed completely disproportionate to its size, charging towards a certain direction in the town.

Mu Xiang knew that his cultivation level had reached a certain point, so he wouldn't be affected by the fluctuations and the bloody wind just now... Although the bloody wind made his body stiffen, it didn't cause any physical distortion.

【What's this……】

Seeing Pickman stride into the night with his bulky legs, kicking over and crushing houses and vehicles along the way, Mu Xiang chased after him while pondering the situation.

[That's it! Ghouls can transform humans into their own kind. Although the mechanism is unclear, there are precedents... We were all staying in hotels before, so we were all infected by some kind of mechanism!]

Mu Xiang was incredibly fast; with a leap, he was behind Pickman. Then, a large gash tore open in the back of the giant ghoul, and several even thicker tentacles emerged. These tentacles were also different in color from Mrs. Pickman's earlier tentacles; they were a deep black and swung straight at Mu Xiang.

These tentacles seemed to have burrowed into all sorts of channels inside Pickman's body, and their movements emitted a pungent, putrid stench of blood.

Mu Xiang frowned, and his Limitless Sword Qi erupted, scattering the tentacles in all directions, yet they showed no signs of breaking immediately. However, Mu Xiang possessed X-ray vision and could clearly see that from Pickman's body, a continuous stream of rotting flesh was flowing out, providing repair for the tentacles.

"I've depleted 10% of my mental energy... but Qi Tengyi is about to faint." Zhan Lan's voice echoed in Mu Xiang's mind.

Mu Xiang didn't answer. Looking in the direction Pickman fled, he understood its intention and the hidden information in the God's mission conditions… Only two minutes had passed; Zhan Lan and the other two couldn't possibly hold out for another eight minutes. What truly urged Mu Xiang on was the ghoul transformation ritual, which could be accomplished simply through bodily fluctuations!

The reason it's supposedly unkillable isn't because of its healing ability, but because it tries to escape... This is one of the ghoul's abilities, and Pickman certainly has it too.

It intends to escape to the cemetery in Hobbes town, and then enter the Dream Realm! This would make it very difficult for Mu Xiang to kill it. By the time Mu Xiang has exhausted all his efforts to enter the dream world in this dangerous town and finally reach the Dream Realm, his three teammates will probably already be ghouls eating.

The key to the ghoul transformation ritual lies with Pickman. If it escapes into the Dream Realm, not only will Mu Xiang be unable to kill it within the time limit, but Zhan Lan and the other two will definitely be doomed.

As Pickman drew closer to the town's cemetery, Mu Xiang finally extended his right hand, which he had been clenching tightly earlier.

Mu Xiang held a tightly compressed sword aura in his hand. As he opened his palm, the sword aura did not suddenly explode or dissipate, but instead was stretched out.

If Zheng Zha were here, he should be able to see the changes in the energy in Mu Xiang's hand... The seemingly tangible Limitless Sword Qi was being pulled by his index and middle fingers, but at the same time, one end was connected to Mu Xiang's wrist. A surging aura was faintly exhaling from his wrist, as if something dangerous was about to burst out from within his wrist and his body.

But the most terrifying aura remained hidden in Mu Xiang's palm, his thumb gripping his hand... His right hand was already poised as a sword finger. Mu Xiang's eyes were blank; his third-tier gene lock had been pushed to its current limit.

This was a move that Mu Xiang had spent two days designing and perfecting in the world of Ju-on, simulating a technique he had learned from reading the novel. In the following years, Mu Xiang had been trying to improve the efficiency of the Limitless Sword Qi. Now, bringing it out was worthy of its power and reputation.

Even though it's just a pirated copy...

Mu Xiang flicked his wrist, his sword finger flashing out into the distance. A thunderous roar erupted in front of him, followed by a distorted beam of light that shot through the air and instantly caught up with Pickman in the distance.

The next moment, Pickman's massive body froze, a huge hole piercing through its center... Then, its enormous head exploded open.

"Sword Qi Thunder Sound!"

I'll post the first chapter first, and then I'll update the second chapter after I finish eating...

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(End of this chapter)