Successive Kills

Meanwhile, elsewhere. While Yu Xian was clashing with Zhou Tai Three, the other Zhou Tais were making their moves one after another. After drinking the Death Curse Blood, Zhou Tai Four had transformed into a half-human, half-spider creature. His hands had turned into shears, and six spider legs granted him immense mobility. Having spun a web in a forest without any prey wandering into his trap, he decided to take the initiative and hunt. Leaving his woven web behind, he crossed a stretch of woods. Suddenly, he spotted a bright-eyed, fair-skinned little girl squatting beside a stream at the foot of the mountain, roasting chicken wings. "What beautiful human skin." Watching the girl, Zhou Tai Four's entire face contorted as the six eyes across his visage shone with obsession. In his mind, visions had already surfaced of dancing a duet with this human skin, or even wearing it himself and admiring his reflection before a mirror. Beside the stream, Gong Qian swallowed hard, slowly turning the branch. The glistening golden layer of grease on the surface of the chicken wings gave off an intoxicating aroma. Just a tiny bit more, and it would be ready to eat. Gong Qian closed her eyes, murmuring devoutly to herself, "Here, I want to thank Brother Rooster for his selfless dedication, thank nature for its bounty, and thank myself for practicing my barbecue skills so diligently in the past. And now, I shall feast." She opened her mouth wide—a veritable maw—yet before she could pop the roasted wing inside, she was suddenly struck on the back of the head. The air fell abruptly silent... Zhou Tai Four stared wide-eyed at his hands. His hands had clearly turned into shears of unmatched sharpness and hardness, yet when they clamped down upon the little girl's cranium, they had failed to snip even a single strand of hair. *How is this possible!* Zhou Tai Four's face twisted in disbelief. Mustering all his strength, he tried to snip Gong Qian's head in two, only to find he was completely incapable of doing so. Her head was horrifyingly hard, like a head of pure diamond—no, harder than diamond, practically superalloy. "Bastard, don't interrupt my chicken wings!" Gong Qian bared her teeth, veins bulging on her forehead, and spun around with a punch. *Boom!* Before Zhou Tai Four could react, his body was obliterated by Gong Qian's fist. The gale generated by the blow sent a massive spray of slime and shredded wreckage flying, showering all across the ground. "Dammit!" Gong Qian cursed under her breath. Squatting back down, she fixed her eyes on the roasted chicken wings once more, ready to savor her masterpiece. She opened her mouth, just about to take a bite, when the sound of running footsteps echoed from the distance. The next moment, she let out a sigh and slowly stood up. "Captain, save me!" Tear-streaked and panicked, a brown-haired girl sprinted out from a patch of woods, rushing straight toward Gong Qian. Immediately behind her, a black tiger the size of an elephant charged out of the forest in pursuit. The black tiger had nothing to do with Zhou Tai and his clones; it had merely been caught in the crossfire and fled all the way here. Encountering the brown-haired girl, it had panicked into an aggressive state and attacked her on sight. At this moment, the black tiger was only a few hundred meters behind the girl, a distance it could close in just a few strides at its speed. The brown-haired girl gazed at Gong Qian, looking as if the next second would be their final parting in life. "Courting death!" Gong Qian abruptly materialized in front of the black tiger. With a single slap, she pulverized more than half of its face. Flesh and blood flew everywhere in an extraordinarily brutal spectacle. *Boom!* The black tiger, missing most of its head, crashed heavily to the earth. The moment Gong Qian turned around, the brown-haired girl threw her arms around her in a tight hug. The girl wept, "Captain, I thought I'd never see you again! I was scared to death!" She stood at one meter seventy, while Gong Qian was only one meter forty-six. Embracing Gong Qian made her look like a mother holding a child. Though she had been terrified just moments ago, right now a little cartoon figure inside her heart was holding up peace signs, leaping with joy. As if cheering: *Yay, I got to hug the Captain!* Helpless in the embrace, Gong Qian wanted to pull away but was afraid she might hurt the girl, so she could only sigh. "Looks like there are quite a few extraordinary creatures running around. Come on, follow me to stretch our limbs." "Yes, Captain!" The brown-haired girl tactfully let go, replying with a beaming smile. Although Gong Qian was only Eagle rank, she was an out-of-spec, overpowered existence; being by her side gave an immense sense of security. Among all the young talents at Qilin Headquarters, Gong Qian was ranked number 1, code-named "Number One." Anyone aware of her existence understood that she was a monster in the truest sense. Because she was the only person who, after consuming Pangu's Blood, had acquired the Pangu Herculean Divine Ability. At Sparrow rank, her strength was a hundred tons. At Snake rank, her strength was a thousand tons. Now that she had reached Eagle rank, she possessed a colossal strength of ten thousand tons. The vast majority of carbon-based lifeforms in this world could not withstand a full-power punch from her, and the vast majority of attacks could not leave even a scratch on her tender skin. * * * Elsewhere, Zhou Tai Six was staring down at a man and a woman at the foot of the mountain. After drinking the Death Curse Blood, Zhou Tai Six's body had grown leaner, sprouting a tail that could extend and retract at will, and the demonic power he gained was invisibility. It was an exceptionally high-tier invisibility. Once activated, it completely concealed his figure, scent, light and shadow, and any sound or movement; stepping on the ground left no trace whatsoever. Zhou Tai Six was thoroughly pleased with his ability. As long as he did not initiate an attack, no one could ever detect his presence. Unfortunately, this body was destined to live for only one day. To thank humanity for their relentless pursuit, Zhou Tai Six decided to give everyone a pleasant surprise—such as... slaughtering all the weaklings here. Silently descending the mountain, he extended his long tail above the heads of the man and the woman. The tip of his tail had a dagger-like structure that was not only hard and sharp, but also coated in potent venom. As long as it struck the target, even if it failed to kill in a single blow, it would quickly incapacitate the victim. Now, he maneuvered his tail to thrust straight down at the woman's crown. *Clang!* When the tail struck the woman, a crisp chime of clashing metal rang out. Then her figure turned ethereal, shrinking like wisps of smoke until it condensed into a razor-sharp sword. "Longsword Mo Ye!" At that moment, the man gripped the sword, drew it, struck, and sheathed it. Countless tiny bloody slashes instantly erupted across Zhou Tai Six's body. He stared at the man in sheer disbelief. The man's aura was clearly so weak, and the woman had been weak too—why... why had they suddenly become so powerful? Unfortunately, the man clearly had no intention of explaining anything. Zhou Tai Six could only collapse in endless bewilderment. The longsword transformed back into the woman. Holding their phones, the two walked over to Zhou Tai Six's corpse, took photos, and uploaded them. "Code name Gan Jiang, code name Mo Ye: Slew one target suspected to be Zhou Tai." "Code name Number One: Killed one target suspected to be Zhou Tai, killed one extraordinary creature suspected to be Snake rank." "Code name Salty Fish: Captured Zhou Tai Three alive, captured Zhou Tai Five alive." "Code name Lion Light: Killed Zhou Tai Seven, killed a large number of extraordinary beasts." Yu Xian returned to his original location. Holding his phone and watching the constant stream of updates, he could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. He tapped on each message, opening the photos to inspect them one by one, his brow furrowing slightly. His senses were extraordinarily sharp now, and none of the Zhou Tais in these pictures felt like the Zhou Tai he had encountered back in the arena. Which number was that Zhou Tai? Could there still be a personality that hadn't been discovered?