Chapter 754 - 684: Subduing the Skeleton Monster (2)

Chapter 754: Chapter 684: Subduing the Skeleton Monster (2)

How is this possible?!

Tu Xiao’an was astounded, sucking in a sharp breath.

He controlled his Flying Knives with his thoughts. Rank Three Demon Spirits died on contact. Back on She Mountain, countless Demon Spirits from the Yellow Demon King’s lineage had fallen to his Flying Knives, revealing their Lifebound Golden Cores.

But this Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig’s physical defense was absurdly strong. Its hide was practically defying the heavens; all nine Flying Knives failed to pierce it.

’It’s got some skill. A worthy product of the War Relics indeed.’

"Heaven Swaying Sword!"

A longsword shimmering with a precious light suddenly materialized before Tu Xiao’an. He leaped into the air and kicked the hilt of the Heaven Swaying Sword.

WHOOSH...!

Faster than a streak of light.

0.01 seconds.

OINK...!

The Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig let out a miserable shriek as the Heaven Swaying Sword shot straight through its massive body.

"Hmph. Looks like your hide wasn’t tough enough after all."

Seeing the Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig fall, Tu Xiao’an recalled his Flying Knives and the Heaven Swaying Sword, then plunged deeper into the mountains.

He knew in his heart that he had to go deeper if he was going to find Luo Ziyun.

That woman had been on a mountain like this for half a month.

Thinking about it now, Tu Xiao’an felt he had been slow on the uptake, idiotically waiting for her to return at the inn.

’Ziyan, you have to be okay. I, Tu Xiao’an, still owe you a debt I haven’t repaid.’

Tu Xiao’an moved past the Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig, his figure so swift it was like a phantom.

Hm?

He had only run a hundred meters when he realized his tagalong, the Skeleton Beast, hadn’t kept up. He turned to look.

He saw the Skeleton Beast fiddling with the body of the Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig. To be more precise, it was clearly dissecting the corpse.

Soon, the Skeleton Beast found a pure black orb. A faint light actually appeared in its empty eye sockets.

It was incredibly creepy.

’Oh, right.’ Tu Xiao’an slapped his forehead. ’They say the monsters of Skeleton Mountain have Beast Pills in them that can help with one’s Cultivation.’

’This one was a Low Level Lord, so it would naturally have a Beast Pill inside.’

Watching the Skeleton Beast pull out the Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig’s Beast Pill, Tu Xiao’an’s eyes flickered. ’Is this thing really not self-aware?’

’How could it possibly know to retrieve the Beast Pill from the Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig’s body if it wasn’t conscious?’

’If you said its previous devouring of Ghost Fire was just instinct, an act of its kind—since it’s also a Skeleton Beast—that would be somewhat understandable.’

’But this current action is a different story.’

’This thing isn’t playing dumb to fool me, is it?’

Tu Xiao’an walked back and stood before the Skeleton Beast, staring at it intently.

His gaze was like he was looking at a criminal.

When the Skeleton Beast saw Tu Xiao’an standing before it, it began to tremble fearfully, looking terrified.

"Hah... Stop pretending. You’re self-aware, aren’t you? You have thoughts, you can think," Tu Xiao’an said in a low voice.

The Skeleton Beast trembled nonstop, looking as if it was afraid Tu Xiao’an was going to eat it.

"Oh? You’re quite the actor. Your skills are superb. Hand over the Beast Pill."

The Beast Pill was its spoils of war, after all.

Although Tu Xiao’an had killed the Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig with ease, that was just the pig’s bad luck. If it had faced anyone else, even a War God, it could have put up a good fight.

Don’t be fooled by the Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig’s Level 31 status; its physical defense was exceedingly strong. That alone made it almost invincible.

It was much stronger than your average War King or Demon Spirit.

Even three of them fighting it at once might not have been able to defeat the Three-legged Black-Scaled Pig.

Its Beast Pill must be extraordinary, and besides, Tu Xiao’an had never tried one before.

’Let’s have a taste.’

However, the Skeleton Beast continued to tremble as it opened its bony hand, the Beast Pill resting in its palm.

"You know what’s good for you."

’This thing is no longer running on just survival instinct; it’s self-aware.’

’Perhaps it wasn’t born this way, but evolved after devouring a large amount of Ghost Fire from its own kind.’

Tu Xiao’an didn’t want to waste brainpower thinking about it right now.

Taking the Beast Pill from its bony palm, Tu Xiao’an was suddenly enraged. The Beast Pill was empty.

Just a black shell.

"You’re messing with me? You’re courting death!" Tu Xiao’an kicked the Skeleton Beast, a single blow sending its bones scattering everywhere as it completely fell apart.

What was Tu Xiao’an’s strength now? He was Level 39! Forget scattering its bones; he could have kicked it into dust if he’d wanted to.

The Beast Pill of a Low Level Lord had been completely drained of its Energy the moment the Skeleton Beast touched it, leaving nothing but an empty shell.

On top of that, it had tried to fool him. How could he not be angry?

But...!

After a moment, the scattered bones began to glow, a faint light that seemed to emanate from the very marrow.

As the faint light grew brighter, the bones began to reassemble.

The Skeleton Beast that Tu Xiao’an had kicked apart was actually reassembling itself.

It had to be said, this Skeleton Beast was constantly changing Tu Xiao’an’s impression of it.

’Could it be because it absorbed the Low Level Lord’s Energy just now?’

In less than a minute, the Skeleton Beast was fully restored, standing before Tu Xiao’an completely unscathed.

The moment it was restored, it started making "Ying ying ying" sounds, waving its arms and legs about.

It was as if it was trying to explain something to Tu Xiao’an.

But who could understand its gibberish?

"Give me Conscious Insight!"

"DING... Awakened Skeleton Monster, Low Level Lord, Level 30. Possesses the ability to evolve by devouring monster Energy."

Note: Stage One evolution, devour Ghost Fire from fellow skeletons. Stage Two, devour monster Energy to evolve. Stage Three, Beast Transformation.

’This thing became a Low Level Lord?’

’An Awakened Skeleton Monster?’

’Awakened means it has intelligence and the ability to make its own judgments.’

’And its evolution is divided into three stages. This means the Skeleton Beast completed its first stage of evolution by devouring a large amount of Ghost Fire in the mountains.’

’That’s why it gained the ability to fly.’

’Now it’s in the second stage, evolving by devouring monster Energy.’

’Once it devours enough Energy, it can undergo Beast Transformation.’

’Beast Transformation... what will it turn into?’

Tu Xiao’an hummed thoughtfully. So this skeleton was a "potential stock"—it had a future.

Ying ying ying...!

The Skeleton Monster waved its arms and legs frantically in front of Tu Xiao’an, terrified he would give it another kick.

That one kick from Tu Xiao’an had made its absorption of the Beast Pill’s Energy completely useless.

Reassembling itself had consumed the Skeleton Monster’s Origin Power.

SHING...!

An axe suddenly appeared in Tu Xiao’an’s hand. The Skeleton Monster before him grew excited the moment it saw the axe.

"You want your axe back, don’t you?"

"Ying ying ying..."

"Then submit to me." A wave of Consciousness Suppression from Tu Xiao’an instantly enveloped the Skeleton Monster.

The current Skeleton Monster was a full size larger than an ordinary Skeleton Beast, standing about three and a half meters tall.

Ying ying ying...!

The Skeleton Monster trembled and struggled instinctively.

But in the face of Tu Xiao’an, its struggles were meaningless, completely futile.

"Submit!" Tu Xiao’an roared, his Consciousness Suppression blanketing it completely.

SHING...!

The Skeleton Monster vanished into thin air, appearing inside Tu Xiao’an’s system.

The next second, the Skeleton Monster reappeared and dropped to one knee before Tu Xiao’an. "Ying ying ying...!"

"You’re somewhat interesting. This Snake Emperor will see just how much potential you have."

The monsters in the War Relics were fundamentally different from modern creatures. Subduing one for fun was also an option.

And to conduct some academic research on the side.