Chapter 12 The Twelfth Floor's Nightmare

Boom!

The Wan Jia Xiong Meng Colossus raised its arms, firing a crimson light cannon that struck the back of the Grotesque Old Man.

It staggered forward, the bag in its hand narrowly missing Bai Haozheng's ear.

Wanli Fengdao took a step forward, dragging an afterimage as he crossed half the corridor.

The Zhanlong Sword in his hand emitted a faint light, slashing toward the Grotesque Old Man's spine.

The Zhanlong Sword struck the back covered in black, oily liquid.

It easily penetrated through, without encountering any resistance.

Nor did it make the metallic clashing sound he expected.

This is...

The back of Wanli Fengdao's neck inexplicably felt numb and tingly. He abruptly stopped his sword swing.

The qi unique to swordsmen emanated out, allowing him to see half a sword blade extending from the black mud-covered wall to his left rear.

It was only a dozen centimeters away from stabbing Wanli Fengdao himself.

Has the Grotesque Old Man's ability to phase through matter spread to the black mud on its body?

Any attack concentrated on the black mud will be transferred and redirected,

counterattacking the attacker?

No, that's not right.

The light beam fired by the mechanical colossus directly hit the Grotesque Old Man's back, causing it to stagger forward.

It didn't pass through the black mud on the walls on either side of the corridor's midpoint,

blasting back towards the players inside the diamond circle.

Moreover, if the opponent could absorb energy attacks perfectly, it should have stood still, without falling.

Wanli Fengdao's brain was running at full speed.

Either the Grotesque Old Man cannot transfer non-physical energy attacks,

or the energy level of the light beam fired by the mechanical colossus was too high, preventing the opponent from completely absorbing it.

Whichever the case, it meant that the Grotesque Old Man was not without weaknesses.

If that's the case...

Wanli Fengdao focused his breath and quickly withdrew the Zhanlong Sword from the Grotesque Old Man's abdomen.

[Skill Name: Nuan Yu Qing Feng Chu Po Dong (Warm Rain and Clear Wind, First Break the Frozen)]

[Type: Ling energy]

[Effect: Warm Rain and Clear Wind. Using a sword-shaped weapon, unleash a straight-line energy blade forward. The blade will continuously absorb surrounding energy until it hits a solid object.]

[Consumption: 400 Stamina Points, 400 Ling Energy Points]

[Cooldown Time: 10 minutes]

[Usage Requirements: General Swordsmanship Level reaches Intermediate. Ascend to the twentieth floor using a sword-shaped weapon in the Sky Arena.]

[Note: Chu Jiaohe, the Sword Saint of Guankou, practiced swordsmanship at the age of three, reached the Xiantian realm at ten, became a grandmaster at twenty, and was unmatched under Heaven at thirty. Lamenting the world's unpredictable wind and rain, and the perils of natural disasters, he voluntarily joined the imperial court, serving as the Secretary of Rain, using boundless sword qi to cut through the accumulated clouds in the sky, regulating the climate changes of the five lakes and four seas, rescuing those in distress, saving lives countless times. He was revered and worshiped by the people of the world, and was known as the "Water-Pouring Dragon King."]

The instant Wanli Fengdao swung the Zhanlong Sword,

the wind in the corridor stirred.

A massive amount of air swept in, drawn to the Zhanlong Sword,

the howling wind compressed into a thin azure light,

flying slowly along the trajectory of the blade toward the spine of the rotting, elderly creature.

The sword style used by the Sword Saint of Guankou to cleave through high-altitude rain clouds was terrifying.

Even when used in a confined corridor, without enough room to maneuver,

it still contained terrifying energy that astonished and dumbfounded the players present.

The Grotesque Old Man seemed to sense this as well.

It didn't bother to turn around and counterattack.

Black, oily liquid gushed frantically from under its feet, the entire floor sinking down,

taking the Grotesque Old Man down with it rapidly.

"Trying to escape?"

Li Ang trampled the carpet, leaving wave-like traces, and rushed forward. Vines imbued with divine power bound the Grotesque Old Man's body and wrists, preventing it from falling.

Hei Shengzi, who had also rushed out of the diamond circle,

used a serpentine short blade to cut an inverted cross-shaped wound on his own chest,

transferring the damage, causing an inverted cross-shaped wound to appear on the Grotesque Old Man's chest.

At this moment, Bai Haozheng had steadied his feet.

The back of his neck throbbed, as if he could still feel the profound evil contained in the bag in the Grotesque Old Man's hand.

If he had been caught in the bag, all would have been lost.

A strong sense of déjà vu lingered in his mind. Bai Haozheng calmed his mind, and pressed his fingers back and forth on the sword hilt, creating rope-like beams of light,

cooperating with the vines imbued with divine power to block the rotting, elderly creature's descent.

With the cooperation of the three players,

the azure energy blade finally finished accumulating power.

Suddenly accelerating,

it slashed diagonally toward the Grotesque Old Man's chest.

Tss—

The Grotesque Old Man's body and head were split in two.

Black oil droplets splashed everywhere, mostly blocked by the semi-solid light screen prepared by Bai Haozheng in advance.

The remaining oil droplets were also blocked by the plant vines used by Li Ang.

The corrosive ability of the black ink was much stronger than yesterday.

It could already dissolve the vines that had been infused with divine power.

Li Ang watched the rapidly melting and disappearing halves of the Grotesque Old Man, and remained silent.

As the two halves of the Grotesque Old Man's remains merged into the ground, the black oily substance in the corridor also disappeared.

The spiritual awareness sentinels floating at both ends of the corridor also changed from red spherical mist to blue, and then returned to a transparent state, concealing themselves.

Bai Haozheng breathed a sigh of relief and nodded to Hei Shengzi. "You might be right. It might be better to stay on the eleventh floor."

Hei Shengzi was silent, saying nothing, and used the hilt of the serpentine short blade to rub against his chest, smoothing out the wound.

During the day, the players discussed which floor they should camp on at night. Hei Shengzi suggested staying on the eleventh or tenth floor.

The detection range was wider, allowing them to monitor the movements upstairs or downstairs.

It was just that other players thought that staying on the eleventh and tenth floors would also require them to be wary of things popping out of rooms 1108 and 1008, and rejected this suggestion.

Now it seemed that the anomalies in the corridor moved through the stairwell.

If they were stationed on the eleventh or tenth floor, Mule's [Ling Energy True Sight Sentinel] monitoring range would be wider, allowing them to anticipate the otherworldly beings in the stairwell in advance.

They wouldn't have to be as embarrassed as Bai Haozheng, who was suddenly attacked just now.

"Wait!"

Wanli Fengdao's expression suddenly changed, and he said quickly, "I didn't hear the kill notification! That thing is still alive!"

"What?!"

The players present looked stunned.

In the next second, a large amount of black oily liquid was secreted from all parts of the twelfth-floor corridor.

Walls, floors, ceilings, door frames...

The corridor was filled with the foul, rotten stench of black ink.

The diamond circle crackled and shattered and dimmed in less than a second.

The players in the diamond circle each used their own means.

Mule and the mechanical colossus stood in bubbles, floating in the air.

Liu Wudai's pinky ring emitted a faint light, providing repulsion, causing her to levitate.

Yu Yixin, on the other hand, carried a jetpack on her back, holding the pale-faced plague doctor in her hand, avoiding the seething black ink below.

Tss tss—

The two machine guns placed in the original place were not retrieved by anyone and were caught in the surging black mud, and were immediately dissolved into scorched iron water.

The yellow paper talismans pasted on them did not even produce a sound or light effect,

and melted away with the machine guns.

"Hiss hiss—"

"Roar!"

"Dong dong dong!"

The black mud seethed and rolled, constantly emitting all kinds of strange sounds.

Deformed and grotesque monsters emerged from the viscous black mud, some of which even felt familiar to the players present.

The black-clothed old woman in Li Ang's 0508 room, who told stories to the demon child in the oil painting.

The concrete humanoid puppet who stood outside Hei Shengzi's door on the first night and imitated his movements.

The red-clothed old woman wielding a naginata...

What emerged from the black mud were the otherworldly beings in the hotel.

"Go!"

Bai Haozheng's expression changed drastically. Regardless of the cost, he forcibly used his telekinesis to prop up an invisible umbrella,

to block the black ink falling from the air for himself and his companions.

At the same time, the tail nozzles under his feet sprayed a large amount of gas,

carrying him toward the elevator shaft on the left side of the corridor, which was supported by heavy objects.