Chapter 351 - This is Love
The icy scales on Leng Ning’s body finally faded as her three-hour transformation came to an end. She immediately collapsed from the excessive strain on her mind, and Han Wu considerately asked Su Mei to carry her into the tent to rest.
The three exited the Life Dimension and continued their journey, facing constant attacks from demons. After eight grueling hours, they had only advanced 8 km. Exhausted, they returned to Han Wu’s Life Domain to rest.
Soon after they returned, Meng Qi and Leng Ning finally woke from their sleep, still looking visibly fatigued from the transformation. “This must be because you used up a lot of energy just to endure the transformation,” Han Wu speculated. “You’ll probably need several days to fully recover.”
The two were startled to discover the changes their bodies had undergone. They quickly realized they had gained a brand new skill, separate from their current system, which allowed them to transform into demonoids at will.
When Meng Qi transformed into his demonoid form, his body grew even larger and sported bulging muscles. His defense and offense were greatly enhanced, and he could still use his original skills, which were also strengthened in his new form.
While Leng Ning’s demonoid form wasn’t as flashy as Meng Qi’s, the ice-blue scales that covered her body provided a defense as strong as his Imperial Yellow Jacket, allowing her some leeway against ambushes. On top of that, her mental strength had improved so much in her demonoid form that she could form ice blades with just her mind alone, without using any skills.
“Oh, it seems we’ve also gained the ability to sense enhanceable organs compatible with us,” Leng Ming announced to the group. With an affirmative nod from Han Wu, Leng Ming and Meng Qi used their new senses to go through the organs they had collected and quickly found a few suitable ones.
Leng Ning found three compatible organs—a pair of horns and a tail—and grafted them onto herself. When she activated her demonoid form, the horns and tail grew at their corresponding spots, greatly improving her melee combat abilities.
Meng Qi’s demonoid form was more complete than Leng Ning’s, and he was able to find more compatible organs. In just ten minutes, he had grafted seven organs onto his body. The organs were mostly exoskeletal and shell-like, which further improved his defenses.
Su Mei and Xue Qian stared enviously at the two. Su Mei asked Han Wu to make elixirs for them as well, but he flatly refused. He didn’t want to waste his energy, not when they could already activate their demonoid forms. He reasoned that since they could sense and graft the organs perfectly well on their own, there was no need for elixirs.
The two sighed and gave up on getting the elixirs. As a result, they were more proactive during their next expedition, killing more demons and searching more thoroughly for compatible organs to graft onto themselves.
Han Wu almost laughed numerous times on their journey, seeing how the two acted. However, it was precisely their zeal that led them to find five more enhanceable organs, two of which were compatible with Xue Qian and Meng Qi.
Since the remaining three organs weren’t compatible with anyone else, Han Wu gave them to Erebard as food. The little creature happily ate its snack and visibly grew in size.
The group finally reached the seal after a quick three-day journey. After a moment of observation, Xue Qian spotted some strange activity and swiftly alerted the others, who headed directly for the disturbance.
“Well, the seal’s still active, but it looks like there’s a hole in the middle,” Meng Qi stated. Through the breach, demons and demonoids were constantly crawling out.
“Yeah, we can see the hole, Meng Qi. We’re here too,” Su Mei said with a dry tone, rolling her eyes as she casually killed a demon. “Han Wu, I’m checking out the hole to see if we can seal it again.”
Han Wu narrowed his eyes. The hole was obstructed by a demonic aura and miasma so thick that it seemed almost solid. He couldn’t see past it, but his senses told him that a powerful entity was hidden inside, ready to kill anyone who tried to approach the hole.
“Hold on, Su Mei,” Han Wu said. “Send an imp to test the area first.” He wanted to find out what kind of demon was guarding the place.
Su Mei cautiously sent a swarm of imps toward the hole. They didn’t even get close before a long, lightning-fast tongue shot out of the darkness, striking before anyone could react. It retreated just as quickly, leaving the dead imps scattered on the ground, each with a neat hole drilled through its skull.
The team was stunned by how fast everything ended. Su Mei realized the error in her initial plan. If I hadn’t listened, I would have died without ever knowing why,she thought, terrified.
“Wh-What do we do now? You have a plan, right?” she asked, trusting that her savior, Han Wu, would surely think of a way to lure the owner of the tongue out to kill it.
Han Wu’s brow furrowed with frustration. We literally just got here! I don’t even know what that accursed thing looks like! How on earth am I supposed to have a plan? Does she think I’m a machine or something?
After internally cursing Su Mei, he finally said, “Judging by the speed of that tongue, it’s clear that its owner is very powerful. That’s not an attack regular people can withstand. To defeat it, we’ll need something abnormally tough to hold the tongue in place.”
“Yeah, sure, but where are we going to find something like that in this wilderness?” asked with a groan.
The words had barely left his mouth when he felt a sudden chill. He turned to see Han Wu staring at him, his eyes unnervingly gleaming.
Han Wu smiled at Meng Qi while thinking, As a powerful tank with six defensive skills and the ability to transform into a demonoid, Meng Qi is probably the hardest to kill on our team. To Meng Qi, however, that smile felt as terrifying as a hungry predator’s.
Han Wu chuckled. “Meng Qi, it’s time to show it your full strength! I’m rooting for you!”
“W-Wait a moment. Are you asking me to lure the tongue into attacking me?”
“Hm? I’m not asking you to do anything. You just want to avenge Su Mei! After all, she would’ve been killed had she gone to check the seal instead, right?”
“I guess... Wait a minute! You’re just trying to gaslight me!”
“My, Meng Qi, you are very smart!”
The moment he realized the plan, Meng Qi wanted to run. He had seen how easily the tongue killed the imps, which was enough to know that it was abnormally sharp. He would die instantly if he failed to stop it.
Shaking his head vehemently, he protested, “No, I won’t do it! I may be a simple-minded tank, but I’m certainly not suicidal!”
Seeing his reluctance, Han Wu leaned in and whispered, “My dear friend, isn’t this the perfect chance to show off your strength in front of the girl you like? Look, Su Mei’s waiting for your help!”
The moment Meng Qi glanced at her and saw the anticipation in her eyes, a surge of power immediately coursed through his body.
“Fine, I will do it!” Meng Qi declared with a pat to his chest, trying to reassure himself. “I was born tough so I can take on any creatures’ aggression!”
Approving of his change in attitude, Han Wu gave him a firm thumbs up.
Kekeke! Such is the power of love! Ah, I shouldn’t laugh like that; I’m not some third-rate villain.