Wang Zhensheng's head was severed, and his headless body toppled heavily backward. But Su Li didn't get the spirit source he expected. Instead, he saw the fallen Wang Zhensheng sit up again. What gushed from his neck wasn't blood, but a mass of writhing, fleshy mucus. This fleshy mucus swelled upward, quickly forming a round, ball-like head shape. Then the surface caved in to create the seven orifices. The part that should be the mouth suddenly opened and closed, spitting out words: "Kid, you think that just because I blocked you from chopping my head earlier, my head is my weak point? Wrong, wrong, wrong. The reason I didn't let you cut my head off is precisely because my head is too powerful. I didn't want to kill you all—that would leave me without new beauties to sleep with tonight."
As Wang Zhensheng spoke, he raised both hands, which were holding a bloody head—clearly the one Su Li had just chopped off. His eyes were wide open, as if he died with lingering resentment.
Everyone who saw this felt a chill run down their spines.
Wang Zhensheng stood up from the ground. His face kept shifting, and soon a complete face emerged. In his hands, he still held an identical head, chuckling darkly: "This head of mine is too powerful. If I throw it out, it'll go boom, and you'll all be blown to bits."
"Monster..." Su Li let out a soft breath, then suddenly said in a deep voice, "Gong Xiao, get to the back. Leave this to me."
Gong Xiao's "Storm Shield" had incredible defensive power. Although Sun Wenbo was controlling more and more blood, forming blood javelins, no matter how he attacked, he couldn't break through. And Gong Xiao couldn't hurt Sun Wenbo either, because Sun Wenbo, besides creating blood javelins, also formed a blood shield in front of his body.
Gong Xiao's consecutive attacks couldn't break the blood shield to harm him.
Hearing Su Li's stern command, Gong Xiao didn't hesitate. She immediately controlled the flesh-and-blood shield formed from Li Wei's corpse and slammed it toward Sun Wenbo, then spun around, bypassing Xu Xuehui and Ding Longyun, to face the group behind.
She understood that Su Li wanted to take on Sun Wenbo, Wang Zhensheng, and Tao Bingjun, who hadn't moved yet, all by himself.
Though these guys were strong, even monsters like Wang Zhensheng, since Su Li had spoken, Gong Xiao believed he had a plan. By now, like Ding Longyun, she had unconsciously come to trust Su Li completely—even blindly.
"Overconfident!" Sun Wenbo used the blood shield to block Gong Xiao's flesh shield, then grabbed with both hands, controlling a volley of blood javelins to shoot at Su Li.
Wang Zhensheng lunged again, the head in his hands floating up like a massive bomb, ready to launch and explode at any moment.
But because its power was too great, he feared it would kill Xu Xuehui and Gong Xiao too, so he held off for now. Instead, he relied on his body to attack. He had no fear of Su Li's strikes—the more damage he took, the more bombs he'd create, and the stronger he'd become.
Su Li's attitude made Tao Bingjun, who was behind, raise an eyebrow slightly.
Anyone with eyes could see that Su Li was losing ground against Wang Zhensheng. Yet now he dared to order Gong Xiao back and face them alone?
Where did he get such confidence?
Tao Bingjun suddenly leaped from the steps, but not downward—he dodged upward.
In that instant, his special ability, "Sixth Sense," warned him of intense danger—a sense of impending death.
And the source of that danger was the man holding the sword.
Facing Sun Wenbo's blood javelins and Wang Zhensheng's charge, Su Li gripped the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword with both hands. His clothes suddenly bulged outward as the muscles beneath came alive. Terrifying power erupted, and the spirit source energy within the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword was unleashed.
The sword technique "Dragon Rhinoceros Slash" was activated.
The principle of "Dragon Rhinoceros Slash" was to detonate the terrifying spirit source energy within the sword. Each use required the energy to fully recover before it could be used again.
Su Li had never used it since obtaining the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword, but he understood its power from mastering the technique.
The moment "Dragon Rhinoceros Slash" was triggered, a blinding light burst from the sword in Su Li's hands. The blade seemed to melt in extreme heat, turning into pure energy that stretched out like a ribbon.
Su Li took a step forward, letting out a long roar as he entered the "Demon Muscle" state, doubling his strength. He swung the extended, massive Dragon Rhinoceros Sword forward.
The power of this strike was indescribable. The concrete floor shattered like dry twigs, cracking all the way from the corridor stairs to the steps. Tao Bingjun, who had retreated, was less than a foot away from being killed by this earth-shattering blow.
Sun Wenbo and Wang Zhensheng, caught in the close-range blast of "Dragon Rhinoceros Slash," were swept up by the force. Sun Wenbo's blood javelins and shield collapsed instantly, shattering along with his body.
Wang Zhensheng, who had charged forward, bore the brunt. The power of the slash tore, shredded, and obliterated him, turning him into a blurry mess of flesh.
The floating head suddenly lost its power and fell heavily, but it didn't explode. Its owner was dead, so the head lost its explosive capability.
Wang Zhensheng's regeneration was incredibly potent—even a severed head could regrow quickly. But even that had limits. When his entire body was ground into pulp by "Dragon Rhinoceros Slash," he couldn't regenerate.
Two spirit sources appeared and merged into Su Li's forehead.
"Level 5 Spirit Source User: Spirit Source 24/70" "Level 5 Spirit Source User: Spirit Source 30/70"
Killing the level-6 Sun Wenbo and Wang Zhensheng gave him six spirit sources each.
Behind him, everyone who witnessed this devastating strike was stunned, completely awed by the power of "Dragon Rhinoceros Slash."
Tao Bingjun, who had narrowly avoided the slash, was pale as a ghost. Without a word, he turned and dashed upstairs.
Su Li chased after him, Dragon Rhinoceros Sword in hand.
The eight people behind—five were level 4, only one was level 5—could be handled by Gong Xiao, Ding Longyun, Xu Haishui, and Xu Xuehui. Su Li wasn't worried they couldn't manage.
In fact, Su Li's strike had terrified the six so much that they fled in all directions, not daring to attack. With Li Wei, Sun Wenbo, and Wang Zhensheng dead, and Tao Bingjun escaping, how could they stay and fight? They scattered like birds.
Gong Xiao didn't bother chasing them. Instead, she followed Su Li.
"After him!" Ding Longyun shouted, charging after them.
He had been punched in the face by the iron-tower fat man, but the injury wasn't serious enough to slow him down.
Xu Haishui's face was flushed with excitement. He and Xu Xuehui also rushed up the stairs.
"Zhang Ying, wait for me. I'll save you soon," Xu Haishui thought silently, gripping his short spear tightly.
Tao Bingjun fled quickly, climbing the stairs with Su Li hot on his heels, only a blurry shadow visible.
This time, Tao Bingjun had set an elaborate trap. He brought Sun Wenbo, the other two, and six trusted subordinates to block Su Li's group on the 30th floor. The rest were mostly gathered on the 34th floor.
These people vaguely heard explosions and screams from the 30th floor, but without Tao Bingjun's orders, they didn't dare come down to check. They stayed on the 34th floor, waiting for commands.
Su Li chased Tao Bingjun all the way to the rooftop.
The Purple Wind Building was huge, and the rooftop was vast, piled with corpses—various beast corpses and monster remains. Some monsters Su Li recognized; others he'd never seen.
Tao Bingjun reached the rooftop and stopped, turning to face Su Li as he emerged from the stairwell.
Su Li had thought Tao Bingjun would flee to the edge and jump into the water to escape. If he did, Su Li, though strong, wasn't a great swimmer and might not follow.
"Dragon Rhinoceros Slash" was devastating but could only be used once in a short time. It would take a while for the sword's spirit source to recover.
"Heh..." Tao Bingjun suddenly laughed, twirling a pair of Nepalese kukri knives in his hands. "Kid, what's your name? That weapon of yours is interesting. That last move really scared me."
Tao Bingjun's sudden calm put Su Li on guard. He stopped, not attacking immediately, and asked, "Why did you stop running?"
Tao Bingjun smiled. "I have a special ability called 'Sixth Sense.' You know why I dodged your attack like I knew it was coming? That's because my 'Sixth Sense' told me you were extremely dangerous then. So I kept my distance. And sure enough..."
He paused, then continued, "But now my 'Sixth Sense' tells me the danger level from you has dropped. That means that incredibly dangerous move of yours must have limits. At least you can't use it again right now."
"So why should I run?" Tao Bingjun's smile widened, his confidence growing.
Su Li heard footsteps behind him—Gong Xiao had caught up.
"Su Li," she called, stepping forward to stand beside him. "What are we waiting for? Let's take this guy down together."