Su Li's expression was grim as he swung the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword in a cross slash. The already mangled body of Tao Bingjun was instantly cleaved into four pieces, which thudded to the ground.
But this time, Su Li didn't let his guard down. As he struck, he spun and dodged.
Sure enough, the moment he retreated to create distance, he saw another corpse-beast body rapidly rise behind him. Brown matter extended from its back, once again forming two ghostly claws.
Ding Longyun shouted, "This guy can reanimate corpses! Doesn't that mean he's immortal?"
A thin sheen of sweat formed on Su Li's forehead, and his breathing grew slightly labored.
He wielded the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword and had killed Tao Bingjun twice already, but this relentless battle was draining his stamina. Though he hadn't activated his "Demon Muscle" state, he couldn't keep fighting forever. Fatigue was beginning to set in.
Yet Tao Bingjun, who could resurrect through corpses, seemed to have no such limits. Each time he revived, his strength returned to its peak. He could keep reanimating indefinitely, eventually wearing Su Li down.
"Tao Bingjun, no wonder you fled to the rooftop. These corpses are your backup plan, aren't they?" Su Li surveyed the pile of bodies scattered across the rooftop. Most were corpse-beasts, and they were remarkably intact—like the new one before him, which only had its skullcap missing while the rest was pristine.
"Heh heh..." Tao Bingjun grinned, baring his teeth. "You're nothing without that sharp blade of yours. Otherwise, you might not even be my match." He lunged forward, ghostly claws spread wide, and attacked Su Li again.
"Reanimating corpses, huh? If there are no corpses left, let's see how you revive!" Su Li barked, "I'll hold him off. You all destroy or throw every corpse off the roof. This ability of his must have a range limit—otherwise, it makes no sense."
Su Li had noticed that both times Tao Bingjun revived using corpse-beast bodies, the corpses were very close by. While it could be explained as a tactic to attack him immediately, the more likely reason was that his reanimation ability had a range restriction.
If there were no range limit, Tao Bingjun wouldn't have bothered climbing to the rooftop. He could have fought Su Li to the death on the thirtieth floor. The only explanation was that the range was short, so he dared not fight there and instead came to this corpse-strewn rooftop.
"Got it!" Gong Xiao immediately sprinted off, grabbing two corpses from the ground and racing toward the rooftop's edge to hurl them off.
Ding Longyun followed suit. Opening his mouth, he fired an "Air Bullet" at a pile of corpses far from the group.
With a thunderous boom, the pile exploded into a mess of flesh and blood, limbs scattering everywhere, even blasting a hole in the rooftop beneath.
Xu Xuehui also seized two corpses. Lacking Ding Longyun's ability to destroy them outright, she prepared to toss them off the roof.
This move clearly panicked Tao Bingjun. He spun around and lunged toward Ding Longyun.
With a low shout, Su Li accelerated his assault. The Dragon Rhinoceros Sword clanged repeatedly as he hacked at Tao Bingjun, forcing him to parry with his ghostly claws.
"Keep it up!" Ding Longyun laughed heartily, seeing Tao Bingjun's desperation. He knew they'd hit his fatal weakness. Once the rooftop was cleared of corpses, his reanimation would be useless.
But the rooftop was littered with bodies. Ding Longyun's "Air Bullet" had to account for blast radius and couldn't be used recklessly. In the end, they'd have to rely on the three of them to toss the corpses off—a daunting task.
Su Li launched a flurry of attacks, quickly shredding Tao Bingjun's scaled ghost claws with his sword. Tao Bingjun suddenly leaped, deliberately charging into Su Li's blade, arms outstretched to strike at Su Li's chest and abdomen.
Su Li understood: the bastard wanted to die and revive again. In a flash of thought, he retreated, retracting the Dragon Rhinoceros Sword to avoid a fatal blow. Instead, he swung the blade, severing Tao Bingjun's outstretched arms, then swept low to cut off both legs.
Deprived of limbs, Tao Bingjun crashed heavily to the ground, letting out a sharp shriek. He writhed and twisted but couldn't move.
"So, your reanimation has limits. You have to die first to revive again." Su Li stopped, staring at the struggling Tao Bingjun. With his limbs severed, he wasn't dead, so he couldn't reanimate.
"There's a way to restrain him like this?" Ding Longyun looked curious, eyeing Tao Bingjun on the ground.
Su Li grunted in acknowledgment. "If I'm right, as long as we don't hit his vitals, he won't die. And if he doesn't die, he can't switch bodies. He'll be trapped in this one forever."
Gong Xiao stopped tossing corpses and walked over. "So, what do we do with him now?"
Ding Longyun scratched his head. "Yeah, if he dies, he reanimates. Are we supposed to keep him alive forever?"
On the ground, Tao Bingjun had stopped struggling, glaring at Su Li with venomous eyes.
Su Li said, "You said it yourself—he needs a corpse to revive. We'll take him somewhere with no corpses, then kill him. No need to clear the rooftop."
Ding Longyun burst out laughing. "Right, why didn't I think of that? Great idea."
Hearing this, a flicker of fear finally appeared deep in Tao Bingjun's eyes.
Clearly, Su Li's method could truly destroy him.
Just then, footsteps echoed from the rooftop entrance, and someone emerged.
It was Xu Haishui, his face flushed with barely contained excitement.
Behind him stood a woman.
Su Li looked up. She had large, bright eyes, black and white clearly defined, with long, jet-black hair. She was quite pretty, but she looked shy, her big eyes filled with unease as she gazed fearfully at the group.
Seeing Xu Haishui's excitement, Su Li didn't need an introduction to know this was Zhang Ying, the woman he'd been desperate to save.
Zhang Ying was indeed beautiful—no wonder Xu Haishui was so infatuated.
"Everyone, this is Zhang Ying! I found her!" Xu Haishui shouted excitedly as he stepped out, introducing her to the group.
Zhang Ying followed behind him, seeming afraid of strangers.
"Zhang Ying, this is Brother Su, Brother Ding, Miss Gong, and Sister Xu Xuehui. Thanks to all of them, I was able to rescue you." Xu Haishui eagerly introduced everyone. "Don't be scared—they're all good people."
Ding Longyun grinned. "Miss Zhang Ying? Hello, I'm Ding Longyun." He was always polite to pretty women.
"Xu Haishui, you damn brat—" Tao Bingjun, lying on the ground with severed limbs, suddenly spoke, his voice dripping with venom.
Xu Haishui jumped, recognizing Tao Bingjun's voice, but he didn't recognize the limbless man before him.
"You're Tao Bingjun?" he asked, startled and uncertain.
"If it weren't for you, how would I have ended up like this?" Tao Bingjun glared at Xu Haishui with pure hatred.
Su Li, meanwhile, studied Zhang Ying, who was hiding behind Xu Haishui. Her clothes and demeanor were fine, her complexion good—far from what he'd imagined.
He'd expected Zhang Ying to be half-mad or at least haggard after days of torment, but she looked nothing like that.
With a thought, Su Li activated his "Peep Rune" to examine Zhang Ying.
At that moment, Zhang Ying suddenly screamed, "You're Tao Bingjun? You monster!" Her face twisted with hatred as she charged at Tao Bingjun on the ground.
"Stop!" Su Li moved, blocking her path. But Zhang Ying flicked her right hand, and a foot-long blade slid from her sleeve, flying out with a flash of white light. It sliced cleanly through Tao Bingjun's neck, decapitating him.
"I've finally killed you with my own hands," Zhang Ying said, her voice fierce.
At the same instant, Su Li's Peep Rune revealed her data.
"Level 5 Spirit Source User, Special Skills: 3, Spirit Source Technique: 1, Weakness: Unknown, Other: None."
She was a Level 5 Spirit Source User? Su Li immediately widened the distance between them and said sternly, "Did you kill him on purpose?"
Zhang Ying replied bitterly, "Yes, that monster. I've wanted to kill him for so long. Thank you all—I don't know when I'd have gotten my revenge otherwise."
Ding Longyun and Gong Xiao exchanged glances. They'd finally managed to disable Tao Bingjun, only for Zhang Ying to impulsively kill him. Now he could reanimate again.
Su Li stared at Zhang Ying and shook his head slightly. "You're a good actress. You helped him on purpose, didn't you?"
Xu Haishui hurried over, bewildered. "Brother Su, are you misunderstanding something? Zhang Ying wanted to tear Tao Bingjun apart. How can you say she helped him?" He stepped in front of Zhang Ying protectively, afraid Su Li might attack her. He couldn't make sense of Su Li's words.
"Heh heh..." Tao Bingjun's laughter rang out again. Ding Longyun and Gong Xiao sighed, knowing he was alive once more. They'd thought Zhang Ying's impulsive kill came from sheer hatred, not deliberate aid as Su Li claimed. Unaware of Tao Bingjun's reanimation ability, her act had ironically helped him.