Su Li activated "Spider Walk," his body flickering as he sidestepped the charging meatball. The Dragon Rhino Sword in his right hand swept across it, leaving a half-meter-deep gash from which blood spurted. For a human, such a wound would be fatal, but for this massive meatball, it was merely a moderate injury, far from lethal. As the seventh corpse fused into it, the wound began to heal faster.
Gong Xiao cast "Storm Shield," lifting three corpses from the ground and compressing them into three bloody shields. With a sharp cry, she charged forward, aiming to intercept the rolling meatball. She thrust her hands out, placing one shield in front of the meatball. The rolling mass slammed into it with a thunderous crash. Gritting her teeth, Gong Xiao relied on the terrifying defensive power of "Storm Shield" to halt the meatball's momentum.
"Now!" Tao Bingjun's voice suddenly rang out from within the meatball. It violently deformed, and a pair of massive arms burst forth, each several times larger than a normal human's, bulging with swollen muscles. One fist punched straight through the bloody shield. With a twist of the arm, the shield exploded.
Gong Xiao grunted and stumbled back, blood seeping from the corners of her lips. The force transmitted through the shield had been so immense that it had shaken her internal organs. Su Li watched, drawing a sharp breath. The power was horrifying—this monster, formed from fused corpses, possessed strength far beyond imagination.
The meatball stretched and reshaped, first forming the giant arms, then a torso, legs, and finally two massive heads sprouting from the neck. One face was Zhang Ying's; the other was Tao Bingjun's original visage. The meatball had transformed into a three-to-four-meter-tall muscular giant with two heads.
With a stomp, the concrete floor cracked like a spiderweb. Another punch flew out, and Gong Xiao hurriedly raised the remaining two shields in front of her. With a deafening boom, the fist punched through the first shield but was stopped by the second. Blood again spilled from Gong Xiao's mouth as she shouted, "Now!"
Without needing her cue, Su Li and Ding Longyun charged at full speed. Su Li held nothing back, his muscles swelling as he fully activated "Demon Muscles." With a step, he triggered "Spider Walk," moving like a ghost, then leaped into the air, gripping the Dragon Rhino Sword with both hands and slashing down from behind. Both his strength and speed were at their peak.
"Roar!" The two-headed giant, formed from Tao Bingjun and Zhang Ying, bellowed from both mouths. It spun its massive body to face Su Li's descending strike, its fists—larger than a human head—shooting out like lightning. The left fist met the Dragon Rhino Sword, while the right aimed for Su Li's chest.
"Not good," Su Li thought, realizing too late that the monster was deliberately using its flesh-and-blood fist to attack the sword. He was at full power, airborne, and couldn't dodge the right fist heading for his chest. In an instant, he willed his muscles to contract and swell, concentrating them at his chest. His pectorals bulged into a demonic eye shape, and his abdominal muscles formed a demon's fangs, creating a monstrous face. He also raised his left arm to block.
All of this happened in a split second. The giant's left fist struck the Dragon Rhino Sword, slicing through the fist and halfway up the arm, severing half of it. But the monster had sacrificed its left fist to land the right punch. The power behind that blow was unimaginable.
"Bang!" The fist first hit Su Li's left arm. Pain shot through him as muscles tore and bones shattered. Gritting through the agony, Su Li unleashed the strength stored in his left arm, pushing outward to use the force of the punch to propel himself away, mitigating some of its terrifying impact. But the power was too overwhelming. Even sacrificing his left arm couldn't fully dissipate it. The fist drove his left arm into his chest, now transformed into a demonic face.
Blood sprayed from Su Li's mouth. Even in his "Demon Muscles" state, with the demonic face protecting his chest, the punch still rattled his internal organs. Without sacrificing his left arm to deflect some force and push himself back, he could imagine the blow would have exploded his body. The power was incalculable.
The scene was brutal—a mutual destruction in a single clash.
Ding Longyun roared and lunged forward, gripping a steel rod and smashing it into Tao Bingjun's face. The face caved in, leaving a deep bloody trench as blood splattered from the mouth, nose, eyes, and ears.
Su Li, thrown back, endured the agony in his left arm and shot forward like lightning again. The bones in his left arm were shattered, leaving it limp and useless for now.
Zhang Ying shouted, then suddenly saw a pair of abyss-like eyes. Her soul felt as if it were being sucked into that void, and she froze, motionless. Xu Xuehui had finally mustered her courage, activating "Strange Eye Technique." Zhang Ying, caught off guard, met her gaze and fell under its spell.
The giant halted. Su Li swooped in, the Dragon Rhino Sword slicing through the root of one thigh. Blood gushed as Zhang Ying snapped back to reality, realizing her leg had been severed. The massive body lost support and crashed to the ground.
Gong Xiao clasped her hands together, and sharp spikes emerged, their surfaces wreathed in green flames. She combined "Strange Thorn Barrage" with "Poison Armor Fire," launching a volley of spikes. With a series of piercing sounds, the fallen giant absorbed them all—over a dozen poison-fire-tipped spikes embedding into its body.
Zhang Ying screamed in agony. The green poison fire ignited within her, burning holes that spewed green flames. The "Poison Armor Fire" was deadly, toxic and corrosive. The spikes had injected it deep inside, where it burned and corroded, creating a dozen cavities. The fallen giant clawed at the affected areas, tearing away flesh and skin to rip out the poisoned tissue.
Just then, a short spear flew through the air, piercing the giant's chest. Flames blazed on the spear, and upon impact, they erupted, spreading across the chest and engulfing the entire body in fire. The thrower was Xu Haishui, pressing a hand to his wound, swaying unsteadily. His right hand, extended, burned with flames. Pale and bloodless, his eyes no longer showed fear but determination. His spirit art, "Fire Control," was pushed to its limit as he manipulated the flames remotely, consuming the giant.
"Ahh!" Zhang Ying screamed in agony, rolling on the ground as the fire consumed her.
Su Li appeared again, using "Spider Walk" to close in. The Dragon Rhino Sword swept along the ground, cutting through the rolling giant's body. The giant was split in two. The smaller half stopped, quickly charring black in the intense flames. From the larger half came Tao Bingjun's frantic voice: "Take my body completely!"
If Zhang Ying fully took his body, he could die and use "Corpse Rebirth" again. He saw that Zhang Ying was failing. With Su Li cutting off part of her body, the poison fire inside, and the flames burning her, even with multiple fused lives granting immense strength and resilience, she couldn't hold out. Once Zhang Ying fully claimed his body, he would "Corpse Rebirth" and flee. He realized these people together were too formidable—he couldn't win. For now, he had to escape and plan revenge later.
The giant's body was essentially Zhang Ying's now, with Tao Bingjun only a tiny part. She hadn't fully taken his body yet, because doing so would kill him and trigger "Corpse Rebirth," letting him leave the giant. Now, gravely wounded—her legs and part of her abdomen severed—her fused bodies' vitality kept her alive, though the fire was agonizing. Hearing Tao Bingjun's shout, she snapped to and began fully absorbing his body, allowing him to "Corpse Rebirth." Once he did and fused with a new body, she might regain a chance to turn the tables.
Just as she fully took Tao Bingjun's body and he was about to "Corpse Rebirth," Xu Xuehui, standing with her baseball bat, widened her eyes as if sensing something. She suddenly hurled the bat. It flew over a corpse beast, clattered onto the rooftop's concrete floor, and rolled to a stop. Her action was abrupt and baffling—she wasn't attacking an enemy but discarding her weapon. Everyone stared in confusion.
From the bat, now still on the ground, came Tao Bingjun's terrified scream.