Chapter 1 The Arm

Li Ang thought the arm formed by his fusion with Chai Cuiqiao was very suitable for clearing the field. A Cat's Eye Illusion, a jab from the vengeful spirit arm, and in minutes, any unlucky ghosts whose cultivation wasn't up to par were skewered into fried snacks.

The temple courtyard was emptied in an instant. Freeing up his hands, Li Ang looked back and found that the situation on the battlefield was far from optimistic.

That Shan Xiao's (mountain demon) body strength was comparable to a Dutch Woltman PDS3000 super-heavy pile driver. Its gigantic size made it seem cumbersome, but its movements were surprisingly agile and swift.

Plus, it wielded a Vajra pestle as sturdy as a temple pillar. Every strike unleashed the effect of a mountain blast.

Xing Hechou and Huibing, whose fist and foot attacks were powerful but clumsy, could only flee in panic, finding it difficult to find an opportunity to strike.

Worse, the Shan Xiao also had a purple-gold kasaya (Buddhist robe) that was impervious to blades and spears, which greatly weakened ranged attacks. Ever since the demon discovered that Liu Wu'dai's arrows were quite lethal, it had shamelessly stripped off the kasaya and wrapped it haphazardly around its head and left chest, leaving only its relatively thick-skinned limbs exposed.

When it came to shamelessness and valuing life, no other demon in the mountains dared to claim the top spot.

"Die, die, die! Die for me!"

The Shan Xiao, its mouth covered by the kasaya, roared incoherently, targeting the mission team members and smashing the Vajra pestle down on the ground again and again, like it was playing whack-a-mole.

One force can overcome ten skills. The heavy strikes cracked stone monuments and crushed millstone-sized rocks into powder. The entire floor of the main hall was visibly sunken.

Xing Hechou and the monk Huibing fled the main hall, leading the Shan Xiao towards the various landmines buried in the temple grounds.

However, the Shan Xiao, with its thick hide and the amplification of its demonic power, didn't care about mere anti-personnel Claymore mines. Its feet stomped, grinding footprints into the ground. Even when the mines detonated, they could only shave off a layer of flesh from the soles of the Shan Xiao's feet.

Hoo, hah.

The black demonic energy surging from the Shan Xiao's nostrils swirled slightly around its feet, and the foot that had been blasted by the mine was completely healed, showing no signs of damage.

One, two, three.

Xing Hechou continued to flee, narrowly avoiding the strikes of the Vajra pestle, while silently counting the number of landmines he had detonated.

The giant ape stepped on another landmine. Under the roar of the explosion, blood gushed from its foot, and the flesh was charred black.

"You can't hurt me at all."

The Shan Xiao slightly raised its foot, watching the iron shrapnel being pushed out by the slowly wriggling flesh. Although its ugly face was hidden by the kasaya, the cruel and violent malice overflowing from its eyes threatened to drown everyone. "Die early, be reborn early!"

Xing Hechou rolled a few times to avoid the descending Vajra pestle and shouted to the monk Huibing in the distance, "Don't panic. Its demonic power is running out. Otherwise, it would be using demonic energy to heal its body. Let's keep stalling."

The Shan Xiao bared its teeth slightly, a gloomy look on its face. Its demonic energy was indeed running low. If it were normal times, it could naturally use the Buddha bowl to draw moonlight, condense the moon's essence in the bowl, and drink it to restore its demonic power.

But these enemies clearly wouldn't give it a chance to recover leisurely.

Damn it, if only Daoist Redbelly was here...

The giant ape paused in its attack, and Wanli Fengdao seized the opportunity, grasped the Three-Foot Autumn Water Dragon-Slaying Sword, ran a few steps, and leaped between the Shan Xiao's legs, slashing wildly at the base of the Shan Xiao's thighs.

Ever seen a roadside barbecue stall fry hot dogs? Wanli Fengdao's movements were just like slicing hot dogs...

The curled black fur fell like strands of hair in a barbershop. Blood spurted, flesh flew, and even the Shan Xiao, with its thick hide, couldn't help but reveal a look of exhaustion and cry out.

"Aooo, aooo, aooo—"

Xing Hechou and Huibing seized the hard-won opportunity, like foot-repair masters, and hammered wildly at the Shan Xiao's toes. Liu Wu'dai aimed at the Shan Xiao's as big as a dou (unit of dry measure) and fired an arrow.

These people didn't follow any martial arts rules and were truly ruthless and underhanded...

.

Wanli Fengdao, hacking wildly with his sword, looked back at Li Ang and shouted loudly, "Have you watched enough? Can you come and help?"

"Coming."

Gland Activation Method—the adrenal gland instantly activated.

Li Ang only felt his blood pressure suddenly soar, his eyes instantly turning bloodshot, his heart pounding as if it would explode, and the blood vessels in his body contracting and expanding erratically.

Time slowed down.

All that was left in his ears was his own breathing.

Despite having experimented with the Adrenal Gland Activation Method countless times, the severe discomfort coming from his body, and the unceasingly shaking brain, still made Li Ang feel a physiological urge to vomit.

Fortunately, after adrenaline flooded his entire body, the seemingly exhausted body was recharged again, and spiritual energy began to flow again.

Even Chai Cuiqiao, who was residing in Li Ang's body, felt a jolt in her spiritual form, and waved her spider claws straight towards the Shan Xiao.

From a distance, Li Ang raised his homemade AK-47 assault rifle and fired accurately at the Shan Xiao's lumbar vertebrae—in the world after adrenaline activation, everything seemed like a slow-motion anomaly. The hands that were usually steady were now as stable and precise as if driven by machinery.

One 7.62mm bullet naturally couldn't pierce the Shan Xiao's fur, which was amplified by demonic power, but the bursts of fire were continuous. Each bullet chased the one before, slowly and steadily piercing through the surface fur and entering the flesh.

Ever since he discovered that ordinary 7.62mm assault rifle bullets were difficult to use on non-human monsters, Li Ang had specially prepared a batch of dumdum bullets in his living room—which was essentially just cutting the bullet's tip into a cross shape, exposing part of the lead core, so that the bullet would automatically split upon impact and expand the area of damage.

In addition, Li Ang also melted some mineral toxins onto the surface of the bullets to maximize the efficiency of the kill.

"Ahhh! You all deserve to die!"

The Shan Xiao, battered and bruised, its eyes about to burst, filled with grief and indignation, its muscular arms gripping the Vajra pestle tightly, smashed Xing Hechou and the monk Huibing back with a heavy blow. Its tail, like a long whip, suddenly lashed out, striking Wanli Fengdao in the abdomen, causing the latter to spit out blood and fall backwards, landing headfirst in a pile of rocks.

"Die!"

The Shan Xiao gnashed its teeth, grabbing a giant wooden beam from the main hall with both hands, and turning around to sweep it horizontally towards Li Ang, as if it had eyes in the back of its head.

"Retreat!"

The wind howled, but Li Ang's expression didn't change. He commanded a spider leg to suddenly descend, almost bending into a line, like a spring stretched to its limit, avoiding the horizontal sweep of the beam.

"Rise!"

Li Ang shouted in a deep voice, and the spider leg suddenly sprang up, carrying Li Ang flying into the sky.

Under the moonlight, the human-shaped spider slowly and gracefully glided over the Shan Xiao's head. When it landed again, the spider leg deftly and nimbly sank slightly, dissipating the force of the impact.

Once again behind the Shan Xiao, Li Ang continued to fire with one hand, while the other hand took out a homemade hunting tranquilizer gun and a dozen tranquilizer syringes from his backpack.