Chapter 288 - Hollow Spine
A slender figure slowly rose from a pile of corpses. His scarlet skin bore deep, ancient runes, and his head took on a triangular shape crowned with bone blades on his arms. In one hand, he gripped a long green tail tipped with a sharp arrowhead.
“Such misfortune. To think a Demon Lord only gave me a single body part.” He sighed and fused the tail seamlessly with his body.
The green tail looked oddly out of place against his scarlet skin, but his expression changed as he tested its agility. He flicked it around like a venomous snake that could pierce through its foe.
“To think they managed to enhance this Purple body part to Stage 6. Not bad at all,” he praised. “I should be incredibly powerful in close-range combat now. So, who should I kill next?”
He closed his eyes and reached out with one of his enhanceable body parts, the Mind Eye. It allowed him to sense everything within a 100-kilometer radius, capturing every detail without fail or blind spots. This scouting ability made it invaluable.
The only drawback lay in its stamina cost, which increased exponentially with range. To avoid fainting, he capped the Mind Eye’s detection range at 100 kilometers and limited its use to two seconds. Even one second longer would knock him unconscious.
Still, two seconds was more than enough. He quickly pinpointed his next target within the range. Releasing the Mind Eye, he spoke with excitement. “Wait, is that the body part of a Great Dragon? If I could take it for myself, I would be unstoppable!”
He detected Han Wu’s location while the latter remained unaware of being targeted.
Meanwhile, Han Wu continued flying on a low altitude to find his next pack of demons to kill.
The Stone Demons yielded a large amount of Demonic Origin on death, but their packs were small. At most, twenty demons gathered in a single group, and they were notoriously difficult to find. The tradeoff did not favor him, so he continued searching for a better target. He hoped to find a Demon Lord.
Soon, he spotted a massive pack beneath him. Tens of thousands of Lesser Demons swarmed the area, mixed with some Stone Demons. Above the horde soared a Superior demon called the Wind Demon. It had ashen gray skin, a slender frame, and four limbs shaped like sharp blades. It looked wildly out of place.
Han Wu recalled the Wind Demon from the stone slab he had discovered. They had eight body parts that could be enhanced from birth and were solid Superior demons. An adult Wind Demon could reach Class 7.
However, the one below him appeared visibly smaller, likely a juvenile. Han Wu’s excitement grew. He was certain that killing the entire pack would grant him a vast amount of Demonic Origin, enough to fully enhance his Cockroach Cells to Stage 3.
Seizing the moment while the demons remained oblivious, he summoned the Soul Seeker to his hand. Then, he used the Epistian Brain to charge his energy. He focused for three full minutes before infusing that energy into the Soul Seeker.
When he saw thousands of afterimages trailing the spinning shuriken, he knew the moment had come. He dove down and hurled the Soul Seeker into the heart of the demon pack. The Soul Seeker split into thousands of clones that tore into the demons, bouncing relentlessly through the chaos.
None of the Lesser Demons survived more than three strikes. Meanwhile, one would expect the Stone Demons to emerge unscathed. Their tough, stone-like hides should have shielded them from bladed weapons like the Soul Seeker. Yet the Soul Seeker, as an extension of the Defiant Sword, could effortlessly convert physical damage into magical or elemental damage. It now dealt water damage against the Stone Demons’ hardened hides, cutting deep and inflicting severe wounds.
The Stone Demons wailed in agony before succumbing to the relentless assault. When their energy depleted, the Soul Seekers exploded, sending their three metallic blades flying in all directions like frag grenades.
That single attack wiped out nearly all the demons, leaving only a handful who somehow evaded the onslaught. Some of the luckier Lesser Demons were so afraid that they tried to flee.
Unfortunately, the Superior Wind Demon would not tolerate betrayal. It swung its four bladed limbs and sliced down every escaping Lesser Demon with razor-sharp wind blades.
Han Wu stared at those four limbs with growing excitement. They seemed perfectly compatible with him. The limbs produced natural wind blades effortlessly, while Han Wu’s own four arms belonged to Steely, a Swordwind. If he could combine these two sets of limbs, the power would be formidable.
He considered his options, then readied himself for battle. He summoned the Defiant Sword, Soul Reaper, and Soul Shaver and charged at the Wind Demon. The demon struck first, thrashing its four limbs to unleash wind blades sharp enough to cleave boulders. Han Wu swung his four arms and launched wind blades of his own to neutralize the Wind Demon’s attack.
The two finally clashed in a fierce melee. The Wind Demon lashed out with all four limbs, but Han Wu blocked each strike with his weapons. The Wind Demon had underestimated Han Wu’s armaments. The moment they collided, his weapons converted the physical damage into lightning damage that countered the demon’s wind attribute.
The surge of lightning jolted through the Wind Demon and stalled its movement for a moment. Han Wu seized the opportunity and drove his Dragon Claws deep into the demon’s torso.
The Wind Demon struggled to wriggle free, but the paralysis hadn’t worn off yet. It watched helplessly as Han Wu’s Dragon Claws tore through its body before closing its eyes forever. The battle ended when Han Wu killed the Wind Demon.
He scanned the area where he had slain the creature but found no limbs—only a spine remained.
[Hollow Spine (Purple, Stage 6): One of the Wind Demon’s enhanceable body parts. Has a set chance to drop after death.
Traits:
1. Increases the user’s movement.
2. Strengthens and toughens the spine.
3. Speed Equals Strength: Boosts strength by 10–60% based on acceleration.
Compatibility: 80%. Grants full effects upon grafting.]
Han Wu was surprised to find his compatibility with the Hollow Spine reached 80 percent. It was the highest compatibility rating he had encountered for any body part. He considered the reason, recalling his Crystal Lich Skull. He was unsure whether it was a blessing or a curse, but he still chose to graft the spine onto his body anyway.
The Hollow Spine’s effects were immediate. After grafting it, he felt his body grow lighter, as if his weight had been cut in half. His movements became sharper, and his strength surged noticeably.
Han Wu smiled with satisfaction and eagerly gathered the other enhanceable body parts dropped by the slain demons.