A sticky, foul-smelling wind swept through the battlefield.
The gray-purple masses of flesh wriggled crazily across the scorched ground, leaving disgusting trails behind them.
Cold killing intent surged within Lin Mao’s eyes.
The moment he raised his hand, the surrounding air seemed to freeze solid.
Blue-white lightning crackled around his fingertips, standing in eerie opposition to the crimson Blood Moon hanging overhead.
“Disappear.”
In an instant, dark clouds churned violently across the sky.
Dozens of bolts of lightning tore through the heavens and crashed down onto the battlefield.
Boom!
The moment the thunder struck, deafening explosions erupted across the area.
Blinding electric light illuminated the entire forest in ghostly white.
The flesh masses released horrifying shrieks as the lightning burned through them.
Their bodies rapidly carbonized beneath the electric current.
The smell of burning flesh mixed with rotting blood spread through the air, enough to make anyone nauseous.
Several seconds later, after the ground had been blasted into layers of blackened earth, Lin Mao finally lowered his slightly numb arm.
The lightning around his fingers gradually faded away.
He lifted his head toward the sky.
The ominous Blood Moon had somehow become dimmer, now covered by a faint gray haze.
Rubbing his wrist lightly, Lin Mao gestured toward the two women nearby.
Wan Yuyan and Li Ruyue quickly walked over.
Their skirts were stained with black filth, while loose strands of hair clung to their sweaty faces.
“Both of you did very well just now,” Lin Mao said calmly as his gaze swept over their exhausted yet determined expressions.
Li Ruyue, who usually maintained an icy expression, subtly softened when she heard his praise.
The corner of her lips lifted slightly for only an instant before returning to her usual cold demeanor.
The change happened so quickly that neither Lin Mao nor Wan Yuyan noticed it.
At that moment—
Creak… crack… squelch…
A strange sound suddenly came from behind them.
It sounded like bones grinding together while flesh twisted and compressed.
The disturbing noise sent chills down their spines.
All three turned around instantly.
The remains of the Boss, which had already been blasted into pieces by lightning, suddenly began moving again.
Dark red flesh poured out beneath the ruined body and rapidly gathered toward the center.
At the same time, the dim Blood Moon overhead suddenly erupted with dazzling crimson light.
A massive pillar of red energy descended from the sky, directly enveloping the Boss’s remains.
The flesh fragments glowed blood-red beneath the moonlight as they fused together at terrifying speed.
Wan Yuyan and Li Ruyue exchanged glances.
They both understood clearly that the evolved Boss was far beyond their ability to handle.
If they stayed close, not only would they fail to help Lin Mao, but they might even become a burden—or worse, get caught in the crossfire.
Without hesitation, the two women nodded slightly toward Lin Mao before retreating into the distance.
Even so, their eyes remained fixed on the battlefield.
…
Meanwhile, Lin Mao stood alone in place.
He did not attack immediately.
Instead, he narrowed his eyes and silently observed the expanding mass of flesh.
The sound of squirming flesh grew louder and louder.
The meat-like body rapidly increased in size.
Bulging blood vessels pulsed across its surface while short tentacles occasionally emerged before retreating again.
Watching the horrifying transformation, Lin Mao muttered quietly:
“So the one earlier was only its first form.”
“This must be the second form.”
Only a few seconds later, the expanding flesh finally stopped growing.
Then it began reshaping itself into a humanoid figure.
But the result looked utterly grotesque.
The creature’s body was hunched and twisted.
Its skin was dark red and covered in wrinkles, festering wounds, and flowing pus.
Its empty eye sockets leaked thick crimson liquid.
Meanwhile, its mouth had transformed into an enormous maw filled with jagged teeth dripping corrosive saliva.
Lin Mao raised an eyebrow and sneered.
“Let’s see how much stronger your second form really is.”
The instant his words fell, the Boss seemed to sense the intense fighting spirit and provocation coming from him.
It suddenly raised its head and let out a piercing shriek.
Then—
Its entire body exploded apart.
Dozens of basketball-sized flesh masses shot toward Lin Mao at incredible speed.
Each piece emitted a dark red glow while radiating terrifying corrosive energy.
Lin Mao’s eyes narrowed.
Unable to determine the Boss’s intentions, he chose not to attack recklessly.
Instead, he quickly retreated several steps while raising his hand.
Multiple bolts of blue lightning instantly formed in midair and shot toward the incoming flesh masses.
Boom!
The moment the lightning struck the flesh masses, sparks exploded outward.
Although the electricity charred their surfaces black, the flesh masses were not completely destroyed.
They continued flying toward Lin Mao.
At that moment, while Lin Mao’s attention was focused on the attacks in front of him—
Tiny cracks silently appeared in the ground behind him.
Dark red liquid seeped out from the cracks and slowly gathered into a small flesh sphere.
Countless tiny tentacles extended from the sphere as it rapidly crawled toward him.
From a distance, Li Ruyue noticed the abnormal movement behind Lin Mao.
Her pupils shrank instantly.
“Lin Mao!”
“Behind you!”
Hearing her warning, Lin Mao reacted immediately.
As he turned around, lightning power surged through his body.
Blue-white electricity wrapped around his right arm completely, transforming it into pure lightning energy.
The instant the flesh sphere’s tentacles reached toward him—
His lightning arm struck forward.
BZZZZT!
A deafening electrical explosion erupted.
The flesh sphere convulsed violently after touching the lightning.
Its body rapidly carbonized before turning into a burnt black lump within seconds.
It fell to the ground and shattered apart.
Lin Mao’s gaze then shifted toward the corner of his clothing.
A fist-sized hole had already been corroded through the fabric where the flesh sphere’s liquid had splashed earlier.
Dark red corrosion continued spreading rapidly across the material while releasing a pungent smell.
Frowning slightly, Lin Mao immediately tore off the damaged section of clothing and threw it aside.
The moment it touched the ground, the remaining corrosive liquid dissolved it completely into black sludge.
“So not only did its attack power increase…”
“It also gained terrifying corrosive abilities.”
“And it can even launch sneak attacks from underground.”
Lin Mao’s expression darkened.
To avoid being ambushed from below again, he lightly tapped the ground with his feet.
His body slowly rose into the air.
“Break!”
Lin Mao shouted as he slammed his arm downward.
Boom!
Terrifying lightning pressure descended instantly.
The earth trembled violently.
Centered around the Boss’s location, the ground rapidly collapsed inward, forming an enormous crater.
Inside the crater, countless dark red flesh masses surged together.
They merged into a gigantic blood-colored flesh pool.
The flesh inside wriggled constantly, producing disgusting wet sounds.
Every piece radiated intense evil energy while attempting to crawl up the crater walls toward Lin Mao in the sky.
Looking down at the horrifying blood pool, disgust appeared openly on Lin Mao’s face.
“So this is how it produced endless zombies…”
“There was something hidden underground all along.”
His gaze shifted toward the Boss, which had reformed itself and was now moving toward the blood pool.
Understanding flashed across his eyes.
Perhaps realizing that its hidden nest had been discovered, the Boss became visibly agitated.
It hurriedly grabbed chunks of flesh from the blood pool and stuffed them into its enormous mouth, devouring them frantically.
Its aura gradually grew stronger with every bite.
Unfortunately for it—
Its speed was nowhere near fast enough compared to Lin Mao’s lightning.
Lin Mao let out a cold snort.
Then he clenched his left fist tightly.
“Thunder Dragon Descends!”
The instant he spoke, the dark clouds above churned violently once again.
A gigantic blue thunder dragon emerged from the storm clouds.
Its enormous body stretched dozens of meters long while destructive lightning coiled endlessly around it.
The thunder dragon roared as it dove directly toward the blood pool.
Even before reaching the ground, the terrifying lightning pressure caused the flesh masses below to tremble violently while releasing thick white steam.
Then—
BOOM!!!
An earth-shaking explosion erupted.
Blinding white light swallowed the entire battlefield instantly.
Far away, Wan Yuyan and Li Ruyue were forced to close their eyes from the overwhelming brightness.
The only sounds remaining were thunderous explosions and the shrieks of burning flesh.
After a long time, the rumbling finally faded.
The white light gradually disappeared as well.
The two women slowly opened their eyes again and looked toward the battlefield.
The horrifying blood pool was gone.
The grotesque Boss had vanished completely.
Only a gigantic blackened crater remained, with faint smoke rising from the scorched earth.
It was as though the monster had never existed at all.
As the Boss disappeared, the ominous Blood Moon overhead also began fading away.
The sky gradually returned to its normal color.
Lin Mao slowly descended from the air and landed at the edge of the crater.
Lying quietly on the ground were a blood-red badge and three bottles of high-grade Awakening Serum.
【Blood Moon Badge: Allows the user to recover injuries by absorbing blood.】
After examining the Blood Moon Badge for a moment, Lin Mao stored it inside his system space.
Then he waved toward Wan Yuyan and Li Ruyue before turning around and walking toward the forest exit.