Just at this critical moment!
"Buzz—!"
A condensed, blazing white beam of light shot out like lightning! It accurately struck the wrist joint of the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's right claw as it reached for Wang Meng!
Pfft!
The ear-piercing sound of high-temperature scorching flesh rang out! Dark purple, asphalt-like viscous blood splattered out! The Abyssal Flesh Mountain let out a roar of pain, and the movement of its huge right claw suddenly stalled!
It was Zhou Yunguang! He forced himself, enduring his overtaxed body, and activated Guangren (Light Blade) again! Although its power was greatly reduced, its accuracy was still astonishing!
Wang Meng was startled awake by this sudden turn of events and scrambled backward, fleeing!
"Attack its joints! Its eyes! Its mouth!"
Li Mingyu instantly seized the opportunity and roared! He exploded with speed, turning into an afterimage, avoiding the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's wildly flailing left arm. The steel rod in his hand, carrying a mournful whistle of wind, smashed heavily into the back of the knee of its left leg, which was like a pillar of flesh supporting its body!
Bang!
Like a heavy hammer striking a tough rubber tire! A dull, massive thud!
The Abyssal Flesh Mountain's enormous body swayed violently! The thick fat and overgrown tissue at its knee joint were smashed inwards, and dark purple, viscous blood seeped out! But it didn't fall; instead, it was enraged! It suddenly lowered its head, opened its gaping maw, and with a fishy wind, bit fiercely at Li Mingyu!
Li Mingyu's pupils constricted! His ability burst forth to its limit! His body retreated rapidly backward!
Rip!
Sharp, massive teeth grazed his chest, tearing his clothes! A narrow escape!
"Roar!" Sun Qiang roared as he charged forward! His metallic heavy fist, like a cannonball, smashed heavily into the tumor-like bulging abdomen of the Abyssal Flesh Mountain!
Pfft!
Like smashing into a pool of viscous mud!
The immense force caused the fatty flesh in the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's abdomen to violently indent and ripple!
The dark purple skin was torn, and yellowish-green pus mixed with viscous blood gushed out! A more intense, nauseating stench instantly permeated the air!
"Ugh—!" Several students nearby, smelling this odor, bent over and vomited again!
The Abyssal Flesh Mountain let out an even more furious roar! Its right claw, which had been scorched by Zhou Yunguang and then smashed by Li Mingyu, swept out violently! With a piercing shriek that tore through the air, it slapped heavily at Sun Qiang!
Sun Qiang crossed his arms, his metallic body enduring the blow!
"Clang—!!!"
A massive clang like a great bell! Sparks flew!
Sun Qiang grunted, his entire body like he'd been hit by a speeding truck, his feet leaving the ground as he flew backward! He slammed heavily into the wall at the end of the corridor! The wall let out a dull groan, and plaster dust fell! Sun Qiang fell to the ground, three terrifying claw marks, half an inch deep, left on his metallic arms!
The edges of the metal were even slightly curled! The intense pain made him grimace!
"Sun Qiang!" Li Mingyu exclaimed!
The only drawback of 【Iron Wall】 was its slow self-healing, because in a sense, the user's skin was no longer purely flesh and blood.
"Attack! Keep attacking! Don't let it recover!" Ling Chen's "weak" voice suddenly rang out, carrying an undeniable urgency! He leaned against the wall, as if it had taken all his strength to shout that sentence.
His will simultaneously issued a command! The three dark purple bats circling on the ceiling suddenly swooped down!
They didn't attack the main body of the flesh mountain but, like suicide bombers, frantically crashed into and bit at the "embedded" and still slightly squirming ghoul remains on the flesh mountain's body! Especially those broken arms and twisted limbs!
"Squeak, squeak, squeak—!" The bats let out sharp screeches!
The remains attacked by the bats, as if stimulated, suddenly twitched and struggled violently!
Like live fish thrown into hot oil! Their remaining nerve reflexes were activated, and they began to wildly twist and tear! Trying to break free from the flesh mountain's muddy flesh!
"Roar, aooo—!!!"
The Abyssal Flesh Mountain's enormous body suddenly trembled violently! It let out a shrill roar mixed with pain, fury, and confusion!
The 'stitched' remains on its body seemed to come alive, struggling and tearing wildly! Especially the huge ghostly tiger claw on its right arm; the connection point was being frantically bitten and scratched by several bats, tearing the dark purple flesh, and viscous blood and pus gushed out! The claw's movements instantly became stiff and uncontrolled!
Opportunity!
"Light!" Li Mingyu roared!
Zhou Yunguang gritted his teeth, blood overflowing from the corners of his mouth, and the flashlight in his hand lit up again! A blazing white beam of light, more condensed than before but clearly lacking stamina, like a dying venomous snake, shot fiercely into the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's gaping maw, which was wide open from intense pain and confusion!
This was the last ray of light; he was completely overtaxed.
Pfft!
The beam accurately penetrated deep into its throat! The sizzling sound of high-temperature scorching flesh was accompanied by a foul, burnt odor!
"Roar—!!!" The Abyssal Flesh Mountain let out an even more shrill, like a broken gong, wail! Its enormous body twisted and struggled wildly! The thick fat layers rolled like waves!
The struggling remains on its body were torn even more to pieces by its violent force! Pus and fragmented flesh splattered like a downpour!
"Now's our chance! Attack its leg!" Li Mingyu seized this fleeting opportunity, exploding his speed to the maximum! He no longer attacked the hard joints but aimed at the relatively vulnerable ankle of the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's left foot, which was slightly lifted due to intense pain!
He poured all his strength and Buli (Brute Force) ability into the steel rod in his hand! The rod even groaned under the strain! With a ferocious momentum capable of splitting mountains and cracking stones, he smashed it down!
Crack!!!
A bone-chilling sound of bones shattering clearly rang out! The Abyssal Flesh Mountain's left ankle, like a pillar of flesh, snapped under Li Mingyu's full-force blow like a fragile dead branch! Dark purple, asphalt-like viscous blood gushed out like a fountain!
"Roar—!!!" The Abyssal Flesh Mountain let out an earth-shattering wail! Its enormous body lost balance, collapsing like a mountain, and crashed heavily to its left!
Boom!!!
The entire corridor seemed to shake! Its flesh-mountain-like body slammed heavily against the wall and floor! A huge dent was smashed into the wall, sending bricks and stones flying! The floor cracked and sank! Yellowish-green pus, dark purple blood, shattered internal organs, and fat gushed out like a flood from the ruptured wounds all over its body! Instantly submerging the surrounding floor! An extremely intense stench permeated the air like tangible poison gas!
"Ugh—!" This time, even Li Mingyu couldn't help but retch! The other students vomited until they were dizzy!
But the Abyssal Flesh Mountain was not dead! The intense pain of its broken leg and the fear of imminent death completely ignited its ferocity! Its only remaining, bloodshot, crimson slit eyes locked onto Li Mingyu, who was closest to it!
It struggled, supporting itself on the ground with its huge ghostly tiger claw, trying to get up! The wound deep in its throat, scorched by Guangren (Light Blade), was still smoking, but it let out an even more violent roar!
"Die!" Li Mingyu suppressed his nausea and dizziness, his eyes blazing with ferocity! He leaped high, the steel rod in his hand carrying a suicidal determination, and smashed heavily into the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's relatively vulnerable throat, which was exposed as it raised its head to roar!
Just then!
Another anomaly occurred!
The Abyssal Flesh Mountain's huge, tumor-like head suddenly split open! Not a physical split, but from the inside… it burst open like an overripe berry!
Countless dark red, pulsating, vein-like tentacles, tipped with suckers and sharp teeth, shot out from its ruptured head like erupting volcanic lava! With ear-piercing shrieks and a strong fishy wind, they coiled wildly towards Li Mingyu and the surrounding crowd in mid-air like countless venomous snakes!
"Watch out!" Sun Qiang shrieked in horror!
Li Mingyu was in mid-air, with nowhere to gain leverage! Looking at the countless tentacles rushing towards him like hellish vipers, his pupils instantly constricted to pinpricks! The shadow of death had never been so clear!
A critical moment!
"Screech—!!!"
The three dark purple bats emitted an unprecedented, sharp, metallic-friction-like sonic shriek! They were like three purple lightning bolts, fearlessly crashing into the gushing mass of tentacles! Not to attack, but to interfere!
The high-frequency sound waves, like invisible needles, fiercely pricked the sensitive nerve endings of the tentacles! The tentacles' movements experienced an extremely brief moment of stagnation and confusion!
Are you kidding? The damage dealers definitely can't die, Ling Chen made his move.
It was this less than half-second delay!
Li Mingyu erupted with the instinct for survival! His body twisted forcefully in mid-air, narrowly avoiding most of the tentacles! But two tentacles still whipped his left arm and right leg like venomous whips!
Rip! Rip!
His tough combat uniform was torn like paper! A deep, bone-visible bloodstain was ripped into his left arm, with flesh rolled back! And a large chunk of flesh was torn from his right leg by the sharp teeth at the end of a tentacle! The intense pain made his vision darken!
He fell heavily to the ground, ignoring the pain, and scrambled backward!
"Ah—!" A scream rang out!
A boy who was a little closer was entangled by several tentacles! The sharp suckers instantly pierced his skin, frantically sucking his blood! He let out a shrill scream, his body shriveling at a visible rate!
"Save me! Sav..." His plea for help abruptly stopped, turning into a gasping "ho-ho" sound, his eyes rapidly dimming!
"Get off!" Sun Qiang roared as he charged up, his metallic heavy fist smashing fiercely at the tentacles wrapped around the boy! Pfft! The tentacles snapped, spewing dark purple viscous fluid! But the broken tentacles still clung tightly to the boy, their suckers writhing frantically!
More tentacles, like wildly dancing vipers, swept towards the crowd!
"Use fire! Burn it!" Ling Chen's "weak" but urgent voice rang out again!
Fire?!
Li Mingyu suddenly remembered something! Enduring the intense pain, he fumbled at his waist and pulled out a palm-sized alcohol spray bottle that Ling Chen had told him to bring from the chemistry lab before they left! He aimed it at the gushing tentacles and pressed the switch!
Pfft—!
A mist of highly concentrated alcohol sprayed out!
"Zhou Yunguang!" Li Mingyu shrieked!
Zhou Yunguang understood instantly! He forced out his last shred of mental energy, and the flashlight in his hand shot out an extremely faint but needle-like condensed blazing white beam of light, accurately into the alcohol mist!
Boom!!!
The alcohol mist instantly ignited! Turning into a wave of scorching fire! Instantly engulfing the gushing mass of tentacles!
"Squeak, squeak, squeak—!!!"
The tentacles twisted and writhed wildly in the flames, letting out sharp, mouse-like shrieks! The tentacles scorched by the flames rapidly carbonized and broke off! A burnt odor mixed with the smell of burning protein permeated the air!
The Abyssal Flesh Mountain let out an even more painful, even more frantic roar! It violently retracted its remaining tentacles, its ruptured head shrinking back like a wounded beast, leaving only a terrifying, smoking, charred wound!
Its enormous body twitched violently from the intense pain, and more pus and viscous fluid gushed from the wounds on its broken leg and abdomen!
"Strike it while it's down!" Li Mingyu endured the intense pain in his left arm and right leg, roaring hoarsely!
He charged again towards the Abyssal Flesh Mountain, which was in momentary confusion due to intense pain and fire! His target was still its relatively vulnerable throat!
Sun Qiang also roared and followed! His metallic heavy fist was ready to strike!
Zhou Yunguang exerted his last bit of strength, and another faint beam of light shot out, interfering with the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's movements!
The other students also suppressed their fear and nausea, summoning their last bit of courage, and threw any flammable materials they could find—books, curtain fragments, even their own alcohol-soaked jackets—at the Abyssal Flesh Mountain after lighting them!
Flames spread across its enormous body! Although they couldn't inflict a fatal wound, they caused it more pain and confusion!
Li Mingyu rushed close, then leaped up violently! The steel rod in his hand, carrying all his strength and anger, like a falling meteor, smashed heavily into the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's throat, which was raised as it roared!
Crack!!!
A horrifying sound of bones shattering! The steel rod deeply embedded itself in its thick neck! Scarlet, viscous blood gushed out like a fountain!
"Roar—!!!" The Abyssal Flesh Mountain let out its final, tragic wail!
Its enormous body, as if all its strength had been drained, suddenly stiffened! Its crimson slit eyes instantly lost all their vitality, becoming hollow and lifeless!
Boom!!!
Its flesh-mountain-like body, like a giant tree that had been cut down, crashed to the ground with a thunderous sound! Splashing out large amounts of pus and fragmented flesh! The ground shook violently again!
It's dead!
This terrifying Abyssal monster was finally slain!
The corridor fell into a deathly silence. Only the crackling of burning flames, the gurgling of pus and blood, and the heavy, bellows-like breathing of the crowd could be heard.
The students, having survived the ordeal, looked at the enormous corpse, like a mountain of flesh from hell, at the scattered limbs and viscous blood pools on the ground, and at the blood and filth on their own bodies. Their faces were filled with bewilderment, numbness, and a kind of… soul-emptying stillness.
Killing classmates and teachers who had turned into monsters was already a tearing of the soul.
And facing such an incomprehensible, nightmare-like Abyssal monster completely crushed the last shred of their 'human' cognition and bottom line.
Fear still existed, but it had become hollow. Sadness seemed to remain, but it was covered by numbness. Anger still burned, but only cold embers remained.
They stood there, their eyes hollow, their faces stained with blood and tears, yet no more tears could flow. The hands holding their weapons still trembled slightly, not from fear, but from… complete exhaustion.
Li Mingyu leaned on his steel rod, half-kneeling, breathing heavily. The wounds on his left arm and right leg throbbed with excruciating pain, and blood continued to seep out.
But he seemed to feel nothing, only staring intently at the enormous corpse, his eyes bloodshot and filled with an almost exhausted ferocity.
Sun Qiang leaned against the wall, his metallic body covered in scratches and white marks, his chest heaving violently. Zhou Yunguang was completely unconscious, his face ashen as paper.
Ling Chen slowly "struggled" to his feet from the wall, his gaze under the brim of his hat calmly sweeping over the corridor, which resembled a slaughterhouse, and over the students with hollow eyes, like walking dead.
Very good. Tempering… completed.
The ice of humanity was completely shattered, and the blade named "survival" was finally sharpened in the crucible of blood and fire.
He looked at the classroom door, which was still open. In the bats' perception, that cold aura inside… had it disappeared? No, it was just hidden deeper.
But at this moment, it no longer mattered.
"Go… leave… here…" Ling Chen's weak voice broke the silence, carrying an undeniable command, "Take… the injured… back to the classroom…"
This type of Abyssal creature wouldn't have any Heterocrystal; it was purely a product of fleshly mutation.
No one objected. The students, like puppets on strings, numbly carried out the orders.
They helped the injured, picked up weapons, and some even started rummaging through cabinets, looking for food left by the students of Class Four before they mutated.
The group walked silently, stumbling, covered in blood and exhaustion, towards the stairwell. Every step left bloody footprints.
Ling Chen walked at the very end of the group, turning back to look at the ruins covered in blood and fire. His gaze lingered for a moment on the Abyssal Flesh Mountain's massive corpse, then swept over the darkness inside the classroom door.
This time, more than twenty people were taken out, but only a dozen or so returned.
But this was just the beginning; an even more brutal selection mechanism was yet to come.