In that hair-raising dead silence...
That eerie smile, blooming so abruptly on a face seventy or eighty percent like his own...
Damn near frightened Mo Fan straight out of the Mystic Realm and back to Earth.
"You son of a bitch!"
Almost as a conditioned reflex, the muscles of Mo Fan's right arm tensed in an instant.
With shock, fury, and fear surging through him, he slammed a fist forward with absolutely nothing held back!
BAM!
A dull explosive report echoed across the cliff bottom.
That face of flesh and blood, only just cobbled together...
Burst apart on the spot like a rotten watermelon under Mo Fan's terrifying freak strength!
The bridge of the nose pulverized. Great swaths of dark red flesh sprayed everywhere!
But Mo Fan fared no better. He couldn't help letting out a muffled grunt.
That monster's face, constructed from snake molt and flesh, was outrageously tough.
The powerful recoil left the bones of Mo Fan's fingers aching faintly.
His right arm was dripping blood, and the webbing between his thumb and forefinger had split clean open.
What was even more despairing... The next second.
Those dark red flesh threads that had been blasted away seemed to possess lives of their own.
They swiftly wriggled and curled back through the air, then crawled desperately onto the monster's shattered face like disgusting maggots.
Refilling and stitching the gaps at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Within a few breaths... That face had been restored to its original state.
What's more, on that freshly stitched face, still seeping thin threads of blood, there remained that stiff, twisted... Smile.
Mo Fan's expression changed completely.
Did this thing even have anything resembling a sense of pain? Did it even possess a physical "body" in any real sense?
He could no longer determine either.
Physical attacks landing on it were like smashing into a lump of rotten mud that could endlessly restore itself.
And what made his hair stand on end even more... This time... Mo Fan clearly hadn't moved.
Yet that "Mo Fan" opposite him exceedingly slowly took a step forward of its own accord.
Then... A second step.
It was no longer that dead thing that could only imitate like a mirror. It had broken free of its original imitation logic and begun actively closing in on Mo Fan!
Damn it, this is getting bad!
A chill ran down Mo Fan's spine, and he immediately issued an absolute order in his mind.
The undead legion closed in once again. All manner of attacks swarmed forward, wrapping that monster up tight.
But... Useless!
No matter how many times it was knocked down, that monster would climb back up like a roly-poly toy. Severed arms and flesh would rapidly knit back together under the pulling of the flesh threads.
It didn't even spare a glance at those undead pouring out damage madly around it.
Those eyes, growing ever closer to human, had stayed firmly locked onto Mo Fan from beginning to end.
Its steps staggered. Yet it pressed forward with the utmost resolve.
Mo Fan's heart sank to rock bottom.
This thing is way too damn spooky... Maybe... discretion is the better part of valor? Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, running away is the best one.
The moment this thought arose, Mo Fan didn't hesitate. He activated [ Floating Soul Wings ].
Hummm...
At the same time, he swiftly recalled the surrounding undead legion into the [ Necrotic Realm ]. His whole body shot off the ground and flew toward the top of the cliff.
However... Having only just risen into midair, Mo Fan abruptly stopped again.
Run? Where to? Back to the servant district?!
He looked down at the monster below, still staring fixedly at him, and his back was instantly soaked in cold sweat.
If this damn thing had truly fixated on him and followed him all the way out of the cliff, chasing him into the village... Then it would truly be over!
No good! I absolutely cannot lure it out of here!
Mo Fan's expression immediately turned grim.
He could only hover in midair, staring fixedly at the monster below as it grew more and more like him, his brain frantically searching for a way to break the deadlock.
But strangely enough... As Mo Fan flew into the sky, that "Mo Fan" opposite him actually stopped.
It craned its head upward and stared motionlessly at Mo Fan in midair.
But unlike when it had imitated his walking earlier, it didn't grow wings from its back to give chase.
So that's it...
Mo Fan keenly caught this detail, a flash of realization passing through his eyes.
[ Floating Soul Wings ] is manifested through the Necromancer System. In the end, this monster is still a native of the Mystic Realm. It can't see the mechanism behind it.
But before Mo Fan could breathe a sigh of relief...
The dark red blood mist around them, which had been flowing slowly, began gathering bit by bit around that monster.
This isn't right...
Mo Fan's heart gave a violent lurch, and he opened [ Death Vision ] once again.
One look... And his expression immediately changed.
Under the probing of Death Vision, that cluster of chaotic soul fluctuation hidden deep within the snakeskin...
Originally only around early Foundation Establishment, was astonishingly devouring the surrounding blood mist with greed.
And at an exceedingly steady rate... It was slowly growing stronger!
Early Foundation Establishment. Gradually approaching mid-Foundation Establishment...
The rate wasn't fast. But it was still evolving!
"Damn it." Mo Fan gritted his teeth.
If I let you keep devouring, evolving, and learning like this, and you actually manage to copy out an identical Mo Fan, then the fun really begins!
Blades couldn't cut it. Spells couldn't blow it apart. And he couldn't just leave it here and ignore it.
This was quite literally a dead end!
Mo Fan stared fixedly at that twisted soul within his Death Vision, throbbing ceaselessly as it gradually fused.
Suddenly... It was as though a bolt of lightning flashed through his mind.
Wait! If the physical body can't be hurt, then don't hit the physical body!
A streak of viciousness abruptly flashed through Mo Fan's eyes.
A pile of cobbled-together garbage dares put on a show of mystique in front of me? Go die!
Hovering in midair, Mo Fan gathered his spiritual power together with absolutely nothing held back!
[ Soul Shock ]!
BOOM!
An invisible soul shock instantly crossed the distance...
Penetrating that layer of snakeskin without the slightest obstruction and blasting viciously into that fake "Mo Fan's" body!
The next moment...
That monster, which from the moment it appeared had shown not the slightest reaction to any physical blow or spell bombardment...
For the first time... Truly froze!
Hummm!
That cluster of chaotic soul within it, which had already gradually stabilized...
Exploded violently under the brutal impact of this spiritual power!
The human body that had only just taken shape instantly lost control. Like a sandcastle suddenly collapsing... Great masses of flesh burst apart and sloughed off the dark red snake molt.
And then...
A shrill, agonized scream that simply couldn't be described in human language erupted thunderously from within that body!
It wasn't one voice.
It was more like the dying screams of dozens, hundreds of demon beasts it had devoured, forcibly kneaded into a single mass...
All howling out from within it in despair at once!
Mo Fan stared blankly for a moment in midair. Then his eyes abruptly lit up.
It works!
Without any hesitation... Strike while it's sick, take its life!
Second [ Soul Shock ]! Third! Fourth!
Mo Fan had gone completely vicious.
He wrung out his spiritual power to the limit, giving it no chance whatsoever to condense again or catch its breath.
One Soul Shock after another blasted viciously into that cluster of chaotic remnant souls!
With each Soul Shock that landed... That newly imitated human form crumbled a little further.
The face caved in. The features melted into bloody fluid. The barely maintained human proportions of its limbs broke down entirely.
Great swaths of flesh peeled away from the snake molt.
Until at last... That eerie human form, once seventy or eighty percent like Mo Fan, lost every last bit of spiritual support.
With a splat... It slumped into a spread of foul-smelling rotten meat on the ground.
And that cluster of souls hidden within, once gradually condensing into shape...
Had also been blasted into fragments by Mo Fan, flickering bright and dim.
Not putting on the act anymore, huh?
Mo Fan hung in midair, teeth clenched.
From the continuous spiritual overdraft, all seven of his orifices were faintly seeping thin threads of blood.
He gathered together every last scrap of spiritual power he could still mobilize.
Then launched one final shock!
DIE!
The last [ Soul Shock ] crashed down!
Phhht!
Within the perception of [ Death Vision ]... That fragmented cluster of chaotic soul light gave one final, faint keening cry.
Then blasted apart completely!
Countless remnant soul fragments, faint in the extreme, lost their binding and burst outward in every direction...
Soon drowning within the chaotic, vast aura at the cliff bottom.
And that once exceedingly eerie, complete life fluctuation... Vanished entirely.
"Haah... hah... haah..." Mo Fan swayed twice in midair.
He finally couldn't hold himself up anymore and slowly descended onto the heap of jumbled rocks.
He exhaled a long breath of foul air tinged with the taste of blood...
Gasping in great gulps as a dull ache throbbed through his entire head.
But he didn't leave immediately. Nor did he truly relax his guard.
Forcing his almost completely overdrawn spirit onward...
He opened [ Death Vision ] once more and probed that puddle of rotten meat and snakeskin again and again.
No soul-fire. No complete life fluctuation.
He couldn't even sense any residual soul aura belonging to that eerie thing anymore.
That "copy" from moments ago, eerie to the utmost extreme... Had indeed vanished.
"Good thing my Soul Strength these days is on par with Golden Core."
Mo Fan wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, finally easing up a little, and murmured with lingering dread:
"Otherwise today, I really would've nearly capsized in this gutter."
That said... He let out a long breath and subconsciously raised his head for a glance upward.
One look... And his expression, which had only just relaxed, immediately changed again.
Through the layers of mist... The light filtering down from above the cliff was no longer the grayish-white of dawn.
The sky... Was already in full daylight!
"Holy shit!" Mo Fan slapped his thigh hard.
Damn it! I've burned an entire night down in this cliff bottom! If I don't get back soon, A-Song and Old Lü are going to notice I'm missing!
Mo Fan dared not delay a moment longer.
Enduring the splitting pain in his skull, he gave the traces left by the undead legion on the ground a quick once-over.
As long as the green hills remain, there'll be no shortage of firewood.
Then he abruptly spread the ghostly blue Soul Wings at his back.
Turning into a streak of flowing light, he shot swiftly upward...
Fleeing this crisis-ridden bottom of Abandoned Sword Cliff as if for his life.
Half an hour later. Outer Sect servant district. Inside Mo Fan's dilapidated little courtyard.
"Brother Qi! Brother Qi, are you in there?"
A-Song's anxious voice came from outside the door, accompanied by light knocking.
Creeeak... The door opened.
Mo Fan came out wearing that set of clothes washed pale, rubbing his eyes with one hand and yawning. His face carried exactly the right amount of drowsiness and daze.
"What's up, A-Song? Bright and early and you're in a mad rush." Mo Fan put on a forced show of nonchalance.
A-Song let out a breath of relief, but his expression remained anxious.
"Brother Qi, you were sleeping way too deeply!" "The Outer Sect Chief Steward sent someone over. He says we have to pack up our things today and move out of this area, to be resettled on the outskirts!"
"This fast?" Mo Fan's heart clenched.
But outwardly, he still gave nothing away.
"Come on. Take me to see the steward."
Over the next hour... Mo Fan sought out the steward in charge of relocation affairs here.
And relying on the simplest, yet also most effective method... Bribery.
A few dozen low-grade Spirit Stones stuffed into his hands. In the end, Mo Fan successfully secured a half-month buffer.
For the time being, the matter of Old Lü and the others' relocation was settled.
Whew... Having dealt with all these trivial affairs...
The instant he returned to his room and shut the door, Mo Fan's whole body collapsed onto the bed like a pile of mud.
A night of pushing himself to the absolute limit, plus the enormous spiritual expenditure from continuously unleashing [ Soul Shock ]...
His body and soul had long since been exhausted to the utmost. As if they might fall apart at any moment.
Once he'd confirmed there were no other problems for now... He couldn't even be bothered to take off his clothes.
He pitched headfirst into the pillow and soon sank into deep sleep.
Everything... Seemed to be over.
And at that very same moment... The bottom of Abandoned Sword Cliff.
That blood-red snake molt, vast as a mountain range, still lay quietly amid the heap of jumbled rocks deep at the cliff bottom.
Only dead silence remained in the air.
As though that heart-pounding life-and-death struggle from moments ago...
And that eerie monster cobbled together from countless remnant souls and gore, had never appeared here at all.
However... In the deepest part of that withered, hollow snake molt...
Thud.
A heartbeat. Exceedingly faint. Exceedingly dull.
Yet clearly audible in the darkness.
Once again...
It slowly sounded.