The Creatures That We Are

“The white phoenix is coming alive!” Gao Yang shouted his speculation. It wasn’t so much it was coming back alive, though, but that the life monster’s body still retained some function even after its death like a millipede, and with the blood sacrifice of Hyena and the holy water, the body was reanimated.

That was what Gao Yang believed, anyway, and he hoped that he was right. If the life monster was actually coming back to life, they would most likely all die here.

Qing Ling and Lithe Snake had guessed what was going on too, and they readied themselves for a fight.

Clack, clack, clack.

Swish, swish, swish.

Countless white bones shot out of the ground and flew toward the altar on the top of the hill. The white path leading up the hill, too, protruded from the ground and revealed the entirety of the spine, moving toward the altar while bringing up clumps of stones and sand like stairs leading to heaven.

“Watch out!”

Gao Yang teleported Qing Ling and Lithe Snake away from the giant spine hurtling their way.

Due to the suddenness of everything, the three of them ended up falling halfway down the hill, only coming to a stop after a few rolls. Once they got to their feet, they looked back at the top of the hill.

Gao Yang felt numbness spreading across his scalp. His mind blanked.

Perching on top of the hill was a behemoth of numerous giant bones. Its skull was long with a strange vertical socket in the middle, the bottom of the skull connected to a giant spine weaving through large circular rib bones, ending at countless small tail bones. On the sides of the rib cage were two sets of extended wing bones that suggested a wingspan great enough to cover the sky.

Looking closely, one could see Hyena’s skull attached to the inside of the rib cage by a black substance, protected by layers of bones.

The white phoenix was as big as a commercial plane. It seemed that the loss of flesh and feathers had prevented it from taking flight. Instead, it perched on the hill, looking down at Gao Yang, Qing Ling, and Lithe Snake.

“Gao Yang!”

Officer Huang had arrived on site. Naturally, he saw the giant on top of the hill, too. His voice was shaky as he exclaimed, “What manner of monstrosity is that?!”

“Life monster,” Gao Yang said impassively.

“Life monster?!” Officer Huang was stunned. The elite monsters they knew at least retained their humanoid form, but the life monster before them looked like a primordial creature.

Lithe Snake added coolly, “The body’s resurrected by Hyena’s blood and holy water.”

“You call this being resurrected?!” Officer Huang couldn’t wrap his head around it. “It’s creepy as hell is what it is!”

“Is this the time for chit-chat?” Qing Ling conjured her two blades. “Let’s go!”

[Warning, Luck acquisition increases to 7000 times!]

Gao Yang heard the system’s warning.

Somehow, he found it in himself to feel relief. Not too bad. A bonus of 7000 times isn’t too bad. We still stand a chance.

Looming shadow came down on them as one large white skeletal wing swung at them, bringing about a deadly gale.

“Move!”

Gao Yang teleported to Officer Huang and flung both of them to the side.

He went for Officer Huang because he believed Qing Ling and Lithe Snake would be fine on their own. Indeed, Lithe Snake dodged to the right, and Qing Ling activated Metal while jumping, the two Black Gold blades lifting her into the air.

Boom, boom, boom!

Two seconds later, the giant skeletal wing hit the ground, bringing about a violent burst of dust. The hill trembled again.

That would have rendered a regular person to paste.

Rather than lifting back up, the giant wing swung horizontally near the ground instead, resulting in rolling waves of dust and turbulent currents of air.

Gao Yang grabbed Officer Huang by the elbow again and jumped, using Teleportation at the same time. They landed on the skeletal wing two seconds later. It felt as if they were standing on top of a speeding train.

“Stay safe!”

Gao Yang let go of Officer Huang and jumped between the tube-like bones that composed the wing. Teleporting thrice, he approached the connecting joint between the wing and the skeleton.

His thinking was simple. To defeat the skeleton of the white phoenix, they had to disassemble it part by part and turn it back into a pile of bones.

Gao Yang decided to go for the joints of the wings first to break them off.

“Fire Punch!”

His right hand burst into radiating flames, his eyes glowing a golden light.

Wrapped in fire intense enough to melt steel, his fist slammed into a joint.

Boom!

The Fire Punch hit the giant joint squarely. Fierce fire rippled outward from his hand, spreading in all directions and casting the bones nearby in a dazzling golden light.

From a bird’s eye view, though, one would see that the fire had merely licked at the joint connecting the wing and the body of the giant skeletal bird before going out.

Gao Yang pulled back three seconds later, feeling his entire arm going numb.

However, the giant joint looked almost unscathed. The force of the heavy punch itself and the fire that could melt steel left only a slight crack on the surface, far from destroying the joint completely.

Under the moonlight, the lifeless white bones seemed like a pristine, sacred tombstone, with an authoritative presence that shall not be defiled or challenged.

How...can it be?!

Back then, once Lilia lost the protection of the Element Rune Circuit, she had gotten melted into nothing by Gao Yang’s Fire Punch despite the sturdy scales armoring her—that punch had been imbued with Willful Power, though.

Still, Gao Yang had never encountered something this hardy outside of Wang Zikai’s bone claws.

Whoosh!

The skeletal wing swung again, the powerful currents throwing Gao Yang into the sky. Midair, Gao Yang found a chance to teleport back to the midsection of the hill. Beside him, Officer Huang raised his two guns, looking desperate.

If even Gao Yang’s level 5 Fire failed to damage the bones, the bullets he shot with level 5 God of Firearms were unlikely to do anything but scratch the surface.

Meanwhile, Qing Ling and Lithe Snake had been on the move, too.

Wielding her Tang Dao while riding on her Xiu Dao, Qing Ling flew toward the head of the white phoenix.

On the other hand, Lithe Snake jumped between the white phoenix’s bones agilely like he was climbing a steel tower, utilizing the stickiness of his hands and feet granted by Gecko. In no time, he got to the neck of the monster.

Riding on her Xiu Dao, Qing Ling reached the monster’s head first. With a powerful leap, she descended from high in the sky with the moon lighting her from the back. The Tang Dao she held with both hands radiated a frosty blue aura, looking like it had split the moon in half.

“Hah!”

With an unstoppable blade aura, she brought the Tang Dao down on the white skull of the giant bird.

The blade aura hit the skull first, making a blue ripple. Then her sharp Tang Dao followed, cutting into the bone.

The next second, Qing Ling landed on the giant skull.

She had managed to cut the white bone, but only for a few inches, leaving a long, thin crack.

Qing Ling was caught off guard. She had pictured her blade going all the way through, halving the entire skull.

The spine and tails of the white skeletal bird started writhing. The countless thin bones of the tails rose and stabbed at Qing Ling like water snakes—they were thin compared to the main body, but to humans, the bones of each tail were as thick as a telephone pole.

Sensing a turbulent current assaulting her from below, Qing Ling quickly jumped off, daring not to linger a second longer. Halfway through her freefall toward the hill, her Xiu Dao flew to her while spinning and caught her feet. She rode her blade, weaving through the countless tails like she was surfing on waves.

The numerous tails missed her by a hair. None managed to hurt her.

Attached to one of the tails was Lithe Snake.

Mid-climb, he had seen countless tails whipping at Qing Ling, and he jumped onto one as they flew past him, getting on the ride.

Seizing the chance, Lithe Snake jumped off the thin tail and landed on the monster’s white skull. He thrust his Black Gold shortsword into the crack Qing Ling had left with all the strength he could muster, burying it down to the hilt.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢