Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Chapter 495: Chapter 83 Absorb_2

Like a bolt of black lightning, the uncanny whip struck the six Arthur duplicants in an instant. In the next moment, it seemed to come alive, swiftly coiling around their bodies and binding them like dumplings.

As the six duplicants writhed, Wen Yu felt the ferocious power feedback from his skill and narrowed his eyes.

In the next instant, a tremendous suction force transmitted from the black whip into the bodies of the six Arthurs, continually drawing on their strength. Simultaneously, this absorbed power wasn’t returned to Wen Yu’s body; instead, it continually enhanced the whip’s own power!

A variant application of dark power!

During the period of idleness before the demon plague descended, Wen Yu had been far from idle; he had developed even more ways of utilizing dark power.

This self-strengthening black whip was one such creation, its inspiration drawn from Pitch-dark Absorption.

Under the black whip’s control, the false Arthurs’ struggles slowly weakened. It was estimated that within an hour, all Arthur duplicants present would be drained dry by the black whip, or completely crushed into a bloody pulp by the whip once it reached its peak power!

However, Wen Yu didn’t want to wait that long, nor was he willing to let these false Arthurs die such a worthless death.

After brief consideration, he made a choice between using the Almighty Demon Vine along with the Book of Black’s Summoning Chapter, or relying on the Soul Battlefield.

From Wen Yu’s right hand, a small, emerald-green vine slowly sprouted. It rapidly elongated, touched the ground, and then slithered like a snake towards the body of a dead Arthur.

”You might want to look away, after all...”

Wen Yu smacked his lips.

”The scene later won’t be pretty. Watching six people who look exactly like you being drained of life directly can leave a psychological shadow, can’t it?”

Arthur, who had already sheathed his giant sword and just walked over to Wen Yu, heard his ”reassurance.”

”No need. My mental fortitude is quite good.”

Arthur replied decisively, then immediately squatted beside Qin Tian to check his injuries.

After a moment, Arthur stood up. He first chugged an Energy Recovery Potion, then walked directly to Wen Yu’s side, preparing to watch the death sentence being carried out on the six impostors. He said, ”It’s a good thing you arrived in time. Otherwise, Qin Tian would have been a goner.”

”Don’t mention it,” Wen Yu replied blandly.

Behind them, Qin Tian had regained consciousness and offered a feeble ”thank you.”

Wen Yu nodded in acknowledgment.

Then, he fixed his gaze intently on the Almighty Demon Vine as it began to feed!

The emerald-green Almighty Demon Vine quickly moved onto one of the dead Arthurs.

The dead Arthur, perhaps sensing that events were spiraling into an abyss, immediately began to struggle violently.

Unfortunately, the black whip’s power was entirely supplied by the dead Arthur himself. Just as a normal person cannot lift themselves by their own hair, unless they could unleash a burst of power capable of shattering Wen Yu’s black whip, they had no way of breaking free from this skill!

Seeing the dead Arthur’s struggles weaken, the tip of the Almighty Demon Vine gently touched his body, as if testing whether the flesh beneath was delicious. Then, the tip of the Almighty Demon Vine suddenly opened, revealing a ring of menacing fangs.

The next moment, the Almighty Demon Vine bit down viciously!

Watching this, Wen Yu’s brow furrowed.

This Almighty Demon Vine seems a bit... foolish right now.

Arthur’s defensive power wasn’t something you could shatter just by opening your mouth and biting down, was it?

And indeed, things unfolded just as Wen Yu had anticipated...

CLANG! The Almighty Demon Vine bit down on the dead Arthur’s armor.

All its sharp teeth instantly shattered. The Almighty Demon Vine began to twitch violently, and simultaneously, a Spiritual Fluctuation was transmitted to Wen Yu’s mind through their mental link...

”Hurt... Uncomfortable...”

The Spiritual Fluctuation was somewhat fragmented, and it took Wen Yu considerable effort to discern the Almighty Demon Vine’s meaning.

However, Wen Yu showed no reaction to the Almighty Demon Vine’s setback.

This was, in effect, an experiment—an intelligence test for the Almighty Demon Vine!

After a while, the Almighty Demon Vine finally calmed down. Its front end, which had reflexively closed due to the intense pain, split open once more.

In a short time, the Almighty Demon Vine’s teeth had regrown.

Although its intelligence isn’t sufficient, its Recovery Ability is quite good. Wen Yu inwardly evaluated.

This time, having learned its lesson, the Almighty Demon Vine decisively changed tactics.

The previously soft hairs on its emerald-green body stood erect. Then, the Almighty Demon Vine slithered into a gap in the dead Arthur’s faceplate, making direct contact with his body from the inside.

The now-hardened bristles on its body pierced fiercely into the dead Arthur’s flesh!

The Undefeated Glory skill, while able to drastically reduce the damage taken from attacks, didn’t grant complete immunity.

The Almighty Demon Vine’s soft hairs had negligible attack power, but they could still inflict damage on the dead Arthur’s actual body.

The needle-fine soft hairs pierced directly into the dead Arthur’s skin—the wounds were very shallow, perhaps barely breaking the surface, possibly not even fully piercing it!

But that was enough.

An unknown secretion was injected from the bristles into the dead Arthur’s body. His skin tissue rapidly softened, liquefying into a slurry that was directly absorbed by the penetrating bristles. This substance then slowly flowed through the Almighty Demon Vine and into Wen Yu’s body.

Feeling his physical potential limit gradually increase while the body of the dead Arthur, bound by the black whip before him, steadily shriveled, Wen Yu nodded in satisfaction.

Test passed!

Wen Yu was quite satisfied with the Almighty Demon Vine’s performance!

In less than three minutes, the Almighty Demon Vine had completely absorbed the flesh and blood of one dead Arthur. It might not have been conventional flesh and blood, but as long as it could be absorbed and increase Wen Yu’s physical potential limit, he didn’t care what it was.

The next second, the Almighty Demon Vine slithered out of the now-empty suit of armor and leisurely crawled towards another dead Arthur.

In less than ten minutes, four dead Arthurs had been completely absorbed, and Wen Yu’s physical potential limit had increased by nearly 80 points!

It was conceivable that the longer the Level Lock remained, the wider the gap Wen Yu would create between himself and the professionists who trailed him.

This was the so-called snowball effect.

When the Almighty Demon Vine absorbed two normal Arthur duplicants, there was a small disturbance...

However, despite their one chance at Resurrection, it wasn’t much trouble for Wen Yu.

After easily dealing with it, the Almighty Demon Vine spent another five minutes absorbing energy. Then, the battlefield, which had initially been at a great disadvantage, immediately quieted down.

Perhaps sensing something, no new puppets appeared from the Purple Light Spawn and Grow Barrier during this time.

Arthur, who was nearby, also observed this somewhat strange phenomenon.

”Could it be out of energy? No, that can’t be right...”

Hearing Arthur’s mumble, Wen Yu gently shook his head.

”Someone must have noticed I’ve entered, so naturally, they won’t send any more duplicant puppets to their deaths!”

Hearing Wen Yu’s words, Arthur raised an eyebrow.

”Oh? You know the situation here?”

Wen Yu nodded. ”I do, but dealing with it is very tricky...”

Thinking this, Wen Yu decisively changed the subject.

”We’ll discuss this after we regroup. For now, you carry Qin Tian, and let’s go find Victor together!”

Arthur opened his mouth but didn’t press further. He turned, hoisted up Qin Tian, who was still gulping down healing potions, and followed Wen Yu towards Victor’s last known location.