159: Chapter 160 The Immortal Beast

Lin Ye had heard Old Man Shen mention him; the man's surname was Zhang, and he had joined the Demon Suppression Division three years ago, considered a rising star within its ranks.

At this moment, the man was leaning against the base of a dirt wall, his face ashen and eyes sunken, looking as if he had been completely drained by something.

When Lin Ye first saw him, he almost didn't recognize him.

Yesterday, he had been full of vigor and vitality, but today, his entire body exuded an aura of decay.

It was as if... he had suddenly aged many years.

Lin Ye crouched down and reached out to check his breathing.

He was still breathing; though his life force was faint, he was at least alive.

There were several tears in his clothes, and the exposed skin was covered in deep scratches—some had scabbed over, while others were still seeping blood.

Lin Ye frowned, pressed his palm against the man's chest, and slowly infused Internal Qi.

The innate qi seeped through his palm into the man's Meridians, beginning to circulate slowly.

One cycle, two cycles, three cycles... With each rotation, Captain Zhang's complexion improved slightly, and a hint of color returned to his face.

However, there was still no sign of him waking up.

Lin Ye withdrew his hand, his brow furrowing even deeper.

He had already helped restore some of the man's blood and qi; logically, with the vitality of a Seventh-Grade Martial Artist, he should have woken up on his own long ago.

Unless...

Lin Ye closed his eyes and extended his Mental Energy toward Captain Zhang's Sea of Consciousness.

But as soon as his Mental Energy touched the man's forehead, it was swallowed by a certain force.

Nevertheless, Lin Ye still "saw" a mass of grayish-white mist entrenched within the man's Sea of Consciousness.

It was precisely this mist that was cutting off all of his perceptions.

Lin Ye's heart sank.

What on earth was this mist? It was far too eerie.

After a moment's thought, Lin Ye communicated with the Heart Ape sitting cross-legged in the center of his Sea of Consciousness.

Although he had yet to grasp the True Intent of the Heart-Ape, his Mastery Realm of the Mind Ape Visualization Method already allowed for a preliminary manifestation.

In the next second, the Heart Ape opened its eyes, stood up, and stepped into the captain's Sea of Consciousness.

The gray mist seemed to sense the danger and began to churn violently, like a pot of boiling water being stirred, surging frantically toward the Heart Ape in an attempt to swallow it whole.

But the Heart Ape remained motionless, allowing the gray mist to envelop it, as two beams of golden light shot from its crimson eyes.

The gray mist reacted as if it had been scorched by fire; a large hole was instantly blasted through it, and it retreated rapidly, eventually shrinking into a small orb suspended in the center of the captain's Sea of Consciousness.

The Heart Ape reached out, grabbed the orb in its palm, and squeezed hard.

“Puff”

With a very faint popping sound, the orb condensed from the gray mist shattered into countless tiny air currents.

The Heart Ape opened its mouth and inhaled, sucking them all into its belly. It let out a satisfied burp before returning to Lin Ye's Sea of Consciousness to sit cross-legged, seemingly digesting something.

Lin Ye instinctively shuddered, feeling a slight change in the world before him, though he couldn't quite put his finger on what it was.

Just then, Captain Zhang's eyelids flickered, and then he suddenly snapped his eyes open.

At first, his gaze was somewhat unfocused, but after a moment, it slowly began to sharpen.

When he saw Lin Ye crouching in front of him, a hint of pleasant surprise appeared on his face. His lips moved, and his voice was so raspy it was almost inaudible. "Are you... Lin Ye?"

"It's me," Lin Ye nodded, untying the waterskin from his waist and handing it over.

"Here, have some water first."

In fact, his previous supply of water had long since run out; this was what he had refilled after logging off last night.

This could be considered one of the perks of being a player—no matter where you were, you didn't have to worry about dying of thirst or hunger.

Captain Zhang took the waterskin and gulped down several mouthfuls, coughing a few times as he choked, but his face clearly regained more color.

Returning the waterskin to Lin Ye, he propped himself against the wall and slowly sat up straight, looking around.

"Did you save me?" His voice was still very weak, but much clearer than before.

"You could say that."

"Would it be convenient for you to tell me what you encountered, Sir? How did you end up like this?"

Lin Ye pointed to the wounds on his body.

Upon hearing this, Captain Zhang fell silent for a while, as if recalling something terrifying. An indescribable expression appeared on his face—a mix of fear and bewilderment.

Steadying his mind slightly, he finally spoke slowly, "It's a long story. Last night, I followed the plan and headed in the designated direction."

"I had only walked for about the time it takes an incense stick to burn when the mist ahead suddenly dissipated, and a village appeared before me."

"I originally thought I'd wait for you to bring the others to find me, but after waiting for a full hour, there was still no sign of any of you."

"I realized that things might have changed, so I thought I'd scout around the village first. Who would have known..."

At this point, his voice faltered, and his throat instinctively bobbed. "I was suddenly attacked by an exotic beast."

"Wait! Sir, are you saying you fought an exotic beast last night?"

Lin Ye was one hundred percent certain that he hadn't heard any sounds of fighting last night.

However, looking at the man covered in wounds, it didn't seem like he was lying.

Moreover, how strong would an exotic beast have to be to injure a Seventh-Grade Demon Suppression Captain like this?

Even though this man was the weakest among the captains, he was still a Seventh-Grade Peak existence.

If they really fought, without using the ruyi jingu bang, Lin Ye wasn't entirely sure he could take him down.

"Yes. To be precise, more than one fight!"

"When I first saw that thing, its strength wasn't great—one could even say it was very weak, barely at the entry-level of the Ninth Grade. I took care of it with a casual strike of my blade."

At this point, a hint of fear suddenly crept into Captain Zhang's voice.

"But to my surprise, not long after it fell, it stood back up again.

Not only did its severed head reattach, but its strength was also a bit greater than before."

"Although I was a bit surprised, exotic beasts have all sorts of strange Bloodline Talents, so I didn't take it too much to heart and killed it again with another strike.

Then... it resurrected again, and its aura was once more stronger.

I didn't believe it, so I proceeded to slay it seven more times!

Every time it resurrected, it became a bit stronger than before."

Hearing this, Lin Ye couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "It gets stronger after resurrecting? Then how many times did you kill it, Sir?"

Clearly, this could no longer be explained by a Bloodline Talent.

What level of exotic beast could resurrect so many times in a row, getting stronger each time? Even the legendary Phoenix Nirvana wasn't this monstrous!

"Exactly how many times, I can't remember clearly. Probably about a hundred times.

By its tenth resurrection, its strength had reached the Eighth Grade.

By the hundredth resurrection, its strength had surged directly to the level of a Seventh-Grade exotic beast.

At that moment, I felt a sense of despair." There was an indescribable exhaustion in Captain Zhang's eyes.