44: Chapter 44 The Flesh and Blood of the Ultimate Ancestral God

In the shadows of the ruby pile, a shadow suddenly shifted horizontally.

A dim, dark red light first licked across a half-section of yellow iron-clad shoulder. The surface was engraved with dense, fine scale patterns, heavy enough to crush a person, glowing with the oily sheen of cold-blooded animal skin.

There was a sunken, old scar where the left eye should have been. The remaining single eye floated with a pale golden luster in the dim light; the vertical pupil was as thin as a needle tip, shrinking directly into a black line when it contracted.

Snake-man.

The single eye was nailed firmly onto Wu Xi's face, its pupil suddenly dilating.

His mouth didn't move, but the voice rolled directly out from his throat—hoarse, wrapped in the hissing tail-end of a serpent flicking its tongue.

"Finally found you, Wu Xi."

The snake-man's mouth corners twitched, and the yellow iron-clad shoulder swayed in the dim light, the scale patterns seeming to come alive as they crawled along the surface of the armor.

"Hand over," he said, enunciating every word, the hissing sound drilling through the gaps between his words, "the Golden Mask."

"I have been watching you since you entered the tavern." Wu Xiu's voice was lowered even further, squeezed out from the depths of his throat.

"You thought you were fast enough." Wu Xiu stepped forward again, and the distance between the two instantly shrank to three feet. "The snake hides in the dark, waiting for the prey to crash in by itself."

He raised one hand. His fingers were long and thin, the joints bending in reverse, and his blue-black fingernails looked like five polished iron plates. His fingertips pointed toward the bulkhead behind Wu Xi.

The three-tiered long oars that had been firmly nailed into the water were now breaking the water in unison.

The thirty oar handles were like connecting rods on the same machine, rising and falling without the slightest error. The sound of them breaking the water was like muffled thunder, traveling along the bulkhead.

The ship's hull began to vibrate, the frequency terrifyingly steady, shaking the fine raw stones on the surface of the ruby pile so that they tumbled down, hitting the ground by their feet and making crisp sounds.

The ship moved, leaving the shore.

The rope ladder that had been hanging on the ship's side just moments ago had long since vanished. The water route to jump ship was getting further away with every second.

"The mask is not in my hands."

Wu Xiu blinked his single eye. "Liar."

"I already offered it to the Toad God." Wu Xi's expression did not change. "If you want it, go underground and ask for it yourself."

Wu Xiu tilted his head, and a series of fine clicking sounds issued from his neck, like the sound of a serpent twisting its spine.

"Even if what you say is true," his hissing suddenly intensified, "you are still a nuisance. What's more, I don't believe a single word of it."

Before his words had even faded, Wu Xi's foot moved suddenly.

A fist-sized ruby by his feet, its edges as sharp as a knife, was kicked flying by him. It wasn't aimed at his face, but straight at the gap beneath Wu Xiu's shoulder armor—the soft flesh between the collarbone and sternum, uncovered by armor plates.

Wu Xiu dodged sideways in a rush.

The raw stone grazed the edge of the armor plate and flew past, smashing hard against the bulkhead with a bang, shattering into three pieces.

In that split second of an opening, Wu Xi moved.

Eight Tentacles from his elbows, chest, and tail exploded outward simultaneously. The two on his left and right elbows were the thickest, carrying a sharp whistling sound as they slashed straight at the carotid artery on the side of Wu Xiu's neck!

Wu Xiu's upper body leaned back violently, the hard scales on his Adam's apple grazing past the tips of the Tentacles, sparking tiny embers.

He thought this was the killing blow.

Wu Xi flipped his wrist, and the flint awl he had been hiding in his palm followed the opening created by the lean, carrying all the strength twisted out from his entire body as he slashed fiercely at the unprotected soft flesh on his waist!

With a sch-la sound, the crisp noise of flesh tearing.

The yellow iron-clad shoulder blocked most of the attack, but the irregular sharp edge of the flint awl still tore a long, thin bloody gash in his waist. Black-red cold blood instantly gushed out, dripping down along the scales and hitting the wooden planks with a pat, pat.

Wu Xiu erupted into a sharp hiss, and the snake tail hidden within his robes lashed out violently. Its thick trunk was covered in hard yellow-green scales, and the horny barb at the tip was like a poisoned scimitar, crashing fiercely toward Wu Xi's left ribs with the force of a thousand jun!

Wu Xi instantly urged the two Tentacles on his left and right chest to block it. The Tentacles wrapped tightly around the snake tail, the hard scales instantly cutting through the surface skin, and the black poison burrowed into the wound.

The immense strength of the snake tail directly shattered the Tentacles and landed solidly on Wu Xi's left ribs.

Snap! The muffled sound exploded directly inside his bones. Wu Xi clearly heard the sound of his own ribs breaking, and his left flank collapsed by half on the spot.

His whole body was like being struck by a battering ram, flying backward and slamming hard against the ruby pile behind him.

The sharp edges of the raw stones instantly pierced into his back, skin and flesh rolling outward, blood dripping down along the rubies and seeping into the cracks in the wooden planks.

He fell heavily to the ground, his eight Tentacles hanging limply by his sides; the two that had just blocked the snake tail were already oozing black blood and twitching slightly.

A sweetness rose in his throat, and hot, fishy blood rushed into his mouth. He gritted his teeth until they rattled, forcing himself to swallow it back down. A second mouthful of blood surged up, mixed with bits of shredded lung, and he swallowed again; his throat felt like it had been rubbed with sandpaper, burning with pain.

At least two of his left ribs were broken.

The left half of his body went numb, and the dull, heavy pain drilled into his brain in waves, as if someone had poured lead under his ribs.

Every breath he took, the broken bones ground fiercely against his lung, the pain causing his vision to go black, his fingertips trembling.

Wu Xiu walked over step by step.

His pace was not fast, each step landing in the gaps between the wooden planks, as steady as if nailed to the ground. The black blood at his waist was still dripping, pat, pat, like a drumbeat of death, each sound precisely landing in the gaps of Wu Xi's breathing.

He stopped in front of Wu Xi, looking down from above, his single eye full of cruel amusement.

"The second and third ones on the left, completely broken." Wu Xiu's voice was wrapped in a hissing tail, like a venomous snake flicking its tongue. "Every breath you take, the broken bones grind against your lungs. In fifty breaths, you will definitely cough up blood. In one hundred breaths, you won't even be able to stand."

Wu Xi didn't reply; the pain of the broken bones grinding against his lungs was like a dull knife repeatedly scraping inside his flesh. His right hand was still gripping his straight blade, but his wrist was trembling.

The wound previously inflicted by Wu Xiu's grip had already severed some tendons, and blood was dripping down the handle of the blade, hitting the ground by his feet.

Wu Xiu's snake tail swayed slowly behind him, the barb at the tip gleaming with a cold light in the dimness.

He squatted down, the vertical pupil in his single eye leveling with Wu Xi's gaze, so close that Wu Xi could smell the fishy stench on him, mixed with the scent of rotting meat and snake molting.

"I will ask one last time." Wu Xiu's voice was pressed extremely low, as if squeezed from the depths of his throat. "Where is the Golden Mask?"

Wu Xi suddenly twitched the corners of his mouth and lifted his chin, signaling toward his chest.

There was an inner pocket sewn into the inside of his lapel, which he had sewn himself while traveling.

"Search for it yourself."

Wu Xiu moved.

He reached out his hand, his blue-black fingernails slowly picking open Wu Xi's lapel, his fingertips reaching toward that inner pocket.

His entire attention was nailed to that inner pocket, nailed to the Golden Mask that might be hidden inside.

At the very moment his fingernails touched the fabric, Wu Xi moved!

He gripped the ruby raw stone hidden by his side with his left hand, focusing all the strength remaining in his entire body into his arm—not a strike, but a thrust—using every ounce of his strength to ram the sharp edges of the raw stone fiercely into Wu Xiu's only eye!

At the same time, the four Tentacles on his left and right chest and tail exploded upward simultaneously. Two wrapped tightly around Wu Xiu's shoulders, dragging him forward so he had nowhere to dodge! The other two wrapped around his snake tail, locking down all possibilities of him exerting force!

His head leaned back violently, his back slamming hard against the ruby pile, the sharp edges tearing another deep gash in his back, blood instantly soaking through his clothes. He didn't care at all!

Squish!

The crisp sound exploded in his ears, and Wu Xiu let out a heart-wrenching hiss!

He wanted to retreat, but his shoulders were locked tightly by the Tentacles, and he couldn't pull back at all! He could only cover his eye, his whole body convulsing wildly, his yellow iron-clad shoulder slamming hard against the bulkhead, causing the entire wooden wall to tremble violently!

Pale golden, egg-white-like mucus, mixed with black-red blood, gushed frantically from between his fingers, streaming down his cheeks and dripping all over his body.

Wu Xiu curled up at the base of the bulkhead, one hand clutching his bloody, mangled eye socket, with gold-black liquid still seeping out from between his fingers. That thick snake tail lashed out wildly on the floor, the barb at the tip gouging deep grooves into the thick wooden planks, wood shavings flying everywhere; he had gone completely mad.

"You can't escape!"

Wu Xiu's voice changed, lower and coarser, as if it had rolled out from Hell, carrying extreme venom. "The crew has already heard the commotion from just now! The oarsmen are all my men! You are on this ship, and you cannot escape even with wings!"

Wu Xi certainly knew that.

The sounds of fighting, hissing, the dull thud of a stone smashing into an eye socket, and the harsh scraping of a tail hook against the wooden planks echoed back and forth inside the sealed cargo hold; it was impossible for the deck above not to hear.

Heavy footsteps were already coming from the deck toward the cargo hold, getting closer and closer, and the door was being slammed with a loud clanging.

His gaze swept quickly across the depths of the cargo hold.

Behind the curtain, the chains of the living sacrifices rattled slightly. At the joint between the bulkhead and the floorboards, there was a gap that revealed the dark color of the seawater.

Beneath the floorboards was the ballast tank, which connected to the open sea.

Wu Xi dragged his numb left leg, inching his way forward step by step.

With every step, the broken bones ground viciously within his chest, the pain causing his vision to blacken. He gritted his teeth, swallowing every groan that reached his lips back into his stomach.

Behind him, Wu Xiu's snake tail suddenly swept across!

Even though he was blind, he still used the sound of footsteps to precisely lock onto Wu Xi's location! The barb at the tip of his tail whistled through the air, slamming viciously toward the back of Wu Xi's head!

Wu Xi's body suddenly ducked low, and the barb flew past his scalp, smashing hard into the bulkhead, spraying wood splinters all over his face.

He didn't stop.

Crouching down, he probed his fingers into the gap in the floorboards, felt the loose plank, dug his fingernails in hard, and heaved it up; the entire plank was ripped away, revealing a dark, gaping entrance.

The briny smell of seawater mixed with a stench of decay surged up from below. The rhythmic, orderly beat of oars breaking the water came clearly from beneath, like a massive perpetual motion machine roaring underwater.

The cargo hold door had already been smashed open, and a dozen sets of footsteps rushed in, the shouts of battle erupting instantly.

Wu Xi did not hesitate in the slightest and jumped down. The icy seawater instantly enveloped his entire body, swallowing all his breath.

Above his head, he heard Wu Xiu's crazed hissing laughter, followed immediately by the dense sound of footsteps coming from the direction of the deck—the crew was charging down.

The icy seawater instantly enveloped Wu Xi's entire body.

The bone-chilling cold drilled straight into the gaps of his bones through his wounds, and the pain from the broken ribs on his left side made him almost choke on the water. Gritting his teeth, he fumbled in the darkness and, with a thought, summoned Tentacle Lady.

Underwater was Tentacle Lady's home turf.

The eight Tentacles distributed across his tail, chest, and elbows instantly extended, coming alive in the water, slicing through the current and propelling him toward the open sea like an arrow.

But just then, the current behind him shifted suddenly, and Wu Xi whipped his head around.

In the dark seawater, a yellow-green shadow chased after him like an arrow. Its speed was absurdly fast, even more agile in the water than on land.

It was Wu Xiu.

Snake-men were born of water and raised in water; underwater was his domain. He could capture the slightest fluctuation of the current in the water, and the smell of Wu Xi's blood was the most conspicuous target.

"You cannot escape!"

Wu Xiu's voice carried through the seawater, still accompanied by hissing static, crazed and cruel.

His snake tail lashed out with great force in the water, instantly catching up to Wu Xi. His dark cyan fingers clawed viciously toward Wu Xi's neck.

Wu Xi controlled the Tentacles to lash out violently at Wu Xiu.

But Wu Xiu didn't dodge at all, letting the Tentacles strike his scale armor; scales flew off, and black blood dispersed in the water. He used this force to close in even closer.

In his other hand, he held a syringe filled with a viscous, dark green liquid.

Just as Wu Xi's Tentacles wrapped around his waist and abdomen.

Wu Xiu savagely plunged the syringe into the side of Wu Xi's waist, where there was no scale armor protection, and pushed the plunger all the way down, injecting the entire dose of dark green Dominance Serum into Wu Xi's body.

Wu Xi's whole body shuddered violently.

A cold, sinister power instantly exploded from the injection site, spreading through his blood vessels to his entire body.

Fine snake scales sprouted across his skin at a speed visible to the naked eye. His body temperature plummeted, his limbs began to stiffen, and his throat uncontrollably emitted a hissing sound, rendering him unable to even speak.

"This is my clan's Dominance Serum!" Wu Xiu laughed crazily, his hissing echoing in the water, "An irreversible transformation! In a few moments, you will become a mindless half-snake man, forever under my control!"

[Warning: High-dimensional contamination detected! Dominance Serum intrusion! Genetic sequence is being forcibly rewritten!]

[Warning! Host's sanity is rapidly declining! Current: 63%... 48%... 10%...]

The cold notification sounds exploded crazily in Wu Xi's mind.

His consciousness was being swallowed by darkness bit by bit. His vision began to blacken, his body twitched uncontrollably, the area covered by scales grew larger and larger, and even his fingertips began to deform, growing snake-like claws.

Just at this moment, the Tentacle Lady on his body suddenly emitted a violent tremor.

As if sensing something, the eight Tentacles danced wildly, sending out an invisible summons toward the direction of the deep sea.

The next second, deep beneath the sea, an indescribable, vast, terrifying power carrying Ultimate contamination was instantly awakened.

Deep within the underwater city, that mass of flesh belonging to the Ultimate Ancestral God, which had slept for countless epochs, seemed to receive the summons; it instantly broke through the seawater, transformed into a streak of dark green light, and slammed viciously into Wu Xi's body.

[Warning! Extremely high concentration of high-dimensional contamination detected! Ultimate Ancestral God flesh intrusion!]

[Detected that host's Cultivation Technique "Three-Turn Heavy Origin Technique" is automatically running! Contamination has been temporarily suppressed! Fusion in progress!]

Wu Xi's body instantly underwent a terrifying mutation.

The eight Tentacles originally distributed across his whole body disappeared, beginning to dissolve and reorganize frantically, slithering along his body.

His head mutated toward an octopus form, with a mass of wildly dancing Tentacles growing on his face.

His torso was covered in fine scales, as tough as rubber, shimmering with a greasy, dark green luster.

His limbs grew huge, sharp claws, and a pair of long, narrow, membranous wings extended from his back. His originally well-proportioned body became bloated and fat, and his entire being exuded an Ultimate, terrifying aura that did not belong to this world.

At the same time, "Three-Turn Heavy Origin Technique" ran crazily within his body.

Under the guidance of the Cultivation Technique, that mass of Ultimate Ancestral God flesh transformed into a blood demon fetus, sinking directly into his Dantian Qi Sea.

His navel instantly inverted, something foreign writhed crazily in his intestines, and he could even clearly hear a second heartbeat coming from within his body, steady and powerful, like ancient war drums.

[Congratulations to the host! "Three-Turn Heavy Origin Technique" Breakthrough! Flesh Demon Fetus formed! Fusion of contamination complete! Successfully stepped into the Seed-Fetus Realm!]

Wu Xi opened his eyes abruptly.

Those eyes had turned into an unfathomable dark green, with endless Chaos and madness churning within the vertical pupils.

The snake scales that were still spreading crazily just a moment ago were instantly swallowed and assimilated by the Ancestral God's flesh; the sinister power of the Dominance Serum was not even equivalent to an ant in the face of the Ultimate Ancestral God's great power.

The crazed smile on Wu Xiu's face froze instantly.

He felt it—the power emanating from the Wu Xi before him was a terror from ancient times, transcending dimensions, capable of swallowing everything.

He was afraid; snake instinct made him turn around instantly, fleeing desperately toward the deep sea.

"Want to run now?"

Wu Xi's voice carried through the seawater; it was no longer a human vocal tone, carrying multiple echoes, like countless Tentacles speaking at the same time. Every word caused the surrounding seawater to tremble violently.

Countless newly born Tentacles on his body instantly extended, like streaks of dark green lightning, immediately catching up to the fleeing Wu Xiu.

The Tentacles wrapped directly around Wu Xiu's body, tightening more and more.

Crack, crack.

All the bones in Wu Xiu's body, including that thick snake tail, were instantly snapped. He couldn't even emit a hiss, only convulsing crazily in the water, black blood continuously surging from his mouth.

Wu Xi swam over slowly.

He looked at Wu Xiu, who was wrapped into a ball by the Tentacles; that ruined eye socket was now filled with extreme fear.

"You say, I am not fast enough?"

Wu Xi's Tentacles gently stroked Wu Xiu's head.

The next second, with a pop.

Wu Xiu's entire head, along with his indestructible scale armor, was instantly squeezed into a pulp of flesh by the Tentacles.

Black-red blood and minced flesh dispersed in the seawater, instantly swallowed by the endless darkness.