167: Chapter 167 The Hundredth Wave

The flame runes on the fire halberd had brightened to the extreme; the entire halberd resembled a burning Dragon, darting and dancing amidst the swarm of Vicious Beasts.

Several more wounds appeared on Wu Li's body, yet he could not feel the pain.

Evil Qi surged madly from the cracks in the stone floor, drilling into his body; it was more intense than any previous wave.

His wounds were healing, and his Demon Power was recovering, even faster than it was being consumed.

Wu Li's lips curled into a grin; he only felt the Demon blood within him boiling, and the desire to fight kept him from ever feeling fatigue.

"Awesome!!"

The fifty-first wave.

Mixed among the Vicious Beasts was a larger one, its scales shimmering with a dark golden luster, its cultivation having reached the Early Stage of the third rank. It hid behind the herd, not in a rush to attack, waiting to pounce suddenly when Wu Li was entangled.

Wu Li dodged the fatal blow sideways, but a chunk of flesh was torn from his shoulder.

Wu Li looked down at his wound, then looked up at the third-rank Vicious Beast, a flash of excitement crossing his Blood Pupil.

"So you've reached the third rank!!"

"It's all the same!!"

"Boom!"

With a violent swing, Wu Li released the fire halberd, which flew out, piercing through the Vicious Beasts blocking its path and heading straight for the third-rank one.

"Roar~"

The Vicious Beast tilted its head to dodge, but the halberd blade grazed its neck, tearing away a patch of scales.

Wu Li closed the distance, his claws locking onto its head, and Colorless Profound Light surged from his palms, enveloping its skull.

A few breaths later, the Vicious Beast's body went limp. Wu Li shook the blood off his claws and turned to pounce on the remaining herd.

The numbers on the stone pillar kept jumping.

Fifty-three, fifty-eight, sixty...

The Vicious Beasts were becoming more numerous and stronger, but Wu Li no longer cared.

In his eyes, there was only killing, fighting, and releasing!

And that inexhaustible strength within his body. As Wu Li fought, the great flame dragon halberd in his hand seemed to achieve Fusion with him, and a complete combat technique for the great flame dragon halberd was rapidly manifesting in his mind.

The fire halberd felt increasingly natural in his hands, as if someone had poured a set of knowledge into his brain; how to grip, how to hack, how to thrust, how to rotate—every move and stance was crystal clear.

Wu Li had no time to think about why this was happening; the Vicious Beasts were already swarming him.

He flipped his wrist, and the halberd blade executed a horizontal slash; the flames on the blade condensed into a spiral, and the entire halberd resembled a rotating fire Dragon drill.

The flames did not explode outward; they contracted inward, concentrating all the heat onto the tip of the halberd.

"Die!!!"

The moment it pierced the Vicious Beast, the flames exploded from the tip, burning the prey to ashes from the inside out.

This move did not hack, slash, or sweep; it was purely a thrust, but it didn't thrust at the surface—it thrust at the core.

It was most effective against thick-skinned Vicious Beasts; no matter how hard the scales on the outside were, the flesh inside was soft.

Continuing the fight.

Wu Li gripped the halberd with both hands, blade facing upward, and violently flipped his wrist to hack downward; the flames on the blade condensed into a crescent-shaped fire blade, which detached from the halberd and flew out.

Wherever the fire blade passed, the Vicious Beasts were sliced in two; the cuts were charred black, and the blood was seared dry before it could even flow.

The fire blade left the body, striking enemies from a distance.

Vicious Beasts pounced from all directions. Wu Li swept his long halberd, but he didn't just sweep once; he swept again and again, spinning continuously, the fire halberd turning like a windmill in his hands.

The flames rotated with the halberd, forming a ring of fire that expanded outward with Wu Li as the center.

Wherever the ring of fire passed, the pouncing Vicious Beasts were severed at the waist, and those behind were forced back by the flames, unable to get close. This move was best for fighting swarms; no matter how many Vicious Beasts there were, they couldn't break through...

As time passed. Days and months changed.

When the ninety-eighth wave ended, Wu Li was panting like a dog.

He propped the fire halberd on the ground to support his body, half-kneeling on the arena.

Blood and sweat streamed down from his forehead, smearing half his face, but he couldn't be bothered to wipe it. The Demon Power within his body was like a wrung-out rag; no matter how he squeezed, he couldn't extract a few drops.

Evil Qi was still drilling into his body, but the speed of replenishment could no longer keep up with the consumption.

He had fought for too long and killed too many.

The number on the stone pillar jumped.

The hundredth wave had arrived.

From the darkness, three figures slowly emerged.

They were not the dense swarms of beasts as before; there were only three.

But each one was a size larger than any Vicious Beast from before, their scales pitch-black like ink, shimmering with a cold, metallic luster. Their limbs were thick and sturdy, their claws digging into the stone floor, leaving deep claw marks with every step.

Their heads were no longer bare; a short, thick single horn grew from their foreheads, the tips glowing with a dark red light. They were at the Early Stage of the third rank, all three of them.

Wu Li raised his head, his blood-red pupils staring at the three Vicious Beasts, and he licked his cracked lips.

The first one pounced.

Its speed was more than twice as fast as the previous ones, its claws aiming directly at Wu Li's face. Wu Li tilted his head, and the claw tips grazed past his ear, taking a lock of his hair with them.

Before he could counterattack, the second one had already crashed into him from the side.

"Boom!!!"

Wu Li held his halberd horizontally to block, but the immense impact sent him sliding back several feet, his feet plowing two deep furrows into the stone floor.

"Roar!!"

The third one didn't move; it just stood in the distance, watching coldly, as if waiting, or perhaps appraising.

Then... the first one pounced again.

"A bunch of scum!!!"

Wu Li roared, gritting his teeth, and swept his fire halberd, sending a fire blade flying out.

The Vicious Beast didn't dodge, taking the hit head-on. The fire blade left a charred wound on its body, but it didn't even grunt, its claws already hooking onto Wu Li's shoulder.

Wu Li backhanded his halberd, thrusting it into its abdomen, and the flames exploded from within. The Vicious Beast let out a miserable cry and released its claws, but it didn't fall.

The second one seized the opportunity to pounce, biting down on the shaft of the fire halberd and refusing to let go.

Wu Li couldn't pull it out, and the third one finally moved.

A ruthless look appeared in Wu Li's eyes.

The Blood Pupil on his forehead snapped open, and amidst the scarlet light, a beam of blood-colored light shot out, striking the chest of the Vicious Beast in the middle.

The Vicious Beast was sent flying, crashing to the ground and sliding several yards before slamming into a stone pillar at the edge of the arena, sending stone fragments flying.

The fire halberd was pulled free.

Wu Li gripped the halberd with both hands, flipped the blade, and the flames condensed into a crimson-gold blade of light, which he hacked downward.

The second Vicious Beast's head was split down the middle, divided into two, and its corpse collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The third Vicious Beast pounced in front of him just then. Wu Li didn't retreat; he struck out with his left palm, and Colorless Profound Light surged from his palm, enveloping the Vicious Beast entirely in pitch-black light.

The power of smelting descended, and the Vicious Beast's body began to crack; spiritual energy leaked wildly from the fissures, and after struggling a few times, it stopped moving.

Three Vicious Beasts, three breaths.

Wu Li leaned on the fire halberd, panting heavily. Blood dripped from his forehead onto the stone floor, carried away by those dark red rivulets, and the number on the stone pillar jumped.

One hundred and one!

The corpses of the three Vicious Beasts lay on the arena, their blood seeping down through the cracks in the stone floor faster than any previous wave.

From the cracks in the stone floor, gray-black Evil Qi exploded violently, like a volcanic eruption, like water poured into a boiling pot of oil; it was so intense it almost solidified.

It surged madly toward Wu Li, drilling into his pores, pouring into his Meridians, and rushing into his Dantian.

The Blood Eye Pagoda Sutra spun ten times faster, madly refining that mass of Evil Qi and transforming it into the purest Demon Power.

His Demon Power went from dry to full, and from full to boiling.