CHAPTER 150: CHAPTER 150: REQUIEM OF THE SOUL (SEEKING FULL SUBSCRIPTION)

Li Qingshu, hidden in the shadows, had already arrived behind Lu Luo. Suddenly emerging from the shadows, his arm, sticky with darkness, gradually transformed into a Shadow Stinger, thrusting towards Lu Luo’s back.

Surprise attack from within the shadows.

Yet, the Lu Luo before him managed to react in the blink of an eye, his body contorting and swaying like that of an Exotic Species, evading his Shadow Stinger.

Such incredible speed!

In a flash, Lu Luo’s palm had become a massive fan, stretching out to grasp him.

Li Qingshu immediately retreated into the shadows, dodging Lu Luo’s deadly strike.

Lurking within the shadows, Li Qingshu carefully observed Lu Luo’s condition at that moment.

The twisted arms and body, after employing attacks surpassing human limits, gradually returned to normal.

Lu Luo’s face had turned an ashen blue, and the bones inside his body were twisting continuously, making him look like an Exotic Species in mid-mutation.

Indeed, this was also a dream realm, Li Qingshu’s dream realm.

And the Lu Luo before him was the version of Lu Luo that Li Qingshu envisioned he should be.

Powerful, distorted, possessing the ability to devour other Exotic Species and the ability to revert back to human form.

Such a creature surely hid tremendous secrets. All he had to do was kill the being before him, and the secrets would become his.

Once again, Li Qingshu emerged from the shadows, his Shadow Blade slicing instantly across Lu Luo’s chest, revealing the heart within.

But the rapidly growing muscles of Lu Luo swiftly sealed the wound, and his hands reached for Li Qingshu, as if to tear him into pieces.

Li Qingshu not only did not retreat, but advanced further. Just as Lu Luo’s palm was about to catch him, Li Qingshu’s body suddenly became intangible and he melded into the shadows.

"Nothing more than an unintelligent beast," he said.

Li Qingshu remained motionless, letting Lu Luo pass right through the shadow he had become, then reassumed his solid form.

He reached out towards the shadow behind Lu Luo.

Destroying Shadow - Shadow Pressure.

Li Qingshu’s fingers suddenly clenched into a fist, and Lu Luo’s shadow began to twist as if seized by some force.

As Lu Luo’s shadow twisted, his physical body followed suit, the contorting force of the shadow transmitting into Lu Luo’s actual body.

As his shadow was continuously compressed in Li Qingshu’s grip, Lu Luo’s body also began to experience the compressive forces transferred from his shadow.

CRACK! CRACK!

Sounds of bones breaking and shattering continuously emanated from Lu Luo’s body as Li Qingshu crushed his bones joint by joint, tearing his muscles apart piece by piece.

Lu Luo roared like a wild beast, his expression one of extreme pain.

But even a power as formidable as Shadow Pressure could not kill Lu Luo in a short period.

Under Li Qingshu’s watchful eye, Lu Luo began to forgo the physical struggle, but he did not give up resisting; instead, he switched to a different method of resistance.

Lu Luo actually began to inflate himself. As his body expanded, it naturally enlarged his shadow. The larger the shadow, the weaker the effect of the Shadow Pressure, using this to fight against the force of Li Qingshu’s Shadow Pressure.

Seeing the situation worsening, Li Qingshu tightened his grip, subjecting Lu Luo to greater agony.

ROAR!

He was sprawled on the ground when a surge of purple Life Energy emerged from Lu Luo’s body. Upon seeing this energy, Li Qingshu immediately lit up with delight.

"It’s really you, the Life Energy of an Exotic Species! Once I obtain this power, heh, there won’t be anything I can’t have!"

Li Qingshu intensified the force of the Shadow Pressure, but to his surprise, Lu Luo’s struggles grew fiercer, and he was even finding it somewhat difficult to suppress him.

The expanding body broke free from the constraints of the Shadow Pressure, and with one punch, Lu Luo sent Li Qingshu flying.

BOOM! Li Qingshu hit the ground hard.

But he was after all a Fourth Tier elite Transcendent. Although Lu Luo was powerful, fortunately, the protective dark energy around him had done its job.

"Cough, cough! This power, pure human physical strength, can actually reach such astonishing intensity! Heh heh ha ha!"

Li Qingshu had thought Lu Luo was strong, but he had never considered that Lu Luo could be this strong!

Yet, the stronger Lu Luo became, the more excited Li Qingshu got.

He held his hands out like claws, merging them into one.

Rolling black clouds emanated from Li Qingshu, enveloping the entire surrounding area with this dark power.

Li Qingshu raised his claws to the sky, and a mysterious call emanated from his mouth.

"Soul Elegy."

When Li Qingshu summoned the Soul Elegy, the shadows around him began to rapidly coalesce into shadow souls that blotted out the sun.

These shadow souls continuously converged upon the expanding Lu Luo, whose huge and bloated body was their target.

Each shadow soul brought Lu Luo a shadow impact that tore at his shadow.

And as they tore at his shadow, a physical impact would extend from it.

Thus, the sky-darkening Soul Elegy completely devoured the Lu Luo before him.

Lu Luo’s body was incessantly torn apart and exploded, culminating in his death before Li Qingshu.

"He’s finally dead."

Li Qingshu approached Lu Luo somewhat wearily. Releasing the Soul Elegy was a tremendous burden for him, but it was all worth it.

He finally obtained Lu Luo’s corpse, and the secret of the Exotic Species’ power would soon be revealed.

Just as he reached Lu Luo, intending to touch his body, the world began to collapse.

"What’s going on?"

The space began to disintegrate, the surroundings, like peeling skin, gradually changing into something else.

A place with a red carpet, white walls, and dim lights.

"Where is everyone?"

Li Qingshu looked at his surroundings. Besides the dim lighting, the walls and the carpet were of high quality.

Such decoration and materials, even the special citizens of the Inner Ring, the nobles, seldom had them.

Li Qingshu touched the wall, leaving a clear handprint in the dust on the white wall.

He scratched at it with his fingernails, scraping off some white ash—it was really made of very fine materials.

Where am I? How did I get here? If this is real, then what just happened... was it an illusion? Or a dream?

Ugh!

Li Qingshu’s chest ached where Lu Luo had hit him before, the claw marks still distinctly visible, and there was still a trace of blood on the corner of his mouth that hadn’t yet dried.

All these signs suggested that what had just happened was definitely not as simple as an illusion.

My injuries are real, but that world was fake. All that effort to kill Lu Luo... was it just so I could escape from that world?

Li Qingshu suddenly realized that, without knowing when, a purple bead had appeared in his hand.

The bead was still emitting some purple smoke, and its use wasn’t clear.

Li Qingshu originally wanted to throw the bead away, but after some thought, he applied a little force.

CRACK!

The bead shattered, and the purple smoke began to flow out, forming a surge of energy that converged into Li Qingshu’s body.

His injuries had healed in an instant, but it wasn’t over yet.

The purple smoke continuously released energy, which, after finding no more injuries to heal, actually began to enhance Li Qingshu’s physique.

Li Qingshu looked on in alarm as this power flowed into him, followed by delight.

This purple bead... does it have the same power as the Exotic Species’ Little Purple Bottle? And humans can use it!

"This place is getting more and more interesting!"

Li Qingshu pushed open a door in front of him and walked deeper into the room with the red carpet in search of its secrets.

「Elsewhere」

Lu Luo was still sunbathing on the beach, enjoying the rare sunshine he seldom saw.

[Aren’t women truly what you desire? Could it be you prefer men? Are you upset because Gu Fangyi hasn’t shown up?]

Get lost!

Honestly, even though the women were within arm’s reach, Lu Luo was very reluctant to leave them; it was a pity he couldn’t really stay here.

He had been dragged into a dream, which meant Qi Xinzhu and Gu Fangyi were also in danger.

Although he wasn’t quite clear about what this dream was all about, what its purpose was, and whether there was malice behind it, Lu Luo didn’t particularly like being controlled by someone else’s world.

Seizing the chance before waking up, Lu Luo passionately kissed the person next to him and then stood up.

"All right, ladies, the game is over. Can you tell me where this place is and who you are?"

The beauty in front of him looked somewhat perplexed, as Qi Xinzhu gripped Lu Luo’s palm and rubbed it.

"Lu Luo, what are you talking about?"

"The real touch, the warmth of your body, even Qi Xinzhu’s scent is copied perfectly. However, you may not understand one thing. My senses are the sum of my will, not disparate. So, unless you can deceive all my senses simultaneously with a single sensation... Otherwise, this kind of dream is meaningless to me—it’s almost like watching a movie. Oh, but this is a bit different; I can interact here."

As Lu Luo spoke, he didn’t forget to cop a feel, indulging his hands.

However, this time, it seemed like the master of the dream didn’t want him to have his way, as the skin of the Qi Xinzhu beside him gradually turned white.

Soon, her eyes completely melted away, turning into tear-like viscous fluid that flowed down.

Her mouth slowly enlarged, and a long tongue uncoiled from it, revealing a mouth full of sharp fangs.

Her nails also grew longer and even began to twist and bend in a disgusting manner.

[You just kissed her and touched her, EW!]

Seeing what Qi Xinzhu had become, Lu Luo felt as if he had eaten excrement.

"It feels like the master of this place is intentionally disgusting me! Sword, come!"

Lu Luo raised his right hand high, and black Devourer tentacles suddenly burst out from his palm, nailing themselves into the air as if trying to break through the dream space here.

CRACK!

A crack suddenly appeared in the originally stable space, and behind the crack was endless darkness. When this crack appeared, Lu Luo felt as if everything had returned to him.

A standard double-handed greatsword slowly materialized in Lu Luo’s hands, and with a backhand slash, he cut the monster beside him in two.

Then there was a slaughter on the beach.

What splattered was not blood, but a purple-black slurry.

This slurry was like Life Energy, but the Observer gave no prompts, and Lu Luo didn’t try to absorb it with the Devourer either.

After killing everyone here, Lu Luo stood quietly in front of a pile of barbecued food, and, well, couldn’t help but eat a few skewers.

"Now there’s no one left, so, my esteemed master who dragged me into this dream, shall we continue our game?"

A long time passed without anyone responding to Lu Luo. Just when he thought no one would respond and was about to explore the outskirts of this beach.

A slightly crisp child’s voice appeared around him, indistinguishable as male or female.

"I originally sought you out, hoping you could do me a favor. But your performance has been so exceptional, you’re different from the rest. Mm, truly excellent, you’ve piqued my interest. So then, since you say your senses are all one, let’s really play then. In my world, no one has ever beaten me! Let’s continue the game!"

[A high-tier willpower. I can’t even feel how far or high it is. All I know is that it’s really high. The Observer suggests that the host should communicate more with the other party if it’s safe to do so, in order to obtain some useful intelligence.]

Lu Luo narrowed his eyes slightly. A high-tier willpower? I’ve just stepped out, and I’ve already provoked so many people? Damn it!

"Wait, if I win, what’s in it for me?"

The child’s voice echoed once more.

"Impossible. I’ve said it, in my world, no one can beat me."

"What if I do win?"

"Then, I will give you a reward that will satisfy you. If you’re done asking, let’s continue playing!"

As the voice faded, the dream also shattered with a roar. After the collapse of the dream, Lu Luo found he was not in the Thousand Lakes District where he was supposed to be.

The place he was in now was covered with red carpeting, white walls, and dim lighting.

He raised his right hand and found a dark purple bead had appeared in his hand.

[Bead of the Netherworld]

Effect 1 - Life Energy: The Bead of the Netherworld will provide you with 2,000 points of Life Energy.

Effect 2 - Call of the Nether: The Call of the Nether will link with your life.

Description: Only those things that lie between life and death can be called ’Nether’.

Two thousand points of Life Energy is certainly appealing, but what does Effect 2 mean? Call of the Nether? Linked with my life?

"How risky is this bead?"

[Insufficient information, unable to assess the specifics of this effect. However, the host can try having the Devourer devour the energy within it.]

Lu Luo hesitated for a moment but decided not to take such rash action for now.

He was still unfamiliar with his surroundings; to devour it for power-ups now would be too reckless.

In front of Lu Luo were three doors. Other than the middle one, the left and right doors each had a timer, apparently requiring Lu Luo to make a choice.

"The door on the left is your boyfriend, the door on the right is your girlfriend. They’re both in danger now. The timers above show their countdown to death. How will you choose? My game opponent!"

The child’s voice gradually faded away, and Lu Luo’s brow began to furrow.

Boyfriend? Girlfriend? Are they referring to Gu Fangyi and Qi Xinzhu?

Lu Luo checked the timers on the doors; Qi Xinzhu’s had 14 minutes, while Gu Fangyi’s had only 4 minutes and 30 seconds left.

"The boyfriend and girlfriend you mentioned, are they my companions?"

"Since it’s a game of riddles, the answer naturally requires you to find it yourself. You just won a round against me, maybe you’ll keep winning!"

Lu Luo didn’t hesitate for long, as there wasn’t much time. He went straight through the door representing his boyfriend.

That is, the door where Gu Fangyi was.

With only 4 minutes and 30 seconds on this door, Lu Luo didn’t know what would happen when time ran out, if Gu Fangyi would die—he didn’t dare to gamble. So he had to act before time ran out.

"Observer, keep track of time for me."

[A 4-minute and 27-second countdown is in progress. The Observer will provide regular updates to the host.]

When Lu Luo pushed the door open, he felt like he was entering a spatial tunnel, the world around him beginning to change rapidly.

Right after Lu Luo entered, the door in the middle of the red-carpeted room suddenly displayed a timer.

A countdown of 9 minutes and 40 seconds.

As Lu Luo entered the room on the left, the countdown on the middle door also began to tick down simultaneously.