Chapter 32 Eruption

The "Red Corpse" wore a sinister grin, staring straight at Lin Lei.

"To think that a mere Third-Realm practitioner possesses such terrifying power... You are worthy of witnessing... the true me."

No sooner had his voice fallen than a surging torrent of source energy began to churn throughout his body, and his muscles immediately started to swell.

Crack, crack.

The tattered bandages on his body were ripped apart in the blink of an eye by the bulging muscles, fluttering and scattering all over the ground.

And the body of the "Red Corpse" was thus exposed right before Lin Lei.

His body seemed devoid of skin, entirely covered in gruesome, blood-red flesh, with disgusting pus-filled boils growing on certain parts. Just a mere glance was enough to churn one's stomach and drastically erode one's sanity.

In the blink of an eye, his physique swelled to over three meters in height, with muscles bulging high!

He had practically transformed into a mini-giant.

Lin Lei could also feel that the source energy aura emanating from him had instantly surged!

It had nearly doubled!

At the same time, a sickening, bloody stench began to drift through the surroundings, accompanying his transformation.

Following that, he thrust his hands forward, materializing another bloody harpoon once again.

Only this time, the harpoon was much larger than before, and its color leaned toward a dark red, looking quite formidable.

Feeling the terrifying pressure radiating from the giant before him, Lin Lei narrowed his eyes.

This should be the man's "Gift Liberation" ability!

Gift Liberation was a special ability that could be unleashed once one's source energy reached the Third Realm. It allowed the practitioner to maximize their own Gift, but it also came with a massive consumption of energy.

However, Lin Lei's Gift was special, and to this day, he had not awakened any such thing as "Gift Liberation."

Of course, for someone blessed with numerous abilities like him, whether he had "Gift Liberation" or not didn't really matter.

To Lin Lei, compared to the terrifying aura the man was currently displaying, what he guarded against even more was the man's terrifying regenerative power!

He tilted his head slightly, licking his lips as a red light flooded his eyes. "I simply don't believe that a mere Fourth Realm can achieve true immortality!"

If he couldn't kill him, it simply meant the injuries inflicted upon him weren't severe enough!

Just like Long Wentian, if he were to chop this fellow into minced meat, Lin Lei refused to believe the "Red Corpse" could still survive.

Accompanied by the completion of his transformation, the "Red Corpse" let out a sinister chuckle, the harpoon in his hands flashing, and charged fiercely toward Lin Lei.

Boom! Boom!

With every step he took forward, the ground itself trembled in tandem.

Lin Lei tightly gripped the bone sword in both hands, his gaze shifting away to glance at the other investigators in the distance who were locked in bitter and tangled combat.

The battle between the two sides was extremely intense, yet neither could secure victory for the time being.

Judging from the overall scene, the Investigation Bureau's side was at a disadvantage. Following the earlier explosion, the investigators had suffered heavy casualties, and their effective combat strength was insufficient—weaker than their opponents.

However, the few Third-Realm source energy practitioners from the Blood Sakura Society were clearly exercising restraint. Even though their combat strength and numbers currently held the upper hand, they were not in a rush to launch a general offensive. Instead, they occasionally glanced toward the area where Lin Lei and the "Red Corpse" were fighting.

It was obvious they were waiting for the battle between Lin Lei and the "Red Corpse" to conclude.

Their intentions were not hard to guess; they likely wanted to wait for the "Red Corpse" to free up his hands so he could help deal with the remaining Third-Realm opponents.

After all, although the five of them held the upper hand on the battlefield, the Investigation Bureau's Third-Realm source energy practitioners were no pushovers either. If pushed to desperation and they resorted to their "Gift Liberation" abilities, the Blood Sakura members might suffer losses as well.

"These fellows seem certain that the 'Red Corpse' will win!" Lin Lei's eyes flashed with a gloomy light, and he suddenly turned his head, charging toward the forest behind him.

Transforming into a phantom, he plunged into the depths of the dense woods in the blink of an eye.

"Fleeing? Do you think you can escape?!" The muffled voice of the "Red Corpse" rang out. He took large strides, charging forward with an even more terrifying speed.

As he plowed forward recklessly, he snapped numerous trees along his path.

Yet, just after entering the dense forest not far, his steps suddenly froze, because Lin Lei, who was a short distance ahead, had abruptly stopped and turned around to stare right at him.

A trace of unreasoning dread flashed through his heart as he felt that Lin Lei's aura had completely changed. Looking at him now felt like looking at a prey—or more accurately... food.

"An illusion, it must be an illusion!"

This thought flashed through his mind and vanished instantly. Brandishing his harpoon with a ferocious expression, he once again charged fiercely toward Lin Lei.

Lin Lei tilted his head. Within his body, a surging and mighty wave of source energy churned outward.

His body abruptly turned a pale red, and at the same time, two black horns extended from his forehead. Concurrently, a layer of red fluorescent light rippled outward around him.

This layer of fluorescence was the amplification halo granted to him by the Tier 4 Red Crystal Monster.

Although its effect was a group-buff, using it solely on himself was somewhat wasteful, but in reality, the amplification effect remained exceedingly powerful—especially since he had "plundered" the Tier 4 Red Crystal Monster seven times.

Aside from the amplification, the supplementary Spirit Light Shield ability generated alongside it possessed an even more formidable effect.

Even if it were shattered, he could instantly raise it again. At this moment, he was capable of continuously generating the Spirit Light Shield at least twenty or thirty times in succession.

In addition to the two, Lin Lei simultaneously activated [Boiling Blood] and [Body Activation].

Blessed by these four major abilities, Lin Lei's strength reached a level that even he found alarming.

In the blink of an eye, his body transformed into a streak of red light and vanished right in front of the "Red Corpse."

The "Red Corpse" had been charging forward at full speed. When he saw Lin Lei's figure vanish instantly, a look of astonishment had just begun to surface on his face.

A red shadow materialized before his eyes in an instant.

"Not good!" Judging solely by the speed Lin Lei had displayed, he realized something was wrong. He hastily raised the harpoon in his hand, but before he had time to swing it out,

He felt an irresistible, terrifying force descend upon him abruptly!

Bang-crack!

The harpoon in his hand was instantly cleaved in two, and cleaved in two along with it was his exceptionally sturdy body, enhanced by his transformation!

Unlike before, this time he was split straight down from the head, vertically sliced into two halves.

With a loud crash, his body, cleaved right down the center, plummeted heavily to the ground.

However, within the two separated halves of his body, trails of bloodlines suddenly condensed, intertwining as if they still desperately wanted to merge back together.

"Dream on!" Lin Lei, standing before him, flashed his eyes as he parted his hands. The bone sword in his grasp split into two, and dense, sharp blade-like barbs simultaneously sprouted from both swords.

Then, he swung them forward viciously, hacking frantically down upon the "Red Corpse," whose body had been cut in twain.

Under Lin Lei's terrifying strength, every organ and inch of flesh from the man's head to his toes was chopped into countless pieces of minced meat in the blink of an eye.

Following that, Lin Lei pulled out the Netherflame Lighter from his person.

A faint, ghostly blue fire instantly spread across the minced flesh. As the netherflame spread, the piles of minced meat continued to writhe and twitch, seeming as though they still wished to reassemble their body. However, with Lin Lei standing right beside them, refusing to give the flesh even a moment to coalesce and recover, he brought his blade down once more!

Under the burning of the netherflame, the flesh went through a rapid series of violent twitches before finally halting its writhing altogether.