Welcome to Ability Store-Chapter 98 - 97: City of Destruction

Chen Xuan reached out, crossing the railing to catch the snowflakes in his hand.

He noticed that even though it was snowing, there were no traces of snow accumulating on the rooftops or the ground. The temperature outside was somewhat low, but not to the point of shivering. It must be noted that he was still wearing light clothing, so if it were winter, he should feel the cold immediately upon stepping outside.

The snowflakes falling into his hand were strange: neither crystal-clear nor melting instantly into water.

Chen Xuan blew a breath and discovered that they scattered like dust.

Dust... a yellow-green sky...

Damn!

Could it be that this thing is radiation dust?

Chen Xuan’s whole body shuddered; he hurriedly shook off the remnants of ash from his hand.

Then this abandoned city in front of him... is the wasteland after the nuclear war, isn’t it!?

Celestial Mist Skill can prevent vacuum, but who knows if it can prevent radiation!

He hurried back into the house, re-closing the heavy iron door, and tightening the airtight valve.

Just then, Chen Xuan heard a light tapping sound behind him, as if something were crawling against the steel plate.

Well, you weren’t moving before, but now you decide to move? Planning to ambush me?

Too bad, I’ve long known of your existence!

He suddenly turned around, and immediately goosebumps erupted on his back—what was behind him was not a cultivator but a human centipede!

He saw a centipede-like monster climbing down from the ceiling to the altar edge. Each segment of its body was fused with human limbs, either hands or feet, as if those people had been swallowed into its body. Yet it could maneuver flexibly along walls and floors with these limbs.

Its head was even more terrifying, a huge bloody mouth occupying most of it, with half a human body stuck inside, as if this mangled upper body were controlling its nervous center.

No wonder it showed multiple Spiritual Qi reactions under the Celestial Mist Skill senses.

Disgusting though it was, Chen Xuan was not panicked. He could teleport back to the store at any time; there was no reason to flee just because of an ugly monster.

He even had time to take out his phone and snap a picture of the creature.

"Why did you return the book?"

While crouching at the altar edge, the monster suddenly spoke.

The voice source was indeed the half-human body.

The tone sounded like many voices mingled, high and low, male and female, giving a sense of mental pollution upon hearing.

I never intended to return the book anyway, Chen Xuan silently rolled his eyes, I only brought the book here for a look.

"Put the book down, then leave, never to return." The monster said again.

It seemed it was rather reasonable.

Curiously, Chen Xuan raised the book, "Are you referring to this? Who wrote it? Why create an altar for a book?"

However, the monster didn’t reply; instead, it lowered its body, seemingly issuing a last warning.

"Put it down."

"What if I don’t?" Chen Xuan was prepared. If this thing was guarding the altar, going over to put the book down would be like stepping into a trap. If it suddenly attacked as he approached, it would be quite unfavorable.

No surprise, it let out a strange roar and suddenly lunged at Chen Xuan!

Immediately, Chen Xuan summoned two Thousand Thoughts Swords, stabbing at the monster from the left and right.

Its speed was incredibly fast; an average person probably couldn’t react, but as long as Chen Xuan was alert and activated the Divine Eye Technique in advance, he could see even bullets shot at supersonic speeds, let alone the monster’s lunging action.

While dodging and rolling away, the sword blades struck the monster’s body.

Unexpectedly, the blood and flesh shell fused with hands and feet was extraordinarily hard; the Qi Sword sparked without piercing its body, and it was instead rebounded heavily!

The monster even rammed into the airtight door from which Chen Xuan came, causing the door and wall to cave in together.

If he were just an ordinary wanderer, this would have cut off his retreat.

Chen Xuan added two more Qi Swords, using four swords to hack at the monster in turns.

Blood splattered and limbs flew as the enemy emitted soul-striking cries! Those external human hands and feet weren’t very hard; a flash of cold light easily cut them in two. But if striking the centipede body, only a finger-width wound would be left.

"You... dare defy the embrace of fusion!"

The monster roared, standing three segments tall on the spot, and sprayed several blobs of slime from its abdomen. The slime shot at Chen Xuan like water swords, but he easily dodged them, yet any steel plates and iron walls touched by slime immediately began to melt, emitting foul-smelling smoke.

Not good, this thing is some kind of strong acid!

Chen Xuan saw the place he’d originally stood had become large holes.

The room was only about a hundred square meters in total. If a few more floors were melted away, there would be nowhere to hide.

However, speaking of which, it’s unlikely that this monster is a Cultivator. Could it be some sort of Demon Fiend?

And the Celestial Thunder Order is precisely the Spell used to restrain Demon Fiends.

Chen Xuan decided to give it a try. After all, his Spiritual Qi was still relatively sufficient, enough to cast several rounds of golden-level Spells. If he couldn’t eliminate the opponent before exhausting his Spiritual Qi, and there was nowhere to escape, he would directly use the recall function to flee.

He first used the Thousand Thoughts Sword to cut several pipes and then picked up one to use as his weapon— the Celestial Thunder Order wasn’t the same as the Talismanic Curse Thunder Technique that Shuyue used before. The latter had a frightening momentum but didn’t have significant lethal power; the former was more like an Enchantment that needed to be attached to a physical weapon. Although the Qi Sword could be used as a physical weapon, it was ultimately formed from Spiritual Qi, and the two weren’t compatible.

As the Celestial Thunder Order was unleashed, the severed steel pipe instantly flashed with yellow electricity!

A longer weapon is always stronger, so those Ability Users love to pull out a gun when fighting. Naturally, Chen Xuan didn’t want to be a melee fighter either. He raised the pipe high to engage the monster closely in battle. He avoided the monster’s breath once more and seized the moment to recall four Qi Swords and make them clamp tightly around the steel pipe!

"Go!"

With a point of his finger, the four swords accelerated with the steel pipe, flying straight towards the monster! When they reached three-quarters of the way, under Chen Xuan’s will, the Qi Swords spread outwards, as if the sword hilts pushed the steel pipe one last time!

This was his anticipated Shell-less Tail-winged Thunder Missile!

The steel pipe, flashing with yellow lightning, pierced into the monster’s body like a cannonball, immediately shattering its hard shell.

At the same time, the electricity coursed through its body, rendering the many-legged centipede momentarily immobile!

Great opportunity!

Chen Xuan controlled the Qi Swords to adjust their direction, striking at the enemy once again—this time, the tips of each sword were aimed at the bowl-sized gap made by the steel pipe. The four Thousand Thoughts Swords entered like phantoms, directly rushing into the monster’s body, and along the soft flesh inside, tore it apart. A large amount of filthy blood and fragments of flesh sprayed out, splattering everywhere with its dying struggle.

Chen Xuan quickly found a pillar to hide behind, to avoid getting splashed by the blood.

It took a full five minutes before the monster seemed to lose all its strength and collapsed.

"I... curse you with blood and flesh hunger..."

The half of its body connected to the centipede’s huge mouth struggled to lift a hand, pointing towards Chen Xuan and saying with its dying breath.

Is this creature dead?

Only after confirming that the Spiritual Qi reaction had completely disappeared did Chen Xuan cautiously step out from behind the pillar.

He jumped over several large corroded holes on the ground and arrived in front of the monster’s corpse—at this time, the corpse was rotting visibly, its massive body gradually turning into a squirming black shadow.

What is this now?

Chen Xuan poked it with the Thousand Thoughts Sword and found it somewhat like a translucent clay, between liquid and solid. But even without applying any force, it twisted and turned on its own.

This strange thing, he felt it was better to stay away.

Suddenly, a small cluster of firelight caught Chen Xuan’s eye.

He was slightly stunned and turned to look, realizing the two candlesticks beside the altar had been lit!

Who lit them? There had been no appearance of open flames in the room!

Chen Xuan locked his gaze and then noticed another anomaly. The originally empty basin was now filled with fresh blood! Tiny bubbles kept rising in the center of the blood, as if something was heating it from below.

This blood... was it filled when the monster sprayed towards the sky earlier?

Suddenly, Chen Xuan remembered that monster’s last words.

He suddenly had a bad premonition.

And at that moment, the blood suddenly boiled, and the candle flames rose high, instantly illuminating the corners of the room!

Chen Xuan immediately felt a scorching sensation in his chest, as if something had forcibly entered.

He immediately took out his scanning gun and activated the recall ability—the next second, he returned to the familiar store in the district from that eerie altar.

However, the burning sensation did not disappear.

He felt his body seemed to manifest a consciousness of its own, constantly wanting to devour something.

Chen Xuan quickly scanned himself, discovering that two of his previously equipped abilities had been forcibly changed!

"Curse: Flesh and Blood Hunger" Level 1, Blue.

— "You eagerly want to merge with new bodies, new souls, until you reach a state of perfection. Each body can enhance your power, but failure to obtain them will lead to destruction."

"Decomposition and Re-Fusion" Level 5, Purple.

— "Forbidden +3".

Could the strange symptoms appearing now be caused by this Curse? However, since it could be recognized as an ability by the store...

Chen Xuan selected this ability and directly stored it in his inventory!

The feeling of restlessness and burning in his heart instantly vanished without a trace.