Killing Grounds of Gods and Devils

Chapter 137: True Terror, Ning Yan’s Transformation

In the midst of them rushing over, the black monster suddenly lifted its head as it howled miserably, even Qin Jiagui’s Steel Missile had failed to harm it but its mouth was currently dripping with fresh blood, it had attempted to bite the back of Ning Yan’s neck when a frightening black light had erupted.

This black light seemed as though it had spiritual awareness as it immediately caused all the teeth within the monster’s mouth to shatter before continuing upwards, mouth, nose, eyes, cheeks…… each area began to crack as a frightening scene unveiled itself, this exceptionally powerful monster cried miserably and indignantly before its entire head suddenly disintegrated.

A streak of purple light then flew instantly into the back of Ning Yan’s neck before disappearing, thereafter, a streak of purple light tinged with a touch of black rose to the sky, Ning Yan suddenly let out a shrill cry as her body exploded with a frightening amount of power, heavily shirking off the black monster which had lost its head and lower body as well as Xue Tong away.

“Impossible……” Xue Tong had almost been crushed to death by the black monster, however, it had suddenly died allowing him to live. At this moment the scene before his eyes was simply too stupefying: “A seed……. How could it be so frightening…… could it……. Could it be…… really be……. Impossi……. impossible……”

He seemed to have thought of something as he swiftly shouted “Impossible”, his face filled with fear as though the thing he thought of was the most frightening existence within the world.

Ning Yan stood at her original position, a frightening energy fluctuation could be seen undulating throughout her body, the cloth covering her face fell to the ground, her originally disfigured face had already recovered, flawless and perfect, however, there were two streaks of red flowing from her eyes to her cheeks, like two trails of bloody tears.

Su Yu, Qin Jiagui, Zhang Zhongmou, Ma Ziye and the others were stunned as they were halted in their tracks, staring dazedly at Ning Yan.

Besides Su Yu who had his suspicions, the others had always been unsatisfied with Ning Yan’s usual actions, they did not paid much attention to her but at this moment, no one could have imagined such a shocking transformation would occur.

Her entire body was trembling as she slowly turned, looking towards the dazed group of Su Yu and the others as purple black light shot forth, a hoarse shout could be heard from her mouth: “You guys…… go……. Quickly leave……. The further you run the better……. I’m about……. About to lose my will…….”

Her voice was becoming hoarse, as she spoke her last words, her body was already trembling violently as though she were bearing some immense pain, the ‘666’ symbol on the back of her neck continued to release purple black light, streaks of purple black demonic veins began to flow throughout her body from the back of her neck.

“Ning Yan!” Zhou Birong and Su Yu could not help but shout.

“Leave, quickly leave!” Ma Ziye tugged on Su Yu as they felt their bodies cover in cold sweat, they were not stupid and could tell that Ning Yan must have acquired the power of the black monster. No, it was something even more frightening than the black monster, it was also possible that she would lose her mind, becoming a killing machine.

“Su Yu, let’s leave, everyone, hurry and move!” Qin Jiagui also howled as he began to pick up the bags of food, grabbing Yuan Niping’s hand as he began to flee.

“Quickly flee!” Ning Yan roared, her two arms raising as the demonic veins covering her body became more apparent, her eyes were filled with a terrifying cold as a demonic aura became stronger and stronger.

At the back, Xue Tong struggled as he attempted to get up, he had lost one leg and could not climb up no matter how hard he tried as he shouted: “Mo Tian, Mo Tian come save me! This fellow is a monster……. We must swiftly report this…… she must be that thing…… she cannot be allowed out into the world…… hurry……”

“Leave!” Ning Yan’s hoarse roar could be heard, her eyes seemed to emit a frightening vicious light, her right hand raised as her body swayed before suddenly piercing the chest of Xue Tong with a ‘Chi!”.

Xue Tong let out an incredibly miserable shriek as she continued to howl: “Quick, run!” Her hands were punching downwards as fresh blood spluttered forth, Xue Tong’s miserable cries were gradually becoming weaker and weaker, his body had been thoroughly shredded. Finally, a ball of black light flew up before entering the back of Ning Yan’s neck.

“Run!” Finally, Ma Ziye, Zhou Birong and the others stopped hesitating as they brought the food while running anxiously towards the other side.

Jade continued to personally carry Lei Rui, even under such a dangerous situation, she did not leave Lei Rui behind.

Zhao Shichang had been knocked flying by the monster, although his internal organs had suffered, he was a tier two dark iron warrior and had not been severely injured. He had long since climbed back up, at this moment he did not speak as he picked up two bags of food while running in the direction of the group.

Zhang Zhongmou pulled Su Yu along as he shouted again: “Su Yu, let’s leave, we don’t have any other option, we can’t save her.” Zhang Zhongmou was extremely panicked.

Su Yu looked over at Ning Yan a final time, he could see the form of Ning Yan continually swell as streaks of purple black demonic veins began to expand, a frightening demonic aura seemed as though it had influenced even the clouds in the sky.

An indescribable feeling welled up within his heart, a feeling of emptiness, as though everything had become meaningless, however……

Su Yu still turned around as he followed Zhang Zhongmou, following the group as they moved off in another direction.

At the back, Ning Yan’s roars were becoming more shrill and frightening, like the demonic king from the depths of the abyss about to truly awaken, in no time, the group which had run far away heard a second miserable cry, this was clearly from Mo Tian.

Running hectically, everyone put their lives on the line and it was unknown how far they ran before the blond haired female Mao Mingzhu fell to the ground with a scream, the bags of food falling from her body, she simply could not run any further.

Closely after, Wang Xiang, Xue Shan and the others also stopped running as they began panting heavily, their legs grew weak as they all fell to the ground.

Ning Yan’s frightening roars could no longer be heard, the scene earlier was simply too startling and everyone was still left shellshocked.

Things had occurred to suddenly, the few who were familiar with Ning Yan could not accept the current situation.

At this moment, the sky was already bright but everyone felt extremely cold in their hearts.

“Su Yu, what exactly happened to Ning Yan?” Jade placed Lei Rui down, she was almost dripping with sweat, she could not help but scream as she wiped the sweat off her face.

“Seed…… Was Ning Yan some sort of seed?” There was no sweat on Su Yu’s face, the run earlier was taxing for those at tier zero but it was nothing much for him, however, the scene of Ning Yan transforming and the ‘666’ symbol constantly flitted through his mind.

“It could be that when Ning Yan killed her very first Lesser Goblin, she had acquired a power that was completely different from ours, because it was completely different from that of ours, we did not understand it, causing her to act so unnaturally along the way…… maybe……. Maybe we have all misunderstood her…….” Su Yu muttered.

Zhou Birong said lightly: “That’s right, you guys didn’t notice it but when she killed that frightening monster, she gained energy. Thereafter, she killed Xue Tong who should also be a dark iron warrior like us……. She also managed to gain energy……”

Everyone felt their hearts lurch, Su Yu had previously killed other dark iron warriors, it was clear that dark iron warriors were unable to acquire energy or new abilities from killing other dark iron warriors, however, Ning Yan was able to do so. Why was that?

“Could it be that those with the ‘666’ are able to kill not only monsters to gain energy, but also dark iron warriors? Could it be…… could it be that the prey of those with ‘666’ are actually us?” Qin Jiagui immediately thought of a frightening possibility.

“I know, the number ‘666’ is linked to the devil within christianity. If it holds the same meaning within this world…… it’s simply too coincidental…….” Liu Zheng was an avid reader and an amateur novelist, his knowledge regarding gods and devils was more detailed than the rest.

Qin Jiagui said in a heavy voice: “This isn’t a coincidence, this strange world could possibly have existed since long, it could have been around even before christianity. If someone was able to escape from this world into our world, that would easily explain why christianity has linked 666 to mean something demonic and devilish.”

Everyone felt their hearts shiver as Liu Zheng exclaimed: “Brother Qin, your imagination is even more vivid than mine, if you were to write a book, it would surely become popular.”

“Su Yu, what do we do now?” Qin Jiagui knew that Su Yu had good feelings towards Ning Yan, suddenly faced with such a situation, he naturally had to ask for his opinion.

Su Yu was off contemplating by the side, it was unknown what he was thinking when he heard Qin Jiagui’s question, he could only sigh in response: “What should we do? What else can we do.”

Zhang Zhongmou patted his shoulder: “We have all misunderstood her, thinking that she was merely a burden. Who knew that she was carrying such an immense pressure on her back, however, we are simply powerless right now. During that final moment, it seemed that she had lost all sanity. If we were to find her……. We may end up being killed by her instead.”

Su Yu sighed before slowly continuing: “I know, we simply can’t help her…….” His fists were tightly clenched as he suddenly felt an immense pressure, this forest, this world, he was really powerless, unable to do anything.

“Su Yu, let’s go.” Ma Zi Ye spoke up: “Ning Yan has become so powerful, more so than any of us, she will definitely be alright.”

Su Yu bitterly smiled: “I hope so.”

Qin Jiagui muttered: “What exactly could the ‘666’ represent……. What exactly is a seed? Those people mentioned that the black monster was a failed product…… failed product……. That Xue Tong and Mo Tian must have known something, who exactly were they? Were they also people like us who had fallen within this forest? No, based on their attire, they weren’t in sorry conditions like us……”

Everyone paused to rest, each person was currently contemplating on what had occurred earlier, however, the truth was like a blurry image, one could faintly see the outline of it but it was simply impossible to clearly see it.

Of the group, Zhou Huakang was silent but his entire body was covered in cold sweat, back in the day he had attempted to chase Ning Yan, thinking back, he realised he might have prodded the wrong tree. The large maw of the black monster which seemed like it could swallow a person made Zhou Huakang shiver in fear.

The group rested for a while, eating some food to replenish their energy, the sky was already bright as Qin Jiagui retrieved the map, once again confirming their position. They had ran haphazardly and went off from his designated path.

“Eh?” A strange expression appeared on Qin Jiagui’s face as he noticed something on the map.

“What’s the matter?” Yuan Niping noticed that Qin Jiagui seemed weird as she hurriedly questioned.

Qin Jiagui had a strange expression as he muttered: “That’s weird, this map……. Some places seem to have changed their locations, they’re no longer the same.”

The group were dazed as they heard this, Zhao Shichang clutched his chest as he ambled over: “What? The map has changed? Are you sure you didn’t recall wrongly?”

Qin Jiagui also had a doubtful expression with a bitter smile on his face: “I’ve memorised this map very well, however…….. It seems that there are some areas which are different, it’s simply too weird.”

Su Yu continued: “We seem to have overlooked something, this map was a precious treasure found within the body of a Golden Gnome, since it’s a precious treasure, there may actually be some special abilities that we have not realised or understood, treating it like an ordinary map could be our mistake.”

As he said this, he also activated the Eye of Perception but the information regarding the map was listed as unknown.

Qin Jiagui’s entire body shivered: “That’s right, this map……. Is also a precious treasure, just like the ring and bracelet that you guys have acquired, there must be some sort of special ability contained within.” As he said this, he became more excited as he begun to carefully scrutinise the map, however, he was unable to find anything special about it.

Zhou Shi Chang nervously asked: “Since the map has changed, will it affect our path ahead?”

Qin Jiagui shook his head: “That won’t be the case, although there are a couple of changes in some areas, the overall topography remains the same.”

After resting for a while more, the group continued on their way. Su Yu looked back into the distance, a look of longing appeared in his eyes as though he were hesitating, finally, he sighed as his expression became solemn, gritting his teeth as he followed the group.

They did not meet with any real danger this day, only a group of Lesser Goblins led by a small number of Greater Goblins, Su Yu, Ma Ziye, Qin Jiagui and the others who were tier two and higher did not act, allowing Zhou Birong, Jade, Yuan Niping and the others to fight.

Of them, Xu Ruyun’s performance was the most outstanding, he managed to kill two of the Greater Goblin and looked to be the strongest of those at tier one.

Only one person managed to advance a tier, it was the honest looking middle aged man Huo Shan, with some luck and effort, he had managed to kill a Greater Goblin allowing him to advance to tier one, this Huo Shan had lived on a farm before moving into the city to work, he had the advantage of strength allowing him to be the second after Xu Ruyun to reach tier one amongst the newcomers.

After becoming a tier one dark iron warrior, his ability was very unique, it was unknown whether his ability had any relation to his previous job, when he used his ability, his right hand would open up and a sphere like coal briquette would form on his palm.

Once this charcoal briquette was tossed and came into contact with something, it would explode like a hand grenade, its might certainly could not be overlooked and also had a concussive effect. Such an ability was really outstanding amongst the tier one group, having multiple uses.