4: Chapter 4 Abnormal Creatures

The range of 'Malice Perception' is limited.

Nie Ning had tested it before; it was roughly fifty meters, depending on one's own strength.

Additionally, the intensity of the malice from the bearer would also increase the perception distance to some extent.

But it had already been nearly a kilometer; for the other party to emit such immense malice, Nie Ning was momentarily uncertain of their strength.

Or rather, how could the other party harbor such immense malice?

It didn't seem directed at the Hervis Family, but more like it was targeted at everyone in this area!

Just as Nie Ning was debating whether to leave, a blurry figure suddenly approached slowly from the distance—it was the bearer of that inexplicable malice!

Nie Ning didn't even dare to breathe loudly, but he abandoned the idea of leaving.

He wanted to see exactly who could possess such great malice.

Nie Ning hid in the shadows of a corner, quietly waiting for the other party to approach.

As the person came within thirty meters of Nie Ning, relying on his eyes as an Elementary Knight and the dim light from the restaurant, Nie Ning could barely make out some of their features.

For a moment, Nie Ning couldn't help but gasp.

The person's appearance overlapped with the Beggar who had died during the day; even their build was highly similar to that Beggar's.

'What the hell!'

Nie Ning cursed inwardly.

No wonder he could sense this malice during the day; it was normal for something that could move to emit malice.

However, Nie Ning was a bit puzzled; was this situation caused by another Transcendent, or were there really ghosts and spirits at work here?

After arriving at the entrance of the restaurant, the Beggar just stood there quietly.

Suddenly, the Beggar's head rotated 170 degrees, staring with dead-fish eyes at Nie Ning, who was hiding in the shadows of the corner.

Nie Ning felt the hairs on his body stand on end as a strong sense of crisis surged in his heart.

Seeing that things were going south, Nie Ning had just turned to leave when faint footsteps sounded from a few meters behind him.

'So fast!'

Just as this thought crossed Nie Ning's mind, driven by instinct, he drew his sword and stabbed behind him.

The knight sword was incredibly sharp, piercing directly through the Beggar's heart.

Seeing this, Nie Ning couldn't help but be stunned for a moment; he hadn't expected to succeed so easily.

One must know that even for a knight like him, it would be difficult to survive being pierced through the heart by such a strike.

But while Nie Ning was dazed, the Beggar, staring with bulging dead-fish eyes as if unaffected, swung his right arm and swatted Nie Ning away with a palm strike.

Nie Ning reacted quickly, flipping back onto his feet with a kip-up, and then performed Swift Swordsmanship to engage in a struggle.

Swift Swordsmanship was the hereditary swordsmanship of the Hervis Family, famous for its fast and fierce attacks; when used in conjunction with the specific Swift Fox Knight Cultivation Method, it could exert even greater power.

After a period of fighting, Nie Ning discovered that while the opponent possessed immense strength, their body was weak and no different from an ordinary person's.

One should know that if strength is high, the body must not be weak; this is almost an ironclad law among living beings. The Beggar's condition completely violated the basic principles of strength.

However, their movements were quite stiff, and their bodily actions gave a sense of incoordination.

Furthermore, no matter how severe the injuries, their movements remained unaffected, and they also possessed a near-miraculous Transcendent recovery ability.

Strange!

Extremely bizarre!

However, the Beggar's strength wasn't that great, and Nie Ning's speed was incredibly swift, giving the Beggar no chance for a head-on confrontation.

As Nie Ning found the right moment, the battle qi energy within his body converged into the longsword.

Concentrated Heavy Strike!

The knight's longsword slashed straight down, directly severing the Beggar's raised arms and splitting the entire person in two from the head down.

For a moment, intestines and internal organs spilled from the Beggar's body, and then the two halves of the corpse collapsed to the ground.

Nie Ning stood with his sword, not feeling happy about killing the Beggar and splitting him in two; instead, a solemn expression appeared on his face.

He saw the Beggar's flesh and blood begin to bulge and swell like blisters forming.

Sensing danger, Nie Ning quickly retreated.

But just as Nie Ning had backed away a few meters, the blisters began to burst one by one, and the exploded flesh and blood splattered in all directions.

Nie Ning raised his arm to shield his face, but a burning sensation came from his arm, accompanied by a wave of dizziness.

Seeing this, Nie Ning hurriedly tore off his sleeve and threw it on the ground.

But before he could carefully examine the injury on his arm, he saw that the Beggar's corpse across from him had changed, transforming into a strange flesh-and-blood monster resembling a spider.

It had a spherical flesh-and-blood body with the Beggar's human face on top and six slender, vessel-like spider legs.

"What the hell is this thing!"

Nie Ning had never seen such a thing before and turned to flee.

After all, there was no reward for killing it, and Nie Ning didn't want to continue tangling with this unknown monster.

Just as Nie Ning turned to leave, the Flesh Spider's tentacle, like a whip, suddenly lashed around Nie Ning's left leg and pulled him toward the Flesh Spider.

Nie Ning was caught off guard and pulled to the ground; he could only turn and slash his sword at the tentacle binding his left leg.

But the expected clean cut didn't happen; the toughness of the Flesh Spider leg far exceeded Nie Ning's expectations and was clearly on a different level than before. A hurried strike only managed to cut halfway through.

Just as Nie Ning wanted to continue, another tentacle bound his sword-wielding hand.

Furthermore, a searing sensation came from where the flesh-and-blood tentacle gripped him, making Nie Ning grimace in pain.

Facing this situation, Nie Ning knew he couldn't just sit and wait for death.

Looking at the Flesh Spider's spherical body, Nie Ning gritted his teeth, poured battle qi into his hands, grabbed the flesh-and-blood tentacle on his arm, and pulled it forcefully toward himself.

The Flesh Spider's body was tough, but it was as light as a balloon; Nie Ning pulled the Flesh Spider in front of him without much effort.

In that instant, Nie Ning switched the knight sword from his right hand to his left, used 'Concentrated Heavy Strike' to slash the flesh ball, and carved a gash into the human face atop the Flesh Spider.

The human face showed a painful, distorted expression, its open mouth unable to make any sound.

Nie Ning had already witnessed the toughness of the Flesh Spider, but that distorted face still made him extremely uncomfortable.

As the Flesh Spider's tentacles writhed, they lashed toward Nie Ning's face like whips.

Nie Ning couldn't help but feel a headache dealing with this unkillable monster.

'It seems I have no choice but to use that.'

As Nie Ning's eyes turned into amber Tiger Pupils and a pair of thick bull horns grew from his head, his strength increased greatly upon activating his Strange Beast Body.

Just as the name implies, the Strange Beast Body is actually a transformation ability derived from the creatures one has devoured.

Nie Ning ignored the incoming tentacles and threw a punch straight into the mouth of the human face on the Flesh Spider.

The Flesh Spider's body began to tremble violently; Nie Ning took the opportunity to slam it onto the ground and repeatedly punched the human face on top.

The flesh-and-blood tentacles kept slapping Nie Ning, but he was now thick-skinned and tough.

The bloody gashes constantly appearing on his body didn't affect Nie Ning; instead, they stirred up his ferocity, making his strikes even more ruthless and fierce.

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