NOVEL NEXT Book 6: Chapter 207
Ouyang Feng took in deep breaths through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, regulating his breathing as his teacher had taught him. Mana flowed freely into his body, rejuvenating his cells and restoring his mangled flesh to pristine condition. The subordinates of the lords were constantly casting curses on the severed hand, offering up their blood and hair as mediums to increase the effectiveness of their curses. The subordinates who couldn’t cast curses, they were pasting talismans to Ouyang Feng’s back, increasing his various stats temporarily. When the ink on the rectangular papers faded, a new talisman would be stuck to Ouyang Feng’s skin.
Despite the continual flow of buffs and healing spells, Ouyang Feng’s expression continued to darken. He was used to enduring pain as a part of his training. After a good workout, his whole body would be sore for the next three days, and he’d relish in the feeling. This sort of pain, the one that came from his arms exploding every time he punched the Oebu Sin, well, he didn’t like it. At first, he thought he could get used to it, but the healing spells completely rejuvenated his nerve endings, allowing him to experience each collision as if it were the first.
“He doesn’t look so good,” Lindyss said to Kim Hajun. The well-dressed man’s expression didn’t look any better than the Martial Lord’s. “Let’s say you were given enough time to grow.” The cursed elf pointed at the slender, severed hand. “You’d be confident in defeating the Oebu Sin? How?”
“In the future, a group summons a demon,” Kim Hajun said, “but I’m not sure if that’ll come to pass anymore. Anyway, the demon’s spine can be constructed into a whip with anti-regeneration properties. Binding someone or hitting them with the whip will prevent their injuries from recovering. I was going to kill the demon, take its spine, and create a set of sealing nails to trap the Oebu Sin.”
“Trap?” Lindyss asked, raising an eyebrow.
Kim Hajun scratched his head. Whenever he was around Lindyss, he’d always drop his guard and reveal too much information. She must’ve had some sort of ability that reduced his vigilance. Sure, she was a beautiful woman, but that wasn’t enough to sway Kim Hajun’s heart. What beautiful woman hadn’t he interacted with in his prophetic dream? “It’s hard to kill,” Kim Hajun said, putting on his best poker face.
“I see,” Lindyss said, nodding her head. “I thought you were only trapping it because it’d be more useful alive. Perhaps its blood and flesh can be continuously harvested and used in potions since it seems to regenerate with no issue.”
Kim Hajun nodded. Although the blood and flesh of the Oebu Sin were valuable, the most important portion of the severed hand was the technique it was using. In his prophetic dream, while Ouyang Feng fought the severed hand, he had been enlightened in the midst of combat. Of course, before the Martial Lord could enjoy his gains, the final Oebu Sin, the massive cephalopod, showed up and finished off the already-weakened tower. Whatever technique the severed hand had, it must’ve been good for Ouyang Feng to exclaim as loudly as he had. That’s why, Kim Hajun was doing his best to observe the fight, but he wasn’t feeling any enlightenment at all. How could anyone be enlightened by such a barbaric brawl? Knuckles punching knuckles. Skin breaking skin. The only technique involved was punching and the occasional dark-red energy the severed hand gave off.
“What is that?” Lindyss asked, gesturing towards the severed hand which was, at the moment, wreathed in a dark-red aura. “It’s not like any mana I’ve ever seen.”
Kim Hajun nodded. “I’m not sure,” he said. “The Oebu Sin are existences that live outside the tower’s influence. We have mana here, but the severed hand works with a different type of energy system.”
“I see,” Lindyss said, nodding her head once more. “Do the cephalopod and the insects have a similar energy system?”
Kim Hajun shook his head. “The insects are fearless, tough, and innumerable,” he said. “However, there’s nothing special about them.” A frown appeared on Kim Hajun’s face. “As for the cephalopod, I think it uses mana, but I’m really not sure. The details I have on it are very vague.” After all, when the cephalopod appeared, Keulonoseu had used his time-turning magic, sending Kim Hajun back as someone with knowledge of the future.
Lindyss raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a plan to defeat this giant squid?”
“It’s more like an octopus than a squid,” Kim Hajun said. “Its head is rounder than it is elongated.” A sigh escaped from the well-dressed man’s mouth. “As for defeating it, I’m not sure. My plan was to become the strongest individual within the tower and face off against the cephalopod by myself.” He scratched his head. “At this rate, I’m not sure if it’ll even show up; I don’t know why it came. If it was simply following the other Oebu Sin here, then we’re in for an even tougher fight than we are now. If it came for a specific reason, we might be lucky, and it’ll never show up at all.”
Lindyss nodded. “Regardless, the tower’s already in better shape than in your dream,” she said. “The dragons and phoenixes are dealing with the insect cloud, and once they’re done, they’ll deal with this hand for you. Aren’t you glad you don’t have to sell your soul?”
Kim Hajun kept his expression neutral as he turned his head away from the beautiful elf, focusing his attention on the Martial Lord fighting for dear life. He suppressed the sigh that wanted to come out. If he had more time, he could’ve obtained better eyes from the tower to see exactly what was happening. The severed hand was simply balled up into a fist; without a forearm, it was impossible for Kim Hajun to tell how its body would move in relation to the hand. It was a good thing he was recording the fight; eventually, when he was stronger, he’d review it and comprehend something.