Monsters Die When Killed-Chapter 51 - 27: A Scam Ad from the Abyss

Of course, looking cool was just a fleeting thrill. The most important thing was the loot.

Su Zhou might not have been a top-tier genius—he still had a full head of hair, for one thing—but he was sharp enough. He knew full well that the commotion from his fight with the Wood Centipede, an Evil Demon, was huge and would definitely attract suspicion. If any other Transcendents were around and could use Spiritual Vision, they would soon pinpoint his location.

’First, I’ll see what loot there is, get it done quickly, and then scram... Besides, I’m starving to death.’

Although the Wood Centipede was dead, it was, after all, an insect-wood dual-attribute Evil Demon. Even with its Spiritual Energy extinguished, the corpse itself might still contain a ’Seed’ that could maintain a trace of life.

Su Zhou guessed that if the Wood Centipede’s corpse came into contact with soil rich in Black Moss, a new Wood Centipede would likely spawn from its remains—a trait characteristic of plants.

After all, his own regeneration ability and Life Force were already so strong. The Evil Demon’s might be a little weaker, but... wait a second.

As if a thought had struck him, the young man blinked, his voice sounding a little distant. "Hey... Yara."

"What is it?" The Snake Spirit had been humming some nonsensical lyrics in a rap-like cadence—"I’m a snake~ but I’m not a snake~"—and sounded a bit confused when it heard Su Zhou’s voice. "What’s the matter?"

"I was just thinking—since Evil Demons are the Clan of Otherworldly Evil Gods, and you’re an Otherworldly Evil God, does that make me part of your Clan?"

Su Zhou had already crouched down, preparing to start with the wound on the Wood Centipede’s head to search for the ’Evil Demon Crystal’ inside. His logic was sound, but his tone was strange. "So, by that logic, does that mean I’m also some kind of ’Evil Demon’?"

’I’m getting this feeling that the enemy and I are from the same source...’

"What do you mean, from the same source?"

Yara was a bit baffled at first, clearly not following Su Zhou’s leap in logic. But it quickly flew into a rage, its body swelling. "I’m a Celestial God! If you don’t know what you’re talking about, then shut your mouth! Don’t you dare lump me in with those worthless, leftover bastards!"

"Besides, you’re my Contractor! How can mere Clan members even compare to you!"

Yara was only angry for a moment, because Su Zhou wasn’t essentially wrong. Coiled atop the young man’s head, it offered a brief explanation. "In truth, the term ’Evil Demon’ is just a derogatory name one Celestial God’s forces use for another’s. Take this Wood Centipede in front of you. In its own Celestial God’s world, it might even be considered an auspicious beast."

"Putting aside all else, the Black Moss’s ability to purify wastewater has no side effects. Whether it’s disgusting or not, that alone would be enough for this Wood Centipede to obtain the ’God of Water-Purifying’ Spirit Rank in a Low Magic World."

At this, Yara’s tone filled with a trace of pride. "As for you, you are, at the very least, my Divine Chosen Champion, the Eternal Chosen One! How could you be lumped together with ordinary Evil Demons of the Clan!"

"I’m really that incredible?" Su Zhou couldn’t help but be surprised. But then he looked at the nearly ten-meter-long giant insect before him, thought about how he was the one who had taken it down, and nodded. "I guess it’s not that surprising. You certainly made the right choice in picking me."

The Wood Centipede’s body was surprisingly tough. Su Zhou poked at it for a while with the remains of his spear shaft and even tried cutting it with his pocketknife, but to no avail. This started to annoy him. Without a second thought, he dropped his tools and, just as he had snapped the centipede’s legs, Su Zhou began tearing at its carapace with his bare hands!

’Isn’t it perfectly normal for a body honed by long training to overcome steel?’

’Though it wasn’t exactly steel.’

Even an Evil Demon’s carapace was, in the end, just a carapace. With the Wood Centipede unable to struggle, a burst of Su Zhou’s strength was enough to tear it apart piece by piece. Amidst a spray of white fluid, the Evil Demon’s cranium was ripped open. 𝗳𝗿𝐞𝕖𝘄𝗲𝕓𝗻𝚘𝚟𝕖𝐥.𝚌𝕠𝕞

A large amount of pulpy fluid burst from the centipede’s body where the carapace was torn away, which Su Zhou dodged.

The Wood Centipede’s body fluid was corrosive, likely some kind of acid. It didn’t have a foul stench; instead, it carried a peculiar, sweet fragrance of grass and wood.

"This should count as Evil Demon blood, a Spiritual Liquid, right?"

After filling several of the portable, compressible plastic bags Shao Qiming had prepared with the Wood Liquid, Su Zhou, who was still tearing apart the creature’s body with his bare hands in search of the Evil Demon Crystal, clearly felt a slight numbness and itching on his skin. For it to feel that way even with his resistance, an ordinary person’s flesh, let alone their bones, would have probably already been reduced to mush.

"Yes, this is Spiritual Blood." Yara directed Su Zhou to tear open another piece of the Wood Centipede’s carapace, telling him to pierce a sac inside with his long spear and collect the fluid. "The ordinary Spiritual Blood is good enough, but what’s in this sac is the purest Wood Spirit Liquid from the Wood Centipede’s body. Even drinking it directly can enhance your Life Force and Regeneration Power."

"Judging by the amount, it probably used up half during your fight, but what’s left is still quite good."

At this point, the Snake Spirit began to lecture earnestly. "Remember this, Su Zhou. Next time you encounter an Evil Demon, avoid a prolonged fight as much as possible. Only by taking it out with your greatest power right from the start can you reap the greatest rewards!"

"I will."

Su Zhou had no reason to argue with that kind of advice. In fact, it suited him perfectly! After all, as a kid watching Ultraman, he was the type to constantly ask, "Why doesn’t Ultraman just use his finisher beam to blow up the monster right from the start?"

Su Zhou continued his search for the Evil Demon Crystal. It wasn’t much trouble; he found a dark, cyan, shuttle-shaped crystal inside a ganglion in the front half of the centipede’s body.

The crystal was about half the size of an adult man’s palm. A deep darkness dwelled within it, its black core like a miniature entrance to the Abyss, emanating a dark cyan Spiritual Qi, while its cyan outer layer released a mist-like glow.

Holding this Gemstone, Su Zhou felt a jolt of energy. He felt every part of his body, his very Soul and flesh, craving the highly concentrated Spiritual Qi contained within the crystal. He had felt a similar sensation from the Jade Ball that the Continuous Prayer Meeting’s High Priest and the man from Zhu Country’s eyeball had turned into, but it was far weaker than this.

"This feeling..."

The young man had a premonition that if he were to swallow this crystal whole, he could instantly succeed in his Spirit Awakening and become an ’Awakener.’ A voice from within the crystal also seemed to be tempting him, luring him to do just that. He would obtain supreme power and...

"You’re trying to tempt me with just this? What a joke."

But Su Zhou just shook his head, not paying it much mind, and tossed it directly into a pouch on his belt. Faced with what was essentially a scam pop-up ad from the Abyss, he was utterly dismissive. Not only did he metaphorically hang up before it was finished, but he was also already thinking about what to eat for a midnight snack.

The battle had been so draining that Su Zhou was genuinely going crazy with hunger. If it had tried to tempt him with delicious food, that would have been one thing, but a temptation of power was simply laughable. Setting aside his contract with the Snake Spirit, Su Zhou’s greed had never been particularly strong—at least, not as strong as his appetite.

After finding the Evil Demon Crystal, this was pretty much all the loot that could be easily taken from the Wood Centipede’s body.

Four bags of Essence Evil Demon Blood, which could be used to water the Wisdom Tree.

One bag of Pure Wood Spirit Liquid, which could also be used for watering, or be concocted into a Magic Potion to enhance his constitution and Regeneration Power.

One Evil Demon Crystal, containing an enormous amount of Pure Spiritual Energy and a trace of an unknown Celestial God’s ’aura’.

"Don’t forget its mandibles and tail stinger," Yara reminded Su Zhou. "The other parts are basically useless. For example, this Wood Centipede’s carapace is a decent Wood Material, but not only is it heavy, it’s also poisonous, and you don’t have any way to process it."

"The mandibles and tail stinger, on the other hand, are smaller and can be refined and processed with a Secret Technique. Aren’t you missing a spearhead? These are the best raw materials for it. And unlike a carapace used for armor, it’s a good thing for a weapon to be poisonous."

So, the Wood Centipede’s mandibles and tail stinger were also snapped off by Su Zhou and hung in a bag on his waist. The items hanging from Su Zhou’s waist now resembled a tasset. It was all thanks to the Combat Belt from Shao Qiming; otherwise, he really wouldn’t have been able to carry it all.

"Time to go, right?"

Su Zhou muttered to himself, already listening for any movement in the surroundings and searching for an unoccupied exit.

More than five minutes had passed since Su Zhou killed the Wood Centipede. If the fight had been discovered from the very beginning, then Transcendents from the Zhengguo Government should be on their way by now.

It wasn’t that he was unwilling to make contact with the Zhengguo Government—to be honest, this was a perfect opportunity to join the Zhengguo system. No one would turn down a Transcendent with a clean background who could slay an Evil Demon before the Spiritual Energy Revival.

The problem was, after confirming that he was indeed a Devotee of Yara, and even some kind of ’Divine Chosen One,’ Su Zhou was now a little worried he might be seen as ’a monster possessed by a Demon Fiend.’ Besides, if he joined the government, Yara would be difficult to explain.

’I’ll wait until I’m sure about the government’s attitude...’ the seventeen-year-old thought. ’...Even though I guess they’d probably treat me well, I really don’t like the feeling of having others plan out my life. At the very least, I’ll wait until my sophomore syndrome is cured, until the world reaches a point where a talking snake isn’t considered strange.’

’I’ll wait until I’m strong enough, strong enough to have a choice and maintain my independence in the face of the government. I’ll wait until then.’

’But if I get discovered early, I’ll just join, whatever. Nothing to fuss about. I might even give them a good scare.’

"No need to rush. We’ll take the water route later—the same entrance the centipede used to get in and out of the river and sewers. We still have time."

In contrast to Su Zhou, who was pondering how to reveal his identity in the most surprising way possible, the Snake Spirit was completely unhurried. "Let’s go. We’ll check out this Wood Centipede’s lair. There should be other valuable things there."