An invasion from the Abyss? I, a demonic cultivator, laughed.

Chapter 156 Corrupted Awakener

"A corrupted awakener?"

The panel that appeared when Chu Xiu scanned it with his Ghostly Eyes made him slightly taken aback.

Can even the awakened be corrupted?

Moreover, he is an extremely powerful general-level awakened individual!
Is it because of that so-called "pollution"? Or some other force?
Chu Xiu's face turned solemn as he carefully examined the figure before him.

His physique was not much different from that of an ordinary human, but his skin was as dark as iron covered in patina and had no hair. Instead, it was covered with thin, tough mycelia similar to those of subterranean humans. He wore a dark green suit of armor and had a long, narrow samurai sword at his waist.

His pupils were also a bewitching dark green. Compared to those beast-like underground inhabitants, he was clearly more intelligent and cunning, and closer to humans, but his madness and bloodlust remained unchanged.

Just as Chu Xiu was sizing up the other party, a surprised smile suddenly appeared on the lips of the corrupted awakener.

"I've finally waited for you guys!"

With that expectant shout, the Awakener's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot, and in less than 0.1 seconds, he appeared next to Chu Xiu!
The next moment, a sharp blade of light flashed in the cave. Chu Xiu was terrified and only had time to shrink back before a knife struck his chest!

The sharp blade shattered the strongest part of the skeletal armor, the breastplate, in an instant, leaving a long, thin wound on Chu Xiu's chest!

Even more alarming, the flesh near the wound began to rot at a visible rate. Chu Xiu could feel an extremely strong toxin seeping into his blood and traveling towards his heart!
"What a quick knife!"

Chu Xiu's expression darkened, and the powerful source within his golden embryo surged forth instantly, dispelling the toxins and beginning to heal the wounds on his chest.

He glanced into the collapsed passage, where rumbling sounds continued to echo, indicating that a large number of corrupted humans were still heading this way!

Unwilling to get entangled with this corrupt awakened one, Chu Xiu grabbed Rasputin beside him, pushed off with both feet, and his body rapidly retreated.

But the corrupted awakener merely grinned: "Trying to run?"

The next instant, his body disappeared from the spot again in a strange way. Chu Xiu could only sense a shadow approaching him very quickly. In the blink of an eye, the Awakened One had already caught up with him!

"clang!!!"

This time, Chu Xiu, who was on guard, summoned the Berserk Demon Hand in time to protect himself. The blade in the hand of the Corruption Awakener cut deeply into the Demon Hand. The blood in the Demon Hand, which was originally flowing like magma, immediately dimmed. The dark green spots representing corruption extended from the slashed part to the surrounding area, and soon became as big as a washbasin!

This made Chu Xiu's expression turn extremely ugly.

But that wasn't all. The Awakened One raised his hand and a metal sphere exploded in front of Chu Xiu. A large amount of acid splashed onto the Berserk Demon's hand. He could feel the Demon's hand's defense rapidly decreasing under the corrosive effect of the acid!
At the same time, the mycelium on the awakened one suddenly swelled up and intertwined to form more than a dozen tentacles, which frantically pounded towards Chu Xiu!

With a cruel smile on his face, and with the help of the acid, each attack of these tentacles shattered a piece of the Heavenly Demon Hand's lava armor. In the blink of an eye, the berserk Heavenly Demon Hand that was blocking Chu Xiu's way was smashed to pieces!
This scene made Chu Xiu's expression even more solemn!

This is what makes Awakened Ones so troublesome; the combination of numerous exclusive skills and items makes them far stronger than monsters of the same level!
Especially for awakened individuals like the one before us who have already developed their own combat system, the combination of their various skills can achieve a synergistic effect greater than the sum of its parts!

His basic attributes might be similar to those of a two-winged fallen blood angel, but his strength is more than one level higher! His bizarre movement combined with his extremely powerful single-target attack skills even gave Chu Xiu a headache!
And
Is this the power of corruption?

From their exchange just now, Chu Xiu had already discerned that the awakened one before him was likely just a common combat class: [Warrior (B)].

The Samurai class is known for its agile movements and powerful single-target attacks. Its signature skills are [Draw Sword Slash (Superior)] and [Shadowless Step (Advanced)]. These two skills can be unlocked at the Mortal rank, but they are initially only at the [Basic] level. They will continue to upgrade as the rank increases until the ultimate skill is unlocked at the King rank.

However, the awakened one before us has undergone varying degrees of mutation in both of these skills!

Both the sword draw slash and the shadowless step are accompanied by a strange mental interference, making it more difficult to track his attack or movement trajectory. Moreover, after hitting him, there will be a corrupting attack that even Chu Xiu's skin cannot withstand!

It should be noted that Chu Xiu had already cultivated the Golden Muscle and Nether Bone to the fourth level, but there was still a lot of flesh and blood rotting. Ordinary awakened people, even if they reached the general level, would probably have large chunks of flesh corroded away if they didn't have any counter-skills!
"At the same time, the basic attributes have also been greatly improved, and the tentacles made of mycelium can both attack and assist in movement."

"Furthermore, the equipment I was wearing had also undergone [corruption mutation]. The strange toxins that seeped into my blood earlier should be the new effect that the long sword had after being [corrupted]."

"It's really troublesome."

Chu Xiu clicked his tongue and continued fleeing back the way he came.

However, he was only a fierce-rank awakened one after all. Although his basic attributes could catch up with those of a high-rank general, he lacked movement skills and could not move freely in the underground Vampire Earl's Wings. He simply could not shake off the corrupted warrior who had the [Shadowless Step] skill!

His opponent would occasionally catch up and stab him, and although each injury was quickly healed by his Golden Embryo Origin's restorative abilities, it still made Chu Xiu extremely unhappy, and the murderous aura between his brows grew stronger.

As the awakened one pursued, he let out a slightly manic laugh.

"You can't escape. I've waited for you for so long, I won't let you get away."

"Are all the awakened beings in your world so spineless? Don't they even have the courage to fight?"

This guy seemed to have retained his full consciousness and clearly realized that Chu Xiu was an Awakened One. Among the abyssal creatures that Chu Xiu had seen, only the Corpse King was like him, which made him look thoughtful.

As he pondered, the Corrupted Awakener approached again with those eerie steps.

At this moment, Chu Xiu estimated that he had already traveled at least ten miles away from the deep pit, so he stopped running away. Instead, he suddenly stopped, his eyes flashing with killing intent, and a fierce black aura suddenly rose from his body!
"You talk a lot."

With a cold snort, Chu Xiu stretched out his hand and grabbed directly at the incoming blade!
This scene startled the corrupted warrior for a moment, then he was overjoyed!

His longsword was a [Treasured] grade general-level equipment, yet Chu Xiu was so arrogant as to reach out and grab it. Even if Chu Xiu had some defensive skills, the corrupted warrior was confident that he could cut off his entire hand with one stroke!

Without much thought, he immediately activated the [Charge Slash] skill!
However, the moment the blade struck his palm, the corrupted warrior sensed something was wrong.

Perhaps because of the eerie black aura, the resistance in his hand was significantly greater than before, making him feel as if he were chopping off a human hand rather than a piece of solid metal!

Suddenly, with a snap, the long sword came to a sudden stop, unable to fall any further. The corrupted warrior looked up and was surprised to find that the sharp blade was being forcibly stuck in Chu Xiu's palm by his hand bone!

This stunned the corrupted warrior, who looked on incredulously.

Is the bones of this awakened one harder than his sword?

Before he could recover from the shock, two berserk demon hands suddenly reached out and grabbed his arms!

The corrupted warrior tried to break free, but was horrified to discover that, after being imbued with that eerie black aura, the strength of these two strange arms suddenly increased by nearly double, and their defensive capabilities were further enhanced!
His tentacles kept striking out, but this time they couldn't destroy the solid lava armor in the slightest!

Chu Xiu fled simply to get away from the center of the pit, to avoid being surrounded by underground humans or encountering an even more powerful being; it was not because he was afraid of this guy.

Although the corrupted awakener before him was strong, he was no match for Chu Xiu.

Under the horrified gaze of the corrupted warrior, Chu Xiu unhesitatingly activated the Heavenly Demon Hand, pulling it outward with force!
"what!!!"

With a piercing scream, the corrupted warrior's two arms were ripped off!
Dark green blood spurted out, making a sizzling sound as it hit the rocks. The severed limbs lay on the ground, still writhing back and forth. Looking at the severed arm, it was clear that what was wrapped around the bones was not muscle, but pale green mycelium that was twisted together.

"Is this what corruption is?"

This bizarre sight made Chu Xiu's scalp tingle. Looking at the screaming corrupted warrior in front of him, he did not hesitate to swing the Heavenly Demon Hand again and smash his legs as well!
He continued punching until he had crushed all the tentacles protruding from the corrupted warrior's severed limbs, and then he stopped.
The corrupted warrior lay on the ground, barely alive, completely incapacitated.

"Tell me, how many of you are there? What are your ranks? And what's at the bottom of that pit?"

"What did you mean when you said 'We've finally been here'? Did you know we were coming?"

Chu Xiu held his right hand and asked calmly.

The reason he dealt with the corrupted warrior by catching him with his bare hands was to capture him in one fell swoop and extract more information from him.

Compared to those abyssal creatures, it seems to possess a considerable level of cognitive ability, and may be able to communicate to obtain useful information.

In a normal battle, even if Chu Xiu wins, his opponent can still escape using their agile movements.

In fact, even if Chu Xiu had cultivated the Golden Muscle Nether Bone to the fourth level, possessing a bone defense of +328, taking that blow head-on would still be difficult.

At this moment, there was an extremely deep crack on his thumb bone, almost cut in two. Numerous tiny bone fragments pierced his flesh like steel needles, and even the Golden Embryo Origin could not completely repair it in a short time.

Furthermore, the poison and decay turned his entire palm a bluish-purple color, and his skin and flesh were rapidly rotting. And this was only after he used the "Unjust Death Substitute," sacrificing hundreds of Yin Ghosts to absorb half of the damage; otherwise, his entire palm would probably have been severed off!

After all, this was a full-force attack from a general-level awakened being using their skills, and its power should not be underestimated.

If you can't get anything useful out of them, then all this suffering will have been for nothing.

However, in response to Chu Xiu's questioning, the fallen corrupted warrior let out a mocking laugh: "You, are you trying to interrogate me? Hahahaha, I'm already like this, and you still want to interrogate me?"

"So, you're still just a kid who knows nothing about the abyss."

"Hahahaha, cough cough!! Cough cough cough!!!"

He laughed so hard that he choked on the blood gushing from his throat and coughed violently again.

This made Chu Xiu frown slightly.

However, he remained silent, simply waiting for the corrupted warrior's reply.

Under Chu Xiu's calm gaze, the corrupted warrior seemed to gradually realize his predicament, or perhaps his impending death, and the bloodlust and madness in his eyes lessened considerably.

He spat out a mouthful of dark green blood, and the mockery on his face turned into a strange expression.

Chu Xiu found it hard to describe what kind of expression it was; it seemed to be a mixture of bitterness and resentment, but even more so, a deep despair.

He stared at Chu Xiu for a while, then suddenly said, "So you really are still a child."

Chu Xiu was slightly taken aback, unsure of the meaning of those words. Just as he was about to ask further, the corrupted warrior suddenly widened his eyes and roared, "Run! The colonel is coming! You'd better—"

Before he could finish speaking, his voice suddenly stopped, and the next instant his body exploded without warning, with a large amount of dark green blood mixed with fungal hyphae splattering in all directions!

Chu Xiu reacted quickly and dodged the attack. The nearby rocks were splattered with blood, and white smoke immediately rose from them. Even the bones of the corrupted warrior himself seemed to have lost the protection of some kind of power and melted in the dark green blood, leaving only a pool of blood in the spot.

This scene made Chu Xiu's expression turn ugly.

The words of the corrupted awakener filled him with a deep sense of unease.

"What's wrong with this guy? He seems to want to tell me some information, but there's some force preventing him from speaking further."

"In other words, these corrupted awakened individuals, who appear to have normal thinking, have actually lost their free will?"

"And he told me to run fast because the colonel was coming. What is that?"

Countless thoughts flooded Chu Xiu's mind, making it difficult for him to make a judgment for a moment.

Just as Chu Xiu was pondering, the completely dead Corrupted Awakener, like the ordinary Awakener, had a large number of items suddenly appear out of thin air, and at the same time, a notification sound rang in Chu Xiu's ears.

[Professional Experience +269]

[Item Obtained: 3418 Causality Points]

[Equipment Obtained: Hundred-Forged Katana (Corrupted)]

[Acquired Equipment: Shogun Armor (Corrupted)]

[Item Obtained:]

[Level Up!]

[Current Level: Rank 3 (Fierce)]

“Upgraded.”

Waves of heat surged into Chu Xiu's body, coursing through his limbs and bones, strengthening his body. The injury to his left hand healed rapidly, and his internal organs throbbed like a high-powered engine, surging with powerful vitality.

The sense of security brought about by the increase in strength slightly dispelled Chu Xiu's unease.

He stopped pondering the strange words the Corrupted Awakener uttered before his death, and instead gathered up all the fallen items before continuing to move rapidly outwards.

No matter what, it's always best to stay away from that eerie pit.

After running several more miles, he began to carefully assess the current situation.

"Even a random Awakened One chasing me is this troublesome, and I saw at least four or five similar guys while I was retreating. I don't know how many more are hiding in that deep pit!"

"As for the bottom of that deep pit, who knows what kind of terrifying beings live there."

"And the colonel mentioned by the corrupt awakener is also quite disturbing."

"Overall, this place is extremely dangerous, and continuing the operation is very risky!"

but.
Chu Xiu felt somewhat unwilling to give up and leave just like that.

As your level and rank increase, leveling up will become increasingly difficult.

For example, at level 1 of the Mortal Rank, you can level up by killing two or three monsters of the same level. At level 8 of the Mortal Rank, you need to kill at least a dozen monsters. And at level 8 of the Ferocious Rank, you may not even get enough experience by killing hundreds of monsters of the same level!

But it's not a game where there are endless monster spawners. In the real world, where are you going to find so many high-level monsters to kill?

Therefore, most awakened individuals actually improve their strength through rigorous training day after day.

After all, if you spend decades venturing into the abyss, no matter how careful you are, the countless tiny risks will accumulate over time and become a very high number.

Many awakened individuals who weren't particularly talented, after luckily passing the awakening trial, never entered the abyss again for the rest of their lives, and simply trained on Blue Star to raise their level from 1 to 9.

The deep pit in front of us is teeming with abyssal creatures, making it an excellent leveling spot, not to mention the generous loot drops from killing these Corrupted Awakeners.

Chu Xiu looked at the spoils of war. In addition to the causal points, there were several pieces of general-level equipment and items, all of which were of [Treasured] and [Excellent] quality, and each of them had the [Corruption] trait.

This trait grants these equipment and items additional effects, but at the cost of being partially "contaminated" when used.

It's hard to say whether this trait is good or bad, but Chu Xiu felt it shouldn't be less valuable than similar traits. After all, some professions are naturally very resistant to [contamination], so for them it's like having an extra powerful effect.

When you calculate it this way, it's another considerable sum of money.

More importantly, the vast underground human population here is simply the perfect place for him to cultivate his soul banner.

After carefully weighing the risks and benefits, Chu Xiu decided to stay and observe the situation first.

"With so many trump cards at my disposal, I'm just observing from afar; surviving shouldn't be a problem."

"It would be best to find a way to get Xue Li and his group to help me assess the risks."

That young master has a professional squad of Awakened Ones by his side, and a powerful Awakened One of Rank 9 personally protecting him. Their strength should not be underestimated; they are more than enough to scout ahead.

With his mind made up, Chu Xiu quickened his pace. A minute later, he rushed out of the passage that was more than ten miles long. Then, he immediately patted his spirit flesh storage pouch and summoned a four-winged strange bird, which flew to a height of several thousand meters.

At this altitude, combined with Chu Xiu's extraordinary perception, he could see all the movements within a radius of dozens of miles. If he found anything amiss, he could immediately ride the four-winged monster bird to escape at 1.5 times the speed of sound. Only then did Chu Xiu feel slightly relieved.

Then, he waved the Soul-Slaying Banner in his hand, and the souls within it immediately began to be refined!
In that battle just now, his Soul-Slaying Banner absorbed a large number of souls, including the soul of a General-level Awakener!

In this situation where danger could strike at any moment, Chu Xiu was eager to refine these living souls to strengthen his ghost army!
(End of this chapter)