The Mysterious Man in White

What was even more troublesome was that these gelatinous creatures seemed able to draw power from their surroundings. After being sliced apart, they could quickly reform, and their numbers seemed to be endlessly pouring out from the passageway.

"This won't work! Their weakness is their energy core. Find the core, or use a massive energy blast to instantly vaporize them!" Liu Xiao shouted loudly while using a simple spiritual energy barrier to block the sporadically splattering gel and corrosive liquid.

"I'll do it!" Long Ao violently raised his fist as berserk power gathered in his hand. With a single strike, the gelatinous matter scattered and fell, scattering in pieces all over the place.

The gelatinous mass directly hit by Long Ao trembled violently. The dark red light inside it rapidly dimmed, and then it slumped down like a deflated balloon, turning into a puddle of foul-smelling slime that no longer writhed.

They had found a way!

Li Yuqing and An Changqing immediately followed suit, focusing their attacks on the cores of the gelatinous creatures, aiming to defeat them in a single move.

Chen Guan also tried thrusting his scythe into the core of a gelatinous mass. However, he found that his attacks seemed to have a special restraining effect on these monsters; once again, his gray energy was doing the heavy lifting.

His spirits lifted, and coordinating with An Changqing and the others' attacks, he specifically targeted those cores, greatly increasing his efficiency.

However, there were simply too many gelatinous creatures, and they kept surging out from deep within the passageway. The group was exhausted from dealing with them and suffering massive consumption of their energy.

Li Yuqing and Long Ao were both stained with corrosive slime, their combat suits emitting a scorched smell. Su Yuehe's flute playing also became intermittent, her mana nearing the bottom. Huo Qixing and Liu Xiao were even more pale; maintaining their spells and detection took a huge toll on them.

"We can't keep dragging this out. We must block the source or find whatever is controlling them."

An Changqing's face was solemn as his gaze turned back to the pitch-black entrance of the passageway. Down below was likely where the true crisis lay.

Right at that moment, deep within the passageway, the rapid dragging sound suddenly turned into much slower footsteps.

Thump... thump... thump...

It sounded like a giant taking strides, or like a heavy hammer striking against their hearts.

The shadows at the passageway entrance twisted for a moment, and a figure slowly walked up.

The first thing that caught their eyes was a pair of white leather boots, the soles stained with dark red smudges but the uppers exceptionally clean.

Then came crisp, seemingly spotless white trousers and the hem of a long white trench coat. The newcomer had a tall and slender figure, wearing a pure white smiling mask on his face, and even his hands were covered in white gloves.

His right hand casually dragged a terrifying-looking white bone blade that was almost as tall as he was. The edge of the blade still had wet, dark red viscous liquid on it; this was the source of the scraping sound.

His left hand loosely gripped a constantly writhing dark red gelatinous core, which was the very source of those gelatinous creatures.

He just stood there quietly at the entrance of the passageway, his gaze calmly sweeping over the seven people who were treating him like a deadly enemy. Finally, his eyes landed on Liu Xiao, or rather, on the tattered sketches in Liu Xiao's hands.

"Oh? So there are still people here picking up trash." His voice transmitted through the mask, the ending note trailing upward. It was careless, yet it sent a chill down their spines. "Unfortunately, the things here have long belonged to me."

As soon as he spoke, the gelatinous core loosely held in his left hand suddenly trembled. The dozens of gelatinous masses crawling around violently sprang up, like soldiers receiving an order.

They were no longer attacking randomly. Instead, they began to show simple coordination: some launched frontal assaults, some flanked around, and a few masses even merged together to form a more dangerous giant brute, blocking the group's path of retreat.

"Careful! He's a summoner, the one controlling these monsters!"

Huo Qixing cried out in alarm. On his detection disc, the reading representing the man in white was frighteningly high. Tier six was the upper limit of the disc, but it was absolutely not the upper limit of the man in white.

An expert of this caliber was definitely not someone they could handle.

Fortunately, the other party didn't seem to have the intention of killing them; right now, it looked more like he was toying with them.

"Watch your positioning, don't get separated!"

An Changqing shouted sternly, his golden sword light surging as he tried to stabilize their formation. Li Yuqing's cyan sword light faintly echoed An Changqing's golden light, forming a sharp barrier that temporarily blocked the fiercest frontal impact.

Long Ao roared continuously, his crimson aura erupting madly. Like a humanoid beast, he dashed left and right among the gelatinous swarm, trying to disrupt their formation. However, he was quickly entangled by more gelatinous creatures. The corrosive slime and tentacles made him roar again and again as new wounds continuously appeared on his body.

Liu Xiao's face was deathly pale. While using frost spells to delay the approach of the gelatinous creatures, he stared intently at the man in white, his eyes full of unwillingness.

The blueprints he was looking for were probably on the other party, or perhaps... they had already been destroyed altogether.

What he cared about was probably nothing more than trash in the eyes of such an expert.

Su Yuehe's flute playing became faint amidst the massive spiritual coercion and the roars of the monsters. She gritted her teeth and persisted, trying to snatch control of the gelatinous creatures from the man in white, but the effect was minimal. The other party's will and spiritual power were far above hers.

Chen Guan's pressure was equally immense. Several gelatinous masses specifically targeted him, trying to trap him and his coffin with slime and tentacles.

Wielding his scythe, he severed tentacle after tentacle, but the gelatinous creatures seemed endless. The black iron coffin could resist the corrosion, but it couldn't stop them from sticking the coffin to the ground. He tried to mobilize his gray energy again, but the depletion of his spiritual power meant he could only barely gather a trace, limiting its effect.

"Your strength is passable, and your coordination is considered tacit."

The man in white commented indifferently, his tone still devoid of joy or sorrow. "Unfortunately, you ran into me. These sweethearts are new toys I finally managed to train. It's just the right time to use you all to test their combat effectiveness."

He raised his left hand. The gelatinous core slowly rotated in his palm, emitting fluctuations that connected with all the surrounding gelatinous creatures.

As the command was issued, those gelatinous creatures immediately underwent an even more bizarre transformation. Several larger gelatinous masses suddenly merged together, forming a massive entity up to three meters tall, much like a slime monster. Dozens of thick, barbed tentacles extended from its surface and lashed viciously at the defense line constructed by An Changqing and Li Yuqing.

At the same time, more small gelatinous creatures began to merge with each other, turning into waves of corrosive tide that crashed toward the group from all directions.

The formation instantly showed signs of collapsing. An Changqing and Li Yuqing's sword lights were tightly entangled by the giant gelatinous monster's tentacles. The golden and cyan lights flickered violently as their energy consumption sharply increased.

Long Ao was struck by several waves, causing his crimson aura to dim. Multiple parts of his body were corroded, and he let out a muffled groan of pain.

Huo Qixing and Liu Xiao's defensive spells tottered under the impact of the waves. Su Yuehe was even jolted by an invisible spiritual shock, stumbling backward as her flute playing abruptly stopped.

Everything... seemed to be heading in the worst possible direction.