When system cheat becomes rampant!

The Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage had occupied a human body; they existed in the manner of parasites, and a body could still recover if only a part of it was chopped off.

"Powerful... difficult... can't fight..." Explore new worlds at empire

The eyeless man muttered to himself, speaking a slew of incoherent words.

This Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage also possessed the strength of Meridian Opening phase, whether it be its speed, the force of its attacks, or the aura it unleashed were all nearly identical to the weeping ghost from the City of the Old Days.

But Xiang Beifei was not the same greenhorn he had been back in the City of the Old Days. Back then, even in the late stages of Qi-Controlling, he managed to eliminate that Meridian Opening phase crying child with his powerful techniques, let alone now.

Hum!

Flames rolled in and surged towards the eyeless man, who didn't hesitate any longer and darted into the night, attempting to leave the place. Xiang Beifei had no intention of just letting him go.

Whiz!

Xiang Beifei, now capable of Sword Flight, sent his Spiritual Power pulsing beneath his feet, and the Ronin Sword cut swiftly through the air, instantly intercepting the path of the eyeless man.

"I didn't say you could leave."

He threw a punch!

The giant shadow of his fist landed on the body of the eyeless man, as the breath soil on his body swiftly dispersed into the air, turning into a cloud of dust that rapidly settled on the eyeless man, burrowing into his flesh.

Hum!

Spiritual power burst forth violently from the breath soil!

Crash!

The body of the eyeless man suddenly erupted in explosive flames, burning his tendrils wildly.

His expression finally changed, as he desperately struggled to extinguish the flames, yet Xiang Beifei's fire was not that easily quelled.

"Ah..."

The eyeless man roared in horror, a sound so vivid, it was as if it conveyed real pain, yet it was unclear whether the scream came from him or from the person he had parasitized in their last moments.

He desperately tried to flee but was unsuccessful.

Xiang Beifei controlled his fire; he planned to drive the tendril creature out of the pioneer's body, leaving the pioneer's corpse behind, which would make it easier to report to the alliance.

However, this Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage suddenly made a bewildering move. It let out a wild roar, as tendrils burst out from every pore of the pioneer's body!

Bang!

The pioneer's body was stretched to bursting by the tendrils, turning into a mist of blood!

Then, all the tendrils gradually got consumed by the fire, leaving behind piles of black ash, along with the pioneer's body.

"I was careless."

Xiang Beifei had wanted to preserve the pioneer's body, but he was not successful. Even though the tendril creature had been exterminated, it still left nothing behind that could prove its existence.

"Are you okay?" Xi Keyao asked anxiously from below.

"I'm alright." Xiang Beifei descended and shook his head.

"What's wrong? Something feels off?" Li Zimu asked.

"That thing, it didn't have a Beast Pill."

Xiang Beifei found it very strange; the last time he killed an infant in the City of the Old Days, that infant was also burned to death by him, but no Beast Pill was left behind. And now this eyeless man, also dealt with by Xiang Beifei, yet still no Beast Pill!

Logically, the Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage was a formidable Meridian Opening desolate beast and should have left behind a Beast Pill after death, but twice in a row, he had not seen any Beast Pill. After being killed, the Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage seemed to completely vanish, without even a proper corpse left behind.

If one had to speak of a corpse, it would only be the humans whose bodies they had taken over.

Last time, in the building of the City of the Old Days, after killing the tendril creature, several corpses of pioneers were left behind, but this time, realizing it couldn't escape, the tendril creature chose to self-destruct, destroying even the body it had resided in.

And it did so deliberately!

It was as if they had to destroy the body!

"That thing is very strange; what kind of desolate beast is it?" Long Guocheng queried.

"Ghost Mustache of Remnant Visage, it's tentatively called that in the database," Xiang Beifei replied.

"I've never heard of such a desolate beast," Ma Ziqian remarked.

Xiang Beifei explained, "Because they do not come from this region but from much deeper areas. There's very little recorded about them in the archives, but they have one characteristic, which is that they specifically parasitize dead humans, then act in the guise of their host's last visage."

Xi Keyao exclaimed in surprise, "Then you mean, that eyeless man we just saw was originally also a pioneer?"

Xiang Beifei fell silent for a moment and then nodded slightly, "Yes."

Xi Keyao looked somewhat distressed, having thought that this was just some shapeshifting desolate beast's illusion.

"Then the agony he must have suffered before he died!"

Xi Keyao's father was also a pioneer, and she had known many pioneers since she was a child. She had a natural affinity for pioneers, and the plight of the man they had encountered troubled her greatly.

His body was covered in wounds, his eyes had been gouged out, and even his head seemed to have been chopped off, barely connected by tendrils. The pioneer had died, and his body had suffered such severe damage; it was brutally cruel.

"We can't help him," Xiang Beifei said, "and neither can you."

"I know," Xi Keyao whispered.

"No! You must understand one thing," Xiang Beifei looked at Xi Keyao gravely, "They are already dead. If you encounter such people, you must treat them as desolate beasts, and show no mercy using any means necessary!"

He knew Xi Keyao was a kind-hearted girl who enjoyed helping others; her aspiration had never been to become a martial artist but to alleviate other people's suffering.

Therefore, Xiang Beifei felt obliged to make this point clear to her, otherwise, if Xi Keyao hesitated when faced with these desolate beasts, she could easily put herself in danger.

Xi Keyao clenched her teeth and nodded lightly.

Xiang Beifei was still not at ease and continued, "You need to understand, killing them is the best way to respect these pioneers. If they were still alive, they would certainly not wish for their bodies to be controlled by desolate beasts like puppets; they would want you to help them escape from the clutches of these monsters!"

"Help them escape?"

Xi Keyao's gaze gradually became resolute, as if she had found the motivation to do this deed, and she clenched her fist: "I understand! If I encounter it next time, I will help them escape!"

"That's good, we need to leave this place immediately."

Xiang Beifei could not be sure if other Ghost Whiskers of Remnant Visage got the message and would come, but he knew that it was not wise to stay any longer.

He was now pondering a problem.

The last time Ye Changfeng led their team in the training, they had also encountered traces of this kind of desolate beast, but the creature did not appear and left in advance.

Ye Changfeng appeared very worried at that time because he said some desolate beasts did more than just eat brains. Then Xiang Beifei had realized what Ye Changfeng meant.

Desolate beasts, eating brains, could very likely retrieve memories as well!

What if the Ghost Whiskers of Remnant Visage that Long Guocheng had stomped to death had eaten the brain, and gleaned information about the Newcomer's Contest?

Considering the current situation, the possibility is quite high!

Last time, they trained in the wilds beyond Liangzhou University, and the area they were in now was the wilds beyond Qingzhou University, on the other side of the Jiuzhou continent!

Qingzhou University and Liangzhou University are geographically opposite, and the training site and the venue for this contest were tens of thousands of miles apart! But the appearance of Ghost Whiskers of Remnant Visage here was no coincidence!

If these desolate beasts were gathering information by eating the brains of other desolate beasts, then it was very likely they would learn much more!

Because the wilds beyond were not just hunted by a few of them but by countless pioneers, as well as those advanced students, and even various mercenaries responsible for collecting desolate beast ingredients to sell to restaurants throughout Jiuzhou!

Even if Long Guocheng hadn't crushed that green hairy worm, the Ghost Whiskers of Remnant Visage could have extracted information from the brains of desolate beasts killed by other martial artists.

At present, it was unknown if there were any restrictions when these peculiar desolate beasts ate brains.

"Should we report the appearance of such rare desolate beasts to the Alliance?" Li Zimu asked.

"We can't prove it," Xiang Beifei said somberly.

After the Ghost Whiskers of Remnant Visage were killed, the tendrils turned to ash and disappeared, and the pioneer's body was destroyed; he had no way to prove it.

Apart from Ye Changfeng and Elder Luo, the Alliance's judges normally wouldn't take their word for it and would just assume they were in danger while killing desolate beasts and called for help, then deduct points from them.

Solid evidence was needed.

If they discovered traces of Ghost Whiskers of Remnant Visage again, Xiang Beifei must try to force the Ghost Whiskers of Remnant Visage to leave, preserve the pioneer's body, and then use the SOS Talisman to inform the Alliance about this matter.

He signaled the others to clean up the campsite, erase all traces of their stay, and then took advantage of the darkness to leave the area.

——

"Three inches to the left, dodge that Wood Flame! Attack that poplar tree!"

"Ma Ziqian, draw its attention from the right!"

Xiang Beifei's voice echoed through the woods.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several figures flickered, violent spiritual power interwove with each other, and then a fierce light burst forth, rocketing towards a black porcupine shrouded in black smoke.

Bang!

The black porcupine's eyes were directly burst by Long Guocheng's Vision Pressure, and after struggling for a moment, it fell, lifeless.

"Piece of cake," Long Guocheng stretched lazily.

Xiang Beifei promptly collected the black porcupine's carcass.

It was already the third day of the contest!

Three days had passed, and the Alliance had not yet sent a message to terminate the contest; Hou Chengwu's death hadn't stopped the contest, so Xiang Beifei and his team continued to hunt the desolate beasts listed on their objective.

Xiang Beifei had an in-depth knowledge of desolate beasts, knowing all their habits and the most likely places they might hide. As long as one identified the terrain of the wilds beyond, finding these desolate beasts was not difficult.

Now there was only one species left on the list of twenty Meridian Opening phase desolate beasts they needed to hunt, called the Landmine Dragon.