The Three Realms Thief Chapter 31

The monster let out a furious roar that echoed all around.

—Xu Yuan’s provocation had infuriated it!

“Uncle, please take me away quickly, we’ll die if we stay here!”

The little boy, his face pale, cried out in a panic.

“Don’t call me uncle, am I that old?” Xu Yuan glared at him.

You have to kill a snake when you strike it.

If this monster didn’t die and kept following the team, that would be a true nightmare.

—About ten minutes had passed now.

Twenty minutes left!

They couldn’t let it keep chasing them!

If they couldn’t shake it off, then they would kill it!

So—

“You guys go see which of those cars can still be driven!”

Xu Yuan shouted, taking his anti-materiel sniper rifle from the car, loading it, and aiming at the monster.

The others stood there motionless.

“Let’s fight together,” Jiang Xueyao said.

“That’s right, how long are we going to run? We’re not afraid of it!” Yang Xiaobing said.

“Exactly!” Zhao Afei also said.

Xu Yuan glanced at the three of them in surprise, then continued to aim at the monster.

The three secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

—How do you determine if a car is good or bad if you’ve never driven one?

We don’t want to deal with that problem!

It’s better to fight!

The monster shook its body a few times, then walked to a bridge pillar and climbed up quickly, using both its hands and feet.

Xu Yuan pulled the trigger.

Thud!

A dull thud.

The monster shuddered all over.

It almost released its grip on the pillar!

But this was not the end.

The monster’s chest suddenly burst open, and countless human skins screamed in unison.

Thump.

The monster finally fell, hitting the ground.

Xu Yuan quickly reloaded.

—Officer Liu is really something!

The anti-materiel sniper rounds he provided were multi-functional composite armor-piercing high-explosive rounds!

Their power was beyond that of ordinary sniper rifles!

“My little darling, still want to dance?”

Xu Yuan muttered, aiming at the target again.

He saw the human skin monster lying on the ground for a few breaths, then getting up again.

—It no longer climbed the pillars of the overpass, but ran at full speed on all fours like a brown bear.

“Where are you going?”

Xu Yuan pulled the trigger.

Thud!

Another dull thud.

The monster’s shoulder was instantly blown apart.

It swayed but didn’t fall, instead continuing to run wildly in one direction.

New human skins constantly emerged from the ground, replenishing its wounds and allowing it to recover quickly.

“Its aura is still rising…”

Yang Xiaobing frowned.

She pulled out five talismans, linked them together, and quickly folded them into shape with her hands.

“I hate those guys who break through during a battle,” Xu Yuan said.

But the monster had already rushed to a pillar of the overpass, raised its arms, and began furiously smashing at the pillar.

—It wanted to completely collapse this overpass!

That way, it wouldn’t have to climb up and could still eliminate the enemies standing at high places!

“It’s a monster with a brain,” Xu Yuan murmured.

“What do we do then?” Zhao Afei asked anxiously.

“Get in the car, before the bridge collapses, let’s run,” Xu Yuan said.

The police car roared on the spot but wouldn’t move.

Its front bumper had been knocked off, the hood was dented, and both front airbags had deployed.

—The car was done for!

“Let’s use this,” Yang Xiaobing said.

The five linked and folded talismans were thrown out, flashed in mid-air, and transformed into a giant creature, sprawling on the ground.

“My goodness,” Xu Yuan exclaimed, surprised.

—It was a giant turtle.

“Xiaobing, your talisman skills have reached this level?” Jiang Xueyao also said.

“It’s amazing,” Zhao Afei sighed, “I heard that five-talisman shapeshifting is a university course.”

“It’s incomplete, can only barely try,” Yang Xiaobing said, pointing at the giant turtle’s rear.

—The turtle had no tail.

But what did that matter?

“Is it fast?” Xu Yuan asked.

“That depends on how fast you want it to be… and we also have to exert ourselves…” Yang Xiaobing said.

“We have to exert ourselves too?” Xu Yuan asked in surprise.

Yang Xiaobing explained awkwardly:

“I can only barely make it take shape. If we want to accelerate and escape, we also have to exert ourselves.”

“Then let’s do it,” Xu Yuan said.

The few of them nodded.

At this moment.

The human skin monster had already torn down two or three bridge pillars.

It suddenly stopped and looked towards the other side of the bridge.

“Ah ah ah ah ah—”

A cry of panic sounded from the other side of the bridge.

It was those people from before!

The human skin monster immediately abandoned the pillars and rushed towards the end of the overpass.

Its speed was extreme, occasionally leaping forward and covering hundreds of meters in a single jump.

At this very moment.

Everyone following the exam involuntarily withdrew their gazes.

“It’s over,” an examiner said.

“Yes,” another examiner said, “this monster’s power can continuously rise to the ninth layer of Qi Refining, third-year high school students simply can’t fight it.”

“Let me see—these four students would be eliminated in less than ten seconds,” another examiner said.

“They’re coming out, prepare to score them.”

“Alright.”

“Remember to use the Clarity and Tranquility Mantra on them.”

“Of course, these are promising candidates; we can’t let them develop psychological problems.”

The examiners made their preparations in an orderly fashion.

Looking back at the holographic screen—

The huge turtle stood upright, like a ring, madly rolling and running on the ground.

Xu Yuan and the others stepped on the turtle’s shell, constantly retreating their feet to prevent themselves from falling off.

“Ah ah ah ah ah—how is it getting faster and faster—”

Zhao Afei shouted loudly.

“Nonsense! We’re running for our lives, how can it not be fast?” Yang Xiaobing, holding the little boy, also shouted back.

The giant turtle rolled along the road, occasionally leaping up to avoid the scattered cars.

To be honest—

Its speed was already quite good.

However.

The monster’s speed was even faster!

Thump.

A dull thud.

The human skin monster leaped from the side, landed several hundred meters away, blocking the road.

“No good! Can’t escape!”

The little boy screamed in despair.

“It’s improving too fast, it’s probably at the ninth layer of Qi Refining now—we can’t get away,” Jiang Xueyao also said.

“Jump off the turtle,” Xu Yuan said calmly, “looks like we’re in for a big fight.”

The few of them jumped off together.

Yang Xiaobing, in mid-air, suddenly made a hand seal.

The giant turtle abruptly accelerated and charged straight towards the human skin monster.

“Is that all?”

The human skin monster shook its head disdainfully and reached out towards the giant turtle.

A violent crash suddenly sounded.

It blocked the turtle’s charge with just one hand!

Yang Xiaobing’s lips curved slightly, her hand seal changed, and she whispered:

“Explode.”

Boom—

Flames shot into the sky.

The human skin monster let out dense screams all over its body.

—Human skin is not fire-resistant!

The monster stood in place, tearing off layers of burning human skin, and continually replacing them with new skins from underground.

“This turtle is really powerful,” Xu Yuan praised, raising his sniper rifle and firing a shot.

Thud!

The monster staggered.

“You deserve to die—”

The scorching flames and this armor-piercing explosive shot seemed to ignite its fury.

It charged recklessly towards the group.

“I can’t hold it back anymore,” Yang Xiaobing sighed.

“Neither can I—all of us together can’t,” Jiang Xueyao said, pressing her long sword.

—The total spiritual power of both sides was too far apart; there was no way to fight.

“It’s time,” Xu Yuan, however, said.

The two women looked at him in confusion.

He, however, nodded at Zhao Afei.

Zhao Afei, who had been trembling all over, suddenly remembered something when Xu Yuan gave him a look.

“…Really?” Zhao Afei asked uncertainly.

“Buddy, this is the moment for a hero to appear,” Xu Yuan said seriously.

Hero.

Zhao Afei shivered all over as he met the gaze of the two women.

Yes, he had always been a sideman.

Although in the same team, he could still get a high score by tagging along—

But I, Zhao Afei, can’t just be a hanger-on who gets by!

Thump, thump, thump—

The monster accelerated its charge, getting closer and closer.

“Afei! Hurry!”

Xu Yuan suddenly shouted.

Zhao Afei no longer hesitated, raising both hands to form a hand seal.

In an instant.

The nearly four-meter-tall Eight Trigrams Furnace landed with a clang in front of them.

“Open!”

Zhao Afei changed his hand seal.

Buzz—

The lid of the Eight Trigrams Furnace immediately flipped open.

Xu Yuan fired another shot at the monster, then picked up the little boy, hopped onto the alchemy furnace in a few movements, and stuffed him inside.

“Quick, all of you get in.”

He gestured to the two women.

The two women were stunned.

“If I tell you to get in, hurry up and get in. This is a brand-new version of squad tactics,” Xu Yuan hastily waved at them.

Helpless, the two women climbed onto the alchemy furnace and jumped inside.

The space inside the alchemy furnace was sufficient.

Zhao Afei had also used dust removal and cleaning spells beforehand, and had even burned a spiritual incense stick.

—He also jumped inside.

The furnace lid closed with a clang, tightly sealed.

“Hey, what are you doing?”

Yang Xiaobing asked, confused.

—The furnace had nine holes, which could originally be controlled by spells to open and close for fire and water dispersion, but now they were used for communicating with the outside.

“This is our tactical combined skill,” Zhao Afei said with a profound look.

The two women rolled their eyes simultaneously.

“How exactly do we do this?” Jiang Xueyao frowned.

Zhao Afei dared not put on airs anymore and explained: “This alchemy furnace is absolutely safe and reliable. We’ll attack from the small holes outwards, and Xu Yuan will be responsible for containment.”

As he spoke.

The human skin monster had already rushed to Xu Yuan’s front.

—Now, only Xu Yuan was standing outside the alchemy furnace.

“I told you, I’ll eat you,” the human skin monster snarled.

However—

Xu Yuan, standing by the alchemy furnace, showed no fear.

He was even excited, his eyes shining.

He reloaded his anti-materiel sniper rifle while shouting with fluctuating tone:

“The person is here, the tower is here!”

Before his voice faded, he heard a “clang,” and a glowing circular light phantom appeared above his head.

Tiny glowing text quickly appeared:

“You have won a popularity boost.”

“An elderly examiner expressed approval for your fighting spirit.”

“His evaluation is as follows:”

“Although you are definitely no match for a ninth-layer Qi Refining monster, your unyielding spirit is extremely commendable.”

“—Very spirited!”

“Congratulations.”

“Thanks to this popularity boost, you can accumulate more boosts to obtain higher-level upgrade opportunities.”