Chapter 137: Skill: Virus Madness

I could still hear the Screecher Rabid Human screaming its heart out as if it's its throes of death. Those screams, akin to screeches someone makes when they're in great pain, resounded all over the surrounding. It's as if it wanted to leave a mark before it died, and it did so in the way of screeching in a heartrending manner.

At least, that's what I thought it did.

But as it turned out, such wasn't the case. As soon as Liu Zhi's party cleared out the horde in front of us— I didn't really do anything regarding the horde, I just stood there watching everyone do their thing— the ground started to rumble as if something ominous was about to befall us. My first thought was to retreat with everyone but Liu Zhi's party was too into their celebration that they didn't even notice the rumbling that came from the ground.

And then I realized that I was the only one who could sense it. It's either the noise was directed specifically at me, or something's about to come for us but they're still a great distance away. I'm guessing it's the latter.

Without telling Liu Zhi and the others, I found a comfortable spot underneath a tree and heaved a sigh. I tried to focus on spreading my Qi Energy even more so I could detect what's coming for us. It didn't even take a split second before I realized that another huge horde was located on the south.

The only difference was, this time, they were all Stage-4s and their leader was at least a Stage-7. It was quite a formidable assembly of rabid humans that I figured it'd be best to leave it to the higher-ups like Shen Rong.

But then again, I realized that this is a rare chance and an opportunity for us to get the top prize that Shen Rong presented for us. I mean, a risk has its rewards... but is it worth risking our lives for a measly high-grade armor?

"Liu Zhi, is something wrong?" Wu Yan asked as they approached me. They might've noticed the stern face I was wearing that they became mildly concerned about it.

"Thousands of Stage-4 Rabid Humans, can you take care of them?" I asked with a straight face.

I don't know the exact combat power of Liu Zhi's party right now but if they could take care of the Stage-4's for me, then I could easily stall or tank the Stage-7 Rabid Human that leads the entire horde. And then, once they've cleared out the Stage-4s, we could gang up on their leader and get rid of the horde.

There's also the option of turning berserk and slaughtering everyone in my sight. But I don't really want to rely on that right now. If worse comes to worst, then I'd resort to it. But I won't use it if I could help it.

"Stage-4's? And thousands of them? That would be a problem." Liu Zhi put his thumb on his chin as he tried to analyze the situation. It's tough being a leader, all right. "Wu Yan, how powerful is your Ice Domain?"

"About fifty meters in diameter. I can make it larger but it would greatly drain my Qi Energy. With fifty meters, I could maintain it for at least an hour." Wu Yan responded. "How about your Wind Blades, Liu Zhi? How many can you use at the maximum right now?"

"About three per second. I can keep it up for two hours if I go at that pace. But if I ever run out of Qi Energy, I can still fight at close quarters like Blade. As long as we have your domain set-up, we can keep up with the Stage-4s."

"I can still enhance my speed by using my Qi Energy. If things get ugly, I can pull all of you out and run away from the horde." Blade offered. "I won't be using that much Qi Energy when it comes to fighting since I'll be using my daggers."

"So you can take care of the Stage-4s?" I reconfirmed. Deep inside, I was hoping that they won't say yes since I felt guilty withholding the information that the rabid human leading the Stage-4's is a Stage-7 High Leveled Rabid Human.

Liu Zhi looked at Blade and Wu Yan and nodded. "This is a one in a lifetime chance of proving our worth as a party. If you're with us, Yong Rui, then we'll take it."

'There's no stopping these guys.' I sighed. I felt a bit of adrenaline rushing out my system as I eagerly anticipated the upcoming battle with the next wave of hordes.

.....

A few minutes later, the horde of Stage-4's came rolling down the forest like a huge tsunami wave. There were at least two thousand of them, trampling the trees that stood on their way.

And to my surprise, they were all Screechers! There's no doubt about it. They came here to get revenge for their friend who we just killed. Although they were already rabid humans, I could still feel a bit of emotion emanating from them— one of wrath and anger.

"Yong Rui... did you perhaps... get your predictions wrong?" Liu Zhi's mouth twitched as he stole a glance towards me with pleading eyes. With my enhanced eyesight, I could tell that his legs and knees were beginning to shake and rattle at a terrifying degree. I take that back, I didn't even need my enhanced sight to see that he was nervously shaking like the tail of a rattlesnake.

"Yong Rui, we have to get out of here, right now," Blade muttered in a low voice. "It seems that your predictions are incorrect."

"That's a Stage-7 High-Leveled Screecher, right? Right?" Wu Yan stammered. She was so nervous that her voice started getting shaky.

Liu Zhi's party stared at me. There were only three hundred meters of a gap before the horde caught up to us and they were waiting for me to voice out the final decision. I think Liu Zhi was trying to make me have a final opinion since I was the one who told them about the horde. If it were a regular person, they would've tucked their tail and run for their lives... but not for Liu Zhi, Blade, and Wu Yan. they just stood there.

Or maybe, part of the reason why they couldn't leave was that their nerves got the better of them. I can't blame them, though.

"That's why I was asking you if you could take care of the Stage-4's. I'll go take care of their leader." I said with utmost confidence as I stepped forward and clenched my fists. "I'll leave all the STage-4's to you while I go aim for their leader's head."

The atmosphere that was once darkened by their nervousness suddenly became brighter than before as the three of them heaved a sigh of relief. The tenseness of their shoulders disappeared and Liu Zhi even went as far as to let out a slight chuckle. "So that's what this is for. You wanted us to take care of the small fries, huh." Liu Zhi rubbed his nose. "Then, leave it to us. We'll try our best to not hold you back."

"Look at him now, acting all high and mighty for a young man." Blade said, patting me on the back. "You've gotten stronger, Yong Rui. If you want us to take care of the weaker ones, then you should just go straight up and tell us. You know we're good at those."

As for Wu Yan, she simply stood there, with clenched fists, as her eyes glistened in admiration. For a moment there, my heart skipped a beat but I wore a straight face and tried to act composed all the way.

Then the clash began.

If one Screecher could let out a screech that resonated through a great distance, then one wouldn't be able to imagine just how much noise a thousand Screechers could make. As soon as the horde caught up to us, they started screeching, making my brain want to shrivel up and die as their screeches almost destroyed my eardrums. In a split second, I immediately covered Liu Zhi, Blade, and Wu Yan with my Qi Energy so the noise wouldn't bother them. With a nod of thanks, they started their attack with the same formation as before.

<You have activated the skill: Ferocity>

<You have activated the skill: Killing Intent>

<You have activated the skill: Rage>

<You have activated the skill: Virus Madness>

This was my first time using one of my skills called the Virus Madness. If I remember correctly, this skill allows me to activate the virus in my body, making it possible to raise my cultivation level in a short period of time. Depending on the amount of virus I have in my body, I could step two realms above my original cultivation at a maximum.

But what I didn't know was that there was a drawback in using such a scary skill.