Li Tianming locked onto the position of the Ghost Faced Heron and sped after it.
The once plump Li Tianming now moved like a ghost, leaving behind afterimages. His speed was no less than that of the Ghost Faced Heron flying through the air.
He sprinted in pursuit of the heron. As the distance between them shortened, he pressed his palms together and shouted loudly.
"RISE!"
The ground in the distance suddenly cracked open, and several thick vines, as thick as a human thigh, burst forth.
As they emerged, the tips of the vines whipped toward the sky, perfectly intercepting the Ghost Faced Heron's path.
The heron hastily tried to evade, but due to the interference of the hunting dogs, it couldn't move as nimbly as before and was struck on the claw by one of the vines.
Like a shark that had caught the scent of blood, the vine instantly latched onto the heron's claw like a suction cup.
No matter how much the Ghost Faced Heron struggled, it couldn't break free.
The other vines, as if having found their target, swiftly coiled around, following the grip on its claw to bind its legs, pulling it down to the ground.
BOOM—
A loud crash echoed as the Ghost Faced Heron fell like a toppled statue.
"AWWWOOOO—", The heron let out a long howl. The green flames in its ghostly eyes suddenly flared, chilling and menacing. Its feathers bristled, unleashing a surge of power, and it looked like it was about to break free from the vines restraining it.
At that moment, Li Tianming had already closed the distance to about ten meters from the heron.
"This should be close enough."
Li Tianming pressed his hands to the ground, and instantly, a massive circular crimson sigil spread out with him at its center.
It was [Earth Bind].
But this time, it was far stronger than the one he had used against Qin Siyang in the office.
The enormous [Earth Bind] sigil, spanning dozens of meters in diameter, locked down the entire Ghost Faced Heron, preventing it from moving.
Li Tianming gritted his teeth, "Damn it, this trash [Shaman] sequence. Other than support and control, it doesn't have a single offensive move. If I were a [Warrior] or [Toxicologist], I could've just killed this thing. Why do I have to go through all this trouble?"
A bead of sweat slid down his forehead, seeping through the eye hole of his ghostly mask before falling onto the cold ground.
The veins in his hands, pressed against the ground, bulged and trembled slightly.
He turned his gaze toward the Ghost Faced Heron lying on the ground.
The heron's green eyes locked onto him, as if silently swearing that once it broke free, it would kill him.
Li Tianming sneered, "What are you staring at, bird? Never seen your dad before?"
At this moment of crisis, his inner rogue emerged, completely shedding the demeanor of a school principal or a former university researcher.
His eyes shifted to the heron's swollen, gray-feathered belly. He could only hope Qin Siyang had survived.
Another bead of sweat dripped from his mask.
Li Tianming took a deep breath, "I can hold on for five minutes at most. If you're not out by then, I'm leaving."
"KID, I'M NOT DYING WITH YOU!"
———
Meanwhile, inside the belly of the Ghost Faced Heron, Qin Siyang was battling in darkness and sludge, slashing with his dagger.
The space around him was filled with thick, sticky mucus, wrapping around his lower legs.
'What the hell? This bird just collapsed out of nowhere! Almost crushed me to death. That bald bastard must've done something. I'll deal with him later!'
"Wait… the bird stopped moving… Could it be controlled by his [Earth Bind]? Whatever, I'll call it even. Let's move on," Muttering to himself, Qin Siyang swung his dagger again, killing a small god lunging at him.
He hadn't been sure what kind of god had swallowed him, but he vaguely heard Li Tianming shout "Ghost Faced Heron."
With another slash and a blind stab, he cut down three more small gods attacking him.
'No wonder it's called 'Ghost Faced Heron' and not 'Ghost-Faced Bird'—this thing's stomach is a damn fish tank?'
His attackers were fish-shaped gods, with legs, that could jump.
Even in the pitch darkness, his keen senses allowed him to detect their shapes and movements.
'If it's just these fish, no big deal. I'll wipe them out and get out of here in no time… Huh? My cold-resistant suit is leaking?'
At first, he hadn't noticed as the mucus wrapped around his legs.
But as the insulation layer of his cold-resistant suit began to tear, he suddenly felt warmth seeping in around his ankles. That's when he realized, the inner layer of the suit wouldn't last much longer.
'This mucus is corrosive?'
Though Qin Siyang's body was tough, it wasn't necessarily more resistant to corrosion than the cold-resistant suit, which had been specially treated under high-temperature and high-pressure conditions for durability.
If the suit gave out, he wouldn't last long either.
'Screw the fish, I need to get out—fast!'
He tried to find the way he had entered, only to discover that the opening he had slid through was now gone, replaced by a thick wall of flesh.
Qin Siyang didn't hesitate. He activated [Violence] and threw a powerful punch at the flesh wall.
His fist plunged into the flesh, and his heart leaped, 'It worked!'
But when he pulled his hand back and punched again in a different spot, he found that the previous wound had already completely healed.
This punch created a new wound.
'Less than three seconds between punches, and a forearm-deep wound just disappeared?'
Qin Siyang was stunned.
A mid-tier god was on a completely different level compared to the Iron Helmet Flea or the Mutated Sickle.
Of course, regenerating wounds would consume the creature's energy, it wasn't infinite.
But Qin Siyang didn't have the time to wait for it to run out of juice.
He'd probably dissolve in this sludge before that happened.
Without wasting time, he ran to another part of the flesh wall, slashing at a few jumping fish along the way.
Then, he punched with all his might.
When he struck a second time, the wound had already healed.
Same result.
He tried several different spots, but every time, the monstrous regeneration erased his efforts in an instant.
'No weak point.'
'No breakthrough.'
'What now?'
Sweat trickled down Qin Siyang's forehead.
———
Outside, Li Tianming was already drenched in sweat.
His ten fingers, pressed against the ground, were trembling uncontrollably.
He anxiously watched the heron's belly.
"Kid, it's been two minutes already. Why haven't you made a single move?"
Then, Li Tianming suddenly recalled a research paper he had read about the Ghost Faced Heron a few days ago.
It stated that once someone was swallowed into its stomach, the only way out was to kill the heron from the outside.
Because the heron's body had an extraordinarily high regeneration rate, there was no way to break out from the inside.
If no one helped from the outside, the person inside could only wait for death.
Recalling this, Li Tianming's eyes grew intensely grim.
'Kid… don't tell me… you're gonna die in there?'
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