Chapter 1652 Headless Immortality
A colossal monstrous beast opened its maw wide, aimed directly at the tiny figure before it, and snapped down with savage force.
A massive square shield was thrust straight forward.
CRUNCH!
The beast clamped down on the square shield, shattering an entire row of its teeth.
Unable to bite through, it swung its claws to rake and attack.
A great iron hammer, whistling through the air, WHAMMED! onto its head. Though the hammer wasn't particularly large compared to the beast's skull, the impact still left it dizzy and disoriented.
The beast shook its head, trying to disengage from the shield.
WHAM! A second hammer blow landed.
Immediately after, a rapid series of strikes rained down. CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! The relentless hammering continued until, with a BOOM!, the beast was smashed onto the ground, its head cracked open, blood and brains spilling out. Only then did the hammer stop swinging.
Sun Hao, the headless man, slowly emerged from the giant monster's shattered skull.
Shield in one hand, hammer in the other.
His body ramrod straight, bursting with fighting spirit.
Standing beside the fallen giant beast, Sun Hao raised his hammer and beat the square shield against his own chest rhythmically, THUD THUD, celebrating his victory in his unique manner.
Still no hearing, no sight.
All he possessed, all he could sense, was the airflow passing around his body. Yet Sun Hao, who had wandered this nameless cursed land for unknowable time, with his spirit fractured but slowly developing an instinctive combat awareness, understood his enemies instinctively, understood the need to strike back.
Fearless and without understanding, this was just the latest in an innumerable succession of foes he had slain in this unknown cursed land.
Only this time, when killing this desolate beast, a drop of warm blood and brain matter landed by sheer chance on the jagged stump of his severed neck. A warm current, instinctively perceived as pleasant, flowed into his body.
The tiny flame sprout within his heart surged with a powerful craving instinct.
Muddled and uncertain, Sun Hao paused his chest-beating slightly. Hesitating for a brief moment, he thrust his broken neck stump forward.
Like drinking water, gulping sounds came from the bloody pool as large quantities of blood and the beast's brain matter flowed into Sun Hao's frame like liquid being poured. Waves of comforting sensation washed over him, causing steam and copious sweat to rise from his skin.
Sun Hao simply strode forward into the pool, tilted his body, and comfortably lay down amidst the gore, letting the blood soak him entirely.
The Wilderness Body Immortal Technique activated, streaks of dark golden light glowing increasingly bright upon his body.
An unfathomable amount of time later, the blood pool dried up. Sun Hao could sense nothing useful remaining. He pushed himself upright, standing upon the beast's skull. He raised his hammer and shield, his belly swollen to bursting, which then rumbled with thunderous noises.
Driven by instinct, Sun Hao instinctively knew that within the endless wandering, there were things that might benefit him. For the first time, driven by this instinct, the headless Sun Hao felt desire.
He journeyed on.
He continued to encounter monstrous beasts that blocked his path. But from then on, every time he defeated an opponent, Sun Hao would smash open its skull and immerse himself in its blood and brains.
What puzzled him was that sometimes it felt very good, while other times, it offered no sensation.
Moreover, different enemies provided vastly different sensations: warmth, chill, bone-deep cold, fiery pain... etc., a myriad of experiences.
Sometimes, the feeling was unpleasant, yet it still seemed helpful to him.
Helpful meant needed. Need meant he should continue.
Without a head, Sun Hao himself had no purpose, only a mindless wander. Slowly, it evolved into a conscious intent to kill the various monsters blocking his way to provide himself with these baths.
Unconsciously, through these immersions, Sun Hao's body became increasingly abnormal. He grew taller, broader, muscles bunching into thick, knotted blocks – signs of poor digestion. Layers upon layers of thick, multi-colored scabs formed over his entire body – the coagulated blood of various monsters.
The Square Shield and Iron Hammer also lost their original coloration, transforming utterly into a deep, bloody crimson. An intense, supremely baleful aura emanated from Sun Hao's form, gradually coming to resemble more and more the malignant qi saturating the sky above.
As he moved on by instinct, the aura radiating from the fearless, unknowing, headless Sun Hao grew ever more similar to that of the Ten Thousand Extinctions Ancient Graveyard. Slowly, he became increasingly adapted to this environment.
Headless yet immortal, his fighting spirit eternal.
Oblivious as an infant, Sun Hao remained profoundly ignorant. Yet, like an infant, he thrilled at every tiny gain. Bolstered by his indomitable will to fight, he celebrated each acquisition by standing tall against the heavens, beating his chest.
Indistinct eons passed.
The oblivious Sun Hao experienced his second distinct and powerful instinctive perception and desire. Within his Dantian, the Sumero-Void Condensing Pagoda flared with intense longing aimed firmly in one specific direction.
This desire affected Sun Hao's very instincts.
His confused Spirit Separation struggled to control his body, pacing frantically in circles for days. Finally, he managed to decipher the demand signal from within and began the first deliberate, planned movement towards a fixed destination.
His previous travels were instinctive drift. Where his feet led him, he went.
But this time, Sun Hao moved with purpose. Guided by the direction sensed by his Sumero-Void Condensing Pagoda, he pressed forward, shield in one hand, hammer in the other.
Less than two days later, he encountered a ten thousand zhang cliff.
Unheeding, the headless body stepped straight off the edge.
Amidst the roar of the wind, Sun Hao plummeted like a giant boulder.
BOOM! The colossal impact slammed him into the earth, creating a massive crater. The already confused Spirit Separation shattered upon impact, and he sank into deep, unresponsive slumber.
His entire skeletal structure, even the incredibly resilient Peerless Sword Bone, developed fine cracks from the collision.
His internal organs were crushed, sustaining grievous injuries.
And so, motionless, he lay at the bottom of the ten thousand zhang abyss. Countless years trickled by. His shattered bones slowly knit themselves back together. The Wilderness Body Immortal Technique gradually began to circulate again.
Within the tiny flame sprout, another drop of Blood of Immortality coalesced and dripped. Sun Hao's bodily functions slowly recovered. His Spirit Separation gradually stirred back to awareness. His body began to rise.
To stand erect was an instinct, the only command his primary consciousness had imprinted upon this fragment of spirit: so long as he existed, his spine MUST be straight.
At the bottom of the chasm, Sun Hao slowly recovered. For the current Sun Hao, any period of unconsciousness, no matter how long, was but the blink of an eye.
Therefore, his original objective – the destination sensed by his Sumero-Void Condensing Pagoda – remained unchanged and clear.
Locked onto the sensation radiating from his inner compass like lodestone to pole, he advanced unwaveringly, shield and hammer in hand.
Mountains obstructed his path? He swung his great hammer, smashing through rock until the path was level ground.
A deep gorge gaped before him? He simply stepped off the edge. He would awaken eventually. It was just another long sleep.
Monsters dared to block his way? They were exterminated without hesitation. Their skulls were cracked open, and he bathed luxuriously in their lifeblood.
Stubborn, straight as an arrow, Sun Hao forged ahead. After an immeasurable, unconcerned passage of time, he finally located his first targeted destination. However, a terrifying, unknown beast guarded the vicinity, barring the path of the fearless, unknowing traveler.
With terrifying swiftness, the beast opened its maw wide, engulfing the headless warrior whole.
Uncounted years later, the beast expelled its waste. Nestled within the excrement was the curled form of what remained: mostly skeletal remains safeguarding a few peculiar objects – Sun Hao, expelled like refuse.
Slowly, once again, he recovered.
He returned fiercely to battle, and was swallowed again. Expelled, he battled once more, consumed once more... This cycle repeated itself an unknown number of times. Sun Hao's flesh body steadily adapted to the hostile environment within the beast's gut. Eventually, he fought ferociously within the monster's entrails.
In the end, he smashed through the beast's skull from within, securing the first object he had felt drawn to. He then soaked himself for a long, long time within the warm remnants of the beast's cranial cavity.
His first self-directed target was found.
Sun Hao's manner of action transformed once more.
He instinctively realized that the different components residing within his body likely craved distinct things. The object he found, especially that prolonged bath inside the beast's head, proved immensely beneficial. The entire protracted fight itself also yielded massive gains for him.
Therefore, his Spirit Separation automatically began to reach inward, probing and attempting to stimulate the resonance of the other major foreign objects within himself, trying to scan their surroundings.
This exploration revealed many more tasks ahead. These internal objects radiated desires for many different directions and countless things.
Faced with this sensory onslaught, he discarded analysis. Without distinguishing urgency or importance, Sun Hao chose the nearest location radiating desire, gripped his shield and hammer firmly, and strode in that direction.