It looked like a giant black octopus, with powerful tentacles extending from its body, intertwining and reaching towards the sky, almost completely covering the airspace above the school.
The pitch-black sky that Yin Xiu had been seeing all along was not the real sky, but rather the sky whose light was blocked by tentacles. The constant sense of sight that lingered around him came from the eyes on the tentacles.
They have been watching the entire school from the shadows. Apart from the two monsters left after the Deep Sea Academy was killed, almost the entire instance is part of this monster.
They gazed at the school swaying in the storm on the sea, and at the players inside.
A massive shadow loomed over the entire school, making the players appear incredibly small in comparison to the enormous monster. It would be nearly impossible for a human to kill such a colossal creature.
The 1.4-meter-long sword appeared to be able to pierce only one tentacle, while the monster had many tentacles, each heavy enough to crush a person.
Facing the monster's distorted pupils, an invisible pressure descended, causing almost every player to tremble uncontrollably.
It was the instinct to flee or to submit to a gigantic creature against which there was no resistance.
Its red pupils, like giant spheres above the teaching building, stared at the group of players. It quickly spotted Yin Xiu standing at the front of the crowd and, upon catching sight of him, its pupils constricted slightly, showing great excitement.
But the next second, an even stronger and more aggressive sense of oppression descended, instantly giving all the players goosebumps. It felt as if dampness and coldness were coursing through their bodies, making them shiver until their chests were icy cold.
Yin Xiu turned around and glanced at Li Mo, "It's okay to intimidate, but don't scare the others."
Even Ya Ya, who was standing next to him, was so frightened that she trembled and clung to Yin Xiu's leg, her little face pale, almost crying.
"But…" Li Mo smiled at Yin Xiu, her voice tinged with resentment, "But it wants to take you away from me, and I'm not happy about that."
"Am I someone that monsters can so easily steal away?" Yin Xiu said, then realized that his memories were still being altered, making him quite susceptible to the influence of monsters.
He reached out and hooked Li Mo's finger with his own. "I promise you, I'll kill it right away, and then I'll remember you."
Li Mo looked down at his hooked fingers. It was only a small area of contact, but it made him feel very happy. "Okay."
Her boyfriend is definitely not your average boyfriend. Aside from his incredible memory-altering abilities, it would be quite difficult to win him over.
Moreover, her boyfriend is very angry now, so angry that even the slightest mental influence cannot break through his defenses.
When a person is extremely angry, they will disregard everything else and only want to finish what is in front of them. Right now, the thing he wants to do most is to kill this monster.
The back of the hand holding the knife turned pale, and the blade trembled in the howling cold air, carrying an extremely strong killing intent.
"Don't be so angry." The monster sensed Yin Xiu's sharp emotions. Its huge tentacles moved through the air, and it released a small bubble from its mouth into the air. "I know your friend is dead, and you are very sad, but look... what is this?"
Inside the fragile bubble floating in the air was a dazzling and beautiful blue gem, which looked just like Ye Tianxuan's eyes.
"The students in this school were all once human. Anyone who loses their life in this instance can have their body controlled by me and their soul collected by me."
"I really enjoy collecting beautiful souls, and this one is probably the most beautiful one in my collection right now, but I didn't expect you to have such a good relationship with him."
With its tentacles waving, the giant black octopus monster floated bubbles toward Yin Xiu and laughed, "His soul is with me. Do you want to save your friend?"
Yin Xiu raised an eyebrow but remained silent.
But the monster continued slowly, "Your friend's death is different from a normal one. He has run out of lifespan, but he hasn't reached the point where he was supposed to die. If you get his soul, you can save his life."
"You...really want this, right?"
The monster's words caught the attention of the players in the town behind him. They exclaimed in surprise, "By the way, back in Paradise City, Boss Ye had his fortune told once. The stall owner said he had a long lifespan, but he would die in a month. And it hasn't even been a month yet!"
"If the stall owner's prediction is correct... Boss Ye actually only has one month left to live?"
"But his lifespan is already..."
"I don't care! There must be a chance! There must be a chance!" Some people couldn't hold back their words.
Just when everyone had almost confirmed that Ye Tianxuan was dead, the monster appeared with Ye Tianxuan's soul as if showing off. Almost instantly, everyone focused their attention on that soul crystal.
We must get him, no matter what.
After piquing everyone's interest, the monster extended its greedy tentacles toward Yin Xiu, "I know you want your friend to come back to life. His soul can be given to you, but the condition for the exchange is... you must stay."
"You would be willing to trade your life for your friend's, wouldn't you?"
All eyes immediately turned to Yin Xiu, and they began to tremble with fear.
This...this monster is too good at scheming against people!
As he watched the tentacles that kept reaching towards him, Yin Xiufeng calmly raised his head. He did not answer, but simply swept his right hand through the air and lightly severed the tentacle that was reaching towards him.
The enormous tentacles split open instantly, and the bursting blood was torn apart by the gale, revealing Yin Xiu's sinister eyes behind them.
A sinister smile slowly spread across his lips. "What did you just say?"
"You have many...collections?"
The monster was taken aback, wondering why he brought this up. "If you want, I have many other souls I've collected to give you as well, as long as you're willing to stay here."
Yin Xiu smiled and flicked the blood off his knife. "Exchange? I, Yin Xiu, never exchange with anyone. The one you have now, and everything you've collected, will all be mine."
His narrowed pupils were filled with aggression, and every word he uttered was laced with hatred: "I will tear your body apart and see how many souls are inside. I will cut your tentacles into pieces, hollow out your eyes, and let monsters devour your body. I will make you wish you were dead."
Faced with Yin Xiu's undisguised hostility, the monster slowly withdrew its soul and put it back into its mouth.
Its enormous pupils stared intently at Yin Xiu. "It seems that I will have no choice but to force you to stay here in the end. Even if this instance is destroyed, even if you are destroyed, it doesn't matter. You must stay here."
The wind in the school became even colder, and the waves on the sea became even more turbulent.
The monster raised its enormous tentacles high and slammed them down on the group of players.