Apocalypse: Everyone Levels Up, I Return to the Time Before the Server Opened

Chapter 50: A Split Demon So Terrifying! Evolving to Legendary?!

[Character: Xie Zhongyuan (Deceased)]

[Status: Spirit Form]

[Class: Sword Cultivator]

[Subclass: Alchemist]

[Level: 15]

Staring at the information of the illusory figure, Ye Qiu froze for a moment.

Deceased?

Spirit form?

Just then, the other person began to speak.

“Friend, my name is Xie Zhongyuan. I was the personal disciple of Elder Xu, the village chief. He personally taught me since I was a child, and I cultivated diligently. Eventually, by the time I was 13, I reached level 15!

“People like me are born with a mission — to eliminate the Outer Demon parasitizing the secret realm within this Novice Village!

“That day… it was my turn. I was terrified, but I couldn’t retreat. I couldn’t let down my elders’ expectations or let the sacrifices of our predecessors be in vain. I had to face the Outer Demon!

“But…

“It was too strong! Far too strong!

“Even though I had inherited my master’s true techniques, I was torn apart and drained of blood by the Split Demon the moment we clashed!”

As Xie Zhongyuan recounted, a look of sheer terror appeared on his face.

Finally, he rushed in front of Ye Qiu, wide-eyed and crying out repeatedly, “You have to run!

“Anyone who enters will die for sure!

“That Outer Demon cannot be killed!

“If you make it out, tell my master, Elder Xu, to evacuate the village immediately!”

After speaking, he began to cry silently.

He died… at just 13 years old.

Ye Qiu remained silent for a moment, then solemnly said, “Don’t worry. Leave the rest to me.”

With that, he walked straight through Xie Zhongyuan’s spirit and ventured deeper into the secret realm.

Xie Zhongyuan was stunned at first, then quickly caught up, shouting from behind, “Don’t be foolish! That’s an Outer Demon! I died instantly at level 15, what can you do?!”

To enter this Novice Village secret realm, the requirements were: below level 15, and a bone age under 20.

When he was alive, Xie Zhongyuan had been praised by all elders as a “once-in-a-millennium genius.” Elder Xu even made an exception and accepted him as a personal disciple, teaching him directly.

Everyone had pinned their hopes on him.

And he hadn’t disappointed.

At just 13, he had reached level 15 and mastered Elder Xu’s sword techniques to perfection.

He was confident that no one of the same level could defeat him.

Yet, such a prodigy was instantly killed by the alien Split Demon.

“Shhh!” Ye Qiu made a silencing gesture, his face growing serious.

Not far ahead, a thunderous snoring echoed from within a dark underground chamber.

As he drew closer, a massive figure came into view.

Its body sprawled across the entire fortress interior like a small mountain.

Seeing it, Xie Zhongyuan’s face was filled with horror, and he cried out, “It… it’s grown even bigger!”

Thankfully, as a spirit, the demon couldn’t hear him.

Heavenly Eye!

Ye Qiu examined the demon’s stats.

[Rare-Class Outer Demon: Split Demon]

[Level: 20]

[HP: 23,000]

[Skills: Split Cells, Light Shield, Blood Drain, Symbiotic Incubation, Ultimate Evolution.]

“Holy crap!!!

“Five skills?!

“That’s different from my previous life!”

Ye Qiu took a deep breath.

Whoosh!

He lit a Molotov cocktail and hurled it.

Crash!

It smashed onto the Split Demon, initiating first strike!

Buzz!!!

The sleeping demon groaned in pain and immediately opened its eyes, unleashing a chilling howl.

Next to him, Xie Zhongyuan was both terrified and stunned. Not just at the Split Demon, but also at the item Ye Qiu had thrown.

After the bottle exploded on the demon, flames continued burning across its body!

Buzz!

The Split Demon instantly activated Light Shield.

[Light Shield: Blocks one incoming attack.]

But such a powerful skill was immediately…

Pop!

shattered like a bubble.

“You dare challenge me, human?! You seek death!” The Split Demon could now speak human language.

As it rose, a pile of human bones was revealed nearby, eerie and unsettling.

“Run!” shouted Xie Zhongyuan, who, even as a spirit, couldn’t hide his fear.

He quickly backed away and hid.

Ye Qiu, on the other hand, remained calm and composed. Memories from his past life surfaced clearly in his mind.

The Split Demon was a type of Outer Demon. Its rank system was similar to monsters: Common, Rare, Epic, and Legendary. However, under normal circumstances, a demon of the same rank was significantly stronger than a monster.

“The Split Demon’s most core and dangerous skill is Split Cells!

“Each time the demon is killed, its body splits into a new clone. Same size, same level, nearly identical in all stats!

“The clone is real. The only difference is, killing the real body causes another split, but killing the clone strengthens the real body!

“So if you kill the wrong one, the Split Demon grows stronger, and you’re just wasting resources. Eventually, you’ll die from attrition.”

In his past life, the Split Demon Ye Qiu encountered had only two skills: Split Cells and Light Shield.

It didn’t have the other three.

He guessed this one had undergone some kind of enhanced mutation among the demon race, making it far stronger and giving it more abilities.

But as long as the core mechanics were the same, Ye Qiu wasn’t worried at all.

Whoosh!

In an instant, Ye Qiu charged forward with sword in hand.

“Ninth Sword Style, Sixth Form — Scarlet Point!”

He aimed directly for the demon’s heart.

To kill a Split Demon, you had to destroy its heart.

Attacking other areas wouldn’t work, it would only trigger other actions.

Whoosh!

At that moment, the demon swung its arm, and countless rice-grain-sized “flesh eggs” flew toward him!

This was the Split Demon’s skill: Symbiotic Incubation.

Ye Qiu didn’t dodge. Clad in full gear, he wasn’t afraid.

Sure enough, the flesh eggs slid off his body upon contact and dropped to the ground, dead on impact.

He had coated his protective suit in a type of insect repellent strong enough to kill cockroaches

and these fragile eggs weren’t even as tough as ordinary larvae!

Against the repellent, they died instantly.

Stab!

Ye Qiu’s steel sword pierced directly into the demon’s heart.

[-23000!]

[Ding! You’ve struck the demon’s vital point. Instant kill effect triggered!]

Green blood sprayed everywhere.

“Agh! It hurts!” The demon howled in agony as its massive body collapsed to the ground.

Moments later, it stopped moving entirely.

Hidden in the shadows, Xie Zhongyuan had been watching and was completely stunned.

He stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

That unstoppable demon, the one that had instantly killed him was just slain like that?!

“Big bro, you’re amazing!!” Xie Zhongyuan immediately floated over.

But before he reached Ye Qiu, Ye Qiu suddenly said, “It’s not dead yet.”

And with that, turning around, his vision blurred for a moment. Just now, the delighted and fast-approaching Xie Zhongyuan had suddenly darted back into hiding.

He moved so quickly that even Ye Qiu was caught off guard!

Ye Qiu couldn’t help but shake his head.

No wonder all the others who had come to slay the Split Demon had perished here. Turns out, they didn’t even understand the demon’s abilities!

But thinking it over, it made sense.

In his past life, the full-scale invasion of Outer Demons only began when the Novice Village was on the verge of falling.

According to players, that was the “Version 2.0” update.

Right now, it was still Version 1.0. In this version, demons were still considered legendary beings. Players had no real contact with them.

As for the NPCs, they too were still in the early stages of researching demons.

It wasn’t until the “Arrival of the Old Gods” update in Version 3.0 that people began to understand demon abilities in detail.

Ye Qiu took a few steps back, pulled out another Molotov cocktail, and fixed his eyes on the corpse of the Split Demon.

The body was now tearing itself apart down the middle, quickly forming two identical copies! During the split, ripples of spatial energy twisted the surrounding air.

This was the power of laws, an innate ability of many demons. It couldn’t be controlled at will, but during the splitting process, any outside attack would be completely annihilated by the space distortion, rendering the demon immune.

“Heavenly Eye!”

As soon as the splitting finished, Ye Qiu used Heavenly Eye to examine both figures. The main reason he dared take on this mission was precisely because of this skill.

Left side:

[Rare-Class Outer Demon (Main Body): Split Demon]

[Level: 20]

[HP: 21,500]

[Skills: Split Cells, Light Shield, Blood Drain, Symbiotic Incubation, Ultimate Evolution.]

Right side:

[Rare-Class Outer Demon (Clone): Split Demon]

[Level: 20]

[HP: 21,500]

[Skills: Split Cells, Light Shield, Blood Drain, Symbiotic Incubation, Ultimate Evolution.]

“Found you!” Ye Qiu hurled the lit Molotov at the one on the left.

Boom!

The bottle shattered on impact, spreading flames. Both demons immediately activated their Light Shield skill to block one attack, but against the Molotov — essentially a game-breaking item — it was useless.

Ye Qiu charged again.

Stab!

He pierced the Split Demon’s heart.

[-11,500!]

[Ding! You struck the demon’s vital point and triggered an instant-kill effect!]

The just-revived Split Demon died once more. The clone flew into a rage and charged at Ye Qiu.

Though Ye Qiu wasn’t the strongest in every stat, his agility surpassed even players in their 30s or 40s. He followed Xie Zhongyuan’s example and instantly hid.

“You… can’t you hide somewhere else?” came a voice from nearby.

Peeking over, Ye Qiu saw Xie Zhongyuan’s spirit squeezing his head into a wall, his butt sticking out awkwardly.

Ye Qiu rolled his eyes. “You’re already dead. What the hell are you still afraid of?”

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Split Demon clone was wreaking havoc all around, making the fortress tremble.

Xie Zhongyuan peeked out, suddenly enlightened. “Oh right! I am already dead. What the hell am I afraid of?!”

Ye Qiu instructed him, “Go out and keep watch. When the Split Demon is about to finish splitting again, give me a heads-up.”

Xie Zhongyuan hesitated, then gritted his teeth and nodded hard before floating away. Before long, he returned with a fearful look. “It’s… it’s alive again!”

Ye Qiu remained calm as he got up. Based on what he knew of the Split Demon’s mechanics and past life strategies:

Common Split Demons split 3 times.

Rare-Class Split Demons split 6 times.

Holding his steel sword in one hand and another Molotov in the other, Ye Qiu stood tall and strode out without hesitation.

Behind him, Xie Zhongyuan watched Ye Qiu’s back. For a moment, he saw the figures of all the brave souls who had once entered this inner dungeon before.

They all knew they would likely die, but still, they charged forward without turning back, hoping to snatch the tiniest sliver of hope.

Born in the Novice Village, their only goal was to protect their home and the people who lived in it.

Outside, Ye Qiu activated Heavenly Eye once more and quickly identified the real body among the three new demons. The third split reduced its HP again, down to 7,666, but its strength remained unchanged.

Of course, now that he knew the weak point was the heart, even a higher HP wouldn’t matter. One strike was all it took.

Boom!

As before, Ye Qiu shattered the main body’s Light Shield, dodged the attacks from all three demons, and waited for his chance. When it came…

Stab!

He pierced its heart again.

Just like that, he continued the process.

Finally, the Split Demon reached its sixth and final split, the maximum allowed for a Rare-Class version.

“Not bad. This wasn’t as hard as I expected,” Ye Qiu thought.

The main reasons it felt easy was that the demon had a clear weak spot — its heart.

Ye Qiu had come well-prepared, especially with the Molotovs.

Most importantly, he had Heavenly Eye, the ultimate counter to Split Demons, allowing him to instantly spot the main body and avoid strengthening the clones by mistake.

Just as Ye Qiu was pondering what rare loot this special Split Demon might drop… the ground began to quake!

The sixth split had finished, but something felt off.

Ye Qiu’s eyes widened as he saw the newly formed Split Demon swell in size.

Its body grew significantly larger and was still expanding! Meanwhile, the clone demons suddenly froze in place, standing motionless.

Only the main body continued to change, golden light beginning to seep out from its skin.

Startled, Ye Qiu quickly used Heavenly Eye again:

[Legendary-Class Outer Demon: Ultimate Split Demon]

[Level: ???]

[HP: ???]

[Skills: ???]

[Status: Unstable]

“Holy shit!!!” Ye Qiu’s eyes flew wide open.