The factions had gathered, a tense tableau of power and mutual distrust. Their relative strengths were unclear, but their animosities were palpable, amplified by the sheer number of combatants present. The Xie and Li families, Beiluk Province's nominal first and second powers, stood in an awkward standoff, their hidden rivalry simmering beneath the surface.
The greater awkwardness, however, stemmed from the perceived tripod of power now appearing lopsided. The notoriously arrogant Hong Yan had inexplicably thrown his lot in with Li Cang's group.
This shift unsettled Xie Yiyuan's followers. Xie Yiyuan himself cast a cold glance at Hong Yan and Li Cang. "An unexpected alliance. Hong Yan, it seems your pride has been… digested by lesser creatures."
Hong Yan, acutely aware of his own past boasts now ringing hollow, felt a fresh wave of irritation at the reminder. Damn that Oaks.But he was stubborn. He wouldn't admit to backtracking. He turned to Li Cang with feigned aloofness. "He called you a dog."
Li Cang: "?"
"He insults you, and you don't retaliate? Why look at me? Where's your spine? And after I chose you over him!" It was as if extreme arrogance, once shattered, rebounded into sheer, awkward audacity. His attempt at provocation was painfully transparent.
Xie Yiyuan's expression darkened further. "It seems much transpired in my absence."
What are you implying?Hong Yan's mind raced. Making it sound like some tawdry affair."Nothing of consequence. Just today. And it wasn't behind your back. We're quite open about our… collaboration." The more he spoke, the more absurd it sounded.
Li Cang, ever the pragmatist, sighed. "You stand a head taller than most even if halved. You require myprotection?"
Hong Yan huffed. "What does height have to do with anything? Yun Baobao! Stand up and show him!"
This time, Yun Baobao's face flushed with anger. She wasstanding! What was his point?!
"Squabble amongst yourselves," she snapped, her voice surprisingly sharp. "Zhang Doudou and I just want points for a decent class ranking. We're no match for you lot. So, stay. away. from. us!" Her temper, glimpsed during the bus altercation with Que Baige, was no secret. It served as a stark reminder to all 4,000 examinees of the immense gulf that separated the elite.
These leaders, especially those from Beiluk City, knew each other well. A few words were enough to ignite sparks.
From her hidden perch, Yao observed the chaos coldly. This disorder served four purposes, she discerned:
Hong Yan aimed to muddy the waters, drawing attention away from her threat. Li Cang played along, likely hoping she and Xie Yiyuan's group would wear each other out. Cleverly, Hong Yan hadn't mentioned his sudden loss of elemental control or the life-draining vine.
Xie Yiyuan's faction surely saw through the ruse but participated nonetheless.
Li Cang, by enabling Hong Yan, was baiting the trap. Chaos attracted hidden predators like her. They were fishing, hoping the collective would eliminate the nuisance.
But luring her was secondary. Their primary goal was…
Their bickering was cut short as the floor trembled violently, fissures snaking across the stone. Several examinees stumbled or fell into the newly created gaps.
The Ape-Demon Chieftain chose that moment to act. It executed a Space Skip, appearing withintheir midst, and with a brutal tearing motion, ripped open a spatial seam.
Yao's hidden form tensed. Such potent spatial mastery! And it feels stronger than before.Was it recovering from its long imprisonment?
From the spatial rift, figures poured out—the remaining powerful prisoners from the sixth layer.
"Kill them!" The criminals, veterans of cruelty and cunning, hadn't been idle. They seized the distraction, encircling and ambushing the chatting examinees.
Banter turned to battle in an instant.
Yet, the apparent chaos was superficial. Few had truly been caught off guard by the quake. Within two seconds, each group solidified into defensive formations.
Li Cang and Hong Yan's alliance was currently the strongest, boasting numbers and, with Hong Yan's addition, terrifying firepower. Li Yu's original squad had swelled under Li Cang's banner. Mostly light-element arcanists, a potent offensive school, they became the battlefield's MVP damage dealers under Hong Yan's lead.
Xie Yiyuan excelled in support and perception, the best control unit present.
Yun Baobao and Zhang Doudou were few but formidable. Yun Baobao, the Pet Master, unleashed both land and aerial companions, attack and support covered. Zhang Doudou, surprisingly, was a metal-sword specialist, manipulating blades into whirling storms of steel. Together, they unleashed the area damage of a ten-man squad, their strength placing them just below the top tier, alongside Yue Mingze.
But Wei Mingtang… she was in a league of her own.
Where her Dark Corrosion spread, allies and enemies alike recoiled. The effect on the prisoners was horrific—flesh melting to bone in seconds, a visceral, agonizing deterrence. The corrosive mist was a persistent area-of-effect, its gaseous form allowing swift, terrifying manipulation.
When a shadowy figure tried to ambush her from below, Wei Mingtang barely glanced down. One hand guided the ground-hugging mist, the other formed a seal. The mist coalesced, hissing as it condensed from gas to a viscous, ink-black liquid that seeped into the cracks.
Screams, muffled and terrible, rose from the earth.
Xie Yiyuan and the others watched, expressions tightening. The level of control to shift elemental states so freely…She was unquestionably on their level.
With such powerhouses leading, and the rest being first or second-echelon elites, the hundred-plus examinees began to overwhelm the prisoners. The Chieftain's health bar was being steadily, inexorably whittled down.
Both Li Cang and Hong Yan fought while maintaining watchful senses, wary of an ambush from Oaks. Yet, even as the Chieftain's health dropped past the halfway mark, she remained unseen.
Strange.
The louse in Hong Yan's hair was busy. Yao observed combat patterns, calculated prisoner levels and point values. By her estimate, the total prisoner point pool was around 300,000. The current leaderboard showed less than 200,000 combined. The missing 100,000+ points were hidden—stored in items, undeclared. And those hidden points were likely on the people here.
Therefore, the public rankings were deceptive, hers included. To climb, she needed a new strategy: compete for the visible points from the prisoners, and target the examinees carrying hidden caches. Whoever hid the most was the juiciest prey.
Simultaneously, she assessed strengths. In direct combat: Li Cang first, Wei Mingtang second, Xie Yiyuan third, Hong Yan fourth, Yun Baobao fifth… But her focus wasn't the obvious leaders. It was their followers. Those desperate for top ranks, those with much to hide, were the ones worth watching.
Cross-referencing real-time point gains with the leaderboard, she noticed an anomaly in Xie Yiyuan's group. Three had attacked a prisoner. Two received the point distribution. The third, whose contribution she estimated at 20%, got nothing.
If they were truly partied, points would share. They're acting as a team, but the system doesn't recognize it. He's not their leader, not in a party with them.
He refused a formal party… meaning he has a reason to hide his true allies.
Her conclusion was swift: Xie Yiyuan had a secret partner. Someone whose identity must remain hidden from these temporary 'teammates.' That person wasn't here. If they were, they'd just conceal their strength. They must be elsewhere, handling something Xie Yiyuan alone couldn't—something targeting all the other top contenders here.
The optimal scheme presented itself: Release the seventh-layer Boss.
But that creature was extraordinarily dangerous. What leverage could they have? Her mind raced, a cold dread settling in. Unless… they have a way to control or bargain with it.The pieces clicked. The strange scent of blood linking the sixth and seventh layers… the Boss's rapid recovery after release…
"A Blood-Arcana practitioner. An evil path practitioner who uses blood sacrifices for a counterfeit 'blood-exchange,' mimicking aristocratic gene-enhancement. Requires vast amounts of potent blood…"The six prisoner Bosses' blood wasn't enough. They need more. Our blood. From this very battle.
She looked 'up' through the stone. Her ocular talent, now focused, revealed it—thin streams of blood-vapor, invisible to normal sight, flowing downward from the first layer, seeping through the stone like a ghostly river towards the depths.
That's their bargaining chip. Provide the Boss with the blood it needs to complete its exchange and break free. Mutual benefit.The Ape-Demon Chiehtain's earlier 'rampage' was likely part of the act, ensuring maximum carnage.
A massive trap. We've been in their pit from the start.
Watching the accelerated flow of blood-energy, Yao's heart pounded. The exchange was underway.
First, the hidden partner was an unknown, formidable variable.
Second, the Boss's imminent release posed an existential threat. Uniting the selfish, scheming examinees in time was impossible. Alerting them might make her the primary target.
A direct assault was suicide. Finesse was needed. The 'finesse' of a sniper.
"If I'm right, guiding this blood requires a formation or ritual spanning all seven layers."She activated her ocular power, scanning the area. Nothing. No hidden arrays. Either their skill surpasses my perception… or they didn't draw a new formation. They modified the existing ones."
Her gaze snapped to the walls, covered in ancient, intricate prison seals and suppression runes.
Of course.The accomplice was a formation master. While everyone fought for points, he had subtly altered the pre-existing prison enchantments. Who would notice? The entire prison was covered in them.
She approached a wall. Should she disrupt it? Probably futile. The accomplice would monitor them. "But disrupting it might still delay or prevent the Boss's escape."
Her hand hovered near the runes… then withdrew.
Xiao Huang:"Sister, aren't you going to break it? What if the monster gets out?"
Da Hong:"Obviously, blow it up!"
Yao: "Useless. This is just one segment. All seven floors are likely linked. No time."
Xiao Huang:"Then… we can't stop it?"
Yao sighed. "Seems not."
Da Hong:"Don't worry! I'll blow it up!"
Yao & Xiao Huang: "Shut up!"
Is this a mechanical bird or a walking explosive? Did the Imperial Research Institute make a mistake?
She retreated. Three minutes later, a shadowy figure flitted past the same spot, meticulously inspecting the altered runes. Finding no tampering, it listened to the cacophony above, to the rich scent of blood thickening the air.
"The blood… flows like a subterranean river," it murmured with a low chuckle before vanishing.
Yao returned to the battlefield, once more a louse on Hong Yan.
The Chieftain's health was at 10%.
"Push harder! Almost there!" Xie Yiyuan shouted, rallying everyone. "But let me be clear—the Boss is priority. Anyone caught backstabbing will face my wrath!" He played the righteous leader perfectly.
The louse-Yao was speechless. The Xie family truly produces masterful actors. Zhou Miao, Xie An, me… and now him. Hypocrite.
Xie Yiyuan concluded, "Especially if it's that sewer-rat who released the prisoners! Li Cang, you'd agree, right?"
Li Cang's expression turned weary. Does he not know the rat shares his surname?
Wei Mingtang and Yue Mingze exchanged a glance. He really hasn't heard.
Yao was also taken aback. He's cursing his own ancestral graves? What a unfilial descendant.
But since he was so 'encouraging,' she might as well oblige him. Amidst the chaos, positioning herself with her back to Xie Yiyuan and Wei Mingtang—the keenest observers—she acted.
Thin filaments of light, woven with her intangible tentacles, seeped from Hong Yan into the molten rock he controlled. Through the magma…
An examinee fighting diligently suddenly felt a searing pain shoot from his sole to his skull. What the—?!In the two seconds before he could scream, his survival instinct triggered the emergency exit. Pop.His body vanished, his pack clattering to the floor.
Others nearby scrambled for the loot, only to feel the same piercing agony. One death was an accident. A dozen, all key second-echelon defenders, created a critical breach in the offensive line.
The Chieftain's health depletion slowed. It broke free, unleashing a massive Spatial Quake!
"Damn it!"
Examinees scattered. Leaders like Xie Yiyuan had to step forward, using powerful arts to shield the rest. In that moment of strain, several exchanged subtle glances.
"Encircle them! Cut off retreat!"
The Chieftain roared. The space-capable prisoners blinked, sealing the path back to the second layer. The comfortable, controlled battle vanished. Pressure spiked, forcing the top contenders to unveil their cards.
Amidst the spatial tremors, Yao watched as Xie Yiyuan, Li Cang, Wei Mingtang, and Yun Baobao seemed to 'unlock.' Xie Yiyuan summoned an Ice Sprite and flared his Green-Blood aura. Li Cang executed a dazzling combination of three Blue-Grade offensive principles, his own Green-Blood glow igniting. Yun Baobao… summoned a thirdpet.
"A third one?! Yun Baobao, your psychic endurance… wait, is that a pig?"
"Piss off!"
"Hey, no need to swear!"
"I mean, its nameis Gun Gun Gun (Roll Roll Roll)."
The summoned creature was indeed a plump, pink, roly-poly pig. It… rolled. Then it planted its hindquarters, brought its front trotters together, and kowtowed with a solemn thump.
"O Great Swine Deity, Gun Gun Gun beseeches you! Curse these criminals! Let their old ailments flare anew!"
Bzzzt!
A wave of invisible energy washed over the prisoners. Several clutched at themselves, cries of pain interrupting their spells. They doubled over, gripping a very specific area.
The crowd: "?"
"Damn, is it contagious?" muttered Ma Tao, the second-ranked from Zhulu City, a noted second-echelon talent.
"Don't be absurd. Looks like prostatitis," corrected Tao Tao, the top-ranked from his city, a girl with short hair wielding a sniper rifle taller than herself. She saw through it instantly.
Holy— You can curse that into recurrence?
It seemed a universally applicable ailment for this demographic.
Yun Baobao puffed her cheeks. "What are you staring at? I'm innocent! Attack now!"
The afflicted prisoners glared hatefully. Other examinees looked at the petite girl and her pig with newfound fear. Terrifying!
Even Yao was startled, recognizing the pet's origin. If the Imperial Research Institute's pride was mechanical pets, the Divine Temple's were Blessing/Curse Pets. The Temple's Pink Pig was one such. Its skills reflected its master's nature. So, beneath Yun Baobao's brash exterior lay a truly devious mind.
The curse, however, was brutally effective. Seizing the opening, Wei Mingtang unleashed her genetic talent. A physical tentacle—a beautiful, terrifying black skull with long, silken hair—materialized. Its jaw unhinged, releasing a wave of psychic sound.
Death's Beckon:Amplify the target's innate fear of mortality, causing mental disarray and skill deviation.
A soul-based attack, far harder to resist than physical debuffs. Combined with the… prostate distress, the prisoners' coordinated spatial barrier faltered.
Now!
Li Cang's group erupted, shattering the weakened confinement. The mass of examinees retreated to the second layer, slamming and sealing the heavy door behind them. Defensive talismans and guardian puppets were hastily deployed.
"Eleven minutes left! This should hold for three! Yun Baobao, curse duration?"
"Ninety seconds."
"Cooldown?"
"Obviously!"
As everyone caught their breath, the atmosphere shifted.
Xie Yiyuan, Wei Mingtang, Yun Baobao, Zhang Doudou, Ma Tao, Tao Tao, and other elite squad leaders suddenly—and unanimously—locked onto Hong Yan.
Hong Yan's brow furrowed.
BOOM!
A coordinated area assault hammered down. Hong Yan barely had time to shift into his Volcanic Colossus form, tanking the blow but unable to dodge. He cratered into the wall, coughing blood. "What is the meaning of this?!"
"You ask?" Yun Baobao sneered. "Those who died—your magma killed them. Don't play innocent!"
"It wasn't me! Li Cang, you—!"
Li Cang and his group tried to intervene, but attacks from other factions rained down. They're using this to eliminate us!Internal strife erupted.
After three chaotic exchanges, Hong Yan, the primary target, was on the brink. Then—
Wei Mingtang and Xie Yiyuan's attacks, seemingly aimed at Hong Yan, converged on a specific patch of wall nearhim.
CRACK!
Their combined force flushed out a shadow. Or rather, a louse.
The louse dissipated, revealing a figure mid-air, wings of light and air flaring.
"OAKS!!"
"It was her all along?!"
Chaos erupted. Yao hovered, a faint smile on her lips. "My, my. Your eyes are indeed sharper. Combined perception?"
Xie Yiyuan's face was grim. "To possess such skill…"
"Runs in the family, perhaps, dear cousin?" Yao's tone was light, mocking. The 'distant branch' mocking the 'main house heir.' But in this moment, power trumped pedigree.
Xie Yiyuan ignored the barb, calculating. The others didn't hesitate. Attacks converged. Hong Yan, enraged and humiliated—a louse! On me!—joined the assault. "Oaks! I'll tear you apart!"
The barrage was immense. But the 'Oaks' they targeted was Xiao Huang. The moment before impact, the little locust zipped back into pet space.
The attacks struck empty air.
The real Yao was still on Hong Yan. As he lunged, distracted by fury, phantom-lights and a crimson vine-tendril erupted from withinhis own chest.
Hong Yan: "!"
"It's a decoy!"
But it was too late. Yao had used the chaos, the split-second of misdirected aggression, to strike. A flicker of disappointment—They didn't fight each other longer. Xie and Wei's perception is too keen.
Now, surrounded…
She materialized fully. As attacks swiveled toward her, Da Hong emerged.
The onlookers saw a flash of crimson. The once chick-sized bird was now the size of a large goose, plump and formidable, its metallic feathers a brilliant red, its expression perpetually outraged. Utterly cartoonish in its fury.
Da Hong (Level 20)
Psychic: 150,000
Strength: 350,000
Constitution: 290,000
Agility: 270,000
Skills Enhanced. New Skill 4: Explosive Fowl – Innate high-damage skill. Can self-detonate. After explosion, reverts to egg state for dormancy (requires resources to reawaken, no permanent penalties). A tactical nuke.
So it's literally designed to explode,Yao realized. No wonder.
Released, Da Hong was a force of nature. "You trash-heaps dare bully my Boss? Pick your grave plots!" It disassembled mid-air, transforming into dozens of red-hot bullet-projectiles that shrieked through the chamber.
Their speed rivaled Yao's light-threads, their piercing power surpassing it. They were bullets, after all.
Anyone below the top tier was instantly outmatched.
Bang!Dong Longzhao was head-shot, ejected. His final thought: She was holding back. A tidal wave of restraint.
Li Yu blocked one projectile; her armor shattered. She turned and fled downstairs. By the gods, that's not a bird. It's an orange-grade machine gun!
The top contenders could evade or block. They ignored Da Hong, knowing its endurance was limited. The master was the key.
Xie Yiyuan, Li Cang, Wei Mingtang, and nearly a dozen other first-tier fighters closed in from all sides.
"Control her first! She has non-density phasing!" Wei Mingtang warned.
Panic. A storm of debuffs, curses, and debilitating effects targeted Yao. In theory, she couldn't cleanse them all. In theory, she couldn't survive the concentrated fire of so many elites.
Theory and reality diverged.
Just before the wave of status effects landed, Yao melted into a wall. Not just any wall—the very sealed door barricading the first and second layers.
Everyone's attacks screeched to a halt.
"Damn it!"
"She's hiding in the seal!"
"We can't blow that open!"
But Wei Mingtang's attack didn't stop. "She's breaking the seal!"
Indeed, the protective runes on the door flickered and died. The barrier fell a minute early.
The prisoners surged through the breach. The examinees had no choice but to turn their fury on the new wave.
Chaos, round two.
Xie Yiyuan's pupils swirled. He found her—a louse, now on the Ape-Demon Chieftain's fur. The beast was mighty in attack and defense, but perception wasn't its forte. Only he and Wei Mingtang could reliably spot her now.
To hit her, they'd have to hit the Chieftain. Who would dare draw its single-minded rage? Xie Yiyuan himself had been tied down by it, losing the fifth-floor prize to Wei Mingtang.
The collective frustration was palpable. How utterly, infuriatingly sly.
Xie Yiyuan's eyes darkened, but he showed nothing.
In the spectator stands, Hong Yan had emerged, silent, obsessively running his hands through his hair…
Dong Longzhao sat cross-legged, ignoring Lian Sujin's chatter, pondering just how muchwater Yao had carried for him. Compared to Hong Yan… she was almost kind to me.A strange sense of validation took root.
The Superintendents from Jingyang were deep in discussion when an old man with three wisps of hair fluttering on his bald head sat beside them. The Vice-Principal of Dongguan Academy. "Tell me about this child. Quite fascinating. I hear she has many… titles in Jingyang?"
Titles often revealed character.
Superintendent: "Scum? Degenerate?"
Zhang Ruo pondered. "Duck King?"
The old man's eyes lit up. "A duck? Where? She has a duck pet too?" He'd noted her two pets, implying strong willpower. A third would rival the Yun family's famed talent. Such versatile genes, such skill… a true talent!
Before Zhang Ruo could correct him, a deafening explosion echoed from the screen.
On the battlefield, a new pet appeared—a butterfly. A stunning Blue-Grade Peak butterfly. It fluttered its wings.
Spatial Shear.The louse was violently ripped from the Chieftain's hide.
[Alert: Affected by Space-Mist Butterfly's innate skill: Spatial Gale. You are displaced and trapped in turbulent spatial currents!]
Yao was yanked into a violent whirl. Yun Baobao, having summoned her fourth pet, paled slightly. In that split second, a hail of attacks descended, aiming to obliterate Yao and any prisoners caught in the blast.
"She's finished!"many thought.
The Vice-Principal frowned, then his eyebrows shot up.
On screen, the whirling Yao recalled Da Hong.
Hummm.An Energy Field erupted from her, disrupting the spatial flow's harmony. She broke free as devastating explosions erupted behind her—attacks she could never have tanked. Dancing on a wire.
Instead of retreating, she dove intothe densest part of the crowd. Amidst the throng of different, uncoordinated teams, large-scale attacks were hampered. She turned their numbers against them.
"Form a single party! Now! Dammit, she's exploiting friendly fire!"
"Watch the prisoners! They're attacking our flanks!"
Pandemonium. But forming one large party… Xie Yiyuan had no choice. He gritted his teeth, left his temporary group, and joined the largest one—Li Cang's.
Thus, single-handedly, like a piece of rotten ginger spoiling the soup, she forced the era of individual factions to end. A reluctant, chaotic alliance was born.
"So moving! My Boss is truly… I could cry," Pang Ci, recently eliminated and watching, was emotionally stirred. He even asked the also-eliminated Wu Xiaomei to record the scene for 'the Boss' later.
You're insane,Wu Xiaomei thought, but made sure she was in the frame too. Such a mad, powerful thigh… I want to cling to it too.
In the ensuing melee, Yao moved with terrifying speed.
Ma Tao screamed, "Tao Tao, watch out!"
Tao Tao, the sniper, barely holstered her rifle before shifting. Her body transformed—a Gravity Leopard! She bounded up a wall, evading death. But Yao's target wasn't her.
Thud! Thud!
Li Yu and another second-tier leader fell simultaneously. A double-kill. Da Hong's bullets shattered their shields; Yao's finishing light-blasts did the rest.
The girl who once relied solely on agility and scheming could now face elites head-on and win. In such a short time.
Li Cang's group tightened. But Yao used her non-density phasing to sink into the floor, reappearing elsewhere.
"Her endurance is low! Psychic energy almost gone! Focus fire! And that bird—"
"Why aren't you attacking her?!"
But she was a phantom in the crowd. Wei Mingtang and Xie Yiyuan had lost patience. The Chieftain was too pressing. They could only focus on not being her next targets.
Let her burn out,they thought. She won't last until the final push.
The Chieftain's health: 5%.
The final burst was here. Everyone charged their ultimate strikes. The killing blow—who would claim it?
Yun Baobao suddenly left the mass party. "Doudou!"
In sync, all four of her pets dissolved into streams of light, merging not with her, but with Zhang Doudou, who had also left and formed a new party with her.
Shared Fusion Art—a Summoner's ultimate, transferring pets to a trusted ally. Zhang Doudou's body swelled with the combined power of four Blue-Grade pets. The strain should have been impossible, but he withstood it. His stats skyrocketed, averaging 450,000.
The true ace of the pet-master duo was finally revealed. Zhang Doudou raised his sword. The gathered light outshone every other attack. As the collective assault landed on the Chieftain, his blade fell.
BOOM.
The final sliver of health vanished. The highest damage contribution—belonged to him, to their two-person party.
Stunned silence.
The short girl and the melon-loving boy… were the ultimate dark horses. They had won?
Yun Baobao grinned, that same cocky smirk from Bus #1. "Our apologies, everyone. We'll take this."
Zhang Doudou: "Thanks for the help! Watermelon on me later!"
The most terrifying short-stack, indeed.
As the Chieftain's massive body crashed down, a stunned hush fell over the battlefield and the spectator stands alike.
Then—
HUM.
Ten thousand threads of light erupted, forming a vast, golden birdcage that engulfed everyone.
In the heartbeat of the cage's formation, Yao's psychic reserves—emptied seconds before—refilled instantly. Da Hong's energy, similarly restored, fused with her once more.
Energy Field. Bullet Penetration. Brilliance: Three-Step Detonation.
BOOM.
Yun Baobao was ejected, utterly bewildered. ??? What just happened?
With her departure, her pets were forcibly recalled. Zhang Doudou, anticipating this, used the fleeting moment before they vanished to unleash one final, desperate sword strike at Yao.
Mutual destruction!
But the birdcage was there. It could be a prison, or a movable shield. The threads of light flowed like liquid gold, weaving into a massive, circular shield before Yao. Harden!
The sword struck. The shield cracked. Zhang Doudou's attack in this fused state was truly peerless. But his fatal weakness was exposed.
Fused, he was invincible.
But Yun Baobao was gone. His power crumbled.
If I die, I take you with me!
CRACK!The golden shield shattered. The sword' momentum carried it forward, piercing through…
Simultaneously, Yao's light-threads lanced out…
Both attacks found their mark.
Zhang Doudou's form began to pixelate. His eyes widened. "You…?"
His sword had indeed pierced her torso. But she had used her tentacles internally, shifting density, displacing organs and tissue, creating a hollow path. The sword passed through a tunnel of rearranged flesh. Fatal? No.
She met his fading gaze coolly.
"Remember the watermelon."
"Farewell."