Late night. 3:24 AM.
In the bathroom, foamy water swirled down the drain.
In front of the mirror, a young man stood shirtless after a shower, quietly examining his body. He slowly ran a hand over his increasingly defined muscles, feeling the explosive power contained within.
Su Xing’s skin tingled at his own touch.
The thick, blue-green veins beneath pulsed faintly, as if in response.
Bright moonlight stread through the window, casting a silver sheen over Su Xing’s physique. Each muscle rippled, making him look like a killing machine—cold and domineering.
’Having so muscle definitely looks better.’
Su Xing looked away from the mirror, a trace of excitent rising within him.
The advancent of [Stab] into [Pierce] had caused his body, once lean from practicing [Basic Sword], to bulk up slightly. The change wasn’t dramatic, but it was packed with a sense of power.
Su Xing looked at his reflection in the mirror, took a deep breath, then walked out of the bathroom, grabbed a solid black shirt, and left the Sword Hall.
He was going to test the specific effects of [Pierce].
Ten minutes later, on the sa hill where he had fought Xue City, Su Xing stood facing a cliff wall, Black Sword in hand. He assud the starting stance for [Pierce].
HUM!
Stepping forward with his right foot, Su Xing thrust the Black Sword, fast as a thunderclap.
CRACK!
The Black Sword shot out, tearing through the air with such ferocity that it let out a HISS. It stabbed viciously into the cliff face. In the blink of an eye, a large crater appeared on the rock wall, as if it had been struck by a giant hamr.
But that wasn’t the end of it. The shattered rock inside the crater began to bubble as if it were boiling, covered in fine, dense foam. Then, the rock within the foam seed to be annihilated, gradually vanishing before Su Xing’s eyes and causing the crater to grow deeper and deeper.
’So this is [Pierce]?’
Su Xing narrowed his eyes, a look of excitent spreading across his face.
The effect of [Pierce] was actually quite simple. It was a single-target sword technique with higher damage output than the area-of-effect [White Line Slash].
However, after the thrust,
it would apply a "Grievous Wound" like effect to the target. The manifestation of this "Grievous Wound" was the foam, which could block healing and damage reduction effects while continuously corroding the target and dealing ongoing damage.
’This is the perfect Sword Technique, exactly what I had in mind!’
’It even made Su Xing start to wonder if the little figure in his mind could upgrade his skills according to his own thoughts.’
’This was a guess he would have to confirm during the next advancent.’
At this thought, Su Xing imdiately opened his system panel and glanced at the three skills eagerly awaiting an upgrade.
Su Xing deeply understood the principle that a Sword Technique, breathing rhythm, and stance were all one. He thought for a mont and decided to first upgrade [Quickdraw Stance] to Tier 3. [Quickdraw Stance] was a thod that could enhance the damage of his Sword Techniques. Its only drawback was that it required him to draw his sword. But... ’If that little figure really could advance skills according to my thoughts...’
’Perhaps,’
’I could make [Quickdraw Stance] a Sword Technique that didn’t require drawing a sword. If so, this technique’s only weakness would vanish.’
Su Xing pondered for a mont, then glanced at his phone.
Four o’clock.
’It’s about ti to head back to the Sword Hall.’
Su Xing exhaled. He relaxed his right hand, and the Black Sword, ford from energy, abruptly dissipated into the world, turning into inconspicuous specks of black light.
He followed the mountain path, walking step by step toward the Sword Hall.
Just as the blurry image of the Sword Hall ca into view, two figures suddenly appeared at the entrance. They imdiately took off running in a specific direction.
’Is that...’
’Are they heading out on a mission?’
Su Xing instantly recognized the two figures as Su Yu and Shen Ruyun.
’For them to be running out this late, it could only be the mission they ntioned this morning.’ At this thought, Su Xing abandoned the idea of returning to the Sword Hall and chose to follow them instead.
「...」
「The outskirts of Southern Cang City.」
The suburbs were silent at night. The residential buildings were scattered and sparse, mostly low, old-style bungalows.
The families living here usually went to bed early. A single glance revealed only a few dim, yellow lights.
In one of the lit rooms, a man with a pale face and deeply sunken eyes was swirling a bowl filled with a thick, dark red substance. As he stared at the bowl of blood, his mouth began to water, as if he were looking at the most exquisite delicacy in the world.
Behind him was a pitiful family—
a couple and their young daughter. They were all kneeling on the floor, kowtowing in one direction. A large gash was visible on their backs, and looking through it, one could see that all their internal organs were gone.
"Heh, that failure, Xue City!"
"To think he’d fall to so mysterious powerhouse. I don’t get it. Is killing one person really that hard?"
"In the end... it’s still up to . I will not disappoint our High Priest!"
As he spoke, the man gulped down the blood in the ceramic bowl, then took a deep, forceful breath. A smile of pure "bliss" spread across his lips, and his grating laughter began to echo through the room:
"HAHAHA, as long as I can take down Su Yu, I’ll finally be able to break through to Tier 4!"
Halfway through his sentence, his pupils abruptly shrank. Without hesitation, he activated the Sequence Energy in his body. His entire form suddenly turned red, like a mass of red liquid, and reford into a humanoid shape.
BOOM!
A violent explosion erupted!
His body seed to instantly expand, forming a large, circular hole, but it quickly contracted and rged back into a humanoid form. This was his sequence: Liquefaction. He had clearly used it to dodge the dangerous attack.
The man touched the bridge of his nose, a cruel smile forming on his face. He glanced in the direction the Sequence Energy had co from, then his right fist suddenly solidified. With one punch, he smashed through the adjacent wall and leaped outside.
「...」
"Ambush failed. Switching to Plan B!"
Su Yu lay prone on a hillside, Bailan’s crisp voice coming through his earpiece. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the distant target location where the explosion had sounded.
A surge of red energy abruptly condensed into a gun in his hand.
This mission was simple: kill this Tier 3 Priest from the Spiritual Sect. This was the proactive strike proposed by Liu Ming, which the organization called the "Beheading Plan."
However, because he was only Tier 2, he wasn’t directly participating on the main battlefield.
Instead, like Shen Ruyun, he had been assigned to the rear to lie in wait, preventing any heavily wounded enemies from escaping. However, he and Shen Ruyun were not positioned together; they were stationed in two different locations.
Su Yu gazed toward the battle. The area was a bit far from his position, so he couldn’t see clearly, but he could still make out periodic flashes of light from various sequences and hear the echoing sounds of combat and injury.
Su Yu suddenly thought, ’It seems to be going... very smoothly.’
SPLAT!
Following a sound like a water balloon bursting, a crimson water-figure suddenly seed to self-destruct, turning into countless crimson droplets that rapidly escaped the special departnt’s encirclent.
And the direction he was fleeing... was exactly where Su Yu was lying in wait!
"Su Yu, run! Don’t you dare try to stop him!"
Bailan’s anxious voice instantly ca through the earpiece.
But the crimson droplets were already coalescing rapidly in mid-air, reforming into a spherical water-figure that shot toward Su Yu with a sound of tearing wind. His speed was simply too fast!
A Tier 2 facing a Tier 3—
the vast difference in tiers left Su Yu stunned for a mont. He wasn’t prepared for a fight at all. No one had expected the enemy’s escape thod to be so bizarre and unconventional!
’I’m screwed...’
That was the first thought that flooded his mind.
But he still clenched his teeth, trying to activate his Judgent Sequence with all his might. He knew there wasn’t enough ti, but... ’I have to at least try!’
The instant Su Yu raised his hand, the enemy was already in his face. Su Yu could even sll the thick stench of blood on him after his liquefaction—so of it his own, and so from others.
"Heh heh, I’m finally about to complete His mission!"
"You little bastard, bla your own bad luck! Now die!"
Just as the crimson figure drew closer and closer,
Su Yu caught sight of a man in a solid black short-sleeved shirt, wielding a black sword, who had suddenly appeared beside him. A vast white light gathered on the Black Sword, and like a beast unleashed from its cage, he thrust it directly at the enemy!
"Bro...?!"
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