Chapter 35: Chapter Three: Qing Gang Ying

Su Xiao stood motionless, holding [Zhan Long Shan], the arena silent as a tomb.

“Gulping.”

The sound of a difficult swallow broke the silence.

Xi Luoluo stared at Su Xiao’s back, her large, sparkling eyes gleaming—clearly, she recognized him.

Above Su Xiao’s head, Xi Luoluo had already auto-generated several labels: “Tough Guy,” “Superior Big Leg,” “Big Boss…”

Xi Luoluo suddenly felt regret—if she’d known Su Xiao was this strong, she should’ve claimed his number earlier, to easily hire him later with heavy rewards when facing difficult derivative worlds.

“Who are you? How did you get here?”

Bi Hu’s face lost its earlier excitement; his eyes locked onto Su Xiao as his Kakuja rapidly formed, wrapping one arm.

Bi Hu’s Kakuja was a Rinhe, located near the kidneys; Rinhe ghouls possess extreme regenerative power, with high attack but weak defense.

There are four types of Kakuja: Yuhe, Rinhe, Jiahe, and Weihe—each has its own strengths and weaknesses, with no fixed form, shaped by the ghoul’s imagination.

At this moment, Bi Hu’s Kakuja took shape according to his imagination and combat habits.

“Who am I? Hmm~ You can call me Baiye. Your Kakuja is good—I’m taking it.”

Su Xiao activated the Shadow of Annihilation and opened [Qing Gang Ying] for the first time; his mana instantly dropped by 2 points, and now decreases at 2 points per minute.

After opening [Qing Gang Ying], he felt a certain energy within him activate—that was his mana.

The mana circulated through his body, undergoing a strange transformation into a new form of energy.

This energy first traveled through his arm, then spread to [Zhan Long Shan], which suddenly wrapped in a layer of blue light; if observed closely, faint blue-white electric arcs flickered across its surface.

It was not lightning, but a new energy formed after mana underwent a specific conversion—this was the core of [Qing Gang Ying].

[Qing Gang Ying] is an active status skill; once activated, it consumes 2 mana points per minute—seems little, but if he fought continuously for an hour, he’d expend 120 mana points; he currently had 153 mana, sufficient.

The advantage of ample mana became clear, granting him prolonged combat capability.

After activating [Qing Gang Ying], each of Su Xiao’s attacks burned 10 mana points from his enemy.

Seems insignificant, but if struck multiple times, the accumulated mana loss could be fatal.

Imagine Su Xiao and his enemy locked in fierce combat, preparing to unleash their ultimate moves—only for the enemy to suddenly realize he has no mana left. How utterly hopeless.

Moreover, [Qing Gang Ying] doesn’t just drain mana—it also inflicts equal true damage.

Su Xiao once asked the Cycle Paradise: what is true damage?

The Cycle Paradise replied: damage that ignores all defenses; no matter how strong the enemy’s defense, he will still be wounded.

Su Xiao rolled his shoulders and stripped off his shirt, bare-chested.

He had a habit in battle: removing his upper clothing—it made his perception sharper, perhaps an illusion, but it was his habit.

13 Strength, 13 Agility, 12 Intelligence—Su Xiao wanted to test what kind of combat power these stats granted.

Don’t assume Intelligence is useless in close combat; increasing Intelligence boosts not only spell damage and mana, but also perception, greatly aiding melee combat.

“Then let’s test you—you look tough and thick-skinned; you probably won’t break easily.”

Su Xiao stomped the ground and sprinted toward Bi Hu; his 13 Agility made him faster than everyone present.

Bi Hu only saw a blur—Su Xiao’s face was already before him, and a long blade radiating azure light slashed toward his neck.

Su Xiao’s strike was exquisitely precise; Geng Silang’s teachings had greatly refined his sword technique.

With both hands gripping the blade, Su Xiao’s strike was about to sever Bi Hu’s neck; though ghouls regenerate fiercely, decapitation still kills.

In this critical moment, Bi Hu roared—there was no time to block with his arm, but his Kakuja was close to his neck; it instantly wrapped around it.

“Slish.”

The sound of blade piercing flesh echoed, yet no blood appeared.

Su Xiao’s blade struck Bi Hu’s Kakuja; Rinhe isn’t known for defense, and Su Xiao immediately severed it.

Beneath his mask, Bi Hu’s face twisted—what kind of cutting force was this? If he wasn’t mistaken, the opponent wielded only an ordinary weapon, not a Kurenai forged from Kakuja.

Flee—he must flee immediately. This human was too strong; even an SS-class ghoul would be cut into scraps.

Just as Bi Hu prepared to retreat, he felt searing pain from the wound on his Kakuja—then, some energy within him burned: his Rc cells.

As his Rc cells burned, Bi Hu experienced a pain unlike anything he’d ever felt.

Even with his endurance, he couldn’t suppress a scream—the true damage from mana burn had taken effect.

Su Xiao’s [Qing Gang Ying] literally means burning the enemy’s mana—but what if the enemy is a ghoul with no mana?

The answer: burn other energies. [Qing Gang Ying]’s principle is that Su Xiao’s mana is consumed to form a special energy.

This special energy attaches to his weapon; upon close-range attack, it invades the enemy’s body and triggers a devouring reaction with the enemy’s internal energy, achieving the effect of mana burn.

If the enemy has no mana, the special energy instead targets other energies—such as Rc cells, chakra, nen, or reiatsu.

Compared to mana, [Qing Gang Ying]’s devouring rate against other energies is lower—dropping from 10 points to roughly 7–9 points.

The sensation of internal energy burning is unbearable; compared to the true damage, the agony disrupts combat far more.

[Qing Gang Ying]’s skill description: Upon activation, each close-range attack drains 10 mana from the enemy and inflicts equal true damage; the enemy suffers intense pain from mana burn.

Su Xiao had previously ignored “causes intense pain,” but now, seeing Bi Hu’s expression, he understood—this agony was unbearable.

As Bi Hu screamed, Su Xiao’s second strike arrived.

The blade sliced through air, emitting a terrifying whine, cleaving a shockwave through the atmosphere.

“Slish.”

One arm and half an ear flew into the air—Su Xiao’s second strike also targeted Bi Hu’s head.

But Bi Hu sacrificed one arm to block [Zhan Long Shan] for an instant, then jerked his head sideways, narrowly avoiding decapitation.

Only two strikes—Bi Hu was half-dead: his Kakuja severed, his arm lying on the ground, combat power reduced by at least fifty percent.

After witnessing this, Lishi the beauty felt her scalp prickle; internally, she moaned: are all humans in District 20 this strong?

Without using Kurenai, he’d just torn apart a ghoul—no, this wasn’t combat; it was one-sided slaughter.

Lishi’s first thought was to flee—but a pair of sharp eyes had already coldly fixed on her.

“Where are you going, Jin Dai Lishi?”