Chapter 6

But recalling how he'd been knocked flying without even seeing Xiao Guiyi's movement, and that near-instant lethal damage, he froze.

Fang Yue instantly recognized reality.

"Illusion, all illusion!"

"Xiao Guiyi's power—I saw it with my own eyes. I'm a Xiao Guiyi fan. No one understands Xiao Guiyi better than me!"

Thinking of this, Fang Yue's backward steps quickened further.

And just then…

Creak—

A mysterious metallic object, crushed and deformed underfoot, emitted a piercing sound and suddenly appeared.

Fang Yue looked down and saw that the finger of the fallen Buddha statue's hand had been crushed flat beneath his foot! Flattened into a round pancake, it was practically restored to factory settings.

His heart lurched. He looked up—and through the rain outside the ruined temple, a pair of pitch-black eyes stared fixedly at him.

Damn!

Roar!!

Fang Yue's inner thoughts and Xiao Guiyi's roar emerged almost simultaneously.

Swipe—

In the next instant, Xiao Guiyi's form stretched elongated, merging with the darkness; his head kept stretching, stretching, surging into the ruined temple, his gaping maw now inches away.

"What the hell!"

Fang Yue cursed loudly, completely losing his composure, panic flooding his mind, his hands flailing wildly in uncoordinated slaps.

All fighting techniques, all combat principles—he forgot them all. His only thought was… Xiao Guiyi, don't come closer!!

In his panic, Fang Yue felt he was done for—then suddenly, he felt a tactile feedback as his right palm struck something.

Boom!!

In the next instant, something flashed past his vision, and a thunderous crash exploded from the left side of the ruined temple.

72!

A bright red critical hit number slowly appeared.

What… what just happened?

Fang Yue stared blankly ahead—where Xiao Guiyi had been, there was now nothing.

He turned his head toward the left.

The ruined temple had been smashed open by a large hole; through it, he saw a long groove carved into the yellow mud outside, ending in a small shadow lying still.

The scene looked as if something had been slammed hard, flown through the temple wall, dragged a long trench across the ground, then finally stopped.

Boom!

Thunder cracked, illuminating the entire scene.

Outside the temple, Xiao Guiyi's head was twisted a full 180 degrees, black blood oozing from all seven orifices, his ears elongated into points, utterly no longer human.

But his expression was vivid—he was utterly bewildered.

1!

1!

1!

Above Xiao Guiyi's head, damage numbers popped up—less frequent than the poisoned little ghost girl's, appearing only every few seconds; perhaps he'd suffered a concussion.

Creak… creak…

Xiao Guiyi used his hands to twist his head back into place.

16!

12!

17!

As his HP decreased, he straightened his head and turned toward Fang Yue.

Beneath the thunder, Fang Yue and Xiao Guiyi's expressions were eerily identical—two faces of pure bewilderment.

The thunder faded; darkness returned.

Fang Yue was the first to snap out of it.

"My… my palm technique is incredibly strong!"

"But… what palm technique is this? I don't even know any palm technique!"

"Could this be the legendary 'formless surpasses form'? How do you break a technique with no form? Can't be broken, can't be broken!"

"System, I've awakened!"

Fang Yue confidently beckoned Xiao Guiyi with one little finger.

"You… come here!"

Roar!

With a furious roar, Xiao Guiyi charged again, moving too fast to see.

Fang Yue panicked and instinctively raised both arms to shield his chest.

Thud!

Something slammed into his arms.

Fang Yue's body shuddered, and a number slowly floated above his head…

5!

System Prompt: Player 【Deflect】 successfully executed.

Fang Yue froze.

「？」

In that instant, 【Night's Breath】 restored 5 HP.

Xiao Guiyi was stunned.

It looked up blankly at Fang Yue, right before its eyes.

It simply couldn't understand how the guy who had been easily knocked flying just moments ago now stood firm, blocking its attack.

"Is that all?"

Coming to his senses, Fang Yue smiled.

The next moment, he slapped Xiao Guiyi right on the forehead.

Thud!

85!

The immense Supernatural Strength sent Xiao Guiyi crashing face-first into the ground, leaving a shallow crater.

But Fang Yue didn't stop—he dodged Xiao Guiyi's fingernails on its belly, straddled it, and unleashed a flurry of slaps.

"You're a Gui, right!"

Slap!

35!

"You're a BOSS monster, right!"

Slap!

32!

"Do you even know Great Heavenly Dragon?"

Slap!

75!

"Trash, look me in the eye (shouting)!"

Slap slap slap slap!

33!

73!

83!

73!

Xiao Guiyi's HP drained away in a steady stream; when it barely managed to gasp for a counterattack, Fang Yue delivered one final slap to its head.

120!

Xiao Guiyi lay completely sprawled on the ground, motionless.

System Prompt: Congratulations, player 【Yese Liming】, you have slain the Gui 【Chu Sheng Gui】. Reward: Control Power +1, Deflect Power +1, Yang Lifespan +1 hour.

"Dead?"

"That's it? It's dead?"

"Trash little monster!"

"Pah!"

Fang Yue got up grumbling, but inside he was terrified, his hands trembling.

Finally dead!

Scared the hell out of me!

Thinking it over, this thing had decent HP—definitely an elite monster—but the reward was this little?

After experiencing the reward from 【Shi Zhi Gui】, this paltry reward barely impressed him.

At that moment, the corpse of 【Chu Sheng Gui】 suddenly burst into black flames, startling Fang Yue; soon, the black fire faded, leaving only a pile of Black Ember and empty clothing.

It seemed that after death, all Guis became Black Ember.

Remembering how 【Shi Zhi Gui】's Black Ember had been eaten by Xiao Guiyi, Fang Yue felt frustrated.

"Let me see what this thing is actually good for."

Analysis Pupil.

"Name: Black Ember."

"Description: Residue left after a Gui's death; wide-ranging uses."

"Note: Impressive—you killed a Gui."

…That's it?

Wide-ranging uses—but what uses exactly?

Fang Yue kept staring, but the Analysis Pupil gave no further feedback.

Clearly, its function ended here.

"That's it? Human-grade? What trash!"

Still, Fang Yue carefully wrapped the Black Ember in the clothes on the ground, tucked it away, and tossed it into his empty inventory.

Reflecting on the battle, he vaguely understood what 【Control Power】 and 【Deflect Power】 truly meant.

Control Power was simple: channeling the full strength of your body—that was Control Power.

Deflect Power was also simple: it was simply the collision of forces—in short, blocking.

But Deflect Power required actually performing a blocking motion to dissipate the opponent's force; otherwise, the attribute was just an attribute, useless—like how he'd been violently flung away at the start, his HP bar vanishing.

When Deflect Power succeeded, attribute collision occurred, reducing damage.

Similarly, Control Power dealt full damage when striking an unguarded spot.

(End of chapter)