Chapter 497: Self-Destructive Burning

Lu Yu steps down from the experimental platform.

The hem of his school uniform is not stained with blood.

This is absurd.

The ground is covered with blood, resentment, ash, shattered sealing sigils, yet he is glaringly clean.

Ji Bai watches him.

The red‑clad totem on his chest is still burning.

The Old Black Umbrella is gone.

The umbrella that accompanied him through seven years of rainy nights is gone.

Ji Bai's hand is empty.

His palm still holds the shape of gripping an umbrella, but only a few old calluses left by the handle remain in the palm.

Lin Zhi collapses beside the experimental platform, her red garment so thin it nearly disintegrates, her long hair draped on the ground.

She looks at Ji Bai, her lips moving.

It's still that word.

Go.

Ji Bai does not go.

He steps forward.

The pristine white isolation panel on the floor is stained by a bloodied footstep.

Lu Yu tilts his head, glances at the footprint, and speaks casually.

"You kind of people are the most troublesome."

"Talking about feelings, about gratitude, about who saved whom."

"Sounds noble, but on the battlefield it's just handing out heads."

Ji Bai says nothing.

He rushes forward.

There is no Old Black Umbrella, no weapon, no retreat.

Only a teenage body, cracked by burning resentment, remains.

The researchers in the test chamber cling to the back of the isolation pod, forgetting even to breathe.

They have seen Lu Yu devour Containment Objects, have seen an A Ji Rule Ghost Story chewed up, and have also seen this fourteen‑year‑old boy write "S Ji burst threshold" in a test report.

But they have never seen anyone, knowing exactly what the other is, still dare to charge in empty‑handed.

Ji Bai lowers his stance.

The isolation panel beneath his feet bursts into spider‑web cracks.

His fist tears through the white mist, heading straight for Lu Yu's Adam's apple.

Lu Yu does not block.

He merely sidesteps half an inch.

The punch's force brushes his collar, and the school uniform button wobbles lightly.

Ji Bai changes techniques at lightning speed.

Elbow strike, knee thrust, palm blade, chokehold.

Each move is aimed at killing.

No fancy flourishes, just dirty tricks rolled out of the Black Market.

Eye strike.

Throat cut.

Rib crush.

Joint dislocation.

Every technique clings to flesh, so ruthless it makes teeth ache.

Meng Wan watches, her scalp tingling.

"Damn, when Ji Bai sparred with us before, he really went into elder‑mode,"

Su Xiaoya clutches the tattered umbrella cloth, her eyes reddening.

"Will he win?"

No one answers.

Because Lu Yu is still moving.

He advances step by step, Ji Bai's attacks rain down from all sides, yet they never strike real flesh.

His fist reaches half an inch from Lu Yu's skin, then an unseen darkness swallows its kinetic energy.

The resentment is devoured.

The impact is devoured.

Even the residual force from the bone's vibration is completely devoured.

Each time Ji Bai throws a punch, his own arm sprouts more bloody gashes.

That feeling is strange.

It doesn't feel like fighting a person.

More like grinding oneself piece by piece.

Lu Yu even has time to comment.

"Speed barely passes the standard."

"Your power‑application route is solid; reaching this level through unorthodox means shows you have a hard destiny and can endure hardship."

Ji Bai let out a low growl, his knee thrust toward Lu Yu's lower abdomen.

Lu Yu pressed down with his palm.

A black vortex brushed against the kneecap.

Crack!

A piece of skin and flesh on the outer side of Ji Bai's right knee vanished into thin air.

Blood splattered onto the clean floor.

Lu Yu continued, "What a pity, too weak."

"So weak that it's hard for me to take it seriously."

Ji Bai turned his hand and seized Lu Yu's wrist.

The resentful aura of the red‑clad climbed up his fingers, seeking to infiltrate Lu Yu's body.

Lu Yu lowered his head for a glance.

"The residue left by that Fierce Ghost?"

His tone took on a hint of a researcher making notes.

"A quasi‑A Ji Fierce Ghost Core, fused with a living body for seven years; its stability exceeds my estimate."

A blue vein bulged at the corner of Ji Bai's forehead.

"Don't mention her in that tone."

Lu Yu lifted his eyes.

"Then I'll phrase it differently."

"She tastes delicious."

Ji Bai's eyes reddened.

He threw his whole body into close contact—shoulder, elbow, fist, leg—every usable part attacking.

A cascade of bone cracks rang inside the test chamber.

They weren't Lu Yu's.

They were Ji Bai's.

His knuckles split open, finger bones dislocated, wrist skin peeled, and the red‑clad totem on his chest burned a char mark.

Lu Yu stayed within a half‑step range, moving about.

Not fast.

Almost leisurely.

But Ji Bai couldn't reach him.

Just a bit.

Always just a bit.

That half‑inch gap became a heavenly trench.

Lu Yu raised his hand, pressed Ji Bai's forehead, and pushed him aside.

The motion was light.

Ji Bai, however, slid sideways three meters, his shoe soles carving two blood trails on the floor.

"Look."

Lu Yu pointed at himself, then at Ji Bai.

"The difference between Hao Yue and the ant isn't whether the ant works hard enough."

"It's that Hao Yue doesn't need to understand why the ant lifts its head."

Meng Wan gritted her teeth and scolded, "Kid, what high‑end act are you putting on? You're already that lacking at fourteen; will you ever improve?"

Lu Yu finally looked at her.

"You talk too much."

Just as Meng Wan was about to retort, the Black Water in her palm went out of control, snatched away by a strand of black vortex.

She let out a muffled hum, and half of her resentful body contracted.

Ajie reached out and blocked her.

"Don't provoke him."

Meng Wan clenched her teeth.

"I'm not provoking him; I'm afraid Ji Bai will die of anger because of him."

Ji Bai surged forward again.

This time even faster.

So fast that the researcher could only glimpse a flash of blood shadow.

He no longer pursued a complete technique.

Each strike was a gamble.

Gambling that Lu Yu's devouring shield has a limit.

Gambling that the opponent would get irritated.

Gambling that he could retrieve Lin Zhi before his body collapsed.

Lu Yu saw through it.

"You're betting I'll make a mistake?"

He turned sideways to dodge the fist, raised his hand, and pressed it to Ji Bai's shoulder.

"Then you bet wrong."

Five fingers fell.

Ji Bai's shoulder blade emitted a harsh, cracking sound.

Lu Yu stepped half a pace closer.

The cuff of the school uniform brushed against Ji Bai's blood‑stained collar.

"Since the day I returned from the End, I no longer leave victory or defeat to chance."

Ji Bai's pupils contracted.

He caught that word.

End.

But there was no time to think.

Lu Yu threw a punch.

There was no fancy technique.

No warning.

Just raising his arm, pulling his elbow back, and punching.

Very standard.

Standard enough to resemble the most basic straight punch in a textbook.

The fist landed on Ji Bai's abdomen.

The Taotie Core opened in that instant.

Darkness clung to the fist, spiraling and erasing the rules of matter as it slammed into Ji Bai's body.

Ji Bai's whole body arched like a shrimp.

A mouthful of black blood spewed from his throat.

The blood was mixed with shattered organs.

The spray of blood hit the front of Lu Yu's uniform, but before it could settle, it was swallowed by a black vortex.

Clean.

Still clean.

Ji Bai was flung backward.

His body crashed through the first layer of the test chamber's defenses.

The alloy plate dented, and symbols flickered erratically.

The second layer of defenses was also breached.

Shattered partition plates splattered everywhere.

Half of Ji Bai's body lodged into the wall, his head hanging low, blood dripping from his hair tips.

The red‑clad totem on his chest darkened by more than half.

The experimental chamber was so quiet it sent a chill.

Su Xiaoya stared at the boy in the wall, trembling all over.

"Ji Bai?"

No one answered.

"Ji Bai!"

She tried to rush forward, but A Jie grabbed her and held her back.

A Jie's hand trembled.

It wasn't fear.

It was the resentful spirit on the verge of breaking down.

Meng Wan stared at Lu Yu, his teeth chattering.

"You really deserve to die."

Lu Yu flicked his wrist.

"I said, demand conflict."

He looked at Ji Bai in the wall, his assessment cold.

"The physical strength is considerably higher than that of ordinary Yujie practitioners, and the fusion path is also quite unique."

"Unfortunately, emotional control is too poor."

"For a Fierce Ghost, you sent yourself into a dead end."

Su Xiaoya screamed, "She isn't a Fierce Ghost! Her name is Lin Zhi!"

Lu Yu looked at her.

"A name cannot change nature."

"She has killed people."

"The resentment recorded on her body doesn't lie."

Su Xiaoya, eyes reddened, shouted: "What about the one who killed her? What about the one who caused her death? When you devoured her, did you ever ask why she became like this?"

Lu Yu was silent for half a second.

He turned his head to look at Lin Zhi by the experimental table.

Lin Zhi struggled to prop up half her body; there was no plea for mercy in her eyes, only fatigue.

She was looking at Ji Bai.

From beginning to end, she never looked at Lu Yu.

Lu Yu suddenly smiled.

It was very short.

So short it resembled a facial muscle making a bored motion.

"Your questions are always this childish."

"The world is ending soon."

"I need power."

"Who deserves to live, who is fit to die, is not decided by stories."

He raised his hand.

The black vortex expanded, falling toward Lin Zhi.

"The weak's grievances are left for the tombstones to hear."

Su Xiaoya lunged forward.

A Jie held her down.

Meng Wan also held her down.

The resentment of three Fierce Ghosts trembled.

No escape.

No victory.

Even Ji Bai fell.

These crippled Fierce Ghosts, to Lu Yu, were just the next dish.

A Jie closed her eyes.

When she opened them again, only resolve remained on the crippled face.

"Meng Wan."

"Hmm."

"Pull Xiaoya back."

Meng Wan was startled.

"What are you joking about?"

A Jie didn't look at her.

She only stared at Lu Yu, the resentful entity beginning to burn from her feet.

It wasn't ordinary burning.

It was extinguishing existence itself.

Memories, grudges, names, all traces left in the world were pressed into the Core.

Meng Wan cursed, trembling.

"Are you crazy? Once you burn, you're truly gone; you might not even get a reincarnation queue number!"

A Jie tugged at her cracked lip corner.

"I originally couldn't get in line either."

She turned her head and glanced at Su Xiaoya.

"Xiaoya, don't cry."

"Did you remember the Ferry Port's Regulation?"

Su Xiaoya's tears fell, but she couldn't utter a sound.

A Jie reached out and touched her head.

Her fingers passed through the hair strands, almost unable to touch anything solid.

"When you see someone abandoned, give them a pull."

On the other side, a one-armed old ghost crawled in from the broken Corridor.

Half a face was burned away, leaving an eye that shone terrifyingly.

"A Jie, count me in."

Meng Wan cursed, "You all play the life‑burning stream, right? I won't watch the Tomato Hot‑Blooded List without you!"

The one‑armed old ghost twisted its cracked mouth.

"Then watch closely."

More and more crippled Fierce Ghosts crawled into the test chamber.

Some had only half a body left.

Some had their resentful cores shattered.

Some couldn't even maintain a human shape, only a vague red mass remained.

They stared at Ji Bai on the wall, at Lin Zhi beside the test platform, and at the black vortex in Lu Yu's palm that devoured everything.

No one stepped back.

Lu Yu stopped his hand.

He surveyed these Fierce Ghosts, a hint of interest appearing between his brows.

"Self‑destructive Fierce Ghost aggregation?"

"Interesting."

Meng Wan pushed Su Xiaoya backward, and Black Water spread from beneath her feet.

Her voice became hoarse.

"Interesting, you old man."

"Today, A Jie will give you a lesson."

"Some dishes will scorch the mouth."

A Jie's resentful spirit burned until it turned white.

The One-Armed Old Ghost's decaying body began to swell.

More than ten Fierce Ghosts simultaneously burned out the Core, the experimental chamber's temperature rose rapidly, and the Purification symbols on the wall were jolted erratically by the resentful aura.

Su Xiaoya sobbed and shook her head.

"Don't......"

No one listened to her.

A Jie, Meng Wan, the One-Armed Old Ghost, and the remaining ten‑plus Fierce Ghosts have already ignited the final crimson tide in despair.

They no longer flee.

They charged toward Lu Yu.