Chapter 41

Ye Zheng turned her head to look at the suddenly appearing woman.

Wu Shu's smile was casual, lacking the deliberate enthusiastic cheerfulness she showed when greeting Sykes and others. Her staring eyes were deep purple, like enchanting vortices.

"If you have the strength for it, the points are yours."

This woman was a profit-seeker, Ye Zheng thought silently. That actually made things simpler. No one cared about guarding Sykes's points anyway.

Wu Shu let out a soft laugh. "Hope my B-Class talent won't disappoint you."

A B-Class talent was excellent among ability users, but in a competition full of heaven's chosen, it seemed ordinary—even inadequate. If Ye Zheng remembered correctly, B-Class Wu Shu was the captain with the lowest talent in the third stage.

Yet when mentioning her talent Class, Wu Shu showed no self-deprecation. Her voice carried a trace of eager excitement. The next instant, the black figure abruptly vanished beside Ye Zheng.

A twisted screech echoed through the vast space. Ye Zheng turned toward the slender monster nearly touching the ceiling. A round object fell down. Only a half-neck of human body remained at the top of the insect torso.

The upright centipede-like massive body froze. Even the countless dancing tiny insect legs along its sides went still.

The panicked, terrified crowd throughout the shelter involuntarily paused for a moment, staring blankly up at the now-motionless monster.

From high above, Wu Shu sat beside the severed neck, casually swinging her legs against the massive insect body beneath her. Her deep violet eyes looked down with a faint, amused smile.

Ye Zheng lifted her head and met that gaze.

As far as Ye Zheng knew, Wu Shu’s ability was instantaneous teleportation. It had given her an overwhelming advantage during the second stage of the competition, which centered on token collection. Even though Wu Shu had led an otherwise unremarkable middle-district team into advancement, most spectators dismissed her. To them, she was merely a lucky woman, and hardly a threat in the third stage.

A faint smile appeared in Ye Zheng’s pitch-black eyes. Any woman who could carve her way into a male-dominated field possessed strength far beyond that of most men within it.

Unfortunately, that strength was still insufficient.

Wu Shu’s expression stiffened where she sat. From her elevated perch, she saw the girl below, dressed in a blood-stained white gown, slowly shake her head at her.

Realization struck instantly.

Wu Shu leaped without hesitation.

As she fell backward through the air, face turned upward, she clearly saw another head emerging from the severed neck.

It was still the same woman’s head.

The ordinary face looked utterly confused. When it noticed Wu Shu jumping down, it even displayed a frightened expression, as though it were an innocent bystander.

Wu Shu found the sight absurd beyond words.

Who was supposed to be afraid here?

Lu Qi gasped at the falling black-clad figure. A swarm of brightly colored butterflies rushed together, trying to cushion Wu Shu’s descent. However, the instant Wu Shu’s body brushed against them, she vanished mid-air.

“Little sister, your butterflies are poisonous.”

The next moment, a helpless sigh sounded right beside Lu Qi’s ear. Lu Qi jolted like a startled cat, spinning around as she glared warily at the woman who had suddenly appeared at her side.

“I can control them,” she protested defensively.

“Fine,” Wu Shu replied. “Your ability pairs well with mine.”

Her smile faded as she turned toward the human-headed insect that was crawling toward them. Beheading it had accomplished nothing. The creature was far more troublesome than expected.

In another quiet corner of the shelter—

“Muqing, can you tell what that thing actually is?”

After Wu Shu’s probing attack, Ye Zheng had calmed considerably. Against such a colossal creature, identifying the point of attack mattered more than brute force.

Bai Muqing stood silently beside Ye Zheng. She pressed her lips together before speaking slowly.

“The energy of ability users and monsters is usually distributed evenly throughout the body. For instance, I can see your energy field right now, and it is completely normal.”

She paused.

“But this monster is extremely abnormal.”

“The concentration of its energy is heavily localized in one area, beneath the back of the neck. It resembles the structure of a human spine.”

Ye Zheng’s delicate brows drew together gradually.

“Perhaps an insect egg parasitized that location.”

Bai Muqing neither agreed nor disagreed. Instead, she added quietly, “Also, I advise you not to touch the body below its head.”

“Damn it!”

Wu Shu’s figure flashed back onto the ground nearby. She stared down at her hand. Her sharp short knife was splattered with green blood from the monster’s body. Wherever the blood touched, the blade corroded instantly, turning dull and pitted.

“Forget the knife. Is your hand alright?”

Lu Qi hurried over, staring anxiously at Wu Shu’s callused palm. Wherever the green blood had splashed, the skin had already dissolved away. Exposed flesh mingled with the eerie green fluid in a horrifying sight.

Even her butterflies had shriveled like burnt paper the moment they touched the blood. If summoned creatures could not endure it, humans stood even less chance.

Lu Qi grabbed Wu Shu’s wrist, stomping her foot anxiously despite the fact that they had only just met. A fair, slender hand suddenly covered both of theirs.

Lu Qi and Wu Shu looked up at the same time.

The saintess stood above them, gazing down. Her thick lashes cast shadows over her eyes, concealing her emotions.

“Leave it to me.”

Cool streams of water flowed over Wu Shu’s hand, washing away the searing pain. Wu Shu had received treatment from countless healers before. She fought ruthlessly and lived recklessly, and she was familiar with every notable healer in the middle district.

Even so, she could feel it immediately.

Ye Zheng’s healing far surpassed them all.

Truly worthy of an A-class ability user from the upper district.

Most A-class and higher talents born in the middle district fled to the upper district as soon as they qualified. The moment a twelve-year-old displayed exceptional aptitude, upper-district academies would break rules to recruit them.

Of course, such fortunate cases were rare. Ninety percent of high-talent users originated in the upper district. Wu Shu clearly had not been one of those chosen few.

Still, that did not prevent her from standing on the same battlefield as those upper-district prodigies.

Suddenly, a scream tore through the shelter.

Wu Shu looked up sharply.

The human-headed monster twisted violently, as if seized by unbearable pain. The human face contorted, releasing agonized, shrill shrieks.

The massive body shook the entire shelter. The crowd, which had barely begun to calm, panicked once more and scattered in chaos. The whip-like insect body lashed out madly, and its sharp tail hook swept toward the densest cluster of people.

Wu Shu’s pupils shrank.

She thought slaughter was unavoidable.

Yet the enormous tail hook halted abruptly in mid-air.

The people beneath it froze for a heartbeat before fleeing in all directions. It was as though an invisible hand had clamped down on the monstrous limb.

Wu Shu followed Ye Zheng’s gaze.

At some point, Ye Zheng had already finished healing her. The girl’s pure black eyes were fixed on a point behind her.

Wu Shu turned.

The white-haired girl dressed in white stood there, eyes tightly shut. Her presence was unnaturally holy. Violent energy fluctuations surged outward, sending tremors through Wu Shu’s consciousness.

Within the shelter, both monsters and ability users were suppressed. Yet Bai Muqing’s power pierced through that suppression. Wu Shu felt that if Bai Muqing wished, she could restrain her just as easily.

“Do not act independently,” Bai Muqing said calmly.

“I will detonate it. Ensure nothing remains. There must be no possibility of regeneration.”

The monster let out an even more piercing howl. Wu Shu was rarely disturbed by monster roars, but this voice was far too human. It stirred something deeply unsettling within her, perhaps because the creature wore a human woman’s face.

Wu Shu stared at the monster, biting her lip unconsciously.

Bai Muqing’s strength was undeniable.

Could Wu Shu destroy it before Bai Muqing did?

She was not here to perform acts of mercy.

Points mattered above all else.

“Wait.”

Ye Zheng placed a hand gently on Bai Muqing’s shoulder and spoke softly.

“You are powerful, but this monster is too abnormal. If you detonate it directly, the corrosive blood will scatter everywhere. That could still cause casualties.”

It was said that within the Divine Domain, Bai Muqing could control all living beings. Ye Zheng had never seen her unleash her full power. As a devout believer of the God of Hope, Bai Muqing seemed deeply averse to destruction.

She usually used the Divine Domain to locate people, or even lost cats. Missing the opportunity to witness Bai Muqing’s true strength was regrettable.

Still, Ye Zheng had no choice.

Bai Muqing pressed her lips together in displeasure. After a moment, she muttered, “Then what do you intend to do?”

Ye Zheng smiled.

She reached out and pulled the silent Wu Shu closer. Wu Shu snapped out of her thoughts and stared at her.

“Wu Shu, can your ability carry someone?”

Wu Shu raised an eyebrow. “Carry you? Yes. But the range and distance will be limited.”

“What? What? I want to come too!”

Lu Qi hurried over, the shortest of them all, looking up eagerly. Her high ponytail swayed as she spoke. Under their gazes, Ye Zheng outlined her plan succinctly.

“Muqing and Lu Qi will restrain the insect. Wu Shu and I will kill it.”

Wu Shu asked, “You found its weak point?”

“Muqing says its energy is concentrated behind the neck. It is worth attempting.”

Wu Shu narrowed her eyes. “And why should I take you with me?”

Ye Zheng was a healer. Healers usually remained in the rear. Wu Shu had never seen one insist on joining the frontline.

“Afraid I will slow you down?” Ye Zheng asked lightly. “I can protect you from the insect blood.”

Her answer came without hesitation.

Wu Shu grinned. “Deal.”

With this arrangement, the points were guaranteed to be hers. She turned and strode toward the monster. Ye Zheng followed behind her. Her expression was gentle, her posture composed, like a breeze carrying the scent of flowers. Yet the gaze she fixed upon Wu Shu’s back held a darkness that could not be read.

Sorry.

The points will have to wait until next time.

Ye Zheng lowered her eyes as she thought this.

While treating Wu Shu’s corrosive wounds earlier, she had discovered something deeply unsettling.

The green blood contained an aura that was extremely faint, yet unmistakably familiar.

Thanks to her experience in the previous aberrant realm, Ye Zheng recognized it instantly.

Dragon bone.

Dragon bone appearing on a monster, or more precisely, on a mysterious woman, was profoundly abnormal. Precisely because of that, it demanded investigation.

Ye Zheng sensed that this could lead to another major discovery, one accompanied by immense danger. For now, no one else could be allowed to touch the dragon bone. It was far too dangerous, for both her and Wu Shu.

Therefore, the dragon bone could belong to no one but her.

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Authors Note

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The baby has begun digging pits for people now.

And she says, “Next time, for sure.”