Li Yan's body arched into a bizarre, grotesque curve before he suddenly flung his arms wide. The moment he roared his Word Soul command, all the clones that had been standing empty-handed sprang into motion.
Dozens of Li Yan's clones blurred into afterimages, slamming into his body one after another.
Then, they transformed back into phantoms and soared into the sky.
The dozens of Li Yans were now reduced to mere outlines; their physical forms had vanished, leaving only semi-transparent phantoms suspended in mid-air.
Every phantom clutched a spear, their tips pointed downward, locked onto Ye Yu in the center of the arena.
Each phantom pulsed with a power that felt as intense as a lightning strike.
The entire audience was in shock.
"A second Word Soul?!" a reporter exclaimed, eyes bulging, his voice cracking. "He's already awakened a second Word Soul?!"
Those nearby frantically tilted their cameras upward, the lenses locking onto the phantoms in the air.
"Are you kidding me? A student at this level? And he hasn't even graduated yet."
"His future is limitless!"
The press gallery erupted into a frenzy; the buzzing of voices sounded like a disturbed hornets' nest.
In the Scavenger system, the essence of a Word Soul is to mobilize and communicate with the world's anomalous characteristics.
Once the first Word Soul is obtained, its fundamental characteristic becomes the Scavenger's "attribute."
For instance, Wan Qianhong's attribute is essentially related to "blood," while Li Gui's is related to "sand and stone."
The first Word Soul determines the attribute, and all subsequent Word Souls will share a similar nature.
The more Word Souls one masters, the easier it is for a Scavenger to descend into madness, because every new Word Soul is equivalent to ingesting another piece of the world's anomalous characteristics.
But at the same time, a holder of multiple Word Souls is exceptionally powerful, as different Word Souls can be combined to produce incredibly potent skills.
Just like Li Yan right now.
On the arena, the spears in the phantoms' hands began to glow. Visible energy fluctuations condensed at the tips, rippling outward in concentric circles.
Ye Yu stood in the center of the arena, her iron whip already trailing on the ground.
She looked up at the spear tips aimed directly at her.
Her lips were pressed into a thin line, her back ramrod straight. She didn't retreat, but she bit her lip so hard that blood began to flow.
She knew she had already lost.
The metallic taste of blood spread across her tongue. She tightened her grip on the iron whip and slightly bent her knees, preparing to endure this wave of attacks head-on.
Below the stage, the wrinkles on Zheng Ziyun's old face smoothed out.
He leaned back in his chair, hands resting on his knees, a smug smile on his face that he couldn't suppress if he tried.
This was right. This was the effect he wanted!
He glanced at Bai Feifei sitting nearby, only to find her face completely expressionless as she quietly watched the arena.
Hmph, keep pretending.
Zheng Ziyun sneered inwardly.
On the stage, Li Yan spoke.
"Do you see the gap between us now?"
"You and I are no longer on the same level!"
Then, not forgetting his purpose, he looked toward the many reporters and cameras below, smiling as he said:
"This is the effect of the superior potion developed by United Pharmaceuticals—it helped me awaken my second Word Soul!"
"This is the future of Dawn City!"
As the words left his mouth, the spear phantoms in the air began to descend.
All the tips slammed down simultaneously! The spears tore through the air with a piercing shriek, sounding like thunder, ready to judge all the sins below.
The referee finally snapped out of it and rushed forward to intervene, fearing that Ye Yu wouldn't be able to survive this at all.
Right at that moment...
A figure suddenly appeared on the arena.
A lithe, agile figure appeared directly between Ye Yu and Li Yan!
—Bai Feifei!
When did she move? How did she move? No one saw it clearly.
All everyone saw was a blurred afterimage, and then Bai Feifei was already standing in the center of the arena.
Ye Yu stared blankly at the slender back in front of her, her mind going completely void.
Without looking back, Bai Feifei reached out with her left hand, holding a pitch-black ruler horizontally above Ye Yu's head.
Her hands were incredibly fast. A strange white light shimmered on the ruler, and as the descending spear phantoms struck it, they exploded into fragments one by one, dissipating into specks of light.
At the same time, the silver short sword in her right hand was already pressed against one of the Li Yans' necks.
Needless to say, her sword was pressed against the true body.
Whether it was the Killing Machine Medal's Weakness Detection or the heartbeat from the Heart of Reality, both clearly indicated Li Yan's position.
On the arena, all the phantoms vanished in the same instant.
Everything was wiped clean, as if they had never existed in the first place.
Only Li Yan remained on the arena, standing with a sword at his throat.
The tip of the blade pressed against his Adam's apple. One more inch and it would pierce the skin and draw blood!
Li Yan froze.
His eyes bulged as he stared at the elegant face that terrified him to his very core. His lips moved, but he couldn't squeeze out a single word.
Fear had already been etched into his bones.
Ye Yu stood behind Xu Mo, her eyes fixed on that back without blinking.
Her eyes felt a bit stinging, and her heart was racing, but only one thought filled her mind—she came to save me.
I'm still so useless, always... needing her to save me.
Bai Feifei's wrist moved slightly, her gaze toward Li Yan filled with a mix of complexity and pity.
It's only because it's me. If it were the Old-Timer here, this man would already be dead.
The skin on Li Yan's throat broke slightly, and a bead of blood rolled down his neck.
Bai Feifei sighed and said, "Let's call it a day. This is enough."
Her voice was very calm. She didn't really know how to resolve this; she had just jumped up immediately to save Ye Yu.
The instinctive terror made Li Yan's entire body tremble.
Insta-killed again.
He was no longer that Rank 1 Scavenger from before. He had two Word Souls, he had the strength of a Rank 4 Scavenger, and he thought he had undergone a complete metamorphosis.
Yet he was still insta-killed.
Standing before Bai Feifei, his chest heaved violently. The expression on his face shifted from terror to rage, from rage to indignation, and finally into a complete loss of emotional control.
Suddenly, he roared out:
"We are both Rank 4 Scavengers now!"
"I even have two Word Souls! Do you think I'm afraid of you?!"
"I am not the person I used to be!"
His voice echoed through the training hall, carrying a hint of hysterical madness.
On Xu Mo's panel, the opponent's fluctuating rank numbers jumped up once again.
Hearing those words, Xu Mo couldn't help but burst out laughing in Bai Feifei's mind.
"Hahahaha! Humorous."
"You're not who you used to be? What, did you awaken some comedy talent and want to switch careers to stand-up comedy?"
After mocking him, he said to Bai Feifei:
"Alright, let me play. This buddy looks like he has the potential to transform. Not bad."
Rate on N.U.
