Yue Shi’s figure flickered like a ghost. With a single flash, he evaded the strike and appeared silently behind The Resonant Daoist.
His fingers mutated, and with his claws entwined in a decaying curse, he aimed straight for the back of the man’s head, attempting a killing blow!
But The Resonant Daoist’s reaction speed was extraordinarily fast!
Without even turning his head, as if he had eyes in his back, he reversed the direction of his long sword and swung it backward. The movement was fluid and precise, slashing toward Yue Shi’s wrist.
Clang!
The blade let out a crisp sound of metal striking metal.
Yue Shi’s wrist twisted slightly; one hand blocked the sword while the other slapped toward The Resonant Daoist’s ribs.
Clang!
The Resonant Daoist brought his sword back to parry, holding his ground firmly.
The two separated the moment they touched, each retreating half a step.
“Your turtle shell is certainly hard enough.” The Resonant Daoist’s face was cold and solemn, his eyes devoid of emotion. The opponent’s high defense was indeed troublesome.
Yue Shi frowned slightly. This newcomer looked like a Daoist, but the ability information read by his Insight vision was: 【Knowledge Pursues the Man】.
【Knowledge Pursues the Man】: Irregular, passive reception of mystical knowledge fragments from unknown sources. This knowledge bypasses the conscious mind for forced comprehension.
There was only this one piece of ability information.
Unlike The Executioner, who was covered in dozens of tags for various torture abilities, this man had only one.
Yet this single ability caused Yue Shi both a headache and confusion.
【Knowledge Pursues the Man】 didn't display any direct attack, defense, curse, or special effects. It seemed to have zero combat power.
However, the man himself possessed exquisite swordsmanship and formidable strength.
Where did this power come from?
Did he teach himself using that passively received knowledge?
“Let’s move together and take him down as quickly as possible!” Yue Shi no longer hesitated and called out to the Curse Master nearby.
Faced with an opponent he couldn't see through, it was better to let someone else test the waters first.
The Curse Master’s movements stiffened. After the fierce battle with The Executioner, he had consumed a massive amount of energy and sustained some internal injuries.
But he forced himself to endure, showing no sign of weakness and maintaining his profound and enigmatic posture.
Hearing Yue Shi’s words, the Curse Master thought for half a second and immediately acted.
He had already walked ninety-nine steps; there was no harm in taking this last one.
He had been able to handle a captain of headquarters on his own. Now that Yue Shi was here, the two of them joining forces to kill another captain shouldn't be too difficult.
Streams of black mist drifted from the Curse Master’s body, beginning to condense into new Curse Creations. The black mist giant snake was just one of his more useful forms, not the only one.
But The Resonant Daoist seemed completely indifferent to the Curse Master’s presence, merely finding him a bit of an eyesore.
He casually, almost effortlessly, swung his sword toward the Curse Master.
There was no world-shaking momentum, only a condensed slash that whistled through the air.
Squelch!
The black mist giant snakes currently condensing were all sliced through and immediately collapsed into disordered black mist, unable to reform.
Yue Shi’s gaze grew sharp. He was about to manifest the Labyrinth again to drag this area into distorted space.
But The Resonant Daoist clearly had a completely different style of doing things.
He didn't probe first and then attack like The Executioner. Instead, he went straight for the killing move!
The surrounding space had already begun to distort, but The Resonant Daoist plunged his long sword into the ground.
Then, his hands rapidly performed several strange gestures.
In the next moment, his ancient-style robes fluttered despite the lack of wind.
What was truly hair-raising was that many mouths grew out on his face, neck, and arms—every inch of exposed skin!
These mouths were of various sizes and shapes, all opening and closing simultaneously to emit indescribable, chaotic syllables.
The sound seemed to come from beyond the highest heavens, yet also from the deepest depths of hell. Listening closely, it sounded more like it was being played directly from the cochlea and marrow of the listener!
In an instant, the world changed color!
Yue Shi was forced to stop his casting, and the Labyrinth was interrupted.
A massive amount of illogical garbage information, useless knowledge, and chaotic whispers ignored all his defenses and forced their way into his mind.
《Self-Taught: Techniques for Beating Your Mother-in-Law》
《Four Ways to Write the Character “Hui”》
《The Senior Brother of the Hehuan Sect: 108 Times in One Night》
《The Cause of Mass Extinction: Gay men held a beach orgy, flooding the area and releasing beta rays; the female fish were poisoned, while the male fish all put on white socks and ran ashore...》
Yue Shi felt like his brain was about to explode, and his consciousness became muddled.
While he was still lucid, he hurriedly used the Replication Bead to reset his physical state and pressed his hands tightly over his ears.
With a teleport, he pulled away to a great distance, escaping the core range of the chaotic chanting.
The Curse Master was affected even more!
He had been injured before, and his very existence was quite unique, making him seemingly very poorly resistant to this massive influx of knowledge.
The Curse Master let out a roar of agony. The bandages around his body shattered inch by inch, the black mist billowed violently, and his body became unstable—expanding and contracting, almost unable to maintain a human form.
Li Hua shrieked, scared out of his wits. Countless sheets of letter paper flew out, wrapping him layer after layer into a thick paper cocoon in an attempt to block the knowledge from drilling into his brain.
The most miserable one was Su Qingqian.
She was already heavily injured and dying on the ground. She seemed completely unprepared for The Resonant Daoist to unleash an indiscriminate attack that didn't distinguish between friend and foe.
Her mouth hung open as she tried to scream, her eyes filled with unbelievable despair. Her mouth movements looked like she was questioning: “Why didn't you save me first...”
The Resonant Daoist had no intention of considering Su Qingqian’s life or death.
From The Executioner’s miserable state, he knew that conventional means were completely ineffective against Yue Shi. He had to use his trump card and unleash his ultimate move to break the situation.
The Curse Master was on the verge of collapse.
He tried to focus his will to return to his birthplace and escape the danger.
But as soon as the thought arose, it was scattered by the garbage knowledge crudely poured into his mind.
His thinking became more and more chaotic, like being stuck in a viscous swamp, unable to perform even the most basic reasoning.
“I’ve been sold out...” A blurry thought flashed through the Curse Master’s already broken consciousness.
Yue Shi had never intended to fulfill his promise; he only treated him as a disposable tool.
The so-called contract would naturally become void once one party died.
At this moment, if Yue Shi were willing to show mercy and release the projection of the birthplace coordinates, the Curse Master could be passively pulled back by his Earthbound trait and escape this disaster.
However, Yue Shi had no intention of doing so.
Standing in the distance, Yue Shi continuously used the Replication Bead to reset his physical state and resist the knowledge contamination.
He watched with his own eyes as the Curse Master fell completely into madness amidst the chanting.
The body composed of a Curse Aggregate eventually could not be maintained and completely disintegrated into a cloud of rolling, out-of-control black mist.
This black mist was dissipating at a speed visible to the naked eye.
In its place, only a pile of tattered black cloth strips, a withered straw man, three pitch-black nails, and a small hammer remained.
The cloth strips had been wrapped around the Curse Master, and he had used that hammer before to crush opponents with ease.
The straw man and the nails were things he hadn't had the chance to use yet...
Seeing this pile of items, The Resonant Daoist’s eyes flickered with light. His figure moved, about to rush over and seize them.
Yue Shi was faster than him. He teleported directly to the pile of relics and swept everything up.
He didn't know if the Curse Master was completely dead.
If he wasn't, Yue Shi would have to find time to finish him off with a few more strikes.
“Is your mother dead? Why are you wailing like it’s a funeral? Shut up, you’re annoying!”
Yue Shi’s irritable rebuke rang out as he continued to endure the pressure of the excessive knowledge.
The Resonant Daoist’s face darkened. Instead of stopping, the mouths on his body began to wail even more joyfully.
Dense fragments of knowledge poured in, attempting to crush Yue Shi’s consciousness.
Yue Shi’s gaze was fierce, and his voice pierced through the chaotic chanting with a vicious threat:
“Shut up! If you dare to keep screaming, I’ll immediately detonate every bomb buried in this city and send everyone in Fluorite Valley to their deaths!”
The Resonant Daoist froze. The mouths on his body instantly snapped shut, and the maddening chanting finally ceased.
A look of compassion appeared on his face, looking deeply pained. He seemed about to speak out in condemnation.
However, his expression was a bit forced and slightly exaggerated, the performance far too obvious.
It seemed he realized this himself, for he simply tore off the hypocritical mask. The corners of his mouth curled into a cold sneer: “If you have the ability, then blow it up!”
This time, it was Yue Shi’s turn to be surprised.
The only ones left standing on the scene were The Resonant Daoist and Yue Shi.
The Resonant Daoist no longer bothered to pretend, his tone carrying a condescending coldness:
“If a mere fugitive has the guts to destroy a city, does headquarters not have the guts to sacrifice one to secure a strategic victory?”
Yue Shi took out his phone and nodded thoughtfully. “You’re right. I was being too narrow-minded. If even I dare to do it, what wouldn't headquarters dare?”
The Resonant Daoist’s tone grew even colder. “It’s good that you know. What do the civilians of a single city matter? Do you think headquarters would be swayed by such a low-level threat!”
“Sacrificing Fluorite Valley to ensure the total elimination of a dangerous element like you is clearly a worthwhile trade. If we let you go, many more cities might be destroyed because of you in the future.”
“If headquarters compromises today and takes a step back, more villains will use the slaughter of cities as leverage in the future. In such matters, headquarters will never yield even an inch.”
Yue Shi continued to nod, even showing a look of agreement. “Mhm, you have a point. I just didn't expect that the high-level officials of headquarters would be cold-blooded bastards just like me.”
The Resonant Daoist didn't argue. He had long known that the base logic of this world was ‘evil.’
Heaven and earth favored the wicked; the more evil one was, the luckier they were. Without being evil, one could never climb high.
Yue Shi’s tone shifted as he shook his phone. “By the way, I forgot to tell you. Everything you just said was recorded by me and uploaded to the Supernatural Forum.”
“I imagine many people have already heard the brilliant discourse of a headquarters captain by now. You... won't mind, will you?”
The Resonant Daoist’s face changed instantly, this time showing genuine panic.
Some things could be thought about, and everyone could even silently agree on them, but they absolutely could not be discussed openly!
His detached and indifferent expression could no longer be maintained. “You...!”
Before he could finish his sentence...
Boom!
Boom! Boom!!
Deafening explosions rang out one after another from various directions in Fluorite Valley!
The earth shook and the mountains swayed!
Thick smoke rose from distant high-rises, and nearby streets collapsed as flames soared into the sky.
The explosions were most dense in the area surrounding the hotel.
The Resonant Daoist was completely stunned. He had never expected that Yue Shi would actually detonate the entire city without a moment’s hesitation!
There hadn't been a single sign.
The Resonant Daoist truly hadn't cared about the life or death of a city, but it was a different matter once it was broadcast to the forum for all to see.
Headquarters still needed to save face.
He could have used many excuses to quibble and whitewash his words, provided the city wasn't actually blown up.
He had thought Yue Shi would use the destruction of the city as his greatest bargaining chip. As long as he acted completely indifferent, he could make the other party feel the threat was useless and thus control the situation.
He had underestimated Yue Shi’s madness and decisiveness.
“Since headquarters doesn't care about the life or death of this city, then I care even less.”
“Just consider it early New Year fireworks, my treat~”
Yue Shi stood amidst the smoke, smiling with malicious pleasure.
The Resonant Daoist’s face was dark to the extreme.
His political career was over.
It was too late to save the city now. Once the explosions began, they could not be reversed.
At this moment, The Resonant Daoist didn't care about Su Qingqian, letting her be blown to bits.
He didn't even look at The Executioner. Instead, his figure moved like lightning, rushing toward the brat lying in a pool of blood!
Whatever The Resonant Daoist wanted to do, Yue Shi would stop him!
The mouths all over The Resonant Daoist’s body split open again, and an even more frantic and hurried chanting erupted.
A mountain-like wave of garbage knowledge surged toward Yue Shi as The Resonant Daoist reached out to grab the boy on the ground.
Yue Shi’s head buzzed, and blood flowed from his ears and nose. Enduring the immense mental pressure, he flashed repeatedly, feigning attacks on The Resonant Daoist’s vital points.
The Resonant Daoist dodged to the side, but Yue Shi trickily grabbed a handful of his long white hair!
Rip!
A clump of white hair was forcibly torn off by Yue Shi, along with the scalp, and held in his hand.
The Resonant Daoist winced in pain, his movements faltering slightly. The fire of rage in his eyes grew even hotter, but the priority of seizing the boy was higher.
A Rank 4 transcendent from birth—even if he was dead, his corpse had immense value for recovery and research.
“Damn brat, you never listen and always run around. Now you’ve finally failed spectacularly, haven't you?”
“The people outside aren't as kind as headquarters; they won't indulge your every foul habit.”
The Resonant Daoist grumbled in his heart as he scooped up the small body and pointed a finger at the long sword stuck in the ground.
Clang! The long sword let out a clear ring and flew out automatically, hovering in mid-air.
Holding the boy, The Resonant Daoist leaped onto the blade and soared away on the sword, turning into a streak of light that rushed into the distance.
The explosions in Fluorite Valley still hadn't stopped. The Resonant Daoist glanced at the child in his arms. Every single tooth had been smashed, and the tongue had been pulled out. The boy’s face was contorted, looking as if he had died from the sheer pain.
Yue Shi was more sinister than he had imagined.
The Resonant Daoist couldn't help but look back.
Amidst the flames, Yue Shi was also looking up at him. There was no sign of anger on his face; instead, he wore a smile as if a scheme had succeeded.
The Resonant Daoist’s eyelids twitched, and an ominous premonition surged in his heart.
In the next second...
Bang!
The brat exploded.
The corpse had been booby-trapped, which was why a complete body had been left behind.
A fireball erupted in mid-air, and fragments of the human body scattered in all directions.
Yue Shi toyed with the clump of white hair in his hand, standing below and looking up at the night sky.
Flesh fireworks were truly beautiful.
Rate on N.U.
