The fleeing snow lions tore through the asphalt, sending gravel and blood spraying in every direction. The survival instinct of these Level 3 mutant beasts forced their leg muscles to exert a burst of power at their absolute limit.
The wind from their sprint caused abandoned vehicles along the road to rattle and clang. They didn't even have time to look back, focusing solely on running for their lives away from the firelight.
Luo Yang stood his ground. As the night wind carried the pungent scent of gunpowder and scorched meat against his face, he pushed up his slipping plain glass spectacles.
Without moving a step, he casually waved his right hand forward.
Boom!
The air was instantly torn apart as the eighteen Cloud-piercing Spears broke the sound barrier.
Inside his Sea of Consciousness, the leaves of the golden tree swayed frantically, pumping out a massive amount of pure blood energy.
Luo Yang’s precision in controlling weapons had long surpassed anything possible at the Core Consolidation stage.
The sonic booms from the subsonic flight were sharp and ear-piercing, shattering the remaining glass road signs on the viaduct.
Glass shards fell like rain, creating a continuous crisp clatter as they struck the access road below.
Silver radiance sliced through the night sky.
There was no struggle, not even a scream.
Each snow lion was assigned three spears. The tri-edged alloy heads, carrying terrifying piercing power, drove straight through the thick fur they were so proud of.
Heavy shafts snapped spines with a bone-chilling crack, before the spearheads plunged with unerring accuracy into the energy cores hidden deep within their flesh.
The massive bodies crashed to the ground.
Inertia sent them skidding across the bridge surface. The rough concrete scraped away large swaths of flesh, leaving six stark, bloody trails in their wake.
The heat from the friction even ignited some of the fur, and the smell of charring quickly spread, masking the original scent of blood.
Then, they went completely still.
Their life force was severed, and their energy fluctuations returned to silence.
The surroundings became terrifyingly quiet.
Only a few burning cars nearby crackled and popped, accompanied by the steady drip-drop of blood falling into the drainage gutters.
Tang Xuan’s mouth hung slightly open. The small, tasteless bit of pink bubble gum fell onto her collar, leaving a sticky, stringy trail.
She didn’t reach out to pick it off, her eyes fixed intently on the piles of mangled meat.
Li Qiang sat slumped in the pile of broken bricks, his hand still held in the position for releasing Flowing Cloud Stardust, though the silver mist at his fingertips had already dissipated.
He looked at the eighteen heavy spears embedded in the corpses, his throat dry, unable to catch his breath for a long moment.
Near the military’s defensive line, a Punisher with a wounded shoulder wiped the bloody mud from his face.
He spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, which stung his cracked lip and made him grit his teeth in pain.
“What the hell...”
His voice was hoarse, and he didn't even notice the tactical knife falling from his hand. “Was that really done by a human?”
Someone nearby leaned against a sandbag, gasping for air, their chest heaving violently.
“It’s that guy who can manipulate weapons, Luo Yang from the Yuanxing City Ability Bureau! The rumors are true!”
Whispers spread through the crowd as the survivors exchanged glances, their faces filled with disbelief.
Most of the Yuanxing City Ability Bureau had heard of Luo Yang, and combined with his exaggerated record, rumors about him had unknowingly spread throughout the entire professional Punisher circle in Yuanxing City.
Various outrageous accounts of his battles circulated in the streets, but rumors often contained elements of exaggeration.
Many even thought it was just a gimmick created by the Ability Bureau to build up a hero, treating it as nothing more than a joke to share over tea.
Until today.
The reality of him controlling eighty swords simultaneously, followed by eighteen heavy spears flying at subsonic speeds, smashed into their vision, leaving their minds numb from the shock.
They looked at the young man in the white shirt and glasses.
Not a single person would have associated this nerd, who looked like he was about to head to a library to study for grad school entrance exams, with the god of slaughter who had just annihilated six Level 3 snow lions in the blink of an eye.
The contrast was staggering.
Qiu Shubai stood amidst the carnage, the wound at her waist still seeping blood and staining a large portion of her uniform.
The night temperature was high, and the muggy air clung to her skin. Sweat slid over the edges of her wound, bringing bursts of stinging pain.
She sheathed Bloodfall, the blade dissipating into white light. Her breathing was slightly hurried, and her chest rose and fell much faster than usual.
Luo Yang walked over, treading on the shell casings that littered the ground, his footsteps making faint metallic clinking sounds.
He stopped two paces away from Qiu Shubai. The smell of blood mixed with the scent of engine oil swirled between them.
Tang Xuan finally snapped out of it, tearing the bubble gum from her collar and tossing it away before quickly approaching.
“Holy crap... Luo God, that entrance was way too cool!”
Tang Xuan patted the dust off her tank top, leaning in to look Luo Yang over.
“How did you do that just now? Is that your ability? That firepower coverage is even more intense than my Light Flame!”
Li Qiang followed her over and casually tossed a small healing light orb toward Qiu Shubai, ignoring Tang Xuan’s chatter.
He looked at Luo Yang with a hint of scrutiny and wariness in his eyes.
As a support, his perception of energy fluctuations was very keen.
He knew very well just how much mental power and blood energy were required to support that subsonic volley.
Luo Yang gave Tang Xuan a casual response: “It is my ability, but this equipment isn't mine. I just commandeered it on the way here.”
Tang Xuan rolled her eyes and muttered something about being “stinking rich.”
She also knew that the specific details of an ability were a Punisher’s core secret.
Asking directly would definitely yield no answers, so she simply pulled Li Qiang aside to help treat the seriously wounded.
Groans of pain echoed across the defensive line; the medical personnel hadn't fully arrived yet.
The immediate area grew a bit quieter.
“You broke through,” Qiu Shubai spoke up.
It was a statement, her tone flat.
She wasn't as shocked as the others because she had witnessed many of this man’s outrageous methods; the image of him flaying a Shadow rank Heterosequence alive was still etched in her mind.
However, she could clearly feel that the pressure Luo Yang released just now was much heavier than when they were in the Rift’s core area.
That state of effortless ease was absolutely not something a Core Consolidation practitioner could possess.
Luo Yang glanced around. It was a mess, with red and blue police lights flashing in the distance as the rescue convoy tried to clear a path through the debris.
He stepped half a pace closer, his voice very low, just loud enough for her to hear.
“Clear Heart Level 3.”
Qiu Shubai’s eyelashes fluttered slightly. Her ash-white hair obscured the side of her face, making it impossible to see her exact expression.
Going from Core Consolidation Level 9 directly to Clear Heart Level 3—that jump was enough to make the instructors at the academy rewrite their research papers.
She didn’t ask how he did it. Everyone had their trump cards, and prying into them was annoying.
Luo Yang’s gaze fell on the bloodstain at her waist, then swept over her dust-covered tactical boots.
“You’ve changed, too.”
His tone was casual as he pointed to the decapitated bone lizard on the ground.
“The force of that strike just now... a Core Consolidation Level 5 couldn't have pulled that off. Still holding the line while injured like this? How much of a bonus is Old Man Zhang giving you?”
“Core Consolidation Level 7,” she replied.
Qiu Shubai reached out to press down above her wound, her fingertips applying pressure to the bleeding point.
“I’ve been spending a lot of time in the training room lately, either practicing coordination with them or training my blood energy. It was a natural progression.”
She glanced at the dead snow lions. When the night wind blew, the pain from her wound caused her breath to hitch for half a second, and her brow furrowed involuntarily.
“If I hadn't gained those few levels, what I would have left behind today wouldn't have been my clothes, but my life.”
She let go, allowing Li Qiang’s healing light orb to slowly repair the damaged muscle tissue, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Luo Yang chuckled softly.
He tapped the hilt of the Night Owl-Slash at his waist and then brushed the dust off his hands, his movements relaxed, as if he didn't care about the battle that had just occurred at all.
Yan Zhi strolled over holding a crushed cola bottle, habitually grabbing onto the corner of Luo Yang’s shirt.
She looked at the blood on Qiu Shubai’s waist, her dark eyes devoid of emotion as she simply stared at the red stain.
Luo Yang looked at Qiu Shubai, the firelight from the distance reflecting off his plain glass spectacles, masking the sharp glint in his eyes.
“Don't say things like that,” he said.
His voice wasn't loud, blending into the distant sirens and the groans of the wounded, yet it was perfectly clear.
“I'm still standing here; how could you possibly die?”
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