Slaying the Viper

The second-floor corridor was thick with the stench of smoke, a filthy mix of cheap perfume and sweat. The heavy crimson carpet swallowed the sound of footsteps, but it could not muffle the frenzied howls, crisp clatter of chips, and affected coquettish laughter drifting from the private rooms on either side.

Lin Xiao prowled like a shark stalking the bottom of a filthy river, concealing his presence to the utmost. Every movement precisely avoided the drunken patrons and servers who occasionally staggered out of the private rooms. The -2.010 ghostly glow in his mind flickered like a candle guttering in the wind, each flash bringing the illusion that his soul was about to collapse. The icy numbness in his right leg had spread to his hip, and every step felt like dragging a thousand-pound iron shackle.

Yet his gaze was terrifyingly cold and sharp. All his pain and exhaustion had been compressed into a single burning, frenzied glint of frost deep within his pupils.

Southeast corner. The thickest private-room door, inlaid with vulgar golden patterns. Two guards stood outside it, their auras clearly far more formidable than the cannon fodder downstairs. Their eyes were vicious, and their temples bulged high. They were at least at the Martial Disciple peak, perhaps with one foot already across the threshold of a Martial Artist.

The Viper was inside. Based on Ye Qingyan's intelligence and the faint roars from within—suppressed with barely restrained fury—there was no doubt.

A frontal assault? In his current state, it would be suicide.

Lin Xiao's gaze swept over the slowly rotating surveillance camera in the corner of the corridor ceiling, its red light blinking. It then passed over the bulging holsters at the guards' waists before finally landing on his nearly numb right leg.

He needed a greater disturbance, one that could instantly draw everyone's attention and even force the Viper to expose an opening himself!

His will once again sank with difficulty into the azure-blue screen that was on the verge of collapse. This time, the target was no simple circuit or door lock.

Command confirmed! Targets: second-floor core power-supply lines (overload), fire-sprinkler system (false activation), data streams from all surveillance cameras (interference)... Execute synchronized interference: overload and burn, flooding, static screens! Source Energy Points consumed: 0.8!

Source Energy Points: -2.010 - 0.8 = -2.810!

Modification initiated!

"Pfft—!"

This time, Lin Xiao could no longer suppress it. A mouthful of scalding blood suddenly sprayed from his lips, splattering across the crimson carpet and instantly spreading into a dark-brown stain! Darkness and blood completely swallowed his vision. All he could hear was the roar of rushing blood and the frenzied, mocking beat of the Viper's Kiss core! He nearly collapsed on the spot, barely keeping himself upright by clawing desperately at the wall with his left hand.

Warning! Core on the verge of disintegration! Loss of consciousness imminent! Viper's Kiss contamination nearing loss of control! Erosion rate: 0.1%!

The response from the real world was total chaos, as if hell had descended.

Boom! Crackle—!

The lights throughout the second-floor corridor and every private room suddenly blazed at full intensity before exploding one after another! Short-circuited wires erupted in enormous sparks, setting the luxurious wallpaper and carpets ablaze! Thick smoke instantly filled the air!

Woooo—woooo—woooo—!

The shrill fire alarm was forcibly triggered, making everyone's scalp prickle! The sprinkler heads in the ceiling spun madly like lunatics, spraying water without warning! Cold, murky streams crashed down over everyone's heads, instantly turning the splendid corridor into a watery hell!

The screens of every surveillance camera were instantly overwhelmed by violent static and garbled code!

"Fire! Damn it! What the hell is going on?!"

"The circuits blew! Run!"

"Help! Who stepped on me?!"

"My chips!"

The entire second floor instantly erupted! Terrified screams, furious roars, frantic footsteps, and the crashes of collapsing and shattering objects blended into one cacophony! Like headless flies, people poured out of the private rooms, pushing and trampling one another in the crossfire of thick smoke, flames, and icy water!

Outside the private-room door, the two guards were also dumbfounded by the sudden disaster! One instinctively reached for his gun, while the other frantically tried to push open the door and check on the Viper!

Now!

With the last shred of his willpower, Lin Xiao forced his nearly paralyzed body into motion. Like a ghostly shadow, he charged against the fleeing crowd toward the golden door!

Just as one guard's hand was about to touch the doorknob, Lin Xiao's dagger shot out like a viper from its hole and precisely slashed open his wrist! Blood sprayed everywhere! The other guard had only just drawn his gun when the chaotic crowd slammed into him, knocking him to the ground. Countless feet trampled over him as he let out a shrill, agonized howl!

Without even looking at him, Lin Xiao kicked the heavy private-room door, which had lost its electronic lock function and was only ajar.

Bang!

The door was kicked open!

The scene inside came into view. The room was extravagantly decorated yet unbearably vulgar, and the air reeked of cigars and expensive liquor. It was now a complete mess. Bottles and wineglasses lay shattered across the floor, while several scantily dressed women huddled in a corner, screaming. In the center of the room, a middle-aged man in a dark-purple silk shirt, with a sinister face and a savage scar at the corner of his eye—the Viper—rose abruptly from behind a massive gambling table. His face was filled with shock, fury, and savagery! A powerful energy fluctuation, far beyond that of a One-Star Martial Artist, radiated from him—Two-Star! He really was a Two-Star Martial Artist!

"Who?!" The Viper's roar exploded like thunder, overpowering the chaos outside! He clearly thought an enemy had taken advantage of the disorder to storm in and kill him!

But when he saw the drenched youth standing in the doorway, his face pale as a ghost, blood still at the corner of his mouth, his aura so faint he seemed ready to drop dead at any moment, yet gripping a dagger radiating an ominous ghostly glow, the fury and shock on his face instantly transformed into utter disbelief—and rage at being humiliated!

"Y-You little bastard?!" The Viper could hardly believe his eyes! The rat he had thought should have been crushed to death in some filthy underground ditch had not only survived but dared to come knocking at his door?! And at a time like this?!

"Die!" The Viper flew into a complete rage, too enraged even to consider whether the chaos outside had anything to do with this brat! The overwhelming might of a Two-Star Martial Artist erupted. Purple poisonous True Qi poured from his body like a tangible mist, carrying a corrosive stench! He punched toward Lin Xiao from across the room! The fist wind was razor-sharp, and everywhere it passed, the air hissed as it was corroded by poison!

I can't take it head-on! Even a graze will kill me!

Lin Xiao's pupils shrank to pinpoints! His instinct to survive squeezed out the last of his strength! He abruptly threw himself sideways, narrowly dodging the lethal poisonous punch! The fist wind skimmed across his back, corroding the wall behind him into a charred, blackened crater!

The Viper grew even more furious when his strike missed. He moved, pouncing toward Lin Xiao, who had fallen and had yet to rise. Like a ghost, he lunged forward, his claw cloaked in purple poisonous mist stabbing straight toward Lin Xiao's heart! Too fast! The angle was too vicious!

There was no way to dodge!

A crazed, resolute glint flashed through Lin Xiao's eyes. Now!

Command confirmed! Target: reinforced dagger (dark cyan)... Temporarily attach "high-frequency particle vibration" armor-piercing attribute! Duration: 1.5 seconds! Source Energy Points consumed: 0.8!

Source Energy Points: -2.810 - 0.8 = -3.610!

Modification initiated!

The azure-blue screen in his mind let out a strained wail like shattering glass, then completely dimmed! Lin Xiao felt as if his soul had been drained and crushed to pieces! His consciousness blurred instantly, leaving only his final obsession to hold him upright!

The dark-cyan dagger in his hand suddenly erupted with a blinding azure-blue light! The sharp hum produced by its high-frequency vibration, almost beyond the range of human hearing, caused every glass object in the room to explode! The air around the blade twisted!

Final command confirmed! Target: Viper... Protective True Qi (corrosive poison attribute)... Operating node: "Shanzhong acupoint"... Create an energy turbulence and vacuum collapse lasting 0.05 seconds! Source Energy Points consumed: 0.6!

Source Energy Points: -3.610 - 0.6 = -4.210!

Ultimate modification initiated! Core overload!!!

Boom!!!

Blood poured from all seven of Lin Xiao's orifices at once! His vision plunged completely into blood-red darkness! He felt that he was already dead! Only the dark-green Viper's Kiss core deep within his right leg seemed to sense its host's total collapse. It beat with an unprecedented, cold rhythm filled with greed and madness, as if it intended to burst out of his body!

In the real world, at the instant the Viper's sure-kill claw, wrapped in violently poisonous True Qi, was about to touch Lin Xiao's heart—

The dense purple protective True Qi circulating without pause at the Shanzhong acupoint on his chest suddenly, bizarrely, and without warning... fluctuated violently! It was as if a boulder had been thrown into a calm lake, or as if a precision engine had suddenly jammed for an instant! An extremely tiny yet genuinely existent... defensive vacuum point abruptly appeared!

0.05 seconds! Perhaps even less!

But for Lin Xiao's final strike, which had burned his soul and poured in every last ounce of his will, that was enough!

"Die!!!"

Lin Xiao released a silent, beastlike roar! Clutching the dagger that emitted destructive ghostly light amid its high-frequency vibration, he used the last of his strength to stab viciously toward that fleeting vacuum point in the True Qi!

Squelch—!!!

It met not the slightest resistance!

The dagger, wrapped in the ghostly light of high-frequency particle vibration, was like a red-hot iron rod cutting through cold butter. It effortlessly tore through the corrosive True Qi that had lost its momentary support and plunged with pinpoint precision into the Viper's chest! It pierced his heart!

The Viper's forward motion abruptly froze! The furious, savage expression on his face instantly solidified, transforming into extreme disbelief and bewilderment! He lowered his head and stared at the dagger almost completely buried in his chest, at the rapidly fading azure-blue glow along its blade, as if unable to understand what had happened.

"H-How could this be..." A wheezing, leaking sound escaped his throat as the purple True Qi instantly collapsed.

Lin Xiao had no strength left to spare. The recoil from the dagger's thrust tore it from his grasp, and he collapsed to the floor, his consciousness sinking into endless darkness.

Confirmed target "Viper" dead... Energy imprint dissipating...

Source Energy Points settlement: +2.5 (defeating a powerful enemy across a major realm)

Source Energy Points: -4.210 + 2.5 = -1.710

Confirmed primary threat at "Blood Wolf Gang stronghold (Obsidian)" purged... Influence settlement: +0.9

Source Energy Points: -1.710 + 0.9 = -0.810

Environmental free energy detected (residual True Qi, fear, killing intent)... Core instinctively absorbing...

Source Energy Points: -0.810 + 0.810 = 0.000!

In his mind, the completely dim azure-blue screen suddenly flickered with a pulse! It was as if a dried riverbed had been filled by a clear spring! The light was faint, but undeniably real!

Source Energy Points: 0.000!

Zeroed out!

That cold number, representing absolute exhaustion and death... vanished!

In its place was something like the rising sun at dawn... a return to zero!

Lin Xiao lay on the cold, slippery floor beside the Viper's gradually cooling corpse. Around him were billowing smoke and flames, splashing icy water, women's screams, and sirens wailing in the distance.

He had completely lost consciousness.

Yet deep within the ruin-like core in his mind, an exceedingly faint, lustrous glow representing new life was slowly beginning to shine.