But when he recalled how he'd been sent flying without even seeing the Lesser Anomaly move, and the terrifying damage that had nearly killed him in one hit, Fang Yue immediately faced reality.
"An illusion. It was all an illusion!"
"I saw the Anomaly's strength with my own eyes. I'm an Anomaly enthusiast! Nobody understands Anomalies better than me!"
With that thought, Fang Yue quickened his retreat.
And just then...
Creak—
A sharp, inexplicable metallic sound rang out as something was stepped on and crushed out of shape.
Fang Yue looked down. He'd just flattened one of the fingers on the fallen Buddha statue's giant hand! It was as flat as a little pancake—practically restored to factory settings.
His heart gave a lurch. He looked up again... Outside the Ruined Temple, in the torrential rain, a pair of pitch-black eyes stared fixedly at him.
Shit!
ROAR!!
Fang Yue's thoughts and the Lesser Anomaly's roar came almost at the same time.
Whoosh—
In the next instant, the Lesser Anomaly's body stretched out, seeming to merge with the night. Its head kept extending, stretching farther and farther as it surged into the Ruined Temple. Its gaping maw was almost right in front of him.
"Holy shit!"
Fang Yue swore, completely losing his head. Panicking like crazy, he flailed both hands wildly, turning them into slaps with no technique whatsoever.
What fighting techniques? What combat principles? He'd forgotten every last one. The only thought in his mind was... Anomaly, stay away from me!
In his panic, Fang Yue thought he was done for. Then he suddenly felt the feedback of his right hand smacking into something...
BAM!!
In the next instant, something flashed past his eyes, and a deafening crash erupted from the left side of the Ruined Temple.
-72!
A bright red critical hit number slowly appeared.
W-what happened?
Fang Yue stared ahead in confusion. There was nothing there. The Lesser Anomaly had vanished.
He turned to look to his left.
A huge hole had been torn through the Ruined Temple. Through it, he could see a long trench gouged into the yellow earth outside, with a small shadow lying at the far end.
It looked as if something had been sent flying with a vicious slap, smashed through the Ruined Temple, and dragged a long furrow across the ground before finally coming to a stop.
RUMBLE!
Thunder boomed, lighting up the whole scene.
Outside the Ruined Temple, the Lesser Anomaly's head had been knocked around a hundred and eighty degrees. Black blood streamed from its facial orifices, and its ears had grown long and pointed. It no longer looked human at all.
Yet its expression was surprisingly vivid—it looked utterly dumbfounded.
-1!
-1!
-1!
Damage indicators appeared above the Lesser Anomaly's head. Its health wasn't dropping as rapidly as the Little Female Ghost's had when she was poisoned; the numbers only appeared every so often. Maybe it had a concussion.
Creak, creak.
The Lesser Anomaly used its hands to turn its head back around.
-16!
-12!
-17!
As its health continued to drop, it straightened its head and looked toward Fang Yue.
Beneath the thunder, Fang Yue and the Lesser Anomaly wore remarkably similar expressions. They were both completely dumbfounded.
The thunder faded, and darkness returned.
Fang Yue was the first to snap out of it.
"I... My palm technique is amazing!"
"But what kind of palm technique is this? I don't know any palm techniques!"
"Could this be the legendary principle of defeating technique with no technique? How do you counter a palm technique with no technique? You can't! You can't counter it!"
"System, I get it now!"
Fang Yue confidently beckoned to the Lesser Anomaly with his little finger.
"You... come here!"
ROAR!
The Lesser Anomaly roared and charged at him again, moving so fast it vanished from sight.
Fang Yue panicked and instinctively raised both arms in front of his chest.
THUD!
Something slammed into his arms.
Fang Yue's body shuddered, and a number slowly appeared above his head...
-5!
System notification: Congratulations, player. You successfully [Deflected].
Fang Yue froze.
"?"
In that brief moment, [Night's Breath] had already restored the five points of health he'd lost.
The Lesser Anomaly was dumbfounded too.
It stared blankly at Fang Yue, who was right in front of it.
It seemed unable to understand how the person it had just sent flying with one blow could now stand firm and block its attack.
"That all you've got?"
Fang Yue came to his senses and grinned.
The next moment, he slapped the Lesser Anomaly right on the forehead.
THUNK!
-85!
The tremendous force sent the Lesser Anomaly's head and body crashing into the ground, leaving a shallow crater.
But Fang Yue didn't stop. He avoided the claws on the Lesser Anomaly's stomach, straddled it, and began delivering one slap after another.
"So you're an Anomaly, huh!"
SMACK!
-35!
"You're a BOSS monster, right!"
SMACK!
-32!
"Ever heard of the Great Might Heavenly Dragon?"
SMACK!
-75!
"You piece of trash! Look me in the eye! (shouting)"
SMACK! SMACK! SMACK! SMACK!
-33!
-73!
-83!
-73!
The Lesser Anomaly's health poured away. Just as it was on its last legs and tried to fight back, Fang Yue delivered one final slap to its head.
-120!
The Lesser Anomaly was beaten into the ground and lay motionless.
System notification: Congratulations, player [Night Dawn], you have killed the Anomaly [Nascent Anomaly]. Reward: Force Control +1, Force Deflection +1, and Lifespan +1 hour.
"Dead?"
"It's dead just like that?"
"What a trash mob!"
"Pah!"
Fang Yue got up, muttering curses. In truth, he was panicking like crazy, and his hands were trembling.
It was finally dead!
That scared the hell out of me!
Thinking it over, the thing's health hadn't been low. It was definitely an elite monster, yet this was all the reward he got?
After receiving the rewards for the [Index Finger Ghoul], he'd started looking down on meager rewards like this.
Just then, the [Nascent Anomaly]'s corpse suddenly burst into black flames, making Fang Yue jump. A moment later, the flames faded, leaving only a pile of ashes and empty clothes.
So Anomalies all turned into ashes after they died.
Remembering how the Lesser Anomaly had eaten the [Index Finger Ghoul]'s ashes, Fang Yue felt a little annoyed.
"Let's see what this stuff is actually good for."
Analysis Pupil.
Name: Black Embers Description: Remains left behind after an Anomaly dies. They have a wide range of uses. Note: Well, look at you. You killed an Anomaly.
...That was it?
It had a wide range of uses, but what exactly were they?
Fang Yue looked again, but Analysis Pupil gave him no further information.
Apparently, that was all it could tell him.
"That's it? Human tier? What trash!"
Despite what he said, Fang Yue dutifully wrapped the Black Embers in the clothes on the ground, picked them up, and tossed them into his empty inventory.
Thinking back over the fight, he seemed to have figured out what [Force Control] and [Force Deflection] were all about.
Force Control was simple: using all the strength in your body. That was Force Control.
Force Deflection was simple too. In practice, it meant two forces colliding—in other words... blocking.
But Force Deflection seemed to require him to actually make a blocking motion to deflect the other party's force. Otherwise, attributes were just numbers and wouldn't do anything. That was like when the Lesser Anomaly had slammed him flying at the start, making his health bar vanish.
When Force Deflection succeeded, their attributes would clash, reducing the damage.
Similarly, Force Control could deal full damage if he struck an opponent somewhere they weren't guarding.
Before you continue