Beast Speech in the Void Realm

At this moment, Li Yèlái could clearly feel a power surging into his body and brain from within the Void Realm.

Psionic energy permeated his muscles, meridians, and bones, strengthening his physique bit by bit.

He gained greater strength and faster reactions.

If he were to fight the Lance Knight again, Li Yèlái would have the confidence to clash head-on even without using his masks.

This brought joy to Yang Chén, Cheese, and the others outside.

From the instrument readings, they could tell that Li Yèlái's physique and psionic energy had begun to increase.

This meant Li Yèlái had passed through the Soul Well and overcome the moment when he was most susceptible to corruption by the Void Realm's power.

"Very good," Yang Chén sighed in relief. "Now, we just need to be wary of Void Realm creatures until he gains new abilities and completes his promotion."

"That's where we come in," a team member chuckled.

"Indeed. Cheese and Team Three, along with Puppet, you'll continue to guard here for support," Yang Chén smiled. "The rest of you, come with me to the Void Realm for a visit! Let's see who dares to disturb the Night General!"

"As it should be!"

Subsequently, nearly ten psionic users projected their consciousness into the Soul Well. Ornate, beautiful, and solemn psionic projections appeared in the starry sky of the Void Realm, guarding against any potential Void Realm creatures.

Yang Chén's psionic projection was a golden-armored giant dozens of meters tall. He looked towards a distant direction emitting a dense mist.

That was Li Yèlái's location in the Void Realm.

Yang Chén narrowed his eyes slightly, warily scanning his surroundings.

He wasn't just guarding against Void Realm creatures; he also intended to probe the potential presence behind Li Yèlái.

Unfortunately, he saw nothing unusual.

"Hiding so deeply?" Yang Chén mused.

Moreover, he felt something was off about this starry sky, though he couldn't pinpoint what.

Meanwhile, on the other side, after passing through the Soul Well, Li Yèlái saw the starry sky flicker. Countless stars descended, and a power surged into his body.

"Is this the ability I'm about to gain?" Li Yèlái thought, then suddenly asked, "Mr. Shadow, what ability will I get?"

Even though it was random, for Li Yèlái, random meant the worst.

His luck was so bad that even a magic potion might not be effective.

Therefore, he decided to seek Mr. Shadow's advice.

In an instant, the starry sky trembled, and the power about to merge into Li Yèlái's body was forcibly halted.

At the same time, a voice echoed in Li Yèlái's mind.

'Oh? A trade?' Mr. Shadow's tone was calm.

"No, you're really stingy! How can you expect me to think highly of you when you're this stingy?" Li Yèlái complained. He asked for help choosing an ability, and you want to trade?

Isn't this considered after-sales service?

Li Yèlái naturally wouldn't agree to a trade. Judging by the number of chains, he only had three trades left with Black Shadow.

He had to be cautious and save them for the most critical life-or-death moments. These were equivalent to three life-saving opportunities. No, considering the dire consequences if all chains broke, he only had two chances left.

Given Mr. Shadow's strength in defeating the Ghost Immortal, he was likely on par with any King of the Forbidden Zone. Such a trade couldn't be wasted.

As for the ability itself, Li Yèlái wasn't too concerned. It would be great to have a powerful one, but it wouldn't be a problem if he didn't. Myriad Faces was already very strong.

For the third and fourth awakenings, he could just use magic potions; there was no need to use a trade.

Li Yèlái calculated meticulously. As he refused, The starlight descended again, and the power within his body flowed.

Information naturally appeared in his mind, and Li Yèlái immediately mastered this power.

Simultaneously, the mist under the starry sky dissipated, and Li Yèlái's Void Realm projection appeared in the sight of all the handlers present!

"Good, the Night General's projection has appeared. The promotion is complete!" a psionic projection chuckled. "Let's go back and congratulate him."

"Mhm," Yang Chén nodded slightly. After gazing at the Void Realm's starry sky once more, he left the Void Realm.

He didn't know that after they disappeared, The closest giant red star slowly moved, like an eyeball.

When Li Yèlái opened his eyes in the room, he was greeted by a round of applause.

The handlers who had returned to the physical world first applauded enthusiastically.

Puppet also happily raised a sign: [Success! (o▽)o]

"Congratulations!" The handlers smiled, congratulating their colleague on his promotion and celebrating humanity gaining another combat power.

Li Yèlái smiled and nodded in response, and even made a greeting gesture to Puppet. However, his expression was rather strange.

After he left the room and met up with Yang Chén and the others, Cheese had asked, "Why the long face, kid? What ability did you get?"

At the same time, <Puppet> raised a billboard to offer comfort: "Is your ability not that good? (ω)(._.`)"

"It's <Void Realm> <Beast Speech>," <Li Yèlái> replied with a dejected face. "I really can't judge by appearance!"

Everyone was stunned, then found it rather amusing.

<Void Realm> <Beast Speech>, also known as <Beast Speech>.

This was a potential ability for psionics on the Myriad Manifestations and Babbling paths during their second awakening.

Its effect was to allow a significant degree of command over animals, even enabling communication with extraordinary creatures.

Of course, the control wasn't overly precise.

If you asked a monkey to code, you'd probably just get a keyboard-smashing result.

This was considered a support-type ability.

Psionics who gained this ability often used animals to gather intelligence or assist in combat.

For example, having pigeons scout enemy positions from high above. Ordering venomous snakes to attack enemies. Commanding wolf packs to surround and attack foes.

Or even having countless ant legions crawl onto an enemy's body and tear at them.

It seemed powerful.

However, it could only deal with ordinary people. For psionics, regular animals posed little threat.

Protected by psionic barriers, they could even withstand bullets. They could escape even if surrounded and gnawed by a pack of lions.

Moreover, the strength of this ability was tied to the combat environment.

Since the Calamity descended, humanity was forced to defend <Giant City>, and vast swathes of the outside world became a paradise for beasts.

The ecological environment was terrifyingly healthy.

Using <Void Realm> <Beast Speech> in the wilderness might even summon a pack of beasts, making it a force to be reckoned with.

But within <Giant City>, the most common animals were pet dogs, cats, or rats in the corners.

This significantly reduced its combat effectiveness.

Of course, theoretically, if the user met certain conditions, this ability could indeed command extraordinary creatures.

If there was support from truly extraordinary creatures, they could pose a threat to psionics. Some dangerous high-level extraordinary creatures might even require an entire army to suppress.

But to achieve that, would one have to keep a dangerous extraordinary creature around all the time?

More importantly, for psionics to command extraordinary creatures, their projection within the <Void Realm> needed to be sufficiently powerful.

<Lava Mine City> had a super-strong psionic on the Babbling path who, with <Void Realm> <Beast Speech>, controlled a colossal volcanic beast.

They fed the giant beast while earning money from the minerals it expelled.

When necessary, they could even summon the beast's projection to fight in the physical world.

This was also why <Lava Mine City> was so wealthy. While other <Giant City>s dispatched tactical squads and psionics to eliminate <Void Realm> creatures, they directly carpet-bombed with molten bombs and plasma cannons, then sent in squads to clean up.

This seemed ideal, but such opportunities were rare and unpredictable, and required considerable strength.

Otherwise, rashly approaching an extraordinary creature wouldn't result in control, but rather the creature might feel a bit too full.

These various limitations led most psionics to view <Void Realm> <Beast Speech> as a rather useless support skill.

"My luck really is no good," <Li Yèlái> grumbled. "Without elixirs, I can only get a useless ability."

<Li Yèlái> had anticipated this. Even without using his ability and triggering his E-rank luck, his fortune wouldn't be any better.

Given his luck of never winning a "buy one get one free" when buying drinks, getting this ability was entirely within expectations.

"<Void Realm> <Beast Speech>," <Yáng Chén> mused, then replied, "Your current awakening rank might not be enough, but there's still hope later on."

<Li Yèlái>'s eyes lit up. "Elaborate!"

"For example, that guy Furnace also has <Void Realm> <Beast Speech>. Later, he formed a partnership with a strange spectral wolf that was imprisoned at headquarters. He can use <Beast Speech> to summon the spectral wolf's projection to fight. Of course, this is related to his strength. You probably can't do this yet, but you can try. Maybe you'll get lucky?"

"Lucky? Captain, are you serious?" <Li Yèlái> complained, feeling that anything related to luck had nothing to do with him.

His teammates also chuckled. <Li Yèlái>'s terrible luck was said to have reached the logistics department.

"But why does our Handling Department have a living anomaly?" <Li Yèlái> asked.

"Most extraordinary creatures are sources of materials for elixirs or psionic armament, so we wanted to try breeding them. Otherwise, going to the edge of or even into the forbidden zones every time is too dangerous. Unfortunately, the breeding results haven't been very good."

<Yáng Chén> explained, "As for anomalies that cannot be effectively eliminated, they are suppressed by us.

The spectral wolf Captain Furnace has, for instance, is a derivative of a forbidden item. If the forbidden item isn't destroyed, it will keep reviving. So, we can only suppress it. That's still too far off for you. To be safe, try to check it out after your third awakening."

Seeing <Li Yèlái> nod, <Yáng Chén> continued, "However, since you've successfully completed your second awakening, the most important thing now is to get used to your enhanced body and psionic energy."

"Okay, I'll spar with the Twin Blade Knight tomorrow," <Li Yèlái> replied. The Twin Blade Knight was very strong and a good training partner.

"Good, make plenty of preparations," <Yáng Chén> smiled. "In a few days, it will be our turn to guard <Black Prison>. Get familiar with your abilities as much as possible in these few days."

Guarding <Black Prison> was a rotating duty for every team. Certain forbidden items constantly emitted danger, and some even attempted to escape.

This was not a task to be taken lightly.

After a few more instructions, <Yang Chen> and his team dispersed, heading off to their respective tasks.

<Cheese>, however, remained, bantering with <Li Yelai>. "Good thing I had my third awakening a few days ago, or you would have surpassed me. Let's go, I'll take you back. Tell your sister you'll be spending a month in <Black Prison> with a pretty senior. Hehehe~~"

"I feel like there's something wrong with what you're saying, you pervert!" <Li Yelai> retorted, then said to <Puppet> beside him, "Well then, <Puppet>, I'll be going now."

For some reason, <Puppet> seemed a bit distracted, a little lost.

A second later, the signboard was raised.

[Okay~~ Be careful in <Black Prison> (_)]

'This emoticon seems a bit strange, doesn't it?'

<Li Yelai> thought, then spoke, "I'll be counting on you from now on."

This was something he had discussed with <Puppet> beforehand: after <Li Yelai> entered <Black Prison>, <Puppet> would help look after <Li Yunyan>.

Although the family apartment had a meal delivery service, it was still more reassuring to ask a familiar acquaintance.

Suddenly, <Puppet> became full of energy, and words reappeared on the signboard.

[Don't worry, I'll definitely keep your sister plump and fair! (ノ≧≦)ノ]

<Cheese>, watching from the side, raised a delicate eyebrow and glanced at <Puppet> with a strange look.

She patted <Puppet>'s head through the costume and then left with <Li Yelai>.

After they left, <Puppet> began to pace anxiously.

[What to do? What to do (;Д｀)]

The next three days.

<Li Yelai> first informed the antique shop owner that he would be leaving <Giant City> for a month and had to resign.

The antique shop owner, <Lao Jin>, was shocked and suspected <Li Yelai> was planning to jump ship.

After a moment's consideration, he replied to <Li Yelai>, telling him not to resign for now and to discuss it upon his return in a month.

This came as a pleasant surprise to <Li Yelai>.

In the following days, <Li Yelai>, disguised as <Druid>, tested <Void Realm>'s <Beast Speech> in streets and alleys.

Whether it was cats, dogs, sparrows, or even flying insects, they could all be controlled by <Li Yelai>'s commands.

However, there were limitations. If no further commands were heard after a period of time, the target would leave on its own.

In the future, to use this ability, he had to remain within the range where the target could hear his voice.

There was also the matter of command execution.

If he ordered a mouse to charge at a wild cat, the mouse would be very resistant. Although it eventually obeyed, it paused multiple times along the way.

The success rate of issuing commands was related to the target's willpower to resist.

Later, <Li Yelai> discovered another advantage.

That is, using <Void Realm>'s <Beast Speech> alone did not trigger the curse.

In other words, he would only be unlucky when using <Myriad Faces> given by <Mr. Shadow>.

This was good news. If <Li Yelai> acquired more abilities in the future, he might be able to completely shed <Myriad Faces> and thus escape misfortune.

He imagined it: other psychics had to bear curses when using their abilities, but he could use abilities other than the masks without any curse.

It was precisely because of this advantage that <Li Yelai> could use <Void Realm>'s <Beast Speech> at any time.

On the street, <Li Yelai> uttered an obscure phrase: "Come here."

Immediately, a pigeon landed on <Li Yelai>'s shoulder.

<Li Yelai> reached out and petted the pigeon's head, then issued another command.

"Go to my house first, then wait for me at the branch."

The pigeon seemed not to understand. After taking flight, it circled around and returned to <Li Yelai>'s shoulder.

'It seems commands must be given with information the target understands. It doesn't know my house or the location of the branch, so it can't execute the order.' <Li Yelai> thought, and continued to command, "Go get me three leaves."

This time, the pigeon flew away, returning quickly, but only carrying a fallen leaf in its beak.

'Hmm, as expected. It can't count. Commands must also be within the target's comprehension.' <Li Yelai> thought. After letting the pigeon go.

He then heard a commotion ahead.

Several black luxury cars drove slowly down the road, with countless young people cheering on both sides.

<Li Yelai> stopped at the edge of the crowd and listened for a while, learning that a band had traveled across the wilderness to <Border City No. 3>.

Local fans had come to welcome them. It was said the lead singer was very handsome.

Upon learning that a ticket cost over eight hundred <Giant City> coins.

<Li Yelai> grimaced.

No wonder this business isn't as profitable as merchant caravans crossing the wilderness, huh?

Complaining inwardly, <Li Yelai> headed towards the branch.

Today was the day he would enter <Black Prison>, so he had to get back early to prepare.

Meanwhile, in one of the luxury cars, a handsome man sat with his eyes closed in the back seat.

Then, as he opened his eyes, a cassette tape inexplicably appeared in his hand.

"It's brought in. <Song of Extinction>."