The Vanishing Boy

The two rushed into the night, the roaring sounds from the hotel lobby gradually fading away behind them.

The aura of the Black-Robed Figure surged in like a tide, neither hurried nor slow, maintaining an eerie, constant distance.

Like a cat stalking its prey in the dark, it doesn't pounce but waits.

Wait until the prey is exhausted, and then wait until it collapses on its own.

Yun Jingheng gritted his teeth and pulled Ye Xinglan through one street after another.

The night of Star Luo City rushed past him on both sides, and the streetlights, shops, and roadside trees all became blurry shadows.

His brain was racing, planning an escape route, calculating the enemy's possible location, and at the same time sensing the moon-attribute aura behind him. It was too close, so close that he could feel the rhythm of the other's breathing.

A figure flashed out from the east alley entrance.

Five Rings, Weapon Soul Master.

A long sword lay across the alley entrance, its blade swirling with dark blue Soul Power, gleaming coldly in the night.

The man didn't say a word, and the knife came crashing down.

The blade's energy carved a deep furrow in the ground, sending shards of stone flying straight towards Yun Jingheng's face.

Yun Jingheng did not slow down; his third Soul Ring flashed— New Moon Assault.

The silvery moonlight enveloped him and Ye Xinglan. As they activated their ethereal state, the blade energy passed through their bodies as if it had struck thin air.

At the same time, his First Soul Ring exploded, and three crescent Crescent Slash detached from the Moonlight Sword, slashing in a fan shape toward the person holding the knife.

The man parried with his sword, Crescent Slash struck the blade, producing a piercing metallic clang. He was thrown back five or six steps, and three shallow cracks appeared on the blade.

Yun Jingheng did not linger in the fight, but brushed past the man and continued forward.

Ye Xinglan glanced back at him; the man with the knife hadn't chased after them.

On the west side of the roof, two figures moved quickly across the tiles, flanking from above.

The two worked together seamlessly, one on the left and one on the right, blocking all of Yun Jingheng's retreat routes upwards.

Ye Xinglan suddenly stopped. She released Yun Jingheng's hand, turned around, and drew her Star Sword.

The sword light drew a silvery-white arc in the night sky, its energy heading straight for the figure on the left.

The man hadn't expected her to suddenly stop and retaliate. He twisted his body forcefully in mid-air and landed awkwardly on the roof next to him, the sound of shattering tiles ringing out crisply in the night air.

The figure on the right did not stop; his target was not Yun Jingheng, but Ye Xinglan.

A short dagger flew down from the roof and headed straight for Ye Xinglan's back.

Yun Jingheng's sword was faster than his eyes.

The Moonlight Sword slashed horizontally, its energy knocking the short dagger away, pinning it to the wall beside it, its hilt still humming.

He didn't turn around to check if Ye Xinglan was injured, because his senses told him that Ye Xinglan was fine.

Her breathing wasn't erratic, her heart wasn't racing; she was just startled.

"I'm fine," Ye Xinglan's voice came from behind him, slightly out of breath.

Yun Jingheng didn't answer, and pulled her along as they continued running.

The third street is wider and brighter.

The streetlights illuminated the entire street as if it were daytime, and the shops on both sides were already closed, their roller shutters covered with graffiti of various colors.

Yun Jingheng slowed his pace here; the street was too quiet.

It was unnaturally quiet; there wasn't even a breeze.

"There's an ambush," he said.

Ye Xinglan didn't speak, but she gripped the Stargod Sword tightly.

Six figures emerged simultaneously from the shadows at both ends of the street.

There were three in front and three in back, all neatly arranged, as if they had rehearsed many times.

Three Four Rings, two fifth ring roads, and one sixth ring road.

The leader was dressed in a dark, close-fitting outfit, and his face was not covered, revealing an ordinary, unremarkable face.

But those eyes were no ordinary eyes; there was no murderous intent, no hostility, only a determination to complete the mission.

Yun Jingheng glanced at the encirclement and quickly calculated the possibility of breaking through.

They were attacked from both sides, with no way out to the left or right, and at least two other people were providing support from a high vantage point on the roof.

If he were to charge in alone, he might have a chance, but with Ye Xinglan in tow, the chances are practically zero.

"Xing Lan." His voice was very low.

"Um."

"When I count to three, you run to the left. The one on the left with Four Rings has the weakest defense; you can defeat him within three sword strikes."

"After you fight them off, don't stop. Keep running to the left, then turn right at the third alley. There's a sewer entrance there; I've already opened the cover."

Ye Xinglan was taken aback. "When did this happen? What are you going to do?"

"Never mind me, go find Aunt Cai."

one.

two.

There was still no exit, Ye Xinglan made a move.

She saw Yun Jingheng's First Soul Ring light up again—Six Crescent Slash, facing backward.

A silvery-white blade of light spread across the night sky, forcing the three pursuers behind him back a few steps, revealing a narrow gap.

Ye Xinglan passed through the gap, and the sword light of the Stargod Sword exploded in the night sky—one sword, two swords, three swords.

Just as Yun Jingheng said, the Four Rings defense on the left was the weakest. During the third sword strike, his protective Soul Power shattered, and he was knocked to the ground by the sword energy.

Ye Xinglan didn't look back, rushed into the alley on the left, and disappeared into the darkness.

Yun Jingheng withdrew his gaze and looked at the six people in front of him.

No, there were seven people. The hidden presence on the rooftop finally appeared, leaping down from the height and landing on the outer edge of the encirclement. Arms crossed, eight Soul Ring surrounded him, and he coldly watched everything unfold.

Soul Douluo.

Yun Jingheng's pupils contracted slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

His fingers reached into his pocket and found the Soul Guidance Communicator, pressing the emergency call button he had never pressed before.

The communicator emitted a very faint beep, the sound of a signal being sent, as long as he could hold out until reinforcements arrived.

But the next instant, the Eight-Ring Soul Douluo flicked his finger, and a dark cyan Soul Power shot into Yun Jingheng's wrist.

The Soul Guidance Communicator flew out of his hand, landed on the ground, and was crushed by a foot.

The owner of that foot was the team leader from the Sixth Ring Road. He kicked the fragments of the communicator to the side of the road with a blank expression, as if he had done something insignificant.

Yun Jingheng stared at the pile of shards on the ground and remained silent for a second.

Then he looked up at the night sky.

The sky above Star Luo City was covered with thick clouds, obscuring the moon.

But he could sense the moon was behind the clouds, cold, bright, and far away.

His fifth Soul Ring, that red Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring that had never shone in the Star Luo Empire before, slowly began to pulsate, like a sleeping heart beginning to beat again.

A crimson light rose from beneath his feet, turning the entire street a dark red, as if someone had poured a bucket of blood from the sky.

The six Black-Robed Figure stopped in their tracks simultaneously.

It wasn't that they wanted to stop, but the oppressive force was too strong, so strong that their bodies instinctively resisted moving forward.

Even the seventh-ring Soul Saint frowned slightly, lowered his arms from his chest, leaned forward slightly, and entered a battle stance.

Yun Jingheng's eyes changed.

His pupils, which were originally black, turned dark red, like two drops of congealed blood.

Something was gathering in my eyes, warm and slowly sliding down from the corner of my eye. It wasn't blood, it was moonlight, liquid moonlight compressed to its extreme.

A tear slid down his cheek, lingered on his chin for less than half a second, and then fell.

The moment the first tear fell to the ground, the entire street lit up.

Blood-Colored Wave spread outwards from its point of impact, like a pebble thrown into a calm pool of blood. Wherever the ripples passed, a dark red film of light appeared on the ground, upon which flowed twisted, ancient runes that did not belong to this era.

The waves engulfed the streets, the streetlights, and the walls of the buildings on both sides, turning an area of hundreds of meters into a blood-red ocean.

The moment the six Black-Robed Figure were engulfed by the wave, they all went blind simultaneously—not because something blocked their vision, but because sight itself vanished.

All they could see was a thick, opaque dark red, as if someone had soaked their eyeballs in blood.

It's not just blindness.

They felt their life force draining away, slowly and irresistibly slipping from their bodies, like sand slipping through their fingers.

What's even more terrifying is their defense. Their Soul Power shields are still there, their Battle Armor is still there, and their Martial Soul Possession, but these things are becoming meaningless.

Every second, the curse eroded their defenses, peeling away the shields layer by layer, like someone sanding a wall, one layer, two layers, three layers...

Yun Jingheng stood in the center of the Blood-Colored Wave, tears still streaming from his eyes, but no more falling.

Tears welled up in his eyes, reflecting the light of the Blood Moon, like two stars frozen in amber.

He gripped the Moonlight Sword tightly; the moonlight on the blade was no longer silvery-white, but dark red.

He chose to unleash the second Soul Skill of his fifth Soul Ring, Tears of the Waning Moon Erosion.

The Moonlight Sword slashed down.

A dark red sword aura detached from the sword, flew less than three feet in the air, and then split into five.

The five sword energies continued to fly and split, into ten, twenty, and forty.

Dark red light blades multiplied, spread, and intertwined wildly on the street, like a blood-red storm woven from moonlight.

Each strike of the light blade leaves a Blood Moon shaped mark on the wound, causing the target to instantly lose 15% of their life force.

They were simply erased from this world.

Of the six Black-Robed Figure, three fell to the ground under the first wave of sword energy.

Their bodies had no wounds or bloodstains; they simply lay limp on the ground, as if drained of all their energy, their breathing so faint it was almost imperceptible.

The other two barely held on, but their shields had shattered, and the Blood Moon Mark on their bodies continued to devour their life force.

The sixth-ring leader was the only one still standing, but his legs were trembling. The Blood Moon Curse had stacked up to four layers on him, rendering his defenses almost completely ineffective; any attack could be fatal.

Yun Jingheng did not attack them again.

His gaze passed over the five people and landed on the last Eight-Ring Soul Douluo.

That person was the only one unaffected by the Blood Moon tide, not because he was particularly strong, but because he used a spatial-like power to move away.

He stood at the end of the street, looking at the blood-red battlefield, his expression changing from indifference to solemnity.

He raised his right hand.

A dark purple Soul Power condensed, concentrated, and compressed to its limit in his palm.

Yun Jingheng could sense the power of that attack; it was beyond his ability to withstand.

Even with the boost from his fifth Soul Skill and the weakening effect of the Blood Moon Curse, the gap between him and Soul Douluo remains a chasm.

A silver-white Battle Armor emerged from his body, covering his entire body and protecting every vital point.

On the breastplate of his armor, a crescent-shaped mark glowed; it was the power of his Martial Soul Origin, the moon's final protection of this young man.

He reached into the Soul Tool at his waist and pulled out three round cannonballs.

Level 6 Fixed Soul Guidance Cannonball.

The Second Soul Ring lights up.

Moonlight Protection.

A Moonlight Barrier radiated outwards from him, forming a blood-red light shield with a diameter of ten meters.

At the edge of the barrier, a gravitational field was activated, forcibly pulling everything within a ten-meter radius, including the dark purple sphere of light in front of him that was about to complete its condensation, toward him.

Soul Douluo was clearly caught off guard by Yun Jingheng's actions, and in his panic, his attack exploded inside the barrier.

Boom! The moment the two forces collided, Yun Jingheng simultaneously detonated the three level-six Fixed Soul Guidance Cannonball in his hand.

The explosion of three cannonballs, the attack of Soul Douluo, and the barrier Moonlight Protection —three Destruction energies erupted at the same time and place, squeezing, devouring, and amplifying each other.

The shockwave spread outwards from Yun Jingheng, leveling the buildings on both sides of the street, creating a giant crater hundreds of meters in diameter, and turning everything within a radius of more than 800 meters into dust.

Yun Jingheng's body was sent flying by the shockwave like a leaf caught in a gale.

His Battle Armor was shattering, and pieces of the colored armor peeled off his body, turning into specks of light and dissipating in the air.

His Moonlight Protection Shield cracked like a spiderweb under the shockwave, and then shattered.

The moment the shield shattered, a ring of silvery-white light exploded from his body and spread outwards.

That's because when the Moonlight Protection in Blood Moon state shattered, it triggered six additional effects simultaneously, as well as --0.5 seconds of invincibility.

However, without the removal of those six effects, the careless Soul Douluo was blasted into dust by three level-six Fixed Soul Guidance Cannonball that exploded simultaneously.

That 0.5 seconds was the only reason he survived.

The shockwave's power sent him flying the instant his invincibility ended, so fast that his body left a white sonic boom trail in the air.

He felt like a cannonball being fired, everything around him rushing past—streets, buildings, streetlights, trees—everything became blurry shadows, then even blurrier dots of light, and then nothing at all.

He didn't know how far he had flown.

It could be one kilometer, it could be two kilometers, it could be even further.

His consciousness began to blur in mid-air, the Blood Moon state faded, the light of his fifth Soul Ring gradually dimmed, his pupils changed from dark red back to black, and the tears in his eyes finally dried.

The wind whistled past his ears, and the night view of Star Luo City rushed past him.

He saw the city's boundary, saw that beyond the city lay a wilderness, and beyond the wilderness lay a mountain range.

Then he saw something that shouldn't have been there: a crack.

A thin, dark purple slit stretched across his path of fall, like a torn wound hanging in mid-air.

Something was surging within the crack—neither light nor darkness, but something that didn't belong to this world and couldn't be described in words.

It's as if someone has torn a hole in the curtain of the world, revealing what's behind it.

Yun Jingheng couldn't control himself.

His body crashed into the crack at an unimaginable speed.

Then everything disappeared.

The crack has closed.

Nothing remained in the night sky above Star Luo City.

There was no blood, no trace, and no Yun Jingheng.

Only the sound of the wind blowing across the wilderness and the faint clamor of the distant city could be heard.