Skeletal Nightmare Beast!

Meng Bo wore a hooded trench coat, his hands in his pockets and his expression gloomy.

"Bang~"

Lin Xia landed on both feet, his gaze icy.

"Shh—!"

Before Lin Xia could speak, Meng Bo cut him off. "I know you have a lot of questions, but I won't answer them. I came to find you just to remind you—

You and I both have secrets we can't let others know. You should understand that Great Xia's laws only permit Awakeners to cause deaths during duels.

So you're not stupid enough to tell anyone that you've killed a partner, are you?"

"You..." Lin Xia thought for a moment, then changed his wording. "To be precise, this body of yours isn't my partner!"

"Understood."

Meng Bo nodded and gave him a meaningful smile. "Then it's time to take care of business. It might hurt a little, so bear with it."

"What?"

Lin Xia furrowed his brow, looking utterly confused.

But Meng Bo said nothing more. His figure flashed, and in an instant he was right in front of Lin Xia.

His chest began to writhe, as if something were about to burst out of it.

"Pfft—!"

Before Lin Xia could react, four scarlet tentacles shot out of Meng Bo's chest and bound Lin Xia's limbs tightly.

"...Damn it!"

Lin Xia used all his strength, but still couldn't break free.

"What a shame. I could've had a much better 'vessel'..."

Meng Bo licked his lips, his expression full of longing and regret. "Who would've thought you'd actually make it out of the Artificial Secret Realm alive?!"

"It was you! You did this!" Lin Xia roared. "Do you know how many innocent people died in the Secret Realm? How many families were left..."

"Oh, I didn't know you had such a compassionate heart. How come you didn't think about their families when you killed Zhang Heng and Meng Bo?"

As he spoke, Meng Bo opened his mouth. His tongue stretched longer and longer—it was no longer a human tongue. Rings of gears covered its tip.

"Pfft!"

The long, gear-covered tongue pierced Lin Xia's neck.

"Argh—!"

Lin Xia let out a scream, but soon his eyelids drooped and he fell unconscious.

"Glug, glug—"

Blood flowed through the tongue and into Meng Bo's mouth.

Three seconds later.

"Thud~!"

Meng Bo retracted his tentacles, and Lin Xia fell to the ground.

As his tongue gradually shrank back to its normal size and disappeared into his mouth,

Meng Bo returned to his "human" form.

But a wicked grin remained on his face.

The next moment, with a thought, Meng Bo's entire body "exploded" with a bang.

A bloody, shapeless lump of flesh appeared on the ground.

It was a dull, dark red all over, its surface lumpy and covered in slick, sticky tissue. Several writhing tentacles pushed their way out from its folds, their tips smeared with viscous saliva. Every contraction made a wet, sticky sound, as if flesh were adhering to flesh. It looked foul and grotesque.

Soon, the lump began to grow and rearrange itself at a rapid pace, gradually taking the shape of a person.

That person was "Lin Xia"!

Looking down at Lin Xia, who lay unconscious on the ground, "Lin Xia" wore a malicious smile.

Then he fired an Energy Bullet, destroying the clothes and debris on the ground.

The next moment, he rose into the air and flew away.

Inside the Otherworld Combat Room at Huajing University.

Qin Tianyu looked at the three training robots standing opposite him, rolled his neck, and disdainfully pulled out a golden Card.

"Transform—Skeletal Nightmare Beast!!"

At his command, the Card inscribed with [Transformation Card] immediately turned into a beam of light and shot into Qin Tianyu's brow.

The next moment, his body began to swell.

His skin and tissue vanished at a visible pace, while the bones throughout his body began to mutate.

Before long, a fifteen-meter-tall Skeletal Behemoth stood in his place.

Then it nodded to Principal Tao, who looked tiny beside it.

"Understood!"

Principal Tao, standing before a bank of instruments, immediately activated the robots' attack program.

"Whirr, whirr, whirr—"

The three robots each pulled out a Gatling gun and aimed them at the Skeletal Nightmare Beast.

"Bang, bang, bang!!"

As bullets roared out like a torrential downpour, the Skeletal Nightmare Beast made no attempt to defend itself.

It let the bullets strike its body.

But as they hit the Skeletal Nightmare Beast, Principal Tao noticed that Qin Tianyu's health hadn't changed at all.

Instead, the durability of the three robots was plummeting at a visible pace!

Even so, the robots kept firing with all their might, as though they hadn't noticed a thing.

They continued until their durability reached zero.

"Crackle, crackle, crackle..."

After the three robots broke down, Principal Tao clapped his hands, his face bright with satisfaction and anticipation. "As your strength has increased, the Skeletal Nightmare Beast's damage-reflection speed has grown several times stronger too!"

At his words, Qin Tianyu, who had already returned to human form, said nothing. He stared quietly at the panel.

[Skeletal Nightmare Beast: Transformation lasts 10 minutes. Attack power greatly increased. During this time, gains the 'Damage Reflection' ability. After transformation ends, all attributes are reduced by 80% for 10 minutes.]

[Damage Reflection (Passive): 100% of all damage received is reflected onto the attacker. The attacker feels no pain in response. Unless they actively check their own panel, they will not notice their health decreasing.]

Qin Tianyu knew that his transformation had a fatal weakness.

If his opponent chose not to attack him and instead waited out the transformation,

he would become a plaything, at their mercy.

But Qin Tianyu confidently believed that no one would be clever enough to guess his weakness.

He even thought Lin Xia wouldn't last until he transformed!

"Imperial University—you don't deserve the title of 'number one school'!!"

Qin Tianyu's gaze turned vicious, his voice trembling. "Your so-called noble 'elimination system' cost my beloved older sister her life..."

"Boom!!"

Qin Tianyu slammed his fist into the wall. "Stripping you of your title is only the beginning. One day, I'll kill every last one of you!!"

As he spoke, his expression changed, and his eyes reddened. "Sis..."

The tall pine trees swayed precariously in the wind.

A ripe pinecone dropped from a branch.

"Thud~"

It struck Lin Xia in the face with a sharp crack.

The next moment, Lin Xia's eyelids struggled open.

He looked up at the crisscrossing branches overhead. His pupils instantly contracted, and he sprang to his feet, warily scanning his surroundings.

Only after confirming that Meng Bo's "energy" was nowhere to be found did he let out a breath of relief.

Lin Xia walked to a puddle and looked at his unharmed neck in its reflection. He swallowed.

"Wasn't my neck pierced by those disgusting tentacles?

How come there isn't even a mark?

And... what the hell is that thing?!"

As Lin Xia stood there, eyes bloodshot and utterly baffled,

a "whoosh~" sounded behind him.

The entrance to the Secret Realm had refreshed after its cooldown.