Tiger-man Theo's [Great Prophecy]

Pei Chao, sent flying by the blow, rolled repeatedly across the ground. Adjusting his posture mid-roll, he swept his gaze toward the powerfully built Tiger Man.

"Could this be one of those bizarre creatures that attacked Boss Feng?"

Pei Chao wondered inwardly. During these past days of cultivation in the mist alongside Boss Feng, strange monsters had always emerged from the mist because of Boss Feng's curse.

These monsters came in every grotesque shape imaginable. Just yesterday, for example, they had encountered a bizarre sheep-headed giant.

In Pei Chao's eyes, the Tiger Man attacking him should have been a similar kind of monster.

But Pei Chao quickly noticed something different. This Tiger Man seemed to be wearing clothes.

Before he had time to think further, a spear had appeared in the Tiger Man's hand at some point and was already thrusting toward him.

Panicked, Pei Chao raised his machete to clash with the spear.

A tremendous force surged through him. Pei Chao felt his machete nearly fly from his grip. In that instant between life and death, he entered a state of focus, and everything around him seemed to slow down.

"Damn it! I'll chop you to death!"

With an angry roar, Pei Chao crouched slightly to evade the Tiger Man's sweeping spear. His machete changed from a chop to a thrust, aimed straight for the Tiger Man's throat.

The Tiger Man sneered. His spear withdrew like a snake's tongue, using its tip to seal off Pei Chao's path forward.

With Pei Chao's current strength, he could only be toyed with endlessly.

Yet just as the Tiger Man leisurely prepared to force Pei Chao back with his spear, he suddenly discovered that Pei Chao's speed had abruptly increased.

Pei Chao was actually charging into his spear blade?

What was he trying to do?

Just as the Tiger Man was puzzled, Pei Chao turned his body slightly. The spear pierced through Pei Chao's shoulder, while Pei Chao's machete had already stabbed toward the Tiger Man's throat.

Trading injury for life!

Blood spilled...

If Pei Chao's machete had advanced a few more centimeters, it would have killed the Tiger Man. Unfortunately, at the final moment, the Tiger Man clamped Pei Chao's machete with his left arm, which erupted in blue flames.

Blue fire blazed fiercely. Enraged, the Tiger Man crushed the machete in his grip and punched Pei Chao in the abdomen. Blue flames burst out through Pei Chao's back!

Pfft!

After vomiting a mouthful of blood, Pei Chao dropped to one knee, clutching his abdomen as he trembled uncontrollably.

At the same time, the Tiger Man sucked in a sharp breath. He touched the wound on his neck. If he had been even a moment slower, his head might truly have been parted from his body.

Still shaken, the Tiger Man said, "As expected of Pei Chao, the great pirate who will one day roam the Bloodmist Sea. You haven't even fused with bizarre power, yet you can already display such strength. If you had fused with the bizarre a little earlier, I might have been in danger..."

As he spoke, the Tiger Man smiled.

The Tiger Man's name was Theo.

Unlike the Human Race, which ranked at the very bottom among all races and was born inherently deficient, Tiger Men ranked near the top. Every Tiger Man who came into this world received a blessing from the Endless Abyss and gained a random ability.

Theo's blessing was [Great Prophecy], an ability he had once believed was utterly useless.

It was not until he died and discovered that everything he had experienced had shattered like a dream that he understood the power of [Great Prophecy].

After awakening from the dream, he lost the [Great Prophecy] bestowed upon him by the Abyss, but gained an experience akin to rebirth, allowing him to know the course of the future.

In the future, the Human Race, this exceedingly weak race, began to rise.

Of course, Theo did not know how far the Human Race would ultimately rise, because he had not lived that long. He only remembered that several seventh-rank individuals would appear among the Human Race, and the great pirate Pei Chao was one of them.

Tiger-man Theo had come here precisely to subdue Pei Chao.

The Tiger Man race could cultivate a special innate ability. This ability could dominate targets weaker than oneself and was called the [Ghost Servant Art]. It was especially effective against the Human Race.

Theo had decided to turn Pei Chao into his ghost servant.

Originally, he had thought he might need to search for a while before finding Pei Chao. Unexpectedly, after merely circling this town once, he had luckily discovered Pei Chao before he had fully grown.

In fact, the Theo in the dream had once come to Town No. 74396 of the Human Race by a twist of fate.

He had merely arrived in this town a little too late. By then, Pei Chao's group of humans had already undergone [Promotion] and left, so he had never crossed paths with Pei Chao.

Still, he had not gained nothing. Here, he had luckily obtained two treasures, made some contact with the future Azure Ghost King, and gained the friendship of the Azure Ghost Clan.

Yes, two seventh-rank individuals would emerge from the future Human Race's Town No. 74396. One was the Human Race's great pirate Pei Chao, while the other was the Azure Ghost King.

The Azure Ghost Clan was slightly taller than humans, with terrifying faces, blue skin, and protruding fangs.

At present, the Azure Ghost Clan could not yet enter the area of Town No. 74396. About a year later, the Azure Ghost King would lead his clansmen to occupy this town.

"If I calculate it out, the Azure Ghost King isn't very strong right now either—at most first or second rank. If I were a little stronger, it might not be impossible to turn the Azure Ghost King into my ghost servant."

Tiger-man Theo's tone carried some regret. Without giving it much thought, he kicked the blood-vomiting Pei Chao to the ground and prepared to use the [Ghost Servant Art] on him.

Yet for no apparent reason, just as Theo decided to use the [Ghost Servant Art], he suddenly felt an inexplicable palpitation.

Perhaps because he had once possessed [Great Prophecy], a faint premonition arose within him: once he used this [Ghost Servant Art], earth-shattering changes would occur in the future.

He felt like a fish caught in a whirlpool amid ocean waves, about to lose all sense of direction.

"The fate of a seventh-rank powerhouse was already enough to turn heaven and earth upside down."

With that thought, Tiger-man Theo fixed his eyes on Pei Chao. A ghostly purple light shone from them—the [Ghost Servant Art].

In Theo's view, although his current body had not yet entered a rank, his strength already far surpassed that of an ordinary first-rank. Pei Chao had not even fused the bizarre into his body yet, so subduing him should have posed no difficulty at all.

Yet reality taught Tiger-man Theo a lesson. The [Ghost Servant Art] did not take effect as he had hoped.

Pei Chao's will was simply too strong. After ten straight days of Feng Buzhi's training, Pei Chao's will had been tempered into something incomparably solid. Faced with the Tiger Man's storm-like mental assault, Pei Chao's will held firm.

After all, compared to Feng Buzhi's previous training, the Tiger Man's mental assault truly fell a little short. It was probably like drinking two and a half bottles of Reagent No. 4 in a row—Pei Chao felt he could barely manage another half bottle.

Gradually, cold sweat appeared on Tiger-man Theo's forehead, while Pei Chao's eyes grew increasingly bright.

In the end, Tiger-man Theo cried out in pain and clutched his head, while Pei Chao shook his head and staggered toward the town.

"Damn it! I should have tortured him for a while first, weakened his mind, and only then used the [Ghost Servant Art]."

Tiger-man Theo rubbed his dizzy head. The failure of the [Ghost Servant Art] had caused backlash, leaving him with a splitting headache.

He had never expected Pei Chao to possess such powerful will already, and as a result, his [Ghost Servant Art] had come to nothing.

"I can't let him escape!"

Picking up his spear, the Tiger Man immediately chased in the direction Pei Chao had fled. But after Pei Chao discarded some things—his weights—his running speed became faster and faster. Though the distance between them was closing, it was closing only very slowly.

At last, a blood-red expanse appeared before the Tiger Man.

It seemed as though something in the sky was watching him. Without realizing it, he had chased beyond the boundary of the mist and entered the territory of Human Race Town No. 74396.

Theo raised both arms in the Abyss's customary gesture of surrender and slowly backed away.

"Hahaha, so you beast can't come in! Go on, fucking chase me some more!"

As Tiger-man Theo slowly retreated, a voice rang out. It was Pei Chao's taunt. Having fled halfway, Pei Chao suddenly stopped running when he saw the Tiger Man's actions...

(To keep everyone from reading without using their brains, or skimming too quickly and getting confused.

A simple explanation for why the Tiger Man had an earth-shattering premonition when using the [Ghost Servant Art] on Pei Chao, and why the Tiger Man's memories contained no protagonist.

Because in the original world line, Feng Buzhi would leave the mortal world and go somewhere to cultivate in seclusion, while the Tiger Man's action would trigger the world line...

All right, saying any more would be spoilers.)