Breaking the Deadlock

Thunderbolts capable of ending the world crashed down with savage force.

Su Lie charged forward fearlessly. His courage propped him up as he stood in the way, but the instinctive terror all living things felt before overwhelming power made him close his eyes.

Damn it. If I die at the hands of such a powerful mutated beast, it won't be too humiliating.

It was just a pity he had failed to send the intelligence out...

Facing the Thunder Qilin as it engulfed him, Su Lie shut his eyes.

Yet after waiting for a moment, the pain he had imagined countless times never came.

What's going on? Am I already dead?

This situation reminded Su Lie of the soul theory that had once been extremely popular in the shelter.

It was said that after ability users died, their powerful abilities could preserve their souls and keep them from dispersing.

And according to the Kabbalah Organization's research, ability users with soul-related powers had already appeared.

If that was the case, then if he held on long enough, could he reshape a body for himself?

Should he make himself a mechanical one then, or continue with an artificial body?

If it was artificial, his cells had probably already been blasted into mush by that current, right?

Logically, he should get genetic information from his parents again, but they had died long ago too...

Perhaps because he believed he was dead, all sorts of strange thoughts kept popping into Su Lie's head.

"Wake up. Wake up."

Ye Xiu's unmistakably cool voice roused Su Lie's consciousness.

No, if I'm dead, how can I hear anyone else's voice?

Su Lie abruptly opened his eyes, only to find Ye Xiu and the other two standing right in front of him.

"How long are you planning to lie on the ground?"

Xu Xiao did not look particularly pleased, while Yan Weiwei beside him was suppressing a laugh.

"What happened? I'm not dead?"

The sudden turn of events left Su Lie thoroughly bewildered.

He looked at the three before him, then suddenly stretched out his hands.

"Of course you're not dead."

Xu Xiao replied irritably, but when he raised his head to look at the sky, there was a trace of wistfulness in his eyes.

"We've basically figured out that mutated beast's ability."

The Qilin, like a demon god that could destroy the world, still coiled high in the heavens.

But this time, there was no longer any of the former reverence in everyone's gaze as they looked at it.

"What exactly is going on?"

Su Lie felt as though his brain could no longer keep up. He turned his gaze to Xu Xiao, hoping to get some answers from him.

"I'll explain."

Ye Xiu sighed.

"That Sky-Piercing Python really was something created by that mutated beast, but its ability isn't to steal from others. It merely imitates them."

"Imitates?"

A flicker of confusion passed through Su Lie's eyes.

"That's right. It takes only the form, not the spirit."

Ye Xiu silently added in his heart, So this thing has no idea how to distinguish the magnitude of power at all.

That sword earlier had indeed been a fine sword.

A sword carried by a direct disciple of the Divine Firmament Sect was certainly no ordinary item.

But as had been said before, Ye Xiu's cultivation method and innate talent simply could not allow him to switch to the Divine Firmament Sect's techniques.

Without the Divine Firmament Sect's cultivation method, naturally, he could not unleash the sword's power.

What was more, even if Yun Tingxiao had come back to life, he would not have been capable of summoning lightning that powerful.

The Thunder Qilin had been nothing more than a sham Ye Xiu created from the very beginning.

It had the appearance but none of the power. Forget striking down a real Sky-Piercing Python.

Even if Xu Hualing had taken that attack, she would have emerged completely unscathed.

That mutated beast had a brain, but clearly not much of one.

It had copied the thing in such a muddleheaded way and even thought it had copied it perfectly.

Of course, Ye Xiu did not deny that its imitation was excellent. But precisely because it had done too perfect a job, it now truly had no means of countering it.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

Lightning continued to rain down from the sky, yet when it struck Ye Xiu and the others, it could not even stir the corners of their clothes.

The Heaven-Swallowing Python on the ground finally sensed that something was wrong.

It let out a thunderous roar and tried to leave.

But Ye Xiu had spent so long laying this trap for it. How could he possibly let it escape so easily?

With a tap of his foot, Ye Xiu shot straight toward the Heaven-Swallowing Python's brow.

Through his observations along the way, he had noticed something early on.

Although the Sky-Piercing Python before them barely bothered dodging the others' attacks, there was one place it guarded tightly, never allowing anyone else to touch it.

It was the spot between the brows atop its dragon-like head.

No matter how powerful fabricated strength appeared, it was hollow at its core.

Just as a fraud would always fear being exposed, and would therefore take special care to conceal the crucial weak point, so too did this creature.

The mutated beast before them possessed an imitation ability that could be called unparalleled under heaven and earth.

But when faced with a real threat, it would likewise do everything possible to cover and hide itself.

Ding.

Without using much force, Ye Xiu's palm easily plunged into its brow.

The scales that had seemed impervious to every technique became as fragile as tender tofu in that instant.

The scene before everyone's eyes suddenly warped.

Then, accompanied by the sound of something shattering, the Sky-Piercing Python that had been like a nightmare collapsed and scattered into nothingness in an instant.

"So it was you little beast that deceived us?"

Ye Xiu looked at the tiny creature struggling in his hand, a rather chilling smile appearing on his face.

Everyone gathered around and saw that what Ye Xiu held was actually a fox, snow-white from head to toe.

The fox's fur was pure white without the slightest trace of another color. Most bizarrely, it had three tails behind it.

Noticing everyone's gazes, a vicious expression flashed across the fox's face, as though it were threatening them.

But the next second, Ye Xiu's massive slap sent stars bursting before its eyes.

"Whimper, whimper..."

After taking Ye Xiu's blow, the white fox let out a somewhat pitiful whine.

Clearly, this fellow was not stupid. At the very least, it could understand the current situation.

"We got led around in circles by such a little thing?"

Xu Xiao and the other three stared wide-eyed at the white fox.

"Of course not."

Ye Xiu shook his head. "How could one fox create such a massive illusion? These fellows were obviously working as a group."

As soon as he finished speaking, white-furred foxes began emerging continuously from the surrounding ruins.

These foxes were likewise snow-white all over, though some had two tails, some had one, and there were even little foxes without any visible tails at all.

"White foxes bewitch people's hearts. This is rather similar to the Qingqiu Foxes of those old mythological legends."

Ye Xiu looked at the gathered pack of foxes before him. They too were whimpering, as though expressing their submission.