Escalation

Youcheng lay beneath the night sky, above a living hell.

Bai Ye looked up at the vortex of emotion above the broadcast tower. It grew denser by the moment, as though it would swallow every ray of light. The terrifying spiritual pressure within it surged toward a level beyond the Demigod Realm, and his gaze sharpened like a deadly blade drawn from its sheath.

"You want to reach the Law Realm? Did you ask me first?"

His furious shout rang out over the nearby explosions and screams.

Azure flames erupted around him. No longer the flowing fire he usually wielded, they condensed into a violent, whirling storm that was almost solid.

The ground cracked beneath his feet. He became an azure meteor hurtling skyward, tearing through the air toward the top of the tower with unstoppable killing intent.

The Windflame Spear hummed and trembled in his hand. The edge gathering at its tip flickered, faintly slicing through space and leaving fine black traces behind.

He would break that evil ascension ritual with all the speed and power he had!

Elsewhere, on Youcheng's chaotic streets.

"Hua Yin! You're with Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu. Clear the Uncontrolled Ones reported in Blocks Three through Seven!"

"Protect civilians first and contain the spread! Captain Bai is dealing with the 'source.' We need to hold the ground!"

Captain Wang's urgent voice came through the communicator, backed by a steady barrage of explosions and shouted orders.

"Understood."

Hua Yin's voice was cool and clear. He cut the connection.

He glanced at Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu beside him. Sun Haoran's nostrils flared, his expression grave. "There are quite a few of them, and their scent... it's frenzied."

Zhao Tiezhu slammed his fists together with a dull thud. "Who cares what they are? We beat them down! Hua Yin, what's the plan?"

"End it quickly."

Hua Yin's answer was terse. His gaze fixed on the intersection ahead, where a bloated Uncontrolled One with an arm warped into a bone hammer was smashing vehicles and chasing fleeing crowds.

"Sun, find its weak point. Zhao, engage it head-on and draw its attention."

Hua Yin gave the orders as he shot forward like an arrow from a bow.

The Pale Bewitching Butterfly bloomed silently around him. Dozens of translucent spirit butterflies fluttered out at incredible speed.

Zhao Tiezhu roared. His muscles bulged, his skin took on a metallic sheen, and he charged the Uncontrolled One like a human tank. His fist smashed into its descending bone hammer.

Boom! A shock wave rolled outward. Zhao Tiezhu grunted and retreated half a step, but the bone hammer was knocked aside.

The Uncontrolled One roared, its attention drawn to Zhao Tiezhu.

Sun Haoran slipped around its flank like a ghost. His eyes half closed, and a glimmer flashed at the tip of his nose. "Three inches left of the back of its neck. The energy node is unstable!"

At that instant, Hua Yin acted.

He did not rush in. He moved with a thought.

Above the Uncontrolled One's head, a cold, chilling jade edge flashed along the wing of a Pale Bewitching Butterfly—the razor-sharp trait he had plundered after devouring the Jade-Bladed Mantis!

A faint sound, like silk being torn.

A thin line of blood appeared without warning exactly where Sun Haoran had indicated. The cut ran deep enough to expose bone.

The Uncontrolled One never even sensed where the attack came from. Its massive body went rigid. That impossibly precise, terrifyingly sharp "butterfly-wing cut" destroyed the core node of its rampaging energy circulation in an instant.

The next moment, Hua Yin himself appeared beside it like a shadow. His Tang Blade had not even fully left its sheath when it swept lightly across the creature's neck, trailing a pale streak of spiritual power.

Pfft.

The enormous head rolled away, spraying thick, purplish-black blood.

The headless corpse crashed to the ground.

"Next."

Hua Yin put away his blade. His tone was calm, but pale light shifted faintly in his eyes.

Devouring took effect. A thread of pure life force and some lingering chaotic energy were drawn out and absorbed into his body, replenishing what he had spent. At the same time, he gained a finer understanding of the Uncontrolled One's physical structure.

Sun Haoran and Zhao Tiezhu exchanged a look. Both saw the surprise in the other's eyes. Hua Yin's attacks were growing stranger and harder to predict.

The cleanup continued. They drove into the chaotic streets like a sharp wedge.

Hua Yin supported them from the center. Pale Bewitching Butterflies scattered around him, sometimes becoming invisible blades for precise kills, sometimes gathering into barriers of spiritual power to block stray shots and flying debris.

Zhao Tiezhu bore the fiercest frontal assaults, while Sun Haoran used his sense of smell and perception to warn them of danger and identify enemy weaknesses.

Their coordination grew smoother, and they worked with remarkable efficiency.

Soon, they encountered a tougher target—an Uncontrolled One that seemed to have undergone another mutation. It could manipulate stones and scraps of metal on the ground, unleashing dense volleys over a wide area that seriously hampered their advance and rescue efforts.

"Annoying flies!" Zhao Tiezhu punched a sheet of flying scrap iron away, but more fragments came at him from every direction.

Sun Haoran said urgently, "It's controlling them with a weak telekinetic field. Its body is hiding behind that newsstand!"

Hua Yin's eyes chilled. A direct assault would mean taking too many hits and risk damaging nearby buildings where civilians might be hiding.

He drew a deep breath. The phantom Pale Bewitching Butterfly on his shoulder trembled faintly. This time, he used the new ability he had gained by devouring the Nether-Ring Viper Queen—[Thought Sharing Transposition].

His thoughts branched out like invisible threads, instantly connecting to three Pale Bewitching Butterflies flying overhead.

A strange sensation washed over him.

It was as if he had four viewpoints at once: his own, and those of the three butterflies in the air.

He could share the images, sounds, and energy fluctuations they sensed. More than that, he could instantly pour part of his consciousness into any one of them.

In that moment, the butterfly was no longer a mere construct of spiritual power or a scouting unit. It became a temporary vessel and extension of Hua Yin's consciousness.

Hua Yin's body stayed where it was. Most of his awareness still controlled it, dodging and defending, but roughly a third of his focus plunged into the Pale Bewitching Butterfly arcing through the air on his left.

The butterfly shivered. Its flight path abruptly became nimble and purposeful, as though a master pilot had taken control.

It wove deftly through the storm of stone and metal, as fast as a streak of pale lightning. Physical attacks meant little to it. Its body was partly energy and so small that scattered attacks could hardly lock onto it.

In almost a blink, the butterfly carrying part of Hua Yin's consciousness broke through the barrage and silently approached the newsstand.

Through the butterfly's "eyes," Hua Yin clearly saw the Uncontrolled One hiding behind it. Its eyes glowed a chaotic red as it concentrated on controlling the fragments.

Now.

The butterfly carrying his consciousness flashed with the Jade-Bladed Mantis's razor-sharp trait again. This time, it did not cut. It focused every shred of that sharpness into a single point, becoming a streak of light that stabbed deep into the creature's head!

"Hiss—!" The Uncontrolled One clutched its head and let out a piercing shriek. Its telekinetic field collapsed instantly, and stones and metal scraps clattered to the ground.

Hua Yin's body and the butterfly carrying his consciousness moved in perfect sync.

The instant the creature grabbed its head and shrieked, Hua Yin swept out from behind Zhao Tiezhu like a ghost. His Tang Blade left its sheath, its pale light tracing a cold arc.

The blade flashed. The newsstand and the Uncontrolled One behind it were split in two.

The fight was over.

Hua Yin withdrew his consciousness. The Pale Bewitching Butterfly that had played such a crucial role flew back to his side, its light slightly dimmer. Carrying his consciousness through such precise maneuvers had clearly taken a toll.

Sun Haoran's mouth fell open. Zhao Tiezhu scratched his head. "Hua Yin, that butterfly just now... were you controlling it?"

"A new ability."

Hua Yin offered no further explanation.

He looked toward the tower. The vortex of spiritual pressure there had grown even more terrifying. It was affecting the sky itself, drawing dark clouds into a gathering spiral.

Azure and gray-black light could be seen colliding high above. Thunderous booms rolled out, and space itself trembled.

Captain Bai Ye had already engaged the Psychologist.

"Pick up the pace," Hua Yin said grimly. He could sense that the fear rising from across the city had eased somewhat as they cleared the streets and restored order to certain areas. But the pull from the tower kept growing stronger. It had even begun drawing emotion from farther away.

They had to eliminate the sources of panic as quickly as possible to weaken the enemy's energy supply.

Pale Bewitching Butterflies fluttered gently around him. Any one of them could become an extension of his consciousness. Any wing might conceal a lethal edge.

In this battle to save the city, the power he had gained through devouring was quietly revealing a light that was uniquely Hua Yin's—and uniquely dangerous.

He led his team toward the next place where screams and explosions rang out.

And high above them, the battle that would decide Youcheng's fate had reached a fever pitch.