All of the clone's hair stood on end, azure arcs of electricity leaping back and forth between the tips.
"Urrrghhh-"
The clone clenched both fists, his whole body trembling.
Crackle~
The clone thrust his right fist upward, and a bolt of lightning shot from between his fingers.
With a bang, the ceiling light shattered into pieces.
The room was plunged into darkness.
Only the current running over the clone's body gave off a faint glow.
Qin Ze said, "Are you sick in the head?"
The clone said, "If I'm sick in the head, then so are you."
Qin Ze cursed. "Replace the light."
The clone planted his hands on his hips. "From today onward, I won't allow anyone to raise their voice at me!"
"From now on, you'll call me the Lightning Dharma King!"
Qin Ze kicked the clone face-first into the floor.
"Replace the light."
The Dharma King got up in a rage and stared Qin Ze in the eye.
Electricity crackled all over his body, and an electric serpent as thick as an arm coiled and slithered around his waist, ready to swoop down like a flying dragon at any moment.
They faced off for a moment.
"Fine, I'll replace it!"
The Dharma King shouted, then turned and went into the storage room, rummaging through boxes and cupboards for a spare light tube.
Qin Ze sat on the sofa, sensing the cultivation the Dharma King had fed back to him.
The Soul Orb seemed to be of an extremely high level. The Dharma King had broken straight through to become a Level One Martial Artist.
At the same time, he had also fed a huge surge of qi and blood back to Qin Ze.
Qin Ze opened the administrator terminal and saw that his qi and blood value had reached 999.
Just one final push, and he could break through to Level One Martial Artist.
Qin Ze hurriedly sat cross-legged, closed his eyes, and began circulating the Lotus Visualization Method.
Strangely, however, no matter how he circulated the technique, his qi and blood value remained stuck at 999.
Qin Ze felt that his qi sea was so full it couldn't hold another trace of qi and blood.
Could I be using the wrong method to break through?
Qin Ze stopped visualizing the lotus and decided to ask Teacher Yao at school tomorrow.
Teacher Yao probably wouldn't be that stingy.
Qin Ze then opened his palm, and a ball of lightning the size of a baby's fist slowly formed.
He now had the Dharma King's talent ability too.
From now on, he had two abilities.
Qin Ze closed his fist, and the lightning ball vanished.
"It's replaced."
The Dharma King pressed the switch, and the room was lit again.
"Go help Brother Devour hunt in the wild. With the two of you together, you can look out for each other."
"I'll give you another ten clones as well."
Under Brother Devour's leadership, the Hater Circus had grown ever stronger.
With Qin Ze sending a steady stream of clones to support him, his eyes were now almost everywhere in Jiang City.
Now that the Dharma King had joined them, the Circus was like a tiger with wings.
After the Dharma King left, Qin Ze began considering his plans for the near future.
The most urgent matter was the martial arts exam, which was less than a hundred days away.
Once the exam was over, Qin Ze figured he would be at least a Level One Martial Artist by then, and could enter the Otherworld again.
He would also have saved up enough clones by then.
On this trip to the Otherworld, Qin Ze had lost nearly twenty clones.
Including the ones he had just given the Dharma King, Qin Ze now had only about ten left.
If he encountered another emergency like the poisonous fog in the passage, those clones might not be enough to expend.
He had to lie low for a while.
Qin Ze took out three cigarettes, lit them, and set them on the coffee table.
"BT, these are the cigarettes I promised you."
"I'll definitely avenge you the next time I go to the Otherworld."
The waters of the Otherworld ran deep.
Qin Ze had only dipped a foot in, and he had nearly drowned.
Mutants, the refuge, Sky Island, humanoid combat weapons...
A heaven-shattering secret seemed to be hidden behind them.
And the only way to unravel it all seemed to be to seek answers on Sky Island.
Qin Ze sighed.
BT had been a good comrade. Without her, he wouldn't have made it back.
Qin Ze planned to erect a monument for her in the Otherworld.
But the clones suddenly began protesting.
"We've all been treated as disposable consumables by you. How come you never thought of erecting a monument for us?"
"You bastard, forgetting your brothers the moment you see a pretty face!"
"You're no son of man, no son of man at all!"
Qin Ze rolled his eyes.
Erect a monument for myself? Am I sick in the head?
The fun-loving clones, however, were enthusiastic about the idea and began discussing whether they could pull it off.
"I think we should erect a monument and hold a memorial service while we're at it, to honor the many brothers we've lost."
"Agreed."
"The monument needs a name, right? What should we call it?"
"The Hater Monument!"
"Hater, my ass. Let's call it the Qin Ze Monument."
"That's a good one! The Qin Ze Monument it is!"
Qin Ze didn't join the discussion. He closed his eyes and curled up on the sofa.
The clones all chimed in, their chattering having quite a hypnotic effect.
Before long, Qin Ze fell asleep.
The He Family.
White cloth hung all over the gate and courtyard.
A mourning hall had been set up in the front courtyard. A woman clutched He Bi's portrait as she knelt, slumped before the coffin, wailing.
"My son!"
"How could you leave like this and leave your mother all alone? How could someone with white hair have to bury someone with black hair? Boo-hoo-hoo..."
He Guang stood nearby, his eyes red and his expression growing darker.
When He Bi's mangled corpse had been brought home, He Guang had nearly suffocated.
His younger brother, who had been laughing and talking with him that morning, had been separated from him by life and death that very night.
He Guang's heart ached.
"Qin Ze, it had to be you! It had to be you!"
He Guang clenched his fists.
He believed Qin Ze had done it all.
He Bi must have died at Qin Ze's hands because he underestimated him.
He Guang was filled with regret. If he had known this would be the outcome, he would never have let Third Brother make a move last night.
"Third Brother, rest easy!"
"I'll take Qin Ze's head and offer it to your spirit in heaven!"
Just then, a man in military uniform walked over to He Guang.
"Big Brother, you're back." Seeing the man beside him, He Guang finally felt a little relieved.
The man was He Fang, the eldest of the He Family and a Level Two Martial Artist at the City Defense Bureau.
Their father had died when they were young, and He Fang had shouldered the family's burdens ever since. It was no exaggeration to call him the He Family's mainstay.
"Take Madam away to rest," He Fang said in a low voice.
The wailing woman was helped away, leaving only the He Family's many aunts and relatives in the mourning hall.
"Come with me."
He Fang took He Guang to the study.
"Tell me what happened."
He Fang sat down and put his feet on the desk.
Through gritted teeth, He Guang recounted the plan he and Third Brother had made the previous night.
"Big Brother, it had to be that brat Qin who did it. I'm going to avenge Third Brother!"
Bang!
Eldest He slammed his hand down on the desk. "Look at the fine mess you've made! Haven't you caused enough trouble already?"
He Guang stared at him in shock.
As he remembered it, his elder brother had always been extremely protective of his own. He shouldn't have reacted like this.
"One of the teachers at the school said Third Brother was killed by a mutated beast."
"She had exhausted her qi and blood at the time and couldn't save him. She's already apologized to us and promised compensation. The matter ends here."
He Guang refused to accept it. "She's just a teacher. Who does she think she is?"
"She stood by and let him die. She has to die too, to be buried with Third Brother!"
Eldest He said coldly, "Second Brother, when are you finally going to grow up?"
"You think I can swallow this insult?"
"My immediate superior passed the message on to me. The teacher herself didn't even meet me."
"My superior specifically told me to let the matter go, and also said it had nothing to do with that Qin fellow."
He Guang was stunned. "What kind of background does this teacher have?"
Eldest He stood up. "Her background isn't important. What matters is that this ends here."
"And for the next few days, stay home and behave yourself, all the way until you go to the Abyss next month. Don't stir up any more trouble for me."
He Guang watched his elder brother leave, biting his lip until it bled.