Chapter 114: The Fall of the Radiant Fox

When Xie Liu stepped out of the laboratory, Ye Ling and Lin Yang were still waiting outside. Seeing him emerge, the two hurried over. Lin Yang asked, “How did it go?”

“Xu Xiong said he can wield an electromagnetic cannon three times stronger than those of Tianhe and Qianye, but it requires extreme overload. That means the upcoming battle will depend on us,” Xie Liu replied, his gaze drifting toward the distant battlefield. The trembling earth beneath them spoke volumes about the ferocity of the fight. “I need to move in. I can’t be certain Xu Xiong’s shot will take down a Level 10 powerhouse. If necessary, I’ll find the right moment to strike.”

“Who’s your target?” Lin Yang grabbed Xie Liu’s sleeve. Xie Liu paused briefly, then smiled softly. “Who else? The only one I can ambush is Guanghu Longmeier. After all, his only strength lies in his offensive power.”

“Moreover…” Xie Liu’s eyes gleamed with deadly intent. “Before the competition even began, I blinded Toyotomi Hideyoshi. Until he recovers, he won’t participate. Without this psychic, Longmeier loses both his positioning and reconnaissance abilities. If he wants to fight, he must personally rush to the battlefield; he can no longer hide in the shadows manipulating light energy. That’s my chance to strike.”

Lin Yang released Xie Liu’s sleeve. “So, you planned this step before the competition even started?”

“Who knows?” Xie Liu gave a sly smile. “Maybe I just thought taking out a psychic would help in the battles to come.”

Lin Yang silently withdrew his hand. It wasn’t that he hadn’t considered Xie Liu’s thoughts; rather, he believed that even so, it wouldn’t change the outcome. Besides, he had never contemplated things as far ahead as Xie Liu.

“Protect the young lady,” Xie Liu said before leaving, flicking his fingers lightly against Ye Ling’s forehead. Ye Ling let out a muffled groan, unusually not angry. Then, the mechanized belt at Xie Liu’s waist launched a steel wire, pulling him swiftly toward the battlefield.

At that moment, the announcement of the Tianyu team’s elimination echoed through the sky, but no one cared anymore.

Xie Liu moved as if threading through a world collapsing at the apocalypse’s edge. The towering buildings around him trembled; some, long neglected, crumbled into ruin.

Flipping his body mid-air, he evaded two collapsing skyscrapers in quick succession. After a brief ascent and descent, he landed atop the tallest building nearby. What he saw before him—even for someone seasoned like Xie Liu—was breathtaking. Psychic powers were truly formidable.

Three figures faced each other across the vast sky, energy surging from their hands, roaring as it collided at the center. Above them, golden suns spat tongues of fire. At the convergence point, Franny’s swirling seven-colored petals of psychic energy glowed vividly. It was the first time Xie Liu had seen psychic power condensed into a tangible form, and compared to the others’ abilities, Franny’s was exceptionally radiant.

Yet, even Franny struggled against the combined assault of three Level 10 powerhouses; her multicolored petals steadily retreated.

The core of their clash had become a void, a place of tearing spatial fissures opening and closing like wounds—each crack capable of shredding Xie Liu apart.

Franny’s petals spun relentlessly, their edges torn by rifts in space itself. Her strength had grown so immense that she could rip the very fabric of reality!

Still, she was being overwhelmed by the trio.

Xie Liu had no time to dwell on this. He turned his head, scanning the surroundings. Soon, he spotted Guanghu, perched atop a half-collapsed building. Though concealed by his optical camouflage, to Xie Liu’s mutated eyes, invisibility was a mere joke.

Guanghu observed the battlefield through a shattered window, raising his right hand toward the dozen golden suns in the sky—apparently controlling these spheres of light energy.

Xie Liu silently marked the location on his map. With a flick of his hand, a mosquito-sized drone darted out at high speed. Moments later, Xu Xiong, still in the lab, received the coordinates.

Meanwhile, Lin Yang and Ye Ling stood outside the lab, growing restless. Suddenly, they felt the tiny stones beneath their feet begin to tremble. Lin Yang’s eyelids twitched slightly. “We should get out of here.”

Before Ye Ling could grasp the situation, Lin Yang grabbed her and teleported them to the building’s rooftop. From afar, they looked down at the lab. “What exactly are you all doing?” she asked.

Lin Yang’s gaze remained fixed below. “Xu Xiong is overloading his ability—extreme overload. He should be approaching Level 10.”

“What good does that do?” Ye Ling realized the combatants ahead were all Level 10 powerhouses. Even with overload, Xu Xiong’s efforts might be futile.

Lin Yang explained, “True, a Level 9 psychic could never sway the outcome against Level 10s. But Xu Xiong isn’t attacking directly—he’s acting as a conductor.”

“He’s channeling the pulse batteries stored underground, releasing their energy instantaneously through his power. Even a Level 9 can’t direct such a vast charge alone, so Xie Liu gave him an electromagnetic guidance device.”

“Just once, even once, we can unleash a Level 10 strike!” Lin Yang’s eyes shone with unwavering resolve.

“We’re fighting with our lives.” Turning to Ye Ling, who looked dazed, he smiled faintly—a smile tinged with helplessness and sorrow. On his face, more beautiful than any woman’s, it blossomed quietly before fading.

Ye Ling felt her heart skip a beat. A warm wave surged within her, and in that instant, she longed to throw herself into the arms of this man, more beautiful than any girl, and cry freely.

She had been suppressing her emotions all this time. The fireworks festival had left an indelible shadow on her soul, yet she had persevered, fighting alongside these comrades. Though death was not imminent, the fear before it felt so real.

Li Shizhu’s death, Gong Hou’s death, and Xu Xiong’s choice of death—all were unbearable truths Ye Ling struggled to accept yet had no choice but to face.

She did not know if she had grown stronger or simply become numb.

“You’ve already done enough...” Ye Ling’s voice barely rose above a whisper, too faint even for herself to hear, let alone Lin Yang.

She yearned to cry, despite all she had endured, fought, and raged through. The truth was, she was still just a girl—an ordinary girl who should be worrying about pimples and her weight.

Lin Yang’s gaze never lingered on Ye Ling’s face. Instead, he looked down at the ground, from the smallest stones to the buildings beginning to tremble. The electric charge was escalating. Lin Yang knew the ultimate shot was imminent.

Far ahead, Xie Liu sensed the mounting energy behind him. He nodded slightly toward Xu Xiong’s direction, reversed his rainbow-hued spear, and aimed at Longmeier atop a distant building.

Suddenly, the lab housing Xu Xiong erupted with an intense blue light. The laboratory melted into plasma. Ye Ling watched in shock as Xu Xiong levitated from underground, surrounded by an endless surge of electricity, dense enough to obscure the void.

Holding the electromagnetic guidance device, Xu Xiong and the currents around him resembled a blue sun rising slowly. His short hair whipped wildly; his eyes opened to reveal no pupils—only blue electric light.

After a brief silence, Ye Ling witnessed an apocalyptic vision. The electric light around Xu Xiong exploded outward, scattering wildly before being channeled by the guidance device into a blue plasma stream hundreds of meters long. It roared past the building where Ye Ling and Lin Yang stood, racing toward the distant battlefield. Everything in its path was ionized into plasma, swept away by this overwhelming torrent.

Ye Ling’s eyes widened as she stood on the rooftop, the scorching plasma stream blazing before her, scorching the air so fiercely it was hard to breathe. Lin Yang immediately activated the protective shield on his arm to block the heat and the plasma. The shield could block the damage, but it could not block the awe.

Suddenly, Xie Liu lifted his head sharply. “It’s time.” As the plasma surged forward, he released the steel wire from his waist and surged alongside the electric torrent toward the battlefield.

Beneath the hundred-meter column of light, Xie Liu seemed minuscule, yet he wielded the deadliest strike.

He saw Longmeier turn and conjure a shield of light in front of him, barely fending off the plasma before retreating swiftly. At that moment, Xie Liu soared over the plasma, a fierce whistle escaping him as he hurled his rainbow spear. It transformed mid-air into a brilliant arc, striking Longmeier as he dodged.

The spear didn’t immediately pierce Longmeier’s defense but struck with such force they both crashed through several walls, dust billowing.

Xie Liu saw Longmeier struggling. He intensified the retracting force of his belt to the maximum, swooping through the air and crashing into the building where Longmeier stood. Drawing his long knife, as Longmeier rose, Xie Liu’s blade pierced his chest.

The momentum didn’t falter; Xie Liu slammed Longmeier backward, tearing through three walls before they finally came to a halt amid rubble.

Panting heavily, hands trembling as they gripped the knife, Xie Liu stared at the man before him—less than half a meter away. A Level 10 powerhouse!

Longmeier’s expression shifted from shock