Xie Shaoning was utterly perplexed, feeling that Invincible Black Whirlwind was speaking rather oddly.
"Whirlwind boss, is Ba Shan Tiger with you? Can I see it? If it's willing to leave with me, I'd pay to buy its freedom."
"Tiger isn't with me. I found it a good owner. It's living a great life now. If you're worried, you can go see for yourself and ask if it wants to go with you."
Xie Shaoning hesitated for a long while, then shook his head. "Forget it then. It probably doesn't want to see me anyway. I wish it happiness."
After saying this, he tilted his head back slightly, gazed at the dazzling sun, and let out an immensely sorrowful sigh.
Expecting a word of comfort, he was instead met with Qi Xu nodding very naturally. "It is indeed much happier than it would be following you."
Xie Shaoning, thoroughly embarrassed, simply waved goodbye. "I'm outta here."
It wasn't until Xie Shaoning got in his vehicle that he noticed a player named "Wealth from All Directions" had sent him several messages.
For some reason, seeing this nickname gave him an exceptionally warm and familiar feeling.
After reading the content, Xie Shaoning's eyes lit up...
Qi Xu had simply driven off in his vehicle without waiting for him. In the end, Xie Shaoning spent almost all of the 50,000 Survival Coins he had just earned right back.
However, Wealth didn't want Survival Coins, only Energy Stones, and promptly sent 6,000 Energy Stones over to Qi Xu.
Qi Xu nodded with great satisfaction. Should he invite Cheese Milk Cap Eight Parts Sugar over too? Even the poorest top player on a division leaderboard is still rich, and besides, Cheese Milk Cap was much wealthier than these two paupers.
Before the nightly leaderboard finalized, Qi Xu sent Breaking Cocoon into Butterfly and Golden Bell Armor Iron Shirt to two adjacent districts to see if they could snag the top spot.
Just then, Dongfang Yuan returned!
Qi Xu, who had been keeping an eye out, noticed immediately.
The moment she returned, her chat dialog box started flashing violently, clearly indicating a near-death state.
Qi Xu rushed over. Upon arrival, he immediately started healing with Nijiujiu in his arms. Dongfang Yuan was lying beside the vehicle, not a single patch of skin intact. Although she had just collapsed, the ground around her was soaked with blood.
Her clothes were almost completely shredded, with multiple wounds deep enough to reveal bone. The kneecap of her right leg was almost entirely shattered, and her left arm lay twisted on the ground at a grotesque angle.
Qi Xu wanted to help her up but didn't know where to start. He first immediately used two Advanced Healing Cards. Nijiujiu was also releasing its skill, slowly repairing her body bit by bit.
Only after confirming the bleeding had stopped did Qi Xu take her left arm, gave a forceful push, and set the bone back in place.
"How did you get hurt so badly? I thought Color Realms weren't supposed to have lethal danger..."
Qi Xu was heartbroken, his flurry of frantic actions leaving Dongfang Yuan feeling deeply moved.
"It's fine. I didn't die. It doesn't hurt either. And... I became an ability user too..."
"I knew you'd be here for me when I got out, that's why I pushed myself, wanted to test my limits. Let me show you my ability panel."
[Player: Watch Me Cut You Down - Level 2 Ability User]
Ability Skill: Death God's Lock - Consumes 100 Spirit Points per minute.
Skill Description: Upon active activation, the player can launch an attack on any target to successfully apply a "Death Mark." This generates a "Death Domain" within an 8-meter radius around the target, lasting for 10 minutes.
Within the Death Domain, the target is forcibly "Locked In": unable to leave the domain's range by any means (including blink, teleport, movement skills, etc.; touching the domain's edge is blocked by an invisible barrier), and movement speed is reduced by 30%.
The player gains the "Arbiter" status within the Death Domain: all attack damage increases by 5%, and each attack stacks a "Sever Soul" effect on the target (each stack increases damage taken by the target by 2%, up to 4 stacks, lasting until the Death Domain disappears).
If the player leaves the Death Domain range during its duration, the skill is immediately interrupted. After the Death Domain ends, the mark disappears, and the target gains a 3-second "Soul Shock" status (attack speed reduced by 20%).
Qi Xu understood perfectly well the immense value of this skill. And Dongfang Yuan had actually managed to level this skill up to level 2 directly within the Color Realm...
If I want to kill you, within my domain, you have no chance of escape. Coupled with effects like Soul Shock and Sever Soul, this was exactly the pure combat skill Qi Xu desired!
Back in the Purple Realm space, Qi Xu had wanted to duel Purple Wisteria, but his connections were too good—no one was willing to take him to the big boss. In the end, the anticipated epic one-on-one showdown turned into a chaotic free-for-all.
The system directly judged his eloquence more impressive than his strength, awarding him a rather strange skill. Looking at it now, combat skills were still the coolest!
Qi Xu now understood: the skills one obtained closely mirrored one's personality. Dongfang Yuan was the pure type, focused solely on combat... His own mind was too cluttered with thoughts. But he'd know better next time.
"Sister Cut You is truly amazing. Not only did you successfully become an ability user, you reached level 2 right away."
Dongfang Yuan looked very seriously into Qi Xu's eyes, pausing for a long moment before replying, "Because you're too strong, and your progress is so fast. If I don't work hard, I'm afraid I'll lose the chance to fight alongside you.
Qi Xu, if one day I become your burden or hindrance, you must kill me. In that situation, living would be worse than death for me."
A pang of sadness instantly hit Qi Xu's heart. "Why would you suddenly say that?"
Dongfang Yuan seemed to want to say more. Her mouth opened, then closed again, and she shook her head helplessly.
Qi Xu guessed it might be related to the Color Realm, as the Color Realm was a reflection of one's inner self.
"That day will never come."
"Okay. Then let's work hard together."
Dongfang Yuan went back, took a shower, changed into clean clothes, and came out. She and Qi Xu leaned back side-by-side in deck chairs, watching the stars, sipping juice, and chatting occasionally.
Xiao Qi, Sweet Girl, Nijiujiu, and General were playing and roughhousing nearby.
It looked chaotic, even hectic. General and Xiao Qi's tussle nearly knocked over their deck chairs. But it was in moments like these that weariness and worries melted away...
However, on this month's monthly leaderboard, everyone who went to the Color Realm saw their rankings drop. Dongfang Yuan didn't even make the top 100. Only Qi Xu's unshakable top spot remained unchanged.
Apart from relentlessly grinding on the highway since returning, Qi Xu also bought another upgraded fuel pack from Little Black, covering 10,000 km in 5 hours.
The only slight annoyance was that the reward for first place on the monthly ranking was starting to seem a bit lackluster.
.........
