Chapter 239: Divine Art 'Return to Nothingness', An Angry Meow, and a Touched Yinmouhu (4K)

Chapter 239: Divine Art 'Return to Nothingness', An Angry Meow, and a Touched Yinmouhu (4K)



(There was a silly mistake in the previous chapter, where the total divinity points were miscalculated by over a thousand. This has been fixed, so there's no need to go back.)



Divinity: 3802

The unexpected gains from the museum trip included taking down several boundary creatures imbued with divinity, among which was a particularly rare 'Crucible Noble' creature. In total, he acquired around 1,600 divinity points from these encounters.

Adding to that the spoils from the Forgotten Giant Sword and the defeat of the two Dragon Sect recipients, Xueheng now possessed over 3,000 divinity points once more.

"I can't touch a thousand of these... I can already sense that [Soldier Strike] is about to undergo sublimation; the feeling is getting stronger."

"But taking away a thousand leaves me with only 2,800... Not enough to upgrade Shadowflame, either."

Xueheng glanced at the lone entry in the Superhuman Skills section of his panel:

[True Martial Arts Lv2 (Superhuman)]



Upgrade Requirements: Experience 10,361/20,000, Divinity 3,802/10,000

"True Martial Arts still needs about ten thousand more experience points to level up."

"Twin Births, Implanted Pact, and Dragon Horn don't need upgrading yet... I'm in that awkward phase of having money but not quite enough to spend it."

Xueheng shook his head and closed the panel.

He was just about to rest and recharge his mental energy before continuing his conscious simulation training of Flawless.

At that moment, Meow, who was crouched on the sofa next to him, playing with his phone using his cat paws and paw pads, spoke up:

"It looks like your business with Zhou Yinglin is blowing up."

Xueheng turned his head to glance at the news report on his phone's screen.

['Gun Saint's' disciple, Zhou Yinglin, joins U19 with the hidden agenda of suppressing a genius from Outside the Ring?]



The news article first provided an extensive description of Zhou Yinglin's resume, highlighting his high status and his participation in the 'Little Dragon Gate Cup,' an event similar to U19. From any angle, it made clear that he had no motive to go out of his way to enter U19. This introduction then led into a discussion of Zhou Yinglin's true purpose for participating.

It also introduced Xueheng, describing his background as a genius who grew up Outside the Ring, and his exceptional talent. Finally, it revealed the bombshell of the article—a quote from Wei Junwu, a finalist in the U19 tournament and member of the Fengti Flow: 'Zhou Yinglin's purpose in joining U19 is to create a pretext for accidentally killing Xueheng.'

The article was exceptionally well-written, skillfully guiding readers' emotions and using sophisticated wording. It was clearly penned by a veteran writer.

The response was explosive, with the number of comments below the report already surpassing one hundred thousand.

"Hmm? Has this caused such a stir?" Xueheng remarked casually.

His phone wasn't equipped with a 'Super-Network Connector,' so he could only access the Old Net.

Given the level of isolation between the Inner and Outer Rings, it was rather surprising how quickly news of an Inner Ring incident had spread to the Outer Ring's Old Net, and the level of interest it had generated. It seemed a bit out of the ordinary.

Xueheng shook his head. "Superfluous... Do they really think this will make Zhou Yinglin hesitate?"

He didn't know if Zhou Yinglin would be affected, but his own determination was hardening.

Whoever was doing this was either underestimating him or overestimating Zhou Yinglin.

Now, he really had to put on a show.

A realization suddenly struck Xueheng.

"Wait... Thinking about it the other way around, this might be the 'instigator's' true intention."

"Giving me the Forgotten Giant Sword, pointing out the flaw in Flawless, having Wei Junwu make a public statement to try and make Zhou Yinglin hold back... On the surface, these actions seem to be helping me, but in reality, they might be doing the opposite."

Xueheng's eyes narrowed in thought.

"Deliberately doing this... Are they trying to provoke my 'youthful hot-bloodedness' and force me to prove myself?"

"Maybe that's it... Or maybe I'm just overthinking it."

Meow swiped through the comments on the news article with his claws, frowning:

"It's rare to see you on the receiving end of the bashing. This Zhou Yinglin seems to have a lot of fans."

Xueheng glanced at the screen and saw comments like, ['No way, what level is Zhou Yinglin on? He's on a whole other level compared to Xueheng. Don't try to leech off his fame.'] ['Wei Junwu must've had a decade's worth of brain farts to come up with such nonsense. My prostate almost fell out from laughing at the idea that Xueheng has the qualifications to be worth Zhou Yinglin's time.'] ['Let's see if he can even make it to the quarterfinals and face Zhou Yinglin. Otherwise, he'll just be a laughingstock.'] The majority of the comments focused on the notion that Xueheng was out of his league compared to Zhou Yinglin.

These netizens were more rational in their analysis, but many others had resorted to directly cursing and insulting Xueheng, calling him an 'over-ambitious little calamity'.

They completely ignored the fact that Xueheng himself had not said anything.

Xueheng was completely unfazed by this online harassment and merely found it amusing that people had so much time and energy to spare.

Meow, on the other hand, was getting increasingly agitated as she scrolled through the comments. Her claws had even hardened in anger.

She started tapping away at the screen, leaving comments to defend Xueheng and argue with the haters, but soon found herself outnumbered and mocked. Her fur stood on end as the ridicule intensified.

"It's a good thing the internet isn't under a real-name system, or I, the Great Meow, would pay each and every one of you a visit and scratch your faces to shreds!"

Her cute cat face contorted in a very human-like expression of rage.

Seeing Meow's claws accidentally scratching the phone screen, Xueheng quickly reminded her, "Be careful, it's a hassle to replace the screen."

Meow retracted her claws and huffed, "Aron, you must teach that Zhou Yinglin a lesson! Show him who's boss and beat up those keyboard warriors until their faces swell up!"

Xueheng smiled and patted her fluffy little head, reassuring her like one would a child. "Alright, alright, don't be angry. Don't look at the phone anymore. I'll make something tasty for you to eat."

Meow angrily swiped the phone away with her paw.

...

The next day, within the consciousness space, Xueheng stood on the grand stage of the Super Arena. With his eyes closed, he emptied his mind and body, remaining completely still.

Opposite him, 'Zhou Yinglin' held a nine-foot-long spear and assumed the 'Playing the Pipa' stance from the Twenty-Four Spear Techniques, the spear tip aimed directly at Xueheng.

After a prolonged stalemate, Zhou Yinglin made his move.

The spear's shadow transformed into a torrent, resembling a giant wave crashing towards Xueheng. The endless subsequent changes left no room for retreat or defense, only the option to take the hit head-on.

However, Xueheng remained unmoved, not even exerting any force. He simply emptied his mind and body, awaiting the onslaught of the spear's torrent.

Just as the first spear was about to make contact with Xueheng, infinitely close to his skin, his senses, honed to the extreme, instantly perceived everything about the attack—its force, the route of its exertion, and all possible subsequent changes.

His body reacted instinctively.

The force coursing through his body was identical in magnitude but completely opposite in direction to the incoming attack, precisely focusing on the point of impact.

Externally, it appeared as if Zhou Yinglin's spear had gently touched Xueheng, without causing any harm, emitting only a crisp 'ding' and rippling the air.

Then came the second spear, the third, the fourth...

Xueheng, having perceived the subsequent changes, negated them one by one by gathering opposite forces at the points of impact.

The result was a continuous series of 'dings', yet Xueheng remained unscathed.

By the twelfth spear, Xueheng's consciousness and computational abilities couldn't keep up, and he was a beat too slow. His flesh was pierced, creating a small bloody hole.

From this point on, he was overwhelmed, and the subsequent dozens of spears turned him into a pile of pixelated rubble.

The pixelated fragments spun and gathered, and Xueheng reappeared on the stage.

He nodded and said, "The near-godly technique, 'Return to Nothingness,' is taking effect. My idea is indeed feasible. Even against a complex and perfect spear technique like 'Flawless,' it can be negated."

"This is because I have a deep understanding of 'Flawless.' If it were a completely unfamiliar martial art, I wouldn't be able to achieve this."

"But as my understanding of martial arts deepens, there will come a day when I attain a profound insight into all martial arts in the world. At that time, even if I encounter a completely new martial art attack, I will be able to instantly understand and negate it."

He clenched his palm, and the pixelated fragments spun and gathered to form a nine-foot-long steel spear.

Xueheng then walked up to Zhou Yinglin.

"Flawless: Ten Needles, Hundred Threads."

"Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!—"

Cold light flashed, and the spear lunged out like a dragon, raining down on Zhou Yinglin like a storm.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!—"

Zhou Yinglin countered with the same 'Flawless' technique, and after the fifteenth clash of spear tips, Xueheng halted his attack.

This was his current limit—fifteen spears.

It was an improvement from the previous day when he had just started practicing 'Ten Needles, Hundred Threads,' where he could only manage ten spears.

Xueheng nodded, "The progress is satisfactory. Let's continue training."

Xueheng spent the entire day immersed in his consciousness simulation training.

He would rest when his mental energy was depleted and resume training when he had recovered.

With the help of Zhou Yinglin, a professional sparring partner, Xueheng engaged in extremely intense and death-defying training sessions that bordered on cheating. The rate of his progress was terrifying to imagine.

By the time the day of the round-of-16 matches arrived, Xueheng's Flawless technique had reached the level of the Twenty-Fifth Spear.

The number of Flawless spears that 'Return to Nothingness' could neutralize had also increased to twenty-one.

This meant that the first twenty-one spears Zhou Yinglin himself threw were as good as nonexistent to Xueheng.

At this point, only three days had passed since he had learned Flawless.

In a situation that no one could have imagined, Xueheng had almost figured out all of Zhou Yinglin's moves in just three days.

As noon approached, Xueheng arrived at the Source City Super Arena once again, escorted by Ning Yuantai.

Upon opening the door to the player's lounge, he found two people already inside.

Jiang Siwei and... Yinmouhu.

Xueheng looked at the delicate and somewhat frail figure, hesitated for a moment, and then smiled, "Yinmou, are you feeling better?"

At this moment, Yinmouhu was wearing a very tight martial arts uniform, with bandages wrapped around her waist and abdomen. Her slender waist accentuated her voluptuous chest, and her long, fleshy legs were hidden beneath her pants, but their beautiful shape could still be vaguely discerned from the outline.

She was nearly two meters tall, but her frame was large, so she didn't give off the impression of being a skinny bamboo pole due to her height. Instead, she had a very even and just-right figure—any more and she would be overweight, any less and she would be underweight. Her figure was so exquisite that it could make world-class Victoria's Secret models feel inferior.

"Brother Xue, I'm feeling much better," Yinmouhu replied with a smile, her voice somewhat weak, indicating that her injury was still severe.

Xueheng walked up to her and placed his hand on her shoulder, channeling his energy to probe her body.

"This injury is too severe. Your spiritual power is depleted, and your vitality is weak. If you take strong medicine now, it might end up doing more harm than good."

"It will take at least three months to heal slowly..."

Xueheng frowned slightly.

Three months was a long time for a seventeen or eighteen-year-old martial artist in the prime of their development.

"It's fine. If it takes three months, then so be it, Brother Xue. Don't worry about me. I had anticipated and prepared for this outcome before the tournament," Yinmouhu said with a carefree smile, her sweet and tender voice matching her youthful appearance.

Xueheng thought for a moment and said, "There is a way, Yinmou. Extend your hand."

Without knowing what Xueheng intended to do, Yinmouhu trusted him and complied without hesitation.

Although she had lost weight, her hands were still large due to her large frame. Her slender palms were almost as big as Xueheng's.

Xueheng took out a black dragon cherry seed the size of a walnut from his pocket, placed it in his palm, and then joined hands with Yinmouhu, squeezing the seed between them.

Jiang Siwei, who was standing nearby, watched this scene curiously.

With a thought from Xueheng, the dragon cherry tree's ability to absorb life force was activated. It began absorbing his life force and then transferred it to Yinmouhu.

Feeling the serious injuries in her chest and abdomen suddenly start to stir and rapidly heal, with her inner energy slowly being replenished, Yinmouhu exclaimed, "Hey?"

With his Level 10 health cultivation, Xueheng's life force was like an African elephant compared to Yinmouhu's.

The powerful and pure life force quickly filled and even repaired Yinmouhu's broken body.

"Brother Xue..."

Yinmouhu looked at Xueheng with gratitude, her pretty face soft and gentle.

She instinctively sensed that this 'life force' contained traces of Xueheng's presence.

Brother Xue was using some unknown method to transfer his life force to her!

"Stop, Brother Xue. That's enough," Yinmouhu hurriedly said.

She felt much better, and her inner energy was now sufficient to take strong medicine for rapid healing. The remaining injuries were minor, so she asked Xueheng to stop.

Not knowing that this amount of life force was but a drop in the bucket compared to Xueheng's abundant reserves, she was deeply touched and almost moved to tears.

After all, she had brought these injuries upon herself by pushing herself to the limit during the tournament...

Brother Xue had been too good to her, even better than a real brother...

...

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end