Chapter 254: Nonexistent Beast, a Convenient and Undefeatable Conceptual Ability! (4K)

Chapter 254: Nonexistent Beast, a Convenient and Undefeatable Conceptual Ability! (4K)



"A beast that never existed in this world, devouring even its own shadow, a symbol of absolute nothingness..."

Xueheng blinked, a little dazed by the unexpected additional description on the panel.

That stoic panel, which usually only provided brief ability descriptions, was now indulging in what seemed like self-praise.

It had been a long time since he had picked up Cat and discovered the Twin Ring on its tail, unlocking the Twin ability. He had been eagerly awaiting a divine incarnation, and now, finally, he had obtained one—though it wasn't the incarnation he had anticipated.

For some reason, Xueheng felt a twinge of disappointment, like a bridegroom marrying someone other than his first love.

Shaking his head to clear his mind of these odd thoughts, Xueheng glanced at the invocation incantation written below the ability's name, Nonexistent Beast.

The so-called 'incantation' was a phrase imbued with power.

"Ankh Geb Ptah..."

Its meaning: "World, forget me."

A bit cringy.

"Although it's written in English letters, it doesn't seem to be English. It's just using the letters to indicate pronunciation... I have no idea what language it actually is."

"So, saying this incantation will summon the Nonexistent Beast..."

Xueheng thought for a moment, cleared his throat with a cough, and began to recite the incantation.

"Ankh... Geb... Ptah..."

The first attempt was unsuccessful, as he was unfamiliar with the pronunciation and made some mistakes.

Xueheng wasn't surprised and continued with a second attempt, this time more confidently.

Although his pronunciation was much better, he still failed to summon the beast.

Thanks to the various skills he had acquired and his long history of martial arts practice, his learning ability was extraordinary. He quickly identified and corrected all the errors in his pronunciation.

On the third try, his pronunciation was perfect, without a single mistake.

"Ankh Geb Ptah."

However, the Nonexistent Beast still did not respond.

Xueheng frowned.

"Did I read it wrong? Is the pronunciation different?"

"No, the panel wouldn't play tricks on me like that. Since it's using English phonetics, my pronunciation must be correct..."

After a moment's thought, Xueheng tried again, this time infusing his voice with a higher pitch and a slightly dramatic tone, as if reciting a poem.

"Ankh Geb Ptah..."

This time, he definitely felt something different.

The words he spoke seemed to echo with a reverberating effect, creating a solemn and heavy atmosphere that filled the entire villa.

The next moment, nothing happened, but Xueheng's gaze shifted to his side.

Something that didn't exist now occupied that space.

"Nonexistent Beast..."

Xueheng's eyes lit up with understanding.

"So that's it. This is the Nonexistent Beast, the divine incarnation of Shadowflame, a symbol of nothingness..."

In the instant he invoked the beast with the incantation, Xueheng instinctively understood the true nature of the Nonexistent Beast and its ability.

"As its name suggests, the Nonexistent Beast is a beast that doesn't actually exist."

Xueheng's eyes sparkled with interest.

"It has no form or size. It symbolizes nothingness. Because it doesn't truly exist, it cannot attack others."

"It has only one ability... to devour existence with nonexistence."

"For example..."

Xueheng's thoughts stirred, and he looked at the chair in front of the desk nearby.

The next moment, the entire chair, from top to bottom, vanished as if it had been erased by a rubber, leaving no trace.

It was as if the chair had been devoured by the void.

"Objects devoured by the Nonexistent Beast become nonexistent," Xueheng whispered.

"They don't disintegrate into dust or get stored in a spatial ability. They truly cease to exist, ignoring the law of conservation of energy. They simply vanish from this world."

As he spoke, he snapped his fingers, and the chair reappeared as if it had been vomited out by an invisible beast, falling to the ground.

"It can even regurgitate what it has devoured... So, the most important use of the Nonexistent Beast is obvious."

As soon as he finished speaking, Xueheng willed it, and the beast devoured him, causing him to disappear from the world.

He couldn't see, hear, or sense anything—all his senses were enveloped in absolute nothingness. It wasn't the darkness one experienced with closed eyes but a lack of any color or sensation whatsoever.

Xueheng experienced what it was like to be devoured by the Nonexistent Beast.

'Interesting... I currently exist in a state of nonexistence.' Xueheng mused.

'In other words, nothing in this world can interfere with me... not any form of detection or attack.'

'Since I 'don't exist', theoretically, even abstract concepts like 'spatial abilities' or 'temporal powers', or even something as extreme as a 'cosmic big bang' or reversing the universe back to its initial state, wouldn't affect me in the slightest.'

'No one, not even a god, could interfere with something that doesn't exist! '

Xueheng's excitement grew as he thought about the implications.

'Undefeatable, absolutely undefeatable! This is several levels beyond spatial intangibility or temporal freeze! It's a conceptual ability that defies all logic!'

'With this, even a 'four-dimensional sensory ability' wouldn't be able to detect my presence.'

'Safe, incredibly safe.'

This was the ultimate sense of security; even a cosmic big bang wouldn't disturb this serene, completely isolated state.

'However, there are some drawbacks.'

Xueheng controlled the Nonexistent Beast, making it open its mouth slightly to reveal a small gap.

In the void, a pair of eyes appeared, observing the outside world.

'If I want to ensure absolute safety, I have to be completely devoured, which means I can't perceive my surroundings unless I do something like this, leaving a small gap for my eyes to see... But by doing so, I also expose a weakness, as my 'eyes' can be interfered with or attacked.'

'Also... when I'm in the devoured state, I can't move, which greatly reduces my flexibility and prevents me from performing maneuvers like phasing through walls.'

'Most importantly...'

Xueheng's lips curled slightly.

'To summon this thing, I need to use an incantation... it can't be instantaneous.'

'Incantations require proper grammar and intonation, so there's no room for error. Even with the best oral skills and utmost proficiency, the fastest I can summon the Nonexistent Beast is probably around 0.1 seconds.'

With a thought, Xueheng controlled the Nonexistent Beast to spit him out, and he reappeared in the room.

He checked the panel and noticed that the color of Shadowflame was slightly dimmer than before.

"Once summoned, the Nonexistent Beast continuously consumes the blue bar of Shadowflame. At this rate, it can probably only maintain its presence for a few hours at most."

"This means I can't keep it outside for extended periods... There are quite a few limitations."

Xueheng exhaled slowly and smiled, "But it's still incredibly powerful and convenient."

He took off everything except for his phone and smart ring: the Token of Love, a pair of ordinary glasses, the Green Rubik's Cube, and the Dragon Sakura Seed.

Then, he manipulated the Green Rubik's Cube to retrieve the Forgotten Greatsword that was stored inside.

"Next..."

Xueheng snapped his fingers.

In an instant, the Nonexistent Beast devoured everything in front of him.

"Hehe, a storage space!"

Xueheng reached out and grabbed the sword hilt that the Nonexistent Beast spat out, as if he were drawing a sword from thin air.

He gracefully drew the Forgotten Greatsword and played with it for a moment before tossing it back into the beast's mouth.

Xueheng felt a sense of novelty, as if he had acquired a handy new storage bag, and he wanted to put everything he saw into it.

He fed the pen from his desk, books from the bookshelf, his luggage, and the secret medicine he needed for cultivating the Yellow Skin Technique... Everything he had left in the room due to inconvenience now found its way into the Nonexistent Beast's mouth.

This beast had no concept of shape or size, and theoretically, its storage space was infinite.

However, there was a limitation—it couldn't leave the area where Xueheng was located.

Through experimentation, Xueheng discovered that the Nonexistent Beast could only remain within a six-meter radius of his physical body.

Whether devouring or regurgitating items, it had to be within this range.

In other words, there was a limit to the size of objects the Nonexistent Beast could devour. Anything longer than six meters couldn't be swallowed.

Due to this distance restriction, the storage space of the Nonexistent Beast was effectively a sphere with a radius of six meters, or approximately 904 cubic meters.

"That's still quite impressive."

Xueheng nodded in satisfaction.

"As Shadowflame continues to upgrade, the Nonexistent Beast should also get stronger. For now, this is more than enough."

"Additionally... I think there's a rather intriguing way to use this ability."

Xueheng willed the Nonexistent Beast to open its mouth slightly, just outside the six-meter radius.

And then...

Within the void, over a dozen thick, black tendrils suddenly shot out, resembling the tentacles of an ancient god as they danced menacingly in the air.

"The Dragon Sakura Seed can now launch attacks directly from the void without having to be physically retrieved. This greatly increases the flexibility and stealth of my offense."

Xueheng blinked.

"This sight... It's a bit unnerving."

He controlled the tendrils of the Dragon Sakura Seed to retract back into the void and stretched his arms, feeling rather pleased.

"Next, I'll pay another visit to Xu's Biotech and see what else I can acquire with my 'Nonexistent Beast.' There's nothing I can't steal now."

Opening the door, Xueheng descended the stairs and entered the living room on the first floor. There, he saw Cat lounging on Little Maid's lap as she lazily watched some cartoons.

After a moment's thought, Xueheng smiled and said, "Teacher Wan, I'd like you to help me test out my new ability."

Cat, with her fluffy tail swaying leisurely, glanced at Xueheng and pouted lazily, "You've got another new ability already?"

She had grown accustomed to Xueheng's frequent acquisition of new abilities.

"How do you want to test it?"

Xueheng smiled but didn't reply. Instead, he walked closer to Cat, stepping within the range where the Nonexistent Beast could devour her, and willed it to act.

Without a sound, Cat vanished as if swallowed by an invisible void monster.

"Eh? Master?"

Little Maid Yun Qin was puzzled and a little panicked.

Xueheng didn't explain; instead, he looked up into the air.

A second later.

"Kachi!" A strange sound echoed as Cat reappeared four meters above the ground, directly in Xueheng's line of sight. Her fur stood on end, and her two front paws unsheathed the Serpent-Slaying Claws, wildly swiping at the air.

Realizing that she had escaped, she was falling from the air, and she glared at Xueheng. With a nimble twist of her body in the air, she was caught by Xueheng, who had reached out to catch her.

"Don't pull this kind of sudden attack again! What kind of ability is this?!"

Cat's face displayed human-like dissatisfaction, and she grumbled in annoyance.

Xueheng quickly stroked her back, smoothing down her fur as he apologized, "Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to test how long it would take for you to break free in a state of panic..."

He had a good grasp now of the effects of the Nonexistent Beast's devouring ability.

When the devoured person struggled intensely, they couldn't be contained for long... But it was more than enough for his purposes.

Just the momentary daze caused by being devoured was enough for him to do a lot of things.

Not to mention, he could also decide where they reappeared after being spat out.

Forced teleportation... How outrageous!

This was practically invincible!

As Xueheng continued to stroke Cat with the super smooth-fur technique he had long since mastered, her dissatisfaction soon melted away, replaced by pure bliss.

"This is my new ability, the Nonexistent Beast..."

Xueheng whispered, explaining the characteristics of the Nonexistent Beast.

In the future, there would likely be situations where Cat would have to fight alongside him, or he might encounter a powerful enemy and be unable to protect her. It was necessary to explain the Nonexistent Beast's ability to her beforehand to avoid any misunderstandings.

Otherwise, if he used the Nonexistent Beast to devour her for protection, it could end up causing more confusion.

"...Your abilities are getting more and more outrageous. Which xuanhuan novel protagonist are you?"

Cat listened, covering her forehead with her paw in exasperation.

Xueheng shifted his gaze away and casually laughed, "That's what happens when you're the chosen one, I guess."

...

At noon, Xueheng sat on the sofa, watching the live broadcast.

This was another U19 draw, this time for the semifinals.

As he watched the middle-aged man, who seemed to be a Limit-Breaking Master, open the draw and reveal the paper slip with 'Xueheng' written on it, Xueheng nodded.

"As expected."

Semifinal Match 1:

Song Nanxing vs. Yu Jia Linglu.

Semifinal Match 2:

Xueheng vs. Zhou Yinglin.

"This idiot still hasn't given up, huh... He must have rigged the draw again."

Xueheng muttered softly.

"Oh well, since you dare to face me again, this time, I'll crush you completely."

"Both physically and mentally."

He pressed the ring on his hand, turning off the holographic live broadcast, and looked toward the front door of the villa, his ears twitching slightly.

His increasingly sensitive hearing had already picked up approaching footsteps.

Moreover, from the rhythm and spacing of the steps, he recognized the visitor as Ning Yuantai.

"His steps are erratic. He seems to be in a hurry..."

Xueheng thought.

...

(Is the volume of a sphere with a radius of six meters calculated correctly as 904 cubic meters? I'm a little unsure...)

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end