Chapter 41: Devil Eye
He's become so strong!
Zhou Tai No. 3 was shocked by the speed of Yu Xian's growth.
Yu Xian was equally astonished by how much Zhou Tai No. 3 had improved. If Zhou Tai No. 3 still possessed the same level of strength he had displayed at the school, Yu Xian was confident of finishing him off within seconds. But now, no matter how he attacked, his opponent could predict his every move in advance, effortlessly dodging each incoming bubble. Compared to Zhou Tai No. 5, Zhou Tai No. 3 was clearly the more troublesome opponent.
Zhou Tai No. 3 leaped onto a tree, then sprang from one tree to another. In mid-air, he spun around and kicked through a tree trunk. With another kick, he sent the upper half of the tree crashing toward Yu Xian. "Little Brother, eat this!"
An opening! Yu Xian allowed the tree to crash into the bubble protecting him while directing several bubbles toward his opponent, who was still in midair with nothing to push off from.
Zhou Tai No. 3's eyelids twitched. "I can bounce too"
He stepped onto one of the bubbles and used its elasticity to propel himself away. Borrowing the rebound force, he effortlessly evaded the surrounding bubbles, weaving through them before landing atop another tree in the distance.
Yu Xian frowned. "He can see through the bubbles' characteristics!"
He had never expected his little trick to end up giving his opponent an opening instead. Not all of the bubbles were the hard, durable type. Hidden among them were sticky, elastic, and even corrosive ones.
Yu Xian had intended to use the unique characteristics of these bubbles to give Zhou Tai No. 3 a little surprise, but Zhou Tai No. 3 saw right through them. Not only had he accurately identified the elastic bubbles, but he even turned them to his advantage.
As he stood atop a tree branch, the corners of Zhou Tai No. 3's mouth gradually curled upward. He was so delighted by the discovery that he was almost beside himself with excitement. "So, that's it. This is how my eyes are supposed to be used."
To him, every bubble looked different. Some emitted a foul stench, some vibrated constantly, while others appeared sticky and viscous.
The reason he had kicked down the tree earlier was not to attack Yu Xian. Rather, he had been secretly using the leaves and wood fragments to test the bubbles and determine the effect of each type.
The foul-smelling bubbles were corrosive. The sticky-looking bubbles possessed powerful adhesive properties. If he got caught in them, escape would be nearly impossible. As for the vibrating bubbles, they were elastic.
I've figured them all out!
The new ability he had obtained was called Devil Eye. It was an ability steeped in malice, one that distorted the world in the user's eyes into something grotesque and absurd. Yet while warping reality, the Devil Eye also revealed truths that would normally remain hidden, allowing its user to perceive information invisible to ordinary senses. This was the so-called truth within falsehood.
For example, the beast Zhou Tai No. 3 saw was an illusion, but Yu Xian's endless hunger and constant feeding were real. Plato's ideal world appeared as a hellscape, but the fact that it had been built upon mountains of corpses and seas of blood was real. Distinguishing truth from falsehood depended entirely on the wisdom of the Devil Eye's user. Zhou Tai No. 3 was beginning to adapt to the Devil Eye and extract genuinely useful information from the countless unreal visions it showed him.
Twisting his waist, he dodged another incoming bubble. The corners of his mouth split wide, revealing a grin full of razor-sharp teeth. "I see it! I see everything!"
Suddenly, he spun and drove a punch into one of the bubbles. Then he lifted a leg to evade several more attacks. Arching backward, he lashed out with a kick, striking the bubble he had punched moments earlier.
Spin. Attack. Dodge. Spin again. Attack again. His actions seemed simple, yet they allowed him to evade Yu Xian's attacks with remarkable efficiency. Moreover, amid the dense barrage of counterattacks, his fist finally burst one of Yu Xian's bubbles.
The entire exchange lasted only a second or two. From Yu Xian's perspective, Zhou Tai No. 3 had merely spun around at high speed. Still, he had somehow evaded attack after attack while unleashing a rapid series of counterstrikes. And just like that, he had destroyed one of the bubbles.
Zhou Tai No. 3 weaved through the field of bubbles. Strange sounds echoed from the scales covering his body. "Little Brother, the tables are about to turn!"
Before Yu Xian could react, Zhou Tai No. 3 was already right in front of him. His fist slammed into the bubble surrounding Yu Xian, sending ripples racing across its surface.
Only after that did Yu Xian realize what had happened. His pupils contracted as the familiar sensation of being hunted by Zhou Tai No. 3 at the school came rushing back.
As his mind raced, his gaze landed on one of the bubbles. It was an adhesive bubble, and a single scale was stuck to its surface. He instantly understood how his opponent had managed to close the distance so quickly.
First, Zhou Tai No. 3 had used an elastic bubble to accelerate himself. Then, at the cost of one of his scales, he had used an adhesive bubble to alter the angle of his movement. The combination of the two allowed him to appear from an unexpected direction in an instant, so fast that even Yu Xian had been unable to react.
He actually turned my methods against me.
With a flicker of his thought, Yu Xian immediately recalled all of the adhesive and elastic bubbles around him. At the same time, a greater number of hardened bubbles surged forward, pursuing the retreating Zhou Tai No. 3.
Zhou Tai No. 3 dodged the incoming barrage of hardened bubbles and laughed. "It's useless, Little Brother. I've already seen through all your tricks."
He wasn't wrong. Yu Xian's attacks no longer posed much of a threat to him. The hardened bubbles possessed tremendous destructive power, but Zhou Tai No. 3 could predict their trajectory. He could even step onto a passing bubble and allow it to carry him.
Yet Yu Xian's expression remained unchanged. He continued directing countless hardened bubbles to attack from different angles, seemingly running out of options.
To prove that his claim was correct, Zhou Tai No. 3 counterattacked more aggressively while continuing to evade. Again and again, his fists slammed into the bubble protecting Yu Xian.
Unfortunately, the frequency of his attacks simply wasn't high enough. There was no way he could break through the bubble's defenses. Moreover, Yu Xian wasn't about to give him the opportunity. Whenever Zhou Tai No. 3 stopped to attack, the surrounding bubbles would converge on him. If he didn't retreat, he would be overwhelmed and killed. If he retreated, all of his progress would be lost.
The two sides remained locked in a stalemate. For a time, neither seemed capable of gaining the upper hand.
By now, Zhou Tai No. 3 had fully adapted to the rhythm of fighting amidst the relentless barrage of hardened bubbles. Slipping past dozens of bubbles fired from different angles, he pushed off the ground and leaped into the air. Using several hardened bubbles as footholds, he ricocheted forward and instantly appeared before Yu Xian.
His fist shot toward the bubble protecting Yu Xian. Although he still couldn't break it, this had always been a game to him. As long as he could continue fighting back, it meant he hadn't lost.
However, the moment he threw this punch, Yu Xian spread his hands wide. Countless silver threads erupted from his fingertips. The distance between them was simply too short, less than thirty centimeters.
Zhou Tai No. 3's eyes twitched violently. His crimson eyes seemed to witness death itself descending upon him with a raised scythe. In the blink of an eye, silver threads wrapped all around him, binding him into something resembling a mummy. If it had only been one or two strands, he could have broken free. But now, all he could do was writhe helplessly like an insect.
Yu Xian smiled at his opponent. "What? Don't tell me you forgot I could do this too."
The moment he realized the bubbles alone wouldn't be enough to deal with his opponent, Yu Xian had already come up with this plan. As long as Zhou Tai No. 3 became overconfident, Yu Xian was at least ninety percent certain he could capture him alive.
Clearly, his plan had worked.