The first thing Xiao Tan did was curse. That had become his second nature. As long as there was a living creature in sight and if his skill was not on CD, he would use it. Seven Kills was fifty meters away from Xiao Tan. He naturally felt it. Without any warning, Seven Kills felt his heart squeeze, and he felt pressure on his shoulders. Alarmed, he opened the game menu and noticed the cursed status.
“Hmm… During our previous match, he didn’t use this skill,” Seven Kills said darkly. “A new skill he picked up during this period?” He did not know what the effect of this curse entailed, so his guard was up. Seven Kills chose to remain standing and examined what other influence the curse had on him other than increasing the psychological pressure on him. “What could it be? Undermining one of the stats and causing some damage after a certain period of time.” From Seven Kills’ perspective, he hoped it would be the former. If that was the case, it would be right for him to drag the match out, because that kind of effect would not last and would pass after a while. The longer he delayed the battle, the quicker the curse would pass.
On Xiao Tan’s side, something unexpected happened. Due to the Cross Curse that he unleashed on Seven Kills, his Sorcery Mastery increased to Level C. As the saying goes, piles of sand will eventually build a mountain. After so many days and so many scenarios using this skill, his initial goal had finally been achieved.
“Hmm…This is fated to happen…” Xiao Tan knew it was hard to defeat Seven Kills with his current ability. But if he had a new B-level skill, he might have a chance.
“Hmm…Is he going to make his move now?” Seven Kills saw Xiao Tan reach into his inventory. He thought the man was pulling out some weapon, but to his surprise, Xiao Tan took out a tattered book.
“What the hell is he doing? Is that the Secret Book of Qi Recovery?” (A book originated from the Magic Crane. The book was a consumable, and consuming it would cure all illness and improve one’s ability.) Seven Kills made a baseless speculation.
Xiao Tan removed the Mantra of Heaven and Earth Inversion and confirmed the learning requirements: Fighting B, Sorcery C, above Level 30. Then, he chose to study it.
Seven Kills clearly saw the book suddenly dissolve into a white light and disappear.
Oh? It’s really a consumable? Could it really be a skill? he thought. But why would he study it in the middle of a battle? Is it some kind of channeling skill that will persist throughout the entirety of the scenario?
Obviously, he was confused by what Xiao Tan was doing.
After learning the skill, he looked at the description of the skill in his skill tab and he said, “It has been used, but what is the use of this skill?”
Indeed, the description of the skill was unhelpful.
———
Effect: Inversing heaven and earth, yin and yang. No cooldown time.
———
The remark is also quite ambiguous. ‘Inversing the paradigm shift of the human body’s interaction with the outside down.’ What does that mean? Xiao Tan thought. Since I have already learned it, I might as well try it. After all, it only exhausts two percent of my Stamina Points.
At that moment, Seven Kills was losing his patience. He thought to himself, Tsk…this strange curse is not going away. What the hell is this kid up to?It’s clear that I am the stronger one, but I have been held back for so long by this strange curse. If this is a psychological tactic by the kid, then I have fallen for it.
As that thought crossed his mind, Seven Kills couldn’t help but get a bit mad. He growled and said, “You really think this will hold me back forever?!”
He lunged forward like a tiger freed from his cage. Every step was fast and dangerous. His right fist was on his waist, tightening with energy.
Then, something unexpected happened.
Even though this match was not broadcasted on the big screen, it was one of the more interesting battles, and its viewers reached up to ten thousand. Before these viewers, Xiao Tan did something that no one in the game had been able to do. He flew.
This was not stepping through the air with Geppo and not a powerful leap into the air. He shot up like a rocket, shooting through the cloud. No force appeared to propel him off the ground.
“What the f*ck…” Seven Kills watched as a figure shot up into the sky. Seeing his opponent fly vertically into the sky, he couldn’t help but gasp. “Where is he going? Heaven?”
At the same time, inside one of the conference rooms for the member of Blade Edge…
“You have to be kidding me!” Long Aomin leaped up from his seat. He stared straight at the screen on the conference table. He could not believe his eyes. “This can’t be happening.”
The other members’ eyes were bulging and they were mocking Brother Long. “Brother Long, are you sure that your opponent is weaker than you?”
Meanwhile, inside the log-in lobby of the VIP players…
“What the…Out of curiosity, I just wanted to see what will happen in the match between Seven Kills and the member of Underworld Frontline…but this is just ridiculous!” Shiva stood before the screen and mumbled to himself. “With this ability…one only needs to grab the enemy, shoot into the sky, and then let go.” With that in mind, he couldn’t help but say, “Hmm… if this kid gets into the Top 100, then there’s a chance we might meet in battle. If he uses this skill on me, what shall I do? Null-G Contact cannot be used on myself.” He was already considering the various possibilities that might happen in the Battle of the Butterfly.
Then, we’re back at the Underworld Frontline’s conference.
“I know you’re out there. I can feel you now.” Feng Bujue used an extremely powerful voice and an attitude reeking with Sophomore Syndrome as he mumbled to himself at the corner of the conference room. “I know that you’re afraid. You’re afraid of us. You’re afraid of change. I don’t know the future. I didn’t come here to tell you how this is going to end. I came here to tell you how it’s going to begin. I’m going to hang up this phone, and then I’m going to show these people what you don’t want them to see. I’m going to show them a world without you—a world without rules or controls, borders, or boundaries, and where anything is possible. Where we go from there is a choice I leave to you.” After quoting the Matrix, he lifted his head up at 45 degrees and jumped up. “Hmm…How come I can’t fly…”
Laughing Soul, who sat by the table, shook her head. “Leader, must you do this? Although there is no outsider among us…”
“Sigh…” Passing Rain sighed deeply. “If this happened half a month ago, I would definitely cut off all contact from you.”
Feng Bujue ignored them and returned to the table with a serious lock. He placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. He looked at the flying Xiao Tan on screen and said seriously, “I get it now. His presence is the combination of all of the numerous irregular bugs in the system. He is the final form of anomalous programming. No matter how hard the system works, it cannot remove him from the formula. It cannot ensure the perfect accuracy of math and its harmony.” He took a deep breath. “He is our Savior…Ouch!”
Passing Rain walked behind Brother Jue and pulled the edge of his eyes and mouth to mimic a smiley face.
“Hmm…the guard did not show up to stop me,” Passing Rain commented. “Looks like the system agrees with me.”
“Fine, fine. I’ll stop.” Feng Bujue shrugged. Passing Rain pulled back her hands and rubbed Feng Bujue’s saliva on his clothes.
“Back to the match…” Feng Bujue adjusted his expression and sat down. “Aside from the possibility of Xiao Tan being the savior, this can only be the effect of Mantra of Heaven and Earth, right?”
Laughing Soul answered, “Naturally…or do you think we would buy that nonsense?”
Inside the scenario, in that moment, probably only Xiao Tan himself knew that, he was not flying but ‘falling.’
“So, this is the effect when it says ‘inversion of heaven and earth.’” Xiao Tan was flying upward at an extremely fast speed. He mumbled, “To put it simply, it inverses the effect gravity has on me.”
He lowered his head to look at the ground that was swiftly moving away from him. “Okay. I’ll use the skill again to turn it back to normal.” He paused. “What am I doing? This is a suicide skill. Either I burn through the ozone layer or land splat on the ground and die.”
Of course, he was not entirely powerful. If he turned the gravity back and then used the skill twice in quick succession just as he was about to land, the falling impact would stop. But this repeated use would exhaust his Stamina Points and do nothing else.
“Hmm…Since I am already in the sky, why not…” An idea suddenly crossed Xiao Tan’s mind. When he was young, he bought a secret book from an old beggar for several pennies. The Buddha’s Fist was taught in the book. I seem to have a skill that can attack people from the sky.
He thought he would be able to do it at that moment. But of course, that did not happen.
Xiao Tan was only thinking about using Shadow Soul Impel. He wanted to use his falling speed and use his ultimate on Seven Kills. With that plan in mind, he calmed himself and used Mantra of Heaven and Earth Inversion again. The change of gravity was very sudden, but it did not damage Xiao Tan. He felt like a ping-pong ball bouncing back on the paddle, and he turned back to the ground.
Moments later, Seven Kills, who stood on the ground, finally saw Xiao Tan again.
“And here I thought the kid is planning to fly away from earth,” Seven Kills grumbled. Seconds later, when he saw the approaching opponent, his expression shifted. “Wait…what is he doing? Is this Cross Arm Dive?”
