Three days passed in the blink of an eye since Chen Xiao left Jiangbei.
Eight-Directional Annihilation (S-rank Skill) — evolution of Four-Sided Flying Blades.Description: To master space is to master life and death.Effect: Instantly rends and fractures stable space in a designated area, spawning a storm of razor shards.
It was his first skill-type evolution — and a terrifying one. Had he possessed Eight-Directional Annihilation during the Tang family clash, the sentries on the city wall would not have lasted three seconds.
Invisibility (SS-rank Skill) — enhanced Camouflage.Description: The path of life and death bends to mastery of space.Effect: Grants true invisibility at the cost of enormous stamina.Note: Detection breaks the effect.
His second new skill. The stamina cost? A Tyrannosaurus body like his had room to spare.
Chen Xiao was still running calculations in his head — two days remained until Tang Shirou's wedding. If things went wrong, he would run: the capital was far, time was slim, and discretion sometimes equaled survival.
A sudden clamor outside the villa door cut his thoughts short.
"Come out, you wild man in this villa!" someone shouted. "I want to see what the Yakuza Witch's man looks like!"
Chen Xiao blinked at Liu Ruyan, who lay still under the covers. "It's the Yakuza Bull Demon," she mumbled, voice hoarse. "One of the base leaders. He's got a crush on me. Looks like he found out you were here."
Liu Ruyan turned away, feigning sleep. "Can't get up. You handle it."
Chen Xiao smiled and rose. "Fine. My mess."
The visitor was everything his name promised: two meters tall, a mass of muscle and scars, wielding a butcher's chopper that dripped menace. Five ordinary evolvers trailed behind him.
"You the wild man? How far did you and Liu Ruyan go? Tell me!" the Bull Demon barked, nostrils flaring. Rumors of Liu Ruyan keeping a pretty boy had fueled his jealousy for weeks. Now he'd come to claim face.
Chen Xiao toyed with the moment. "Everything you can imagine."
"You're courting death! Beat him!" the Bull Demon roared to his men. They surged forward like hungry dogs.
The Bull Demon's chopper flared with an inky, uncanny power — Bull's Breath, an S-rank awakening with a black-magical edge. Chen Xiao's lips twitched; a bull-awakened evolver with magic was a novelty.
Chen Xiao, however, already carried nine talents. An S-rank trick could not intimidate him. He combined Divine Wind with Invisibility and vanished — then reappeared behind the Bull Demon.
"What?!" The Bull Demon spun, hands empty of the man who had been there a heartbeat before. "Is that Yakuza Camouflage?!"
"Don't be stupid! Hiding skills won't help him." One of the Bull Demon's underlings sneered. "Even the Witch can't save him!"
They hadn't accounted for Chen Xiao's next move. The space around the Bull Demon shattered like glass; inaudible blades carved the air into a storm. All Things Water coalesced into fine, lethal currents. Eight-Directional Annihilation fused with water, and the world seemed to split.
"Who… are you?!" the Bull Demon stammered, panic cracking his voice. Even a second-order new human couldn't have produced that combination.
Chen Xiao stroked his chin and grinned slowly. "I'm… a Tyrannosaurus Rex."