Slain by Sunlight

"Don't be rash. He's baiting you." Cheng Pi had been about to unleash a furious tirade at Edward when Yu Xian's voice sounded by his ear. Instantly, Cheng Pi snapped to attention. He realized Edward was trying to pry information out of him. If he had followed Edward's lead just now, in his temporary anger he would surely have lashed back and exposed the fact that Bat wasn't dead. Leaking Bat's status wasn't even the worst part. More importantly, exposing that Bat was alive would mean exposing the Huaxia grotto-heaven as well. No one could say for sure what had actually happened to Huaxia; it was currently in a state of "suspended animation." If he brought Huaxia out of the shadows into the open, Edward would spare no effort scheming to enter the Huaxia grotto-heaven. When humans were uncertain about something, they would never go all out on a task that might prove completely futile. Only when the objective was crystal clear would they pour a hundred percent of their energy into overcoming every obstacle. Edward was currently unsure whether Huaxia still existed, which was why he had deliberately tried to trick Cheng Pi into giving him the answer. Now understanding Edward's motives, Cheng Pi simply kept his mouth shut. He took a deep breath, and beneath Edward's expectant gaze, suddenly kicked out at the vampire holding the camera. This was completely outside normal protocol. Moreover, the phone transmission had latency. Such a surprise attack was entirely unexpected, leaving Edward no time to protect the vampire. With a single kick, the filming vampire's head exploded on the spot. For a low-level vampire, an injury like this was fatal; there was zero chance of survival. After blowing the vampire's head apart, Cheng Pi snatched the phone from its hand. Thrusting his face right into the camera, he said coldly, "Edward, I'm going to kill you. I will definitely kill you. Just wait for your death." With that, he hurled the phone away. It slammed into the corner wall, bursting apart with a loud bang. In the traveling palace on the other end, Edward watched Cheng Pi deliver his threat up close before the screen went black. His face darkened in tandem with the display. "Bastard!" Edward was enraged. Ever since he had attained invincible power, when had anyone ever insulted him like this? He shut his eyes at once. The Demon Cross behind him rose upright in an instant, a terrifying power rocketing straight toward the sky before the heavens rapidly turned crimson, spreading toward the Island Nation. "Kojima Arthur isn't dead yet!" Edward quickly realized that Kojima Arthur—whose abdomen had been kicked clean through by Cheng Pi—had merely lost consciousness. Because his heart and brain were still intact, he was still alive. He immediately directed the power in the sky to surge toward Kojima Arthur. Meanwhile, Cheng Pi dispatched the vampires guarding the doors with crisp, lethal kicks, blowing apart one lackey after another. Arthur had brought more than thirty vampires with him this time. However, these vampires had been turned far too recently. They possessed only one awakened ability, and most had unfortunately awakened the classic vampire ability: Hibernation. Having this ability was practically the same as having none at all, so naturally none of them were a match for Cheng Pi. As a second-generation Shiny Vampire, Cheng Pi not only inherited Yu Xian's immunity to the sun, but along with inheriting two innate abilities, he had also gained immense physical prowess. Before becoming a second-generation Shiny Vampire, there was no way he could have killed a Transcendent with a single kick. Now, he could do so with effortless ease. It was only through fighting that he gradually realized just how powerful he had become. At the same time, he felt even greater gratitude toward Yu Xian. All of this power had been bestowed upon him by Yu Xian. The debt of gratitude he owed Yu Xian could not be repaid in several lifetimes. In just one minute, he slaughtered all thirty-odd vampires. Outside, a few vampires heard the commotion, but the sight of the headless corpses on the ground kept them from daring to draw near. These Island Nation vampires had been forcibly transformed in the first place, so they naturally held little loyalty. Without any incentive, they certainly wouldn't risk their lives for Edward. They had become vampires solely to survive. "One more left!" Cheng Pi's nose twitched; he caught the scent of one remaining life. Although he had not inherited Yu Xian's Super Smell, his olfactory sensitivity was thousands of times higher than that of normal vampires—an effect of lingering genetic traits from Super Smell. Sensing that one vampire was still alive, he turned back toward the manor. Then his brow furrowed slightly as he looked up at the sky above the main house. A torrent of crimson energy crashed down, and Kojima Arthur slowly levitated into the air. The gaping hole in his abdomen healed at rapid speed, his frame swelling broader and more hulking until, drenched in crimson energy, he transformed into a red-skinned monster. Thud! Kojima Arthur dropped from the air. Feeling the surging power within him, he immediately flashed a vicious grin at Cheng Pi in the distance. He had nearly died just now—a mortal enmity that could never be forgiven! "Bastard, that kick really hurt!" Kojima Arthur rubbed his stomach. The next instant, he erupted violently, his massive frame leaping high into the air as he delivered a descending kick toward Cheng Pi. Boom! Like a meteor striking the Earth, his kick blew the lawn apart, sending wild tremors through the surrounding ground. He didn't care in the slightest, however. Turning his head to the right, he saw Cheng Pi standing atop the estate's perimeter wall, looking down at him from above. "Who gave you permission to look down on me?!" Arthur snarled, snatching up a boulder beside him and hurling it straight at Cheng Pi. He despised being looked down upon, especially when he was clearly taller than others yet forced to kneel and look up to them. Time and again, he had sworn to himself that one day, he would look down on everyone. Cheng Pi dodged the rock and leaped onto a nearby tree, looking down at Arthur again. "I *am* looking down on you," he said coldly. "What are you going to do about it?" "Don't get careless. His combat strength is 1, and yours is 0.5. The only good news is that you're faster than him, but in close quarters, he has the power to kill you instantly." Yu Xian's voice rang in Cheng Pi's ear. Cheng Pi's expression tightened slightly. The other guy was stronger by 0.5—equivalent to two of him. No wonder he had felt an instinctive urge to keep his distance upon seeing Kojima Arthur in this form; he had sensed danger. Cheng Pi realized that after becoming a vampire, he had gained many strange abilities, yet all of them were passive. In such a short time, he hadn't even fully figured out what they did. "Bakayaro! I'll slaughter you!" Provoked by Cheng Pi's condescending gaze and emboldened by the surging power inside him, Kojima Arthur attacked without restraint. In a flash, he lunged forward and smashed through the tree with a punch. Locking onto Cheng Pi's flight path, he seized the trunk, spun once, and hurled the entire tree violently at him. Cheng Pi's inherent ability was formidable—he could fly at sub-light speeds, which meant his reaction time was astonishingly swift. He evaded the tree in an instant. Then, gathering fire in one hand and venom in the other, he waved both hands toward Arthur at once, launching flames and venom simultaneously. "Muda muda muda muda!" After hurling the tree, Kojima Arthur leaped in pursuit, aiming to strike Cheng Pi in midair. Encountering the fire and venom halfway, he threw a frantic flurry of punches. Taking advantage of the opening, Cheng Pi repeatedly conjured fire and venom, bombarding Kojima Arthur relentlessly in midair. Separated by a dozen meters, one continuously attacked while the other battered the barrage apart with his fists. Arthur let out a low roar as demon wings sprouted from his back. Flapping his wings, he pushed forward against the onslaught, drawing closer to Cheng Pi. Gritting his teeth, Cheng Pi ramped up the tempo of his assault. *No, my stamina can't match his. If this goes on, I'm the one who'll die!* Watching Kojima Arthur draw closer and closer, Cheng Pi thought anxiously to himself. Then an idea struck him. He glanced up at the sky, raised one hand high, and kept attacking with the other. In his raised palm, a massive fireball instantly materialized. The fireball swelled larger and larger, giving off staggering heat. Yet Kojima Arthur wasn't afraid at all; he was confident he could smash it to pieces with a single punch. Just as he closed within five meters of Cheng Pi, however, Cheng Pi let out a low growl and hurled the fireball toward the sky. "Hahahaha! You can't even control your own power anymore!" "How are you going to beat me?!" Kojima Arthur paused in surprise, then burst into mad laughter. He had been a vampire for too short a time, and ever since his turning, the Island Nation's sky had been shrouded by Edward's dark clouds. He had almost forgotten one crucial fact: Vampires feared the light. A thunderous blast echoed in the sky. The shockwave of the exploding fireball swept the dark clouds aside, and sunlight poured down. Bathed in sunlight, Cheng Pi smiled. "We might both be vampires, but I'm a Shiny Vampire, while you're just an ordinary one. Enjoy the last sunbath of your life!" "Aaargh..." Arthur couldn't even hear what Cheng Pi was saying. The moment the sunlight touched him, his body began rapidly disintegrating. Beneath the sun's glare, his crimson flesh turned ash-gray, and amid agonized shrieks, he was reduced to ashes and smoke. A God-rank vampire, slain by sunlight, had fallen!