Dark clouds hung thick across the sky, and a sudden thundershower broke over the area. Yet barely ten minutes later, the hastily gathered deluge seemed to have emptied itself completely. Brightness returned to the streets and surrounding residential buildings, leaving behind only glistening wet ground and damp, cool air.
The young boy hid beneath the stairway, peering cautiously toward the rooftop terrace. Earlier, amid the downpour and crashing thunder, he had faintly heard fierce sounds of fighting coming from another rooftop. But due to the heavy curtain of rain and the distance between them, he hadn't been able to see anything clearly.
Just then, a shadow suddenly loomed over him.
The boy tensed at first, then breathed a sigh of relief. "Mister." But once he saw the figure clearly, he instinctively took two steps back.
A gaping hole had been torn in Wei Wusheng's chest, as if a chunk of flesh and bone had been ripped away by something, and the beating heart within seemed almost visible. He held his hammer in one hand, while hanging from his waist were two grotesque heads with wide-open eyes, tied together by their hair into a gruesome string.
The boy swallowed hard.
Just then, Wei Wusheng tossed something over. The boy hastily caught it, finding it to be a boundary credential—though by its design, it was far more advanced than his own second-hand model.
"Put it on and come take a photo."
Leaving those words behind, Wei Wusheng walked outside.
The boy gave an "oh" and put on the boundary credential as he walked. Only now did he notice that Wei Wusheng's back bore over a dozen lacerations slashed by sharp weapons, the mangled flesh rolled back in a terrifying display. Yet he seemed entirely unaffected by the wounds, his stride as steady as ever, putting distance between them in moments.
And whether it was his imagination or not, he felt Wei Wusheng seemed taller than before. After adjusting the boundary credential, he broke into a run to catch up.
***
In his dormitory at the Xuan Palace Building, Chen Chuan had just finished today's training. As he was about to rest, a message suddenly arrived from Tan Zhi. He didn't think much of it—lately, Tan Zhi had been going to watch the arena tournaments and frequently sent over scenes from the venue and event-related updates—so he casually opened it.
This time, however, was different. What came through was just a single, crystal-clear photograph.
A tall, robust man stood with his back to the camera, occupying most of the frame. In his hand was a conspicuous hammer, still bearing traces of blood, while two headless, mutilated corpses lay at his feet.
Near the top of the photo hung two heads tied together, their eyes rolled back and lifeless, severed blood vessels, tendons, and wisps of mutated tissue trailing from the jagged wounds of their necks.
The image had immense visual impact.
Chen Chuan stared at the figure's back. Was this... Wei Wusheng?
He looked at the two heads. Though their features were contorted, he could still make out the resemblance between them. Moreover, having seen their photos on the bounty platform recently, he recognized them—these had to be the heads of the Pei brothers.
He had read their profiles. The two were cousins with extensive experience and an extraordinarily coordinated partnership, unmatched by solitary fighters. They had received high evaluations on the discussion boards, and many believed they stood the highest chance of taking down Wei Wusheng.
Yet now, the outcome was the exact opposite.
He studied the photo closely, gleaning considerable information from it. Judging by the injuries on the brothers' necks, their necks had likely been broken while they were still alive, then brutally torn away.
Furthermore, comparing the figure with the surrounding reference points, he felt Wei Wusheng appeared taller and broader than before, though since it was only a photo, he couldn't be certain.
Could this be the reward of the "heart's intent" Wei Wusheng had spoken of?
As he was pondering this, he heard a faint sound in the room. Turning around, he saw the egg in the incubator wobbling.
A section of the eggshell cracked open, forming a breach as a fragment was slowly pushed outward. Something seemed to peek out from within, followed by tapping and wriggling sounds as the fracture widened.
Seeing this, Chen Chuan stood from the sofa and walked over to the incubator. As most of the egg broke open, a little creature poked its head out, crawled free, shook off the shell fragments clinging to its body, and looked up at him with wide eyes, letting out a tender chirp.
He looked at the little creature. He had originally thought it would be a snake, but now it looked more like a hybrid of lizard and bird. It had downy feathers, clawed forelimbs with two membranous wings, and feather distribution like that of a bird, appearing multicolored, though it was currently soaking wet.
The little creature chirped at him again. He extended a finger to tease it, and it climbed up along his finger onto the back of his hand.
Chen Chuan could feel the heartbeat and warmth radiating from its small body. After a brief thought, he reached out and took the nutrient fluid sent alongside the incubator by the Secret Snake Cult. It was said that any creature bred by the Secret Snake Cult could consume this. He took a disposable paper plate and poured a little inside.
The moment the little creature saw it, it immediately scrambled down from his hand and began happily lapping it up. Once full, it seemed to tire, returning to the incubator where it sprawled out, closed its eyes, and lay still.
Chen Chuan recorded a clip with his boundary credential and sent it over to Zou Handan, inquiring what species the little creature was.
A short while later, Zou Handan's reply came through: "Mr. Chen, we named this creature the 'bird-lizard.' We originally intended to cultivate it as a combat species, but we were unsuccessful.
"Because some developed unknown mutations while a large portion suffered degradation, the project was discontinued, and most of the eggs were disposed of.
"This one likely got mixed in with the complimentary gifts because of that. Currently, this creature possesses only ornamental value and poses no threat whatsoever. If you do not care for it, you may return it to us, and we will process it for disposal and replace it with another gift for you."
Chen Chuan knew what "disposal" entailed, so he said, "There's no need to take it back. How should it be raised?"
Zou Handan said apologetically, "Since this was an oversight on our part, we will send you some supplies and a detailed manual shortly, Mr. Chen."
"All right, thank you for your trouble," Chen Chuan said.
After ending the call, he glanced once more at the little creature. Seeing it sleeping soundly, seemingly quite comfortable in the warmth of the incubator, he didn't disturb it.
He checked the platform again and found that in just this short time, Wei Wusheng's photo had already spread everywhere outside. The comment section looked as though it had detonated, with participants constantly pouring in, pushing it to the very top in mere moments.
The Pei brothers were quite famous after all, so dying at Wei Wusheng's hands—and in such a horrific manner—was truly unexpected. People analyzed the condition of the two corpses and the visible wounds on Wei Wusheng, attempting to reconstruct their causes of death and the course of the battle.
Chen Chuan browsed through several posts, finding that some were genuinely insightful, pointing out many details he hadn't noticed himself. However, most simply debated the subsequent fallout and the odds of the remaining bounty hunters against Wei Wusheng.
Originally, opinions had been unanimously in favor of the bounty hunters, but now uncertainty had crept in. Some even argued that these bounty hunters were merely riding on unearned reputations, having only dealt with mediocre opponents in the past, and that confronting a truly tough adversary had exposed their limitations.
This drew objections from others, and along with the bounty hunters' avid followers, heated arguments instantly flared up around the topic.
Yet the fervor on the platform seemed to catch the attention of someone involved. The bounty hunter known as "Old Cat Han" stepped forward with great fanfare, stating that he would kill Wei Wusheng with his own hands and post photos when the deed was done.
His appearance immediately sparked another heated discussion below. Some even tried to invite other bounty figures to speak up, but those hunters didn't seem as boastful as Old Cat Han; no matter how users on the platform urged them to chime in, not a single one showed up.
After reading through, Chen Chuan logged off the platform. It seemed Wei Wusheng had grown even more formidable, but Chen Chuan did not let this affect his composure, continuing to adhere to his own training rhythm.
***
Over ten days slipped by in a flash. During this time, he made another trip to Split Wave Canyon to undergo another snake molt session. Taking such an interval served as an ideal pretext; no one would think twice about it. In fact, purchasing consecutive sessions in rapid succession was the exception, since physical recovery was relatively swift, but the psychological toll was far harder to overcome.
Time moved into late July.
On this day, after finishing a sparring session with Hongfu, Chen Chuan walked out of the private training room. Feeling thirsty from the heavy exertion, he decided to pour a glass of water and quickened his pace.
Yet the moment the thought crossed his mind and his feet accelerated, his figure seemed merely to flicker, and he went from the training room to the other end of the living room. As his hand reached out to grasp the cup, he paused slightly.
It had all happened naturally, with nothing out of the ordinary, yet he suddenly realized that he had inadvertently displayed near-maximum speed.
The issue, however, was that due to his sparring with Hongfu, his body had remained in a low-output state. Even after walking out, he had maintained that same low baseline, yet under such conditions, he had still produced such blistering speed.
He picked up the cup and took a slow sip of water. This undoubtedly meant that he was steadily closing in on that threshold, on the verge of crossing the threshold altogether.
Yet he had barely felt it happening. This was likely because no matter how much he improved, Hongfu's strength would elevate accordingly. Although he could have set Hongfu to a fixed state during their sparring sessions, he had lifted that restriction in order to push himself, which in turn made him less sensitive to his own progress.
Putting down the cup, he eased his breathing and closed his eyes to examine himself. With the coordination of his breathing technique, the condition of every part of his body became vividly clear to him.
He could plainly sense that his judgment just now was correct: it felt as though taking just one more step forward would allow him to cross over completely.
And yet, a feeling lingered in his heart that something was not quite right.
Rather than rushing to a decision, he pondered for a moment, then activated his boundary credential. Before long, the call connected, and he said, "Uncle Ding, is Senior Cao in? There are some questions I'd like to ask him."
Chapter 334