The virtual screen flickered for a moment, and Yi Chen's agility attribute column underwent changes.
Agility: 100, {Agility-Breaking Realm Second Layer: Swift lv2 (Agility attribute effect increased by 15%) Void Piercer lv1 (Consumes 10% of the body's blood energy for rapid movement, speed increased threefold, duration thirty seconds, up to five times, non-stackable.)}
Contrary to Yi Chen's expectations, this Agility-Breaking Realm turned out to be an active skill.
"Void Piercer? That's like a blood escape technique." Yi Chen couldn't help but scoff internally, though deep down he was quite satisfied with this supernatural ability.
Although the cost was great, damaging himself before the enemy, this ability was very practical for both pursuing and escaping.
Speed had always been Yi Chen's weakness; previously, he could barely keep up with others partly by overbearing the weak, and partly by relying on Newton's Third Law that every action has an equal and opposite reaction, or in layman's terms, stomp to accelerate….
With his superhuman strength, it wasn't difficult for him to briefly burst beyond his speed limits.
"Lingyang City, let's see what secrets you are hiding." A fleeting unusual gleam passed through Yi Chen's eyes; the dark aura that had been lingering above the city suddenly dissipated into nothingness as if it were an illusion.
At dusk, in Lingyang City.
Inside a certain private school.
Duck Egg and Dog Egg were whispering to each other.
Duck Egg's academic performance at the private school was far from ideal.
As one could tell from his nickname.
Dog Egg was his best brother. The two of them had always been competing for the last and second-to-last places, making them the two prodigies of the private school.
"Dog Egg, I tell you, I had another nightmare last night. I dreamt of lots and lots of blood, many people died, Uncle Li died, the teacher died, the headmaster died, and you died too."
A snot-nosed kid with two hair buns was saying this earnestly to another snotty kid, both around seven or eight years old.
"Alright, Duck Egg, you always used to lie; please stop making up stories. I'm finished with my homework, I've got to go home to eat."
"By the way, since the teacher is resting tomorrow, are we still going to fish at Emerald River?"
"You've been looking paler and paler recently. My grandma soaked in the waters of a burrow at Emerald River for three days and still wasn't as pale as you. Tomorrow we can catch some fish and grill them to nourish you a bit." Dog Egg snuffled his green snot and spoke with an air of indifference.
"I'm not going, it's boring." Perhaps seeing that his friend didn't believe him, Duck Egg's face couldn't hide his frustration, and he said huffily.
"Okay then, I'll save a grilled fish for you after I catch it. I've got to go now, or my mom will scold me."
"Oh yeah, last time Li Fatso and Xu Fatso bullied the mute girl, you defended her. They said they would find people to corner you, so be careful these days, their family is mixed up with gangsters."
"If they corner you, just tell me. We're good brothers, we stick together. Even if their family is involved in the underworld, we'll deal with them just the same." Dog Egg was worried as he left, still cautioning Duck Egg.
"I know, I know, stop nagging. Everything is under my control."
"Don't worry, even though in the dream you died, I'll save you."
"Good brother, loyal to the end."
Watching his boisterous brother's silhouette vanish into the sunset, Duck Egg finally withdrew his gaze, estimated the time as being about right, and then got his backpack ready to head home.
The Lingyang City in the sunset seemed exceptionally dim and lonely.
Guided by his dream, Duck Egg carefully chose a dry path to take home.
Ever since last week, when he went fishing with Dog Egg and gobbled up a crimson fruit he caught because he was tempted, he started to notice something was off about himself, frequently experiencing many random and chaotic snippets in his dreams, some long, some short.
However, many of those snippets came to pass in real life.
Until yesterday, he suddenly dreamt that Lingyang City turned into a city of death, with blood everywhere. He was terrified and told his classmates, his teacher, and his parents about his dream, but because of his past pranks, no one believed him.
And since that day, he felt exceptionally tired, as if no amount of rest was sufficient.
"Yuck! Isn't that Duck Egg? Why are you sneaking along this road home today?"
"Did you know I was going to corner you?"
A mocking voice sounded. Two burly... little girls, faces covered in fat rolls, their shirts stretched by their bellies exposing their navels, and flanked by four burly men, walked over, cornering Duck Egg against a wall.
"Heh, Li Fatso, Xu Fatso, you're shameless, picking on a mute girl. Am I, Duck Egg, afraid of you?"
"Just you wait, someone's going to beat you so bad you'll be looking for your teeth on the ground."
"I'll count to three, and I don't believe you'll look behind you."
Duck Egg was not the least bit panicked, displaying a confidence beyond the ordinary.
This actually intimidated Li Fatso and Xu Fatso, who turned to look behind them, only to see no one there; the brutes from their homes stood to either side of them.
"Good for you, Duck Egg, you dared to trick us. Today I'll smash your mouth so you'll have to drink your urine." Li Fatso and Xu Fatso were immediately enraged.
Just as the two girls were about to strike, they felt the day suddenly grow dark.
The brutes turned around, only to slam into what seemed like a wall.
No, dammit, that wasn't a wall; that was a man's chest.
Standing over two meters tall, his body knotted with muscles, dressed in a brocade robe, his mighty pectoral muscles stretched the fabric taut at the front.