Chapter 143: Good Evening
In Xu Zhi’s eyes, the hearts of the three people in the group were glowing conspicuously red. From each heart extended countless fine red threads, like spider silk, connecting their hearts to their brains.
This was the energy of the [Cup] attribute.
Xu Zhi could clearly see how the energy of the [Cup] flowed through their bodies, and beyond that, she could observe the abilities formed by its circulation.
It was like solving a math problem, or watching a program’s progress bar. Xu Zhi was gradually unraveling the mysteries of the [Cup].
In her unique eyes, transcendental powers became visible, able to be seen, deconstructed, understood—and eventually, deciphered.
While Xu Zhi was busy identifying the weaknesses of the three archbishops, things were going poorly for the Transcendental humans below.
The aberrations they encountered weren’t even among the strongest. In fact, if the city’s center served as the metric, these few likely didn’t even qualify for the middle tier—they were at best part of the outer roaming ones.
Even so, their strength vastly exceeded that of any aberrations the federal Transcendental individuals had seen before.
They had mentally prepared themselves for the dangers within Cloud City before entering, but they hadn’t expected to be in such deadly peril within just thirty minutes of arrival.
These people were supposed to be the Federation’s elite Transcendentals—and yet here they were, being completely overwhelmed by a few seemingly ordinary aberrations.
This discrepancy in expectations hit them hard. But they had no time to process their emotions.
Worse still, someone on their team was not following orders.
Though they were meant to work in pairs, when the battle broke out, some actually stood by and did nothing!
“Hey, what are you doing?!”
The temporary team leader roared at the three, but they ignored him, instead glancing around, seemingly searching for something.
Even after two federal Transcendentals were killed in the fight, those three remained utterly indifferent—watching coldly, as though the battle had nothing to do with them.
At that point, the rest of the team finally realized—something was off with those three.
“Who are you, really?” the leader demanded—but before he could say more, a [Lamp] attribute transcendental beside him tugged his sleeve and shook his head, clearly telling him not to press it now.
Perhaps the [Lamp] had already sensed something.
Ironically, this reaction made the boy—who had initially considered these noisy humans as distractions and planned to kill them along with the aberrations—pause for a moment.
Another thought suddenly occurred to him.
Due to the inherent enmity between the [Cup] and [Lamp] attributes, he actually felt a faint curiosity toward this [Lamp] user. The man’s cautious demeanor sparked an idea—to toy with him.
To the boy, this wasn’t a big deal. Human transcendental beings were nothing more than playthings—they couldn’t fight back. Yes, he had a mission to kill Xu Zhi, but playing around first wouldn’t hurt.
And so, the boy made up his mind—he was going to do something to that [Lamp] user.
After all, wasn’t the [Lamp] supposed to represent reason and the brilliance of humanity?
He wanted to see what would happen when [Lamp] energy clashed with [Cup] energy—would the so-called “rational light of humanity” still hold?
It was no different from finding a kitten amusing and pushing its head underwater to see if it could breathe.
Ye Yan had only emerged from that basement two or three months ago. He had seen too little, gained far too much power far too quickly, and—worst of all—his class was [Arrogance], which only further inflated his ego.
The woman who usually traveled with him never paid him any mind. The other archbishop who had recently awakened owed them a favor, and even if he didn’t feel grateful, he faked civility on the surface.
As a result, Ye Yan had become increasingly out of control, his self-awareness ballooning to the point of irrationality.
He was just one step away from needing a good, hard beating.
Just then, an aberrations that had just killed a federal transcendentals turned toward the nearby [Lamp] user and lunged. One, the [Lamp] user might have been able to handle—but two? That would be his end.
As death loomed near under the aberration’s claws, someone unexpected intervened.
The transcendental turned around—and saw Ye Yan, who had been coldly observing the whole time, now smiling at him with a look full of hidden meaning.
The moment he saw that smile, the [Lamp] user’s body was flooded with goosebumps. A near-drowning sense of dread surged from his skull downward. He suddenly wished he had died at the hands of that aberration.
His instincts had never been wrong—and this time, too, they screamed:
This boy did not save him to help him.
And the fact that Ye Yan had just instantly killed that aberration? That only confirmed the suspicion: his earlier inaction wasn’t hesitation—he simply didn’t care whether they lived or died.
Then why help now?
The boy strolled toward him with a smile, slaying any aberrations that came near with ease.
This sight made the rest of the federal tradescandals fall silent. Yes, the boy had eased their crisis—but at the same time, he now represented a new, more terrifying threat.
If he could effortlessly kill the aberrations that they had struggled with and lost comrades to—what would stop him from killing them just as easily?
No one dared speak. No one dared move.
The boy approached the [Lamp] user, hand slowly outstretched, about to act.
Suddenly—A strong gust swept through the dark street, carrying thick fog with it. Hair and clothes of everyone present were blown by the wind. They shielded their eyes, squinting to see through the fog.
Only the three archbishops remained calm, their gazes fixed on the opposite side of the street.
As the wind died down, a figure emerged from the darkness.
Shrouded in fog, she walked forward. Black mist curled around the hem of her cloak-like dress, almost playing with her.
At her side strode a massive silver wolf, parting the fog as it followed her. Its glowing eyes gleamed with feral light, its fangs bared slightly, cold vapor streaming from its mouth with each breath. A single glance from it was enough to make knees go weak.
The girl, whose face was hidden beneath her hood, walked at the wolf’s side—clearly in the position of master. Though her expression could not be seen, a strangely polite and friendly voice emerged from beneath the cloak, oddly out of place in the eerie scene.
“Good evening.”
The girl greeted them.
“You all seem to be having some trouble?”
