Chapter 145: Kneel!
The actions of the familiars were still affected by Ye Yan’s magnetic field. Even Zhen, who could fly, experienced a significant speed reduction upon entering the field. It was as if she turned from a swift falcon into an ordinary bird.
More critically, not only were attributes like reaction speed and movement impacted, but even attack power was drastically reduced. Originally, Zhen’s strike should have been enough to easily pierce Ye Yan’s body—but now, it only managed to peck out a wound that barely exposed the bone.
Though Ye Yan’s main focus was on Gouzi, he also noticed Yi’s sneak attack and successfully defended against the two familiars. However, he did not expect Zhen’s sudden strike and was caught off guard.
“Damn beast!”
Ye Yan cursed and slashed at Zhen with his invisible blade. But even under slowed conditions, Zhen’s reaction speed remained excellent, especially after Xu Zhi had warned her in advance about Ye Yan’s abilities. She dodged the attack with ease.
Unfortunately, the wound she had just inflicted began to heal in under ten seconds. If it was only a flesh wound, it would cause Ye Yan nothing more than irritation and anger—it wouldn’t do him any real harm.
Taking advantage of the familiars keeping Ye Yan occupied, Xu Zhi carefully calculated her attack route in her mind and prepared to join the righteous beatdown.
However, just as she stepped into Ye Yan’s magnetic field, a silent, pre-prepared mental attack slipped unnoticed into her mind.
In that instant, Xu Zhi’s body suddenly froze.
At the same time, the woman who had been watching the battlefield from afar straightened up, lifted her right palm high, and stared straight at Xu Zhi. The energy of the “Cup” attribute surged from within her. Clearly, she had been waiting for this exact moment.
Xu Zhi’s condition was strange—not like she was immobilized by force, but as if an irresistible inertia had risen from within her, making her too lazy to even lift a finger.
Even her mental processing, already weakened by Ye Yan’s field, slowed down further.
After that combination attack, Xu Zhi could only stand frozen in place, unable to move.
Ye Yan, entangled with the familiars, burst into manic laughter when he saw her state. With a powerful swing of his blade, he broke free from the familiars and rushed at Xu Zhi. Raising his hand, he prepared to kill her with a smug grin on his face.
But in that exact moment—while Ye Yan was caught off guard and unprepared—Xu Zhi suddenly “recovered” her mobility. In one smooth motion, she drew her horizontal blade and stabbed Ye Yan straight through the torso.
It wasn’t enough to kill him, but the blade’s inherent qualities caused significant damage.
Ye Yan’s smug grin froze. Staring at her in disbelief, he heard Xu Zhi mock him coldly:
“Arrogant fool. I’ve known your abilities for a long time.”
She had, of course, prepared for this moment. Pretending to be immobilized, she bet on Ye Yan’s arrogance—and it worked perfectly.
That combination did weaken her significantly, but not to the point of total paralysis. Though it was difficult, Xu Zhi forced her body to move and struck precisely when Ye Yan underestimated her.
Twisting her blade inside his chest, the wound widened under her manipulation. Regaining his senses, Ye Yan pulled himself free and staggered backward, relying on the strong regeneration of his “Believer” status to ignore the injury.
But once outside of Xu Zhi’s attack range, he realized—The wound was healing far too slowly.
Worse yet, a soul-piercing pain radiated from the gash, distracting his mind.
“Damn it!”
Ye Yan cursed under his breath. He looked around, hoping to catch a federal Transcendent to drain for recovery—but they had already retreated from the battlefield.
The repeated setbacks were driving him to the edge. He became increasingly agitated, his attacks growing wild and reckless. Even with the familiars harassing him, he focused entirely on attacking Xu Zhi, sometimes ignoring their interference altogether.
These frenzied strikes did give Xu Zhi some trouble. She couldn’t escape Ye Yan’s magnetic field, and her physical and supernatural abilities were steadily declining. If she stayed too long, she might really become paralyzed, her thoughts stagnating completely.
“What a troublesome ability,” she muttered.
“Likewise,” Ye Yan sneered.
He closed his eyes, trying to suppress the strange, rising urge in his body—an inexplicable compulsion to submit to the girl before him.
Submit? How could he ever do that?!
To Ye Yan, using such abilities was disgraceful!
Already humiliated that he couldn’t beat Xu Zhi in a fair fight, every wound she dealt him brought not just pain, but unbearable shame.
Her blade was shattering his arrogance and pride, piece by piece.
Though he seemed to be pressing Xu Zhi hard with continuous attacks, his mental state was nearing the breaking point.
He had to kill her. If he didn’t, something would fall apart.
Under this pressure, Ye Yan stopped thinking clearly. He no longer avoided the butterflies that followed Xu Zhi, believing he was about to win as her counterattacks grew weaker.
But just as he thought he had the upper hand, Xu Zhi suddenly leapt backward to create distance.
“What? You’re running away now?” Ye Yan mocked with regained confidence, lifting his chin arrogantly.
Xu Zhi looked puzzled. She flicked her blade to shake off the lingering blood.
Unnoticed until now, the black blade had become stained with blood, its edge glowing a sinister crimson in the shrouding black mist. Her movements stirred the haze, making the blade appear ghostly and bloodthirsty.
Ye Yan, sensing her lack of denial, became even more smug. “Not running away? Then what are you doing?”
“Nothing,” Xu Zhi replied calmly.
“Just figured… it’s about time.”
Time?
Just as Ye Yan questioned her words, he heard the girl say two simple words in a calm, dinner-table tone—yet with an authority that allowed no refusal:
“Kneel.”
The instant those words left her lips—before Ye Yan could even react—he heard a thud.
And before he realized what had happened, his knees had already hit the ground.
In that moment, beyond the pain in his knees and his overwhelmed emotions, he heard something clearer than anything else:
The sound of something shattering inside him, piece by piece, falling into the dirt.
It was Ye Yan’s fragile and blind arrogance.
