Myriad Realms Gatekeeper

He Xi Temple's eyeballs flickered, and he suddenly charged toward Zhang Xiaoyi to his side.

"Kill one first whenever possible!"

He sneered.

Xiao Mengyu indeed rushed forward, shielding Zhang Xiaoyi, brandishing her sword and barking:

"Stop!"

He Xi Temple suddenly gave up on Zhang Xiaoyi, his figure soared like an eagle, and within a few leaps, he was far away.

"Hahaha!"

He laughed out loud, "Xiao Mengyu, if you have the guts, fight me one-on-one next time!"

As he spoke, he moved even farther away.

—He ran away.

Xiao Mengyu bit her lip and suddenly said, "Shen Ye!"

"We can't just let this go."

"We have to find him, we absolutely cannot let him kill again!"

"Don't you agree?"

No response.

Xiao Mengyu was slightly taken aback, her complexion changed.

On the other side.

He Xi Temple crossed the stream and arrived behind a concealed rock.

He patted the bracelet on his wrist, took out a spray, and applied it to the startling wound on his chest.

"Hiss—this sword was fierce, damn woman, I'll kill you sooner or later!"

He Xi Temple vowed with venom.

It looked like he needed to gather some like-minded friends to hunt those people down together.

Which ones should he call upon?

He Xi Temple fell into contemplation.

All around was silent.

Other than the sound of the flowing water, only the occasional rustling of leaves stirred by the breeze could be heard.

The wound started to hurt again.

He Xi Temple looked down at the injury, his expression laced with ferocity.

Though the wound was visibly healing at an astonishing speed, to immediately recover his combat ability, he still needed some high-level agents from the Eternal Science and Technology Union.

He Xi Temple thought for a moment, then took out another vial and opened it.

"Eating two... should be enough."

He poured out two pills and was about to pop them into his mouth—when a pair of hands reached out from his shadow and struck his back.

With a thunderous blast, He Xi Temple was flung away, crashing through several large trees and rolling seven or eight meters.

"Ptui."

He spat out a mouthful of blood and leapt up, bellowing, "Who's there?"

The wind swept through the treetops.

The stream rippled softly.

There were no other sounds around.

"I know it's you—Shen Ye, you were hiding in Xiao Mengyu's shadow just now—come out and fight me fairly."

He Xi Temple set up his fighting stance on the spot and shouted loudly.

No one appeared.

On the pebbly shores by the stream, in the woods, beside the pile of rocks, all was deserted.

Only He Xi Temple was there.

Suddenly, he went mad, crossing his hands and smashing them onto his own shadow.

Bang!

The ground cratered under the impact.

He Xi Temple knelt on one knee, hands pressing into the earth, panting uncontrollably.

But there was nothing in the shadow.

Suddenly.

A fleeting shadow dashed out from beside the trees and struck him like lightning.

This kick was delivered with full strength and landed squarely on his face while he was caught off guard, when his old strength had faded and his new strength had not yet emerged.

Crumbling sounds—

The trees along the path snapped, and sand and stones were thrown into the air, covered with a white frost.

—Kicking Technique, Frostbite!

He Xi Temple was swept away, tumbling several times before finally standing up.

He looked down at himself.

He saw his body draped in frost, with half of his torso frozen stiff.

"Elemental attack? What level of skill is this?!"

He exclaimed, his face turning pale.

No one.

No response.

The forest seemed to still contain only him.

"Buddy, I was wrong, I shouldn't have killed those normal students," He Xi Temple said.

Still no response.

"How about this—I'm not collecting their heads anymore, I'll give them back to you."

He swiped his wrist, took out several heads, and placed them on the ground.

"I take my leave."

Before he finished speaking, someone moved.

In the shadow beside He Xi Temple—

This time, Shen Ye was indeed hiding in it.

The Dusk Shortsword was drawn from its sheath.

This was an assassin's blade from the Nightmare World, with a blue (Outstanding) rating.

It permanently integrated the high-level traits of sharpness, piercing, and bleeding into one, making it a rare assassination shortsword.

Previously, it would not have been used.

But now, the shortsword paused briefly in Shen Ye's hand before he and the sword both vanished.

Thud.

He Xi Temple's body shook violently as he was pierced by the shortsword.

"Ah..."

He grabbed the blade that passed through his chest, slowly kneeling to the ground.

—It seemed he utterly refused to acknowledge the scene before him.

Yet his life force was fleeing his body at a rapid pace.

Shen Ye stood behind him, holding the shortsword, silent.

Until—

"Don't... I clearly had a great future ahead, I was ranked third among the newcomers! Spare me... and I'll give you anything!"

He Xi Temple finally begged.

After he said these words, he hung his head, no longer able to catch his breath.

——As long as Shen Ye was willing to let go.

He still had those precious medicines, as well as the most advanced life support equipment!

"Fine."

Shen Ye said.

Overjoyed, He Xi Temple moved his wrist, and immediately released a large life support device measuring three meters in length and two meters in width.

Gasping for breath, spitting out blood foam, with his face distorted in extreme pain due to the sharpness of the sword, yet he had to lower his stance, saying in a low voice:

"Help me out, get me into it."

"Just need to put you in?" Shen Ye asked.

"Yes."

"I refuse."

Struggling, He Xi Temple lifted his head to look at Shen Ye.

"Just kidding."

Shen Ye revealed a smile, speaking in a casual tone:

"Those normal families, they are extremely lucky if they have one or two children with outstanding talent, and the parents and elders at home don't know how happy they should be."

"Back in our hometown, this would mean setting off firecrackers, offering incense to the ancestors."

"I remember a senior who got into Tsinghua and Peking University, the whole village was sincerely happy for him; his family hosted eight big tables that night, and everyone had a lively feast."

"I still remember the joyful look on his parents' faces."

"Are these children any different? Actually, they're all the same, I believe their parents are also happy for them."

"——But you killed them."

He paused for a moment, then said the last sentence in a gentle voice.

"I won't let you go."

Swoosh——

The flash of the sword was fleeting, a head flew up into the air.

Wind blew by.

The head fell into the stream, bursting open a dark red with the turbulent flow, quickly dispersed by the water, drifting away, with no sign of where it went.

Only a headless corpse remained sitting there motionless.

Shen Ye sheathed his sword, casually collected the healing spray and medicine vials, and even took the life support device. Only then did he carefully examine the wound on the chest of the corpse.

That medicine was indeed remarkable.

The wound on the corpse had already healed.

No one could tell that he had been struck by a sword from Xiao Mengyu.

Shen Ye's mind eased, turning to prepare to leave.

"Hey, hey, he's got a storage bracer, aren't you going to take it?" the big skeleton said.

"Not taking it——the secret depths of the noble families are immeasurable, we must be careful when killing someone." Shen Ye said.

"But you took those potions and sprays."

"Because he took them out himself, I stored them in my ring, no one knows."

"Can I use them?" the big skeleton asked.

"Can it make you grow bones?" Shen Ye asked.

"Let's try!"

The big skeleton swallowed a pill.

"...Hmm, forget it, these medicines are only for living beings." the big skeleton said sulkily.

"Then there's nothing we can do, you'll just have to keep being a patient." Shen Ye shrugged.

"It's okay––I told you my strength is still here, but you just don't believe me." the big skeleton said indignantly.

Shen Ye had a hunch, and took out a card to look.

On it, a line of text had already appeared:

"You have killed a candidate."

"The power gained from the murder by your opponent has been absorbed by you."

"Your 'flesh' has been further strengthened, advancing to 'Meat Shield'."

"No matter who it is, no matter what it is, they must hit you at least four times, before you would completely lose your combat ability, and then die, or become qualified meat, to be consumed by others."

Three times had become four.

Was this the reward for killing other candidates?

Shen Ye's gaze was full of surprise, and then became immensely solemn.

One attack was equivalent to one life.

In reality, in battle, being able to take one more hit could possibly change the outcome entirely.

——Such an increase was already quite substantial.

Perhaps many would be tempted!

After all, normal candidates haven't learned any proper techniques.

What to do?

In the distance.

Several figures were running toward him.

Xiao Mengyu was in the lead, with Zhang Xiaoyi and Doggy following behind.

"You killed him."

Xiao Mengyu said.

"No, he was already dead when I arrived, I don't know who did it." Shen Ye said.

He gave Xiao Mengyu a meaningful look.

——He and Xiao Mengyu had been through life and death together, a bond formed through battles, so some things, once said, are out in the open.

But his acquaintance with Zhang Xiaoyi and Doggy was casual at best.

Even though he had stood up for them—

Who can be certain about human hearts? It's better to be cautious.

Xiao Mengyu nodded in approval, looking at the headless corpse, she said, "This is a sword wound, with traces of Frost Elemental Attacks, which you are not capable of, so it seems it wasn't you indeed."

"I really wanted to kill him, but I was too late." Shen Ye sighed.

"Good riddance," Zhang Xiaoyi said angrily, "he killed several of our other classmates, he deserved to die!"

"Woof!" Doggy also barked.

Ding!

The cards on the four of them vibrated.

Shen Ye took out his card and looked, text after text appeared on the card:

"You have intimidated the monsters within the Tide of Lamentation, earning you an hour of respite."

"The Tide of Lamentation begins to recede from some areas."

"Please escape the range of the Tide of Lamentation within an hour to face the upcoming challenge."

"Failure will result in elimination!"

Wind began to stir.

The entire Floating Island seemed to be changing in an unpredictable direction.