High above, on an exceedingly distant overpass, the Phantom Demon, who had been crouching on the railing, sighed and lowered the binoculars from his eyes.
“It seems it’s still no good, then?”
Pulling out a notebook, he began scribbling furiously, muttering to himself as his pen flew across the page.
“Hmm, the alien bugs still can’t fully heal the ability core. Otherwise, premature activation wouldn’t have led to the core collapsing again. It appears this project doesn’t have a very promising future. I’ll have to speak with the boss about it, cut the budget, and downgrade it to a Class B project.”
“This valuable experimental sample must also be taken along; it will be useful for organizing data and preparing a post-mortem summary report.”
The Phantom Demon capped his pen, shaking his head with a sigh. “Ah, being a wage s*ave is truly difficult!”
He was merely a pathetic, helpless wage s*ave, yet his workload was literally deadly.
And it was deadly in the most literal sense of the word.
As he spoke, the Phantom Demon’s form dissipated into the air.
Yet, in the very next instant, he traversed hundreds of meters, materializing silently before Yan Huarong.
Extending a hand to the man kneeling on the ground, the Phantom Demon urged, “Come with me now, while there’s still time!”
“No, no!”
Yan Huarong, appearing utterly deranged, slapped away the Phantom Demon’s outstretched hand and struggled to his feet.
“I am a soldier! I am a psychic! I refuse to become a pathetic commoner again! I will die on the battlefield, as a psychic!”
In the very moment his psychic ability collapsed, he sensed, deep within his being, that no one and no method could ever restore his powers.
This loss was eternal.
“Alright, alright, if that’s what you prefer.” The Phantom Demon spread his hands, radiating an aura of utter speechlessness.
What kind of people were these? Every single one of them wished for death. Was merely surviving truly so difficult?
“Don’t blame me for not giving you a chance, I’m leaving.”
Gazing at the middle-aged man who was closing in with terrifying speed, breathing heavily in the distance, the Phantom Demon offered a slight smile and a polite bow.
Then, his form rapidly dissolved into an illusion.
****
Bang!
An air cannon shot forth, tearing through the Phantom Demon’s hood, yet passing clean through his head before dissipating into the air.
“Still a beat too late,” Professor Yuan remarked, halting his steps.
His agreement to intercept Yan Huarong this time had been driven by the intent to see if Yan Huarong could lure out the Phantom Demon.
To his surprise, however, it had ultimately failed.
Ignoring the Phantom Demon’s departure, Yan Huarong desperately channeled the last remnants of void energy within him, pushing his final psychic core fragments to their absolute limit.
He barely managed to halt the disintegration of the rock fragments covering his body.
“Come on, continue! Kill me!”
The aging man charged toward the Locust Tree Giant, embracing a mindset of certain death and glorious sacrifice.
“Kill you? You wish!” Huang Xiu, remotely controlling the entire situation from afar, sneered coldly.
How many had died last night? How many more had suffered mental breakdowns?
And now he wanted to simply die, to escape with ease?
Impossible!
With a flicker of thought, the young woman commanded her Plant Sea army to surge forward, engulfing Yan Huarong.
The mutated thorny vines on the Evolved Thorns grew furiously, imperceptibly spreading to the man’s limbs, attempting to bind him.
He struggled to resist, mustering all his strength to break free, but a brutal kick suddenly connected with the back of his head.
A myriad of sharp thorns, accompanied by an irritating prickle, erupted from the back of his skull, instantly banishing the dizziness.
Before he could even turn his head.
Thump!
Another kick struck the back of his knee, causing him to involuntarily crumple to the ground.
With that fall, all resistance vanished, and the thorny vines proliferated like mushrooms after rain, swiftly encasing Yan Huarong in a large, reddish-brown cocoon.
Seeing the dust settle on this side, the young woman, heedless of her fatigue, immediately raised her gaze toward the distant battlefield.
Though only a few minutes had passed in battle, the asphalt road was already riddled with craters.
Guardrails were bent out of shape, and trees lay snapped.
The two combatants had ravaged the road like ancient tyrannosaurs, leaving a trail of devastation in their wake.
They had showcased the immense destructive power of psychics to its fullest.
Their combat prowess was not equal; Yun Ning was clearly stronger than Old Ghost.
However, with an additional two tons of force, amplified by the speed of his swings, even Yun Ning was unwilling to take a direct hit.
Thus, they had only managed to maintain a precarious stalemate.
Yet, with Yan Huarong’s defeat, their battle instantly escalated into a fierce, white-hot struggle.
Old Ghost attempted to flee, but Yun Ning seized the opportunity.
He decisively employed a Void Art—Void Energy Adhesion—landing a single blow to Old Ghost’s abdomen.
This potent strike, imbued with void energy, instantly obliterated his opponent’s defenses, causing Old Ghost to immediately spew green liquid, his eyes bulging, as he collapsed to the ground.
Old Ghost was down for the count!
A relieved sigh escaped Yun Ning.
Yun Ning steadied his breathing, then turned to Huang Xiu and the teacher standing not far behind her, offering them a thumbs-up with a smile.
Had Huang Xiu not secured the initial advantage, he would undoubtedly have had to expend much more effort to defeat Old Ghost.
However, Huang Xiu clearly misunderstood.
She paused for a second, then, not to be outdone, returned a thumbs-up of her own.
Showing off? Anyone can do that!
Little brother, you still have a long way to go!
Leaning against a tree, Professor Yuan watched the scene unfold, his eyes filled with a nostalgic longing for youth.
“Youth truly is wonderful!” he mused to himself, before seeing the young woman turn to ask, “Teacher, what should we do with these people? Just leave them here?”
“Just leave them.” Professor Yuan pursed his lips. “Don’t imagine it’s just the three of us here; those Jurisdiction Bureau fellows are undoubtedly hiding nearby, watching.”
From his understanding of Liu Xin, that scoundrel was almost certainly lurking in some corner, sneakily spying on them.
“Also, you two, quickly clean up the battlefield; you’ve made such a mess.”
…
Huang Xiu glanced at the road littered with plant debris, then at the tree-spears impaled in the ground, subtly averting her gaze.
‘This certainly wouldn’t be easy to clean up.’
“Just a simple tidying up will do.”
Professor Yuan had no intention of making his students thoroughly clean the area; that was the Jurisdiction Bureau’s job.
He merely wanted them to grasp the sheer destructive power of psychics, so they would learn to exercise some control in the future.
A psychic’s battlefield wasn’t confined to the Void Realm; they frequently had to fight in the real world as well.
If they failed to control themselves and wantonly destroyed things…
One day, a house here would be demolished; the next, a street there would be blown apart.
No amount of reconstruction funds would suffice for their profligacy.
“Understood.” Receiving the command, Huang Xiu did not demur; she immediately directed her Plant Sea army to clear the battlefield.
The ferocious, grotesquely shaped Evolved Plants, moments before, had been ruthless fighting machines.
In the next, they transformed into masters of environmental cleanup.
The Evolved Thorns and Evolved Weeds collaborated, using the Forest Tree Spears as a base to fashion a colossal broom.
The Locust Tree Giant nodded, withdrew the “broom,” and began meticulously sweeping the ground.
Meanwhile, the Evolved Wildflowers transformed into leaf blowers, puffing air to sweep light, flimsy leaves and similar debris off the road.
As all the Evolved Plants bustled with fervent activity, a certain green, spherical entity rolled up once more.
They had come to claim credit.
After all, those last two kicks of theirs had directly shattered the old man’s final resistance.
Splat!
“You go too!” Huang Xiu, treating everyone equally, kicked Huang Xiaoxian over as well.