128. The Great Demon's Avatar

Fortunately, Zhong Ling was no ordinary girl; everyone who had survived until now possessed their own unique means of self-preservation.

Li Yuan’s silver needle struck Zhong Ling’s neck, but it failed to pierce even the skin, unable to advance a single inch further.

"Brother Feng, are you attacking me?"

Zhong Ling retreated rapidly, putting distance between herself and Li Yuan, her eyes fixed on him with a look of confusion.

Li Yuan did not answer. He slowly retracted his hand from the air and began rummaging through his pockets. He had activated his "Name" ability in advance, imbuing his skin with the properties of "steel."

Zhong Ling’s ability was quite peculiar: she could grant objects literal properties or strip them away. Just like now, by imbuing her skin with the property of steel, she could increase its hardness for a short time. In the long run, the potential of her "Name" ability was in no way inferior to Han Xue’s "Word Spirit."

However, activating the "Name" ability was far more cumbersome than "Word Spirit." Word Spirit could be triggered by mere speech, but the "Name" ability required a clear understanding of the relationships within the name itself, necessitating careful thought on how to use it to achieve its true effect.

"Pfft!"

Zhong Ling had no time to react; Li Yuan had ambushed her again. Several flying needles shot out from his hand, piercing through her steel-hardened skin. Fortunately, the needles passed straight through, leaving only small puncture wounds.

The needles circled in the air and returned to Li Yuan’s hand. I squinted to get a better look. They were engraved with intricate, complex incantations; it was clear they were no ordinary objects.

Zhong Ling gritted her teeth. "Brother Feng, what exactly do you want!"

Li Yuan remained silent. The needles in his hand shot toward her again, and Zhong Ling rolled to dodge. The needles buried themselves into the ground, leaving tiny holes behind. Zhong Ling took a deep breath, preparing to ask again, when a sharp pain shot through the sole of her foot.

A needle had burst from the ground, piercing through her foot and continuing its trajectory upward. Fortunately, she endured the pain and rolled away again; otherwise, the remaining needles would have struck her face, and the consequences would have been far worse than a few puncture wounds.

Seeing Li Yuan’s relentless attacks, Zhong Ling’s anger flared.

"Hand! Name: Strip!"

The phantom image of a Five of Spades bloomed behind Zhong Ling. A massive calligraphy brush quickly sketched a character in the air, which then embedded itself directly into Li Yuan. Li Yuan’s hands, which had been launching the needles, went limp instantly, as if they had been severed.

Yet, a strange thing happened. Even though Li Yuan was not using his ability, several needles began to hover around him, attacking Zhong Ling once more. Zhong Ling manipulated the brush in the air to write two large characters: "Earth Wall!"

The characters sank into the ground before her, and a wall of earth rose instantly. But the previous lesson had taught her that an earth wall alone could not stop the silver needles. Sweat beaded on her forehead, and the brush moved again—every stroke seemed to consume a tremendous amount of mental energy.

"Burn!"

The two characters merged into the earth wall, which instantly erupted into a roaring inferno just as the needles struck it. Fearing the heat might not be enough to melt the needles, Zhong Ling moved the brush again. "Heat up!" two more characters fell into the flames.

Even I, hiding to the side, could feel the sudden, scorching burst of heat. Li Yuan did not attempt any other attacks; he simply waited silently.

Sweat dripped down Zhong Ling’s face. Hard work pays off—the silver needles were eventually melted by the flames into molten iron. Once the fire died down, Zhong Ling collapsed to the ground, panting heavily, utterly exhausted. For those who had not yet fully awakened, every use of their ability drained a massive amount of mental energy.

Li Yuan began to move, walking slowly toward Zhong Ling. But without his enchanted needles, he surely couldn't inflict much harm on her. To be honest, if Zhong Ling were to be killed, I wasn't planning on stepping in. Li Yuan could be considered my friend, but I had only met Zhong Ling once; she wasn't worth risking my life for.

But why did Li Yuan suddenly develop killing intent toward her? Was he really the so-called Ghost Card?

Zhong Ling struggled to keep herself upright and demanded, "Brother Feng, have you forgotten me? Do you not even want to say a word to me?"

She screamed until her voice grew hoarse, but Li Yuan never answered. Suddenly, Li Yuan stopped. Zhong Ling, thinking he had remembered something, braced herself, waiting for his response.

However, I noticed that Li Yuan had stopped at the spot where the fire had left its ashes. I began to use the power of the Ancient Mirror, shrinking it to the size of a lens to sharpen my vision. I noticed something black and worm-like writhing in the ashes, crawling toward Li Yuan’s legs.

Was this black thing a living creature? I dared not draw a conclusion, but as soon as it touched Li Yuan’s shoe, it climbed up his leg, dug a hole in his exposed skin, and burrowed inside. Once inside, the black, worm-like thing slowly formed a web-like pattern of black, vein-like shapes under his skin, which gradually became clearer.

I searched my memory, trying to identify this familiar pattern. Like a thunderclap, it hit me: I had seen this pattern before at D University—it was the mark on the spirit-type ghost that killed Lin Wan.

How could it suddenly appear on Li Yuan? Was there some special connection between Li Yuan and the spirit-type ghost?

On second thought, this pattern also bore some resemblance to the incantations on the silver needles. Because the needles had pierced Zhong Ling so easily, I had paid extra attention to the engravings on them. These incantations had appeared several times in battle; I most vividly recalled the runes on Li Ergou’s ancient fan and Lin Wan’s Four-Value Merit Official Ruler. Their runes had similar patterns. But this rune on Li Yuan’s body was completely different from theirs; I couldn't find a single point of similarity.

Could these be the special incantations of the other three lineages?

Just then, Li Yuan moved again. Swift as lightning, he reached Zhong Ling in an instant and delivered a sweeping kick to her abdomen. Zhong Ling let out a cry of pain and was sent flying, crashing hard against the ground. Exhausted from her previous expenditure of mental energy, she was now even weaker.

Should I help her? I was torn. The Two of Spades in my hand was ready, and the Ancient Mirror could release a shield at any moment to protect her.

"Wasn't I supposed to protect everyone?"

"Then what are you hesitating for?"

Two thoughts flashed through my mind as if I had been jolted awake. I rushed out from my hiding place.

"Li Yuan! Stop!"

Zhong Ling’s eyes lit up with excitement when she saw me, but Li Yuan remained oblivious to my shouts. He gently lifted his left leg, aimed at Zhong Ling’s head, and kicked.

"Ancient Mirror! Defense!"

The mirror floating before my left eye expanded instantly, activating its defensive skill. A white light shielded Zhong Ling, but even then, she was still sent skidding away.

"Li Yuan! What are you trying to do!"

I rushed forward to block him, but he launched an attack on me instead. His legs lashed out in rapid succession, the force of the blows sending me stumbling back several steps—and that was with the Ancient Mirror’s protection. If not for the mirror, would I have been killed instantly?

Only after making direct contact with Li Yuan did I realize how immense his strange power was. With my own ability lacking offensive means, the only logical choice now was to take Zhong Ling and escape.

But then, a sudden change occurred. The Awakening Tower, which had been silent for over an hour, began to tremble. A dark shadow surged out from within. A massive, golden bell engraved with runes appeared in the sky, tolling loudly. A sense of awe welled up, making both Zhong Ling and me tense.

The shadow descended from the sky, and the great bell in the air fell into his hand, merging with him to become a bell-shaped engraving on his palm.

"Gao Ge? You succeeded?"

Gao Ge seemed like a different person entirely, staring coldly at Zhong Ling and me. We couldn't help but shiver under his gaze. Gao Ge shifted his eyes to Li Yuan. The bell engraving on his palm radiated golden light, and the ancient golden bell manifested once more, engulfing Li Yuan completely.

"Shatter!" Gao Ge said softly.

The golden bell began to vibrate violently before dissolving into a phantom, returning to Gao Ge’s hand. Where Li Yuan had stood, only a pool of flesh remained.

Strangely, no playing card dropped after Li Yuan’s death; instead, a black triangular shard fell to the ground. Gao Ge stepped forward to pick it up, turned around, and said coldly, "One of the Great Ghost’s avatars—it was him."