“Huh?” The teen in question seemed puzzled.
[400 popularity has been deducted. Remaining balance: 3182]
[Item [Space Transmutation] purchased successfully. Countdown: 3:00]
Icicles shot down at an angle an instant later, laying trails of frost in their wake. A blast of subzero air came rushing over with a slight incline of the blue-hair man’s chin. Yi Ming quickly set the metal blocks he had dismantled in front of them.
“Dun!”
The icicles pierced deep into the metal, the sizable impact pushing Yi Ming and Tang back a full meter.
Before he could set down the metal, a chilling sensation suffused the metal and crept up his arms.
Yi Ming quickly transformed his arms into metal. The metal and the icicles embedded in it crashed to the floor. His arms were covered in a layer of froze as well.
On his back, tears welled up in Tang’s eyes. Still, she endured.
“Run!” Yi Ming’s fingers became discoloured as he clutched his forearm. He tried to escape through the opening he had just created with Li.
The opening was large enough for an adult to enter. Sunlight previously obscured by tall bronze walls shone through.
It was then that the dark-haired young man before him turned. Placid dark eyes met his blue orbs. “We won’t be able to get away like this.”
The black-robed man activated his ability with a wave of his hand.
The bronze walls around them melted once more, changing shape as dust fell from the ceiling.
The bronze walls formed around them again like an inescapable cage.
The Rank C ability user had no intention of letting them leave.
Frost continued to spread out from the wall corners. The three icicles embedded deep into the metal suddenly burst into motion, joining the three new icicles shooting down towards them.
The sharp chill wrapped around the pinpoint tip of the icicle was gradually magnified in Yi Ming’s blue irises. His already numb right arm fell uselessly to his side, unable to transform into metal before the swift strike connected.
Then a warm current enveloped the little girl on his back.
Healing, a mimic-type ability.
Tang spontaneously learned how to use the ability her father left her in this life-and-death situation.
A Rank C ability capable of even restoring severed limbs, it was a treasure coutless mimic-type ability users had their eyes on!
Warmth traveled down Yi Ming’s body. The bloody trace on his face disappeared as well.
Yet his right arm still hung limp, as if the warmth could not overcome the frost. Even healing power of this magnitude could not restore the frozen limb.
The blue-haired man’s ability was strong enough to overcome a Rank C healing ability!
And now, another icicle whistled through the air straight for his eyes!
The instant before his cornea was punctured.
The icicle vanished.
Abruptly, along with the bone-deep chill it radiated.
Yi Ming was stunned for a moment. The pain he was preparing for never arrived.
Then his head snapped back. “Li!”
The dark-haired young man hadn’t moved an inch. His pitch black eyes remained void of emotion, his somewhat gaunt cheeks even paler than usual from the cold. A chilling breeze lifted his bangs slightly before they gently fell into place again.
Sicicles stabbed deep into the bronze wall behind him.
The dark-haired young man raised his head to survey the two ability users that hadn’t gotten serious yet.
Was that an..ability? What ability could shift the icicle away from him? Wasn’t Li’s ability concealment…?
Draining?! The brunet’s blue eyes gradually widened.
Did Li have multiple abilities from draining others?!
“A healing ability?” The blue-haired man’s expression finally shifted a fraction. “Quite the catch you have here.”
“If you’re interested, sir, we will of course hand it over to the Association.” The Rank C beside him replied.
From the tone, it was Qing Yuchen.
They completely disregarded the little girl peering fearfully at them with turquoise eyes, deciding her fate in a few brief moments.
The teen protecting Tang didn’t register in their eyes either. After all, he was just a low-rank.
To them, the beneficiaries of this world, he was just a storage device for an ability that would be expended sooner or later.
It was at this time that Li spoke.
The aloof young man didn’t not look back as his clear voice echoed between the metal walls enclosing them, “Your adoptive father told you to only do things within your power. Alas, I prefer to do things beyond my power.”
“I was born a bad seed, a contrary rebel.” Li said, “You and I were fated to walk different paths, Little Corgi.”
“No, that’s not true!” Panic tinged Yi Ming’s eyes as he stared at the dark-haired young man’s back. “I know you’re a good, gentle person, Li. You must have done it for a reason…”
Yes. Even now, his belief in Li did not falter.
He believed in the kindness Li showed during their first meeting, in the gentleness Li hid behind his teasing remarks, in the loneliness he saw in Li when he spoke of the past, in his willingness to stand up for them now.
Big Brother…
Yet the young man’s response sent a chill as deadly as the one paralyzing his arm through his entire body.
“It was all just an act. You were fun to tease, that’s all.”
After a dazed moment, Yi Ming’s clear blue eyes looked at Li. He spoke with a maturity almost beyond his age, “Did you really think I would believe that?”
The icicles behind the young man were trembling. Frost continued to thicken into ice as it crept across the floor.
The entire hall seemed suffused with cold. The pressure was magnitudes above sea level.
Tang asked in a trembling voice, “Are you going to leave me too, Big Brother?”
“Little Corgi’s the one who made a promise to you, not me.” The dark-haired young man said.
The six icicles were too firmly entrenched in the wall. 12 identical ones materialized around the blue-haired man.
His full attention has always been reserved for one person alone, Li.
The air itself seemed to freeze. As the temperature took a nosedive, the six icicles in the wall intensified their struggle to break free.
Li finally made his move. He turned back to face Yi Ming and Tang, who was on his back.
“You guys are in my way.” He said.
The next second, 12 icicles whistled through the air, instantly raining down like a deadly net.
Yi Ming’s eyes widened. He saw 11 icicles suspended before them.
The remaining one slid past the dark-haired young man’s bangs, leaving a crimson streak resembling eyeliner by his eye.
That aloof face remained passive. His trenchcoat flapped in the frigid wind. Pitch black eyes seemed to turn back in slow motion.
He stopped, dark bangs gently framing his gaunt cheek. Staring with pitch black eyes that even the sunlight could not reach.
Yet Yi Ming could see a trace of loneliness within.
“You’ll find your own family one day, but I won’t be a part of it.”
He couldn’t be sure if the young man’s words actually reached his ears or if it was just his own groundless speculations taking form.
He wanted to tell the young man that it wasn’t like that.
Yi Ming heard the ringing of the trembling icicles. He watched as the razor sharp crystals broke free of their bonds and rushed this way.
The blue-haired abili user stood calmly overhead, solid ice constantly generating at his feet. The ceiling seemed to be consumed in endless darkness as icicles fell like rain.
There was no time to react.
Yet just as Yi Ming attempted to resist anyway, he saw sunlight.
Tang as well.
They appeared outside the bronze walls, outside the entire compound in an empty alleyway. The subzero chill emanating before them was replaced by warm sunshine.
The warmth drove back the cold, waking them from the nightmare.
Yet his right arm was still numb and chilled to the bone.
The young man who liked to tell lies and tease him was nowhere to be found.
No, the nightmare wasn’t over yet.
“We’re going back!”
“Let’s leave first!”
Two voices called out at once.
Yi Ming used his good arm to firmly support the little girl on his back.
He grit his teeth, turned and sprinted away.
“Li wants us to leave first. I’ll take you to safety before going back for him!” He stumbled before quickly recovering and continuing to run at full speed.
As he raced away, his mind and heart seemed to split into two.
His heart said: Go back, ah! You can’t leave him alone there!
Go back!
“Buyan said to do what you can and do it well. I won’t accomplish anything by staying here. I’ll even become dead weight for Li.” He quietly tried to persuade both Tang and himself, “I know a Rank C ability user! There’s still time to buy his services!”
Dark clouds gradually obscured the warm sun, casting everything in gloomy gray.
…
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[300 popularity has been deducted. Remaining balance: 2582]
[Item [Immunity Ability] purchased successfully. Countdown: 3:00]
[Item [Immunity Ability] purchased successfully. Countdown: 3:00]
[Item [Space Transformation] countdown: 0:27]
Icicles rained down a split second later. Li teleported behind the duo on the elevated platform after sending away Yi Ming and Tang.
She purchased two [Immunity Ability] items for both of them to prevent Qing Yuchen from mind controlling them into coming back.
That would just be embarrassing.
Her imagination might be acting up, but Li Li swore she felt a hint of resistance when using the item [Space Transformation].
The blue-haired man whirled around in response.
“That’s more like it.” He said. Two icicles as tall as adults shot shot up from under his feet and sped towards Li Li like bullets.
The sharp, ice cold winds blew back her bangs, exposing her forehead.
Before the spikes could run her through, a strange resistance accompanied the chill as Li Li instantly teleported to the main hall. Her lips slowly curved as she caressed the new wound on her hand.
Yes, [Space Transformation] was being disabled.
There were still many more items in the mall. She had plenty of choice with the 2000+ popularity value remaining.
But that wouldn’t make this a life-and-death crisis anymore.
She needed to fight on her own power for once. She needed to put her life at stake, just like she had done along the way.
Fear, tension, terror. The negative emotions in her chest screamed for her to flee.
The enemy’s ice could freeze even space itself, disabling her item.
What would happen if she was caught once more?
She didn’t want to die, she wouldn’t run away anymore!
“What are you doing, Qing Yuchen?” She asked as frost spread across her face from the injury by her eye. The narrow red wound contorted as she narrowed her eyes slightly.
She smiled as she wandered through the near-frozen space, icicles scraping past her.
“My apologies, sir. I had to seek assistance as my life was at stake.” Qing Yuchen said. The Rank C’s appearance made his expression especially ludicrous. “The only ones that trash Tang Zeng would have sought help from was the former Ability Association. As a member of that organization, you had no intentions of sparing me by coming here, no?”
“In that case, I had to take matters into my own hands.” Qing Yuchen said.
The Ability User Association, aka the ‘Low-Rank Ability User Mutual Aid Association’, was under the thumbs of the aristocracy.
Its existence was basically a joke.
It was nothing like the former Ability User Association which was branded as traitors to the empire.
“So he’s a member of the Ability Association?” Li Li emphasized the last part.
Sure enough, she ended up shouldering the blame.
“Nexus City Ability Association Branch President, Yue Lan.” The blue-haired man said with a contemptuous look. “Rank A.”
The chill continued to intensify. It felt like they were situated on the peak of the highest mountain. Every exhale would immediately crystallize into ice.
Even space itself was frozen.
“I know of your ability, domain-type spatial manipulation.” The blue-haired man stated with certaintly. “Alas, my ability is able to freeze space itself. Domain-type ability users amount to little more than helpless toddlers before me.”
They seemed so sure of themselves, as if everything they’ve observed about her ability could be explained by spatial manipulation.
And Li Li just thought.
This was perfect.
Crisp cracks formed in the ice with every step those boots took. The black trenchcoat outlines her slender waist and straight back.
She glanced up casually as countless pillars of ice surrounded her, ensconcing her in a hollow sphere.
[Space Transformation] had been completely frozen.
“Farewell, wretched remnant of the former association.” The blue-haired man reaffirmed the status quo, “After taking care of you, I will retrieve that healing ability.”
He could already see the crimson flowers that would soon bloom on the crystalline surface below.
The final icicle descended so quickly that only its afterimages were visible.
Li Li seemed doomed within that frozen space!
Would she die in this manhua world?
The dark-haired young man’s bangs shrouded those pitch black eyes.
Memories from her 19 years of life in the real world flashed before her eyes.
Here, her very existence was a lie, a deception, a facade that never faltered.
And now, she was in.
A completely fictional manhua world.
The ice crashed down with a calamitous commotion. Yet the person who should have been run through had vanished without a trace.
Yue Lan lowered his hands, staring at the empty space before him with what could almost be described as shock.
“How could this be? The space had been completely frozen!” He murmured.
At that very moment.
“And who told you I was a domain-type, I wonder?” A mildly amused voice sounded by his ear.
