Absolute Choice

When Shi Xiaobai took a step forward, the multitude of guns had their triggers squeezed simultaneously. Bullets began to envelop Shi Xiaobai like smoke.

The bullets came from every direction without leaving even a tiny gap.

Shi Xiaobai suddenly revolved his body with sword in hand!

“Bladestorm!”

A sword beam that spiraled 360° was slashed out. Each beam contained violent sword winds, blowing away all the densely approaching bullets. The bullets were shattered and dispersed. The multitude of guns were also struck by Bladestorm that disintegrated them.

A look of surprise flashed in the short-haired teenager’s eyes. However, his expression remained cold and calm.

Yellow rings of light lit up once again as guns emerged from it. This time, there were even more guns. The moment the guns appeared, their triggers were immediately pulled automatically.

However, Shi Xiaobai did not take it head on. A move like Bladestorm expended a great deal of psionic power. With the remaining reserves of psionic power he had left, he could no longer use it several times.

As a result, Shi Xiaobai had used Crab Steps to charge towards the short-haired teenager after slashing out Bladestorm. He used a Sword of Wind to take down the guns in front of him and burst through the gap.

Shi Xiaobai’s speed was so fast that he instantly was beyond the encirclement of the guns.

However, the short-haired teenager reacted quickly. He retreated at the instant Shi Xiaobai charged towards him. His hands were still in his pockets, and as though he was cycling, he retreated back at quite a respectable speed.

As the short-haired teenager retreated, yellow rings of light constantly lit up. Bullets sprayed out and shot straight at the pursuing Shi Xiaobai.

Shi Xiaobai could only dodge left and right or forcefully clash head on with Sword of Wind due to the interference of the bullets. He failed to catch up to the rapidly retreating short-haired teenager as a result of his lacking psionic power.

The short-haired teenager looked extremely calm. If it were anyone else, just seeing Shi Xiaobai’s unreasonable Bladestorm and jaw-dropping Crab Steps would be startled, much less being able to maintain their calm. However, the short-haired teenager appeared calm from the very beginning. It was as though he was constantly leering.

However, Shi Xiaobai’s adaptability was extremely exaggerated. He very quickly found the pursuit method that could be done faster. The gap between the two was constantly shrinking.

The short-haired teenager’s eyes flashed a cold beam as he suddenly pulled the right hand out of his pocket.

It was a pale and bloodless hand. When this hand stretched out towards Shi Xiaobai, a golden beam of light bloomed out of his fingertips as a suave-looking black pistol appeared in his right hand.

“Die!”

The short-haired teenager spat out the word from his lips as he pointed the barrel in front of him. Without any careful aiming, he squeezed the trigger!

There was no sound of the gunshot, but a blackish-gold bullet shot straight at Shi Xiaobai!

Shi Xiaobai immediately sensed a grave danger. Without any hesitation, he twisted his body and ran sideways.

“Boom!”

A deafening explosion boomed. At the instant the blackish-gold bullet shot out, a large number of blackish-gold bullets split off and fanned out. It carpeted an area thousands of square meters. The bullets exploded like missiles in an incessant manner, blowing up the ground into shambles.

After the short-haired teenager shot the blackish-gold bullet, he left without turning back. It was as though he did not care about the outcome of the shot.

On the boundary of the explosive zone, Shi Xiaobai caught his breath. This shot was truly somewhat dangerous. If he was in his optimal state, Shi Xiaobai would have made a breakthrough by clashing with the blackish-gold bullet. However, he had forcefully used the endurance ‘Unleaking Turtle Aura’ gave him to barely catch up to the short-haired teenager. He could only choose to dodge when he sensed that the blackish-gold bullet would pose a threat.

Shi Xiaobai looked to the side at the gigantic fan-shaped scorched ground. He was slightly alarmed. The range of the blast was as though a missile had been launched. Furthermore, it was not an ordinary missile that a psionic barrier could easily defend against.

Such a bullet was likely extremely valuable for the short-haired teenager or he would not have used it only when he was out of options. After using it, he decisively left.

The short-haired teenager quickly disappeared from his sights, while Shi Xiaobai did not pursue him either. His psionic power was nearly drained, so he was in urgent need to restore it.

“Forget it, This King will let you go scot-free for a moment.”

Shi Xiaobai shook his head and sighed. He found it somewhat regretful. If he was still in his optimal state, or even just half his optimal state, the short-haired teenager would never be able to escape him.

Unfortunately, he had drained most of his psionic power in his battle with Heartless. He could only let the bastard go scot-free for a moment.

Shi Xiaobai rested for a minute before strolling through the mountainous woods. There were still a few more minutes left before the next Life and Death Assault. He had nothing to do, so he walked around, hoping to see if he could encounter someone familiar.

It was unknown if Sunless, Mozzie, Mu Yuesheng, and Kevin had arrived in the fifth level or not. He wished to reunite with them as soon as possible.

…

Shi Xiaobai strolled through the mountain forests. His psionic power was quickly recovering along the way. Although ‘Unleaking Turtle Aura’ was an extremely special endurance technique, it also had the conventional ability of accelerating the recovery of psionic power.

After walking for a while, Shi Xiaobai still did not encounter anyone else.

Suddenly, a surprised cry came from the distance!

“Save me!”

The voice sounded distant and was rather weak by the time it propagated to him. However, Shi Xiaobai had a very good sense of hearing. He could hear it very well and could even sense the anxiety within the voice.

Shi Xiaobai was slightly surprised.

Someone was crying for help?

Shi Xiaobai hurriedly used Crab Steps to head towards the voice.

Shi Xiaobai ran very fast so he quickly saw a frail girl running in front of him. There were four youths chasing after her like hungry predators. They were catching up very soon.

The girl yelled for help as her eyes were filled with anxiety. Her hair was disheveled and her clothes were messy.

One of the youths chasing after her shouted with a grin, “Keep shouting. Even if you tear your throat shouting, no one will save you!”

The moment the youth finished his sentence, Shi Xiaobai happened to appear in front of the girl’s escape path.

The four youths came to a sudden halt as though they had seen a ghost.

The girl appeared as though she had seen her savior as she exclaimed, “Tu Dahei! Tu Dahei, quickly save me!”

The girl hurriedly fled behind Shi Xiaobai.

Shi Xiaobai frowned and asked, “What happened?”

The girl hurriedly said, “They, they want to destroy my epaulette!”

Shi Xiaobai turned his head to glance at the epaulette on the girl’s shoulder.

It was a Life Epaulette and not a Death Epaulette. Why were these four youths engaging in hot pursuit in an attempt to destroy the girl’s epaulette?

At this moment, a youth coldly said, “Tu Dahei, I respect you as a good man because you dared to spar with Pulp Farmer. However, it’s best you mind your own business. By destroying this bitch’s Life Epaulette, everyone will have one fewer competitor. It’s also beneficial for you.”

Shi Xiaobai asked aloud, “Do you have a feud?”

Shi Xiaobai was not a nosy person, nor was he a goody two shoes who would help a person for no reason.

The girl hurriedly said, “No, I don’t even know them! They are hunters!”

Shi Xiaobai asked, “What are hunters?”

The girl immediately said, “Some people realized that others can be eliminated as long as you destroy their Life Epaulettes at this level. In order to reduce the number of competitors, and increase the chances of clearing the level, they have formed teams to ‘hunt’ others. The four of them belong to a group of hunters!”

Shi Xiaobai was surprised.

People actually did this?

But on careful thought, it was not without reason.

The fewer people there were on this level, the number of competitors as pursuers would decrease. The fugitives that were being pursued would also have their chances of clearing the level enhanced.

As no one knew when they would become a fugitive, only people with great mutual trust would form groups. As a result, most rookies were left alone. By grouping up to ‘hunt’ rookies, it would be extremely easy. After all, it was just the shattering of a Life Epaulette. How hard was it for four people to destroy a person’s epaulette?

The four youths did not plan on denying as well. One of them persuaded Shi Xiaobai, “Tu Dahei, this is a selection, a competition. It’s only wise to reasonably make use of the rules. We will not harm her either. We will just destroy the epaulette on her shoulder. You can pretend as though you did not see a thing. We will be the bad guys here. Of course, we will welcome you if you wish on joining us.”

Shi Xiaobai burst out laughing as he said, “A competition has the premise of fairness before it’s called a competition. By having four of you bullying her. No offense, that is the mark of a spicy chicken…”

Just as Shi Xiaobai spoke halfway, a dagger stabbed from behind, piercing through Shi Xiaobai’s shoulder!

The four youths immediately revealed sinister smiles.

“Fool, you have been tricked!”

What looked like a frail and weak girl no longer looked frail at all. Her face was extremely cold as a derisive smile suffused across her lips. Her dagger had stabbed through Shi Xiaobai’s shoulder where his epaulette was!

However, the imagined blood that splattered out did not appear. When she stabbed through the shoulder, it did not possess any realism.

The girl and the four youths stared at the Shi Xiaobai in front of the girl which was suddenly penetrated by the sunlight. Slowly, it dissipated like a mirage.

“Phantom image!?”

The girl exclaimed and hurriedly turned her head, but she noticed that Shi Xiaobai was already standing behind her with an expression that read ‘you are the fool instead’.

The girl hurriedly retreated and said in surprise, “How did you realize it?”

The four youths immediately charged forward and came to the girl’s side while pulling out their weapons.

Shi Xiaobai sighed and said, “Your acting is too average. It was almost unbearable for This King to watch. This King suggests you to go to Steel City if you have the time to find an Oscar-winning actress named Yang Weiwei and learn from her.”

The girl immediately said angrily, “You are courting death! Don’t think that you are safe having avoided that strike. No matter how strong you are, it is impossible for you to be able to fight the five of us combined!”

Shi Xiaobai laughed coldly but did not say another word. He slowly raised his sword. He detested such a so-called hunter team. He could ignore them joining forces to gank someone, but they were shameless to use such a common scheme.

The five raised their weapons, as the battle was about to spark off.

Suddenly, the sound of melodious flute music came from nearby.

The flute music sounded clear and distant. It was ethereal, as though the tune were the rustling of pines through the blowing of winds.

The girl suddenly widened her eyes as she said in shock, “Demonic Flute An Mo?!”

A youth hurriedly said, “Quickly cover your ears!”

Another youth muttered, “It’s too late.” With that, his eyes closed as he planted his face to the ground.

The girl held her forehead and stumbled a few steps before sprawling to the ground. The other three youths were also knocked unconscious.

As the melodious tune softly floated over, the five were knocked unconscious in less than ten seconds.

The flute’s tune was still continuing on, and accompanying it was the sound of approaching footsteps.

Very soon, a figure appeared at the end of Shi Xiaobai’s vision.

It was a white-dressed youth. He had black hair that reached his waist. He was lanky and had a handsome look. His skin was rather pale and his eyes sparked. He held a rosewood flute in his hands which was placed by his mouth as he gently played.

The white-dressed youth looked as warm as jade. After playing for a while, he lowered his flute and looking at Shi Xiaobai, he said in surprise, “You are unaffected listening to half the Lullaby Tune despite having caught off guard?”

Shi Xiaobai carefully sized up the white-dressed youth and said with a shake of his head, “No, This King feels as though his ears have been polluted. That tune is alright, but you really can’t blow.”

When An Mo heard this, the corner of his lips twitched slightly. This was the first time someone criticized his flute-playing skills. He hesitated slightly before saying, “I just played it casually just now, and it’s indeed harsh on the ears. If this brother doesn’t mind, do you mind listening to me play another tune?”

“Ah? Again?”

Shi Xiaobai frowned slightly and hesitated for a moment. Realizing how he did not have any pertinent things to do, it was not like he could not give this person a chance to prove himself. Shi Xiaobai finally nodded and said, “Blow it.”

An Mo nodded and without saying any nonsense, he immediately began blowing.

The flute’s tune was similarly melodious, but it contained a chilling killing intent.

An Mo observed Shi Xiaobai’s face and was amazed to realize that Shi Xiaobai was still unaffected. Other than him being unable to hide the repulsiveness on his face, there was no other expression.

What was going on? Why was the tune of the demonic flute useless against this person?

An Mo was extremely surprised, so he began to blow even harder. The strength of the demonic music grew in intensity, but Shi Xiaobai remained indifferent.

Midway, Shi Xiaobai suddenly sighed and said, “Enough! This King can’t tolerate listening to such an unpleasant flute tune. You really can’t blow well. This King suggests you to go to… Eh, forget it. That person is on Earth. You probably can’t go there.”

An Mo remained silent. He was regretting why his feet did such a stupid thing as walking out.

An Mo did not dare to speak to Shi Xiaobai again, afraid that his broken heart would experience another trauma. He walked towards the unconscious five. With a wave of his flute, the Life Epaulettes on their shoulders immediately shattered. Soon, they transformed into golden light as they were transported out of the trial.

Shi Xiaobai obviously would not stop it. For hunters to be ‘hunted’, it was something they deserved.

When Shi Xiaobai noticed how the white-dressed youth no longer paid him any attention, he planned on turning around and leave.

At this moment, the authoritative voice resounded through the world:

“The thirty-second round shall begin immediately. Death Epaulette wearer has been randomly chosen. The wearer’s name is Sunless Ye!”

…