【Clang.】
【Clang, clang, clang, clang...】
“Hahaha!”
“Come on, stack Steel! If it doesn't kill you, keep proccing it until you drop! Yours truly is gonna be invincible!”
“Steel in hand, follow me!”
“...”
The soundproofing on the top floor of the subterranean city where Xie Litang lived was actually not very good.
She stacked Steel happily, reveling in pure bliss.
Little did she know, right beneath the rooftop, the wheelchair-bound girl was trembling in fear.
“Sister, Sister, what's wrong with you? Don't scare me, wuu wuu wuu...”
“It's all their fault. I'm definitely going to kill them and protect the best sister in the world.”
Around two or three in the morning.
Only then did that wild, manic voice gradually fade away.
Exhausted, Xie Litang returned indoors, washed up briefly, and collapsed into sleep.
Her days were tiring, but deeply fulfilling.
It was just that the way she looked while training...
Seemed to have frightened Chen Linling a bit.
“I'll just have to be more mindful next time.”
Right now, only four words occupied Xie Litang's mind when it came to the ant nest: honest mutual Steel-stacking.
Xie Litang opened her panel to take a look.
【Name: Xie Litang.】
【Ability: Teammate Sacrifice, Uses: 0.】
【Class: Swordmaster, Wind-Style Swordsmanship (Minor Accomplishment) 3425/10000 (Major Accomplishment).】
【Vitality: 1246, Spirit: 45.】
【Equipment: Heartsteel.】
Those few hours of effort tonight yielded more than the past three days combined.
“Right now, each time I proc Steel, I can deal 37.38 true damage and permanently gain 3.7 Vitality.”
“Once I finish stacking on the ant nest tomorrow, I can reach at least two thousand Vitality.”
Xie Litang couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. The crucial part wasn't merely how much Steel she had stacked, but that her Vitality base had finally been built up; from here on out, stacking would only become exponentially more terrifying.
The next day.
Before dawn broke.
Xie Litang snuck off to stack Steel again.
She completely failed to notice Chen Linling's tearful, melancholic gaze in the room.
Chen Linling took a deep breath, wiping away the tears welling in the corners of her eyes. “Ever since Sister got expelled from school, she started by swatting cockroaches, then exterminated mosquitoes, and now she's killing ants.”
“Sigh.”
“As long as Sister is happy, that's all that matters.”
“Besides... if I'm the only one left to take care of Sister from now on, that's... not bad either.”
Chen Linling reached toward the computer; a data cable ejected from her palm and plugged into the computer port.
This was her ability: Cyber Machinist.
Most people awakened their abilities through Awakening Stele when they came of age.
However, there were also some people.
Whether through raw talent or trauma, they awakened early.
Currently, Chen Linling mainly operated in the virtual network, utilizing her own computing power to mine various information and sell it to demon beast hunters. Simply put, she could be understood as...
Well, a... cyber miner girl?
On the rooftop, separated by just a single wall.
“Steel!”
“Hehehe.”
“I'll proc it again!”
“Hehehe.”
After a whole day, that ant nest was finally thoroughly ravaged by Xie Litang.
Xie Litang collapsed onto the bed, staring blankly as she mumbled, “No good, I think I stacked a bit too much Steel.”
At this moment, her Vitality panel had reached a luxurious 2,368.
A single proc of Steel dealt up to 71 true damage.
And permanently granted 7.1 Vitality.
For the rest of the time.
Xie Litang basically just collected glue traps from her trap locations, swatting a few mice and flies to pass the time.
After all.
“One who has seen an eagle... wait, spit, I mean, how could a man who has stacked Steel on an ant nest look twice at moths and mosquitoes under streetlights? They're not worthy.”
The next afternoon.
It was still under the streetlight by the river in the old street on the surface.
This time, the number of spectators was even larger than before, and several more people were livestreaming.
Serving as both the liaison and the referee, Su Yang set down a box and said, “Here's the ant nest you wanted.”
Xie Litang inspected it, then nodded. “Mm.”
The ant nest was the admission ticket to challenge her.
The two hundred dollars was the wager between both sides.
From the crowd stepped a girl with chin-length hair. Drawing two daggers from her waist, she twirled them around her fingertips and said, “I've watched the recordings of your fights. You're merely relying on nimble movement techniques and speed.”
“Too bad for you, though.”
“I awakened as a Shadow Assassin.”
“So it ends here. Trash ought to act like trash.”
With that, the short-haired girl erupted into motion.
Almost instantaneously, she appeared behind Xie Litang.
The very instant her daggers were about to stab Xie Litang, as if possessing precognition, Xie Litang twirled her wooden sword and swept it backward in a reverse slash.
Startled, the short-haired girl blurted, “What? How did you know?!”
She swiftly evaded the slash of the wooden sword.
Yet no matter how much she increased her speed after that, Xie Litang was always able to anticipate her trajectory.
Xie Litang's Minor Accomplishment in Steel Tempest allowed the wind before her to leave discernible traces like silken threads.
Every single move the short-haired girl made was like dancing upon strings of silk.
“Three o'clock.”
Xie Litang's gaze turned razor-sharp, and she suddenly thrust her sword forward. “Steel Tempest, break!”
【Clang~】
Vitality +7.1.
Immediately followed by a miserable scream.
In the eyes of onlookers, the short-haired assassin girl's seemingly erratic movements appeared as though she had suddenly become possessed by an evil spirit, throwing herself headfirst right into Xie Litang's wooden sword.
Her face turned deathly pale. Just as she tried to get up, the wooden sword was resting against her throat.
Xie Litang tapped her face with the flat of the sword and said, “Now tell me, who's the real trash?”
Acting as the referee, Su Yang hastily stepped forward and declared, “In this match, Xie Litang wins.”
Saying so.
He picked up the assassin girl to take her for medical treatment.
Xie Litang suddenly called out to stop him. Frowning, Su Yang said, “Do you still have business? If you want to insult our Jianghai High School, we lost today, and we accept that.”
Xie Litang pursed her lips, utterly indifferent. “You're already trash to begin with. Does that even need insulting?”
“What I wanted to say is this.”
“Next time, find someone with over one hundred Vitality.”
“Otherwise, I'm afraid I might beat them to death.”
As Xie Litang's words fell.
A wave of indignant clamor erupted all around.
Wasn't this an outright insult?
Although after awakening an ability, cultivation would cause both Vitality and attack power to multiply exponentially.
Currently, even Xue Qingyue, the most talented student in the school, had barely crossed one hundred Vitality.
They wanted to refute it, but since it came from Xie Litang, they could only swallow it down.
Gritting his teeth, Su Yang said, “You... very well.”
Waving her hand, Xie Litang replied, “Just average. Also, I'll be heading out for the next few days. If you want to challenge me, wait until a week from now. So, during this coming week...”
A smirk gradually crept across Xie Litang's face, and she chuckled, “Little pieces of trash from Jianghai High School, enjoy your title of trash to your hearts' content.”
“Heeheehee...”
The spectators lowered their heads one after another. Bullet comments flooded the livestreamed phones, and Jianghai High School's forum was inundated with cries of humiliation.
Even if they wanted to complain, they had nowhere to vent.
Who told them to lose three matches out of three?
Xie Litang had virtually become Jianghai High School's public enemy number one, ranking even higher in importance than their daily coursework.
As long as they couldn't defeat Xie Litang for a single day.
They would remain trash for that day.
Rate on N.U.
