Through this event, Jiang Ke’er had completely opened the Victory Gate to a new world.
New application techniques for the Stealing Technique made her thoughts suddenly clear.
In fact, she had long ago considered the possibility of such a technique.
Before, she had always thought about pulling the opponent’s organs out, wanting to pull off a cool heart-snatch… but that was not feasible.
Aside from a few organs with large surrounding cavities, small volumes, and simple connections to surrounding tissues, other organs would experience tension when being pulled.
This would change the internal environment and cause the Stealing Technique to fail, leading to her leaving her own hand stuck inside.
To pull out the Punishment Official’s kidney and replace it with an Explosive Crystal, she had expended a great deal of effort.
She had cleared the tissue around the Punishment Official’s kidney hundreds of times, gradually severing the connections to the surrounding tissues.
During this process, she also had to maintain neural paralysis and keep the kidney tissue active.
‘I certainly can’t do this in a real battle.’
‘But although I can’t pull things out… nothing’s stopping me from putting things in.’
Ever since she realized this, the inmates around her noticed their weight beginning to skyrocket for no reason.
‘How strange. I’ve already lost ten pounds from eating this prison food. How did the fat I worked so hard to lose come back again?’ one prisoner who cared about his figure wailed without tears.
Furthermore, two days ago, a guard found a small piece of watermelon rind in his bladder during a physical exam. Another guard found a cucumber in his abdominal cavity. Bizarre incidents like these occurred frequently throughout the prison.
The Medical Cultivators responsible for the examinations gave a thumbs up, their eyes filled with deep admiration. “They really know how to play.”
The only pity was that this method would be seen through by an Honored One.
Since the Stealing Technique itself could be detected by them, this method could not be used against an Honored One or in their presence.
After all, an Honored One was a powerhouse who had already touched upon the level of the spatial Domain.
Now, in private combat, no one below the rank of Honored One was her match — as long as she had enough high-powered bombs or poison in her pockets.
‘Consider this a layer of insurance given to me by the System. With these techniques, it’ll be much easier to survive this weakling phase while I’m Sealed.’
However, the main difficulty was still the Arena.
After all, the Arena matches would inevitably be watched by an Honored One.
Many tricks could not be used, and she would have to drag her weakened body into the fight.
“I’m leaving,” Qiao Xiaoxian said.
“Won’t you stay a little longer?” Si Lian asked with a soft sigh. “For Qing Yi.”
“No.” Qiao Xiaoxian shook her head. “For Qing Yi.”
Jiang Ke’er puffed out her cheeks.
“Stop with the self-indulgent monologue. if you’re going to get lost, do it already. You’re acting like some Dragon-Aotian hero. Who cares!” Jiang Ke’er crossed her arms with a look of disdain.
“I’ll come see you during the Finals,” Qiao Xiaoxian said with a smile.
“Hmph, don’t bother.”
In the early morning hours, Jiang Ke’er cooked a pot of sweet rice balls herself. It was a way to celebrate the belated festival with the rest of the Bagpipe Squad.
“Why is there an extra bowl?” Jie Shui asked, scratching his head. “If no one’s eating it, I’ll take it…”
“Get lost. I saved that for myself.”
Jiang Ke’er slurped down the extra bowl of rice balls, let out an overly satisfied burp, and then pulled out a packet of Antidote to swallow.
‘She really did leave. What a waste of my laxatives,’ Jiang Ke’er muttered under her breath.
“Waaaah, there’s still some soup left.” Jie Shui stared longingly at the bottom of the bowl in Jiang Ke’er’s hand.
“Qing Yi, if you can’t drink anymore…”
“Take it, take it.” Jiang Ke’er handed the bowl to Jie Shui impatiently.
“Hehe, thanks, thanks!” Jie Shui happily took the bowl, his face the picture of bliss.
“Eat, eat, eat. All you know how to do is eat. How can you eat so much?” Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn expressed extreme contempt.
“I’m eating for two after all. Two mouths! One portion isn’t enough!” Jie Shui argued.
Gan RuÇŽnruÇŽn didn’t understand. She didn’t know where Jie Shui’s “two mouths” were.
The other Little Demons didn’t understand either.
Only Jiang Ke’er knew that Jie Shui was still raising a giant Ascaris in his stomach.
“Alright, we’ve had our break. From now on, focus up.” Si Lian’s expression suddenly turned stern.
“The Semi-Finals are about to begin. Prepare well. You only have one chance.”
“How tragic!” Jie Shui wailed.
“Every battle from here on will be incredibly difficult. These are the top talents who fought their way out of all of Shenzhou,” Si Lian said, ignoring Jie Shui’s mourning face.
“So there’s no need to hold back anymore. You can start using your Assassin’s Trump Cards appropriately.”
“Great!” This time, the person cheering wasn’t Jie Shui, but A Miao.
His skin was itching for a fight.
These past few months had nearly driven him crazy with boredom.
His teammates had protected him so thoroughly that he had never suffered the slightest injury.
Although he enjoyed dealing damage, he always felt a bit uneasy in his heart.
Coincidentally, because of this, any team that had studied the Bagpipe Squad believed A Miao was the core of the team and racked their brains to target him…
But it was all in vain. He still hadn’t been injured.
Now, whenever the outside world talked about A Miao, they would specifically mention that he was “Never Injured in the Shenzhou Cup,” a “Super-Powerful Core Explosive DPS,” “The Hidden Boss carrying the entire Bagpipe Squad,” and “The Real Big Shot behind the scenes.”
Titles like these spread like wildfire, to the point where A Miao’s reputation in the streets was even greater than Qing Yi’s.
Every day, people placed bets on whether a powerful opponent would be able to break A Miao’s no-damage curse and claim his first blood.
At the same time, various data analysts used every possible angle to deduce the truth.
Undoubtedly, all the resources of the Bagpipe Squad were being funneled into A Miao. They protected him from being injured at all costs, even willing to let other members risk their lives for it. For an entire season, the Bagpipe Squad had maintained this playstyle without ever changing.
In other words, there had to be a huge secret involving A Miao. This secret was most likely the key to the Bagpipe Squad’s undefeated streak!
In summary, if other teams faced the Bagpipe Squad, as long as they could shatter the myth of A Miao being uninjured, they could shatter the Bagpipe Squad’s undefeated streak!
This was a truth recognized by all of Shenzhou.
No matter how one thought about it, this was the only conclusion.
Otherwise, why would they let the other members fight while being heavily injured or on the verge of death — nearly losing their lives several times — just to ensure A Miao remained uninjured?
Setting aside the danger, even if they barely survived, the cost of seeking treatment from a Medical Cultivator was astronomical and would surely leave lasting side effects… Who could afford to play like that?
Regardless, just target A Miao! Kill A Miao and you win!
“Everyone thinks so.”
A man in luxurious robes stood upon the ruins of a city, lightly fanning himself with a folding fan and smiling slightly.
“So we must learn to think in reverse.”