Chapter 88: The Cowardly Older Sister and Xiaoxi’s Abilities!

Not good!

Aili looked at her own blood-colored halo and was horrified to discover that it was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Meanwhile, the Shadow Spinner across from her was constantly expanding.

That black ring’s patterns were growing ever more complete, even starting to mimic the form of her own blood-colored halo.

Waves of Shadow Ripple were rising from the Black Pool at her feet.

The power being extracted was not just her starlight energy and stamina—it seemed even the very essence of her ability was being forcibly seized!

As she watched her blood-colored halo fall into disadvantage, on the verge of being completely devoured by the Shadow Spinner—

Boom!

A Red Streak shot in from afar, crashing through the spherical drone’s energy shield with a crack, then barreling on to shatter the two halos locked in midair!

Bang!

The newly risen Shadow Ripple exploded out of control.

That red figure’s body was wreathed in a layer of scorching flames, completely ignoring the shockwave of the Shadow Ripple as it rammed straight into the alloy wall at the end.

It left behind a glowing Spiderweb Fracture etched in red.

Aili, meanwhile, was violently flung away by the blast, tumbling through the air like a sandbag and landing heavily more than ten meters away.

Crash!

319, who had managed to avoid danger at the last critical moment, slowly emerged halfway out of the shadows in the corner.

Having absorbed part of Aili’s power, her wounds seemed to have improved quite a bit.

Her twisted neck had been forcibly straightened by shadows, leaving behind only a bizarre black mark.

She looked coldly at Aili, a flash of undisguised greed flickering in her blood-lit eyes.

“All of this power—give it to me, give it all to me!”

As her words fell, she vanished back into the shadows.

The patch of shadow beneath Aili instantly began to melt, about to re-form into a Black Pool.

“Cough, cough!”

The girl coughed up two mouthfuls of blood, the searing pain from her organs leaving her almost unable to move.

She lifted her right hand, trying to resist, but the newly condensed blood ring was smashed apart by a Shadow Tendril, now even thicker than before.

319 was growing stronger, while she… was growing weaker.

Gurgle!

The Shadow Tendrils coiled around her limbs like venomous snakes, suspending her in midair.

319, pale-faced, emerged from the shadows, an abnormal flush on her cheeks.

She stepped atop the Shadow Tendrils to float beside Aili, reaching out to gently stroke her face.

Then she pressed her face with intoxication, laughing madly.

“Give me all your power… This kind of power shouldn’t belong to a weakling like you, it’s all mine, all mine! Hahaha! Everyone’s power should be mine too!”

“Danger!”

“Damn, this ability is savage, looks like she can even absorb other people’s powers.”

“Shadow control, shadow stealth, plus absorbing powers—she’s totally not on Aili’s level at all.”

“But Aili isn’t weak, right? She blasted everyone away as soon as she showed up, but it feels like her stamina’s bad, ran out of steam so fast.”

The sucking sounds were bone-chilling.

With each pulse of the tendrils, Aili’s face grew paler and her body began to wither, like she was being drained dry.

She struggled to raise her head, painfully looking toward the blue figure lying in a pool of blood not far away, as two streams of blood-tears slipped down her face again.

So it’s no use after all.

I really am just a weakling.

If only it had been my sister who awakened, not me…

If it were her, she’d definitely be able to turn the tables.

That figure wreathed in red flames forcefully pulled itself out of the alloy wall, rushed to Aili’s feet, and raised its head to roar fiercely at 319.

“I’m going to kill her! I’ll kill her right now!”

Awakened on the verge of life and death, his mind was now consumed with vengeance for Aili.

“Let me drain her power first, then you can kill her.”

319’s wounds were rapidly healing, her pale skin tinged with blood, even her features growing delicate and demonic.

She caressed her ever-smoother cheek obsessively, letting out a cackling laugh:

“That’s it, that’s it, my power! This is the ability I’ve always dreamed of!”

“No, I’m killing her now!”

To 319’s surprise—

That red figure did not agree to her request, but instead lifted his head coldly, leapt up, seized Aili by the neck, yanked her from the tendrils, and smashed her hard to the ground.

And as she landed, she ended up right beside Yun Ruoxi.

Bang!

Aili took the blow and spat out another mouthful of blood, but also noticed the blue-haired girl lying so close at hand.

She stared dazedly at Yun Ruoxi, her face ashen and her eyes dulled, looking truly dead. With trembling hand, Aili reached out her right hand toward the girl.

Swish!

That red figure appeared before Aili, his fist blazing with blood-colored fire raised high.

It was the Soulfire of vengeance belonging to Student 1242!

“Damn it, they’re just giving the kid a knife—when you guys showed me those fight scenes to draw me in, you didn’t tell me it’d be so tragic!”

“Ahhh, my Aili, my Ruoxi, sob sob sob…”

“It’s Flame Fist! Use Flame Fist on them!”

“Die for me!”

As the fist came down, Aili’s right hand happened to gently caress the blue-haired girl’s face, full of longing.

The scene slowed down.

The terrifying Vengeful Flame Fist filled most of the screen, its power so immense it seemed it could smash the screen in one blow.

In the distance, 319 occupied a corner of the frame, her face twisted as she clutched it and howled in disbelief.

Below the fist, Aili’s face was twisted with pain, blood-tears streaming down as she used the last of her strength to cradle Yun Ruoxi’s head, curling protectively around her.

Her lips parted slightly, whispering with the purest emotion:

“Sis, you’ve worked so hard. Aili will go with you…on the journey.”

As her words faded.

A drop of blood-tear fell onto Yun Ruoxi’s forehead, and a red ripple instantly spread, piercing time and space and bringing the scene to another world.

In that world, the night was beautiful, stars scattered everywhere.

Yun Ruoxi wore a spotless white dress, sitting on a swing, gently swaying in the breeze, breathtakingly pure and beautiful.

Endless Night Orchids stretched out around her.

She looked off into the distance, as if unable to let go, yet her face bore a peaceful smile.

Her milky-white bare feet curled up playfully.

As the swing rocked, she lightly touched each blue-violet blossom.

“In one more day, it’ll be your birthday. Have you decided what gift you want?”

A woman in a floral dress, looking as if she’d been cast from the same mold as Yun Ruoxi, quietly appeared behind her.

She reached from behind to embrace the blue-haired girl, whose absent expression was immediately replaced by a bright smile.

“My birthday wish is just to be with you all, to live happily forever and ever!”

She shook the woman’s arm, her innocent smile shining.

“Silly girl, what’s forever? There’s no such thing.” The woman pinched her nose, then reached out to wipe a clear tear from her eye, asking curiously:

“Why are you crying?”

“Am I crying?”

Yun Ruoxi touched her cheek with her fingertip, surprised to find her tears already flowing uncontrollably.

A sudden gust swept across the sea of flowers, Night Orchids tossing starlike pollen up into the sky.

Yun Ruoxi gently pressed down her fluttering skirt, gazing up at the drifting pollen.

“Yes, why am I crying? As the older sister…how can I let Aili cry?”

She lowered her head and whispered softly.

That faraway gust suddenly became clear—it was Aili’s faint whisper.

“Do what you want to do!”

The woman seemed to understand something then, placing her hands on her belly and smiling at Yun Ruoxi.

“Daughters of the Night Orchid family are born free.”

“If you’re ever tired again, your father and I will always be waiting for you here.”

A tall and handsome figure appeared by her side, smiling gently at Yun Ruoxi.

He called.

“Eh!” Yun Ruoxi, suddenly appearing in the distance, tilted her head and smiled back, hair dusted with pollen like starlight.

“Remember to come back!” The man waved, “It’ll be your birthday tomorrow!”

“I know!”

Yun Ruoxi waved back with a smile, but a deep, inescapable sadness flickered in her eyes as she turned away.

“Actually… today is my birthday.”

She whispered as she walked forward.

Tears slid down her cheeks, dropping into the flowers below. Sparks ignited where her tears fell, quickly spreading into a blazing fire that engulfed the entire field.

Her parents’ figures grew increasingly transparent in the flames.

Until the very last moment.

Yun Ruoxi suddenly turned her head. They were still looking at her, gentle smiles on their faces.

“I’ll come back. I swear I’ll come back!”

She waved to them, sobbing: “But right now, I can’t…I have to save someone.”

“I need to save her, I must save her. When I get her out of that hell, I’ll definitely come back for you!”

“We know!”

They said in unison, then exchanged a glance and melted, smiling, into the sea of fire.

Seeing this, Yun Ruoxi collapsed to her knees, crying out loud like a child, pounding the scorched earth.

Swish!

A transparent sphere, swirling with countless illusory things, suddenly burst from within her, growing larger with each strike of her fist.

A faint theme song began to play again.

Crack, crack.

The transparent sphere squeezed everything around, pushing aside earth and fire.

At last, it expanded to fill the entire space.

“Sorry, your cowardly big sister…is back!”

Her final punch crashed down, the whole space shattering in response, and the scene returned to the chamber.

The Vengeful Flame Fist fell swiftly, now less than ten centimeters from Aili’s head.

Aili’s blond hair was singed black by the flames.

Yet she seemed oblivious, only cradling Yun Ruoxi’s head tightly in her arms.

Just as the Vengeful Flame Fist was about to smash Aili’s skull—

At that critical instant.

Yun Ruoxi, held in her arms, suddenly opened her eyes, releasing a terrifying white light from her pupils.

“Holy crap, Ruoxi!”

“Lao Ruoxi, you’re finally back—your little sister’s about to get killed here!”

“Go, Ruoxi! Show them what you’ve got!”

“1242 really is to blame—if he hadn’t thrown Aili beside Ruoxi, it’d be all over for real.”

“Freedom… so Ruoxi, you’re free too.”

Bang!

The Vengeful Flame Fist slammed into empty air, as if blocked by some invisible force, refusing to descend any further.

Yet clearly there was nothing at all beneath the fist!

The red figure, regaining a sliver of clarity after unleashing the Vengeful Flame Fist, stared in shock as his all-out punch hung motionless in midair, unable to move.

“What… what’s going on…”

1242 gritted his teeth and tried again, but even as his face turned purple with the effort, he couldn’t make the fist descend a single bit—instead, a more terrifying force was pushing his arm upward!

“How… how can this be?!”

1242 growled in disbelief. The power that had surged through his veins at awakening made him confident he’d be among the top in the battle camp, but the slap in the face came so fast!

“Aaah!”

He angrily swung his left fist down again, but it too was stopped, frozen in midair.

It was only then—

1242 finally realized something and looked down.

The blue-haired girl, who should have been dead, had somehow opened her eyes, quietly gazing at him from Aili’s embrace, her stare as cold as a god looking down on ants—making his heart skip a beat.

Swish!

Without any visible support, Yun Ruoxi slipped out of Aili’s arms like a fish, her body floating straight up in clear defiance of physics.

She turned gracefully from her prone position to face the stunned 1242.

“What’s happening?”

Aili had thought she was as good as dead, but after lying with her eyes closed for so long and feeling no pain, she started to wonder if she’d gone to heaven.

At the stirrings from her embrace, she opened her eyes to this incredible sight and cried out in delight.

“Sis?! Sis!”

But Yun Ruoxi didn’t answer. She only gazed impassively at the Soulfire-clad Student 1242, her lips curling into a cold, mocking smile.

Suddenly she raised her right hand and casually flicked to the right.

Like swatting a fly, she sent Student 1242 flying dozens of meters before slamming into the wall.

A blow that would be fatal to an ordinary person, but for 1242, it was nothing.

He shook his head, then got up as if nothing had happened.

Floating in midair, blue hair drifting strangely, Yun Ruoxi seemed unsatisfied with the damage she’d done.

A flash of white light appeared in her eyes as she swooped toward Student 1242.

“Haha, you can’t hurt me!”

Escaping death, 1242 laughed wildly, even patting his chest and leaping up to meet Yun Ruoxi, hoping to knock her out of the air.

But at the moment before they collided, Yun Ruoxi’s body suddenly paused in midair, then inexplicably rose several meters higher, dodging his lunge.

Then—

The girl spun in the air, reached out her right hand, and slowly closed her fingers toward the falling 1242.

Click!

1242 was suddenly frozen in midair as if the pause button had been pressed, forcibly held in place.

He flailed his limbs, struggling desperately, but could only watch helplessly as he and Yun Ruoxi rapidly ascended, his face growing more and more despairing.

Until they were dozens of meters above the ground.

“Ruoxi, what is this power? That’s so cool!”

“I have to admit, Ruoxi without her dopey smile is actually really sharp when she’s cold.”

“This must be Telekinesis, right?”

“Telekinesis is OP—attack, defense, crowd control. Only thing is, its strength depends on output power.”

“Shivering Ruoxi says—”