Chapter 139: Fierce Battle!!

Yan Jing put on the Black Robe formed from the mist left behind by Mr. San, then arrived at the stall in the Rotten Vegetable Market to wait.

He didn't have to wait long.

An hour or two later, the first guest of the day arrived.

It was a white-bearded old man.

He was short and hunched, looking as if he couldn't even reach Old Master Liu's chest.

He wore an old-fashioned set of silk pajamas with his eyes tightly shut. Despite his seemingly advanced age, his legs merely glided lightly across the ground a few times before he arrived right in front of Yan Jing.

His movements were incredibly fast.

"Where are you from, old gentleman, and what are you looking to buy?"

Yan Jing asked with a smile.

The moment he saw the old man, he had already consumed a Fear Fruit.

Weird energy bubbled and flowed around him, shrouding him in black mist as his Fear Stance manifested.

Facing Yan Jing's little tricks, the old man made no move to stop him.

Soft snores drifted from his mouth, accompanied by sleep-talk-like muttering:

"I come from Sleepland... come... to buy you..."

"To buy me."

Yan Jing nodded and chuckled.

"I'm afraid the price is a bit steep."

"The price... has already been paid..."

The old man spoke slowly. "With my daughter-in-law—"

His words were cut short, as Yan Jing had already struck first.

When facing an opponent of a higher tier, he wasn't in the habit of being arrogant. Seizing the moment the old man opened his mouth, he immediately activated Freeze Frame Moment.

Then, the Black and White Dual-Colored Long Spear and his arm guard materialized simultaneously, thrusting straight at the old man's chest.

But the sharp spearhead only grazed past the old man's chest, merely snagging a piece of his pajamas and exposing the wrinkled, pale skin beneath.

Less than 0.2 seconds. Yan Jing hadn't expected his Second Tier Freeze Frame Moment to have such a brief effect against a Third Tier existence.

This allowed the old man to dodge, causing his first strike to miss.

This was the first step of his plan. If it hit the old man, everything that followed would be much easier.

But clearly, the old man before him had activated that automatic sleep-defense ability, just like that Second Tier from Sleepland last time. Furthermore, he had mastered it to a much deeper degree, allowing him to evade that initial blow.

Meng Dansheng hadn't expected the Yan Jing in front of him to initiate an attack either.

Originally, his visit to Rotten Vegetable Village this time was simply to personally take Yan Jing away, ensuring there would be no mishaps.

Unexpectedly, Yan Jing chose to resist.

This made him frown. Immediately after, his snoring grew violent.

An invisible wave of mental energy rippled out from his snores, sweeping toward Yan Jing.

Instantly, Yan Jing closed his eyes.

Sloth Pathway, Third Tier Ability one: Enter Self-Dream. It could pull the target's mental consciousness into his own dream.

"Heh..."

Meng Dansheng chuckled disdainfully, completely sinking his consciousness into the dream world, preparing to finish Yan Jing off in his sleep.

But in a mere instant, he realized something was wrong.

Because he actually couldn't sense Yan Jing's presence within the dream.

Sensing danger, his consciousness immediately surfaced from the dream world.

But it was too late.

Under the Sloth resistance of the fruit—condensed from the Fear Power absorbed from the deceased First Tier of Sleepland in Solitude Lane—Yan Jing fought off the crushing exhaustion and activated the Amusement Park Pathway Seed within his body.

"Rumble!! Rumble, rumble, rumble!!!"

A deafening cacophony erupted in midair, as if the massive attractions of the Amusement Park had manifested in reality. It was like giants had descended, their tremendous roars swirling above Rotten Vegetable Village.

This apocalyptic commotion alarmed the residents of Rotten Vegetable Village, prompting them to look out their windows in terror.

They had no idea what was happening.

Meanwhile, facing the sudden roars, Meng Dansheng shuddered. His expression drastically changed as he rapidly retreated, trying to put distance between them.

"He gave the Pathway Seed to you!!!!"

He shouted sternly, his voice filled with disbelief.

Yan Jing smiled faintly. Hearing Meng Dansheng's no longer muddled speech, he knew the man was mostly awake.

According to the notes left by Mr. San, the Third Tier of the Sloth Pathway possessed two abilities in total.

The first was Enter Self-Dream, and the second was Anti-Awakening.

But the pathway of Old Sin City was flawed.

Therefore, Meng Dansheng's Anti-Awakening was incomplete.

When faced with severe noise, intense vibrations, pain, and other such disruptions, he could easily be roused from his long-maintained slumber.

And once he lost the sleep state ability of the Second Tier, the Sloth Pathway would lose most of its deterrent power.

As Meng Dansheng retreated, Yan Jing once again activated his freeze ability. Simultaneously, he tore up the photograph he had just taken of Meng Dansheng.

Riiiip—

A shallow, bloody gash immediately appeared on Meng Dansheng's chest.

Normally, such a shallow wound would be nothing to a Third Tier existence like Meng Dansheng.

Unexpectedly, Meng Dansheng's face twisted in agony, and his tightly shut eyes almost opened.

Clearly, the injury he had sustained in Mad Amusement Park two years ago had yet to fully heal.

At the same time, Yan Jing stepped forward in a massive stride.

The long spear in his hand shot out like a bolt of dark lightning, seemingly tearing through the sky and leaving a shadowy trail as it aimed straight for Meng Dansheng's chest.

He only had this one chance. If he missed and allowed Meng Dansheng to put up his guard and slip back into a slumbering state, drawing blood again would be exceedingly difficult.

Squelch—

The sound of the spearhead piercing flesh rang out, accompanied by a muffled groan.

But upon hearing that groan, Yan Jing's face darkened. He retracted his spear and explosively retreated amid the deafening roars.

Because that muffled groan hadn't come from Meng Dansheng. It was a woman's voice.

Almost the exact moment Yan Jing jumped back, several incredibly thick, fleshy tentacles slammed down precisely where he had been standing, violently piercing the stone slabs.

Yan Jing looked up at his opponent.

The second guest had arrived.

By the looks of it, his luck today was rather poor.

The two guests had arrived at almost the exact same time.

A plump woman, seemingly in her forties and wearing a loose white robe, stepped out from behind Meng Dansheng.

She retracted the tentacle beneath her robe that Yan Jing had stabbed, then looked at a visibly shaken Meng Dansheng and chuckled.

"I didn't expect our Sleepland Chief to stumble."

"And tripping over the younger brother right after tripping over the older one, no less."

Saying this, a fleshy tentacle slithered out from between her legs beneath the robe, gently stroking Meng Dansheng's face.

Meng Dansheng leaned back. His old face gradually regained its calm as he spoke slowly:

"Why are you here?"

"I was worried about you, wasn't I?"

Madam Yu, Yu Yan, laughed lightly. "After all, our Sleepland Chief paid such a hefty price to find a new candidate for breeding the Seed, I had to come see for myself to set my mind at ease."

Meng Dansheng frowned.

"You have people in the village?"

His brows knitted tightly together, pondering who could have leaked the information.

After Yu Yan appeared, he once again relaxed his guard against Yan Jing. With two Third Tiers present, there was no way Yan Jing could make any more waves today. What he worried about now was Yu Yan snatching the boy from his grasp.

"Stop overthinking it. If you ask me, you should just hand this kid over to me. Before he breeds the Seed, I can have a few children with him on the side."

Yu Yan's voice trailed off as she looked across at Yan Jing.

Taking advantage of their conversation, Yan Jing had retreated back to his stall, sitting upon it and smiling at the two Third Tiers.

"How about you two fight it out first, and I'll go with the winner?"

As Yan Jing spoke, Meng Dansheng proactively took a few steps back.

"You take him."

With the terrifying noise surrounding them, it would be difficult for him to re-enter a deep slumber anytime soon. Clashing with Yu Yan at a time like this wasn't a wise move.

What he needed now was time to slip back into his sleep state.

Once he did, Yu Yan wouldn't be his match.

Seeing Meng Dansheng yield, Yan Jing's gaze darkened for a moment before returning to normal.

Yu Yan took a step forward, smiling at Yan Jing.

"It seems that before your brother left, he didn't just give you the Pathway Seed, he also told you about the flaws in our pathways."

"So tell me, what is my flaw?"

A tentacle slipped out from beneath her robe, gently tracing her lips.

"Is it compatibility?"

"Did your brother tell you that because my flesh belongs to the procreation pathway, one of my Third Tier abilities is Excellence Gathering, which allows me to accommodate the powers of others, but because I am far too compatible... I cannot reject them?"

"So, as long as a massive amount of another pathway's power is injected into my body, I'll lose control of my own flesh?"

As she spoke, her tone grew colder and colder.

By the end, it carried a palpable killing intent.

She reached out and lifted one of the sleeves of her white robe, revealing a fair, plump arm.

Unfortunately, that arm was densely covered in horrific scars, looking as if it had suffered death by a thousand cuts. It was a shocking sight.

Yu Yan's expression turned entirely grim, her face twisting like an evil ghost from hell:

"That damned bastard injected far, far too much of the Fear Pathway's power into my body!"

"Do you have any idea how I've lived these past few years?!!"

"Every single day, I have to slice myself open, gouging out my own flesh just to bleed out his power!!! In the beginning, I couldn't even manage to hold a knife and fork!!!"

She glared at Yan Jing, her eyes burning with hatred and rage, ultimately laughing out of pure fury:

"I made up my mind to let him taste the power of our life force. You're his younger brother!!! Since he's gone, you can suffer this agony in his place!!!"

"Until you officially breed the Seed, I will torment you endlessly!!!! Torment you until you beg for death!!"

Then, a cold sneer tugged at the corner of her mouth:

"Or perhaps, you're confident you can pump me as full as he did? Little boy?!"

As her words fell, the tentacles beneath her robe suddenly swelled and rapidly multiplied, surging toward the seated Yan Jing.

These tentacles were nothing like the ones Yan Jing had seen from the other residents of Dandelion Manor.

If the tentacles of those Second Tiers were as thick as arms, then these swelled appendages were at least as thick as an adult man's thigh.

Yan Jing swung his spear. When it clashed with the tentacles, the ring of striking metal echoed out. The density of these fleshy limbs was no different from steel; his spearhead could sink in a centimeter or two at most, unable to pierce any deeper.

Moreover, the physical force behind them was immense, nearly jarring the long spear right out of Yan Jing's grip.

Even though he managed to hold on, after a few strikes, the webbing between his thumb and forefinger tore open from the impact, bleeding profusely.

Yet, facing the intense phantom pain inflicted by the Fear Thorn, Yu Yan didn't even bat an eye.

This was normal. A crucial step in procreation was also one of her Second Tier abilities:

Pain Endurance.

If there were only one or two tentacles, Yan Jing could still handle them.

But there were simply too many here, virtually forming a jungle of writhing flesh that enveloped him completely.

Just a few seconds later, the long spear in Yan Jing's hands dissolved into motes of light and scattered.

His first seed was used up just like that.

Just as a second long spear materialized in his grasp, a tentacle whipped directly at his chest.

Yan Jing crossed his arms to block.

The tentacle slammed into his black-and-white arm guards with crushing force. From a single strike, Yan Jing coughed up blood.

Just as the Old Man had once said.

The gap between the Third Tier and the Second Tier was like an impassable chasm.

Even if his opponent was heavily injured, even if he had the power of the Surface World to assist him, even if he possessed the White Stone Cage, such a disparity could not be bridged in a short time.

If he wanted to turn the tables, he ultimately had to rely on the flaws in his opponent's pathway.

Thus, he was waiting—waiting for an opportunity.

He swallowed a Fear Fruit imbued with 'life' power.

Feeling his injuries mend, Yan Jing spat a mouthful of bloody froth with a grin. Wielding his spear once more, he charged forward through the jungle of tentacles!!!

Sensing Yan Jing steadily closing the distance, a strange glint flashed in Yu Yan's eyes. As far as she was concerned, all he was doing was accelerating his fall into her clutches.

The moment Yan Jing's stamina was entirely depleted would be the moment she captured her Seed breeder, thereby seizing the initiative in the Homecoming Plan.

At this thought, she offered a frosty smile and intensified her assault, the tentacles surging to wrap Yan Jing up entirely.

It was exactly then that no one noticed a figure climbing onto the roof of a nearby residential house.

Staring at the trapped Yan Jing, the figure's eyes were cold as he slowly extended his arm. He didn't know where that old coot had ridden his motorcycle off to, nor why he hadn't taken Yan Jing and fled the night before as promised.

But given the current situation, he had no choice but to open fire.

He cared nothing for morality.

But he cared for his friends.

This Domain was the first place he had ever made a friend. He couldn't just stand by and watch Yan Jing die.

He disabled his risk assessment system, disabled his early warning system, and disabled his rationality alerts.

However, just as he was about to fire.

Suddenly, his gaze narrowed, and his primed right hand halted.

This was...

Yu Yan sneered coldly, gazing at Yan Jing, who was entirely cocooned in her tentacles.

But just as she was about to tighten her snare, a sudden, sharp pain lanced through her lower body. Immediately after, a bone-chilling cold invaded her system.

In an instant, the familiar sensation awakened her memories. This was the power of the Fear Pathway—she would never mistake it. Yan Jing had finally begun channeling Fear Power into her body. But at the same time... this triggered her stress response.

The tentacles morphed into wildly thrashing steel whips, furiously lashing at the trapped Yan Jing in the center.

Crack— Crack—

With every strike, a gruesome, bloody welt appeared on Yan Jing's body.

More importantly, the sheer force behind the blows made him spit mouthful after mouthful of blood. His bones rattled, feeling as if they were on the verge of shattering.

Yet, he held tightly to the Thorn Spear in his hands, continuously pouring Fear Power into the tentacle it had impaled.

As the freezing power trickled into Yu Yan's body drop by drop, she bit her lip and quickened the thrashing of her tentacles.

But she still held back from dealing a lethal blow.

The Fear Power within Yan Jing couldn't possibly be vast. She knew this very well, which was why she intended to capture him alive.

However... as time ticked by, second by second...

Her eyes widened, unconsciously revealing naked dread...

Impossible!

How could there still be more?!!

By now, the volume of Fear Power within her had reached a critical mass. If this continued, the tragedy from three years ago was highly likely to repeat itself!!!

Only then did she finally panic.

She desperately began driving her tentacles straight into Yan Jing's body to force him to let go.

But Yan Jing simply wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and smiled.

Path of Fear, one of the Second Tier Abilities, activated.

Fear Memories.

It actively awakened the deepest, most terrifying memories within the opponent. Its effectiveness depended entirely on just how afraid the target was of that specific event.

If properly set up with repeated psychological pressure, the skill's effect would be even more pronounced.

In an instant, Yu Yan shuddered violently. The tentacles plunging toward him abruptly froze mid-air.

That scene from three years ago played out in her mind once again.

She, an entity ranked among the top ten in Old Sin City, a Third Tier Transcendent.

Three years ago, because the power inside her completely ran wild, she had approached every other Third Tier present, frantically declaring she wanted to procreate with them. Worse, her flesh had mutated uncontrollably, dissolving into an unmanageable mound of meat...

No, no, no, no!!!

Her entire body began to tremble involuntarily, her face twisted in horror. The memory of that terror was etched immutably into her soul.

Not only that, but she also recalled the aftermath: carving her own flesh out every single day, dragging around a paralyzed shell of a body.

Fearful memories could make a person forget the present.

She remained entirely oblivious to the fact that the Fear Power surging into her body was still multiplying.

When she finally snapped out of it, all she saw was a mass of uncontrolled, wildly thrashing tentacles, continuously mutating as they viciously whipped the surrounding pavement.

Her body's urge to procreate had already reached its absolute zenith.

Just like three years ago.

"Impossible!"

Staring at her rapidly deteriorating body, she shrieked in terror:

"How could you possibly have this much Fear Power!!!"

"Anyone would be afraid hearing such a deafening noise, my dear Madam Yu."

Covered in cuts and bruises, Yan Jing smiled and pointed at the sky. That echoing cacophony was the source of his Fear Power.

The residents of Rotten Vegetable Village were the spring feeding it.

The next moment, he ramped up the flow of Fear Power from his hands.

"No! No, no, no!!"

"Let go!! Let go of me!!! Let go right now!!!!"

Yu Yan's body bloated. By now, not a trace of her former voluptuous curves remained. Her loose white robe was torn to shreds, and the flesh beneath held zero allure. She looked like a lump of white dough that had been slashed to ribbons.

Worse still, this mound of dough was continuously jiggling and mutating.

"Meng Dansheng!! Meng Dansheng!!!"

Yu Yan screamed at the top of her lungs, using every ounce of her strength to twist her ballooned, spherical head to look behind her.

But upon seeing the scene behind her, she instantly froze.

There, the Chief of Sleepland was currently fleeing for his life.

His eyes were now wide open!!!

Volley after volley of unidentified artillery fire rained from the sky, bombarding the area indiscriminately.

Because of the deafening roar filling the air, the sound of the explosions had been masked, which was why neither of them had noticed it earlier.

Without entering a sleep state, a Sloth practitioner's physical fortitude was virtually identical to that of a First Tier, even if they were a Third Tier themselves.

If it hadn't been for his glowing pajamas deflecting a significant amount of the damage, his life would likely already be hanging by a thread.

"I'll kill you!!!"

Seeing that Meng Dansheng was too busy saving his own skin, leaving her with no hope of rescue, Yu Yan's eyes bulged. Mustering all her remaining strength, she commanded the last tiny fraction of her controllable tentacles to smash down heavily onto Yan Jing.

Yan Jing, already nearing complete exhaustion from the tentacles' relentless abuse, had absolutely no way to dodge.

Struck squarely by the tentacle, he was instantly sent flying backward. He crashed into a nearby stall before tumbling heavily to the ground.

Cough!

Another mouthful of coppery blood welled up from his throat.

Watching the artillery fire rain down, Yan Jing leaned back against the ruined stall, the corners of his mouth lifting into a smile.

His original plan had been to eliminate Meng Dansheng first.

But then Yu Yan had shown up.

His backup plan in the event of Yu Yan's arrival was to use her loss of control to shock Meng Dansheng awake.

Yet Meng Dansheng had been very cautious, keeping his distance from Yu Yan.

Furthermore, he had underestimated the sheer power of the Third Tier.

After such a brutal clash, his vital energy was utterly exhausted.

For a Second Tier to defeat a Third Tier was as difficult as scaling the heavens.

Even now—with Yu Yan entirely out of control, and Meng Dansheng jolted from his sleep and bombarded with artillery until he was covered in wounds—neither of them had sustained a fatal injury.

Perhaps if the person firing the artillery was given enough time, he could deal a lethal blow, but...

Yan Jing reached down, struggling to pull the Walkie-talkie from his waist.

Panting heavily, he pressed the button.

He tapped it forcefully.

Three long, one short.

Three long, one short.

Three long, one short.

Over and over again.

Watching the artillery fire gradually cease, a relieved smile spread across his face.

Go, my friend. The enemies ahead were not just these two.

Go, my friends. There were some things he had decided on long ago.

Merely a few seconds after the bombardment stopped.

A familiar, incredibly bizarre voice drifted over from the distance:

"How did you end up like this, my dear, beloved friends?"

He was here.

Yan Jing smiled.