Chapter 564: One's Own Path (Two in One)

The Hermit desperately clutched his wounds, trying to stop the blood from spilling out, but it was useless.

He even tried using Weird Energy to force his muscles to seal the gashes, yet nothing worked.

Blood continued to pour out. It was like a burst high-pressure pipe—slapping tape over the cracks did nothing at all.

The blood drifted into the air, on the verge of exposing his position. The Hermit hastily drew on his Weird Energy to suspend the drops in midair.

Fortunately, the suspended blood stopped leaking outward.

At least this prevented Yan Jing from finding him right now.

The Hermit let out a long breath of relief.

But looking at his unhealing wounds, he furrowed his brow again.

If this continued, he would have to use Weird Energy to regenerate his flesh just to stay alive.

Doing so would inevitably divide his focus. Let alone assassinating Yan Jing—if Yan Jing found him now, he would lose even more miserably than last time.

Worse yet, dozens of Fear Thorns were still embedded in his body!

If he tried to pull the Fear Thorns out, the wounds would only tear wider.

If he left them alone... he was only blocking out the pain now because he had activated his Hidden state.

He dreaded to think what would happen the moment his Hidden state was forcibly dispelled.

What should he do?

Launch a surprise attack against his opponent?

But Yan Jing would definitely anticipate that.

At the very least, Yan Jing would be heavily guarded for the time being.

If the Hermit exposed even a sliver of an opening and got caught, he was dead.

What else could he do?

His mind was a tangled mess. For a moment, despair flickered in his eyes.

He did still have a few life-saving methods left.

But if these wounds couldn't be treated, those methods would merely be desperate attempts to prolong his life.

As long as these wounds refused to heal, he couldn't even call himself fully alive.

At best, he was struggling on the brink of death.

The Hermit spent the better part of the day brainstorming various solutions, only to shoot them all down.

As he racked his brain, his eyes grew bloodshot.

He absolutely loathed Luo Zheng right now.

If Luo Zheng hadn't given him the list, he wouldn't have come looking for the Ship, and he wouldn't have run into Yan Jing.

If Luo Zheng had told the truth, he wouldn't have attacked Yan Jing so rashly—he would have at least been on guard.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it!"

He cursed three times in a row before finally flying off at top speed in another direction.

He couldn't return to the station now. If Yan Jing tracked him there, he'd be finished.

To solve his current predicament, he had to seek help from other colleagues he was on good terms with.

And just imagining the smug looks on their faces when they saw him like this made him hate Luo Zheng even more.

"Is he gone?"

Yan Jing felt the blood moving further away from him.

He didn't actually need the blood to be close to lock onto the Hermit's position.

Because strictly speaking, the moment that blood left the Hermit's body, it belonged to Yan Jing.

His opponent had merely run off carrying Yan Jing's blood.

He didn't give chase.

It was obvious the Hermit was off to find reinforcements.

With that guy's speed, he probably wouldn't be able to catch him anyway. Worse, he might end up besieged by two Divine Envoys.

"Not bad, not bad."

The crisis was temporarily averted, and the night was deepening. Yan Jing turned around, ready to head back to his room to rest, when a streak of light suddenly flew toward him from the sky and sank into the invisible Crown above his head.

His eyes lit up.

He had technically defeated his opponent just now, so... this had to be the final ability the Hermit had used.

That concealment ability that made his aura impossible to track.

"Nice."

Yan Jing nodded in satisfaction.

The Crown recorded the strength of an ability based on the exact moment it was used.

Many of the abilities he'd captured previously were no longer strong enough to keep up.

Strictly speaking, only a few Ninth Tier abilities were still viable.

Counting Mu Tian's ability, he now had two abilities at roughly the Tenth Tier. No matter how he looked at it, this was a massive win.

He walked back into the cabin.

The moment he opened the door, he saw a group of Ninth Tier experts lined up in a neat row.

Yan Jing paused, startled. "What's all this?"

"Welcome back in triumph, Director Wen!"

Weng Lingxiao bowed to him.

"Welcome back, Director Wen!"

Bai Yue, Bai Chen, and Zhou Mian all bowed in unison.

Yan Jing looked at them, suddenly chuckling. Ignoring their grand display, he kept walking deeper into the cabin. "Alright, break it up. Warden Mu must have seen this exact same spectacle back in the day, huh?"

Hearing his meaningful words, their expressions turned complicated.

Back when Mu Tian took action for the Great Prison, they had naturally thrown a celebration countless times more passionate than this one. They had even prepared lavish gifts and special ceremonies.

But in the end, they were also the ones who had plotted against Mu Tian.

Amidst the silence, Weng Lingxiao sighed. "Let's go, let's go, scatter..."

"True enough. We all saw clearly how we got here, so there's no point in playing pretend now."

"We might as well just make do together."

In the distance, Bobo, dressed in her purple coat, spoke faintly, "If you want to marry the general, you have to marry him when he's just a soldier. How can you expect to walk into his heart after he's already achieved fame and glory?"

Saying this, Bobo sharply shifted her tone. Picking up an apple nearby, she fed it to Mao Si, who was reclining in her arms. Her voice was soft, carrying a hint of coquettish sweetness. "Don't you agree, Captain?"

"..."

Mao Si didn't speak.

He was merely an idling clone.

He had no consciousness.

According to Yan Jing's behavioral logic, he probably wouldn't say anything right now anyway.

On the other side, Wen He was let out by Yan Jing the moment he returned to his room. As soon as she emerged, she slammed Yan Jing down onto the bed.

"Little Jing is being naughty!"

Wen He's eyes were clouded, heavy with lust, and then—

A hand reached out from Yan Jing's chest, pushing her away to create some distance between them.

"The crisis is temporarily resolved."

Yan Jing knocked on Fear Bird's door and pushed it open.

"Resolved?"

Fear Bird stared blankly. It had only been half a day since the Hermit left—and it was already dealt with?

"Did you advance in tier already?"

She looked at Yan Jing with wide eyes.

"The Hermit ran away. He's probably looking for reinforcements."

Yan Jing didn't answer her question, instead dropping an even more terrifying piece of news.

Fear Bird took a deep breath.

A Divine Envoy.

Ran away.

If anyone else had told her this, she would have assumed they'd lost their mind.

But the person saying it was Yan Jing.

"Why didn't you kill him?"

"He wasn't easy to kill."

Yan Jing's face was calm. "What he excels at happens to be my weakness."

"A Pathway related to speed?" Fear Bird understood instantly.

"How does the Fear Pathway defend against such high-tier, incredibly fast entities?"

Yan Jing looked at her.

Fear Bird shook her head. "It's tough."

"Only Speed is Unbreakable isn't just an empty saying. As far as I know, aside from those who constantly emanate a domain of fear around themselves, anyone else trying to deal with this type of opponent is going to have a hard time."

"Rumor has it that Deities on a speed Pathway can reach maximum speeds several times faster than light. You'd be hit before you even saw them coming."

"Several times faster than light..."

Yan Jing mulled it over. "He wasn't quite that fast."

"The top speed he showed when he finally fled was around a dozen kilometers per second. Probably close to that, maybe a tiny bit faster. About a dozen times my own speed."

"..."

Fear Bird didn't know what to say.

Given the speed that guy had displayed, this bastard standing in front of her had still somehow won. Was he even human?

She sighed. "Everything has pros and cons. Speed Pathways have their drawbacks too."

"Their offense is relatively weaker?" Yan Jing offered the common consensus.

"Get slammed by something moving at the speed of light, and you'll find out just how weak it is," Fear Bird rolled her eyes. "I used to be on good terms with a descendant of a Source of Mutation related to speed. They once told me that those pushing speed to the absolute limit don't dare use their top speed lightly."

Yan Jing understood immediately.

"Because of their physical body strength."

"Exactly." Fear Bird nodded. "There are many ways to achieve extreme speed. Some rely on physical attributes, some use abilities brought by Weird Energy, and others forge one's own path. But only the first method is truly foolproof."

"And the first method usually has the lowest ceiling."

"Wait, what did you just say?" Yan Jing suddenly froze, staring at her.

Listen carefully when other people are talking, you bastard!

Fear Bird swallowed her temper. "I said—only the first method has the lowest ceiling."

"No, before that. You mentioned... one's own path?" Yan Jing kept his gaze on her.

"Yeah, some people's paths are related to speed. For example, when I was young, I met a guy whose path allowed him to raise his speed to closely match his opponent's." Fear Bird sighed. "But this is also the most dangerous method. You comprehend something akin to a rule, but if your physical strength can't keep up, not only will your body fail under the strain of overusing it, but you'll also completely lose yourself."

"Alright, got it."

Yan Jing nodded. "Make sure you investigate everyone's voting intentions."

With that said, Yan Jing considerately pulled Fear Bird's door shut for her and vanished.

Bang!

Staring at the wooden door just two centimeters from her nose, Fear Bird went absolutely berserk. "You use me and then just run off?! Damn it! What the hell do those lunatics even see in you?! Motherfucker!"

Yan Jing was completely oblivious to her fury.

He hurried down the hall back to his room, muttering under his breath, "One's own path... one's own path..."

He recalled the Rabbit's words: "One's own path is not a method, but an Extension of the Heart of Reaching the Summit..."

His heart of reaching the summit was the desire to turn back time.

What could turning back time actually accomplish?

How could he connect that concept to a method of countering extreme speed?

If his opponent could link speed to his own path, Yan Jing should be able to link a countermeasure for speed to his.

What was it that he truly wanted?

To turn back time...

He had already found Wen He, but was that enough?

What he wanted...

Walking down the corridor, Yan Jing slipped into a trance.

When people passed by and greeted him, he raised a hand, acknowledging them one by one.

But in reality, these were purely subconscious reactions.

He was completely deaf to his surroundings.

He returned to his room and logged out of the Inner World, yet he remained in that same state.

He muttered to himself, looking entirely possessed.

He didn't even notice when a green gemstone suddenly materialized in front of him.

[Item Name: Heart of Comprehension (Bound Item)]

[Usable Tier: Eighth Tier]

[Item Effect: ?????]

[Item Description: ?????]

This was the gemstone he had obtained in the God Storage Land Ranking Dungeon alongside the Divine Envoy's Box.

Yan Jing had spent some time trying to figure it out in the past, but its effect and description had been entirely obscured by question marks. He had even tried channeling Weird Energy into it, to no avail.

He had asked Shen Youran, Fei Yu, and even the Rabbit, but none of them had ever heard of such a thing.

In the end, because too many things had been happening lately, he had set it aside for the time being.

Who could have expected that right now, while he was lost in this obsessive trance, the gem would suddenly appear.

And as he continued his low murmurs, the effect and description fields on the system interface began to update, word by word.

[Item Effect: Assists in comprehending the connection between the heart of reaching the summit and countering speed—]

[Item Description: A stone that can help you find your true inner self. Most of the time it is worthless, but to someone lost in confusion, it is invaluable. We often walk so far that we forget why we set out in the first place—]

An unknown amount of time passed before Yan Jing slowly opened his eyes.

Seeing the pile of gray-black dust scattered on the floor in front of him, he seemed to realize something and immediately checked his inventory slots.

Very quickly, he understood what had left the dust behind.

He slowly exhaled a breath of stale air.

It had been put to good use.

He had found his own path, and he had found a way to counter extreme speed.

Closing his eyes, he entered the Inner World once more.

Stepping out of his room in his identity as Yi Ji, he knocked on Fear Bird's door again.

"I was just looking for you."

Fear Bird frowned. "The situation isn't very optimistic."

"Hit me."

As Yan Jing's words fell, Fear Bird froze.

"What did you just say?"

"I said hit me. Come on, right here." Yan Jing pointed at his camera head.

Hearing this, Fear Bird's furrowed brow smoothed out.

"You asked for this."

"I did."

"You can't come looking for revenge later."

"Absolutely no revenge."

"Then step a little closer..."

The words were barely out of her mouth when she abruptly swung her fist. Countless feathered tentacles exploded from her palm, shooting straight for Yan Jing's face.

The distance between them was no more than twenty centimeters.

At such close range, even without relying on a speed Pathway, it would be almost impossible for an unprepared Yan Jing to dodge Fear Bird's full-power strike.

And naturally, Fear Bird hadn't held back in the slightest.

She had been dying to do this.

I'll beat you to death, you son of a bitch!!

Bang!

Fear Bird felt her tentacles smash into Yan Jing's face. That cold, iron-like tactile feedback absolutely belonged to his face.

A fierce surge of joy erupted in her heart. She could almost see the blood splashing across Yan Jing's face.

Finally... she had finally waited until this day!

But in the very next instant, she flew backward and crashed onto the bed.

Smack! With a sharp kip-up, Fear Bird bounced right off the mattress and glared furiously at him. "You said no revenge!!!"

Her voice trembled with outrage.

She was such an idiot. How could she have ever trusted this bastard's words?

But suddenly, she froze.

Because there wasn't a single scratch on Yan Jing's face.

Forget scratches—there wasn't even a speck of dust on him.

He looked exactly as he had before she threw the punch.

She was absolutely certain. She remembered it perfectly.

At their level, even the tiniest microscopic change would catch her eye.

This definitely wasn't a case of him healing his wounds right after being hit, nor was it a case of her failing to break his defense.

Instead, it felt like...

She hadn't hit him at all.

"How did you get so fast?!"

Fear Bird was in disbelief.

"I didn't dodge."

Yan Jing smiled in satisfaction.