Chapter 603: Trump Card (Two in One)

"Boom!!!"

Chen Nian and Old Master Liu's figures merged into one, pillars of air exploding from their palms simultaneously.

White ripples spread outward, crashing against the canopy of the sky.

Chen Lan and the Tenth Tier old man froze in midair.

In the next instant, both were swallowed by the rising pillar of white light.

Thick smoke and dust billowed outward.

With a loud crash, Chen Lan's body slammed heavily into the ground.

A fierce glint flashed in Chen Nian's eyes. He lunged forward, trying to seize the opportunity.

But a second later, he violently coughed up a massive mouthful of blood.

He clutched his chest in agony, his movements halting.

The Muddy Yellow Armor surrounding him slowly dissipated.

He had reached his limit.

As he propped himself up with both hands, his already pale face grew even whiter.

Unleashing an attack of that magnitude had pushed his body to its breaking point.

No matter how many resources or how much energy he possessed, his ultimate power output was still bound by his own Tier.

Chen Lan's guess had been right. The armor had pushed Chen Nian's body to its limit, leaving him like a candle in the wind.

But it did not matter. He still had one last half-completed set of armor.

Chen Nian gritted his teeth as a silver-white metal sphere materialized in his palm.

But the next second...

He was sent flying high into the air, crashing down far away.

The one who struck was the phantom of the old man.

Chen Nian's momentary pause had given the old man just enough time to recover from the assault of Old Master Liu's phantom.

Right now, the old man's clothes were completely shredded.

Gruesome gashes bloomed across skin as tough as a cowhide drum.

He was so thin that no blood even flowed from the wounds.

Still, it was obvious he wasn't in good shape either. He swayed unsteadily, his figure flickering erratically. The strike from Old Master Liu's phantom had been far more terrifying than he imagined.

After kicking Chen Nian in the chest, the phantom's face twisted savagely for a moment before he charged forward to finish him off.

"Hum."

In Chen Nian's hand, the sphere of light bloomed.

A sphere of light fell outside the blue light, drifting into the distance.

"Bang!!!"

Chen Nian was sent flying once again, smashing into the barrier formed by the blue light.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!!!"

Punch after punch.

[Warning! Warning!]

[Detected that the subject is taking damage far exceeding limit thresholds! Core defense system activated!]

[Warning! Warning!]

[Frame overheating!]

[Energy consumption excessive!]

[Backup power activated!]

[Warning! Warning!]

[Backup power at 9%!]

[Defense system damaged!!!]

Outside the blue light, the old man's true body stared with dark eyes. He didn't know why, but despite the opponent's low Tier, the boy had an unusual number of tricks.

At this moment, beams of red light flared from Chen Nian's chest, blocking the final strike for him.

The old man outside the blue light recognized what kind of resource that was, making him even more astonished.

Given Chen Nian's previous living conditions, it should have been impossible for him to acquire something like this.

But...

It ends here.

Just as the old man's phantom continued its fierce assault, he suddenly... sensed something, staring forward in disbelief.

The fist he had just thrown was effortlessly blocked by a long black spike.

Opposite him, the camera-headed man gave a faint, unreadable smile.

"Boom."

The next second, the old man's figure was blasted away, landing beside Chen Lan.

Outside the blue light, the old man's true body watched the scene in shock.

He naturally recognized who this was.

That child of the Fear family who had been living outside and only recently returned.

His Clan had deliberately paid a hefty price to investigate Chen Nian's past experiences in Old Sin City, learning a few inside secrets.

And the name Yi Ji had been a primary focus.

After all, this person held a special status, intertwined with multiple factions.

But that wasn't what left the old man in disbelief. What stunned him was that the opponent could actually damage his phantom. Didn't that mean...

The opponent possessed Tenth Tier strength?!

"Cough, cough... cough, cough."

Chen Lan finally woke up. She reached out and pushed herself up.

Seeing this new figure in front of her, she frowned.

Before she could figure out what had happened, the old man's voice rang out from beyond the blue light, quickly summarizing everything that had occurred while she was unconscious.

"We must send this news back, Young Miss! This person is likely the Fear family's trump card. This information holds extreme strategic value for our upcoming battle on Advent Day."

Chen Lan's eyes lit up.

She took a deep breath. In the next instant, she directly ordered the old man's phantom to charge at Yi Ji.

The old man's phantom didn't hold back at all. Burning its origin, it launched a suicidal attack at Yi Ji.

"Boom!"

With a deafening roar, thick black smoke billowed upward.

Chen Lan didn't hesitate. The sphere of light in her hand flew out of the blue barrier.

The old man's phantom was already heavily injured. If she didn't use this brief window to seize the initiative, the opponent would destroy it first. In the resulting downtime between summoning phantoms, she would absolutely face the same devastating blows Chen Nian had just endured.

And in her current state, she would be hard-pressed to survive it.

Therefore, it was better to have the old man's phantom strike preemptively and self-destruct, giving her the chance to summon a new ally's phantom.

Soon, the blue sphere of light returned, and a new phantom materialized.

This time.

It was a young-looking man.

He wore clothing resembling an ancient scholar-official—a long cyan robe with sweeping, wide sleeves. Embroidered on a corner of his hem was a motif of dragon scales and clouds. "This is..."

Outside the blue light, the old man was startled once again.

This figure was clearly a peerless genius from the Life Heavenly Kingdom.

No one expected Chen Lan to have established a connection with this man, let alone be recognized by the system as close enough to summon his phantom.

This reminded the old man of the rumors circulating over the past few years.

For the past two years, gossip had spread through the Chen Family: they said Chen Lan was constantly traveling in and out of the Life Heavenly Kingdom, allegedly trying to forge a connection with them, and that she... hadn't even hesitated to use her body to do so.

He had originally thought these rumors were baseless.

But looking at this now...

The old man swallowed hard.

Inside the blue light, Chen Lan naturally knew what the old man was thinking.

But she couldn't care less about that right now.

This phantom was supposed to be her final trump card, but now, in order to eliminate Chen Nian, she was forced to play it immediately.

She didn't have a stronger card than this.

"Huu."

With a thought from Chen Lan, two long, dragon-like horns grew from the phantom's head. Layers of dragon scales materialized over his hands, and a thick, powerful dragon tail manifested behind him.

This was his ultimate form. Deploying it now was purely to obliterate the figure standing in the smoke on the other side.

She was going in for the kill while he was weak.

Chen Lan was certain that after taking the old man's suicide attack, the enemy phantom had to be severely damaged.

Attacking now carried a massive chance of victory.

The horned figure charged into the thick fog ahead.

His momentum was staggering. With a single step, countless clear dragon roars echoed out, and the wind and clouds shifted around him as if the very weather was at his beck and call.

But just as he was about to plunge into the fog, his movements suddenly hitched.

The dense black smoke dispersed in an instant.

Standing opposite him, the camera-headed figure had reached out and clamped his hands directly onto the horned phantom's claws.

He wore a smile, looking entirely effortless.

As for the severe injuries Chen Lan had imagined—there were none.

Aside from a slightly dirtied hem, it seemed the old man's suicide attack hadn't affected him in the slightest.

The horned phantom's eyes darkened, and the dragon tail behind him whipped viciously toward Yi Ji.

Wherever it passed, countless spatial rifts were left hanging in the air.

This was his advantage. In a purely physical brawl, he possessed one more avenue of attack than his opponent.

"Bang!!!"

The dragon tail landed a solid, direct hit on Yi Ji.

But...

Nothing happened.

Forget getting injured—he didn't even budge.

Astonishment leaked into the horned phantom's eyes. The next second, a terrifying, titanic force surged from the hands gripping his, as if the peak of a heaven-piercing mountain had been dropped directly onto his wrists.

"Boom!"

The horned phantom was hurled backward, landing beside Chen Lan. His feet skidded across the ground for several steps before he barely managed to steady himself.

"How is that possible—"

Chen Lan sucked in a sharp breath.

The one she had summoned was currently the absolute strongest monster of a genius in the Life Heavenly Kingdom. Rumor had it that he had consumed Gene Potions derived from two ancient mythical creatures—the Azure Dragon and the Verdant Dragon—and had tempered his body with top-tier resources since childhood. He could summon wind and rain barehanded and possessed a physique as sturdy as an ancient behemoth. Yet he was actually repelled by the opponent?

His full-powered strike hadn't even broken through the enemy's defenses?

"Haa."

Chen Nian stood up, panting heavily.

Looking at Yi Ji's phantom beside him, a complex glint of apology flashed in his eyes.

He had never intended to expose Yi Ji's existence.

He knew that if word of Yi Ji's strength got out, things would likely spiral out of control.

The phantom he had originally prepared for this was Mao Si.

But...

When he was being relentlessly battered by the old man just now, his subconscious reflex was still to reach out to this particular friend.

If he reached out to Mao Si, he might be rejected. In fact, Mao Si wouldn't even need to reject him; just a moment of hesitation would have doomed Chen Nian.

But he knew Yi Ji would definitely agree.

And agree without a second of hesitation.

This was a deep-seated instinct.

"I'm fine."

He regained his composure and looked at Chen Lan as if looking at a dead woman:

"As long as you all die, this matter won't spread."

Beside him, Yi Ji's phantom gave Chen Nian a thumbs-up, as if he had heard him.

The next second, he stepped forward again and crashed into the horned phantom.

"Boom!"

Violent energy instantly swept through the interior of the blue light.

The two clashed with fists and feet. Unlike the previous collision between Old Master Liu and the Tenth Tier old man, the one holding the upper hand this time was clearly Yi Ji.

No, 'upper hand' wasn't enough to describe it. It was an absolute beatdown.

Watching this scene, Chen Lan's face drained of color.

She could feel the situation slipping entirely out of her control.

"Do you have any more cards left, Fourth Sister?"

Chen Nian stood in the distance, watching her with a calm expression.

"Heh, do you really think I'd play my trump card second?" Chen Lan feigned composure.

But inwardly, she was panicking to the extreme.

She only had two Tenth Tier cards.

She knew quite a few Tenth Tier experts, but after days of trying, only these two had been recognized as close enough to summon.

One was an elder who supported her.

The other was support she had traded her body and status for.

As for the rest, she only had Ninth Tier cards.

She had no idea where Chen Nian had found so many monsters. She was in a sheer panic, her hand twitching multiple times to take off her glasses.

This was her subconscious habit when things went wrong.

But she knew she couldn't do it.

Chen Nian knew her far too well.

If she did, she would expose her inner anxiety.

"It's good that you still have cards." Chen Nian nodded.

"I don't have any left."

Yi Ji was his strongest card.

He had a few other cards, but none were as strong as Yi Ji, and he might not even be able to play them.

Indeed, from the very beginning, he had relied solely on Yi Ji and Old Master Liu.

Holding these two cards—cards that others would consider trash—he had charged in here all alone.

Perhaps, beneath his placid exterior, he hid the same madness as his two friends.

Hearing Chen Nian admit he was out of cards brought a surge of joy to Chen Lan's heart. But before she could even celebrate, Chen Nian's icy voice rang out again:

"Then I'll just have to kill you first, Fourth Sister."

Chen Lan was startled, subconsciously taking a step back.

At that single step back, the eyes of the old man outside the barrier trembled.

Chen Lan had lost.

At least on a psychological level, she had already lost.

Chen Nian had defied her expectations far too many times, to the point that she, a Ninth Tier, was actually frightened into retreating by a Sixth Tier.

This reminded him of an incident from long ago.

When the news of Chen Lan and Chen Nian playing Go every day reached the higher-ups' ears, the grand patriarch had suddenly acted on a whim. He gathered all the game records between his two children, reviewed them one by one, and then left a deeply meaningful remark.

"Two people who don't know how to win, yet they have the nerve to play the board."

"Old Seven, go find Chen Nian. Tell him that if he holds back against Chen Lan on the board again, he will be locked in solitary confinement for a year." He had received this task and delivered the message to Chen Nian.

"Why hold back?"

He looked at the half-grown child across from him, genuinely curious.

"Fourth Sister gets upset when she loses."

Chen Nian's face was calm.

His pale, tender little face showed no sadness or fear at the threat of solitary confinement.

It was forever expressionless.

"Then why don't you let her win?"

"I can't let her win." Chen Nian shook his head.

Then, pressing his small hands to his sides, he bowed and turned to leave.

At the time, he hadn't understood Chen Nian's words.

Later, after carefully studying those game records, he gradually understood what Chen Nian meant.

Chen Lan's heart had already lost. The more she played, the more timid she became, the more cowardly she grew.

To reverse this, she needed a resounding, decisive victory.

Not one that Chen Nian deliberately handed to her, but a victory she seized herself.

But...

That was practically impossible.

She was already afraid.

Through failure after failure, the string on this beautiful bow had ultimately snapped.

"But one day, you will lose too..."

At the time, he had closed the records and sighed softly.

Time had taught him that no one in this world was invincible.

He had wanted to see what it would look like when this genius finally lost.

He had thought he wouldn't live to see that day.

But to his surprise, that day came, and it came fast.

He had assumed the genius would handle it better than Chen Lan.

But in truth, he hadn't.

Giving up on himself, wallowing in depravity.

That had been his assessment of Chen Nian's actions at the time.

But seeing Chen Nian today, he knew his past judgment had been wrong.

The string looked broken, old, and slack.

But in the end, it hadn't snapped.

It was just a little thinner.

Woven together with a few new strings, it became a good bow once again.

While he was lost in thought, countless gun barrels materialized in Chen Nian's hands, all aimed directly at Chen Lan.

[Berserk mode engaged! Energy loading! Consuming life energy!]

[FIRE]