42: Chapter 42 And he was also carrying a Tang sword.

Shen Jianping reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone.

To avoid emitting any light earlier, he had intentionally turned it off.

After long-pressing the power button, the phone screen lit up and began playing the startup animation.

Jiang Chen endured the pain in his abdomen, propped up his upper body with his elbows, and moved closer. "Was it someone else from the Research Institute... who did the same experiment?"

Shen Jianping stared at the screen, his brow furrowing slightly. "I'm not sure."

He paused and added, "The higher-ups only approved one set of experimental resources for me. Logically, another one shouldn't be happening at the same time."

The phone finished booting up, and the moment it connected to the network, several new messages popped up.

Shen Jianping opened the messages, and a thumbnail of a video file was clearly visible. The timestamp showed it was sent just over ten minutes ago.

Attached below was a brief message clearly informing him that there was no need for further verification; the rule had already been confirmed.

Shen Jianping and Jiang Chen exchanged a glance, then both their gazes fell upon the video file.

Shen Jianping reached out his finger and tapped on the video file.

The video began to play. The footage was somewhat dim and shaky, as if it were taken in the stairwell of a residential building.

A blurry figure stood in the center, also holding a long blade.

Because it was the same model of Tang Sword as his own, Jiang Chen recognized it instantly. Of course, he didn't say anything at the moment, but continued to stare, wanting to see what was going on.

The two continued watching. In the dim stairwell, a distorted black shadow lunged from a corner, moving so fast it was just an afterimage.

The figure didn't retreat but instead advanced, meeting it with his weapon. He tangled with the black shadow before they both backed away, evenly matched.

Seeing this, both Jiang Chen and Shen Jianping were stunned for a moment.

Shen Jianping even glanced back at Jiang Chen. Just moments ago in the glass room, when Jiang Chen faced that Shadow Devourer, he had been sent flying by a single strike.

The other person actually wasn't at a disadvantage...

Although he noticed Shen Jianping's gaze, Jiang Chen could only pretend not to see it and continued watching.

In the video, the figure and the Shadow Devourer were locked in combat again. The Tang Sword in his hand was wielded with ease, its flashes weaving an airtight web as he traded blows with the Shadow Devourer, not yielding an inch.

Jiang Chen stared at the screen, his lips unconsciously tightening. His face seemed even paler than before, whether from blood loss or some other reason.

In the video, the figure and the Shadow Devourer clashed head-on, producing a piercing metallic sound. Both used the momentum to retreat, widening the distance again.

The Shadow Devourer's form flickered, suddenly collapsing into a flat shadow that clung to the floor and walls, rapidly approaching from an eerie angle.

Jiang Chen unconsciously held his breath, his body leaning forward slightly.

The figure remained calm, tossing out a lighter, then made a grasping motion in the air.

"Bang!"

The lighter exploded violently in mid-air.

Amidst the light, the Shadow Devourer's forward momentum came to a screeching halt.

The figure's wrist flicked, and the Tang Sword slashed horizontally toward the Shadow Devourer's neck!

"Clang!"

Narrowly, it parried the fatal blow and then retreated.

After the fight ended, Shen Jianping breathed a small sigh of relief. He looked away from the screen and glanced at Jiang Chen beside him, speaking as naturally as possible:

"It must have been the light from this lighter that helped verify the rule."

He tried to use words to dissipate the somewhat stagnant atmosphere.

Jiang Chen twitched the corners of his mouth, offering a smile that was anything but relaxed, and replied:

"If I'd known it was already verified, we wouldn't have had to risk this experiment. I almost died in there."

Jiang Chen pointed at his still-bleeding abdomen, trying his best not to seem too bothered.

After all, the person's performance in the video was far better than his own.

Hearing his relatively calm words, Shen Jianping felt a bit more at ease. He reached out his finger, preparing to tap the screen to close the video.

However, the moment his fingertip touched the screen, the progress bar appeared—the part that had just played only accounted for half.

Shen Jianping's finger froze.

Jiang Chen's gaze also sharpened.

In the first half, the person had already shown they could face a Shadow Devourer head-on and even nearly counterattack using the rules. So, what would happen in the remaining second half?

Shen Jianping's finger hovered over the screen, his expression hesitant. He glanced at Jiang Chen's pale face, wondering if he should pretend not to have seen it and turn off the phone immediately.

"Keep playing it." Jiang Chen's eyes remained fixed on the half-empty progress bar. "You want to see it too, don't you?"

Shen Jianping pursed his lips and finally gave up on the idea of turning it off.

He steadied the phone again, and the two focused their attention back on the shaky, dim footage.

In the video, the battle between the two sides grew increasingly intense.

Without realizing it, Jiang Chen's breathing became faint, his eyes unblinking.

Finally, in a flash of lightning-fast movement.

The Shadow Devourer's head separated from its body and rolled to the ground.

The video ended there, and the screen went dark.

As the screen dimmed, Shen Jianping and Jiang Chen froze in place, as if it were their own heads that had been cut off.

It wasn't until the sound of an assistant's hurried footsteps, carrying Healing Potions, echoed at the door that the two snapped out of it.

The assistant stepped forward to carefully help Jiang Chen up, but Jiang Chen seemed completely oblivious to the pain in his abdomen.

He stared blankly at Shen Jianping, his lips moving slightly.

"He killed the Shadow Devourer?" Jiang Chen's voice was dry, as if he were asking Shen Jianping.

Shen Jianping couldn't answer. Because both of them had just seen it with their own eyes.

Jiang Chen's pupils trembled violently, a surge of complex emotions churning in his eyes.

Shock, bewilderment, and a hint of helplessness.

Could the gap... really be this large?

During his first Assessment, he had at least earned eight hundred points... How many did this guy get? Could it be a perfect score?

But even with a perfect score and having exchanged for stronger abilities, it should be impossible to confront and kill a Shadow Devourer single-handedly, right?

He had just experienced it firsthand; the Shadow Devourer's strength and speed were simply extraordinary, beyond human reach.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have just said... that teamwork was best and surviving alone was basically impossible.

But now, those words had turned into a slap, making his face burn with embarrassment.

Jiang Chen was completely dazed, standing there blankly, unable to say a single word.

Shen Jianping snapped out of his shock and, noticing Jiang Chen's odd state, hurriedly offered some comfort: "Maybe there are power differences between Shadow Devourers."

Jiang Chen looked over, licked his lips, and forced a grin. "Yeah, I feel like the one in this video was even stronger. If I ran into it, I probably wouldn't even be able to escape."

Seeing that the other was becoming a bit self-deprecating, Shen Jianping didn't know what to say.

If he had known, he wouldn't have kept watching.

"And..." Jiang Chen spoke again.

Shen Jianping looked at him.

"The other guy was also using a Tang Sword," Jiang Chen said slowly. The other person was like a mirror, making him feel a sense of embarrassment.