88: Complete

The scales of victory were tilting toward Hundred Skeletons.

Suddenly, Hundred Skeletons sensed a subtle change in the surroundings; something was behind it.

It whipped around, only to see the seventeen-year-old Sato Shinsui, radiating a gentle light, having appeared behind it at some unknown moment.

Hundred Skeletons felt a shock. Before it could react, it saw a wisp of light drift from Sato Shinsui and merge into the body of Xiang Yan, whom they were besieging.

Immediately after, Sato Shinsui rapidly split into fifteen balls of light, slamming like meteors into Hundred Skeletons and its fourteen Clones.

The change was immediate.

Xiang Yan's scarlet eyes lost their blood-red hue, returning to their usual pitch black. His spirit was revitalized, as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

The slightly manic spirit receded like a tide, replaced by a long-lost sense of calm and clarity.

Meanwhile, the originally chaotic aura of Hundred Skeletons and its Clones gradually calmed, and the overwhelming advantage it had worked so hard to create vanished in an instant.

Hundred Skeletons' furious voice echoed throughout the Domain of Consciousness: "Sato Shinsui! You piece of trash! Garbage! Idiot! You've been manipulated your entire life, and in the end, you're still counting the money for the people who sold you out!"

The roar of Hundred Skeletons was like the scream of a wounded beast, filled with resentment and fury.

Taking advantage of Hundred Skeletons' ranting, Xiang Yan immediately charged at one of its Clones. Before the Clone could react, it was struck by Xiang Yan's palm and froze in place like a puppet with cut strings.

Immediately after, a black light flashed from Xiang Yan's fingertip, and a pitch-black cube appeared out of thin air, swallowing the rigid Clone.

The cube floated quietly in this space, as if nothing had happened.

"You!" Hundred Skeletons roared, wanting to intervene, but found itself stuck as if in a quagmire. Its movements were sluggish, its body felt heavy as a mountain, and its actions were abnormally restricted.

Under the influence of those accursed balls of light, it had no way to exert its strength.

The remaining Clones were affected in the same way, swaying like drunkards, completely unable to pose any threat to Xiang Yan.

Xiang Yan didn't care what mood Hundred Skeletons was in. His figure flashed again, and he followed the same procedure, targeting the remaining Clones one by one.

His movements were clean and efficient, without the slightest hesitation, as if he were doing something trivial. Although the Clones put up some resistance, it wasn't much of a problem.

Hundred Skeletons watched helplessly as its Clones disappeared one by one, unable to do anything about it.

Its eyes burned with raging fury, but it could only devote most of its energy to suppressing the chaotic balls of light within its body, hoping to recover its state as quickly as possible.

It understood that if Xiang Yan managed to free his hands to deal with it while its own state remained poor, the consequences would be unimaginable.

As the last Clone was Sealed, Xiang Yan finally freed his hands and turned his gaze toward Hundred Skeletons.

At this moment, although the balls of light within Hundred Skeletons had not been completely cleared, they could no longer affect it for the time being.

It took a deep breath, and its scarlet eyes reignited with Battle Intent; a chaotic aura radiated from its body.

Xiang Yan looked at Hundred Skeletons, his voice cold, as if coming from the depths of Hell: "Now, it's your turn."

Hundred Skeletons sneered: "At most, we've just been pulled back to the starting line. It remains to be seen who will emerge victorious!"

As the words fell, both sides began to fight once more.

On the other side, after Sato Shinsui left, Meng Yu's consciousness returned to her body.

She opened her eyes and looked down at the pendant in her hand. The blue crystal inside had become transparent, like morning dew, pure and flawless.

Meng Yu retrieved her crystal. At the same time, she took out another identical crystal from within her body. The two crystals emitted a faint light, reflecting off each other in a breathtaking display.

Meng Yu gently joined the two crystals together, merging them back into a whole that emitted a dazzling light.

Meng Yu began to channel the power within the crystals, and this potent energy drifted toward an unknown location.

At this moment, Hundred Skeletons, which was fighting Xiang Yan in the Domain of Consciousness, suddenly let out a muffled grunt.

It felt the balls of light within its body, which had previously been suppressed, suddenly surge with new power. They became active again, frantically eroding it.

It was forced to divert more energy to suppress these balls of light, and the situation, which had been slightly in its favor, reversed in an instant.

"What's going on? These accursed things..." Hundred Skeletons gritted its teeth. It desperately suppressed the chaotic balls of light within its body, only to find that their power was growing stronger and stronger, crashing against it like a tide.

As time passed, Hundred Skeletons realized with horror that it was gradually being erased by those balls of light.

Transparent spots began to appear on its body, and it was being wiped away bit by bit.

But how was this possible? No one knew better than it how difficult its form of existence was to deal with. Logically speaking, it could be defeated, it could be killed, but it should never be erased. Yet now, the facts spoke louder than words.

Fear and confusion filled the eyes of Hundred Skeletons. It roared, questioning Xiang Yan: "What exactly did you do to me? And wasn't it said that both sides had a fifty-fifty chance of winning? Why am I losing so quickly?"

Hearing the question from Hundred Skeletons, Xiang Yan said mockingly: "Ha, am I your father? You believe whatever I say? If you're so obedient, why don't you commit suicide when I tell you to? Oh, wait, strictly speaking, I actually am your father."

"I still don't want to tell you, so get mad!"

Hundred Skeletons widened its eyes, glaring in fury. The resentment and anger within it burned like a raging fire.

It struggled with all its might, but the power of those balls of light grew ever stronger, and the speed of erosion accelerated.

Its body gradually became transparent, as if it were about to dissipate into the air at any moment.

"You... you..." The voice of Hundred Skeletons grew weaker and weaker, and its gaze gradually turned to despair.

Xiang Yan watched all this coldly. After Hundred Skeletons disappeared, he curled his lip in disdain: "Who are you putting on that little show for? Did you really think I didn't know I hadn't finished you off completely yet?"

After speaking, Xiang Yan's gaze turned toward the rows of small black rooms: "Still, you've given me quite a few surprises. The method of severing one's tail to survive, which I hadn't yet figured out, was actually pulled off by you."

"You even tried to fish for information from me just now; you really think you're something."

Next, Xiang Yan began to inherit the legacy of Hundred Skeletons. As the inheritance was completed, the connection between Xiang Yan and the Clones of Hundred Skeletons suddenly became tight. At the same time, his intuition told him that he now possessed a special attack against these Clones and some new abilities.

However, now was not the time to explore these new abilities; he had to truly eradicate the hidden dangers first.

Xiang Yan came before the small black rooms and had the Clones dragged out one by one. He struck them with heavy blows, sending them to their doom on the spot, and then mercilessly devoured them.

When the last Clone was devoured, an indescribable sense of Perfection welled up in his heart.

The energy within his body surged frantically like boiling water, emitting a deafening roar, and the long-dormant ability of the will of the stars within him began to stir.

Xiang Yan felt as though he were standing on the edge of a Breakthrough. As long as he was willing, he could break the shackles and ascend to a higher Realm at any time. This ascension would bring him many benefits.