Chapter 85: First Battle After Leaving Seclusion

Chapter 85: First Battle After Leaving Seclusion

Picking up where I left off—Pu Liuqian had me surrounded, staring at me like she couldn’t work out where all this confidence of mine was coming from today.

She swept the area around the building with same-frequency sensing, then checked the feedback from the Sky Eyes. No important figures nearby, no backup. Just me, alone. No sign of the resistance anywhere.

So where was I getting the nerve?

She hesitated. Rather than move on me herself, she waved a hand and sent the patrol team forward to make the arrest.

I watched the capture net come flying at me and didn’t move. Just stood there and watched it come.

Right as it dropped toward me, about to close over my body, I gave it a shove with my mind and sent it flying straight at Pu Liuqian instead.

The net was a highly intelligent piece of gear, tough as anything, even more intelligent than the flying capture net the Soul Hunters used. It carried a strong-magnetic-field ionic phase state, which made it nearly impossible for ordinary weapons to hit or destroy.

And that same intelligence was exactly what made it so easy for me to hijack.

Intelligence meant AI. AI meant semiconductors. Semiconductors meant micro-electrical waves—electromagnetic waves drifting through the air, which my cosmic force of consciousness could reach into and use.

So this time the net closed around Pu Liuqian instead, and that kind of net tightens on its own—the harder you struggle, the tighter it gets.

She was furious, practically steaming, with no idea how I’d pulled it off. All she could do was scream at the patrol team to cut her loose, and then scream at them again to open fire on me.

Thirty-some patrol members raised their ion guns to fire at me. No matter how fast I moved, I couldn’t outrun ion beams.

But in that split second before they fired, I used my mind to yank Pu Liuqian directly in front of me, right into the line of fire.

A lot of them saw what was happening and tried to hold back, but the signal had already left their muscles. The arrow was loose. There was no calling it back.

Twenty-odd shots rang out, every one landing on Pu Liuqian. The pain sent her flickering through transformations, roaring, shape-shifting, and trying to heal herself as fast as the damage came.

Even so, she ended up badly burned.

I dropped her and the net together on the ground and said, “I told you to bring a few more avatars so I could take my time with you. How many did you actually bring this round?”

From inside the net, she looked up at me in a state, furious. “You—how is your force of consciousness this strong?! It’s not possible! Feng Du and I talked about this. Even if you spent every day in the Eighteen Levels of Hell harvesting force of consciousness, there’s a ceiling. That place doesn’t support anything above rank fifteen. What you’re showing me now is at least rank thirty.”

“Rank thirty? You want to certify that for me?” I said. “Either way, it’s more than enough to beat you. So no, I’m not scared of you coming after me. That’s where my confidence comes from. Clear now?”

Seeing her thrown down like that, the patrol team raised their guns again, ready to open fire on me once more.

This time I didn’t hold back either. I used my mind to yank every ion gun out of their hands at once, crushed them together into a lump, then stomped them flat with a few kicks.

The move left all thirty-some of them stunned, weaponless, just standing there trading looks, not knowing what to do with themselves.

I kicked Pu Liuqian toward them. “Well? Aren’t you going to free your master? What are you standing around for?”

That got them moving, fumbling to untangle her from the net.

Propped up by a couple of patrol members, she struggled to her feet and snapped at me, “You’ve got nerve. Dare to come with me to Shadow Pavilion Tower?”

I laughed. “Pu Liuqian, do I look stupid to you? Go with you to Shadow Pavilion Tower? Feng Du alone is rank thirty. God knows…