High School Student with Immortal Race System

Yang Shen remained vigilant and didn’t trust her completely. ’What if this girl is just feigning compliance, waiting for a chance to turn on me?’

But he wouldn’t let such a good opportunity pass. While keeping a third of his focus on Long Jiu, he joined the assault on Black Rope.

Black Rope gradually sensed that something was off. ’Wasn’t this supposed to be a free-for-all?’

’How did you two end up together? You’re ganging up on me, aren’t you?’

He was finding it increasingly difficult to hold on and was already thinking about retreating.

He had hoped to be the fisherman who profits from the fray, but instead, he was getting double-teamed by a man and a woman... ’If I don’t get out of here now, I’m dead!’

A giant black arm shot out from his body, forcing Long Jiu and Yang Shen back. Black Rope slammed his palms together, and a black substance gushed from his body like spring water, rapidly covering an area of several dozen square meters.

[Curse Technique: Black Tomb]!!

The next moment, the smooth carpet of black substance instantly transformed into a dense forest of spikes. Each one, over two meters tall and packed tightly together, glinted with a cold light...

Long Jiu spun her Double-Headed Scythe like a pinwheel, severing all the spikes around her.

Yang Shen’s method was even simpler. With a light flick of his spear, he balanced perfectly on the shaft, swaying left and right like a practitioner of some "monkey-style staff fighting" from the Ancient Skills.

This move of Black Rope’s consumed a massive amount of energy but was generally only useful for clearing out cannon fodder. It was rarely effective against experts.

However, it was excellent for obscuring vision and creating a safe zone.

The brief opportunity vanished in a flash. Black Rope transformed back into the Lizardman-like monster and tried to leap into the water—his safest escape route.

However, a long, flaming spear shot through the air, cutting off his path.

Black Rope barely managed to twist his body and block it, using his black substance to fend off the flames before quickly sloughing it off. But the move had disrupted his rhythm.

He was left hanging in the air for an extra second.

And in that second... From the corner of his eye, the mid-air Black Rope saw Long Jiu closing in like a phantom, her feet skimming across the water’s surface.

’Although I don’t understand the principle behind it yet, she doesn’t need my micromanagement. Once she received the order to "kill Black Rope," her superb combat experience and power automatically translated into one fatal threat after another.’

Black Rope raised his hand one last time and shot out a volley of black spikes.

But Long Jiu was like a lithe snake, slithering in an S-pattern just above the water’s surface to evade every projectile.

Her Double-Headed Scythe spun past him, cleanly severing his arm.

"AHH!!"

It wasn’t over! As she moved past him, Long Jiu reversed her grip on the scythe, hooked the blade into Black Rope’s shoulder, and flung him back onto the bank like a rag doll.

The next moment, six black spears flew through the air and impaled Black Rope to the ground. Each spear, burning with the Rising Sun Flame, sank three inches deep into the earth.

Impaled and scorched by the strange flames, Black Rope’s black substance tried to coalesce into new limbs to pull out the spears and patch the holes in his body.

However, Yang Shen was already aware of his freakish regenerative abilities. He stepped forward, pressed a hand to Black Rope’s throat, and unleashed a point-blank Exorcism Spell.

"HAAH!!!"

The immense shockwave left Black Rope’s mind reeling, robbing him of his last chance.

This lone wolf, lost on Cyan Blue, felt his mind descend into chaos... or perhaps it was just that his already ravaged body had finally reached its limit.

Black Rope’s eyes went vacant... He reached a hand toward the sky...

’I can’t die... I still need my revenge... Revenge...’

The flames grew more intense, finally engulfing Black Rope’s entire body... The black substance sizzled like boiling oil before turning into fine black powder.

Yang Shen stared at Black Rope, not relaxing in the slightest. Only when the body was burned until its skin split open, resembling a charred corpse, did he reach out.

His own flames couldn’t harm him. He parted the burned skin on Black Rope’s body and, sure enough, found a piece of jade inside the stomach...

The Twin Dragon Jade... That was the name his opponent had used. Yang Shen had now collected both pieces.

After waiting a moment, Yang Shen realized he could still use the power of the Curse Engraving. ’This means the mechanism is more complex than I thought; it doesn’t just reset when Black Rope dies.’

But even if it did reset, Yang Shen had been determined to kill him tonight...

It wasn’t just because of the jade.

After a moment of contemplation, Yang Shen put the other half of the jade in his pocket, deciding to study it later.

Now, under the bridge, only Yang Shen and Long Jiu remained...

Long Jiu stood there gracefully, showing no intention of defending herself or fleeing.

Her vacant eyes stared at Yang Shen, devoid of even a trace of "confusion"...

Yang Shen hit Black Rope’s corpse with another blast of Rising Sun Flame, ensuring it would burn to ash.

Then, with a flick of his fingers, he sent his Sun Worms to scatter and stand guard.

Long Jiu immediately began to move as well, but Yang Shen quickly added a command: "Don’t move!"

Long Jiu froze.

Yang Shen frowned and walked in front of her, though he kept a safe distance.

He tentatively issued a command in his mind: ’Squat.’

Without a word, Long Jiu squatted.

’Open your mouth,’ Yang Shen commanded.

Long Jiu parted her crimson lips, revealing a mouth with a normal human structure.

The communication device in her ear seemed to be connected to someone. Perhaps sensing the sudden silence, a voice crackled through, "Long Jiu! Report your status!"

Long Jiu began, "Anom—"

Yang Shen instantly raised his hand, using Magic to command her: ’Don’t speak.’

Long Jiu snapped her mouth shut.

"Anom-what? Long Jiu! Report your status!"

Yang Shen controlled Long Jiu, forcing her to remove a small device from her ear and crush it between her own fingers.

He wasn’t sure if it was his imagination, but for a split second as the device was destroyed, Yang Shen thought he saw a flicker of emotion in her eyes.

It looked like "relief."

He resisted the urge to use his Life Chart Inspection, saving it for another purpose he had in mind for tonight.

"What’s your name?"

"Long Jiu."

"Why do you obey my commands?"

Long Jiu said nothing.

"Are you human? Or a Gu Insect?"

Again, Long Jiu remained silent.

Despite his clear commands, the doll-like girl remained wooden and unresponsive, a far cry from the terrifying killer she had been moments ago.

Yang Shen summoned his black spear, its sharp tip aimed at Long Jiu.

Closer... and closer...

The tip came to rest against her chest, right over her heart, yet Long Jiu didn’t flinch.

Yang Shen didn’t push the spear forward. Instead, he calmly issued a command: ’Walk forward.’

’This is the final test...’ This was harder than overcoming the instinct for self-preservation; it was tantamount to ordering Long Jiu to commit suicide.

This unbelievably beautiful girl—who may or may not have been human—walked forward without a moment’s hesitation.

The spear tip pressed against her tracksuit, causing a slight indentation on her firm, soft chest.

Long Jiu didn’t stop, and Yang Shen didn’t tell her to.

She continued to advance. The spear tip tore through fabric and skin, the sensation of piercing flesh distinct.

Still, Yang Shen didn’t tell her to stop.

Not until the spear was an inch deep in her flesh and blood began to seep from the wound, when Yang Shen felt the tip was a hair’s breadth from her heart, did he finally yank the weapon back.

’So I really can... just order her to die?’

Although he still didn’t understand how it worked, as Yang Shen looked at Long Jiu’s elegant and beautiful face, his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat...

’This is... an Innate Expert!’

’And if she’s human... a seventeen-year-old Innate Expert...’

’Has become my plaything?’

Yang Shen stepped forward and pinched her cheek... ’Human.’

He checked her wide eyes... ’Human.’

He carefully examined the wound he’d made... ’Human.’

He pinched and prodded her all over... ’This really is a human being!!’

Yang Shen had her straighten her clothes, his mind already churning... ’Even though I just said I "had to kill her today"...’

’But then again...’

’What was my first side quest again...?’

——————

「An hour later, when Yang Shen returned to Jinshui Villa.」

Half the sky over the residential complex was illuminated by flashing red and blue police lights.

The entire neighborhood was awake. Some residents were complaining to property management, others were frightened, and a few with respectable Martial Arts skills had come out to watch the excitement.

Villa 14 was now a complete wreck.

The first-floor hall was in shambles, with seven bodies lying strewn about. There were two more upstairs.

Yang Shen had changed his clothes at some point. Gone was the fantastical, helmeted figure; he now looked like an ordinary high school student.

"Hello, Officer. What happened in there? My classmate lives in Villa 14, and I’m worried about her."

The policeman was about to brush him off, but he froze when he saw Yang Shen’s face, recognizing him. "Hey... are you that Yang Shen?! The one from Nanliang?!"

Yang Shen’s expression stiffened. "Could you please add the words ’High School’ to that..."

After the Big Pharmacy incident, Yang Shen had become a proper celebrity in Jinshui District, especially within the police force, where quite a few officers could recognize him.

The officer asked suspiciously, "You’re not involved in this, are you?"

"I don’t even know what happened... I just know my classmate lives here..."

"Alright... go on in, but don’t enter the crime scene. Your classmate is resting by the ambulance. She’s pretty shaken up, so you can go comfort her."

Yang Shen nodded. That was exactly why he was here.

As he walked past Villa 14, Yang Shen cast a "curious" glance inside before finally spotting Xu Bamboo by the ambulance.

Xu Bamboo was sitting on a gurney with her head bowed while a nurse took her blood pressure.

Yang Shen jogged over. "Zhuzi, are you okay?"

Xu Bamboo looked up at Yang Shen.

Her eyes held a complex mix of emotions...

Confusion, self-reproach, and relief...

She didn’t throw herself into Yang Shen’s arms, nor did she cry or break down.

She just sat there in silence.

"Shenzi... you’re here..."

Xu Bamboo touched the corner of her eye, only to find it was completely dry.

Yang Shen sat down beside her, took her hand, and gently stroked it.

At the same time, he activated his Life Chart Inspection.

He hadn’t used it on either Black Rope or Long Jiu tonight, saving it precisely for this moment.

"Xu Bamboo: Third-Level Qi Cultivation (Approximate)"

...

"Life Chart: Breaking the Cocoon and Rebirth."

Yang Shen took a deep breath.

’I was right.’ He finally had his confirmation. ’My decision tonight wasn’t wrong...’

==Portal==

[Monthly Ticket]