Chapter 293 244: Breaking Through to the Second Realm of Cultivation

'Do you... respect me that much? So much so that... you're unwilling to leave even the slightest negative impression of yourself in my mind!'

Captain Yang fell completely silent, simply using all his strength to restrain him.

Chu Bamboo silently drew an embroidery needle from his waist. This was the Spiritual Artifact Huo Qiming had assigned to him—a pseudo Third-level Spiritual Artifact.

2-3!

Sudden Death Needle!

What does 2-3 mean? It means that among all the Spiritual Artifacts and Forbidden Artifacts controlled by the Officials... this was the third-ranked Artifact overall!

Even if there were many other Artifacts in the outside world not recorded by the Officials... no matter how you calculated it, this was still one of the most top-tier Artifacts, one could even call it a rule-breaker—

The so-called pseudo Third-level meant that it could be used by someone in the First Realm, yet could pose a threat to someone in the Third Realm, and could even be lethal!

And its effect...

With swift precision, Chu Bamboo stabbed the needle into the struggling Li Kang's pupil. His body suddenly went rigid. His eyes slowly widened, his breathing grew ragged, and his heart began to beat at an incredible speed... At that moment, Chu Bamboo felt the Blessing Power within him almost completely drained.

Then, in an instant, Li Kang was simply dead.

Just like a sudden death.

A stunned Captain Yang let go of Li Kang, watching him slide to the ground. He then glanced at Chu Bamboo, swallowed hard, and felt cold sweat bead on his forehead. He had seen plenty of ruthless people... but... you... this!

"This way, you're not in a difficult position anymore, are you? It's over. You can go," Chu Bamboo said softly. He turned and stared into the distance at Huo Qiming, who was still attacking the Fifth Apostle with all his might.

Confusion appeared on Captain Yang's face. He didn't understand why Chu Bamboo would say such a thing, but before he could ask, he heard Chu Bamboo say slowly, "You don't actually think Old Huo has the upper hand right now, do you?"

Captain Yang froze for a moment and looked again. 'Isn't this going great? He's still pummeling the enemy... Huh?'

Captain Yang's pupils contracted. 'Commander Huo... how long has he been attacking?'

'Was Captain Huo's Blessing Power so immense that he was just venting his anger? Or... did he simply not dare to stop!'

"Then why did you..."

"Get the hell out of here, now." Chu Bamboo pointed behind him, his face devoid of expression. "Then, have the Wall Announcements close the gate! You all get in the hovercar and get as far away as you can. Don't put on some tearful melodrama here! And don't ask me why I'm staying... if you're still willing to call me Mr. Zhu!"

Chu Bamboo said darkly, "You've been keeping an eye on the shantytown renovation district's union, haven't you? Then you should know what its first directive is!"

"The union commands the guard!" Captain Yang stared at Chu Bamboo, his lips moving slightly. He seemed to realize something. He took a deep look at Chu Bamboo, and another at Captain Huo in the distance. Without a word, he nodded, hesitated for a moment, then hoisted the already-dead Li Kang over his shoulder and ran for the tunnel without looking back.

A few breaths of silence.

"...I think I get it now. I finally understand what you meant."

Chu Bamboo looked down at his own arm. 'What does it feel like to kill Li Kang with my own hands?'

'Nothing at all.'

'I'm so calm, it makes me wonder if I'm naturally cold-blooded... Of course, there's another possibility. It's because I know that after the reset, in the next timeline, Li Kang will be alive again, right?'

And then...

Chu Bamboo's Cultivation naturally rose to the Second Realm. It was a seamless transition, so smooth that it even made Chu Bamboo feel puzzled...

For some reason, Chu Bamboo inexplicably recalled a line from the diary: "...treading on the blood and bones of comrades."

"What the hell, so my path to advancement is the sacrificial-path type?!"

Chu Bamboo wanted to laugh, but he found that while he couldn't feel sadness, he couldn't laugh either.

'Or perhaps, am I really not sad at all right now...'

'If I really weren't sad... I probably wouldn't have let Captain Yang leave. Obviously, if this timeline resets... whether he lives or dies is all the same to me! But I still did it... Is it because I didn't want to see another teammate die? To think I... would do something so unnecessary, so self-deceiving...'

Chu Bamboo forcibly dispelled the emotions that had erupted in his mind with this realization. He took a deep breath and leaped down. After a slight hesitation, he first jogged to a corner, grabbed Eleven's leg, and dragged him over to the Two-headed Scale People.

"...You!" The two heads of the Two-headed Scale People sized Chu Bamboo up and down.

"Good person!"

"What do you want to ask!"

The two heads spoke at almost the same time, then looked at each other, stunned. The left head muttered something in dissatisfaction; Chu Bamboo recalled it was a local curse word from the Celestial Capital. The right head's eye twitched. It took several deep breaths, forcing itself to ignore the left head while repeatedly chanting, "We are one person... one head..."

However, Chu Bamboo could also see that his previous actions—recognizing the Two-headed Scale People's identity and saying what he did—had maxed out his favorability with both of them.

"What do I need to say to gain the Bright Pope's trust? To make him understand... that your identity has been usurped," Chu Bamboo got straight to the point, his voice urgent. "Quickly, there's no time to delay!"

"..." The Two-headed Scale People hesitated for a long time before cautiously saying, "Say his Divine Technique is Light. Then... have the Pope question the person who stole my identity! He shouldn't know about that... that way! But that won't work. He's up in the sky right now, he can probably hear us."

"...Y-Yes, he can definitely hear... Stop hitting me! Let me just say two—OW OW OW OW!" An intermittent voice drifted down from the sky.

Then, Fifth's voice suddenly changed. "Alright, that's enough playing house! I don't mind letting you hit me... but to keep going like this without letting up is going too far!"

Chu Bamboo silently looked up, and then he saw...

Huo Qiming's body suddenly shuddered. He was now black and blue. He subconsciously took a step back, panting heavily. But the moment he looked up, he found Fifth's fingertip pressed gently against his forehead.

"..." Huo Qiming's body went rigid.

Fifth's voice was laced with a hint of amusement. "You've thrown so many punches at me... Shouldn't it be my turn to strike back now? Commander Huo!"

Huo Qiming remained silent. He could still move, he wasn't being restrained, yet he was overcome with an inexplicable feeling of suffocation. It was as if he were on the brink of life and death, his heart pounding violently, his instincts forcing him to stand perfectly still.

"Here's a little problem for you," the Fifth Apostle said with a grin. "Calculate the force of every punch you threw and how many you landed! Figure it out. If the force of all those punches were to... suddenly hit you all at the same time! What do you think would happen to you?"

Huo Qiming's pupils contracted. Before he could say anything...

Fifth softly uttered, "Bang!"

Huo Qiming's body abruptly exploded, and a dense shower of blood burst from the seams of his clothes.

He opened his mouth, blood spilling from the corners. Powerless, he fell from the sky...

"..." The very instant Fifth's gaze fell upon him, Chu Bamboo unhesitatingly bit down on the poison capsule in his back tooth.

「Time began to reverse.」