Chapter 826: Striking First

The Black-Robed Anchor, Xiao A, the Man in the Colorful Robe, and Chen Mo—the four of them closed in around me. Even facing four against one, I remained perfectly calm and composed.

My utter disregard for them made them hesitate for fear of collateral damage, keeping them from making any rash moves.

Black Robe was already suspicious of my appearance here. He flicked his sleeve, producing a pale Blue Talisman. "Did you leave the Dream Immortal Chant Child Talisman behind in reality?"

His expression shifted slightly. He had already realized I hadn't followed his plan.

"I did. But I brought you what you wanted." Smiling, I took out the broken jade that had gathered the will of the people of Jinghai, along with the Severed Flood Dragon Bone.

Behind the Good and Evil Asura Mask, Black Robe couldn't see my expression. He couldn't guess my intentions, nor did he know what I planned to do next.

"What's going on?" the Man in the Colorful Robe asked Black Robe. "Why does this guy give me such an unsettling feeling?"

"He is the tenth anchor of the Live Show. Anyone who passes the Live Show's trials is bound to be an enemy of Destiny. I originally thought he would help me, but it seems that was just wishful thinking." Black Robe didn't step forward to demand the broken jade or the bone. "Let's talk. What price do I have to pay to get those two items from you?"

"There's nothing to talk about. Your plan is doomed to fail, and I'm just here to inform you of that," I said mildly. The Butcher was desperately trying to heal his injuries. The ones who should be panicking right now were Black Robe and the Traitors.

"What a joke. I haven't told anyone the core plan, so how dare you assert I'll fail? Do you know how many years I've prepared? How much I've sacrificed?" Black Robe laughed out of sheer fury. He took a step forward. "Give me the broken jade and the Severed Flood Dragon Bone, and I might consider sparing your life."

"It seems you still haven't figured out where you stand. I didn't come to persuade you, only to notify you." Right in front of Black Robe, I stowed the broken jade and the bone away. "You are destined to fail simply because your plan never received my permission."

I was actually mimicking the tone Chen Mo had used earlier. As a puppet of Destiny, he always spoke as if everything he said was an absolute given—that was the underlying confidence of Destiny.

Now, by using that exact same tone, I projected supreme self-assurance.

"Arrogant! In my memory, other than Destiny, only one person has ever dared to speak to me like that." The Man in the Colorful Robe stomped his foot. The entire city block trembled as a massive Nightmare erupted from underground, surging upward like a giant whale breaching the surface. "You think you can take on the four of us at once, with just yourself and a crippled Butcher? Even if the First Anchor were reborn, they wouldn't dare be this cocky!"

"I've always felt that you resemble someone from my memories, which is why I treated you as an equal. But it seems my respect was not reciprocated." Several chains lashed out from beneath Black Robe's dark robes. It was obvious he was genuinely furious. "That person is dead! Everything he was is buried on the Other Shore of Reincarnation. I should have realized this sooner. No matter how much you resemble him, you are not him!"

The iron chains swept across the air like roaming dragons. Having tasted their power during my last entry into the dream, I didn't hesitate to activate a portion of the Dream Wing Gu's abilities. A pair of gorgeous, illusory butterfly wings unfurled behind my back. My speed skyrocketed, allowing me to thread the needle right through the gaps in the chains.

The giant Nightmare opened its massive maw, trying to swallow me whole. I was already thoroughly familiar with their combat styles, so I found a tricky angle and narrowly dodged its jaws.

The attacks from Black Robe and the Man in the Colorful Robe were completely within my expectations. Ever since my reincarnation, I had been pondering a way to break this deadlock. To seize the initiative, I needed to establish an absolute advantage in raw power. My enemies were strong, but they weren't without weaknesses—and Chen Mo was the weak link!

Passive dodging had never been my style. Taking the offensive was what I enjoyed most.

Every single attack from Black Robe and the Man in the Colorful Robe missed. Before either of them could even recover from their shock, something even more astonishing happened.

As if I had predicted their every move, I dodged in advance and charged right up to Chen Mo at maximum speed.

Fused with the shadowy spider, the monster panicked when he saw me rushing at him with murderous intent.

"I didn't even say a word! Why are you coming after me?!" As a puppet of Destiny, he possessed an innate sixth sense that warned him of impending danger, and he decisively retreated.

"Trying to run?" Obliterating Chen Mo to eliminate the threat at its source was what I had planned from the very beginning. Striking without warning and moving as fast as lightning, I wasn't about to let him get away easily.

Without any unnecessary probing, I unleashed my ultimate move right off the bat. The Blood Fox Killing Intent surged toward the heavens as nine fox tails bloomed behind me. I raised my fist high, concentrating ten times my willpower while simultaneously pouring all the reincarnation aura radiating from the four Dragon-Locking Pillars into this single punch!

"Die!"

My momentum was terrifying. My full-powered outburst sent a tremor through the hearts of even Black Robe and the Man in the Colorful Robe. This was the Deep Dream Layer, their home turf, yet I was unleashing horrifyingly formidable strength right here.

Chen Mo, having fused with the shadowy spider, possessed a massive frame. Once I locked onto him, it was utterly impossible for him to dodge.

He let out an ear-piercing shriek, shooting gray and white silk threads from his abdomen to summon the other nearby spiders for help, but it was all too late.

The fist carrying ten times my willpower slammed into his chest, blasting a clean hole right through his upper body. My momentum didn't falter in the slightest. Knowing he was a puppet of Destiny and wouldn't die so easily, I immediately followed up with my trump card, driving that reincarnation aura—a force that even I feared—straight into his body.

But I wasn't done yet. Our last clash had taught me that the will of heaven and obsessions countered one another, so I had one final gift for him.

A storm erupted within my sea of consciousness, and I dumped every single one of the Red Building Obsessions hidden inside it straight into Chen Mo's body.

Several conflicting energies clashed violently. The terrifying reincarnation aura spread like wildfire, constantly disintegrating Chen Mo's flesh.

Just to be safe, I had prepared one more backup plan. As I relentlessly pummeled him, I secretly embedded Black Robe's Blue Talisman right into Chen Mo's brain.

Fists smashing, nine tails battering—the sheer ferocity of the scene would make anyone who saw it subconsciously back away.

It all happened in the blink of an eye. By the time I stopped, Chen Mo had been reduced to a puddle of mangled flesh.

Flinging the spider silk and bizarre fluids off the back of my hand, I looked around. The remaining people, including the Butcher, were a bit afraid to meet my eyes.

"Chen Mo is a puppet of Destiny. He infiltrated the Deep Dream Layer solely to take control of it, to conquer this pure land that Destiny hasn't yet invaded." I rummaged through the remains of the shadowy spider, finally tossing a clump of fate-stained spider silk in front of Black Robe. "See this? You thought you were using him, but in reality, he was using you. Destiny has known about your plan for a long time. It will never succeed."