Chapter 131: A Sound Thrashing

Ye Chen referred to the monster before him as a person only because its face still retained human features, resembling that of a man in his fifties.

Looking past the white monster’s body, Ye Chen was pleasantly surprised to see eight children in the carriage, sitting face-to-face in complete silence. He recognized the "Dumpling Girl" and the older boy who had been handing out candy.

*They are all on the truck, it seems...* Ye Chen felt a wave of relief.

However, the children’s behavior was strange; they were completely indifferent to the massive commotion happening outside.

*They are being controlled. They are still under the influence of the candy...* Ye Chen immediately assessed their condition. If the white monster before him was an Awakened, then the driver was likely the owner of the candy-based Awakening artifact.

The moment the white monster leapt from the carriage, the refrigerated truck came to a halt. The older brother, Ma Tupeng, stuck his head out and roared toward the back:

"Tupai! Why are you getting off? Get back here now, don't waste time!"

The white monster did not look back. With his back turned to his brother, he replied in a low, gravelly voice:

"Leave me alone. You go ahead; let me crush this annoying fly first."

With that, he marched toward Ye Chen, wielding a spear and shield. With every step, a rhythmic "clack-clack" sound echoed from his body—the sound of grinding bone. Not only that, but white, foam-like substance began to secrete from his face, spreading rapidly until it covered his entire head. The foam squirmed, hardened, and set. The man who had possessed a human face only moments ago was now wearing a white skull mask, having thoroughly transformed into a white demon.

*Is this... what they call a transformation?*

*No, no,* Ye Chen shook his head inwardly. *What kind of transformation is this? This is clearly a Physical-type Awakened using a skill.* If he wasn't mistaken, the part of the body the opponent had awakened was his bone structure. Judging by his stance, he was likely a melee specialist. Having suffered several times against long-range attackers, Ye Chen felt a surge of excitement—finally, he could let loose and have a real fight.

Upon seeing his younger brother completely encased in white bone, an angry shout erupted from the driver’s cab again:

"You idiot, stop using your skills recklessly!!!"

This cry, which tore through the night sky, sounded like the ringing of a bell, signaling the start of a life-or-death struggle.

Meanwhile, two other accomplices were rushing toward the scene.

The white monster let out a low, guttural roar, raised his shield, leveled his bone spear across it, and charged at Ye Chen without hesitation.

*Clack-clack.* A dense sound of clashing bone followed, like the scales of a suit of armor rubbing together as a warrior ran.

*Good. Come on then. I’ve never feared a head-on collision!*

Ye Chen drew his broken blade. As his inner energy flowed, an invisible edge about a meter long materialized, matching his opponent’s reach. He met the enemy without a second of hesitation. After a short sprint, Ye Chen leapt into the air, gripping the blade with one hand held high above his head, and slashed down at the white monster with the force of a collapsing mountain.

He had full confidence in the sharpness of his invisible blade. Since the battle was taking place in a residential area, he needed to end it quickly to avoid harming innocent bystanders.

To the white monster, the man opposite him appeared to be wielding a broken blade, yet he began his slashing motion while still two meters away. This puzzling move left him suspicious. Unfortunately, his rigid skull mask made it impossible to show any expression, so he instinctively raised his shield to block.

Ye Chen knew the sharpness of the bone spear and naturally wouldn't be foolish enough to expose himself to the opponent’s attack range. The moment he jumped, he had calculated the distance. The invisible blade extended to just over two meters, perfectly covering his opponent. With sufficient internal energy as a foundation, he had been experimenting in his consciousness space; extending and retracting the blade was merely one of the basic ways to use the broken blade.

His current internal energy reserves were enough to support this combat skill of instantaneous extension. Furthermore, the "sneak attack" nature of the broken blade was most effective during the initial clash, especially since the opponent couldn't see it.

With a swift stroke, he intended to cut the white monster in two.

*Clang!*

The expected scene of the monster being split in half did not occur. The infallible invisible blade struck the edge of the bone shield, chipping off only a tiny piece. Both attacker and defender were stunned.

The attacker thought: *Damn it... how is it so tough! My full-strength strike only caused this much damage? No, that doesn't even count as damage.*

In the next second, Ye Chen saw foam-like substance seep from the edge of the shield, self-repairing the notch. *Do the bones have rapid regeneration too?*

What Ye Chen did not know was that since bone was the opponent’s primary ability, its regeneration speed was even faster than that of his other organs. Regeneration was, after all, a natural talent of Physical-type Awakened.

The defender, meanwhile, was shocked: *His blade is strange. He was clearly so far away, yet he struck my shield, and I saw nothing at all.*

The first round ended in mutual bewilderment. In truth, it wasn't that the broken blade wasn't sharp enough, but that Ye Chen’s level of inner energy was too low. Even though his strength had improved by leaps and bounds recently, he was still only a D-rank Awakened.

He hadn't realized that the white monster was a C-rank. Even though he had only just stepped into the C-rank, it was still a tier above Ye Chen.

Before Ye Chen could finish his analysis, the white monster attacked again. He stepped forward with his left foot, pulled his right arm back, and threw a heavy punch. The bone spear at his fist, carrying a crushing momentum, whistled as it pierced the air toward Ye Chen.

*So fast!*

Facing the unstoppable strike, Ye Chen had only enough time for this single thought before dodging to the side. He narrowly avoided the brunt of the attack, but before he could regain his footing, a white shadow suddenly appeared in his vision.

*Thud.* A muffled sound exploded out.

The white monster used the bone shield on his left hand to deliver a shield bash, slamming into Ye Chen and sending him flying like a discarded ragdoll. Ye Chen’s vision went black as he lost consciousness for a split second. When he came to, he realized his body was hurtling backward uncontrollably.

*Half my face is numb... my cheekbone is shattered... Damn it, a face-destroying hit!*

*Boom!*

He crashed heavily into a home in the back. In the chaotic room, Ye Chen slowly climbed to his feet, seeing an elderly couple standing frozen in the corner of the living room, as if terrified out of their wits.

*He is stronger than me! This isn't just a difference in skill level—it's a suppression of rank.*

Though his head was throbbing from the beating, Ye Chen felt himself growing calmer than ever.