"Zhi Yan’s friend?" Lin Fang muttered in disbelief.
The young man grinned as he strode closer with hands behind his back like a man inspecting livestock. "Yup," he said with a casual smirk, "it’s . Jiang Fei."
Lin Fang’s brows furrowed. "What do you want? Why did you abduct ? We have nothing to do with each other."
Jiang Fei stopped just a few feet away, looking him in the eyes. "I heard you were one of the nine applicants who reached the fourth level in the Hunter Examination. Quite an accomplishnt... for soone who was supposed to be a guaranteed failure."
Lin Fang’s eyes narrowed at that comnt. "So? Whether I pass or fail, what does it have to do with you?"
Jiang Fei gave a cold chuckle. "It’s not really about the exam. It’s your actions that are irking , making Zhi Yan all chummy with you, grabbing the attention of my mother, Master Li Chengfeng... And now, Feng Xiu..." He leaned in slightly. "Even Shang Wei, the power broker of the southern syndicates, made a move toward you."
Lin Fang’s face hardened. Where was he going with this...
"I’ll ask again," Lin Fang’s voice turned colder this ti, and no longer appeared as panicked as before. "What is it to you? We’ve got nothing to do with each other. We belonged to different worlds."
Jiang Fei’s smile thinned. "That’s true. We don’t belong in the sa world. And that’s my problem."
"Just be straight, you bastard..." Lin Fang lost his cool and couldn’t help but bark at him.
Jiang Fei tilted his head and calmly replied. "Because you annoy ."
"What?"
"You heard ," Jiang Fei said with his eyes turned sharp. "Your re existence is irritating. You see, everyone has a place in society. When soone like you, a plainfolk who couldn’t afford decent als, cracks a deal with Shang Wei, a guy with no future who grabs the interest of soone like Zhi Yan, Li Chengfeng, or Feng Xiu, who were all above in the elite society, it is indeed quite annoying. As you said, we live in different worlds. So, trash like you should know where you belong."
Lin Fang gritted his teeth. The anger was bubbling inside him and was about to erupt at any ti.
"anwhile, Jiang Fei continued while taking a step back, "Actually, I wanted to kill you for a while. But, luckily for you, my mother warned not to touch you. She believes you’ve snatched away the missing soul of an Evil Spirit King from Spirit Valley."
A chill ran down Lin Fang’s spine. "What the hell...?"
"So," Jiang Fei said, motioning to the side, "we’ll be extracting it."
Lin Fang’s eyes widened. "I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about! Spirit King of Spirit Valley? I’ve been there, but I couldn’t connect with any spirits out there."
Of course, he was bluffing.
But Jiang Fei just chuckled, not convinced by Lin Fang’s words. "If you don’t have it, then it’ll be even easier. Once I confirm that you don’t, I’ll kill you and toss your body in a stellar rift. No one will even be able to find your corpse." Followed by those chilling words, he reached into his coat and pulled out a strange tallic cube.
Lin Fang’s breath hitched at that. "Wha... What is that...?"
"This," Jiang Fei said, stepping forward, "is a spirit extraction core. Usually, it is used to protect humans who were possessed by the monster spirits that couldn’t leave the earthly realm even after death. Once activated, it’ll drag out any spirit you’ve been hiding. Unfortunately, it couldn’t extract a human’s soul. That’s too bad, but..."
He leaned in close and tapped it to Lin Fang’s chest, letting out a grin. "The pain will increase exponentially with the quality of the spirit one has in their body. And in your case, it is a spirit king, aning the pain you will face will make you beg for death instead."
Before Lin Fang even managed to speak, and he was about to summon Po, the cube latched on with a click, embedding itself just over Lin Fang’s heart. A pulse of cold shot through his body as runes on the cube lit up one by one.
Then suddenly...
*Ding!
[Warning: Spirit Collection Artifact Detected]
[System Override Initiated: Counterasure Mode — Active]
[Absorbing hostile artifact...]
Lin Fang gasped. "What..."
The cube twitched. The glow reversed, from purple to a blinding white, before a loud snap burst from it. Then the device started sinking into Lin Fang’s chest, like it was being devoured by sothing inside him.
"Wha..."
This ti, it was Jiang Fei’s turn to get surprised. His eyes widened, "What the hell is going on?"
Lin Fang shuddered in the chair as an intense heat flooded through his veins.
*Arghhh*
His scream tore through the warehouse, echoing off the rusted beams.
His skin flushed red as if boiling from within, every vein bulging out, and throbbing with a strange energy. Blood rushed to his head, and he thrashed against the chains like soone who was being electrocuted.
"GAAAHHH!!"
It felt like his entire soul was being peeled apart, stretched, and stitched back together.
Soon, the runes on the cube flared blinding white... and then...
CRACK!
The chair tipped over with a loud clatter as Lin Fang’s body writhed, falling onto the cold concrete floor. He panted harshly, his muscles twitching involuntarily.
Then...
The pain evaporated in an instant, replaced by a sensation of coolness. Like if soone poured a bucket of cold water on you after a long day in the sun.
*Ding!
[Spirit Collection Artifact: Fully Absorbed]
[Spirit Collection Function added to Character Interface]
[You received 30,000 Coins as a reward.]
[Nesis Spirit is detected. Proceeding for absorption]
[Target is a mythical grade. Failure to absorb]
Lin Fang’s eyes fluttered open.
A strange interface window shimred faintly in his vision, revealing a new tab: [Collected Spirits]. Currently empty, though.
He exhaled slowly, feeling drained but alive.
"What the hell happened? Where is my artifact, you bastard?" Jiang Fei roared, his voice cracking with rage. He stord forward, lifted the chair with Lin Fang sitting tied on it like it weighed nothing, and slamd it down again. Then he grabbed Lin Fang by the collar, yanking him up roughly.
"You think this is funny?" he snarled at him.
Lin Fang gave a pained grin while his lip was bleeding. "I think... You deserve it. And it’s not too late to regret it, Jiang Fei. Back off now, and we’ll consider it as if nothing happened."
"You dare to threaten ..."
CRACK!
A fist imdiately slamd into Lin Fang’s cheek. His head jerked to the side, and blood trickled down his lips.
"You fu*king innate souls are a scourge to society!" Jiang Fei roared, punching him again.
Lin Fang slumped forward with a groan, but his eyes glead beneath half-lidded lids.
Innate soul?
If only that were true. He wasn’t born with so heaven-defying talent or spiritual affinity.
In fact, when he was at Spirit Valley, no spirit had even looked his way. If he truly had an innate soul, the monsters would have sward around him to bind with him.
This is all thanks to the Summoner’s System...
anwhile, Jiang Fei grabbed him again, breathing heavily. "You think this is over?" he spat, veins bulging in his temple. "We’re going to rip that spirit out of you, even if we have to dissect you alive. You’re not walking out of here, Lin Fang."
But Lin Fang just laughed weakly. "I don’t know about . But you certainly won’t walk out of here that easily."
"You dare to spout nonsense..."
Jiang Fei punched Lin Fang again, once, and then again. Blood dripped from Lin Fang’s lip, painting his chin red.
"Enough."
Gritting his teeth, Lin Fang inhaled sharply through the pain.
With trembling fingers, he dragged open the flickering interface only he could see. His vision swam. Scroll... scroll... there...
[Skill: Summon].
His fingertip tapped the icon. A second window unfurled.
[Select Companion]
Back at the house, the little Direwolf had just finished licking the bottom of a ceramic bowl. It then sat upright, blinking lazily at the door, waiting for its master to co ho.
Suddenly...
"Co to ."
A whisper brushed across its mind like a familiar scent on the wind.
Black’s eyes widened. Its stubby limbs went still, a human-like smile spreading across its face. It shut its eyes...
And then in a second, it vanished.
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