Chapter 41: The King of the Future World

Dongfang’s body stiffened. She was far too familiar with this voice—familiar to the point of annoyance, yet she couldn’t place where this irritating sense of familiarity came from.

“What did you do to Jiang Xiaoyu?”

Jiang Xiaoyu sneered, “I am Jiang Xiaoyu, hehehe… You still haven’t answered my question, do you like playing the game?”

Dongfang had no idea how to respond. The last time it should have been her turn to become Xiaoqi and explore the outside world, she had instead been waylaid by that bad egg Lengyue who snatched Xiaoqi away. So whatever this “Honor of Kings” was that he spoke of must be some newfangled thing from the past dozen years that she knew nothing about.

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about!”

“Little Dongfang, the power of time isn’t just about temporal confinement. Today, I’ll teach you a trick—how to break the dimensional barrier of spatial power using temporal power.”

“How do you know my temporal forbidden technique? Who on earth are you?”

Completely ignoring Dongfang’s questions, Jiang Xiaoyu turned around and waved a hand at Blood Explosion behind him. “Step back for now.”

Blood Explosion cupped his fists respectfully: “Yes, Boss.”

Jiang Xiaoyu gave a wicked chuckle, and his body suddenly split in two. The two Jiang Xiaoyus were identical down to the bleeding wound still weeping from their collarbones. Both figures let out a simultaneous, eerie chuckle, charging at Chen Hao and Limei from the left and right.

Chen Hao and Limei’s expressions shifted drastically. Hadn’t Jiang Xiaoyu been shredded by the Cage of Heaven and Earth just a moment ago? How was he alive again? And how had he split into two?!

Without time to overthink, Chen Hao slammed a hand against the ground, his massive frame diving back beneath the soil as he frantically attacked one of the Jiang Xiaoyus with earth spikes.

Limei hurriedly summoned her bloody flute, playing a rapid tune that sent layer upon layer of sonic waves crashing toward the other.

Jiang Xiaoyu’s voice rang out clearly across the sports field, as if speaking solely for Dongfang to hear: “Invisible yet sonic, it is called the spirit drum; rain without clouds, it is called the tears of heaven. Beneath the sun, all worlds are shadows!”

Before the words faded, the two Jiang Xiaoyu figures swapped positions instantly, causing Chen Hao’s earth spikes and Limei’s sonic waves to both miss completely.

Chen Hao’s anxious voice came from underground: “Limei, stay back! Why are you still standing within the range of the Cage of Heaven and Earth?!”

Limei responded in a panic: “It’s not that I don’t want to leave, but the other one has been shadowing my every move; I can’t break away!”

Jiang Xiaoyu let out an eerie chuckle and said to Dongfang, “If I didn’t want to show you how to use the power of time, I wouldn’t bother wasting time on these two aberrations! Watch closely, I’ll only teach this once!”

With that, the two clones swapped positions again. Chen Hao and Limei only felt their vision blur, simultaneously losing their target and finding themselves momentarily at a loss.

At first, Dongfang could tell the true body apart from the clone, but after two swaps, she could no longer distinguish which one was Jiang Xiaoyu and which one was the clone of Light.

“The power of time can be used like this?”

Right then, a mournful cry escaped Limei’s lips as she stared blankly at the massive wound that had suddenly appeared on her chest.

With trembling fingers, she pointed at the Jiang Xiaoyu who had gravely wounded her.

“What… what kind of power is this?”

Jiang Xiaoyu smiled seductively: “Light.”

Hearing this, Limei gathered her remaining strength to cry out to Chen Hao: “Chen Hao, run!”

Jiang Xiaoyu curled his lip in a smile and abruptly pulled out his sword of light. Limei spat a mouthful of blood toward the heavens and collapsed straight backward.

Chen Hao’s despairing voice echoed from beneath the earth: “Jiang Xiaoyu! I’ll have you die!”

At that moment, he no longer cared whether the Cage of Heaven and Earth’s barrier had successfully formed, launching an unconstrained, boundary-less Slaughter of Heaven and Earth directly at both Jiang Xiaoyu clones—earth spikes and sharp blades surged overwhelmingly toward them in a mad frenzy.

Jiang Xiaoyu smiled with utter contempt: “Shattering Fate, Dongfang Breaking Dawn.”

As the words fell, a circular boundary formed by differences in temporal flow rates suddenly expanded. Chen Hao felt as though he were wading through a swamp; no matter how hard he struggled, he remained entirely rooted in place.

Immediately afterward, he watched the two Jiang Xiaoyu figures shuttle rapidly within it, attacking him from all directions with light as Jiang Xiaoyu’s wicked laughter echoed endlessly.

“Embracing the Eight Desolations, entering the Nine Heavens!”

In barely a fraction of a moment, Chen Hao’s true form, covered in blood, was revealed. His body had been perforated and riddled with holes by the light, and his massive frame lay sprawled upon the ground, even his breath bubbling with blood foam.

“I have only a breath left. Please let Limei and me die together.”

Jiang Xiaoyu abruptly halted his figures and smiled: “Granted.”

Covered in blood, Chen Hao slowly crawled over to the deceased Limei, took her hand, pressed it against his chest, and said softly, “Limei, the sun has completely set. It’s time for our family to rest.”

As the words fell, dazzling radiance bloomed from both of their bodies, illuminating the terrified expressions of all the aberrations present. Amidst the brilliance, Chen Hao and Limei’s bodies burned away entirely, turning to ash in an instant.

Standing in the shade of the tree, the principal’s slit pupils contracted sharply for a fleeting moment. He said nothing, turning to flee into the darkness.

Zhao Lu cast a deep look at Jiang Xiaoyu, a shocking brilliance igniting in her eyes: “He probably doesn’t know yet that he’s no longer the Foreign Language Squad leader; there’s still time to fix everything!”

As for Xu Tian, Liu Yang, and the other aberrations standing at the edge of the sports field, their teeth chattered. They wanted to run, but their feet felt as though they had been nailed to the ground, unable to budge an inch.

Jiang Xiaoyu walked over to the dumbfounded Blood Explosion, looking him up and down. “You’re really an idiot. That’s not how a Dark Berserker is supposed to be used.”

Blood Explosion snapped out of it and scratched his head: “Boss, I’m a bit slow, I only know how to brute-force it…”

“Come find me when you’re done with this. I’ll teach you.”

Jiang Xiaoyu nodded: “Nonsense!”

With that, he coalesced a stream of light and pointed it at Blood Explosion. The latter immediately felt not only his wounds healing at a rapid pace, but also his internal strength surging wildly.

“Thank you, Boss!”

“Go on. From now on, I’ve got your back.”

Blood Explosion grinned from ear to ear.

At this moment, Dongfang finally snapped out of the haze of the recent battle: “Hey… You there, the time-art you just used—was that the effect of altering the rate of time flow?”

While picking up Xiaoqi, Jiang Xiaoyu complained to Dongfang: “What with the ‘hey, hey, hey’? I’m practically the King of the Future World here; can’t you show your older brother a little respect?”

Dongfang grew furious: “Cut the crap! If you don’t tell me, I’ll figure it out myself!”

Jiang Xiaoyu offered a bitter smile: “Fine, fine, I’m scared of you, my big sis. Yes, it’s just a difference in temporal flow rates. Now, let me get you two back to 1314.”

With that, Jiang Xiaoyu held Xiaoqi in his arms, his figure flickering as he vanished from sight.