The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1057: One Second

Why’s Qilin here?!

Illusion? No, Qilin’s illusion doesn’t work on me!

Why?!

Gao Yang wouldn’t guess that Qilin had stolen his Replicate this time.

Through Replicate, he copied Gao Yang’s Fire, Double, Lying Wood’s Afterimage, and even replicated Gregor’s Pestilence through Evanescent Omnireplication with the Lord of Puppets’ dominating threads as the medium.

Qilin managed to “steal” multiple Talents by stealing one.

Gao Yang and Qing Ling had thought Qilin had merely stolen Gregor’s Pestilence; he couldn’t use any other Talents, thus falling for the trick.

The Qilin that Gao Yang and Qing Ling saw was only a fake created with Afterimage.

Qilin knew Gao Yang wouldn’t have fought him at melee range. He could tell that he would teleport away, and he even anticipated Gao Yang and Qing Ling’s escape route. So he waited. The moment they reappeared after teleporting, Qilin unleashed a full-power Fire Punch.

Half a second remained before Teleportation could be used again. When the fire engulfed Gao Yang, escape became impossible. He grabbed Qing Ling's arm and pulled her into his embrace, turning to shield her with his back.

Thousands of burning needles pierced through every pore of Gao Yang's back. The pain threatened to tear his soul apart, filling his mind until thought became impossible. If not for his exceptional defensive stats and fire resistance, his body would have evaporated instead of merely suffering severe burns.

Amid the blazing flames, Gao Yang had no power to resist, but he had managed to buy Qing Ling a precious second of clarity.

Shielded in his arms, she quickly activated Metal, using her blades to carry them both out of the fire dragon's maw.

They had barely escaped death when Qilin's double intercepted them mid-flight. He clenched his right fist, unleashing a medium-power Fire Punch.

Still locked in their embrace, Qing Ling and Gao Yang faced another fire dragon. This time, Qing Ling twisted at precisely the right angle, taking most of the fire damage on her back.

“Ahhh!”

The fire dragon’s roar drowned out her scream. Thankfully, this punch came from Qilin's double, carrying less power than the original. Her level 4 Limitless Evolution granted her significant resistance; while her back was badly burned, she survived.

The second Qing Ling bought gave Gao Yang a moment of reprieve. Away from the flames, his mind cleared. He suppressed the pain with Psychic Armor, and as Teleportation's cooldown ended, he transported Qing Ling and himself twenty meters away.

They fell apart, rolling across the ground. Both were seriously burned, their energy drained, their minds and will on the verge of breaking.

But not yet!

Gao Yang rolled to his feet, activating Absolute Barrier. He and Qing Ling needed this moment to breathe, or they would certainly die!

Golden energy inbetween liquid and gas state rushed out from under Gao Yang’s feet, forming a translucent golden barrier to shield them both.

But then the golden energy stilled for a second like a glitch. Following the glitch, the energy continued to form lotus petals. They closed and turned into two golden buds, trapping Gao Yang and Qing Ling separately.

What?!

Gao Yang was caught completely off guard.

He realized Qilin had deactivated Replicate in time to steal Absolute Defense. No—it was more cunning than that. Qilin had seized control while Gao Yang was using the Talent, transforming the unfinished barrier into a prison. He had turned Gao Yang into an unwitting accomplice.

Qilin had anticipated Gao Yang would use Absolute Barrier to buy time, and prepared his counter accordingly.

Throughout his journey, Gao Yang had faced many moments of despair. But this frustration was different. This was his first taste of complete helplessness.

Shit, how did Qilin manage to foresee every move of ours?

He had perfectly anticipated their escape route, striking at exactly the right moment and location. Experience alone couldn't explain such precision. It was as if Qilin had seen fate's blueprint itself.

Wait, can it be...

Realization struck Gao Yang. Prophet!

Before the fight began, Qilin had secretly stolen Surnamed Li's Prophet to see the next ten seconds of future! Those ten seconds when he had faced them down—he'd been using Prophet the entire time.

The moment this revelation struck, Qilin rushed forward, his body armored in gold, his fist crackling with overwhelming energy.

Despair. It was a despair like an endless freefall into the abyss.

Qilin was too powerful. Gao Yang and Qing Ling had been too naive to think they could outlast him until he blacked out. Now they were trapped, unable to teleport. No escape route remained.

They were going to die here.

No! I’m not giving up! Not until the last second!

Spirit Domain, time passage shrunk to a third!

Gao Yang used the last of his energy, using Spirit Domain to its maximum range.

Instantly, Qilin's movement slowed to a third of its speed. Even so, he would still crush Gao Yang's head in three seconds before killing Qing Ling even faster.

Gao Yang had bought them only two seconds. A futile attempt, but the only move left to make.

...

Well, Gao Yang was wrong.

In the face of a miracle, even one second meant something.

A figure rushed over as quick as a bolt of lightning—more precisely, he had approached from behind Gao Yang and made a powerful leap with both feet, launching himself over Gao Yang's head like a human cannonball aimed at Qilin.

Without those two precious seconds Gao Yang had bought, this one-man cavalry would have arrived too late.

Bam!

Wang Zikai’s fist collided with Qilin’s.