The Creatures That We Are

Chapter 1062: Make It

Qilin chased after Qing Ling.

She turned around and hopped onto her Xiu Dao, quickly soaring into the sky.

Qilin didn’t have Fly; even if he stole it, it would only last him a few seconds, and Qing Ling would’ve likely flown away on her blade.

A few seconds later, a blue portal the size of a manhole appeared above Qing Ling. Qilin jumped out of it a split second later, diving toward Qing Ling and slamming into her.

He had decisively stolen Wandering Tune’s Portal the moment he saw Qing Ling fleeing. Predicting where she would fly to, he conjured a portal and rushed in, intercepting her from above.

Quickly releasing Portal, he then stole Fly and accelerated toward Qing Ling.

Riding on her blade, she couldn’t dodge him in time, and even if she turned back, Qilin would catch up shortly.

She never intended to run!

She had anticipated the move—back in the Qingyang Bridge, she had fallen for the combo of Petrify and Portal. This time, as she rode her blade, she kept her Tang Dao ready at her side, waiting for Qilin to take the bait.

With her last reserves of energy, she drew her blade at imperceptible speed. The vertical cut left an indigo scar across the night sky.

Qilin caught only a flash at her waist, like light reflecting off metal. His instincts kicked in before his mind could process, jerking him centimeters right.

That saved him.

Qilin’s vision blurred for a moment. His balance faltered. He didn’t even have to check to realize that he had lost his left arm—shoulder too.

A diagonal cut had sliced from his shoulder all the way to the halfway point of his left collarbone. Blood gushed out profusely. The indescribable pain shot into his head like an electric shock, almost knocking him out.

He immediately suppressed his sense of pain as much as possible with Eidos and activated Iron Skin at the same time, temporarily stemming the blood flow.

His right fist crashed into Qing Ling's chest a second later.

Qing Ling plunged and slammed into the ground. Qilin landed after her and seized the Tang Dao falling out of her grip.

It stunned him that Qing Ling was still capable of such explosive power—her Limitless Evolution must have reached level 5, sustaining her for another counterattack.

The Talent posed a great risk. He must kill her now!

Lying on the ground, Qing Ling felt as if her heart had shattered, and her body barely felt like her own. She endured the pain and lightheadedness, trying to roll up.

But Qilin was already descending with her Tang Dao.

Shit!

Qing Ling only had the time to raise her right arm.

The blade pierced through her arm and into her chest. Her last-second defense kept it from reaching her heart.

Qing Ling threw up blood.

Qilin tried to withdraw the blade for a killing thrust, but found it locked in place. Qing Ling glared up at him, blood seeping between clenched teeth. With her last strength, she used Metal to trap the Tang Dao in her body, denying him one final time.

Qilin had to admire her. No wonder she'd inherited Azure Dragon's Talent. A true warrior she was, choosing defiance over survival.

You deserve to be made immortal, Qing Ling!

Qilin released the Tang Dao and gripped her chin, leaning in until their faces were fifty centimeters apart, eyes locked.

Brain Formatting, all in!

Green psychic power rippled outward. Without Golden Armor's protection, Brain Formatting at point-blank range would erase her instantly.

“No!!!”

Gao Yang's heartrending scream echoed across Green Lotus Lake as he watched helplessly from afar.

No miracle came this time.

Qing Ling's furrowed brows slowly relaxed, her clenched jaw going slack. The fierce determination in her icy eyes dimmed to emptiness.

The Tang Dao pinned her to the ground through arm and chest. She lay motionless like a specimen, blood pooling beneath her.

She breathed, but her soul was gone.

Qilin didn't spare her another glance. He immediately took her Buff Rune Circuit and stood, dragging his heavy, metallic body toward Gao Yang as fast as possible.

“I’ll kill you!”

Gao Yang vanished with a growl.

He had shattered his own energy pathway for enough power to use Flash Shadow, appearing behind Qilin and locking both arms around him.

Burning Heaven...

His attempt at a suicide attack died down when a white ripple from Qilin doused the spark in his body—Qilin had stolen Wave of Serenity.

Two seconds later, Gao Yang slumped down.

With his energy pathway destroyed, he could only fall to his knees, arms dropping uselessly.

In case Gao Yang had some other trick up his sleeve, Qilin kicked Gao Yang a few meters away. Only when he remained boneless on the ground with no fight remaining in him did Qilin walk up to him once more.

Deactivating Iron Skin, Qilin ignored the blood pouring from his severed shoulder. He couldn't waste any energy.

He gasped for breath. Pain and exhaustion screamed through him as his vision blurred.

Thirty seconds until Equivalent Exchange claimed him!

He stumbled to Gao Yang.

I still have time! I can make it!

I’ll have my hands on the twelve Rune Circuits soon!

That’ll only take five seconds!

Then with the Psyche Rune Circuit as the core, I can make the twelve Rune Circuits into an ever-spinning top!

That’ll only take ten seconds!

Then I’ll use All Will Be One. Through Lord of Puppet’s dominance, I’ll extract the consciousness of everyone inside, injecting them into the spinning top.

That’ll only take another ten seconds!

I can make it. I can!

Qilin dropped to one knee and took the Time-Space Rune Circuit out of the inner pocket of Gao Yang’s coat.

Hurry, hurry!

His bloodied right hand splayed open. The twelve Rune Circuits emerged, hovering in a circle before him like magnets simultaneously attracting and repelling.

Quick, quick!

He seized the Psyche Rune Circuit and thrust it to the heart of the hovering circle. With that as core, the other eleven Rune Circuits transformed and merged into a strange spinning top.

Qilin pointed at it with his blood-stained finger. The top began to spin quickly, unleashing ripples of white energy. Under its luminance, Qilin’s bloodied and injured face looked as pale as a sheet of paper.

Good! I did it! Humanity won’t go extinct!

Eidos...

“Agh!”

A flash behind him. He whirled, catching the incoming fist with his quickly metalized right hand.

Qing Ling!

Hair wild and drenched in blood, she swung her left fist at his face, her pierced right arm hanging limp.

Though Qilin caught her punch, his mind stumbled in shock.

How did she wake up?!