Chapter 66
Chapter 66
[Death’s Curse: Sluggishness!]
[Death’s Curse: Frailty!]
Qin Lan cast two curses in succession, pouring in a full 40 points of curse energy to guarantee their effectiveness.
Dong Haoran’s Speed fell even more sharply, leaving him slower than before!
“How is this possible?!”
Dong Haoran’s expression changed dramatically. “Is this some kind of domain-type Talent, like a pressure field?”
“That can’t be right. The Director said this kid only knew close combat. Where did this bizarre Talent come from…?”
It never occurred to Dong Haoran that Qin Lan might possess a special class.
Special classes were simply too rare. Even cursed artifacts seemed lackluster by comparison.
Naturally, he assumed it was one of Qin Lan’s Talents.
The loss of Speed was immediately obvious.
The reduction in Constitution was harder to notice. Dong Haoran only vaguely felt that his body had grown weaker.
Qin Lan’s attack was already on its way.
“You hit me plenty of times just now… It’s only fair that you get a taste of my fist!”
Qin Lan shouted the name of his attack. “Take this–Melancholy Soul-Devouring Palm!”
A clash of fists?
Dong Haoran immediately calmed down and thought, “My Curse Codex has reinforced my body beyond his. So what if my Speed has fallen?”
“His Talent must consume curse energy, and my attacks have surely drained him dry. As long as I survive this barrage–”
The next second, Qin Lan abruptly pulled a flaming staff from behind his waist.
“Baton Secret Art: Three Strikes, Three Guards!”
Red flames burned at both ends of the pitch-black staff. It looked incredibly hard, yet retained a hint of flexibility.
As Qin Lan swung, the temperature around him soared.
The end of the staff tore through the air and raised a wave of fire!
“You said that was the Melancholy Soul-Devouring Palm!”
Dong Haoran exploded in fury. “What kind of palm art is this? Who uses a staff for a palm strike?!”
Qin Lan’s staff was already descending on him.
“Heh. This is the highest realm of the Melancholy Soul-Devouring Palm–a palm strike without a palm!” Qin Lan declared shamelessly. His gaze then sharpened. “First strike to the legs, preventing escape!”
The staff suddenly trembled in his hands. It traced a strange curve through the air, accelerated without warning, and slammed heavily into Dong Haoran’s knee.
Bang!
“Gah!”
“I used to be an expert, until I took a staff to the knee…”
Agony shot through Dong Haoran, and he instantly lost control of both legs.
The strike carried not only enormous physical force but fire-element damage that scorched his skin.
Fortunately, Dong Haoran possessed a fire-element Talent of his own. Otherwise, his flesh would have been burned black like Qin Lan’s.
“Fire?! Why does he have an elemental attack too?!”
Dong Haoran grimaced. His eyes swept over the black staff, and realization suddenly dawned on him. “A cursed weapon?!”
“And it was definitely forged from the corpse of a 3-Star anomaly!”
He was right.
The staff came from Matchstick Bro’s corpse and had been forged around the Hot-Tempered Stick as its core material.
Not every anomaly corpse possessed a special effect. Matchstick Bro had been an exceptional case.
That was why cursed weapons were comparable to cursed artifacts in both rarity and price.
Dong Haoran did not own a cursed weapon.
His Talents had to be activated through his body, making him better with fists and feet. A weapon would normally have been a hindrance.
Now that put him at a severe disadvantage.
“Second strike to the mouth, preventing surrender!”
Qin Lan growled and pressed his advantage. The tip of his staff swept upward and struck Dong Haoran hard beneath the chin.
“Wait–”
Before Dong Haoran could finish, his entire mouth went numb.
The strike nearly shattered every tooth in his mouth.
“Third strike to the head!”
“Preventing–thought!”
Qin Lan poured all his remaining curse energy into this final strike.
Dong Haoran’s legs were still locked in place. All he could do was raise his arms and attempt to block.
In the end, he failed.
…
“Look! Someone came out!”
“Is the instance over? You’ve got to be kidding!”
“We couldn’t see a thing! Damn it, I want a refund!”
“Buddy, this is an examination. You didn’t buy a ticket…”
“There were no tickets? Damn it! I’ve been scammed!”
Amid the noisy discussion, Qin Lan was teleported out.
He looked utterly wretched. Every scrap of clothing on his upper body had been destroyed, and only a few strips of cloth still hung from his legs, barely preserving his modesty.
Most of his exposed skin was as black as charcoal. Even his wounds had been cauterized, leaving not a single drop of blood flowing from them.
Yet Qin Lan still wore a delighted smile.
“Five thousand Bureau points. Hehehe…”
“I’ve hit the jackpot. Hehehehe…”
Humming to himself and ignoring the stares around him, he walked straight toward No. 3 High School’s group.
Immediately behind him, a half-naked muscleman was teleported out facedown on the ground. Dong Haoran was sleeping soundly and showed no sign of waking.
Once every other candidate had been eliminated, the simulated instance automatically settled the examination. There was no need for the last person standing to clear it.
With Qin Lan the only contestant still conscious when the instance ended, the winner was obvious.
“Oh, Little Qin! Excellent work, excellent work…” Fatty Wu appeared like a ghost. He was grinning so broadly that all the fat on his face bunched together as he thoughtfully draped a coat over Qin Lan.
“If you wanted to show off, you could’ve just shown off. Why’d you have to do it without clothes? Think of all the young girls watching…”
Fatty Wu massaged Qin Lan’s shoulders while muttering under his breath.
Qin Lan rolled his eyes. “Do I look like I stripped voluntarily?”
“I almost got beaten to death…”
Fatty Wu chuckled. Of course he could tell that Qin Lan had gone through a brutal battle. He was only saying it to annoy him.
Then Fatty Wu lowered his voice and leaned close to Qin Lan’s ear.
“So? The Anomaly Hunter Bureau won’t interfere with the joint examination anymore, right?”
Fatty Wu was clever enough to realize that the muscleman lying on the ground had been sent by the Anomaly Hunter Bureau to preserve the examination’s fairness.
After all, smurfing was hardly sporting.
Qin Lan nodded, too tired to speak. A deep sense of exhaustion swept over him.
He really was worn out.
His curse energy had been completely drained, and he had injuries all over his body. A full recovery would take at least several days.
Still, it was not a serious problem.
After training in a Curse Codex, he could transform curse energy into vitality and use it to repair his wounds. It would simply take time.
“Are you Senior Qin Lan?”
A voice came from behind him.
Qin Lan turned and froze. The speaker was an unfamiliar girl still dressed in her school uniform.
Chen Jing studied the man who had repeatedly shattered her Talent and subjected her to such crushing pressure. Her expression was complicated, and she stammered slightly as she spoke.
“Would you mind giving me your contact information?”
What?
While Qin Lan was still stunned, Fatty Wu whispered a reminder beside him.
“Little Qin…”
“This one’s fine. She’s an adult…”