The Great Sage… dead?!
Onlookers froze in terror, wanting to bolt, but their trembling legs wouldn’t budge.
The girl didn’t go on a killing spree, though. She spat a few times, trying to get rid of the blood she’d licked up.
She eyed Aleila, slowly dropping to the ground, and frowned. One foot raised, she stomped hard on Aleila’s body, turning it to blood mist.
“Don’t play dead. If the Great Sage went down that easy, you’d drag the True Ancestor title’s cred into the dirt. That hit wasn’t even lethal,” the girl said, flicking her arm.
Next moment, Aleila reappeared behind her, clutching the spot where the girl’s attack pierced her. It didn’t kill her, but damn, it hurt. If she hadn’t stacked ten buffs, including [Substitute Doll], she’d be in deep shit.
From that quick exchange, Aleila sized up the girl’s strength.
At least level 900, with a special title, all stats averaging 50,000 minimum. No way Aleila could take her.
“Courage Aura.”
Aleila cast a group buff, giving the crowd enough guts to run. Ironic—they got courage just to flee.
That’s the fear from a level gap. In this world, level 600 is a huge leap, like crossing a dragon gate. Each level’s a massive difference.
You might juice your stats to match someone higher-level, but high-level folks passively spook and suppress lower ones.
Late-game, a few levels—let alone dozens—make a huge impact. These normies, barely over level 100, facing a level 900? If they didn’t bail early, fear locks their legs.
The vampire girl laughed, watching. “Look at that. Weaklings. Protecting them tanks your strength. Otherwise, you could’ve lasted a hundred rounds with me, not get trashed in a few.”
Aleila shook her head, countering, “Strong folks climb from weak days. You never had a weak phase?”
The vampire girl snorted, arms crossed, not giving a damn about Aleila’s words, almost laughing.
“Sorry, nope. Never had a weak phase. Me and my sister were born level 999, natural-born powerhouses.” Her words shocked Aleila but also gave her a juicy tidbit.
Like… sister?
Was she related to the legit Blood Clan True Ancestor? But Filo never mentioned a sister. If she had one, when Aleila called that thief a self-proclaimed True Ancestor, Filo should’ve brought it up.
Too many holes. If only the real Blood Clan True Ancestor hadn’t left, they could’ve hashed this out face-to-face, sparing Aleila this headache.
Aleila stared, eyes heavy. In game terms, her HP? That hit took out half.
With the crowd mostly gone, she could use some special skills. Holding out a few dozen rounds was doable, but then what?
No way to beat her—just stalling wasn’t a plan.
A sweat bead rolled down Aleila’s cheek. The vampire girl moved.
But she didn’t attack. She reached into her clothes, pulling out a modest round mirror.
“World Mirror!”
Yup, one of humanity’s top treasures, lost eighty years ago. Why’s she pulling it out now?
Aleila’s eyes locked on her. The girl casually tossed the mirror over.
“Holy—damn, that’s the World Mirror!” Aleila scrambled, shifting to catch the arcing mirror with both hands.
The moment she grabbed it, as its former owner, she knew it was the real deal.
“What’s your game?” Aleila asked, baffled.
“My game? Just returning it. The World Mirror’s useless to me now, so here ya go. I came to hand it off, but you jumped me. Look at that hole in your chest—be civilized from the start, and you wouldn’t be eating this pain, right~?” The vampire girl covered her mouth, letting out a laugh that made Aleila wanna deck her.
But when Aleila glanced again, the girl was gone from her spot, vanished from the area.
“What the hell’s going on…”
Aleila’s head was lined with black streaks, totally spun by the Filo sisters’ mess. What was Filo thinking? What was this vampire girl thinking?
She sighed, her white-bearded old-man disguise fading, reverting to her original form.
“Am I getting senile…?”
Meanwhile:
Filo’s crew zoomed through the sky, but the long haul meant they couldn’t skip breaks. After days and nights of flying, despite Bingpo and Chiyan swearing they weren’t tired and could keep going, Filo’s nagging got them to agree to land and rest.
As they looked for a spot to crash, Lin, floating above Filo’s head, suddenly sensed something off. She pointed a finger at a spot in the sky.
“Big Sis! Big Sis! Something’s over there!” Lin blurted, pointing urgently.
Filo took Lin’s words seriously. Bingpo and Chiyan turned, flapping their wings toward the spot to check it out.
They figured it’d be some big bird or airship, random junk in the sky. But when they saw the “thing” in the distance, Filo couldn’t help but blurt, “Did I transmigrate again?!”
Lin’s finger pointed to a nearly invisible spiral tower, blending 99% with the white clouds, and a pure-white giant dragon circled it, letting out inaudible infrasound waves…