Chapter 1056: No Way

The blade ended up burying into Gao Yang’s body.

He had teleported just in time to take the hit for Qing Ling.

Without the Golden Armor, Gao Yang couldn't block the thrust properly, but he managed to knock the blade awry with his body. The blade pierced his lungs before hitting Qing Ling's right shoulder. Qilin hadn't thought the punch would be enough to take care of Gao Yang, but it still surprised him that Gao Yang had reappeared in less than thirty seconds to save Qing Ling.

Then let's take both of you out together!

They had both lost their Golden Armor, and they were both badly injured. Their resistance to psychic attacks was greatly weakened. In Qilin’s current condition, he could still use Brain Formatting at full effectiveness once.

His eye darkened and flashed with a green light.

Whoosh.

Gao Yang struck before Qilin could act. He teleported Qing Ling away; the one taking a hit for her was his double. Covered in injury, Gao Yang and Qing Ling made two jumps to get a hundred meters away from Qilin before lowering Qing Ling.

Blood trickled down from the corner of his mouth. He paled, breathing unsteady. “...Can you still go on?”

“No problem.”

They were merely cheering each other up. Both of them were exhausted, their energy close to running out.

Were they athletes in a championship match, they would be the midfielders who had run themselves ragged through regulation time and now faced overtime with nothing left to give.

If not for the energy medicine they administered and their iron will supporting their bodies, they would’ve collapsed already.

“Yeah.”

Qing Ling grunted and popped her elbow back into the joint. Ignoring her bleeding shoulder, she splayed her hands and called her blades back.

“It seems that he can steal everyone’s Talents,” Gao Yang said.

“He can only use each Talent once, and for a short time.” Qing Ling had noticed the same thing.

“Go, Qing Ling,” Gao Yang said.

She knew what he meant: he would hold Qilin back until Qing Ling could get as far away as possible. The last two Rune Circuits were on Gao Yang and Qing Ling respectively. As long as one of them escaped, Qilin wouldn't be able to gather all twelve of the Rune Circuits, and the Spinning Top Plan would fail. Then once the duration of Equivalent Exchange ended, Qilin would either lose consciousness or die. Victory would be theirs.

It was a shame that Gao Yang couldn't use Spatial Jump again until the cooldown ended, or he would've been able to escape with Qing Ling. Even if he could use the skill, though, he wouldn't. The terrifying Lord of Puppets remained near the northern entrance of the park. If it wasn't taken out soon, everyone could die.

That was why Gao Yang hadn’t tried to buy time with Absolute Barrier.

Facing Lord of Puppets, he wouldn't last long. And Qilin could steal Absolute Defense from Gao Yang at the crucial moment. If he even did it for one or two seconds, Gao Yang and Qing Ling would become sitting ducks. Death would claim them at any time.

The most optimal plan Gao Yang could think of was to keep Qilin here while Qing Ling ran away with the Rune Circuits. Then even if he died—even if many more died—Qilin wouldn’t get what he wanted.

“I’m not going,” Qing Ling said.

“Qing Ling...”

“No way. Don’t even think about it.”

“Don’t worry. I have an idea—”

“No, you don’t! Don’t take me for a fool!”

Qing Ling wasn't stupid. She knew Gao Yang could barely survive ten seconds against Qilin now, let alone hold out until Qilin dropped dead. If she stayed and fought alongside Gao Yang, perhaps...they could still live.

Gao Yang understood. He suppressed a bitter smile, knowing there was no convincing her. Were Qing Ling the one saying she would keep Qilin here so that Gao Yang could escape, Gao Yang would never agree, either.

“Be careful,” Gao Yang said.

“You too,” Qing Ling answered.

...

During Gao Yang and Qing Ling’s brief discussion, Qilin had been busy. He stole Gecko for six seconds to quickly regenerate his severed fingers and left forearm. Then he stole Adept Horse’s Healing for nine seconds to roughly treat his injury.

During the process, he got a bad news and a good news.

The bad news was that he had lost connection with Ke Yo. it seemed that she had been found and rescued from his control. He had lost his lasting access to Strange.

Good news was that someone had attacked the Lord of Puppets. It began to absorb the energy of the higher lifeforms inside its area of dominance, sharing one-tenth of it with Qilin. It was the spider’s payment of gratitude to Qilin.

Qilin was paradoxically both weakening and strengthening.

No matter what, there was no extending the time limit of Equivalent Exchange. Qilin’s first step was using Lord of Puppets, second was taking out Gao Yang and Qing Ling for the last two Rune Circuits, and finally, he had to execute the Spinning Top Plan.

Qilin didn’t have a lot of time.

Being hasty could lead to mistakes, however. The less time he had, the more composed he should be.

He stayed where he was, staring Gao Yang and Qing Ling down for ten seconds.

During the ten seconds, Gao Yang and Qing Ling hadn’t initiated an attack, either; they stared at Qilin without blinking, daring not to let their guard down.

Finally, Qilin rushed toward Gao Yang, using Pestilence with one hand to conjure a gust of gray wind. It scattered into thin mist and surrounded Gao Yang and Qing Ling, closing in on them from thirty meters away.

That prevented Gao Yang from teleporting anywhere other than forward, where Qilin was quickly approaching them.

Gao Yang considered using Absolute Barrier, but worried that Qilin would suddenly steal his Talent. If the poisonous wind didn’t immediately scatter, it could be lethal to them.

Gao Yang didn’t have to speak to Qing Ling. They came to the same decision and charged at Qilin.

Gao Yang wasn’t going to face Qilin head-on.

They had lost the protection of Golden Armor, and they were weak. It was difficult for them to defend against Qilin’s Brain Formatting in this state.

When Gao Yang was only ten meters from Qilin, he suddenly grabbed Qing Ling’s arm, teleporting to the other side with her. As soon as they reappeared, something improbable happened: Qilin was already two meters ahead, as if waiting for them to rush into him.

Qilin’s clenched right fist flickered with red light, making a Fire Punch.

Boom!

Without giving Gao Yang and Qing Ling any time to react, fierce flames at several thousand degrees swallowed them.