Chapter 363 Beyond the Sky

The man took two seconds to finally process what was happening.

Then he flipped out on the spot: “You think this is funny?”

Xia Xinyan remained unfazed by his reaction: “I just don’t want to talk to someone with the IQ of a child; it affects my own.”

The man was so angry he almost laughed, his twisted expression ruining his flashy demeanor, making him look a tad more agreeable: “You asked for it with your toast.”

Xia Xinyan narrowed her eyes slightly.

She was just waiting for this moment.

Up until now, she hadn’t made a move because she wanted to see what methods this guy used to take others away.

If she could figure that out, it would be helpful for her.

Xia Xinyan wasn’t worried about this guy succeeding; on the contrary, he was wary of her—otherwise, he wouldn’t have bothered to show up and chat when she was the last one left, essentially playing a mind game that she had mastered in her previous life.

In battle, including before the fight, if one’s aura wavers by even a fraction, it meant they had already lost half the battle.

Besides, she could roughly guess what method this guy was using… judging by what he said earlier, it was something about a cult… now they called themselves Eden, and they appeared way earlier than she had imagined. It was very possible this village incident had been brewing for a long time and had just reached a boiling point.

If this guy’s so-called leader could command all the beasts and controlled people to act in concert, then using the abilities of foxes and dogs to perform transformations wasn’t a huge challenge.

The question was, what kind of abilities did this man possess?

Just as she was on guard, he made his move.

Suddenly, his eyes turned red as he faced Xia Xinyan, showing an extremely annoying smile: “Then don’t say I wasn’t polite; just because you’re on the leaderboard doesn’t make you powerful! Today, I’ll show you what ‘beyond the sky, there’s another sky’ means.”

Xia Xinyan’s expression paused for a moment.

Whoa.

She understood what this guy’s ability was.

Mental shock, one of the most brutal methods of mind control.

It was like wielding a big hammer in the realm of mental power—those who couldn’t withstand it would be obliterated to the point of not recognizing their own mother. To get down to the essence, this ability was somewhat similar to Xia Xinyan’s charm powers, both impacting the mental realm to control others.

The control methods were just different; Xia Xinyan’s ability could turn someone into her obedient dog, while this guy’s ability could only temporarily reduce the victim to a drooling, babbling state, easily led away.

No wonder those people didn’t resist at all and were taken away quietly.

But, well…

She was immune to this stuff.

—Not really immune; it was just that her mental power was higher than his, akin to a hundred-level boss standing still against a level-one newbie posing no threat.

Xia Xinyan’s mental power was strong, stemming from her inherent succubus abilities. Though she hadn’t used this power much, she had invested heavily in it; having a system meant you could do as you pleased.

As for why she could instantly discern this guy’s capability, it’s just specialized skills in their respective domains; among mental-type superpowers, it was even more pronounced. Usually, after one exchange, they could understand each other’s abilities roughly—of course, there are exceptions if there was a huge power gap, it would only be a one-sided show.

Like right now.

Xia Xinyan was even too lazy to react.

Seeing her nonchalant demeanor, the man thought he had successfully controlled her and laughed as he approached: “Hehe, those who dare oppose Eden, this is your fate.”

After pausing for a moment, he sighed with apparent regret: “Sigh, I was actually quite fond of you, but you clearly lack understanding of the greater picture. With such high strength yet having the mentality of an ant, it’s a waste of your talent.”

With that, he reached out, intending to grab Xia Xinyan.

Then… Xia Xinyan raised an eyebrow: “Are you done?”

The man paused: “Wha…?!”

Before he could finish, Xia Xinyan kicked him away, sending him crashing against the rooftop edge, leaving him completely dumbfounded.

She wasn’t controlled?!

How could she not be controlled?!

What went wrong?!

Overwhelmed with shock, he faced Xia Xinyan, who was walking toward him expressionless for the first time, and he felt the fear that the fat guys earlier had experienced.

That was fear of the unknown.

He had previously thought he understood Xia Xinyan and Ling Mo well, believing they were just a bunch of muscle-heads with a bit of fighting prowess. But in the face of his powers, even the strongest adversaries should turn into drooling idiots.

Perhaps he had never encountered anyone with stronger mental capabilities than his own; his confidence had swelled to an arrogant level. Thus, when faced with a beating, the shock it delivered hit harder than a generic loss, even impacting his worldview.

Yet, even so, he wanted to struggle.

So he used his powers against Xia Xinyan again.

At this moment, Xia Xinyan had already walked up to him, stepping on him and coldly stating: “I’ll give you two choices: one, tell me where everyone else is; two, die.”

With that step, she utterly crushed his last hopes and his shaky worldview.

He finally realized he wasn’t invincible after all.

As his relied-upon powers fizzled out, for the first time he experienced the fear of death, and he couldn’t help but shrink back, despite having lost all bravado still struggling: “You can’t kill me…”

“Then let’s see.” Without hesitation, Xia Xinyan swung her tail in front of him, poised to strike down—

Suddenly, the man’s expression went blank.

Xia Xinyan paused, and then she genuinely swung her weapon down; unsurprisingly, the man turned into wood.

She frowned slightly, looking at the wooden figure on the ground, deep in thought.

From the start, she hadn’t sensed any aura from this man, just like those fake goods.

But why could this fake move like the real thing and even use powers?

What was the capability of that fox?

Her thoughts were interrupted by a deafening explosion from not far away.

Ling Mo had finally taken care of the blob and its body exploded, corrosive liquid splattering in every direction like a two-legged kick to a latrine, releasing a mass of white smoke and making the already chaotic scene even more disordered.

Ling Mo’s mecha was in pretty bad shape too, a large area was corroded, and his right arm was even half melted, indicating that this battle wasn’t as easy as imagined.

After dealing with the monster, Ling Mo rushed over, jumping out of the mecha and onto the rooftop. Seeing Xia Xinyan still standing there waiting for him, he immediately hugged her, his tone full of relief: “Thank goodness! You’re safe!”

Xia Xinyan: “…”

She felt like this guy had completely forgotten their agreement.