Xiao Nian didn’t have time to react and quickly covered her ears and closed her eyes.
The next moment, an even more powerful sound erupted, shaking the withered trees around the square so violently that they trembled.
Xu Liunian clenched her eyes shut, feeling dizzy and disoriented. Even as the sound began to fade, the vertigo lingered stubbornly.
Chu Tianqiu, unable to wait any longer, forced himself to stand up, eyes wide open.
“What the hell is this…?” He muttered, taking slow steps forward, his gaze locked onto the glowing words on the screen. “I need to find this person…”
Xu Liunian lifted her head in confusion, only to see another line of shimmering text appear on the screen.
**“I hear the echoes of ‘Shatter All Laws’!”**
Chu Tianqiu inched closer to the screen, murmuring under his breath, “Shatter All Laws… brilliant… absolutely brilliant… With this person’s ability, I could… But who are you?”
Xiao Nian, watching from the side, felt an indescribable unease about Chu Tianqiu.
He seemed… terrifying.
—
A gentle breeze swept across the rooftop.
Zhang Shan’s body creaked as he pushed himself up with both hands, lifting the massive boulder that had pinned him down.
The rock, weighing hundreds of pounds, slid off him as effortlessly as a blanket being thrown aside at dawn, plummeting into the void below.
The boulder snapped part of the rope as it crashed into the abyss, unleashing a deafening roar.
Qiao Jiajin shuddered slightly, the stone covering him scattering like dandelion seeds in the wind, dissolving into countless glittering motes of light.
The two men stood up in unison, shoulder to shoulder.
An overwhelming aura of danger radiated from them.
Xiao Xiao took a cautious step back.
What did those two chimes mean?
Had these two just **echoed**?
They were already formidable fighters—if they now wielded **echoes** as well…
“Old Sun!” Xiao Xiao turned and slapped Old Sun hard across the face. “Wake the hell up!”
The blow was so forceful that Old Sun’s dazed eyes flickered back to awareness.
“Huh? Wh-what’s going on?” he mumbled.
“We’ve got trouble! Get ready!”
Old Sun snapped back to reality and saw the two men they had subdued now standing unharmed before them.
“Why aren’t they hurt?” He shook his head. “Don’t worry… leave it to me…”
His eyes locked onto Qiao Jiajin as he tried to reinforce his mental suggestion.
*“This man can’t move… He’s a monster fused with stone… He can’t move…”*
As he repeated the mantra, strange distortions began forming around Qiao Jiajin.
Unfazed, Qiao Jiajin slowly raised a hand and said coldly, “Hey. No cheating. Come at me fair and square.”
The moment he spoke, glowing specks flickered around him, attempting to coalesce around his limbs—only to scatter like dandelion seeds each time they nearly formed.
“What’s… happening?” Old Sun stared in disbelief. “Why aren’t you turning to stone…?”
“I said—fight me properly.”
“You can ignore **echoes**…?” Xiao Xiao stiffened, a sense of déjà vu creeping over her.
In the previous cycle, she had personally gone to “persuade” Qi Xia and killed the tattooed man before her.
She had laced their soup with a heavy dose of metronidazole, immobilizing Qi Xia and the others.
But when she drove a nail-studded plank into this man’s skull, Qi Xia had somehow broken free.
Back then, she assumed Qi Xia was simply strong enough to defy **echoes**—but now she realized the true threat wasn’t Qi Xia.
It was this punk.
In his dying moments, he had unleashed a fragment of **echo** power—but since he never heard the **chime**, he couldn’t retain the memory.
“So you were the most dangerous one all along…” Xiao Xiao’s expression darkened. “How terrifying…”
Zhang Shan stepped forward, bypassing Qiao Jiajin to stand before Xiao Xiao.
Qiao Jiajin sensed an eerie wind emanating from Zhang Shan—his presence had shifted unnaturally.
“No need to waste words on her.” Zhang Shan swung his fist with devastating force.
Xiao Xiao steadied herself, channeling all her conviction into **Transfer Misfortune**.
**BOOM!**
A dull impact resounded—Xiao Xiao remained standing, but Zhang Shan was sent flying.
His body soared through the air, covering nearly eight meters before crashing violently to the ground.
The sheer absurdity of the scene was something only seen in movies.
A bead of sweat trickled down Xiao Xiao’s forehead.
*What kind of power was that?*
If **Transfer Misfortune** hadn’t worked, she’d be dead.
“Ha… hahaha!” She pointed at Zhang Shan’s crumpled form, her face contorted in manic glee. “Hoist by your own petard!”
Even someone like him couldn’t survive such a backlash.
“Serves you ri—”
Before she could finish, Zhang Shan stood up, brushing dust off his clothes.
His chest had caved in—yet it was visibly regenerating at an alarming rate.
“One punch didn’t work? Then two.” He strode forward again, utterly unfazed. “Let’s see how many you can block.”
“Bloody hell…” Qiao Jiajin couldn’t help but curse. “Big guy, what the hell are you—?”
“Stay back. Don’t get caught in it.” Zhang Shan waved him off.
Qiao Jiajin wisely retreated.
Zhang Shan threw another punch—this time, the air itself cracked like thunder.
“If you hit me, it won’t be me who dies!” Xiao Xiao shrieked. “It’ll be that punk!”
**CRACK!**
Qiao Jiajin didn’t flinch—but when Zhang Shan’s fist struck Xiao Xiao, his own body erupted in a shower of glowing white sparks.
Xiao Xiao froze.
She had **transferred** the blow to the punk—so why wasn’t he hurt?
“Two punches didn’t work? Then three.” Zhang Shan cracked his knuckles. “Keep redirecting. See who breaks first.”
Xiao Xiao frantically scanned the bridge. There were only four people here—who else could she shift the damage to?
Old Sun?
If he died, she’d be even more vulnerable.
“Old Sun! **Return to Origin**!” she screamed.
“R-right!”
As Zhang Shan advanced again, Xiao Xiao stumbled backward in panic.
Old Sun raised both hands, chanting under his breath as he waved them at Zhang Shan.
*“Crush him… bury him… let the skies rain stones… flatten him into paste…”*
“Oi!” Qiao Jiajin barked. “Didn’t I tell you to stop cheating?!”
The moment he spoke, a downpour of radiant white light cascaded from above, transforming the battlefield into a sea of shimmering stars.
Despite the spectacle, not a single stone materialized.
“Wh-what the—?” Old Sun’s eyes flew open in shock. He had expected a hail of boulders—not this ethereal glow. “What is this?!”
“OLD SUN!!” Xiao Xiao’s voice was raw with desperation.
Old Sun immediately turned and reached for her, muttering another incantation.
Within seconds, stone armor encased Xiao Xiao’s body.
Zhang Shan ignored Old Sun, coiling his entire upper body before unleashing another earth-shattering punch.
Xiao Xiao clenched her eyes shut, straining to focus her will.
But the sheer force of Zhang Shan’s strike made it impossible to concentrate.
*Who could she make take this hit?!*
Another dull impact—and this time, it was Xiao Xiao who went flying.
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