Absolute Choice 1

by Pear Lands In The Autumn Spring

  Shi Xiaobai faced the seated rookies as he roared with laughter. "There are still 71 more opportunities. This King will definitely achieve 'destruction before establishment', and eventually defend against your attacks!"

  "Tremble and be filled with despair, foolish mortals. This King will show you who is the true weakling!"

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  Chapter35 The Game has just Begun

  If Shi Xiaobai was the weakest rookie in [Annihilation], then wouldn't the person who failed to shatter Shi Xiaobai's Psionic Shield mean that that person was weaker than the weakest?

  The rookies subconsciously overlooked this possibility. Now that it was mentioned by Shi Xiaobai, although they still scoffed at it, they had no choice but to attach importance to it. Their gazes also turned more serious.

  Clearly, Shi Xiaobai had sought death, pushing himself into an extremely difficult situation.

  Hisith seemed to gain joy seeing such a situation, but even felt that it was not enough. He decided to give this matter a serious push.

  "I will judge the damage levels of your psionic offense before producing a new ranking in each team."

  The moment Hisith said this, the looks on the seated rookies changed. Even those with lazy expressions turned serious.

  Hisith's game was frequently related to the team's internal ranking. The people ranked nearer the top typically had a better advantage. No one wanted to lose out in Hisith's game because Hisith showed no mercy to failed "toys".

  And at this moment, Hisith wanted to rank them based on the damage levels of the psionic offense. This was no doubt a chance for the rookies ranked at the back, while the rookies ranked at the top couldn't be careless.

  Hisith was forcing the rookies to use all their strength.

  Shi Xiaobai's declaration that sought death and Hisith's suddenly announced rule pushed a new development in this boring game. Now, it was not a "sparring" session, but Shi Xiaobai becoming the touchstone for everyone else.

  Seeing that the time was ripe, Hisith flipped to the first page of the small notebook.

  "The game continues. Next, Song Nan."

  ...

  Shi Xiaobai was trying hard to suppress the pangs of anger in his heart. When the rookies derided Lingcun, he was truly infuriated. Although he had not known Lingcun for long, Lingcun was still a passionate fan of his.

  Shi Xiaobai naturally would not sit idle seeing his fan being derided, hence he chose the simplest and most brainless method.

  All of you mocked Lingcun as a weakling?

  Then, This King will let you have a taste of what it means to be mocked as a "weakling".

  Shi Xiaobai strengthened his resolve. Although he did not know if he could accomplish "destruction before establishment", he was not afraid of "destruction". Wasn't desiring "establishment" already enough?

  At this moment, a slightly plump girl came in front of Shi Xiaobai.

  "Song Nan. Nice to meet you!" Song Nan's voice woke Shi Xiaobai from his reverie.

  Shi Xiaobai stretched out his right hand as energy surged out. The white shield appeared once again. It still looked as broken as ever, and so thin that it looked transparent.

  "Ha!"

  Song Nan took a deep breath as her plump hand pierced forward like a spear. Shi Xiaobai saw two fingers stretched out from the plump hand, and at the moment she stabbed over, a sharp white beam shot out, striking the white shield.

  "Peng!"

  A hole opened up in the white shield instantly before it exploded into fragments, disappearing into nothingness. However, the white beam did not stop, it grazed past Shi Xiaobai's face, nearly striking him.

  At the moment his shield shattered, Shi Xiaobai felt a pain in his chest. It was as if all the blood in his body was flowing in the opposite direction, making it hard for him to breathe. He entered a daze due to the pain in his mind. When he snapped out of it, he immediately felt a lingering fear as he took a few arduous deep breaths.

  "Sorry!"

  Song Nan gave a reluctant look as she reminded him. "It's best you prop the shield to the side of your body. A few rookies are proficient at 'Psionic Penetration' like me. If you aren't careful and get hit by it, you might..."

  Song Nan did not finish her sentence. She sighed deeply and turned to look at Hisith. Seeing Hisith write something on the tiny notebook, she guessed that it was her results. She was perturbed because she had not held back at all and nearly failed to control the direction. She did not know how her results were, or if her ranking would rise.

  Hisith waved his hand, indicating for Song Nan to leave, as he flipped to the second page of his little notebook.

  "Next, Hua Pengju."

  A youth with dyed hair stood up. Smiling at the people beside him, he rubbed his fist, as though he was eager to try.

  As for Shi Xiaobai, his chest was rising and falling erratically. It was as though he had not recovered from the recent pain.

  "The more thoroughly shattered the Psionic Shield, the more burden it would cause the caster. If Song Nan's strike at her full strength is enough to cause Shi Xiaobai pain, then if it was Wang Lin, Song Xiao or Xiang Wu's full strength, would Shi Xiaobai be able to withstand it?" The seated Lingcun's eyes were filled with worry.

  At this moment, the youth with the dyed hair was standing in front of Shi Xiaobai.

  "What? You already can't take it? Hurry, don't you want to experience ‘destruction before establishment’? Where's your shield?" The youth noticed that Shi Xiaobai was still gasping and began denigrating him.

  "How can This King not be able to take it!" Shi Xiaobai clenched his teeth and produced the white shield. For this time, Shi Xiaobai heeded Song Nan's advice, and propped up the shield to his side, slightly further away from his body.

  "Oh? Don't you know that the closer the Psionic Shield is to the body, the thicker it would be? Why, by placing it so far, are you giving up? Or are you cowering? Don't you want to prove who is the true weakling? Do you dare to have a bit of courage? Can you be more like a man?"

  The youth disparaged, with a look of contempt.

  Shi Xiaobai was slightly stunned as a cold beam flashed in his eyes. He dispersed the shield and produced a new shield by the side of his body. This time, the shield was nearly stuck to his body. Shi Xiaobai could faintly sense that there was a difference in the thickness between the two shields.

  Suddenly, Shi Xiaobai's heart leaped, as if he felt danger approach him. He turned around and his pupils involuntarily constricted. The youth with dyed hair had suddenly appeared by his side, his fist mere inches away!

  This punch was too sudden. Shi Xiaobai did not have time to react, as the fist with white energy circling it hit the weak shield!

  "Boom!"

  The shield shattered but the fist did not stop, slamming heavily into Shi Xiaobai's shoulder. Immediately, a white light exploded like white fireworks, magnificently blooming from Shi Xiaobai's shoulder.

  Shi Xiaobai was instantly sent flying. After flying a few meters backwards, he slammed into the hard steel ground, issuing a heavy thud. Shi Xiaobai felt as though there was a surging energy in his body that was going to burst out of his body.

  "Wa!" Shi Xiaobai spat out a mouthful of hot blood.

  "Che, true trash that can't even take a beating." The youth sneered with disdain. He turned to look at Hisith and gave a flattering look as he watched Hisith write something into the small notebook.

  The expressions of the people in the seats turned slightly ugly. This youth with dyed hair was named Hua Pengju. He was always a prick amongst the rookies. Although he was quite strong, he had a terrible character. He was infamous, and only a few people with similar bad characters like him mixed with him. What Hua Pengju did clearly disgusted the crowd.

  "Not bad, as a toy, you are sufficiently 'fun'."

  Hisith's praise caused the rookies, who wanted to denounce Hua Pengju, to shut their mouths. Hua Pengju looked over
joyed as he began laughing out loud.

  And by the side, Shi Xiaobai was half-kneeling. He constantly coughed and occasionally spat out blood. His body was trembling intensely.

  Hisith took a glance at Shi Xiaobai and gave a sinister smile. Raising his hand to make a light throw, a poker card that appeared out of nowhere hit Shi Xiaobai. It melted into his body as a red light burst out from behind Shi Xiaobai, turning into the phantom image of a "Three of Hearts".

  "Stand up, my beloved little toy. The game has just begun."

  Hisith happily flipped to the third page on his small notebook.

  "Next, Ye Jiaquan."

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  Chapter36 Ye Jiaquan's Ye Family Punch

  The poker card, "Three of Hearts" caused everyone's breathing to stagnate, but wonder rose once again in their hearts. Why was Hisith willing to waste two precious Underworld Poker consecutively to "torture" Tu Dahei?

  With Hisith's strength, he could have easily set up a Psionic Barrier around Tu Dahei's body, protecting him from receiving any injuries from the afterwinds of an attack. But why did Hisith want to let Tu Dahei experience pain, even at the cost of wasting his Underworld Poker? If the first "Eight of Hearts" was enough to let the game proceed, then a second "Three of Hearts" looked like it was purely to abuse Tu Dahei.

  Could Hisith and Tu Dahei have some grudge, and this so-called game was purely a form of revenge and torture?

  The seated Lingcun suddenly thought of something, his eyes flashing as though he figured it out.

  "No, revenge and torture would not make Hisith feel pleasure. Only interesting toys and games can make Hisith feel happy. Maybe I have been misled from the beginning. It is very likely that Hisith doesn't want to 'destroy' Shi Xiaobai, but to 'accelerate' the ripening of the fruit. He wants his beloved toy to mature faster. Only then, will he be able to enjoy more interesting games. He has seen immense 'fun' in Shi Xiaobai, so he wants to personally dig out the 'fun'!"

  The luster in Lingcun's eyes brightened, but soon, his eyebrows frowned slightly.

  "If Hisith's goal is to make Shi Xiaobai grow rapidly through 'torture', then it means he sees the possibility for Shi Xiaobai to be able to have 'destruction before establishment'. However, even if Shi Xiaobai is a Psionic Ability cultivation genius, he would not be able to reach the 'Familiarized Proficiency' realm in 72 rounds of 'destruction'. Yet, he is attempting to do so. It can't be that he has seen the chances of success in Shi Xiaobai's body, right?"

  "Could it be that he has discovered some secret on Shi Xiaobai? That secret gives Shi Xiaobai the possibility of having 'destruction before establishment'?"

  Lingcun felt like he was nearing the truth, but he was missing the most critical piece of information. That information was hidden at an undetectable depth, so if he wanted to grasp the information, he needed to infer the true reason for Hisith to do these series of strange actions.

  "Silly Ye, use all your strength with the Ye Family Fist. Remember to open up a distance."

  After making up his mind, Lingcun tugged at Ye Jiaquan, who was about to walk to the platform, and said those words.

  "Ah?"

  Ye Jiaquan's eyes looked vacant, but after looking into Lingcun's resolute eyes for a few seconds, he nodded and said. "Me will follow what you said."

  ...

  ...

  As he was being healed by the "Three of Hearts", Shi Xiaobai quickly recovered from his injuries. After he stood up, a puzzled look flashed in his eyes. After having his shield shattered thrice, Shi Xiaobai began to realize that something was wrong with the shield he had propped up. Every time he used the Psionic Power, he would feel a strange obstruction.

  If the Psionic Power that surged out was described like water flow, then the obstruction was like a rock that was blocking the water flow when it reached the end of the pipe. It could only squeeze out through cracks.

  "Is this the Psionic Ability control that perverse instructor mentioned?"

  Shi Xiaobai clenched his fists tightly as a faint smile involuntarily appeared on his face. "This is the realistic feeling of power!"

  Ye Jiaquan, who had just finished walking down from the stairs, noticed Shi Xiaobai was smiling. After a momentary daze, he could not help but reveal an honest smile.

  "Dahei does not seem depressed at all. That's great." Ye Jiaquan thought in his mind. He scratched his head and said, "Me was told by Lingcun not to hold back. Although Me does not know what his plans are, but Me knows that Lingcun is always right, so Me will follow what he said."

  "However, Me will not hurt you. Prop your Psionic Shield further away. Although the shield is harder the closer it is to your body, the defensive effects might not be the best. Psionic Charge and Psionic Blast have a certain amount of penetrating power. Me thinks that the best distance for a shield is beyond the limits of the afterwinds.

  Shi Xiaobai was surprised hearing this. He could not help but ask, "What are Psionic Charge and Psionic Blast?"

  "Ah?" Ye Jiaquan was stunned momentarily. He scratched his head again as he patiently said, "Most psionic offensive skills are formed or derived from the five basic combat skills or combinations. The five basic offensive skills are Psionic Charge, Psionic Blast, Psionic Wavelet, Psionic Slash and Psionic Penetration. Just now, Song Nan used a variation of Psionic Penetration, while Hua Pengju used Psionic Blast."

  Shi Xiaobai recalled Song Nan's sharp white beam that penetrated the shield and Hua Pengju's white fireworks that bloomed the moment his shoulder was hit. Immediately, he understood the meaning of Psionic Penetration and Psionic Blast.

  At this moment, someone in the seats shouted, "Are the two of you catching up on old times? Do you know that there is a bunch of people waiting behind?"

  Shi Xiaobai turned his head and realized it was the youth with dyed hair. This rascal was truly like a ghost that lingered on.

  "Come on, Steel Wall Shaking Powerful Ox, let This King witness your punch!"

  Shi Xiaobai stretched out his right hand and propped up a white shield about a meter away from him. It was still as broken and transparent.

  "Alright!"

  Ye Jiaquan nodded his head heavily as he slowly bent his body. His fists were placed in front of his chest. Immediately, a powerful stance rose up. His honest expression disappeared and his tiny eyes burned with flaring beams.

  "The psionic offensive skill Me uses is Me's Ye family's special fist technique—Ye Family Fist!"

  The Ye family had a fist technique known as Ye Family Fist (Ye Jiaquan), and similarly had a son whose name was Ye Jiaquan.

  "Ha!"

  With a loud roar, Ye Jiaquan punched out!

  This punch infused all the glory of his family!

  Shi Xiaobai's pupils constricted slightly. This punch seemed to combine into the dozens of punches that happened at the back of the steel building in his memory. The white glow around the fist, the waves that surged out like ripples was both familiar and unfamiliar. It was as though the secret behind the Ye Family Fist finally revealed a tip of the iceberg.

  "This King understands!"

  Shi Xiaobai managed to finally see the true face of this white glow. It was spinning Psionic Power! No, it was not only spinning. The Psionic Power had a regular spiraling pattern in the form of wavelets!

  Ye Jiaquan's fist stopped one meter in front of the shield, but the white spiraling beam of light continued on forward, smashing into the broken white shield. The white shield exploded immediately as fist wind blew up Shi Xiaobai's clothes and hair violently.

  Ye Jiaquan had used all his strength, but his fist had stopped one meter in front of the shield; hence, what hit the shield was just Ye Jiaquan's afterwind.

  The shield shattered, but Shi Xiaobai was not in great pain. Instead he fell into an intriguing state of comprehension. The fist from before was constantly replayed in his brain. The white spiraling beam, the Psionic Power in the shape of ripples all seeme
d to tell him something in his mind.

  "Phew!"

  Shi Xiaobai took a deep breath and stretched out his right hand. Another broken white shield appeared in front of him.

  Suddenly, dense ripples began to appear on the broken shield, like circular wavelets that could be seen on a water surface.

  Someone in the seats suddenly exclaimed.

  "Wavelet Shield!?"

  "How can that be possible? Isn't it an E Class defensive skill? How can having only Psionic Ability control at 'Grasped Basics' be able to produce Wavelet Shield?"

  "That... How did this bumpkin do it?"

  "..."

  The white shield still looked thin and nearly transparent. It looked wretched, but ring after ring of ripples indicated that it was a "Wavelet Shield", an E Class defensive skill. Any offensive skill, defensive skill or movement technique above F Class required "Familiarized Proficiency" level of Psionic Ability control. However, from the thickness and level of perfection of the shield, Shi Xiaobai's Psionic Ability control was clearly at the "Grasped Basics" level. What was going on?

  Everyone fell into deep thought, even Hisith was not spared.

  Shi Xiaobai looked at the undulating ripples on the shield as his eyes began to burn. A smile appeared on his lips.

  "This is power!"

  With this thought in mind, Shi Xiaobai's desire in his heart intensified. He turned around to realize that Hisith was in a daze. He spoke loudly, urging him, "Hurry up and announce the next one. This King is unable to endure the thirst!"

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  Chapter37 The Absolute Choice that forcefully changes the Outcome

  Hearing Shi Xiaobai's urging, Hisith was momentarily stunned. Immediately following that, he revealed an odd smile. He flipped the little notebook to the fourth page, and announced, "Next, Xiang Wu."

  Shi Xiaobai was slightly stunned hearing this. As he dissolved the shield in front of him, he looked to the corner in the left. The man named Xiang Wu was in his opinion, an independent and free person, a person worthy of respect.