Chapter 92: Awakening and the Dream of an Alien Body (End)

"Monster, I told you to hand over the Cheng family head's Spacetime Ring!"

Receiving no reply, Lu Shan grew furious out of embarrassment. He slammed his foot down onto Nangong Yuchen's chest and roared harshly.

"Puh!" Caught off guard by the sudden stomp, Nangong Yuchen coughed up a mouthful of blood and nearly passed out. Yet, he gritted his teeth and endured the agony, because he could feel that the black veins had already spread to his fingers and toes. Just a little more time! He would be able to tear the man before him limb from limb!

"What kind of look is that, you monster? Do you believe I'll hack you to pieces with a single blade?" Meeting those crimson eyes, Lu Shan shuddered slightly, as if he caught a glimpse of monstrous killing intent within them.

Thinking better of it, his anger flared even higher. He deemed the creature beneath his feet—neither human nor beast—completely ignorant of the value of life. Had the Spacetime Ring not been a specific instruction from the family head, he would have dealt a fatal blow long ago. Why would he have dragged it out until now?

Unfortunately, in his current state, Nangong Yuchen was filled with such intense malice that he could not hear a word Lu Shan was saying. He merely glared fixedly at Lu Shan with those blood-red eyes.

"Hah! Since you're so eager to die, I'll grant your wish. After I slaughter you, I'll skin you alive to find that Spacetime Ring!" Before he could finish speaking, Lu Shan began to deal heavy blows. Raising his leg, he kicked Nangong Yuchen squarely in the chest once more. This time, the blow was even more ferocious, sending Yuchen flying backward.

Before Nangong Yuchen could hit the ground, Lu Shan wore a ferocious smirk, leaped up into the air above Yuchen, and roared, "I'll grant your wish!"

"Thud!"

Lu Shan stepped directly onto Nangong Yuchen's head, dropping down from a height of over three meters.

"Bang!"

Under such rapid impact and tremendous force, Yuchen's skull instantly cracked, and blood poured out in a steady stream. His normally dark, unkempt hair was dyed crimson in the blink of an eye, and his entire face, covered in blood, looked tragic beyond measure.

"Yuchen!" Nangong Kexin, who had just managed to get back to her feet nearby, witnessed this scene. Her heart shattered. Tears streaming down her face, she let out a piercing, shrill scream like a madwoman. Rushing forward directly, she used her own small head to shove Lu Shan away with brute force, then snatched up the half-dead Nangong Yuchen into her arms, weeping bitterly.

"Little bitch, what are you..."

"Get away from me! I won't allow you to hurt Yuchen! Wuuu-wah... Yuchen!" Choked with grief, Nangong Kexin looked at the motionless Nangong Yuchen in her arms and nearly lost her mind. "What on earth did we do wrong? Wuuu-wah... Why do you have to kill Yuchen like this?"

"Heh..." Lu Shan was actually amused by her remark, then sneered viciously, "If you want to blame someone, blame the fact that you have cheap lives and offended someone you could never afford to cross!"

With that, he grabbed Nangong Kexin by the hair, hoisted her bodily into the air, and sent her flying with a backhanded slap.

Just as he prepared to finish off Nangong Yuchen, Nangong Kexin lunged forward again. Still reckless and heedless of her own safety, she threw herself over Nangong Yuchen's body to shield him with her own flesh.

"Get lost, you little bitch!" Blocked once more, Lu Shan finally lost his patience. Initially, seeing how pure and beautiful Nangong Kexin was, he had harbored selfish thoughts and thus held back from dealing her a fatal blow. Now, it seemed a lethal strike was entirely necessary!

At this thought, he raised his leg and kicked Nangong Kexin squarely in the back, saying coldly, "If you don't want to die, get lost right now!"

"...Wuuu... Yuchen!"

Hearing her desperate call, Nangong Yuchen miraculously opened his eyes once more. He looked at his tear-stained older sister so close at hand, meeting her gaze filled with profound reluctance and shimmering tears. At that moment, Nangong Yuchen felt the blood within his veins surge with unprecedented fervor, his heartbeat pounding with unprecedented strength!

"Ah! Hurry up and spread all the way!" Nangong Yuchen roared angrily in his heart. He could feel that the black veins were mere fractions of an inch away from his fingers and toes, yet they had stopped spreading. Anxiety, reluctance, and raging fury consumed him!

Previously, he would have naturally wished these black veins would never cover him entirely. But now, he longed for them, hoping they would blanket his entire body. Because right now, he needed power—power to save Kexin, even if it meant turning into a monster himself!

At that moment, Lu Shan delivered another kick. Unable to hold it back any longer, Nangong Kexin spat a mouthful of blood directly onto Nangong Yuchen's face. He felt the pungent stench of blood so close, so suffocatingly close to his heart.

"Go away..." Nangong Yuchen grew even more anxious and furious. He desperately wanted to push his sister away, but he was too weak to even raise his hand. He could only watch as Nangong Kexin coughed up blood continuously.

"Get lost..."

"Bang! Bang!"

Barely half a minute passed. With an ashen face, Lu Shan landed a dozen consecutive kicks, while Nangong Kexin uttered not a single word. Supporting her weight with her hands on the ground, she endured every single blow with sheer fortitude.

"Keep spreading, damn it!" Looking at his sister's pale and swaying delicate face, Nangong Yuchen roared furiously at the black veins. Yet, no matter how he screamed, the black veins remained utterly motionless.

"Kexin... I've failed you. I'm the one who failed to protect you! Ah!" Driven by grief and anxiety, Nangong Yuchen's eyes began to bleed, for his last remaining hope had been shattered. He had hoped to use his transformation into a monster to gain power, but the motionless black veins plunged him into despair.

"Cough!"

Perhaps due to the cruel twist of fate, just as Nangong Yuchen tried to speak, Nangong Kexin spat out another mouthful of blood. The scalding droplets fell one by one, striking his face—which was contorted with bulging veins—and slipping into his slightly parted lips.

"Drip, drop!" The instant the blood entered Nangong Yuchen's body, his heart gave a violent thud, much like a single droplet falling into a calm lake and stirring up ripples of waves. In the very next moment, the black veins across his entire body surged to completion, instantly contracting at high speed as they converged toward the center of his brow.

"Since you two want to die together, I'll grant your wish! Obliterating Ice Dragon Slash!" Gradually, Lu Shan's patience wore thin. Annoyed, he retreated a few steps to the side, gripped his long blade, and brought it down in a single slash. A pale blue, three-meter blade projection tore through the air, plunging forward and reaching the small of Nangong Kexin's back in the blink of an eye.

At this critical juncture, the surrounding time suddenly slowed down countless times. The blade's radiance cleaved toward Nangong Kexin's back inch by inch at a visible speed, radiating a bone-chilling cold. If it struck true, both of them would likely be sliced in half!

Meanwhile, atop a distant rooftop, Mu Lin softly murmured to the deeply tense Angel, "Demons thirst for blood. Look, he is about to awaken! A royal demon of the Flame-Guarded Night Earl bloodline is finally about to wake here in the northern territories!"

"Thump, thump!"

True to her words, the moment her voice trailed off, a heartbeat echoed through the surroundings, suddenly accelerating as if the very heart of the earth had awakened with a start!

"Ah!" Mortally wounded and dying beneath Nangong Kexin, Nangong Yuchen suddenly surged back to life. At that moment, he threw back his head and roared toward the heavens, his voice of grievance and fury echoing across the skies like sharp blades.

"Puff, puff, puff!"

The roar continued to reverberate as plumes of blood erupted from Nangong Yuchen's back. Immediately following, a pair of bat-like wings, born amidst the blood, unfurled and spread wide!

"Screech!" At that moment, the blade light finally arrived. Just as it was about to cleave into Nangong Kexin's back, the bat wings moved with incredible agility, folding forward to enclose Nangong Kexin tightly within Nangong Yuchen's embrace.

"Clang!" A thunderous crash echoed. The twin wings remained completely undamaged, then snapped open violently, deflecting the blade light and sending it hurtling away!

"You... you..." Lu Shan's face twitched as he stared in disbelief at the massive wings before him. He had never heard of such a monster in his life. Panic set in immediately, especially when he realized the creature had blocked his mecha skill!

Nangong Yuchen slowly stood up. After gently laying his unconscious sister down on the ground, he spread his wings and hovered in mid-air. Casting an icy glare at Lu Shan, who had retreated not far away, he let out a savage, roaring hiss: "Lu family! Lu Shijie! You all deserve to die!"

"Die!" He placed immense emphasis on the final word, his hissed roar laced with monstrous hatred.

At this moment, Nangong Yuchen possessed a pair of bat wings on his back, and all the black veins on his body had converged between his brows, forming a dark, flame-like mark. His eyes remained crimson, and apart from his facial skin being slightly paler than when he was fully human, his features had not changed dramatically.

The most drastic change was in his hands: his five fingers now featured elongated red nails resembling sharp talons. Otherwise, he was identical to a human—not the terrifying, grotesque monster he had envisioned in his dreams!

"Are you... are you human, or..." Lu Shan felt a chill run down his spine beneath those crimson eyes. Turning hastily, he fled in a panic.

"Die!" Nangong Yuchen charged straight at Lu Shan, covering a distance of twenty meters in the blink of an eye. Before Lu Shan could even catch a glimpse of his figure, he saw a pair of red talons clawing directly toward his head.

Appalled, Lu Shan hurriedly raised his blade to parry. The moment they made contact, his heart turned cold; the terrifying force behind the enemy's talons chilled him to the bone. Before he could make any further move, his entire body was slammed violently into the ground!

"So weak! Truly so weak!" Nangong Yuchen's eyes held no warmth whatsoever, only boundless killing intent. Without giving Lu Shan a chance to get up, he grabbed him by the collar and hurled him straight into the air.

"Die, die, die, die!" Unfurling his wings, Nangong Yuchen soared through the skies. Each time he closed in on Lu Shan, five bloody claw marks were added to his body!

"Ah..."

"Die, die!"

Listening to the horrific screams of the other man, Nangong Yuchen's crimson eyes danced with flames of excitement. Rather than stopping, he pressed his attack, each strike deadlier than the last!

"You want to kill me? Harm Kexin? The Lu family?" Nangong Yuchen seemed to be talking to himself, yet with every spoken word, the talons in his hands grew heavier by a fraction. Before long, Lu Shan's cries grew fainter and fainter. Aside from his head remaining intact, the rest of his body was covered in dense, bone-deep lacerations!

"Bang!"

"Second brother!"

At that moment, Lu Yun arrived. Having searched for a long time along the road toward the downtown area without finding anyone, he had turned back, eventually discovering the traces of battle on the roadside and tracking them here.

The moment he arrived, he witnessed the scene of his own younger brother crashing down from the high altitude. Veins bulging in his eyes, he immediately drew his sniper cannon and blasted a round straight at Nangong Yuchen, who was still stepping on his second brother's corpse!

"Pay with your life for my second brother!"

"Screech!"

A blue beam of light tore through the dark night, piercing forward. In less than a second, it crossed a hundred meters and roared toward Nangong Yuchen. Just as he instinctively moved to dodge, he caught sight of his unconscious sister lying nearby. His eyes turned ice-cold, and he whirled around to intercept the blue beam with his bare claws!

"Whoosh!" Even as Nangong Yuchen's right claw blocked the light beam, the sheer impact of the energy forced him backward at high speed. Realizing he was about to collide with Nangong Kexin, he roared angrily, "Get back!"

With that shout, the talons in his hand lashed out, sweeping up a two-meter-long red blade-wave that cleaved the light cannon beam in two, sending the split energy exploding away into the night sky and the nearby road.

"Screech!" Yet the blade-wave did not vanish; instead, it hurtled at breakneck speed toward Lu Yun a hundred meters away.

"What?!" Far away, Lu Yun turned pale with fright, his entire body trembling. He realized then that his opponent was no human, but a winged monster. How could those talons cleanly slice apart a sniper cannon beam? What on earth was this...

There was no time to think. Dodging the blade-wave, he turned and fled.

At that instant, Nangong Yuchen's crimson gaze locked onto him. With a beat of his wings, his speed more than doubled, soaring to a hundred meters per second. The moment Lu Yun turned and took two steps, Nangong Yuchen was already upon him. With a single sweeping downward swipe, Lu Yun was smashed into a pulp of flesh before he could even utter a scream!

"As expected of the Flame-Guarded Night Earl lineage! He's this formidable even right after his initial transformation and awakening, before achieving full bloodline awakening!" Mu Lin exclaimed in surprise as she watched Nangong Yuchen fly back.

Then, recalling something, she hurriedly urged Angel, "Princess, we must take him back immediately, or it will be dangerous once he matures to the point where even we can't handle him!"

"But the prophecy also states: redeem the Tree of Life with the wish of love. If we forcibly take him back, will we be violating the prophecy?" Angel asked cautiously.

"We can't worry about that now. Let's take him away first and think about it later!" Mu Lin urged.

"Alright!"

Just as the two women stood far away on a rooftop, exchanging whispers, Nangong Yuchen on the ground seemed to sense something. With a sudden leap, he soared directly toward the direction of Angel and Mu Lin.

"Heh, what sharp senses!" Mu Lin and Angel spun around and leaped backward. A pair of wings sprouted from each of their backs—Angel's were pale blue butterfly wings, while Mu Lin's were cyan. Before Nangong Yuchen could spot them, the two women concealed themselves behind a row of residential buildings.

"Still chasing us? What an arrogant little fellow, just awakened!" Mu Lin found it rather amusing, then chanted aloud mid-flight: "O omnipresent wind elements from beyond the horizon, by the name of the Elemental Envoy, I grant you the power to cleave all things—Blade of the Hurricane!"

"Mu Lin, you..." Angel cried out in alarm, raising her hand to stop her, but she was a step too slow. The cyan wind elements in the surroundings instantly condensed into a five-meter-long cyan wind blade, slashing toward the pursuing Nangong Yuchen from behind.

"Princess, let's go. That boy will be fine!"

Back on his end, just as Nangong Yuchen rounded a building and saw the wind blade bearing down on him, he turned tail and dodged in panic.

Yet the wind blade seemed to be guided by an unseen will; it relentlessly pursued him, and its speed far outstripped his own! Realizing he could not outrun it, he spun back around and raised his red-clawed hands to parry.

Upon contact with the wind blade, he discovered just how absurdly powerful it was. His blood-red talons, which had easily shredded energy cannon beams, were utterly useless against this wind blade, shattering the instant they touched. To make matters worse, before the swirling winds wrapping around the blade even made contact, his upper arms were already lacerated by a dozen shallow cuts, leaving him looking rather miserable.

Fortunately, just as the wind blade reached his body, it abruptly vanished, otherwise, he might truly have been gravely wounded.

"Heh, just giving you a little lesson today to keep you on your toes!" Mu Lin said with a chuckle.

She spun around, but the smile vanished from her face the moment she looked at Angel. In sheer shock, she blurted out, "Princess, you... how could these curse seals be spreading so fast?!"

"Mu Lin, I'm a bit tired. Let's head back!" Unwilling to dwell on the subject, Angel hastily suppressed the black curse marks creeping up her neck.

"Was it because you used ice elements earlier to freeze the space they were in?" Mu Lin muttered, half in frustration and half in concern.

"Alright, Mu Lin, I'm fine. Let's go back!"

"How can you be fine? Princess, do you know how precious your life is? How can you repeatedly use elemental power over petty matters like this? You... hmph, I won't care anymore... You're simply too kind to them!" Angered, Mu Lin vanished into the night.

With a sigh, Angel hurried to keep pace, and the two figures vanished one after the other into the darkness...

Returning to Nangong Kexin's side, Nangong Yuchen worried about the master of the attack he had just faced, so he scooped up his sister and flew toward District C.

He still dared not return to his home in District D out of fear that Mu Ningxue would see him in his current state. Left with no other choice, he selected Xiyuan Gardens in District C. For now, it was his only refuge.

Beneath the bright moonlight, a dark shadow streaked through the air. Moving with lightning speed, he vanished in a flash and arrived at Xiyuan Gardens half an hour later.

"Mm..." At that moment, Nangong Kexin, nestled in Nangong Yuchen's embrace, stirred weakly and regained consciousness.

Finding herself suspended high in the air, she turned pale with fright and trembled. "Ah... why am I up here..."

"Kexin, don't move around, or you really might fall!" Seeing his sister wake up, Nangong Yuchen said happily.

"Yuchen?" Recognizing the familiar voice, Nangong Kexin turned her head upward and caught sight of Nangong Yuchen's face. Although his features were indeed identical to her younger brother's, she still asked uncertainly.

"Kexin, close your eyes, we're home!" Without answering directly, Nangong Yuchen looked toward his apartment building and banked downward for a landing.

"Ah..." Nangong Kexin, who had been closely studying her brother's face, let out a startled shriek as a sudden wave of weightlessness hit her.

Fortunately, the sensation passed quickly. When she opened her eyes again, she found that Nangong Yuchen had carried her down to stand right on their balcony.

"Kexin, look, I have wings now!" Seeing that his sister remained silent, Nangong Yuchen felt a slight tightening in his chest and quickly unfurled his wings for her to see.

At the same time, his crimson eyes fixed intently on his sister's expression. By doing this, he secretly feared whether she would despise him for being a monster.

"Ugh... I see it! Yuchen, can't you slow down for once?" Nangong Kexin slipped out of Nangong Yuchen's embrace, leaned weakly against the balcony railing, and repeatedly patted her chest.

"Uh..." Receiving no immediate answer, Nangong Yuchen felt a twinge of disappointment.

Just then, Nangong Kexin turned back around, her pale, injured face suddenly blooming into a smile. "Hmph! Nangong Yuchen! If I had known you'd turn into this, I wouldn't have shed so many tears. You liar, you big liar!"

"Really?" Nangong Yuchen pressed.

"Hmph!" Nangong Kexin tilted her chin up without replying, simply watching as the corners of her brother's mouth gradually curved upward in the moonlight. At that moment, she suddenly felt that Nangong Yuchen possessed an eerie, exotic beauty. Although he was no longer human, his current appearance did not frighten her, nor was it as grotesque and terrifying as she had imagined.

Instead, full of curiosity, Nangong Kexin stepped forward and reached out to touch Nangong Yuchen's wings, finding them quite wondrous.

"Clack, clack!" Just as Nangong Yuchen basked in the joy of his sister's acceptance, footsteps suddenly echoed from inside the apartment.

"Who's there?" Nangong Yuchen's demeanor shifted instantly to icy cold as he charged forward.

"Ah... A-A monster! Run!" Two minor thugs inside the room—minions sent by Zhou Ling天 to keep watch—nearly scared their souls out of their bodies when they saw a winged figure with crimson eyes and taloned hands standing on the balcony. Trembling, they screamed of a monster.

Hearing that word, Nangong Yuchen's killing intent surged uncontrollably. Because of what he had become, he detested that word above all else. Without hesitation, he sprinted after the two men, raising his claws to cut them down one after the other, tearing them in half.

Before long, the scent of blood filled the room. Suddenly, an inexplicable, powerful urge for blood welled up inside Nangong Yuchen—a craving so intense it was irresistible, akin to a primal, instinctive yearning of the flesh. Driven by this fierce desire, he unconsciously brought his taloned hand to his mouth, flicked out his tongue, and licked it clean. Then, with an unsatisfied look in his eyes, he turned his gaze toward the slain thug lying at his feet.

Just as he crouched down to act on the impulse, Nangong Kexin leaned against the wall and walked over. In a cold voice, she shouted, "Yuchen, what are you doing?!"

"...Kexin!" Snapped out of his daze by her voice, Nangong Yuchen hastily stood up, stammering in a panic, "Kexin, I..."

"Slap!" Instead of words, he was met with a sharp, resounding blow across the face, accompanied by his sister's heartbroken cry.

"Do you want to truly become a beast one day?! Ah..."

Beneath the moonlight, Nangong Kexin stood beside Nangong Yuchen, her pale face and reddened eyes trembling with anger and pain from her injuries.

"I'm sorry..." Nangong Yuchen lowered his head.

"Sorry? Nangong Yuchen, you listen to me carefully: you are not a monster; you are my most beloved younger brother! If you ever do anything beastly again, I will never acknowledge you as my brother!" Clearly furious, Nangong Kexin felt a sharp pang in her heart at the memory of watching Nangong Yuchen lick blood just moments ago. At the same time, a deep-seated fear gripped her—she was terrified that Nangong Yuchen might truly lose himself and degenerate into a true beast, which was why she reacted with such fierce anger!

"...Kexin." A wave of warmth washed over Nangong Yuchen. He had not expected his sister to genuinely not care that he was a monster. Still, he felt a knot of heaviness in his chest, thinking how wonderful it would be if everyone else could be like Kexin. He murmured with a bitter ache, "But I... I really am a monster!"

"Even if you are a monster, even if everyone in the world views you as a monster, you must live like a human being! Because you not only have to rescue our parents, but also avenge Lili, don't you?"

The stern reprimand struck Nangong Yuchen's heart like a lightning bolt. *Live like a human being!*

His sorrowful heart trembled at those few short words. *Yes! Even if I am a monster, I will live like a human!* At that thought, he abruptly raised his head, his eyes burning with newly ignited hope as he whispered, "Even if I am a monster—an alien race! I can still use this non-human body to protect this land!"

"Thump, thump!" Nangong Yuchen's heart hammered heavily, as if responding to his declaration, beating faster and faster until the blood within his veins boiled.

"Mm!" Seeing her brother regain his confidence, Nangong Kexin broke into a bright smile, wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes with her fingers, and nodded heavily.

The siblings exchanged a smiling glance. Yesterday's sorrow seemed to slowly fade away, replaced by a sturdier resilience and a burning dream!

However, shortly afterward, the blood boiling within Nangong Yuchen reached its absolute peak, causing his aura to shift once more and triggering an even more intense urge to feed.

"Yu... Yuchen, why... why are you looking at me like that?" Smiling, Nangong Kexin noticed that her brother's gaze toward her was growing increasingly fervent, laced with an intense, raw desire!

"Rip!" Her words were cut short as reaching talons tore her collar wide open!

"...Yuchen... what are you doing?!" Turning pale with fright, Nangong Kexin tried to scramble backward, but her battered body failed her; after moving just two steps, she collapsed onto the floor.

Before she could pick herself up, Nangong Yuchen threw his heavy weight upon her.

"Ah... Nangong Yuchen, I'm your older sister!"

Struggling violently, Nangong Kexin pushed against Nangong Yuchen's chest, but she could not alter the fate that awaited her.

"Yu...-chen! It hurts... wuu-wuu~"

Under the moonlight, Nangong Yuchen's parted jaws suddenly sprouted long fangs. Then, gazing at Nangong Kexin's fair skin, he sank his teeth directly into the tender flesh between her neck and shoulder!

"Puff!"

"Gulp, gulp!"

Before long, Nangong Kexin's cries and struggles grew fainter until she passed out completely. Nangong Yuchen, greedily drinking his sister's sweet blood, drifted into sleep right beside her.

Yet just before losing consciousness, two words echoed clearly in his mind: *"Demon!"*

As both of them fell unconscious, an intricate, flame-flickering curse seal manifested beneath Nangong Yuchen and Nangong Kexin. The rune moved slowly, spinning like a living thing—resembling an ancient magical array!

How much time passed, no one could say. The seal split in two, transforming into a pair of beams that sank respectively into the chests of Nangong Yuchen and Nangong Kexin...

——————

*PS: With this, the disaster and awakening arc finally concludes. Two chapters totaling 360,000 words were used to briefly recount the cultivation of human mechas in this world, along with Nangong Yuchen's awakening!*

*Having kept the perspective confined to the modest city of Ruxia, it is finally time to step out into the wider world.*

*The next arc, "All-Out War!", will officially unveil the world of the Seven Races and Seven Isles!*