Chapter 10: Awakening and Eruption

“No...”

Barely clinging to life, Bai Yuxi coughed up a mouthful of blood, his voice barely more than a fevered murmur.

“What’s that? Speak up, will you?”

“Begging me to put you out of your misery?”

The man with the axe pressed his boot against Bai Yuxi’s chest, bending closer with a sneer. “Well, I suppose that’s only fair. We’ve got no past grudges, no recent feuds. But you know what? Luck just wasn’t on your side, running into me today.”

“I... I mean...” Bai Yuxi lifted his mangled, bloodied face, trembling as he reached out to grip the axeman’s ankle. “No... don’t...”

“Oh, would you look at that!” The axeman cackled, “You’re wheezing so hard, you’re making me anxious! Begging me not to kill you, is that it?” He grinned wickedly. “No can do. I’ve spent all this effort—no way I’m—”

“I... I mean... don’t stop!”

His face smeared with blood, Bai Yuxi forced open his swollen eyelids. The corners of his lips, still oozing blood, split into a crazed, savage grin. “Idiot! I haven’t had enough yet!”

A chilling dread swept over the axeman, making his scalp prickle. Years of honed instinct screamed danger—he tried to leap back, but the foot pinned to Bai Yuxi’s chest nearly sent him sprawling.

He stared in horror at the bloodied, slender hand gripping his ankle. It looked like a scholar’s hand—pale and unmarred by calluses—yet now it clamped down with the force of iron jaws, locking his leg in place, a leg that could have kicked a bull to death.

Suddenly, an overwhelming strength surged from Bai Yuxi. The axeman felt himself yanked violently upward, flung into the air as if riding a whirlwind. Sensing disaster, his battle instincts as an Overlimit Warrior kicked in; at the last instant, he arched his back and crossed his arms to shield his head.

The world spun. With a thunderous crash, the axeman was slammed into the ground. Blood spurted from his mouth, and the protective energy membrane around his body shattered in an instant.

Agonizing pain tore through him. He screamed, feeling as though his heart and lungs were about to burst.

Instinctively, he kicked out, breaking free from the hand that had nearly crushed his ankle. Curling into a ball, he rolled away and sprang to his feet.

Fortunately, Bai Yuxi—who was now half-crouched on the ground—did not press the attack. Instead, he slowly rose, rolling his neck and stretching his battered body. A series of sharp cracks echoed from his joints, and he could not suppress a grunt of satisfaction.

The axeman, blood still trailing from the corner of his mouth, stared in shock at Bai Yuxi, who had seemingly come back from the dead.

He could sense that the “superactive energy level” in Bai Yuxi was skyrocketing at a terrifying rate.

Panic seized him as he fumbled to activate the wrist-mounted computer on his left arm, which was emitting a frantic series of beeps.

“Warning! Target’s vital signs are rising abnormally!”

“0.6...1.2...2.4...3.5...4.6...5.7...6.3...6.4...”

“How... how is this possible!?” the axeman shouted in disbelief, slapping at the device as though it must be malfunctioning.

But the cold, mechanical voice continued relentlessly from the sturdy wrist computer:

“Warning! Target’s multidimensional hyperactive bioenergy readings are rapidly escalating!”

“100...400...1600...6400...25,600...102,400...128,000...512,000...”

The axeman was frozen in shock. The sight before him defied all comprehension.

A physical stat of 6.4 meant the opponent’s body was now 6.4 times stronger than a normal human, equivalent to a Level 6 Overlimit Warrior! Yet moments ago, this “Level 6 Overlimit Warrior” had merely been a newly awakened rookie, weaker even than the average person.

But in the blink of an eye, the rookie’s stats had soared, surpassing even the axeman’s own Level 5 Overlimit Warrior physique.

(Note: Physical stats are measured relative to the ideal condition of a healthy adult male. Modern people rarely reach perfection: 0.8 is robust, 0.5 is average, 0.3 is weak, and 0.1 signifies illness. These figures are for reference.)

The so-called “superactive reading” is generally linked to the physical stat. A Level 6 Overlimit Warrior can normally store about 100,000 degrees of superactive bioenergy.

But over 500,000 degrees of superactive energy—this meant that the seemingly frail “rookie” in front of him now possessed five times the normal maximum!

The only occurrence of such an anomaly was among the dimensional creatures, the MS-UMA, who could traverse rifts and invade Earth.

Was the being before him a humanoid monster from another dimension, perhaps even a proto-leader class? Or could this be the “supernova individual” among Overlimit Warriors—the secret to rapid evolution?

The axeman unconsciously took half a step back.

That involuntary gesture of retreat triggered Bai Yuxi’s explosive assault.

With a muffled boom, as if a landmine had detonated beneath him, Bai Yuxi shot forward, dirt and leaves spraying into the air. In a split second, he’d crossed several meters, appearing right in front of the axeman.

But despite his shock, the axeman was a veteran Level 5 Overlimit Warrior; his reflexes were razor-sharp. As Bai Yuxi lunged, his body reacted instinctively—he threw his chest and stomach back, narrowly dodging the claw poised to seize him.

“You nearly gave me a heart attack!” the axeman scoffed. “So much for your ‘supernova’ status. Turns out you’re not so tough after all!”

Having dodged the attack, he regained his composure, sneering, “Kid, being strong and fast doesn’t make you an Overlimit Warrior...”

Not every ordinary person could evolve into an “Extraordinary.” Nor could every Extraordinary become an Overlimit Warrior.

Given the population size of the Yan Nation, their number of Extraordinaries was the highest in the world. But most were simply people with abilities that barely surpassed human limits—far from being true combatants.

In the axeman’s eyes, Bai Yuxi was just such an example.

Though his earlier torment had triggered an abnormal eruption of anger, Bai Yuxi’s fighting skills remained as clumsy as those of someone who had never been in a fight before.