The Yaoguang zombie saw Yang Bin blocking the window and flew into a rage, lunging straight at him.
Yang Bin's expression hardened. He gripped the Barbell Rod tight and swung for the creature's skull.
The zombie blurred sideways, dodging the strike with ease, then planted another kick square in Yang Bin's chest that sent him crashing to the floor. It pivoted and smashed through the window glass.
But Yang Bin was already moving. From the ground, he shot both arms out and locked them around the zombie's thigh, hauling it back inside by sheer force.
The zombie snarled, jaws gaping wide, and lunged for his throat.
That's when Chen Hao struck. He'd been waiting for exactly this opening-the fire axe came down in a vicious arc and buried itself in the zombie's skull.
Not deep enough. The blade lodged in bone but failed to split the head apart.
The zombie reeled from the blow and lashed out, five claws raking across Chen Hao's chest before he could pull back. Five gashes, deep enough to show bone.
Then it kicked Yang Bin away and launched itself at the window again.
Chen Hao gritted his teeth against the pain, copied Yang Bin's move, and bear-hugged the zombie's thigh. Dragged it right back in.
"......"
The zombie was ready to lose its mind.
Are my thighs really that goddamn huggable!?
Just as it raised a claw toward Chen Hao's head, Yang Bin slammed into it from behind, driving it face-first into the floor and pinning it with his full weight.
He wrenched the axe free from its skull and brought it down again. Hard.
"GRAAAH-"
The zombie thrashed, trying to throw him off.
But Yang Bin and Chen Hao clung to it like their lives depended on it-because they did. Wounded as it was, the creature couldn't generate enough force to break their hold.
Yang Bin ripped the axe out. Swung again.
This time the blade sank deep, cracking through bone.
The zombie's struggles weakened.
Yang Bin wasn't about to gamble. He pulled the axe free and chopped again.
And again.
He didn't stop until the skull was nearly split in two.
The zombie finally went still.
"Haaah..."
Both men collapsed backward, chests heaving.
Killing this thing had been an absolute nightmare.
Good thing Yang Bin had brought Chen Hao along. Solo? There was a real chance the zombie would've killed him instead.
The gap between Tier-5 and Yaoguang Realm was no joke.
Yang Bin rolled over and dug into the zombie's cracked skull, prying out the crystal.
He held it up. The crystal was a deep red verging on purple, pulsing faintly in his palm.
A grin spread across his face.
Difficult? Absolutely. Worth it? Every second.
"So this is a Yaoguang Realm crystal." Chen Hao leaned in, eyes bright despite the blood soaking his shirt. "Definitely different from the others."
"Bin-ge, eat it now. Let's see what Yaoguang Realm's all about."
"Mm."
Yang Bin nodded and swallowed the crystal.
Almost immediately, a torrent of energy flooded his body-more massive than anything he'd absorbed before. Not even close.
The first Yaoguang star in his mind blazed to life.
And as it ignited, Yang Bin's consciousness was pulled somewhere else entirely.
He stood in a Void Space.
Countless motes of light drifted around him like fireflies, filling the darkness in every direction.
"Where the hell am I?"
Nothing existed here except those lights. The surrounding darkness was absolute-pure, depthless black.
Yang Bin didn't dare move. One wrong step might send him plummeting into oblivion.
He studied the drifting motes and, out of habit, activated True Vision Eye.
His eyes went wide.
Every single light was a Special Ability.
Ice spikes. Fireballs. Lightning. Wind blades. Extreme speed. Dozens-hundreds-of different powers, scattered across the void like a cosmic lottery.
"This..."
"Is this the reward for lighting a star?"
"Does everyone who reaches this stage randomly gain a Special Ability?"
Excitement surged through him. If that was true, then Yaoguang Realm wasn't just a physical upgrade.
Maybe Yaoguang Realm was where real evolution began.
Everything before-all those stages-had just been body conditioning.
Only at Yaoguang Realm did you gain actual power.
Ability users who'd awakened early were the anomalies, the exceptions to the rule.
Once everyone reached Yaoguang Realm, the ability users' head start would shrink considerably.
Though having one extra ability on top of whatever you picked here still counted for something.
Yang Bin deactivated True Vision Eye. Without it, the motes were just featureless white dots-impossible to tell apart.
"So everyone else gets random... and I get to choose?" A slow grin crept across his face.
Questions could wait. First-find something worth taking.
He reactivated True Vision Eye and began scanning through the constellation of lights.
The abilities all appeared to be basic-tier, but any single one would be an overwhelming advantage against ordinary evolvers. A dimensional gap in combat power.
So many options. Yang Bin's head spun trying to evaluate them all.
Then he felt it-a pulling force, tugging at his consciousness, trying to drag him out of the Void Space.
His heart clenched. Time was running out.
He'd already shortlisted a few candidates. If it came down to it, any of them would double his fighting strength.
But none of them felt right. Not quite.
One last sweep of the distant motes-
His gaze locked onto something.
"That one."
He stared at it, willing it toward him, not knowing what else to do.
The light moved on its own. It shot forward and sank into the space between his brows.
Dizziness crashed over him like a wave. When Yang Bin opened his eyes, he was back in the room, sitting exactly where he'd been.
Chen Hao was crouched beside him, face tight with worry.
"Bin-ge, you're finally awake! You scared the shit out of me!"
Relief flooded Chen Hao's features the moment their eyes met.
"Was I out long?" Yang Bin asked.
"Not too long. Five minutes, maybe. But you were just sitting there with your eyes closed, completely still-anyone would freak out."
"Oh. Five minutes." Yang Bin exhaled. "That's fine."
He'd genuinely been worried that time flowed differently in the Void Space. If ten days had passed out here, Zhao Kun and the others would've been gnawed down to bones by now.
"So? How is it, Bin-ge? What's Yaoguang Realm feel like?" Chen Hao's curiosity was practically vibrating off him.
"Yaoguang Realm..." Yang Bin paused, searching for the right words. "It's a completely different level."
He turned his attention inward, probing the new landscape of his mind. Something was there that hadn't been before.
The ability he'd chosen.
But that wasn't all. His original ability had changed too.
"My ability upgraded." Surprise and satisfaction in equal measure. He'd suspected reaching Yaoguang Realm would trigger a transformation-but the Void Space selection on top of that? Unexpected bonus.
He could feel the change. Had a rough sense of what it could do.
Yang Bin activated True Vision Eye and focused on the table beside him. His Mental Energy gathered, concentrated-
The table lifted off the floor.
"Telekinesis." The word formed in his mind with quiet certainty. How strong it was would take real testing to determine.
Beside him, Chen Hao watched the table float into the air. His eyes looked ready to pop out of his skull.
"Bin... Bin-ge, the table... the table is flying!"
"Yeah, it's flying." Yang Bin set it back down with a smirk. "Relax. It's just one of the upgrades. Don't make it weird."
"Let's go. Zhao Kun and the others need backup. Once we clear out the rest of these zombies, I'll explain everything. Yaoguang Realm changes... a lot."
"Got it!"