010 Competing from Both Sides

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"Don't spout nonsense, explain fullness and reserves," Li Qingming sent the thought.

[That's not nonsense, Mr. Li Qingming, but I respect your opinion. I will now begin the explanation of attributes.

[For Jingzhe, fullness is both the life value and stamina, which can be increased by consuming fear energy,

[Reserves are the fear energy absorbed in excess after feeling full. You currently do not have the authority to use it. Please follow the guide and continue to examine your attributes—

[Li Qingming

[Strength: 13

[Inspiration: 132/132

[Sanity: ???

[Secret Ability: None

[Treasure: None

[Collection: None

[Overall rating: 1

[The process explanation for the above attributes is as follows:

[Strength is determined by a combination of physical qualities such as power, speed, and endurance and also represents your offensive and defensive efficiency against the creatures of the Secret Realm.

[Your current strength is at the level of a full score in college physical education, which is the threshold of an intern vanguard.

[Inspiration is equivalent to what you would recognize as mana; your initial inspiration is terrifyingly high, reaching the above-average level of a Tier II vanguard.

[Sanity is the opposite of madness. Vanguards who have withstood many tests usually possess high sanity, but there are always more terrifying Secret Realms to wear them down until they completely lose themselves and become part of the Secret Realm.

[Your sanity… has exceeded the detection limit of the process. It seems you don't need to worry about this resource, so the process has decided to hide it.

[Secret Ability is a transcendental power, a collection is a transcendental creation, and a treasure is a collection used in battle.

[These three are the core resources for confronting the Secret Realm, and currently, you possess none.

[Taking all the above factors into account, the process has rated you as 1.

[Indeed, your inspiration and sanity are remarkable, but as you lack any means of attack, even the weakest creatures of the Secret Realm could end you. The process suggests…"]

"Starting to feel sleepy."

[Here is your first task!

["Rehearsal"

[Task objective: Within an hour, achieve the target of the Secret Realm in front of you with a medium or higher level of participation.]

[Reward: A Secret Ability or treasure exclusive to the Jingzhe character.]

[The process reminds you that violence eradicated by dominating will lead to task failure. Although there is no punishment for failure, the Jingzhe character's exclusive rewards cannot be obtained from the outside world and can only be provided by the process. I hope you cherish the opportunity.]

"Isn't there any other function? Like exchanging for a skill or something."

[You temporarily do not have the authority to manipulate reserves. Please follow… Fine, fine, fine. The process will now leave, and please use polite language next time. Although the process does not have emotions, your language can change its personality, like this—

["You're the fucking waste, Mr. Li Qingming."]

After a polite farewell, Li Qingming's vision finally cleared again.

It's confirmed now; from the perspective of exploring the Secret Realm, besides having more blood and stronger recovery abilities, there's no difference from before.

It seems that Jingzhe is a character who starts weak and needs to continuously devour to complete incubation to gain combat killing power.

In simple terms, it makes no difference whether it exists or not; it's just a matter of focusing on the Secret Realm and achieving the goals now.

With his thoughts settled, Li Qingming then turned his gaze to the people in front of the stage.

His expression instantly became quite a sight.

It's only been a few minutes, and they had already split into two groups.

At the moment, two sets of opinions were clashing head-on, arguing in a heated debate.

Zheng Ruixing, Cai Zhixin, and a few others were on the right.

The majority of the rest were on the left, led by Zhang Qingyi, who had changed into a skirt too early and was now forcefully directing the discussion.

Zhang Qingyi: "What does 'three nots and one wait' mean? Right now, we don't have to do anything, just wait for rescue!"

Zheng Ruixing: "But we can't just watch someone die! While Old Han still has breath, there's still time for surgery!"

Zhang Qingyi: "Haven't you watched 'Alien'? What else could be inside Han Chun's stomach but a monster? Besides, do you know how to stop bleeding? Can you suture?"

Cai Zhixin stepped closer: "This... let me say a couple of words, Sister Qingyi..."

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Zhang Qingyi scolded angrily, "Get the hell away from me, don't fucking call me sis."

Cai Zhixin backed away, "…Then… Zhang Qingyi, if there's really a monster inside Old Han, shouldn't we deal with it before it hatches completely?"

Zhang Qingyi, "Who gets to deal with who?"

Cai Zhixin, "Hmph, don't underestimate the strength of the men in our class four."

Zhang Qingyi, "Right, right, right, everyone just saw how a whole class was almost peed themselves scared by Li Qingming alone!"

Cai Zhixin, "That guy... he doesn't count as a person…"

Zheng Ruixing, "Wait a minute… In that case, although there might be a monster inside Old Han, we do have Li Qingming."

Zhang Qingyi, "..."

The argument suddenly stopped, and everyone turned their heads in silence to look at Li Qingming.

Li Qingming was unconcerned by this, while Ji Xiaoxiang, who had just wanted to step out for some fresh air, was scared stiff, hurriedly ducking back behind Li Qingming. She shut her eyes tightly and anxiously scratched his back.

Seeing her starting to twitch again, Li Qingming quickly rummaged through his backpack and asked, "Are you hungry? Want a chocolate bar?"

"Ah… it's not the really expensive kind, is it?"

"Cheap stuff, but safe quality, here."

"Aw… you're so kind…"

"You made me think of Miao Miao again."

This picture of blissful family moments also dumbfounded the two factions in the front.

Zhang Qingyi, "What is that thing behind Li Qingming… A child spirit he's keeping?"

Cai Zhixin, "Seems like it's that guy… the one who sits in front of him… Ji something or other…"

Zheng Ruixing, "Xiao Xiang."

Cai Zhixin, "Right, right, right, Xiao Xiang!"

Zheng Ruixing, "Let's talk about serious matters… It doesn't look like Li Qingming will really help us."

Zhang Qingyi, "Do you even need to think about that? Him giving us this saw sword is totally a trap, to use us to deal with Han Chun, or maybe even use us as bait to lure out the monster! I know your brains aren't enough, but how can you be so dumb not to even think of this? Do I really need to spell out the words 'using someone else to eliminate someone' for you?"

Zheng Ruixing, "Is that so…"

Cai Zhixin, "There is that possibility, but this also might be our only chance against Li Qingming. Think about it, if we can gain something from extracting whatever's inside Old Han, then whether we're up against creatures from the Secret Realm or Li Qingming, we'll have a better chance at winning."

Zheng Ruixing, "Agreed. I also feel that compared to the monsters of the Secret Realm, Li Qingming is the more dangerous one."

Zhang Qingyi, "Do you guys have any guts at all? No matter how strong Li Qingming is, he's just one person! He pulls out a couple of saws and you get scared shitless? Fine, give the saw to me, and I'll go fight Li Qingming to death, okay? If I die, at least I'll die like a man!"

Zheng Ruixing, "Stop! The saw is for saving Old Han, not for killing each other!"

Zhang Qingyi, "…Is Han Chun your damn dad? You two wouldn't be in cahoots, would you?"

Zheng Ruixing, "Zhang Qingyi! I've been putting up with you for a long time!"

Zhang Qingyi, "Put up with it then. You've been putting up with Li Qingming for three years, haven't you?"

Cai Zhixin, "Qing Yi, I advise you to keep a low profile…"

Zhang Qingyi, "Low profile? Why didn't you keep a low profile when you wanted to tie up Li Qingming?"

Cai Zhixin, "..."

Zheng Ruixing, "I won't argue with you, move aside, I'm going to operate to save Old Han."

Zhang Qingyi, "No way! Not while I'm here!"

And with that, the scene in front descended into chaos, with people pushing and persuading each other, basically just to keep Zheng Ruixing away from Han Chun.

In the middle of this disarray, Ye Qian, who was sitting at the back near the window, quietly stood up and inconspicuously moved closer to Li Qingming.

"Close enough," Li Qingming warned, raising his hand when they were two meters apart.

Ye Qian glanced behind at the crowd and crouched a little, speaking in a very low voice, "I'm about to say something very important. Don't shout when you hear it; it's enough if just the two of us know."

"Alright," Li Qingming said, feeling a bit tense as he watched Ye Qian's rigid expression.

Only then did Ye Qian take a deep breath and, with a grave look, began to speak, "I have a way to escape the Artifact, enough for two people."

"Get away!!!" Li Qingming suddenly jolted up, his eyes fierce as he gripped the sword handle tightly.

In a flash, his body was racked with itching and cold sweat.

After finally getting home, you want to drive me away?

Not even the most terrifying master could drive him to such a state, but Ye Qian had done it.