Otherworldly Affairs Office

Chapter 1068: Fusion of Body and Avatar

"You’ve made quite some progress compared to before, but your companions may not think the same way, do they?" Pei Yan spoke, seemingly ignoring Nero’s punch aimed at him, turning his head to taunt his opponent.Could it be these two fools were only thinking about themselves and didn’t follow along? As Pei Yan’s actions caught his attention, Nero hesitated for a moment and instinctively looked back, only to find that two silhouettes were closely following without delay.

"Hehehe, made to doubt your companions with just a few words, it seems your cooperation wasn’t as tight-knit as one would imagine?"

Pei Yan’s mocking voice echoed in Nero’s ears, causing Nero’s eyes to redden as he turned and launched a second punch with a roar: "Pei Yan! How dare you–ah!"

Just as Nero turned his head, before he could clearly see Pei Yan’s figure, he only saw a hand stretched out in front of him, and with a gentle blow from the opponent, a layer of fine dust on the hand shot into his eyes like tiny bullets from a shotgun.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out, the tiny particles detonated instantly upon entering Nero’s eye sockets, striking his body’s most vulnerable part, causing Nero to scream as he clutched his bleeding eyes, his swinging punch losing precision and flailing aimlessly.

As the blast occurred, Di Xin and his companion arrived at Pei Yan’s sides simultaneously, both preparing to flank Pei Yan together. Yet, as Pei Yan’s figure flashed and disappeared in a blink, sensing the space’s ripple direction, the duo prepared to pivot and pursue, only to find themselves immobilized as if pinned down by an Immobility Curse.

"Since the game began, I’ve only used one Divine Artifact fusion, without fully showcasing its might. What makes you think I haven’t fused a second Divine Artifact?"

From behind came Pei Yan’s mocking voice, Nero roared, sticking two fingers into his eye sockets, cradling the debris and shattered eyeball, plucking them out. With powerful regenerative capabilities, his eye sockets rapidly regenerated new tissues, wiping away the blood with bloodied hands, Nero first checked his two companions’ status, soon uncovering the issue - behind each were shadow-like structures pinned with steel needle-like objects, restricting their movements.

With a sweep, two gusts of wind uprooted the needles pinning them down, restoring movement freedom for Di Xin and the other, Nero then turned to Pei Yan with a cold smile: "Is this your second Divine Artifact’s tactic? Your hidden trump card?"

"Trump card? Too exaggerated! They are merely trinkets for added fun while playing games with you," said Pei Yan as the scars caused by a divine catastrophe began slowly healing, his face no longer so hideous but far from pious. It’s a face that children would definitely have nightmares seeing, yet since emerging from the divine catastrophe chasm has maintained a constant smile, casually extending an arm to tear open a rift mid-air as he answered Nero’s earlier inquiries: "During my time on the Hell Plane, I encountered a rare race known as the Shadow Race, mysterious indeed, having once caught me off guard, tricked. Afterwards, my curiosity towards their racial gifts persisted strongly, and luckily during a Divine Artifact fusion that followed, I absorbed one related to the Shadow Race — isn’t this delightful?"

"Delightful? Hahaha! A race’s Divine Artifact described merely as delightful by you, hearing such words would certainly make the watching Demon God vomit in despair!" Nero spoke while eyeing his surroundings, signaling his comrades who understood, once more advancing to encircle Pei Yan.

"The formidable Divine Artifact used against you can only be described as delightful." While speaking, nearly intact mechanical clone, Pei San, stepped out from a spatial rift into the void beside Pei Yan.

"Bludgeoned to such an extent yet claiming it’s just a game? You certainly have thick skin, considering this a mere puppet to assist and reverse battle momentum at this point!"

Facing Nero’s skepticism, Pei Yan placed his hand on Pei San’s cloned shoulder, chuckling softly, "You’re mistaken, it wasn’t brought out to fight against you."

As he spoke, Pei Yan’s palm and mechanical clone contact point glowed white, the clone’s body quickly softened, turning into a metal stream that delved into Pei Yan’s body, merging with him.

"Is Pei Yan absorbing the clone to patch his damaged body?" Wang Wenze, seeing the turn of events, exclaimed joyfully.

"I recall Pei Yan once mentioned the clone had unique characteristics, it too underwent modifications during the reconstruction process, uncertain if Pei Yan can re-separate it after absorbing," Zhao Yuanhu thought back to Pei Yan’s words, pondering aloud.

"Separating it poses no problem; unlike other puppets, its distinct character allows Pei Yan to disengage it as desired; however..." Engineer Li observed the arena, eyes filled with a mix of excitement and concern, murmuring: "Merely, the puppet housed a powerful soul of slaughter. Pei Yan’s reluctance to merge previously stemmed from concerns it would affect his sanity."

"Right! That puppet sent by Blood Slaughter Bai Ze led to Yao Chu lying low for half a year before recovering, but wasn’t the soul eradicated? Wasn’t it reformed?" Ye Ruozai, recalling the incident where the puppet was handled, exclaimed in confusion.

"The soul’s been eradicated, yet its will permeated the puppet’s entirety, oddly, the deadly aura empowers the puppet; erasing it fully equates to destroying the puppet. The will while independently operated poses minimal threat, but merging with Pei Yan!"

"What consequence? Would Pei Yan be harmed?" Zhao Yuanhu pursued for answers.

"I’m uncertain, yet as you’ve noted, Pei Yan withstood the primordial slaying aura even from the Blood Slaughter Plane, his willpower should withstand post-merge impact, albeit concerned about his inner residual deadly source combining with the puppet’s murderous intent triggering chain reactions," Engineer Li pushed his glasses, solemnly surveying surroundings, marshaling urgency: "If such unfolds, the force may release Pei Yan’s darkest aspect, presenting a drastically distinct, even brutal Pei Yan."

"Phew, now I grasp the situation!" Jiang Feiyang sighed audibly, noting others’ gazes felt peculiar, rushed to explain, "Claiming understanding of Pei Yan, yet misconstruing concern! It’s not disregard; didn’t you notice?"