Volume One: Entering the City Chapter Sixty-Three: Xu Anxuan Awakens

The baseball bat came down, and a zombie instantly collapsed to the ground. Xu Anxuan shook her hair and then looked behind her.

She saw the remaining five people split into two groups. Li Xinran was closer to her, appearing quite frightened, while the other four kept their distance, looking utterly terrified.

Seeing their reactions, Xu Anxuan couldn't help but frown. She remembered that Lu Yi had found Xiaowen and the others, and they said they had experienced that same dream.

Logically, having gone through such a dream and emerged from it, they shouldn't be acting like this.

Just then, Xu Anxuan saw Jia Jun staring in terror at something behind her. So terrified was Jia Jun that he dropped his baseball bat.

Xu Anxuan immediately sensed danger and turned, swinging her bat. She told herself, “This is a dream. As long as I’m not afraid, it can’t hurt me. I’ll survive, just as I’ve done before.”

The bat struck the zombie’s face, and the zombie’s neck gave a sharp crack; its head twisted and it fell to the ground.

But before Xu Anxuan could recover and prepare for another attack, a new zombie leaped down from the stairs, kicking off and lunging toward her back.

This sudden turn of events made the people behind her scream.

Xu Anxuan was startled as well, but she kept her cool, her mind focused on one thing: block the zombie.

Thinking fast, she dropped the bat, clenched her right fist, and swung it hard at the zombie’s head.

At that moment, Xu Anxuan sensed a change within herself. The dream, which had felt so real, suddenly seemed less convincing, and a faint power enveloped her.

Her punch landed squarely on the zombie’s head, sending it staggering backward several steps. Xu Anxuan felt a surge of joy and grew more confident.

She stepped forward and punched again; the zombie’s neck emitted another sharp crack and it collapsed.

After this punch, Xu Anxuan found herself a bit breathless, but she was exhilarated—she could feel a power awakening within her.

She understood that this was the talent spoken of by seasoned trial takers, and fortunately, her talent seemed to convert directly into fighting strength.

Xu Anxuan quickly grasped the purpose of this dream: it was meant for newcomers to face their fears, to train them, make them brave, and awaken their talents. That was why, even though she’d performed so poorly at first and was dragged into multiple layers of dreaming, she still survived.

It was that very dream which had made Xu Anxuan resolute and courageous, and now, in this new dream, her ability was on the verge of awakening.

Having figured it out, Xu Anxuan beckoned to Jia Jun, “Hey, what’s a boy doing hiding behind my back? Come on, you take the lead in this corridor.”

“No, no, no, no!” Jia Jun stammered repeatedly, waving his hands, “That’s suicide—I can’t, I won’t.”

“Yeah, Xu Anxuan, this is too scary. Why don’t you do it instead? Jia Jun’s never done anything like this,” Xiaowen suddenly stepped forward, trying to defend him.

Xu Anxuan raised her eyebrows. Only now did she realize just how unreliable those around her were. No wonder Li Xinran and Lu Yi preferred to go solo once they paired up.

Of course, her thoughts were colored by her ignorance of what tricks the seasoned trial takers had played.

“Xiaowen, Lu Ningyu, are you going or not?” Xu Anxuan picked up the bat and looked at them.

Seeing everyone shake their heads, Xu Anxuan sighed inwardly, as if she had made up her mind.

Well, we’re classmates after all. I’ll help you this once, like Lu Yi did before. Whether you can see through it and stand up bravely is up to you.

With that, Xu Anxuan snatched a bat from their hands and handed it to Li Xinran.

“Li Xinran, take it,” Xu Anxuan said coldly.

“I don’t want to.” Li Xinran started to protest, but Xu Anxuan cut her off, “You don’t get to say no. You must grow stronger quickly, become someone others can trust to guard their backs.”

“Who?” Li Xinran complained, “Xu Anxuan, are you matchmaking me again?”

Matchmaking, Xu Anxuan’s face twitched at Li Xinran’s words.

She thought to herself, if not for our years of friendship and the fact that you once saved me, I wouldn’t bother telling you this.

Just as she was about to speak, a loud slam came from nearby—the door had been forced open. A zombie appeared, nearly two meters tall and with a bulging beer belly.

“How can this be? Why so soon?” Jia Jun wailed, “This kind of zombie shouldn’t show up now! It’ll kill us all!”

Xu Anxuan said nothing and swung the bat at the zombie’s head.

The zombie’s swollen face twitched. He swung his arm, knocking the bat from Xu Anxuan’s hand.

The zombie grunted, then raised his fist and punched at Xu Anxuan.

“We’re finished,” Jia Jun and the others huddled behind the classroom door, faces full of despair.

Xu Anxuan quickly rolled aside, then formed a fist again. She stepped on the zombie’s arm and swung her fist at its head.

“It’s useless, useless. We can’t beat this enhanced zombie,” Jia Jun and the others whispered in despair from the room.

As Xu Anxuan’s fist was about to strike the zombie’s head, the zombie swiftly raised its other hand to block her.

Xu Anxuan knew she couldn’t match the zombie’s strength, so she pushed off its body, flipped backward onto the floor, and the zombie’s hand missed her.

“An enhanced zombie on day one? We’re doomed,” someone behind Xu Anxuan muttered.

“No, this is just a dream,” Xu Anxuan told herself, “Lu Yi managed to defeat someone who could almost teleport. There’s no reason I can’t handle a slow-moving zombie.”

With that thought, Xu Anxuan attacked the zombie again, but this time its reaction was unexpectedly quick. As she charged, it read her path and punched at her.

Xu Anxuan dodged, but the momentum nearly made her stumble.

“Done for, we’ll be minced meat,” someone said pessimistically.

But Xu Anxuan didn’t give up; she staggered forward a few steps, dodging to the zombie’s rear as it punched the floor, sending tremors through the ground and splitting it with cracks.

There was no time for Xu Anxuan to steady herself. The zombie turned and punched again, forcing her to retreat again and again.

The zombie was moving faster now. Xu Anxuan assessed herself, feeling the power in her fists. She closed her eyes and smiled slightly. But so what?

I can do this, Xu Anxuan opened her eyes wide, changed direction, and dashed toward the wall. She kicked off the wall, her body springing across the corridor to the railing, tapped it, easily dodged the zombie’s punch, and vaulted from its front to its back.

The zombie seemed startled by this suddenly agile insect, growled low, and swung its fist again.

Xu Anxuan dodged once more, feeling her body unusually nimble—whether her strength had increased or not, she felt as light as a feather.

She dashed toward the wall again, this time running nearly vertically up to the ceiling, then kicked off the ceiling and shot past the zombie from front to back.

Yes, I can do this too. Feeling her inner transformation, the energy in her hands grew more vibrant.

She repeated her trick, jumping up to the ceiling, then launching herself at the zombie.

The zombie roared, finally raising its arms warily to block her.

But the zombie’s speed had also increased, and at Xu Anxuan’s current velocity, she would definitely be blocked. If blocked at that speed, things would not end well.

“Faster, I can be even faster,” Xu Anxuan focused only on the strong zombie, all fear gone from her heart.

Suddenly, her aura changed, becoming ethereal and elusive, and her eyes shimmered with dreamlike rainbow clouds.

“Ding, trial taker has awakened a talent,” the city’s prompt sounded in Xu Anxuan’s mind.

Xu Anxuan had no time to check the details. With her talent awakened, she became faster still.

“Good, let’s finish this with a punch. No, that’ll get me hit—cut it instead.” Xu Anxuan loosened her fist, shaping her hand into a blade. Strange energy surged to her palm, condensing into a blade of light.

Xu Anxuan adjusted her movement, swiftly flying over the zombie’s shoulder before its arms could close, slashing its neck with the light blade.

Landing, Xu Anxuan rolled and stopped, half-crouched with her left hand on the floor, the blade of light in her right hand flickering.

A muffled sound echoed—the zombie’s arms closing. The zombie stood still for a moment, then its head slowly slid from its neck and its body collapsed.

Xu Anxuan released her right hand and stood up. Though the sequence seemed complex, it all happened in a flash.

Only now did Xu Anxuan have time to check the city’s information, and upon seeing it, she paused, then smiled confidently.

“Spirit of Soul Dream: Possesses high resistance to dreams and illusions, can quickly distinguish reality from fantasy, and can wield certain construct abilities within illusory worlds. Can, without external aid, cause other living beings to enter illusions or dreams woven by oneself.

Current development level: Low.”