Chapter 53 Rune Array Imprisonment

Unseen by the live stream, Zhou Jiu ran rhythmically through the sand, leaving behind ancient runes and patterns that carried faint energy fluctuations.

Upon reaching the windy spot, the wind whipped up sand, and Zhou Jiu's spiritual energy floated around him. The wind speed noticeably increased as the sand followed the talisman patterns Zhou Jiu passed through.

Zhou Jiu piloted the mecha, using the energy blade held in the mecha's right arm to draw a void rune in the sand. At the same time, the entire mecha charged towards the level-five alien beast at an unimaginable speed.

Wind! Wind! Wind! The wind has actually come!

What just happened? Why does it feel like the wind is stronger after a week?

Did you guys just see Zhou Jiu's speed? I was only at 0.5, and I could only catch a blur of her.

What's been slashed on the knife? It's swirling in mid-air—what's it doing?

[Haha? Zhou Jiu didn't even hit her. I was just watching how she got instantly killed by a level five alien beast. She couldn't even survive a day. How is she going to try and scam Ye Yang now?]

[Are you kidding me? Does encountering a level-5 beast and not surviving a day prove Zhou Jiu is weaker than Ye Yang?]

[The energy blade doesn't seem to be ethereal; is this a martial art? Or something else? My mental energy actually activated when the blade slashed through the void just now.]

[Same as above. I was on edge the whole time, wondering what was wrong with me. I only realized I'd unconsciously activated a mental barrier after being woken up by my child's crying.]

[Oh, is it that exaggerated? You guys must be paid trolls.]

[If you don't understand, don't talk. We're all trolls, okay? People with mental alertness are at least sensitive to danger. Anyway, I just replayed that scene for our research institute's boss, and she automatically activated her protective shield. Our institute is preparing to study what she marked.]

[Is this some kind of unlucky charm? As someone who was tricked by unlucky charms and now firmly believes in them, I'm now wholeheartedly supporting Zhou Jiu.]

She's here! She's here! She's brought her bad luck charm with her!

She's here! She's here! She's brought her bad luck charm with her!

…

[Have they gone mad? What's a bad luck charm?]

[Go to Zhou Jiuxing's social media account and leave a comment below cursing her. You'll experience more misfortune than you've ever felt before. No need to thank me! Link below: ***]

[Wow, the number of viewers in the live stream has exceeded one million! Is Zhou Jiumo about to become famous? ???]

The sandstorm raged on, causing the level-five beasts to tumble and roll in a fixed position. Zhou Jiu's mecha remained completely unaffected by the sandstorm, as if it were encased in a thick energy shield. The sandstorm whistled past Zhou Jiu's movements, and Zhou Jiu, wielding an energy blade amplified by talismans, slashed repeatedly at the same spot on the level-five beast's abdomen.

The bursts of runic energy on the blade shattered the shell of the level-five beast.

Is there something wrong with this wind?

[Didn't you realize? Were you misled by the unlucky charms from before? We're in the interstellar age now, please trust science, thank you!]

[I feel like I've wasted my geography studies, or is there something wrong with this virtual model? The eye of the wind in the desert wind gap looks a bit strange.]

[The beast was flying so fast in the wind, yet Zhou Jiu could still hit the same spot every time. This violent dragon is pretty amazing.]

[Why hasn't anyone mentioned that this athlete's movements were unaffected by the sandstorm?]

[And the mental power of the alien beasts! I just entered the virtual battlefield to spectate for a moment and was roared out by the oppressive aura of a level-five alien beast, but this contestant wasn't affected at all!]

[The people upstairs are pretty awesome too. They dared to enter the battlefield to watch the monsters? It's late at night in the desert, don't they feel cold upstairs? My friends and I were already freezing out.]

[Aren't the people in the live stream asleep in the middle of the night?]

Such an exciting battle is rare not only in the qualifiers but also in official matches, where level 5 beasts are seldom seen. Why aren't you getting out of bed to watch?!

Placed within the sandstorm, the beast roared in agony, radiating its greatly increased spiritual power outwards from itself. Zhou Jiu's knife slashed through the air, but to others, the strike missed its mark.

The invisible energy of the rune array imprisoned the extremely terrifying mental power attacking outwards, as well as trapping the limbs of the strange beast.

Chu Ming unconsciously piloted his mecha backward. Sensing the movement in Chu Ming's position, Zhou Jiu glanced at him coldly and then quickly stabbed the mental energy storage area in the brain of the invincible beast.

The beast stood frozen in place, helpless and at the mercy of its prey; only its eyes revealed its struggle and pain.

[That's it? The beast just surrendered like that? Didn't it have a burst of mental energy self-destruction before it died?]

My goddess is amazing! She single-handedly withstood a level 5 attack! I love her to death!

[Don't worry, it's not dead yet. I'm waiting to see the beast self-destruct, resulting in mutual destruction.]

[The person upstairs doesn't understand alien beasts, does they? Even after the battle has escalated to this point, a alien beast needs the right moment to self-destruct. Didn't you see that their mental strength has stabilized?]

Let's not just criticize for the sake of criticizing, let's discuss this battle!

[Has anyone checked the forum? Someone has already posted the first half of Zhou Jiu's video. He's a real dark horse; Zhou Jiu has already jumped into the top ten of the forum's discussion topics.]

The qualifiers have only just begun, so it's still too early to say who the dark horse will be. However, I came to this livestream to join the fun after reading the forum discussions.

[Just joining in the fun. The player I'm following is asleep now. I'm so bored, so I came here to watch the battle.]

"Come here and kill it."

Zhou Jiu's tone was extremely cold. When Zhou Jiu looked over, Chu Ming unconsciously pressed the back button again. But after taking a step back, Chu Ming quickly realized what was happening and piloted the mecha into the sandstorm.

A surge of unusual energy hit Chu Ming, and as he stepped into it, all the energy rings issued warnings.

A warning beeping sound rang out inside the mech. Under Zhou Jiu's gaze, Chu Ming suppressed his questions, raised his tortoise shell, and smashed it down on the spot where the monster's head had been severed, finally ending the monster's life.

The wind gradually subsided, the dripping sound disappeared, and the entire magnetic field energy returned to normal. The energy blade on Zhou Jiu's mecha shattered into fragments and fell into the sand, leaving only shallow marks.

Zhou Jiu's body went limp as he leaned back in his chair, his fingertips pinching the copper coin and then clenching it in his palm.

"Zhou Jiu, Zhou Jiu?"

"Zhou Jiu?"

She could hear Chu Ming's voice, but Zhou Jiu's mental energy was completely depleted. In order to prevent being forcibly offline within the Star Network, she had to use a wisp of mental energy from the magic copper coin to deceive the Star Network assistant. She simply didn't have the strength to answer.

After a while, Zhou Jiu felt Chu Ming opening her mecha hatch. She leaned her head back against the chair and, using the view through the front of her helmet, slightly shifted her eyes to the side towards the hatch door.

"Zhou Jiu, can you answer me?"

Chu Ming, his voice trembling from the cold, approached Zhou Jiu with a hint of anxiety.