Black Mist 06
With a "ding—" sound, the scene before Tian Xiao's eyes abruptly changed.
Just like when he encountered the Black Mist at school, the surrounding environment transformed in an instant.
Tian Xiao found himself on a vast platform, encircled by sheer cliffs and precipices.
A dark silhouette slowly descended not far away, while Tian Xiao himself…
Tian Xiao looked down, spreading his hands open before clenching them tightly.
He had transformed into his adult form.
A familiar surge of power coursed through his body, making him involuntarily stretch his limbs, his joints cracking in response.
"The rules…" Tian Xiao murmured, lifting his head as information naturally surfaced in his mind. "The rules state that both parties must fight in their strongest forms. Only by defeating the opponent can one glimpse the secret. The loser dies."
Since arriving in this new world, many things had unfolded beyond Tian Xiao's expectations, including everything happening before him now.
Tian Xiao never imagined that simply making knife-shaved noodles for his Mom would cause a glowing glass bead to drop out, pulling him into such a place for battle.
"Secrets." Tian Xiao curled the corners of his lips. "Though I don't know how this happened, fighting in my strongest form and being able to glimpse secrets after victory sounds pretty good. So then…"
Tian Xiao's gaze fell upon the dark silhouette not far away.
Just standing here, Tian Xiao could feel the overwhelming aura emanating from the other.
Perhaps the opponent also benefited from a home-field advantage, but that didn't matter.
Tian Xiao's eyes gradually lit up with excitement, his grin widening uncontrollably as he said with a laugh, "Let the game begin."
As his words faded, Tian Xiao charged toward the dark silhouette.
The dark silhouette moved with remarkable agility, its strength immense, and its aura felt familiar to Tian Xiao.
It didn't take long for Tian Xiao to confirm its identity as the Black Mist.
However, unlike the Black Mist, the dark silhouette possessed no will of its own—it was merely a battle-proficient shadow.
Even so, its power surpassed any Black Mist Tian Xiao had encountered before.
Clearly, the Black Mist Tian Xiao had seen was not at its peak.
If he were still only seven years old, Tian Xiao would have struggled to withstand more than a few moves from this dark silhouette's attacks.
But standing here was the adult version of Tian Xiao at his strongest.
After just a few exchanges, having already gauged the dark silhouette's capabilities and strength, Tian Xiao bared his teeth in a grin.
His smile looked utterly delighted, yet carried a chilling undertone.
Following a rapid exchange of a hundred moves, Tian Xiao and the dark silhouette distanced themselves. Softly, Tian Xiao spoke, "Thank you so much for letting me experience the feeling of restored power once more. As a token of gratitude, I hope you'll enjoy… this move."
With that, Tian Xiao raised his hand and, while keeping his eyes on the diving shadow, slammed his palm onto the smooth platform beneath his feet.
"Crack—" That was the sound of the platform fracturing.
At first, the cracking wasn't intense—just fissures radiating from beneath Tian Xiao's palm.
But soon, the cracks spread farther and wider.
So wide that the entire platform began to tremble slightly.
Not just the platform, but the entire space, along with the dark silhouette frozen mid-air.
They all trembled together.
The cracks on the platform also extended into the air as the shaking intensified.
This phenomenon was not within Tian Xiao's plans. He withdrew his hand, took a step back, and avoided the spreading cracks.
Looking at everything before him and the weakening power within his body, Tian Xiao thought, "…Seriously? A shoddy product? It's already cracking??"
Yes, the entire space had cracked under Tian Xiao's single strike, and Tian Xiao, who had caused it all, was kicked out.
A distinct sensation of falling washed over him as Tian Xiao returned to the kitchen, still holding the kitchen knife and maintaining the downward striking motion.
Though standing perfectly steady, Tian Xiao felt a momentary dizziness as a flood of information forced its way into his mind.
Within a short time, his forehead was covered in cold sweat. Tian Xiao had to expend considerable effort to endure the intense, throbbing pain in his head. At the same moment, the kitchen Door opened.
Acting naturally, Tian Xiao set down the kitchen knife, turned around, and put on a smile as he looked at Mom standing by the Door. "Mom, don't worry, it'll be ready in just a little while~"
Mom stared at Tian Xiao's smiling face for a moment, her gaze then sweeping around the kitchen.
Though Mom's face showed no extra expression, Tian Xiao caught a sense of her confusion.
"Mom, are you looking for something?" Tian Xiao asked.
Mom stood at the Door for a moment before finally stepping back and leaving.
The kitchen Door closed again.
The moment it shut, Tian Xiao let out a soft sigh, dropped the smile from his face, and raised a hand to rub his temples.
"That really hurts… And this information is such a mess. I need to sort it out carefully. Ah… my dough!"
…
The "Black Mist dough" was extraordinary. Even after being boiled a bit too long in the pot, it hadn't spoiled. Mom seemed to enjoy it very much.
Seeing Mom happy made Tian Xiao happy too.
Having eaten a rare full meal, Mom retired to her bedroom early to rest. After cleaning up the dishes, Tian Xiao also returned to his room.
After closing his eyes and sorting through the information for a while, Tian Xiao finally managed to untangle the flood of details that had invaded his mind.
In simple terms, the original form of the Black Mist was a human Tasker who had crossed worlds and bound with a System. That glowing glass sphere covered in cracks was the System.
The reason for using the term "original form" was that the Black Mist was not the Tasker themselves.
The real Tasker had died long ago. The Black Mist was an aggregate of the residual energy and the will to "live" left behind after the Tasker's death.
The shattered System had brought them to this world.
They hoped to try their luck here, thinking they might accumulate enough energy to regain "life."
As for what form this "life" would take, that was no longer within the consideration of the System or the Black Mist.
Encountering Tian Xiao and Cen Shishi, two beings who could see, hear, and touch the Black Mist, was also a result of the System and Black Mist "hitting the jackpot."
But their luck ran out there.
While organizing the chaotic information the System had forced into him, Tian Xiao was compelled to "watch" the story of a human who, after crossing worlds and obtaining a System, believed themselves to be the "chosen protagonist." They used the System's benefits to stir up trouble in another world, collecting beauties left and right.
Perhaps life in that other world had been too smooth, causing the crosser to become increasingly arrogant. In the end, they made a fatal mistake, encountered a powerful enemy, and died under unclear circumstances.
As an observer, Tian Xiao guessed that the crosser's death had something to do with their numerous romantic partners, but these were not matters Tian Xiao needed to concern himself with.
Tian Xiao was more concerned about the locked portion of information in the System and the small trinket he obtained after defeating the pitch-black shadow.
The System had crammed a lot of information into Tian Xiao, some of which was locked, and no matter how much he poked at it, he couldn’t open it.
This portion of information seemed to be data the System had collected about the current world.
After poking at it for a long time without success, Tian Xiao gave up and tossed it aside, focusing all his attention on the small trinket that had appeared in his consciousness.
This small trinket was a remnant left behind after the System had completely shattered.
Taskers referred to it as the "system space."
Tian Xiao had visited this system space twice.
Once when he encountered the Black Mist at school, and once when he used the back of a knife to shatter the System’s glass bead in the kitchen.