Qin Siyang had just hung up the phone when he heard a shout: "That's him! That's him!!"
He turned toward the sound. That frenzied youth had spotted him and was pointing at him, shouting loudly.
"I recognize his Cyan Striped Armor!"
In an instant, all the Sequence Ability Users on the safe zone exit platform seemed to hear the call to charge. Like a tidal wave, they surged toward him.
These people completely ignored the safe zone's rule against using Sequence abilities. They flew, burrowed, and used every possible method, all for the sake of seizing the Vine Core from Qin Siyang's hands.
Not far away, Laudenor looked at Qin Siyang, his face full of shock, "Huh? The Vine Core? Mr. Qin, you..."
Even Qin Siyang, who had seen many grand scenes, panicked at this overwhelming momentum.
"Damn it!"
It was already too late to run.
He also didn't want to expose his Devouring Domain skill.
At this point, his only option was to follow Li Tianming's instructions.
He couldn't care about anything else anymore. Immediately, he reached into his backpack with one hand and grabbed the Vine Core, while the other hand pulled out the Hunting Dagger from his waist, intending to let his blood drip onto it.
However—
The moment he grasped the Vine Core, his entire body felt as if it had been filled with molten lead. He could no longer move freely.
His movements became sluggish, like a snail.
'Earthbind? No, that can only work when the caster sees the changes on the ground!'
He suddenly noticed that several thin threads had unknowingly wrapped around him, controlling him like a puppet on strings.
Looking ahead, he saw a masked figure raising both hands, looking at him with a triumphant gaze.
'This is... a Shadow Puppeteer ability?'
Shadow Puppeteer was an extremely rare Sequence. In the entire safe zone, there were fewer than ten officially recorded awakeners of this ability. It allowed them to control gods and others' movements and actions.
To be able to restrain someone as powerful as Qin Siyang, this Shadow Puppeteer had to be at least Sequence Level 4.
Qin Siyang's expression turned extremely grim, 'This safe zone exit is really full of hidden experts...'
Drawing his dagger to shed blood was now impossible.
But there was no way he was handing over the Vine Core willingly.
'Violence!'
He immediately activated his Violence skill but was shocked to find that only his fingers could move freely. The rest of his body remained rigid—he still couldn't draw his dagger to cut his finger and drip blood.
'This Shadow Puppeteer… what Sequence Level is he?'
Qin Siyang stared at the masked man, heart pounding.
'Shit.'
'Without a blade, I won't be able to bleed in time.'
'What now?'
Qin Siyang's face twitched from the tension.
At this rate, was he going to lose the Vine Core empty-handed?
Before he could react, a hand suddenly appeared before him, snatching his backpack in a swift motion.
The figure moved like a ghost, letting out an excited laugh, "The Vine Core is mine!"
But before he could escape, a rope suddenly wrapped around his neck, yanking him—and the backpack—backward.
In an instant, all the attention on Qin Siyang vanished.
No one cared about him anymore—their target was now the backpack.
Amid the chaotic scramble, the backpack was ruthlessly torn apart, revealing the Vine Core inside.
However, the moment they saw it, many people were stunned.
"The blood markings on the Vine Core… could it already be contracted?"
"What? Contracted?"
"When did that happen? Then what the hell are we fighting over?"
The others also stopped their struggle, staring at the Vine Core, which floated in midair, clearly stained with blood.
Someone tried to grab the frenzied youth who had shouted earlier to question him, but he had already disappeared without a trace.
"Where is he? Didn't he say it wasn't contracted? What's going on? Did he trick us?"
"He definitely didn't contract it! Otherwise, how could the Vine Core still be unclaimed? That kid in the Cyan Striped Armor just contracted it!!"
Saying this, he pointed at Qin Siyang again.
"Impossible!", A masked Sequence user stepped forward, "After I used Puppet Strings, he never had the chance to draw his blade and cut himself!"
One person suddenly gasped while staring at Qin Siyang, "Look at his hand!!"
Everyone turned to look.
Qin Siyang's lips curled into a smirk, his body trembling.
Blood was still dripping from his hand.
The Shadow Puppeteer Sequence user shook his head repeatedly, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! The Vine Core isn't harder than his body—he wouldn't have been able to cut his hand! How... how did he do it?"
"His index finger!!"
Everyone stared at Qin Siyang again, and only then did they realize—his index finger was broken in half.
The jagged edge of the bone had pierced through his skin, protruding along with torn flesh.
The lower half of his finger dangled limply, like a deflated balloon.
"He… he broke his own finger?!m"
Qin Siyang murmured, "Lucky me."
After being restrained by the Shadow Puppeteer, the only part of his body that could move under Violence was his fingers.
If he wanted to successfully drip blood onto the Vine Core, he had only one option.
In that split second, a plan had flashed into his mind.
'Break your own finger, Qin.'
His body was extremely tough. His strength was also immense.
Like an unstoppable spear against an unbreakable shield.
So when he pressed his thumb against his index finger, trying to snap it, he wasn't even sure if it would work.
After all, he was a bright and cheerful young man—he had never attempted s*lf-ha*m before.
But this was the only viable method left.
Under the influence of Violence, he used all his strength to snap his finger.
In the end, the spear prevailed.
With a sharp crack, his index finger bent at a full 180 degrees. The hard bone broke through the skin, and blood gushed out.
Just before his backpack was snatched away, his blood dripped onto the Vine Core.
Qin Siyang finally let out a breath of relief.
He wasn't sure why this was necessary, but since Li Tianming had said it, it must have been the right move.
Everyone was dumbfounded.
Now that the Vine Core was contracted, it had an owner.
From now on, only Qin Siyang could use it.
Even if someone killed Qin Siyang, the Vine Core wouldn't become unclaimed—it would wither and be destroyed.
If anyone wanted to destroy it out of spite?
They'd face massive compensation claims.
A contracted Vine Core was considered private property.
One Vine Core alone was enough to bankrupt most Sequence users—and they'd still have to serve time in prison.
Not worth it.
No one would dare to do that.
Watching Qin Siyang's smug smile, everyone was left helpless.
His smirk didn't last long.
Violence wore off.
Immediately, he collapsed to the ground like a pile of boneless flesh.
Staring up at the brightly lit anti-air glass above him, Qin Siyang let out a long breath.
'Not sure… what just happened.'
'But I think I made a profit today.'
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