A flash of cold light, but the target vanished before his eyes. The long blade plunged through the wall and sank all the way in.
The golden-eyed snake monster abruptly stopped and looked around, but couldn't find its target anywhere.
Its forked tongue flicked through the air. Its heat sense kicked in, and it suddenly detected a creature moving quickly to its front left.
"Stealth" activated.
Wang Changle activated Stealth, and his health suddenly dropped by 15%. The intense pain turned his face pale.
The burst of speed let him dodge a lethal strike. He'd thought he'd shaken off the snake monster, but after pausing for a moment, it came after him again.
Damn, it has heat vision!
In the blink of an eye, dark green powder scattered on the wind, making the snake monster cry out in pain.
"Master Hu Jie, Master Hu Jie, have you forgotten Xia He by the lake at Daming? Have you forgotten your family's honor, and your enemy Shen Chong?"
He shouted as he scattered Sulaiman Dust, but the golden-eyed snake monster remained unmoved, giving no response at all. The purple qi no longer appeared, either.
Damn, even that didn't work? Could it be mind control? What a terrifying Violator.
He failed to dodge in time and took a claw strike head-on. One swipe knocked him out of the shadows, immediately breaking Stealth.
[Health -10%]
[Armor of Toughness durability -25.]
A simple claw strike had taken 10% of his health and reduced Armor of Toughness's durability by 25. That attack was almost as strong as Xia He's.
He absolutely couldn't let it catch him, or he was as good as dead!
Under the threat of death, he threw all his realgar powder into the air. The dense yellow cloud immediately blocked the snake monster's pounce.
"Root Entanglement"
[Your Intelligence is 0.5 times your opponent's. Forced immobilization for 1.2 seconds. Nature Mark applied.]
The Paradise notification shocked him again. The snake-man's Intelligence was twice his own—that meant 20 points of Intelligence!
This snake-man was way too terrifying. With 20 Intelligence, its speed meant it had at least 15 Agility, and its powerful attacks meant it had over 15 Strength.
What the hell kind of monster was this? A three-specialty boss would be no less frightening.
Thank goodness it couldn't use Innate One Qi or sword techniques, or he wouldn't have survived.
The snake-man roared as the vines entangled it, but it quickly broke free.
He looked up and around, only to see Wang Changle already dashing toward the pitch-black vortex. Black goat hooves materialized in midair and came crashing down.
"Thud!"
Sand and gravel flew, dust billowed, and the ground was left in shambles. The snake-man was stunned again.
The mottled rune array was destroyed, the void energy twisted and dissipated, and the black vortex collapsed inward.
Bathed in blood, he tilted his head back and drank Moon Dew. A steel shovel appeared in his hand.
[Tip: Your Mana has recovered by 20. Intelligence +1 for one minute.]
"Oh no—no! The radiance of my Lord, the glory of my Lord! How could I be defeated by a heathen?"
"Ah—oh—ki!!"
The black vortex's collapse quickly changed the battle. The Formless Child cried out in midair, turning into flecks of oil that quietly dissipated.
The dense aura of darkness around the old Violator faded. The Three-Headed Snake beneath him fell apart, becoming three long snakes that struggled to fend off Black Hoof's attack.
The gold vanished from the snake monster's eyes. Its fine scales grew dull, its body abruptly shrank, and its festering wounds spread further.
[You have destroyed a world node in the world of "Enkai." You have closed the teleportation gate. You have completed the hidden quest: Belonging—Stage 2.]
[You have obtained 5% World Origin. Current World Origin: 10%.]
"Kill you, kill you, and I'll become stronger! Hahahaha!"
The snake monster had shrunk to the size of an ordinary person and now looked more like a lizardman, but purple qi appeared on its body once more.
This was... Hu Jie's consciousness returning!
Its sharp four-toed claws kicked up a foul breeze as they lunged for Wang Changle's throat.
He twisted aside, deflected the claws with his shovel, then gripped it with both hands and hacked forward, swinging it like a great axe.
Wait, this guy's strength seems to have weakened. I can take him!
"Clang, clang, clang!"
The steel shovel scraped across Hu Jie's scales, ringing harshly as it left a long white streak. A weapon with no quality grade really wasn't good enough.
He swept the snake-man Hu Jie aside and tossed out another handful of Sulaiman Dust. The gray-green powder coated Hu Jie from head to toe, but didn't hurt him at all.
"Aw, hell, he's turned back into someone from this world! What the hell, a double-transformation monster? I'm done fighting you!"
He let out a strange cry and leaped back quickly. Green light flashed over him as he pressed a hand against a crooked tree.
"Call of Nature"
A Treant appeared, blocking Hu Jie's path.
Call of Nature really lived up to being a blue skill. A 54-second cooldown and a cost of 18—it was incredibly useful.
As he ran, he took out a Magic Blue Bottle and gulped down a slimy liquid with the texture of snot.
"This flavor is unbelievable!"
He ate another Rainbow Fruit Candy. The sweet-and-sour strawberry flavor spread through his mouth, immediately suppressing his nausea.
His figure flickered and vanished amid the blood-red light.
[Tip: Your health has fallen to 30%. The Black Goat Cub skill cannot be borrowed.]
Boosted by a 30% movement speed increase, he sprinted through the thick smoke and quickly reached the heavy truck, where he found bags of saltpeter.
With a whoosh, flames shot into the sky, rapidly spreading the fire.
With the gasoline and saltpeter feeding it, the flames quickly spread in every direction. The abandoned courtyard was full of flammable debris, ready to catch fire at the slightest spark.
The wildfire quickly joined into one, becoming an unstoppable inferno!
Scorching heat and terrifying flames sent up clouds of smoke.
"Τζιχάντ! Τζιχάντ! Τζιχάντ! Cough, cough, cough!"
Curled beneath his black robe, the old man grew even more hunched after chanting the spell three times.
Under the spell's influence, the remaining giant snakes eerily fused with the old man, turning back into a Three-Headed Snake. It even grew arms, and countless tentacles sprouted from its soft, pale belly.
"Sathogua's blood sacrifice! What a familiar scent~"
Black Hoof tore into the giant snake with his huge jaws, while his tentacles grappled with Hu Jie.
Though covered in wounds, it remained fierce and kept fighting against the Three-Headed Snake.
It was outnumbered three to one, yet ferocious beyond measure!
"It's only a Black Goat Cub in its infancy. If you don't want to live, then I'll kill you! And that useless wildfire—before absolute power, everything is futile!"
The Three-Headed Snake raised its head and suddenly fired a beam of yellow light.
With a whoosh, part of Black Hoof's tentacles turned to stone. Its claws raked at Black Hoof, forcing it back again and again.
"Thud!"
The goat's hooves hit the ground. War Stomp activated, and the Three-Headed Snake was blasted back by the shock wave.
"Boom!"
A Treant charged out of the thick smoke and grabbed the Three-Headed Snake in a tight embrace.
"You little brat from Cycle Paradise! Once I deal with this Black Goat Cub, you're next! What can a mere wildfire do to me? Rain, come!"
The Three-Headed Snake's head twisted down and bit into the Treant. Its bone-chilling venom made the Treant wither rapidly.
A dark cloud gathered overhead, but not a drop of rain fell. Only gusts of slicing wind swept through.
"The wildfire isn't the point, and the smoke isn't the point either. But the wildfire strengthens the rising air currents and releases vast amounts of light and heat."
Wang Changle emerged from the smoke, a sly grin on his battered face.
"Weather Manipulation is a spell that requires teamwork. It uses magic to influence reality, but when reality changes too much, the magic cost rises dramatically!"
The smoke danced in the wind. He sat on the ground, repeatedly pouring water over himself to cool down, while a long streak of green light connected to him from within the smoke.
"The smoke is also meant to interfere with your R'lyeh Fog Creation technique. This fog contains a lot of water. Once it's dispersed and diluted, it can no longer boost water magic!"
"You're just a first-tier Contractor, a brat from Cycle Paradise. Before absolute power, all tricks are futile, futile!"
The old snake-man tore the Treant apart with his claws, then swept his tail to drive Black Hoof back. Black mucus surged rapidly.
"Κατάπτωσητουπράσινου! Κατάπτωσητουπράσινου!"
"How is this possible? My power... It was you!!!"
He chanted the spell, but no energy stirred. The power he had always been so proud of was being suppressed.
Unable to draw on any more energy, he glared furiously at Wang Changle. All eight pairs of his strange eyes fixed on him at once.
"My move is called Life Extraction. It does no damage! But in the middle of a fierce battle, with a sudden enemy appearing, even someone as great as you would naturally overlook a lowly first-tier Contractor like me."
A pitch-black mass of energy appeared in his hand, pulsing with a lively quality.
[You have obtained Life Essence (Mutated).]
Life Essence
Origin: The Outcast
White: 5
Effect: Restores 10% health for a short time after absorption. Those with less than 10 Intelligence will be corrupted.
Life Apostle: Restores 5 points of Life Force after absorption.
Description: A mass of mutated life essence, infused with madness (can be adjusted a second time).
Price: 500 Paradise Coins
Using the Treant as cover and taking advantage of the gap in its vision, he had extracted less than a minute's worth of life essence.
The snake old man, who had been casting spells without a moment's rest, was suppressed by another 6% to all attributes. His energy immediately ran short.
"Thanks for the energy. I'm off!"
He put away the essence and slipped away with a nimble leap. He quickly disappeared into the smoke.
This still wasn't his battlefield, and he didn't have the strength to fight head-on. All he could do was strike as a hidden arrow.
"Ah! Stop right there! You bitch, you scum, you thief! Ah! Damn beast!"
The Three-Headed Snake howled in helpless rage, but two tentacles like arms seized it tight. A vicious maw immediately bit off one of its heads.
"Not bad!"
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