Black Corpse Vengeful Spirit
A sudden gust of wind arose, and two tall, dark figures leaped over—two Zombie.
Upon closer inspection, Bai Xiaowen could see the appearance of these Zombie. They didn't resemble the zombies in TV dramas and movies, dressed in the Qing Dynasty official robes and with braids...
The two Zombie ' clothes were almost completely tattered, revealing large patches of dark skin covered with a layer of fine, short black hair. If it weren't for their scarlet eyes, they would really look like two gorillas.
Two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and the Stitched Monster stepped forward side by side, brandishing short swords and cleavers in unison.
The two Zombie moved somewhat slowly, and the attacks from their summoned creatures all hit their targets precisely. Under Bai Xiaowen's expert control with his one-handed sword, the first round of attacks were all aimed at vital points such as the neck and heart.
Clang! Clang!
A crisp clang of metal clashing rang out. The two Zombie withstood the blows, only slightly pausing in their movements. The damage numbers appearing above their heads were only -1, -2...
"Such high defense?" Li Shuyi was a little surprised.
Bai Xiaowen used Diluted Holy Water to "bless" the Desert Eagle, then aimed a shot at the head of the first Zombie and fired.
The result of this shot was... 4 points of damage, and it was Critical Hit, dealing 2.5 times the damage!
Fortunately, the additional damage from the holy water still showed some power, dealing an extra 10 points of holy damage to the Zombie!
As he fired, Bai Xiaowen used his Insight and quickly received feedback.
[Black Corpse (Elite Tier Level 6)]
[Race: Fiend Species / Corpse Demon Clan]
[Attributes: Strength 46, Agility 9, Constitution 24, Spirit 4]
[Skill 1: Leaping Pounce: The Black Corpse leaps rapidly in one direction. If there are enemies in the target area, it will attempt to choke them and launch a grappling attack.]
[Skill 2: Corpse Poison Infection: The Black Corpse's nails and teeth are infused with a potent Corpse Poison; enemies scratched or bitten will suffer continuous poison damage.]
[Skill 3: Rigid Body: Passive. Black Corpse Black Corpse have no vital points; their bodies absorb the essence of the earth's yin energy, granting them up to 90% additional damage reduction against physical attacks (the damage reduction varies depending on the attacked body part).]
Bai Xiaowen quickly shared the Black Corpse's information in the Team Channel, reminding everyone. "Be careful, the Black Corpse's strength is incredibly high, a whopping 46 points!"
After pouring Diluted Holy Water over the twin swords, Li Shuyi rushed forward, saying, "Their movements are stiff; I won't get hit."
The Black Corpse's attributes are quite abnormal, with extremely high strength and extremely low agility. However, if anyone is caught by its [Leaping Pounce] skill and suffers a scratch and Bite from 46 points of strength, it will definitely not be pleasant; at best, it will be injured, and at worst, it will be crippled!
As Li Shuyi said, the Black Corpse ' arms and knees seemed stiff and difficult to bend, making their attack methods very clumsy.
When walking, the Black Corpse needs to twist its hips dramatically, just like a robot, lifting and lowering its entire leg.
When attacking, Black Corpse are also very different from ordinary people. Ordinary people's unarmed attacks use the elbows and wrists as the power points, and are flexible and varied; while Black Corpse ' clawing is wide and sweeping, using the shoulders as the power point, swinging their arms in a wide arc to grab the enemy, like a windmill dunk on a basketball court.
The Black Corpse's agility is only 9 points, pitifully low for a level 6 Elite Tier. Coupled with its bizarre attack and movement animations, its hit rate is even more predictable. Li Shuyi's statement that the Black Corpse can't hit her is not blind confidence.
However, the Black Corpse's defense is indeed formidable. Without a vital point, it is impossible to be instantly killed, and the [Rigid Body] provides additional damage reduction against physical attacks! Bai Xiaowen controlled the summoned creature and tentatively attacked, discovering that the head, chest, and abdomen had the highest defense, while the neck and groin areas also had decent defense.
Bai Xiaowen was not discouraged and ordered the Shadow Assassin to attack from behind.
"Roar!" The Black Corpse that was attacked let out a muffled roar, its Life Value suddenly dropping by more than thirty points of physical damage!
"Could it be that the Black Corpse's weakness is its back?" Bai Xiaowen was somewhat excited. He left one Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier to attract the Black Corpse's attention from the front, while the other summoned creatures circled around to the Black Corpse's back, slashing and thrusting wildly.
After a series of attacks, Bai Xiaowen discovered that the back was not entirely a weak point; the real weak point was the Black Corpse's spine! Every hit on the Black Corpse's spine would cause real damage, unaffected by the damage reduction from its Rigid Body.
Bai Xiaowen quickly told Li Shuyi about her discovery. Li Shuyi moved behind the Black Corpse and stabbed each one in the spine with her sword, killing Black Corpse quickly.
Without the high defense of [Rigid Body], the Black Corpse is just an Elite Tier monster with a constitution of around 20.
Several more muffled roars followed, and more Black Corpse rushed over.
Suddenly, a gray, slightly transparent ghostly figure appeared, hovering above the ground, and pounced on Li Shuyi!
A Ming Army soldier suddenly cried out in terror, "It's a ghost! The ghost has come out!"
The two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier beside Li Shuyi, one with a shield and the other with a sword, stood in perfect unison in front of Li Shuyi.
Swoosh! The blade slashed down, but it felt like it had struck thin air.
Bai Xiaowen had already offered his Insight.
[Vengeful Spirit (Elite Tier Level 5)]
[Race: Fiend Species / Ghost Clan]
[Attributes: Strength 7, Agility 22, Constitution 18, Spirit 35]
[Skill 1: Phantasmal Form: Increases evasion rate against physical attacks by 99%; increases damage taken from magical attacks by 99%.]
[Skill 2: Vengeful Spirit Illusion: The drowned Vengeful Spirit will cast an illusion of its death upon contact with any living person. The target must make a willpower check; if they fail, the Vengeful Spirit will control them and cause them to kill themselves.]
[Skill 3: Soul-Shaking Echo: The Vengeful Spirit emits a howl, slowing all enemies within range. Targets with a spirit level below half that of the Vengeful Spirit will be afflicted with Fear Status.]
Upon seeing the negative effect of the first skill, [Phantasmal Form], which increases damage taken from spell attacks by an additional 99%, Bai Xiaowen immediately devised a countermeasure. "Shu Yi, continue fighting the Zombie; I'll handle the Vengeful Spirit."
Li Shuyi trusted Bai Xiaowen completely, and immediately ignored how vicious the Vengeful Spirit was, treating it as if it were air. She repeatedly stabbed the spine of the Black Corpse with her twin swords, killing another one.
Before the Vengeful Spirit could even reach Li Shuyi, Bai Xiaowen had already manipulated the Bone Warlock to unleash Lightning Strike from afar.
This [Lightning Strike] technique is faster to activate than the previous Lightning Throw. The lightning energy doesn't have a projectile trajectory; it's a blinding bolt of lightning that strikes down directly from the sky, precisely "pointing" at the Vengeful Spirit.
Crack!
[Phantasmal Form] Passive Ability: Takes an additional 99% of spell damage!
The [Lightning Strike]'s Bane of Evil effect deals an additional 10 points of true damage!
When the lightning struck, the Vengeful Spirit exploded into swirling mist, taking over 130 damage. It took quite some time for it to reform, but its ferocious power had been largely diminished.
Just as it took shape, the Vengeful Spirit monster was struck by Bai Xiaowen's [Dark Swipe], its body tumbling in the flames, screaming in agony. Its constitution was only 18 points, and after taking this fire damage, its remaining Life Value was reduced to zero, and its illusory body turned into mist and vanished completely.
The Ming Army soldiers who had been huddled to one side were all excited and discussed among themselves that although Bai Xiaozhen was young, his Daoist skills were real. He could set fires himself, and the Yin Soldiers he summoned could even unleash lightning. Ghosts were destroyed before they could even get close.
Indeed, when it comes to catching ghosts and exorcising demons, only professionals can do it.
Bai Xiaowen and the Bone Warlock worked together to kill another Vengeful Spirit, while Li Shuyi, surrounded by a group of summoned creatures, also took down the Black Corpse Yi-Yi.
"It seems this task isn't too difficult. We just need to find the weaknesses of these two types of ghosts." Li Shuyi dodged the attacks of the Black Corpse perfectly throughout the entire battle, feeling that this fight was very easy.
Bai Xiaowen said, "If you encounter them unexpectedly without preparation, it can be quite troublesome. Black Corpse and Vengeful Spirit are actually two types of monsters that work together, where one plus one equals more than two."
The Vengeful Spirit has two control skills, one of which is a group control skill. Once an enemy is controlled by it, the weakness of the Black Corpse being unable to hit will be compensated. Then, the Black Corpse will use its 40-50 points of strength, comparable to a BOSS, and the continuous poison damage from [Corpse Poison Infection] to teach its opponents a lesson.
The battle was won easily because Bai Xiaowen obtained some information about the Vengeful Spirit and Black Corpse from the Ming Army soldiers he rescued, and made preparations in advance, such as strengthening the Skeleton Mage and using Diluted Holy Water.
Without the intelligence provided by these Ming Army soldiers, Bai Xiaowen, despite his Insight Talent, would have been inevitably thrown into disarray upon suddenly encountering the Black Corpse and Vengeful Spirit. Even if he had won in the end, it would not have been so easy and uneventful.
Preparation is key to success; lack of preparation leads to failure.
The group continued onward. According to the information given by the Quanzhen School Daoist Master Sun Xuanqing, the Ghost Mugwort grew in the heart of Ghost Reef, the area with the heaviest yin energy.
Of course, the heavier the yin energy in a place, the stronger the ghosts that dwell there will be. The level 5 and 6 Elite Tier Black Corpse and Vengeful Spirit we just encountered were just small fry on the outskirts of Ghost Reef.
The road ahead still presents Zombie and Vengeful Spirit, but their levels have increased, with Elite Tier monsters of level 7 and above beginning to appear.
Level 7 Elite Tier monsters are significantly stronger than level 6 ones, because level 7 Elite Tier monsters have a Life Value, making it much harder to kill the Vengeful Spirit instantly.
The single- Vengeful Spirit control skill "Vengeful Spirit Illusion" is relatively easy to break. If someone is controlled, allies can forcefully attack and wake them up to prevent the suicide attempt. However, the Vengeful Spirit's other group control skill, "Soul-Shaking Echo," is more troublesome. Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures, except for the Bone Warlock, including Li Shuyi, are all of the low spirit type, and they will definitely be feared after being hit.
However, Bai Xiaowen then directed the summoned creatures to disperse, and he and the Bone Warlock, both with Mental Specialist, attracted the attention of the high-level Vengeful Spirit, effectively resolving the problem.
The [Soul-Shaking Echo] skill cast by the high-level Vengeful Spirit on Bai Xiaowen and the Bone Warlock is of little use, as their Divine Might is roughly the same; at most, it only has a slowing effect.
When the high-level Vengeful Spirit tried to control others, it found that the enemies had already scattered, and its area control could only control two or three targets at most.
These two or three targets, due to their low Divine Might, will be affected by the fear effect. Bai Xiaowen can inflict forced damage on them to wake them up.
They only lost one Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier before wiping out the second wave of monsters, and also obtained two high-level Silver Treasure Chest.
Bai Xiaowen directed his Ming Army soldiers to search for their comrades in the vicinity, and then he and Li Shuyi opened the two treasure chests. Both were rated C-Tier, and each had one chance to draw a treasure; fortunately, they wouldn't be left empty-handed.
Li Shuyi drew a prop:
[Vial of Corpse Poison: A-Tier item, can be applied to weapons. Enemies affected by Corpse Poison will suffer 50 points of poison damage over 6 seconds. Each application can only be used a maximum of 3 times, and the same enemy will not be affected by Corpse Poison a second time within a short period. Uses: 2/2.]
This prop is decent, but at least it's worthy of its A-Tier status. I'll give it to Li Shuyi to use.
Bai Xiaowen drew a special item.
[The Unclean Essence: This faintly glowing, pale red spirit contains an unyielding will to atone for its injustice, which can only be cleansed by the blood of pirates.]
Bai Xiaowen sensed that an item in the Storage Space was slightly warm, seemingly having some connection with this [Unclean Essence].
Bai Xiaowen glanced at it, and her eyes suddenly lit up.
The object that resonated with the [Unclean Essence] was none other than the [Absolon's Blood Essence Stone) ] that he obtained after slaying High Chieftain Absolon Hertzlit in the Kane Plane!
Could these two special items be fused together?
Bai Xiaowen started to think outside the box and tried to fuse the [Unclean Essence] with [Absolon's Blood Essence Stone) ], but he felt a strong repulsive force. The fragmented Blood Essence Stone was unwilling to absorb the essence.
"This sensation didn't appear out of nowhere; there must be a connection between the two. The reason it can't be absorbed and integrated is either because the Blood Essence Stone is incomplete, or because this essence contains the will of injustice," Bai Xiaowen said.
Li Shuyi: "I reckon the Vengeful Spirit here were probably killed by Wokou Pirates, so their blood must be used to cleanse their names. Anyway, in the Jiajing Plane World, you have to kill pirates. Try again after you've cleansed their spirits."
Bai Xiaowen nodded.
Soon, the Ming Army soldiers who had been searching separately returned, but they were all in low spirits. They had found the bodies of two of their comrades...
"Have you found Zhang Ting?" Bai Xiaowen asked.
One of the guards replied, "No, but we found a mark left by our comrades on a rock; they went deeper into Ghost Reef."
Bai Xiaowen thought to himself that Zhang Ting's personal guards were truly loyal to their commander Yu Dayou. After encountering so many ghosts and escaping with their lives, they still dared to go deeper and pick Ghost Mugwort for Yu Dayou.
"Keep moving forward," Bai Xiaowen said.