Mudflat Snakefolk (2-in-1)
This is the first time Bai Xiaowen has summoned the Skeleton Champion.
The Skeleton Champion was tall and robust, a head taller than Bai Xiaowen. This was its true "skeletal height," no exaggeration like hair loss. Its eyes burned with the same pale Soul Fire as the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, and its large, bony claws gripped a greatsword as tall as a man.
Bai Xiaowen doesn't have Two-Handed Sword Specialty, so he can't fully unleash the Skeleton Champion's combat power yet. He can only make the Skeleton Champion attack in a rigid manner according to the established two-handed sword routine.
The Marsh Hydra seemed to sense death approaching. Its three heads hissed threateningly, and its three mouths slammed towards the Skeleton Champion, its attack speed increasing threefold!
Having three heads, and each head possessing independent consciousness, is truly extraordinary.
When Li Shuyi uses dual swords, her attack speed only increases according to her Swordsmanship Specialty level, with each level increasing it by 5%. Even with a level 10 Swordsmanship Specialty, the attack speed increase is only 50%. However, for the Many-Headed Snake, each additional head increases its initial attack speed by 100%, and with three heads, the attack speed is three times the initial speed...
The three Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier were carrying one snake head each, which wasn't too difficult, but now that the Skeleton Champion is carrying three snake heads, he's suddenly getting a bit overwhelmed.
Bai Xiaowen finally understood why an Elite Tier Marsh Hydra had such weak skills. Apart from the racial passive of "multi-headed" and a special passive skill that prevented it from being instantly killed, it only had the passive skill "Mud Shell" that was common to all swamp creatures.
The opponent's three heads multiply their attack speed by 3, which is equivalent to a powerful offensive skill. Although the three heads interfere with each other, affecting the hit rate and evasion rate to some extent, the flaws do not outweigh the merits, and the positive effects are still very strong.
Fortunately, the Skeleton Champion has a total of 34 points of strength, and Bai Xiaowen's Combat Specialty can also be used to help the Skeleton Champion adjust its footwork and dodge attacks, which provides a certain boost to the battle. The current Skeleton Champion is equivalent to a martial artist with relatively strong internal energy, who is weak in attack but strong in defense. It shouldn't be too much of a problem to temporarily block this Marsh Hydra.
While the multi-headed passive ability of the Marsh Hydra is indeed powerful, it is ultimately just a Mid Elite creature. Bai Xiaowen's strength has greatly increased now, and with several summoned creatures surrounding it, he easily killed it.
The Marsh Hydra dropped a Silver Treasure Chest, which, upon opening, yielded 600 Psionic Points and only a D-Tier rating. Bai Xiaowen drew a Silver Tier card, and luckily avoided the 1/3 chance of getting nothing, drawing an item instead.
However, the loot I drew wasn't very good; it was a plain leather armor that was Bind on Pickup, basically worthless.
The Elite Tier monster treasure chest yielded a basic equipment card instead of Silver Tier one—bad luck indeed. But Bai Xiaowen didn't mind; after all... according to the law of conservation of luck, this bad draw was just building up good karma for the next lucky one.
The swamp was not large, and it seemed to be inhabited only by this one Marsh Hydra.
Just as the two were about to continue their journey, a sharp whooshing sound rang out, and two short spears were thrown from the Ghost Mist.
"Watch out!" Bai Xiaowen reacted quickly, pulling Li Shuyi behind the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier. The Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier also raised their shields in an instant.
Clang!
Pure Note metallic clang rang out as the short spear struck the shield, the powerful impact knocking the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier back and inflicting considerable recoil damage.
"Who launched the sneak attack?" Li Shuyi drew her twin swords and looked warily toward the direction from which the short spears had been fired.
"Hiss..."
Two monsters appeared from the thick fog ahead.
"This is... Naga?" Bai Xiaowen uttered a game term from the Common Era.
The two monsters that arrived were both half-human, half-snake. Their upper bodies were human, while their lower bodies were thick snake tails that could move nimbly through the mud with a gentle sway.
The two monsters were clearly a man and a woman. The man was more muscular, with arms that were thicker than Bai Xiaowen's legs, and he was carrying a heavy trident.
The women are slender with prominent breasts and four arms, unlike the men—the male half- Snakefolk monsters only have two thick arms.
They are not wearing clothes, but there is no need to worry about them being exposed, because their bodies are covered with a layer of fine scales.
The female monster opened her mouth and uttered a string of words in a fierce tone, which was definitely not friendly.
"Old Latin... they can actually communicate with each other, these creatures have a fairly high level of intelligence." Bai Xiaowen's level of Old Latin is now vastly different from before, and he can roughly understand the meaning of what the other party is saying.
Li Shuyi didn't understand, so she turned and asked, "What did she just say?"
Bai Xiaowen laughed and said, "She told us to go back."
"Okay, I should have guessed..." Li Shuyi said, "Is it possible to communicate with them?"
Since the other party possesses intelligence similar to that of humans, referring to them as "it" or "them" is no longer appropriate.
Bai Xiaowen looked at the female half- Snakefolk's forked tongue and shook his head, saying, "Unless we leave the Dead Spirit Lake, there will definitely be conflict. The Marsh Hydra we just killed seems to be a species worshipped by these half- Snakefolk."
Bai Xiaowen tried speaking a string of Old Latin to the female half- Snakefolk: "Do you know where the Ghost Hydra is?"
Unexpectedly, the female half- Snakefolk's scaly blue face suddenly contorted, and she roared as she assumed an attack stance. The male half- Snakefolk, meanwhile, charged forward wielding his trident.
As he spoke, Bai Xiaowen had already cast his Insight on the female monster among them.
[Mudflat Snakefolk Priest (Elite Tier Level 6)]
[Race: Human Species / Snakefolk]
[Attributes: Strength 17, Agility 20, Constitution 26, Spirit 33]
[Skill 1: Slick Scales: Passive, the Mudflat Snakefolk Priest takes 20% less physical damage and has a 20% lower chance of being hit by throwing attacks.]
[Skill 2: Mud Shell Shield: Manipulates mud to cover the body of a friendly target, granting them a shield. This shield can Block 3 physical attacks.]
[Skill 3: Amotava's Gift: Passive, the Mudflat Snakefolk Priest's normal attacks will deal (33) points of Frost damage, the damage value being equal to his Spirit attribute.]
This female Snakefolk priestess doesn't have any direct offensive skills. Judging from her attributes, her melee attributes (strength and agility) are quite high, and her constitution is even more impressive. Her last skill, Amotava's Gift, is a rare passive skill that adds special effects to basic attacks.
In summary, this Snakefolk priest is a very rare melee creature with a special Mental Specialty.
Bai Xiaowen also offered Insight into the male Snakefolk.
[Mudflat Snakefolk Warrior (Elite Tier Level 6)]
[Race: Human Species / Snakefolk]
[Attributes: Strength 37, Agility 18, Constitution 30, Spirit 14]
[Skill 1: Slick Scales: Omitted.]
[Skill 2: Shockwave: The Mudflat Snakefolk Warrior slams his trident into the ground, knocking back enemies in a circular area and stunning them upon landing.]
[Skill 3: Brute Force Strike: After charging up, the Mudflat Snakefolk Warrior unleashes a savage attack, dealing heavy physical damage to the enemy and knocking them back.]
This level 6 Elite Tier, Mudflat Snakefolk Warrior, has a very high strength stat and two powerful skills. When paired with a female Snakefolk Priest, he becomes even more troublesome.
However, as the Snakefolk warrior charged forward, Bai Xiaowen reached out and summoned a phantom ghostly figure, which was none other than Bai Xiaowen's newly added Elite Tier creature, the Vengeful Spirit.
Without a word, the Vengeful Spirit unleashed its Venomous Resentment skill directly at the Mudflat Snakefolk Warrior. With the Snakefolk warrior's pitiful 14 points of spirit, how could he possibly withstand the Vengeful Spirit's mental attack? The Vengeful Spirit, after all, possessed a staggering 36 points of spirit and a special "Fright" skill designed for mental combat!
Draw mana! Draw mana! Draw mana!
The status message "-1 Divine Might" appeared above the heads of the Mudflat Snakefolk Warrior.
The Snakefolk warrior roared, the feeling of being continuously drained of mana was unpleasant. He immediately turned his target and pounced on the Vengeful Spirit, briefly charging up his trident before launching a "Brute Force Strike"!
However, the Brute Force Strike was like a slicing through the air, leaving no trace. The Vengeful Spirit's racial passive skill, "Phantasmal Form," is specifically effective against physical attacks.
Tragically, the Snakefolk warrior's spirit was already low, and after unleashing a Brute Force Strike, it consumed another 4 points, leaving it with only 10 points of Divine Might. A few seconds later, its Divine Might was rapidly drained to below 2 points, causing it to fall into Stunned Status that lasted for 6-7 seconds!
Li Shuyi rushed forward early, her two swords clashing and slashing wildly as if chopping minced meat.
Another female Snakefolk, the Mudflat Snakefolk Priest, desperately wanted to rescue her companion, but the Vampire Kitz and the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier had already surrounded her, making it impossible for her to break through. She could only make a final effort, using her Mud Shell Shield skill to shield the Snakefolk warrior.
It seemed impressive that it could withstand three physical attacks, but under Li Shuyi's relentless and all-out assault, it didn't even last a second before the Mud Shell Shield shattered.
The Mudflat Snakefolk Warrior finally awoke from his Stunned Status and attempted to fight back, only to find that he no longer had the Divine Might to unleash his skills.
The natural regeneration rate of Divine Might is 10% per minute. The Snakefolk Warrior has 14 points of mental energy, meaning he can only regenerate 1.4 points of Divine Might per minute.
Battles among awakened individuals usually don't last long, unless their strength is extremely close, in which case they will evolve into a protracted war.
Unable to use any skills, the Snakefolk warrior could only futilely swing his trident at the ground. His agility was poor, and his attack speed was slow, so all his attacks were easily dodged by Li Shuyi. Meanwhile, his Life Value was rapidly decreasing, and he couldn't wait until his Divine Might recovered.
With a thud, the Snakefolk warrior fell to the ground.
On the other side, the Snakefolk priest died even earlier than him. After all, Bai Xiaowen's side had more attack points, and the Snakefolk priest gave his Mud Shell Shield to his teammates, leaving himself completely defenseless...
The Snakefolk warrior didn't drop any treasure chests, but the Snakefolk priest was kind enough to leave behind a mid-level Silver Treasure Chest, with Battle Rating of D-Tier.
After a series of small-scale battles as a warm-up, Bai Xiaowen's Blood Essence Stone accessory finally filled up its extra Life Value.
In his post-battle summary, Bai Xiaowen concluded, "The tactical role of the Vengeful Spirit was not much different from what I expected. It performed very well against violent warriors and agile assassin-type bosses with high strength and agility attributes but low spirit attributes."
Li Shuyi experienced firsthand the Vengeful Spirit power of the vengeful spirit and repeatedly praised it, "That's right. If a BOSS's spirit is below 15 points, the Vengeful Spirit's Venomous Resentment skill can prevent the opponent from using a single skill until death. Although Advanced Boss generally have a spirit of no less than 20 points, draining 15 points of Divine Might can also deplete most of their Divine Might. They might only be able to unleash one set of skills or even just one move, greatly reducing their threat level."
Bai Xiaowen nodded, then added, "However, the Vengeful Spirit's weaknesses are also obvious. Its physical damage output is practically zero; it relies solely on its Venomous Resentment Venomous Resentment skill, which has a cooldown of up to two hours..."
After a pause, Bai Xiaowen continued, "The Venomous Resentment Spirit skill requires continuous casting, lasting up to 15 seconds. This casting can be interrupted, and once interrupted, the Vengeful Spirit can only watch. The good news is that the Vengeful Spirit is basically immune to physical attacks; the only interruptible skill is magic."
This battle marked the first display of the two newly added summoned creatures, the Skeleton Champion and the Vengeful Spirit, and Bai Xiaowen felt it was well worth the effort. His strength also increased significantly as a result.
Bai Xiaowen once again felt that his Hero Class exclusive equipment, the Black Soul Stone, was indeed extraordinary. Each upgrade of the Black Soul Stone could bring Bai Xiaowen a leap in strength.
Hero Class also vary in strength, and many Hero Class do not have exclusive equipment.
Furthermore, even exclusive equipment varies in strength. And based on the information Bai Xiaowen currently has, he has never seen any Hero Class's exclusive equipment as powerful as the Black Soul Stone.
What is the origin of the Black Soul Stone? Delifa says she has a sealed memory; what secrets does it hold?
Bai Xiaowen shook his head. There was no need to dwell on things he couldn't understand, nor was there any need to be suspicious. While a significant portion of his current strength did indeed come from the Black Soul Stone, even without it, Bai Xiaowen's strength wouldn't be weaker than that of Hero Class like Qi Ruifeng.
Bai Xiaowen opened the Snakefolk priest's Silver Treasure Chest and chose his Yi-Yi chance to draw.
Bye (no pass)
Bai Xiaowen shrugged.
Li Shuyi let out a soft "Eh?" and said, "There's something else inside the treasure chest. Can you tell what it is?"
Li Shuyi reached in and pulled out a palm-sized stone slab (or mud slab?) in her hand. "There are words on this. But I can only make out a few words."
In high school, ancient Old Latin was only a hobby course and was not included in the National College Entrance Examination examination, so Li Shuyi didn't have much of it.
"It's a special item that's guaranteed to drop, and it's not included in the loot drop list." Bai Xiaowen realized this, took the clay tablet, and translated the few lines of text on it:
"Mountains become reflections, schools of fish devour vultures. God descends from the Abyss, the earth bears glory. Shadows obscure the sky, the world returns to chaos."