Lightning Raid!

It must be said that the Snakefolk Tribe was very vigilant. After the conch shell sounded, signaling an invasion, the tribe responded quickly, with groups of Snakefolk- Snakefolk warriors and priests rapidly assembling.

The fastest to arrive will undoubtedly be the other Snakefolk patrol teams roaming outside the tribe's high walls; it will take some time for the Snakefolk within the tribe to gather.

The first reinforcement patrol of Snakefolk consisted of two teams, each composed of one of two professions: male warriors and female priestesses, totaling ten people. All of them were Elite Tier.

Bai Xiaowen was directly confronting the two groups of Snakefolk. He waved his hand and summoned all his creatures. The dozen or so summoned creatures formed a sharp formation and actually created a counter-push.

A powerful summoner can single-handedly form an army. Bai Xiaowen is already showing signs of that.

After receiving a second buff of +2 to all attributes, the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier are now comparable to level 5 ordinary creatures in terms of overall stats. Moreover, due to their extreme attribute distribution—low agility and spirit—they possess remarkably high strength and constitution, at 19 and 18 points respectively, making them quite durable as tanks.

More importantly, there were six of these Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, forming a shield formation that effectively blocked the Snakefolk warriors' attacks.

Under Bai Xiaowen's control, the Voodoo Stitched Monster Fatty broke free from the cover of the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and charged directly into the monster horde. Its enormous size immediately attracted the attention of several Snakefolk warriors and priests, who surrounded it and began to slash and attack.

Soon, the bleeding effect on Fatty's body stacked to 5 layers, and the blood quickly evaporated into patches of purplish-black mist. Within melee range, all Snakefolk warriors and priests were slowed down by 25% and also suffered 15 points of Septic Venom damage per second.

Seeing Fatty's health bar and the monster's health bar drop rapidly together, Bai Xiaowen was still a little alarmed. After the upgrade, Fatty's Life Value dropped at an avalanche-like rate, but the area-of-effect poison damage it caused while losing health was equally terrifying.

Count them up; six Snakefolk have already surrounded Fatty. Each Snakefolk loses about 10 Life Value points per second (poison damage is considered magic damage and needs to be factored in by constitution resistance and damage reduction). This gives Fatty an extra 60 DPS per second. With a strength value of 28, even a slow punch deals extremely high damage. What's better is that Snakefolk in a slowed state have a hard time dodging.

"Fatty has five stacks of the Bleeding status effect. This AOE ability can only last for a minute at most. Considering the damage from the Snakefolk monsters ganging up on him, the time will probably be reduced to less than 30 seconds... Although the six Snakefolk around him will also be either dead or crippled, Fatty can't be used to trade his life with them. Fatty will still be very useful in the later stages of the battle."

Under Bai Xiaowen's Mind Link command, the Skeleton Champion charged forward, wielding his greatsword and unleashing a powerful Whirlwind Slash skill, repelling the Snakefolk in his path and advancing directly to Fatty's side. Meanwhile, Vampire Kitz rushed along the path cleared by the Skeleton Champion, his two Elite Tier summoned creatures standing beside Fatty to shield him from the attacks of the surrounding Snakefolk.

The Bone Warlock unleashed his power. Although the Ghost Mist was relatively thin here, his mental recovery speed was still faster than normal. He cast the Thunderstrike Art as soon as its cooldown was over. Under Bai Xiaowen's precise command, each Lightning Strike landed precisely when an enemy was about to make an attack! It could be said that the stun effect of the Lightning Strike was not wasted at all.

The highest damage dealers were Rageclaw and Li Shuyi. Rageclaw had the extra Critical Hit rate from Blood Frenzy, while Li Shuyi's damage was higher because she didn't activate Demonfire Dance, and her weapon's additional skill Blood Drain, was on cooldown.

The Snakefolk warriors and priests also possessed a certain level of intelligence; they communicated with each other in Old Latin, roaring loudly as they attempted to attack Bai Xiaowen, but were all Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier. Bai Xiaowen's hands were as steady as a rock, unleashing a barrage of bullets in Rapid-Fire Mode, occasionally triggering the Blood Essence Stone's Killing Thirst effect, resulting in a high amount of true damage.

Although the Snakefolk patrol team cooperated to some extent, it was still not as effective as Bai Xiaowen's Coordination. The six Snakefolk around Fatty fell to the ground and died one after another under the combined damage of the poison and concentrated fire.

These Snakefolk were incredibly fierce; even when they were clearly outmatched, not one of Snakefolk fled. However, this saved Bai Xiaowen some trouble, as he quickly summoned his creatures to gang up on and beat the remaining four Snakefolk to death.

This battle resulted in the killing of ten Elite Snakefolk, and the growth rate of the Black Soul Stone rose to nearly 60 points again. Three Silver Treasure Chest also dropped.

"Time is of the essence, so we'll stop opening the treasure chests for now." Bai Xiaowen put away the three treasure chests.

Suddenly, Rageclaw's nose twitched, its ears perked up, and it looked in the direction of the Snakefolk Tribe, letting out a low growling sound.

Not only does the Rageclaw have an exceptional sense of smell, but it also possesses extremely keen hearing, allowing it to glean information from distant locations from scents and sounds carried on the wind.

"Reinforcements from the Snakefolk Tribe are arriving soon. Rageclaw has caught the stench of the Marsh Hydra. It seems this is the main combat force, not a patrol," Bai Xiaowen stroked Rageclaw's smooth neck fur and patted its side. "Let's take a detour and avoid a direct confrontation with the Snakefolk reinforcements."

Rageclaw ran sideways, bypassing a mud pit, tracing a large arc as it advanced in a meandering manner.

Li Shuyi was a little confused. "Aren't we here to block reinforcements?"

Bai Xiaowen shook his head and laughed, "How long can the two of us hold them off? Even if we fight with all our might and manage to stop the first wave of Snakefolk, reinforcements will keep coming. Although the two of us are very strong, we can't outlast an entire tribe. A better strategy is to relieve the siege of Wei by attacking Zhao."

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi killed the Snakefolk Elite Tier very quickly, taking less than a minute in total. At this time, Shi Haiyan and others were still fiercely fighting four Snakefolk Elite Tier, and no winner had been decided yet.

In fact, Bai Xiaowen used Shi Haiyan, Han Xu, and others as bait. As long as he and Li Shuyi took a roundabout route, the regular army of the Snakefolk would not see them and would naturally join the battle on Shi Haiyan's side. Taking advantage of this time difference, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi could directly attack the Snakefolk Tribe.

This is not the Spirit Realm, but Treasure Ground Space Shi Haiyan and the others can return at any time without facing any danger. Moreover, if Bai Xiaowen's plan goes smoothly, he can force the regular troops of the Snakefolk Tribe to return to defend their territory, which is equivalent to indirectly resolving the crisis for Shi Haiyan and the others.

Moreover, Bai Xiaowen also obtained important information about the Snakefolk Tribe from Majik's animal skin scroll, which was the main factor that gave him confidence in implementing the strategy of "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao".

During their detour, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi secretly concealed themselves and caught a glimpse of the main force of the Snakefolk from afar. Bai Xiaowen was prepared, so it didn't bother him, but Li Shuyi was quite surprised.

The main force of this Snakefolk Tribe consists of dozens of Elite Snakefolk, in addition to more than a dozen Marsh Hydra, led by a level six Boss Tier! Even with Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi's strength, they would still need to fight hard and use all their trump cards to win against this force.

But without a doubt, this force of several dozen people should only be a part of the Snakefolk Tribe's strength. There's no reason why they would mobilize their entire force just because a few outsiders appeared in their territory. There must be a certain number of soldiers stationed in the territory. Moreover, a level six Boss Tier should definitely not be the overall boss of the Snakefolk Tribe. You should know that the overall boss of their vassal tribe, the Lobsterfolk Tribe, is as high as level seven, Majik.

In other words, Bai Xiaowen's prediction was entirely correct. If they clashed head-on with this reinforcement, more Snakefolk reinforcements would arrive, and the two would be locked in a fierce battle. It wouldn't be as satisfying as a diversionary tactic like attacking the enemy's stronghold directly.

Bai Xiaowen and his companion bypassed the reinforcements sent by the Snakefolk Tribe, and after taking a detour, they quickly reached the outside of the tribe's high walls. The Snakefolk sentries on guard were taken aback and quickly blew another sharp horn, sounding the alarm that the enemy had invaded the tribe's territory.

Another group of the Snakefolk Tribe warriors charged toward the gate, reinforcing its defenses.

However, Bai Xiaowen did not directly storm the gate, but instead ran to the outside of the Snakefolk Tribe's high wall, in front of a crystal pillar.

"According to the animal skin scrolls recorded by the Lobsterfolk, the Snakefolk Tribe maintains its Internal Isolation Array using four crystal pillars," Bai Xiaowen explained briefly. "What we need to do now is to completely destroy the four crystal pillars and let the Snakefolk Tribe reappear in the Pale Mire!"

Bai Xiaowen's original plan was to go straight into the Snakefolk Tribe, kill the Snakefolk boss, and obtain all the benefits. At most, he would share some of the Elite Tier with Shi Haiyan and the others, which would also serve as proof of their value as bait. However, after making direct contact, Bai Xiaowen realized that the Snakefolk Tribe was quite powerful, and it would be difficult for him, Li Shuyi, Shi Haiyan, and other awakened individuals to win.

Since that's the case, let's go all the way and completely destroy the Internal Isolation Array, allowing the Snakefolk Tribe to see the light of day again! At that time, a large number of awakened beings from the Pale Mire will naturally rush over.

As for the awakened ones rushing over, would they steal the main benefits from the Snakefolk Tribe? Bai Xiaowen smiled slightly. He already had so many advantages, and his strength was at the top level in the entire Dead Spirit Lake space. If other awakened ones who rushed in halfway stole the main benefits, he might as well just kill himself.

"I eat meat, and the Awakened who work for me will at most drink some soup." This thought flashed through Bai Xiaowen's mind.

Beside the crystal pillar, there was only a Snakefolk tent, guarded by two Elite Snakefolk. Clearly, the Snakefolk Tribe hadn't expected Bai Xiaowen to have such clear intelligence about their internal affairs, as such a strategic location was left undefended.

After easily slaying the two Snakefolk, a group of summoned creatures surrounded the crystal pillar and began hacking away at it—the crystal pillar itself also had Durability.

Although the crystal pillar was not fragile, it was by no means sturdy either. Within ten seconds, it was shattered into a pile of crystal fragments.

Bai Xiaowen was somewhat surprised to discover that these crystal fragments were actually psionic items, with the description stating:

[Broken Crystal: Can be taken out of the Spirit Realm Plane, used as currency in certain special worlds, or exchanged for Psionic Points at the level completion screen.]

Such an unexpected delight was something they were eager to take as many as they could get. Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi quickly gathered up all the crystal fragments, then marched forward, rushing towards the next crystal pillar.

Four crystal pillars, located at the four corners of the high walls of the Snakefolk Tribe, act like a giant mosquito net, protecting the Snakefolk Tribe and isolating it from the explorations of successive generations of Awakened Trainees. However, this time, the Snakefolk Tribe is destined not to weather the crisis peacefully.

After Bai Xiaowen and his companion destroyed the first crystal pillar, it was as if a corner of a mosquito net had collapsed. The corresponding boundary of the magic array showed spatial overlap, and Spatial Rift of varying sizes were generated. Then, due to the extensibility of space itself, they rapidly expanded into shimmering spatial gates, connecting the Internal Isolation Array and the Pale Mire!

After the first crystal pillar was destroyed, the Snakefolk Tribe was furious and quickly dispatched its remaining forces to protect the other three crystal pillars while hunting down the perpetrators. In response, the Snakefolk Tribe sounded the alarm horn, and the dozens of Snakefolk main combat troops that had been sent out began to return to defend the area upon hearing the horn.

However, destruction is always easier than protection. While the Snakefolk Tribe's leaders were receiving feedback, discussing, and deploying troops, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi had already arrived at the second crystal pillar, killed two more Snakefolk guarding it, and completely destroyed the crystal pillar.

The benefits of the blitzkrieg ended there. When Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi arrived at the third crystal pillar, they found more than a dozen Elite Snakefolk waiting in full battle, as well as two Marsh Hydra!

Of course, this intelligence was discovered by the Shadow Assassin went ahead to investigate; she has the ability to become invisible and can remain undetected.

After witnessing this scene through the shared vision of the Shadow Assassin, Bai Xiaowen immediately changed his battle plan and recalled all summoned creatures.

The battlefield is ever-changing, especially in small-scale Ambush like this, where adaptability to the terrain is paramount. The Snakefolk Tribe has already deployed a large force to guard the remaining two crystal pillars; a stalemate is unwise.

"What should we do now?" Li Shuyi asked. While guarding the crystal pillar, the Snakefolk Tribe also dispatched Elite Tier search team to look for Bai Xiaowen and his companion.

Of course, Shi Haiyan, Han Xu, and others were also fleeing, and they also tied up a considerable portion of the Snakefolk Tribe's military strength, which demonstrates their value.

However, while the Snakefolk Tribe was hunting down Shi Haiyan and others and guarding the crystal pillar, they were still able to send out multiple search teams to look for Bai Xiaowen and his companion, only the search efforts were slightly weaker.

The Snakefolk patrol team is familiar with the area, and it's only a matter of time before they find Bai Xiaowen and his companion.

Bai Xiaowen took out the A+ grade item he had obtained from the Nightmare Alligator: the Skin of Metamorphosis, and laughed, "Destroying two crystal pillars has been more effective than I expected. The Awakened Ones outside will be here soon. We've stirred up the waters; now we just need to hide."