Gu Summoner Zhalun

"Based on the fragments of memory from that Hittites prisoner, I can determine the approximate location of Kadesh City. It should be in the northeast, on the banks of a river called the Orontes River... Let's find a way to cross the river first, and then we can look for the Pharaoh's Legion."

The Ptah's Divine Legion's crossing of the river required a circuitous route to find a ferry and take boats, which took a considerable amount of time. For Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi, however, it was undoubtedly much simpler.

Soon, Bai Xiaowen and his companion drove to the Orontes River. Before them stretched an endless expanse of water, its waves churning in the gentle breeze.

Bai Xiaowen stood by the river, frowning as he fell into deep thought.

"Shall we go?" Li Shuyi said. They were in a hurry; every minute they were late increased the danger to Ramses and the greater the chance of their plan failing.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Bai Xiaowen raised his wrist, and on his left wrist, the Doom Bracelet clearly revealed a serious and earnest face.

Bai Xiaowen tried to sense a wide area with his Divine Might, but he did not detect anything unusual. There was not a single threatening life form within a radius of a thousand meters. Only the turbulent Orontes River in front of him seemed to harbor a terrifying danger in its beautiful waters.

However, Bai Xiaowen did not hesitate for long. After a brief moment of contemplation, he gestured to Li Shuyi to jump off the carriage.

Bai Xiaowen then jumped off the chariot and slapped the horse's rump hard.

With a long, mournful neigh, the warhorse, under Bai Xiaowen's mental guidance, suddenly charged towards the Orontes River! The horse Sprint an extremely fast speed, even Sprint across the water for a distance before slowly sinking four or five meters into the river.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi both stared intently at the horse.

Suddenly, the warhorse raised its head and neighed loudly, its voice even becoming somewhat mournful.

Clumps of water surged and swarmed around the warhorse, shooting out streaks of blood that dyed the river crimson! The red blood was washed down by the river, leaving a breathtaking trail of crimson blood on the surface.

"Piranhas!" Li Shuyi exclaimed in a low voice.

"Gotcha... you!"

Bai Xiaowen suddenly turned to the side, his eyes scanning the bushes to the side like a hawk's! He raised his hand and summoned Rageclaw, whose four claws moved with the wind as it Pounce towards the bushes.

Just now, when the piranhas were moving, Bai Xiaowen sensed a barely perceptible fluctuation of Divine Might! Fortunately, Bai Xiaowen's talent in Divine Might was extraordinary, otherwise he would definitely not have been able to detect this abnormal fluctuation.

By tracing back to the source and following the clues, Bai Xiaowen finally found the origin of that mental fluctuation.

Squeak!

The bushes fell down in a row, and suddenly a buzzing sound rang out. A grayish-black shadow rushed forward, followed by the mournful howl of Rageclaw.

The notification from the Spirit Realm Rules sounded, "Your summoned creature, Rageclaw, has been attacked by Awakened Zhalun. For the next 30 minutes, you are in a state of self-defense..."

"Poisonous Bee!" Bai Xiaowen's heart skipped a beat. He checked the status of the Rageclaw. In an instant, five layers of poison effect had been added, and the number of layers was still rising! Although each layer of effect only dealt one or two points of actual damage per second, the cumulative effect was definitely unbearable!

Rageclaw and Bai Xiaowen share Life Sharing; as Rageclaw was injured, Bai Xiaowen's Life Value were also rapidly decreasing!

A slender figure stood on a treetop, his body rising and falling with the swaying of the branches. "As expected of a rising star of Huaxia Country, you've actually managed to see through my Psychic Barrier. For that alone, you can die with pride."

This person was clearly Zhalun, the attacker who controlled the poisonous bees. His voice was indistinct, and because it was automatically converted to Ancient Egyptian, no additional information could be discerned.

Li Shuyi's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Ridiculous." Bai Xiaowen raised his hand, and Skeleton Champion appeared, swinging his greatsword and crashing into the tree! With a crack, the tree snapped in two.

Swish!

The slender Zhalun, his cloak billowing behind him, swooped down like a bat to another large tree. His voice held a hint of elegance, yet also a touch of coldness. "Useless. Let my darlings give you a good welcome!"

A loud buzzing sound arose as the swarm of poisonous bees split into two groups: one group entangled with the Rageclaw, while the other group pounced on Bai Xiaowen.

Beside Bai Xiaowen, Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier shields raised for cover while simultaneously slashing with their swords. However, the poisonous bees were extremely small and agile, making the iron swords' slashes largely ineffective. The stings from the bees on Bai Xiaowen and his summoned creatures caused more pain than anything else; the cumulative poison effects were exceptionally troublesome!

"Why did you attack me?" Bai Xiaowen asked sharply, somewhat disheveled as she swatted at the poisonous bees.

"Hehe..."

Zhalun let out a cold laugh.

"After too many years of peace, these naive questions inevitably arise. I actually quite enjoy killing you so-called awakened great powers, organizing leagues and deliberately exposing your professional characteristics, all for a few vague rewards from the Spirit Realm Rules..."

"If this were the brutal jungles of Southeast Asia, you hothouse flowers would have died a thousand times over!"

At this moment, Bai Xiaowen's Insight was also put to the test.

[Zhalun (Hero Tier Level 6)]

[Race: Human Species / Human Race]

[Class: Gu Summoner]

[Attributes: Strength 15, Agility 22, Constitution 38, Spirit 64]

[Class Skill: Insect Affinity: You can apply pheromone suggestions to insect creatures within a large area, making them obey your commands. You can only control one type of insect at a time. LV4 Enhancement Effect: All insect creatures you control will receive corresponding enhancements based on their racial characteristics.]

[Skill 1: Psychic Pierce: Inflicts a Divine Might pierce on an enemy, dealing moderate magic damage. Enemies with less than 60% of your Divine Might will also suffer a fear effect.]

[Skill 2: Chain Lightning: Unleashes multiple consecutive lightning strikes on a small area of the target, dealing moderate magic damage and inflicting a paralyzing effect.]

[Skill 3: Explosive Gu: Omitted.]

[Skill 4: Mind Cage: Imprisonment a target, preventing them from moving, attacking, or casting spells.]

Bai Xiaowen understood somewhat. Although this Zhalun's profession was Gu Summoner, his four combat skills were mainly single-target magic output, so he could be considered more than half a mage and could not be treated as Summoner Class.

In the league, this Insect Affinity skill is rendered half useless. But in open field battles, Zhalun, who can control insects, will definitely have an extra advantage.

"Judging from his tone, he's a powerful awakened individual from Southeast Asia."

Bai Xiaowen knew that she wouldn't get any more information by pretending. Zhalun had only revealed some information out of smugness, knowing that victory was assured.

"All you know is that I'm a summoner, but how much do you really know about me? Stop being so arrogant, you fool from such a tiny country!"

Boom!

A flame erupted, Bai Xiaowen spun skyward like a top, unleashing a Flame Curtain! The surrounding poisonous bees Flame Scorch and fell to the ground with a crackling sound!

The Butcher charged toward the Rageclaw and unleashed his Rot skill! The surrounding poisonous bees also fell to the ground with a crackling sound, dying instantly.

Once freed, Rageclaw roared and pounced on the tree where Zhalun was perched, slashing with its Claw! The tree snapped again, creaking and crashing to the ground.

Zhalun's cloak billowed out, and he was able to continuously activate this flight-like ability! This time, he flew towards the third tree.

However, Bai Xiaowen had been preparing for this moment for a long time. The Butcher immediately raised his hand, predicted the direction of Zhalun's flight, and threw the iron chain in his hand!

A look of horror flashed in Zhalun's eyes. He tried desperately to stop in mid-air, but he couldn't. With a thud, the Butcher's chain pierced his thigh, causing puncture damage and dragging the flying show-off down like a harpoon turret—although he was Hero Class, Zhalun only had 15 points of strength.

A cold smile appeared on Bai Xiaowen's face. He had long seen that Zhalun did not have the ability to fly. The cloak was just like the Tribal Feather Cloak, with Gliding function! Although it could be activated continuously for a short period of time, Zhalun could not change direction in the air! The Butcher's move hit the mark as expected.

With a thud, the Butcher's chain snapped back, landing heavily on the ground with a dark, indistinct object. Rageclaw, Skeleton Champion, and other creatures pounced on it.

"Wrong!"

Bai Xiaowen abruptly stopped his advance to gang up on the creature, simultaneously ordering Rageclaw and the Skeleton Champion to retreat. The Butcher's massive body then slammed down, pinning the black mass beneath him.

Boom!

A loud bang rang out, and half of the Butcher's body was almost blown apart, with dark blood gushing out. Although it had a high Life Value, its constitution was only 36 points. Such a violent explosion caused severe Rend Piercing wounds, resulting in a state of Severe Bleeding that could not be bandaged or healed!

Just seconds later, the Butcher, whose Life Value was already low, collapsed to the ground and died, turning into specks of light and disappearing.

Bai Xiaowen's face darkened. At the crucial moment, Zhalun used a Position Swap item to swap positions with an "Explosive Gu"! The explosive power of this Explosive Gu exceeded Bai Xiaowen's expectations; even the Butcher couldn't withstand the force of a single blast.

At this moment, Zhalun was already standing far away on the top of a tree.

"You've got some skills, I admit I couldn't stop you alone. But you won't be smug for long, you little brat from Huaxia Country..."

After saying that, Zhalun glided down like a falcon, flying into the distance and disappearing from sight.

"Should we pursue her?" Li Shuyi asked.

Bai Xiaowen took a breath. He was furious, but there were priorities. Pursuing Zhalun now would only play right into their hands.

"He could have just left, but he deliberately stayed behind to provoke us, hoping we would chase after him..." Bai Xiaowen slowly shook his head. "Cross the river as planned!"

Bai Xiaowen, carrying Li Shuyi on his back, activated the Sharkskin Boots ' skill: Water Skimming, gliding across the waves.

The piranhas were not originally under Zhalun's control; he used some means to induce the piranhas to gather in a certain section of the river. Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi avoided that section of the river, and there was no danger beyond that.

"While his last words were meant to lure us in, they also revealed some information," Bai Xiaowen said slowly. "He said, 'One person can't stop you,' and 'You won't be smug for long,' which means he has other teammates."

"Furthermore, regardless of this person's background, he wouldn't have ambushed us without a reason. Due to the uncertainty of the Spirit Realm matching, the possibility of a vendetta from Earth can be largely ruled out—that leaves only a conflict of interest within this plane."

"Zhalun has likely chosen Sammet's side... Could he be planning to use this opportunity to kill Ramses?" Bai Xiaowen was startled as he said this. "A man with ambition. If he were alone, it would indeed be impossible, but if he had some capable allies, with Ramses facing internal and external troubles, he might actually succeed..."

"In that case, we should cross the river to rescue Ramses. Staying and entangled with him would be exactly what he wants," Bai Xiaowen concluded.

Li Shuyi was startled and exclaimed, "I hadn't thought of that!"

People in an enraged state often struggle to grasp this kind of extra information accurately. Zhalun hadn't expected Bai Xiaowen to be so calm, completely unaffected by his provocations, and instead focused on extracting information... like an emotionless machine monster.

After crossing the Orontes River, Bai Xiaowen and his companion continued their journey towards Kadesh City.

On the way, the two were still talking about the newly awakened Zhalun.

"I feel that Zhalun seems to be more powerful than Bao Yiming, Duanmucheng, and even Qi Ruifeng. He seems to have an invisible aura of menace about him, and I feel a sense of... fear when I see him," Li Shuyi said softly. "Could he be right? Is it because our domestic environment is too peaceful, so Awakened Ones grow up in a greenhouse and are not as strong as their counterparts in the war-torn regions of Southeast Asia?"

Bai Xiaowen shook his head. "Don't be fooled by him... The idea of raising poisonous insects to kill each other and eventually produce one or two strong individuals is purely the narrow-minded individualism of a small country, and it's completely useless... In the chaotic Southeast Asia, many geniuses are nipped in the bud. Those who survive and become strong are not the most talented Awakened Ones, but the most ruthless ones! You're right that you sense a murderous aura about him; the blood of Awakened Ones on his hands must be in the hundreds..."

After a pause, Bai Xiaowen continued, "Under this grand context of nationwide evolution, an orderly environment that can nurture the growth of geniuses is the most reasonable and conducive to the overall improvement of the nation's awakened individuals. With the improvement of overall strength, the top awakened individuals will hone their skills and tactics by playing in leagues and engaging in life-or-death competitions in a simulated environment, which will only make them stronger, not weaker."

"If you were to say what Qi Ruifeng's Hero Class lacks Zhalun, I think it's only a little bit of real ruthlessness in killing. But have you noticed that Zhalun is actually quite old? I think he must be at least thirty. Thirty years old and still not at level 7 is evidence of the overall low strength of Awakened in Southeast Asia."