Battle

Looking at the towering monster before them, fear flashed through the eyes of the group; as for going up to fight, were they joking?

The pressure radiating from this monster clearly showed it was no match for a century-level spirit beast; it was at least a millennium-level beast!

Asking a spirit master without a single spirit ring to fight a millennium-level spirit beast.

Are they insane?

"Ah!"

Chen Yiyi let out a sharp cry first, then turned and ran.

The others followed suit, belatedly scattering in all directions. There was no longer any thought of guarding the ritual; it was merely a temporary team, and there was no real bond between them.

In an instant, the original seven-member Self-Strengthening Group was reduced to only Su Yun, Tang San, and Wen Wu, who was still in the middle of absorbing his spirit ring.

Tang San had originally wanted to run as well; the moment he saw the Terror Aggregate, he knew this spirit beast was not something he could contend with.

But when Tang San looked at Su Yun, preparing to call him to flee together, he saw no fear in Su Yun's eyes—only excitement and an eagerness to test his mettle. Clearly, he had set his sights on this spirit beast and intended to hunt it to obtain a spirit ring.

Sure enough, the next second, Su Yun spoke up.

"Brother Tang San, this spirit beast is called a Terror Aggregate. It is very suitable as the first spirit skill for my Shadow Scythe, though its age is a bit high—it has reached fifteen hundred years."

"Fifteen hundred years?"

Tang San frowned. He remembered Su Yun saying that there were limits to the age of spirit rings a spirit master could absorb at each stage. Once exceeded, if the spirit master's body could not withstand it, the best case was damaged meridians, and the worst was exploding to death.

Fifteen hundred years was a ring that should only be absorbed as a third spirit ring. Tang San knew Su Yun's physique was formidable, but he remained skeptical about whether he could absorb a millennium ring as his first, so he confirmed once more.

"Are you certain you can absorb it without damaging your body?"

"Yes."

Su Yun nodded firmly. That was a rhetorical question; why would he buy it if he couldn't absorb it? Given his current physical strength, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call him a human-shaped beast.

"Alright."

Tang San also nodded firmly. Since Su Yun said so, he would believe him. He took a deep breath, preparing to risk his life.

Whatever Xiao Yun wanted, no matter how difficult, even if it meant death, he would obtain it. Tang San believed Xiao Yun would do the same for him.

"Brother Tang San, I'm going in!"

As the words fell, Su Yun utilized Shave, his body appearing almost instantly beside the Terror Aggregate, wielding his Shadow Scythe to slash at its body.

Although he had the system-customized spirit beast death service, Su Yun was in no rush to kill it; after all, experiencing a "life-and-death battle" together would surely net him plenty of friendship points.

Seeing Su Yun make his move, Tang San did not hesitate. His left hand brushed across his waist and flicked, sending Coin Darts flying out one after another.

However, just as their attacks were about to make contact with the Terror Aggregate, its body suddenly turned into mist.

This caused both the hidden weapons and Su Yun's attack to pass directly through the Terror Aggregate's body.

Tang San frowned instantly, and Su Yun provided an explanation just in time.

"It's Etherealization! The core mechanism of the Terror Aggregate: the combination of reality and illusion. In this state, it is not only immune to physical damage but can also split into physical clones."

Sure enough, the moment Su Yun finished speaking, the Terror Aggregate shuddered. Its body, now in an ethereal state, began to fragment, and hundreds of Cracked Skardins surged toward Tang San and Su Yun.

However, the two were not panicked. The speed of the Cracked Skardins was not fast; Su Yun could easily dodge them even without using Shave, and a single swing of his Shadow Scythe could easily take one down.

Tang San was the same. Stepping with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, his body swayed slightly, shifting three feet to the side. With his hidden weapons firing in unison, two Cracked Skardins were shot down.

Because it was customized, Su Yun naturally wouldn't let himself and Tang San fall into real danger, which meant this Terror Aggregate acted like a game boss, with all its actions following a pattern.

Su Yun took the opportunity to explain all the skills of the Terror Aggregate.

It made Tang San's scalp tingle. To think that a mere fifteen-hundred-year-old spirit beast was this formidable; he dared not imagine how powerful a ten-thousand-year spirit beast would be.

When Su Yun and Tang San had hunted down all the Cracked Skardins, the ethereal Terror Aggregate began to collapse and harden, countless painful human faces appearing and disappearing on its black crystalline shell.

"It's about to materialize! There will be a brief moment of weakness during this process."

Su Yun let out a low shout and swung his Shadow Scythe directly at it.

The blade struck the back of the Aggregate with a loud clang, like metal hitting metal, before shattering the Terror Aggregate's carapace!

Black fluid splattered, and the Aggregate let out a painful tremor.

Good chance!

Seizing the moment Su Yun broke through the Terror Aggregate's defense, Tang San raised his right hand. Without a sound, two shadows shot out from his sleeves—the Silent Sleeve Arrows.

Given the springs Tang San had crafted, the piercing power of the Silent Sleeve Arrows was extremely strong, but even after Su Yun had broken the Terror Aggregate's defense, they did not pass all the way through, remaining stuck deep within its body.

The injured Terror Aggregate let out a painful wail, and at that very instant, the Shadow Energy vortex in the center of the Terror Aggregate's chest suddenly contracted, all the churning black mist and crystal fragments on its body collapsing toward the core.

The next second, its giant arm, composed of pure Shadow Energy, lashed out. The crystals on the arm grew and hardened like living things, finally condensing into a Crystal Warhammer with purple-black arcs of electricity flickering along its edges.

"Watch out! That's Crystal Strike!"

Just as Su Yun issued the warning, the warhammer smashed toward Tang San with a screech that tore through the air. Wherever the hammer passed, the space itself distorted due to the intense energy compression.

Tang San's expression turned grave. Realizing he could no longer dodge using Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Tang San stomped his feet hard, utilizing the Shave technique he had not yet fully mastered.

In the blink of an eye, his body vanished from its original spot, reappearing six meters away.

As Tang San dodged the strike, the moment the hammer face made contact with the ground, the earth shook and dust billowed into the air.

Not only that, but Tang San also discovered that this was no simple physical impact; spiderweb-like purple-black patterns were left etched into the ground where the hammer had struck.

Su Yun had told him that this was Shadow Energy.

Targets struck by it would feel as though the blood in their entire body had instantly frozen, while their bones emitted faint, brittle cracking sounds under the erosion of the Shadow Energy.

Even more terrifying was the persistent "Crystal Erosion" effect, which caused the flow of soul power within the body to become sluggish, making every breath feel like swallowing shards of glass; black blood contaminated by Shadow Energy constantly seeped from wounds, and even using healing skills could only temporarily suppress the lingering, agonizing pain, unable to eradicate the sense of the crystals taking root within the body.

Had he failed to retreat from the melee range in time just now, the Terror Aggregate would have unleashed a continuous barrage of strikes with its Crystal Warhammer.