Battle

At the sight of the towering monster before them, fear flashed through everyone's eyes. As for charging in to fight it—what a joke!

The oppressive aura emanating from the monster made it clear that no Hundred-Year Soul Beast could hold a candle to it. It was at least a Thousand-Year Soul Beast!

And they expected a Soul Master without even a single Spirit Ring to fight a Thousand-Year Soul Beast?

Were they insane?

"Ah!"

Chen Yiyi let out a scream, then turned and ran.

The others followed suit a moment later, scattering in every direction. They had no thoughts of standing guard anymore. This had only ever been a temporary team, and they had no real bond with one another.

In an instant, the Self-Strengthening Group, which had originally had seven members, was reduced to Su Yun, Tang San, and Wen Wu, who was still absorbing his Spirit Ring.

Tang San had originally wanted to run, too. The moment he saw the Terror Aggregate, he knew it was a Spirit Beast he couldn't possibly defeat.

But when Tang San looked over at Su Yun, ready to call for him to run as well, he saw no fear in Su Yun's eyes—only excitement and eager anticipation. It was obvious that Su Yun had taken a liking to the Spirit Beast and wanted to hunt it for its Spirit Ring.

Sure enough, Su Yun spoke the very next moment.

"Third Brother, this Spirit Beast is called a Terror Aggregate. It would be a perfect first Spirit Skill for my Shadow Scythe, but it's a little too old—fifteen hundred years."

"Fifteen hundred years?"

Tang San frowned. He remembered Su Yun saying that the age of the Spirit Ring a Soul Master could absorb was limited at each stage. If it exceeded that limit and the Soul Master's body couldn't take it, the consequences ranged from damaged meridians to death by exploding apart.

A fifteen-hundred-year Spirit Ring was only suitable for a third Spirit Ring. Tang San knew Su Yun was physically strong, but he doubted he could absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring as his first, so he asked again to make sure.

"Are you sure you can absorb it without harming your body?"

"Mm."

Su Yun nodded firmly. Wasn't that obvious? Why else would he have bought it if he couldn't absorb it? Given his current physical strength, he was practically a human-shaped Ferocious Beast.

"Okay."

Tang San nodded firmly, too. Since Su Yun had said so, he trusted him. He took a deep breath, ready to risk his life.

No matter how difficult it was, he would obtain what Xiao Yun wanted—even if it cost him his life. Tang San believed Xiao Yun would do the same for him.

"Third Brother, I'm going in!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, Su Yun used Shave. His body appeared beside the Terror Aggregate almost instantly. He raised the Shadow Scythe and slashed at its body.

Even though the system had arranged a custom Spirit Beast death service, Su Yun wasn't in a hurry to kill it. After all, going through a "life-and-death battle" together would surely earn him a good number of Friendship Points.

Seeing Su Yun attack, Tang San didn't hesitate either. His left hand repeatedly swept over his waist and flicked outward, sending Coin Darts flying one after another.

But just as their attacks were about to hit the Terror Aggregate, its body suddenly turned to mist.

As a result, both the Hidden Weapons and Su Yun's attack passed straight through the Terror Aggregate's body.

Tang San frowned at once, and Su Yun quickly explained.

"That's Phasing! It's the Terror Aggregate's core mechanism: combining the real and the unreal. In this state, it's immune to physical damage and can also split off solid clones."

Sure enough, as soon as Su Yun finished speaking, the Terror Aggregate shuddered. The fragments of its phased body began to split apart, and hundreds of Cracked Skardins lunged at Tang San and Su Yun.

Neither of them panicked. The Cracked Skardins weren't very fast, and Su Yun could easily dodge them without even using Shave. Then he could swing the Shadow Scythe and dispatch one with ease.

Tang San was just as capable. He stepped through Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, shifted his body slightly, and slid three feet to the side. His Hidden Weapons flew from his hand, killing two Cracked Skardins.

Since this was a custom arrangement, Su Yun naturally wouldn't put himself or Tang San in any real danger. That made the Terror Aggregate seem like a game boss, with every move following a pattern.

Whenever he had a moment, Su Yun explained all of the Terror Aggregate's skills as well.

Tang San listened with his scalp tingling. A Spirit Beast that was only fifteen hundred years old was already this powerful. He couldn't even imagine how strong a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast would be.

Once Su Yun and Tang San had hunted down all the Cracked Skardins, the phased Terror Aggregate began to collapse and harden. Countless anguished faces appeared and vanished across its black crystal shell.

"It's about to become corporeal! It'll be weakened for a short while during the process."

Su Yun shouted and immediately swung the Shadow Scythe at it.

The blade crashed into the Aggregate's back with a resounding clang, then broke through its shell!

Black fluid sprayed into the air, and the Aggregate shuddered in pain.

What an opportunity!

The moment Su Yun broke through the Terror Aggregate's defenses, Tang San raised his right hand. Without a sound, two shadows shot directly from his sleeve: Silent Sleeve Arrows.

The mechanical triggers Tang San had made gave the Silent Sleeve Arrows tremendous penetrating power. But even after Su Yun broke through the Terror Aggregate's defenses, they couldn't pierce straight through. They only sank deep into its body and became lodged there.

The wounded Terror Aggregate let out a pained howl. At that very moment—

The shadow vortex in the Terror Aggregate's chest suddenly contracted. All the roiling black mist and crystal fragments on its body collapsed toward its core.

The next moment, its enormous arm, made entirely of Shadow Energy, shot up. The crystals on it grew like living things, hardening until they finally formed a crystal warhammer edged with flickering purple-black arcs of electricity.

"Careful! That's Crystal Strike!"

Su Yun had barely finished warning him when the warhammer came crashing toward Tang San with a shriek that tore through the air. Space twisted under the violent pressure of the energy as the hammer swept past.

Tang San's expression turned grave. He knew Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track wouldn't be enough to dodge in time. He planted both feet hard against the ground and used Shave, which he still hadn't mastered.

In the blink of an eye, his body vanished from where he stood and reappeared six meters away.

Tang San dodged the attack. When the hammer struck the ground, the earth shook and dust billowed into the air.

That wasn't all. Tang San also saw that the blow had left a web of purple-black lines across the ground. It hadn't been a simple physical impact.

Su Yun had told him about this: it was Shadow Energy.

A target hit by it would feel as if all the blood in their body had frozen in an instant, while their bones gave off faint, brittle cracks under the Crystal Erosion.

Even more terrifying was the lasting Crystal Erosion effect. It would make the flow of Soul Power inside the body sluggish. Every breath would feel like swallowing broken glass, and black blood tainted by Shadow Energy would keep seeping from the wounds. Even a healing skill could only temporarily suppress the relentless pain; it couldn't get rid of the feeling of crystals taking root inside the body.

If Tang San hadn't managed to get out of close range just then, the Terror Aggregate would have swung its crystal warhammer repeatedly.