For ordinary Dao Artifact wielders, improving their own defenses was simple enough: they only needed to wear defensive Dao Artifacts. Like Magic Treasures, Dao Artifacts came in offensive and defensive types. However, defensive Dao Artifacts were far rarer, and thus far more valuable.
Taking the Battle Merit Hall's resource exchange list as an example, Alliance Guards who reached Silver Guard rank became qualified to exchange for Dao Artifacts, but the Dao Artifacts available were all offensive. Only the Gold Guard exchange list occasionally featured one or two defensive types, and even then, the enhancement they provided was not particularly great.
This seemed to be because defensive Dao Artifacts were more difficult to refine.
Lu Ye was currently using Fourteen Dao Power to strike at his opponent's protective force, so naturally, he could break through it.
As the hammer came down, Lu Ye keenly sensed that his opponent's protective force was not merely Ninth Layer Dao, but roughly Eleven Dao Power. This undoubtedly showed that the Insect Race was wearing a defensive Dao Artifact. The extra two layers of defensive power should have come from the Dao Artifact's enhancement.
The Insect Race realized something was wrong and tilted his head at the crucial moment. The hammer smashed heavily into his shoulder, crushing it inward.
At the same time, the short blade in the Insect Race's hand broke through Lu Ye's defenses and plunged into his body.
The Insect Race had aimed this strike at Lu Ye's heart. If it had landed, Lu Ye would have suffered at least severe injuries. Yet whether by coincidence or otherwise, the shock from Lu Ye's heavy hammer blow caused the Insect Race's strike to deviate slightly. It did not hit as he wished, and the short blade pierced beneath Lu Ye's ribs instead.
In that