What's Up With This Human?

Chen Ming's strike was clean and decisive.

The long blade cleaved through the flames before him, landing squarely on the Flame Spirit.

"Whoosh—"

A wave of scorching heat surged upward.

The Flame Spirit pulled back in a fury, the fire on its body burning violently.

How is this human not fighting by the rules?

"Your defensive stats are quite high."

After the strike, Chen Ming frowned slightly.

If this were a normal level 8 exotic beast, he could have easily finished it off with his current combat power.

However, the strength of this Flame Spirit was far greater than that of a normal exotic beast.

Coupled with its dual skills, it had likely reached the level of a level 10 exotic beast.

This was no longer a simple matter of fighting five levels above his own; it was a leap across an entire tier.

Most importantly, this Flame Spirit possessed mental attack capabilities.

Compared to his physique, his mental power was significantly lower.

Without further hesitation, Chen Ming tightened his grip on the Rock-Shattering Blade.

The faint red patterns on the blade began to manifest instantly.

Bloodthirst empowered!

Strength attribute +50%!

The massive boost made Chen Ming feel as though his body were overflowing with power.

But the next moment.

He felt another strange force emanating from the Rock-Shattering Blade in his hand.

A faint aura of blood radiated from the long blade, coiling around his palm.

Chen Ming instinctively realized that this was energy with a debuff attribute.

And then...

There was no then.

The blood-red aura, carrying its debuff energy, circled Chen Ming's entire arm, seemingly lost.

In the end, the blood aura seeped into Chen Ming's body.

Like a clay ox entering the sea, it didn't even stir a ripple.

Debuff nullified!

BOOM—

At that moment, a wave of heat rushed toward him.

The Flame Spirit launched another attack at Chen Ming.

A fireball several meters wide crashed down, its light nearly illuminating the night mist.

The entire canyon brightened significantly.

At the same time.

Above its flaming body, a pair of eerie pupils seemed to ignite, emitting a ghostly luster.

A dim beam of light shot toward Chen Ming at extreme speed.

Physical and mental attacks combined.

A two-pronged assault!

The massive fireball descended from above; from Chen Ming's perspective, it was like a sea of fire rushing toward his face.

Simultaneously, the sensation of heart palpitations struck him once again.

Chen Ming continued to "charge head-on," rushing straight into the range of the attack.

His target was nothing but the Flame Spirit's true form.

[-1!]

[-1! (Mental Damage)]

The moment the massive fireball engulfed Chen Ming, it exploded with a bang.

The bursting flames bloomed like flowers, splashing outward and landing on the surrounding rock walls, turning the stone a glowing red.

Seeing that its attack had covered the human below, the Flame Spirit let out a few sharp sounds.

Jie jie jie—

The laughter echoed throughout the canyon.

Stupid human, to think you would dare to receive its skill like that.

But the very next second, the Flame Spirit was dumbfounded.

Because after the surging flames settled, the figure holding the long blade remained standing below, completely unscathed.

Wrapped in a faint aura of blood, he walked straight through the wall of fire, turning a blind eye to the flames that were nearly licking his face.

The fire, capable of burning through solid rock, had failed to cause even the slightest effect?

[-90!]

While the Flame Spirit was momentarily stunned, Chen Ming's attack had already arrived.

With Bloodthirsty Enchantment activated, he seemed to carry a berserk momentum, pressing forward with unstoppable force!

[-90!]

The blood-red blade light slashed into the Flame Spirit, extinguishing a portion of the fire from its flaming body.

This ability is too useful.

Seeing that the damage dealt was fifty percent higher, Chen Ming was extremely satisfied.

He would have to keep an eye on this Bloodthirsty Enchantment in the future.

And this was only the effect of a Tier 1 Bloodthirsty Enchantment.

Higher tiers would surely possess even more powerful amplification capabilities.

Although it was likely that the greater the amplification, the greater the corresponding debuffs.

But for Chen Ming, it was purely a beneficial enchantment.

It was simply too satisfying!

"Hum—"

Just then, a strange vibration rippled out.

Chen Ming felt his mind go hazy, his vision blurring for an instant.

But a moment later, he shook off the influence, his eyes regaining their clarity.

He focused his gaze.

It seemed the Flame Spirit was casting some kind of mental skill.

The flames all over its body had turned a dim, eerie color.

It looked just like a ghost.

Seeing that Chen Ming had broken free from the control in an instant, the Flame Spirit was stunned on the spot.

[-90!]

Before it could even think, it took a blade to the face.

The Flame Spirit was thoroughly enraged.

Without any hesitation, it launched its strongest attack: Mental Spike!

The dim luster condensed into a sharp spike, then, as if ignoring distance entirely, it arrived instantly before Chen Ming's eyes.

The spike sank into the center of Chen Ming's brow without any resistance.

[-1!(Mental Damage)]

It worked!

Seeing this, the Flame Spirit was overjoyed.

This human would suffer a mental breakdown in the next second and become a useless...

[-180!]

The response it received was a simple, unadorned slash.

"Ssh!"

The Flame Spirit let out an angry howl.

What exactly was wrong with this human?!

Physical attacks had no effect, and mental attacks had no effect either.

Weren't human class-holders supposed to be thin-skinned and fragile, shattering at the slightest touch?

"Hmm? Why did the damage double?"

Seeing the doubled damage, Chen Ming was somewhat puzzled.

Had he accidentally struck this exotic beast's weak point?

He looked at the Flame Spirit and saw that its flaming body was no longer as vigorous as before, appearing somewhat withered.

That mental attack skill just now had consumed too much of its mental energy.

To put it simply, it was drained...

Seeing this, Chen Ming accelerated his attack speed.

[-180!]

[-1!]

[-180!]

[-1!(Spirit Damage)]

"Hiss--!"

[-180!]

[Killed Flame Spirit (lv.8), EXP+200!]

[Obtained: Flame Spirit-Beast Core (lv.8)]

[Obtained: Strength Rune Stone*2, Spirit Rune Stone*1]

[Obtained: Tier 1 Crystal*1]

"Another crystal, and a Spirit Rune Stone too!"

Chen Ming's face lit up with joy.

With this, he already had two Tier 1 Crystals.

After reaching level 10, he could directly upgrade the two pieces of equipment in his hands to Tier 2.

There would be no need to go out and buy new Tier 2 equipment.

"The Flame Spirit's beast core should be quite special, right?"

Looking at the beast core in his hand, Chen Ming fell into deep thought.

Between the strange beasts and the beast cores of exotic beasts possessing spirit skills, this was certainly incomparable to a normal beast core.

For instance, crafting spirit-type equipment required this specific kind of core.

"I definitely can't sell this cheaply," Chen Ming muttered to himself.

Alternatively, he could hand this beast core over to the guild and pay a commission fee to have a piece of spirit-type equipment crafted.

On the normal market, spirit-type equipment rarely appeared.

Moreover, Spirit Rune Stones were quite difficult to obtain.

If Chen Ming intended to have the guild craft spirit equipment, he would have no choice but to pay a high price to purchase more Spirit Rune Stones.

Relying on killing exotic beasts to obtain Spirit Rune Stones was not very realistic.

Not to mention that exotic beasts with spirit abilities were extremely rare, even if one were killed, it wouldn't necessarily drop a rune stone.

If he tried to save them up bit by bit, it would probably take until the end of time.

After stowing the beast core away, Chen Ming applied the two newly acquired Strength Rune Stones to his Rock-Shattering Blade.

[Strength+17!]

Following this, Chen Ming took a deep breath and turned his gaze toward the small earthen slope.

He hadn't forgotten his main objective.

A rare spirit-type resource!

Chen Ming walked quickly up the slope, his eyes searching for the smooth pit wall at the center.

The azure flame remained within the gas pocket, burning quietly and emitting a faint, eerie glow.

It looked just like an oil lamp.

[Azure Flame Flowing Fire]: Spirit attribute type!