The enormous blood-red pillar of light looked ready to destroy everything.
Yet Ying Huaixu kept dodging, as though he knew what was coming!
The city lord controlled the pillar of light, sweeping it toward Ying Huaixu again and again.
Ying Huaixu kept dodging in strange poses, almost like he was doing backflips!
It was impossible to tell what movement technique he was using.
But somehow, he avoided every attack.
The city lord was dumbfounded.
This guy was at the ninth level of Body Tempering? Seriously?
And that movement technique-how the hell was he dodging these attacks?
Then, suddenly, the city lord noticed something wrong.
"This brat is getting closer to me every time he dodges!"
Without hesitation, the city lord stopped attacking and put some distance between himself and Ying Huaixu.
Ying Huaixu was speechless too.
What left him most speechless was that, after pulling away, the bastard spat out another pillar of light.
His aggression was downright ridiculous.
Ying Huaixu could only dodge like mad.
But his stamina was steadily running dry.
"Fuck!"
Finally, when Ying Huaixu had completely exhausted his stamina, the massive pillar of light slammed into him.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...
The Blood-Coagulating Pills in Ying Huaixu's equipment slots were being consumed at a frantic pace.
If he had a health bar, it would have been bouncing up and down like crazy.
The massive pillar of light blasted him straight into the rock wall.
But when the city lord saw Ying Huaixu's condition, he was even more stunned!
Aside from his shredded clothes, Ying Huaixu did not have a single wound on his body.
"What the fuck is this thing?"
By now, Ying Huaixu was utterly sick of this bastard too.
The difference between the game and the real world was far too great.
In the game, he knew this guy's mechanics. Once he cleared them, it was time to deal damage.
But in the real world, this bastard kept kiting him, refusing to let him close in while spamming ranged attacks. It was fucking cheating.
Ying Huaixu was furious.
As the saying went, never piss off a player trying to clear a game without taking damage.
Once that player lost health, they went straight into berserk mode.
And Ying Huaixu had not just lost health-he had nearly been forced to use a Creation Rejuvenation Pill.
Ying Huaixu stared at the city lord, his face murderous.
"Why aren't you following the script? Why did you have to provoke me?"
The city lord: "???"
Hold on. You're a Body Tempering cultivator, and you're accusing a Meridian Opening cultivator of provoking you? Does that make any sense?
And what do you mean, following the original script?
What original script?
Ying Huaixu closed his eyes.
"Raise my cultivation!"
Ding! Cultivation: Meridian Opening, level one (experience 50000/50000!) Spirit Stones (10000/54100)+
After advancing to Meridian Opening, Ying Huaixu's stats increased tenfold.
Ying Huaixu looked at the distant city lord again, making no effort to hide the killing intent in his eyes.
The city lord, meanwhile, was terrified.
Although Ying Huaixu had only just advanced to the first level of Meridian Opening, he could not help trembling with fear.
"Die!"
The city lord spat another blood-red pillar of light from his mouth.
This time, however, Ying Huaixu did not dodge.
As the pillar reached him, Ying Huaixu slashed repeatedly with his longsword.
Clang, clang, clang, clang...
A series of metallic clashes rang out.
Ying Huaixu looked as though he were hammering iron with his longsword.
The difference was that, as his blade cleaved through the pillar of light, streaks of sword energy shot straight toward the city lord.
This was the combat upgrade that came with Meridian Opening: parrying spells!
The reflected sword energy struck the city lord, instantly slicing several gashes across his body.
He was not just wounded.
He could also feel his body growing weaker and weaker.
Finally, the city lord felt something inside him shatter, and his stamina drained away in an instant.
Unable to hold himself up, the city lord collapsed onto his backside.
Ying Huaixu flashed before him, unleashing the Heavenly Frost Sword so quickly that his blade nearly left afterimages. Backed by Meridian Opening true qi, every slash was a critical hit.
Squelch, squelch, squelch...
Blood sprayed from all over the city lord's body.
He could feel his life rapidly slipping away.
No, I'll die if this keeps up!
I don't want to die!
Suddenly, a voice exploded inside the city lord's mind.
"Give me your body! I can save you!"
The city lord did not hesitate.
"Take it, take it! Just keep me alive!"
The moment he finished speaking, the city lord's body, still seated on the ground, began twisting rapidly again.
Ying Huaixu immediately stopped attacking. He knew this was the boss's second phase.
But as Ying Huaixu retreated, he happened to see He Xiuyuan waking up.
Without a word, Ying Huaixu went straight to He Xiuyuan.
"Ying?"
He Xiuyuan stared blankly at the shirtless Ying Huaixu.
Ying Huaixu slapped him across the face.
He Xiuyuan was completely bewildered.
"What did you hit me for?"
Ying Huaixu uttered just one word, his voice flat. "Useless."
Then Ying Huaixu tossed He Xiuyuan in front of the boss, who had already entered his second phase, quickly changed into fresh clothes, and lay down.
He Xiuyuan: "???"
He stared blankly at the city lord, who no longer looked remotely human, and swallowed.
"Ying, do you seriously think I can beat him?"
A moment later, however, He Xiuyuan understood why Ying Huaixu had done this.
An opening abruptly split through the ceiling of the underground chamber.
Then a figure descended from above, his gaze grim.
It was Qiu Shiyi.
As Qiu Shiyi looked at He Xiuyuan sprawled on the ground, then at the unconscious Ying Huaixu and Ye Ningshuang farther away, his expression turned utterly thunderous.
"You vile beast!"
Qiu Shiyi roared, and an enormous water sword instantly descended.
Boom!
The second-phase boss did not even have time to resist before the enormous water sword blasted him to pieces.
A wisp of blood-red energy tried to escape.
But how could that escape the enraged Qiu Shiyi's notice?
He sent another water sword down, instantly blasting the blood-red energy apart.
Ying Huaixu finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ding! Act Three of the World Mission completed. Rewards: 30,000 experience, 10,000 Spirit Stones, 200 Spirit Leaves.
This World Mission is finally over. Fuck, that was exhausting!
Ying Huaixu secretly lowered the threshold for automatically using Blood-Coagulating Pills, then inflicted a serious internal injury on himself and pretended to be unconscious.
After disposing of the creature, Qiu Shiyi's expression eased somewhat.
He was especially relieved to see that Ye Ningshuang was only wounded and in no real danger.
Then Qiu Shiyi turned to He Xiuyuan, his face full of approval.
"A true disciple of our Divine Firmament Sword Sect! You did very well. You deserve the greatest credit for slaying this fiend!"
He Xiuyuan said, "Huh? Me?"
He Xiuyuan could not help glancing toward Ying Huaixu.
Come on, Ying. That's way too much credit to hand over. I don't dare take it.
But Ying Huaixu kept playing dead.
After the city lord was dealt with, everything that followed was much simpler.
The Divine Firmament Sword Sect would personally pay the Thousand Mechanisms Sect a visit for a little talk.
Upon returning to the sect, Qiu Shiyi was sentenced to punishment at Reflection Cliff.
The reason was simple: Qiu Shiyi's contempt for those he considered ants had nearly cost Ying Huaixu and his two companions their lives. That was a grave offense.
Ying Huaixu, meanwhile, recuperated from his injuries.
Ye Ningshuang's mindset changed once again. She shut down all social contact and began cultivating like mad.
She even stopped accepting help from anyone.
As for He Xiuyuan, he successfully entered the inner sect. Word had it that the sect was also preparing a special commendation for him!
But He Xiuyuan truly felt unworthy of it.
He did not dare visit Ying Huaixu either. He had tried once, only to get beaten up and told to focus on cultivating instead of wandering around the outer sect courtyard for no reason. Did he not know how useless he was?
He Xiuyuan: "..."
Before you continue