"It's you..."
Everyone was dumbstruck when they saw Chen Nian reappear.
"You damned coward, you've actually got the nerve to show your face again! I have no idea why Miss Ye picked someone like you. Even if I die here today, I'm taking you down with me!"
Chu Xiang was the first to burst into curses.
Yet faced with Chu Xiang, who had completely lost his composure, Chen Nian merely gave him an indifferent sidelong glance.
"If you want to live, shut your mouth, rookie."
"What did you just...!"
Chu Xiang raised his saber, ready to fight Chen Nian to the death, but another teammate behind him held him back.
"Wait... calm down first."
"Stay out of this! I'm chopping him down first!"
"Don't you think this is strange?! Why would he come out now? Why... isn't he afraid at all?"
Hearing his teammate's words, Chu Xiang lowered his raised flaming saber.
That did seem to make sense, didn't it?
If he was a coward, why wasn't he afraid even with death at his doorstep?
And why had he chosen to step forward at the most dangerous moment?
Chen Nian ignored them.
He had rested enough, and most of the extraordinary power within him had recovered. It was time to act.
He lifted his index finger slightly. Arcane syllables turned into powerful winds, gathering at his fingertip.
Word Spirit-Wind-Gathering Cannon.
"He... what is he trying to do..."
"This guy uses wind abilities. He's not a fire user... then why did Miss Ye bring him here?"
"Wait..."
Everyone immediately realized something that made their scalps prickle.
One of them said in a trembling voice, "He... he doesn't have a fire-class profession. How did he stay in the Fire Flame Abyss for so long... while remaining invisible the entire time?!"
Everyone involuntarily sucked in a breath.
Fire-class professions had tremendous resistance to flames, allowing them to stay inside for long periods. How could any other profession manage that?
As they wavered in shock and doubt, purplish-black light emerged from the man's body, instantly enveloping him.
"Cal... Calamity Gem!!!"
Someone cried out on the spot.
Nearly every muscle in his face was trembling as he pointed at Chen Nian, as though looking at a monster.
"That's the light of a Calamity Gem! He's killed a Calamity Beast before! He has a Calamity Gem!"
It was yet another utterly shocking revelation.
Calamity Beasts were calamities from beyond the heavens, intelligent alien creatures, every one of them terrifying beyond measure.
For ordinary people, rashly taking one on meant only death!
Yet this man actually possessed a Calamity Gem dropped by a Calamity Beast...
"Who exactly is he?!"
At this moment, Chu Xiang also realized that this man was anything but ordinary. He felt as though a thorn were lodged in his throat. Unable to speak, he could only keep swallowing.
The Calamity Gem's "Attack and Defense Reversal" activated.
[Defense -696, Attack +696]
Bang!
A cannon blast fired.
The intense wind pressure sent Chen Nian's bangs whipping up and down.
That single wind cannon blasted an approaching Scarlet Flame Lizard into countless pieces, obliterating it body and soul...
Everyone: !!!
Intense shock and disbelief erupted all at once.
The waves in their hearts surged a hundred meters high in an instant!
"An... an instant kill?"
During their earlier battle, they had needed more than a dozen exchanges to kill a single monster, sometimes even requiring two people to join forces.
Yet for this man, all it took was a single wind cannon?
Just how terrifying did his attack power have to be to instantly kill a monster close to level 70 with one shot?!
Their mouths hung open, and they almost forgot to close them.
Because what they saw next was a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
He fired wind cannons one after another as though they cost nothing.
Every monster that dared approach died on the spot to a single wind cannon, without exception!
The others did absolutely nothing, merely watching the notifications that they were continuously gaining experience.
Genetic Energy +150 Genetic Energy +150 Genetic Energy +150...
In just two minutes.
Chen Nian had cleared out every last lesser monster, leaving not a single one.
Only now did the dumbstruck group belatedly realize who the strongest person on this expedition truly was.
"Too... too terrifying..."
"No wonder. No wonder Miss Ye values him so highly... he's actually the strongest one!"
"He was holding back earlier just so he could act at this moment..."
"Holy shit, I even got a fire skill scroll..."
"I got equipment too!"
"Haha, so this is what it really means to reap benefits while lying down!"
None of them held the slightest resentment toward Chen Nian anymore, but after their brief excitement, they still could not escape the most serious problem.
The strongest boss was still there.
The level 95 Heavenly Flame Demon Wolf loomed like an enormous mountain, weighing on them so heavily they could not lift their heads...
Unless they defeated it, none of them would survive.
"You think the likes of you can challenge the Fire Flame Abyss? You overestimate yourselves!"
"Roar!!!"
Its spiked club rose high. The winds and clouds shifted, and heaven and earth shook.
The overcast, dark-red sky suddenly split open, and a terrifying crimson meteor slowly emerged from the rift...
"Heavenly Meteor Descends... the rare fire mage skill, Heavenly Meteor Descends!"
A fire mage stared at the sky, his face ashen, his lips pale, his entire body trembling uncontrollably.
Anyone knew the terrifying power of this ultimate skill...
If it crashed down from overhead, it would probably annihilate everyone on the spot, without a single exception!
"You ignorant humans shall be destroyed."
The Heavenly Flame Demon Wolf swept its contemptuous gaze over them, like a monarch looking down upon a swarm of ants. In its eyes, they were already a group of dead people.
A meteor descending upon the world... its most glorious achievement had once been wiping out thousands of players with a single meteor!
Although this meteor was not quite so terrifying, there was no question that it could wipe out the team present.
The meteor fell from the sky as everyone lay prostrate, trembling.
They had no power to resist whatsoever.
Yet they saw that one person remained standing...
The enormous meteor's fiery light reflected in Chen Nian's eyes. He lifted his finger slightly, a smile forming at the corners of his mouth.
"He... what is he trying to do?!"
The next second, Chen Nian gave them their answer.
It was still the seemingly ordinary Wind-Gathering Cannon.
The invisible wind cannon cut through the air, struck the enormous meteor that nearly covered half the sky, and then vanished without a trace.
It did not stir even the slightest ripple.
"What is he thinking, blasting a meteor with a little spell like that?!"
"Madman... he's an absolute madman..."
At this moment of life and death, no one was in the mood to mock Chen Nian. They merely found it absurd.
The enemy had unleashed an ultimate move, one used by a boss as high as level 95, and he was trying to counter it with a minor skill...
On what grounds?
-Boom.
The deafening explosion robbed everyone of their hearing.
Before their stunned eyes, the meteor burst apart. Shattered rock and streaming fire filled the sky, as brilliant as fireworks.
Chen Nian stood amid the fire streaming across the sky,
His back straight, like the new king of a world in chaos.