The sharp whistling sound cut through beside Su Xiao. Black shadows flew past - these were all Phantom Bees, in full-speed state, leaving behind remnants of their shadows. Su Xiao left traces of blood on the ground along his path, each Phantom Bee aiming to take his life.
Ducking to evade one of the Phantom Bees aiming for the back of his neck, Su Xiao knew this couldn't continue. Every time a Phantom Bee injured him, it added a layer of poison effect. These poison effects had accumulated in numerous layers, growing stronger with each layer.
[You are affected by an unknown poison. The accumulated abnormal status layers: 11 layers—reflex speed -20%, body defence -30, stamina -5. You are suffering 3 points of true poison damage per second. Abnormal status lasts 6 minutes.]
The toxicity of the Phantom Bees undergoes a qualitative change after accumulating to three layers. Moreover, the more layers, the longer the abnormal status persists. Currently, it's for 6 minutes. The next time he gets injured by the Phantom Bees, the poison's duration will double.
By the tenth time Su Xiao was injured, the abnormal status duration became 3 minutes. By the eleventh time, it extended to 6 minutes. The subsequent injury may extend it to 12 minutes. The 3 points of actual poison damage per second was significant. If Su Xiao got hurt too many times, even if he could kill Lan Jue, he would be eroded to death by the actual poison damage.
Whoosh~ A Phantom Bee grazed Su Xiao's arm, blood spraying. Just as he anticipated, the abnormal status duration became 12 minutes. He would receive 180 points of actual poison damage per minute, totalling 2160 points within 12 minutes.
Bu Bu Wang's Ice Snow Goddess Aura regenerated 1 point of health per second. Coupled with the use of Potion No. 1 for resistance, Su Xiao could endure 12 minutes of actual poison damage. If it were for 24 minutes, he might have a slim chance, but for 48 minutes, it would be certain death.
The closer to a life-or-death situation, the calmer Su Xiao became. He glanced at Lan Jue, a hundred meters away; this guy showed no intention to retreat, and the situation hadn't escalated beyond control.
What Su Xiao feared the most now was when the poison accumulated to a lethal level, Lan Jue might choose to retreat. Su Xiao had overthought. If Lan Jue couldn't kill him, it would be a dead end for Lan Jue, too. At this point, neither would escape. Even if they had to resort to biting, one of them would die.
Boom! Ruisi descended from above, smashing into the ground creating a pit. The Phantom Bees inside Ruisi's body trembled slightly, not enough to carry Ruisi into the air. Su Xiao waved his arm, and Bu Bu Wang, hidden in the distant bushes, understood his intent without the need for words or eye contact. Bu Bu Wang immediately controlled Ruisi to charge towards Lan Jue.
Meanwhile, Su Xiao made every effort to evade the nine Phantom Bees around him, having already dispatched the rest. If it were anyone else stabbed so many times by Phantom Bees and eroded by actual poison damage, even a main tank would have fallen. However, Su Xiao's health was higher than that of a main tank. The fact that a main tank would fall didn't mean he would.
Bu Bu Wang controlled Ruisi to charge at Lan Jue, who, with seven wounds bleeding, spat out blood-tinged saliva. He pulled out two energy-blade short knives from his calves.
"Don't think I only control Phantom Bees." Lan Jue's eyes glinted with ferocity.
While he genuinely couldn't handle close combat against Su Xiao, Ruisi, controlled by Bu Bu Wang, wasn't exceptionally skilled in close combat. At most, it was a big guy with strength and speed, and Lan Jue wasn't afraid.
While Su Xiao dodged attacks from the Phantom Bees, Ruisi was already rushing towards Lan Jue. Lan Jue lowered his body, focusing his weight downward. Despite temporarily playing the role of an assassin, his agility attribute was not low.
As Ruisi closed in on Lan Jue, the distance between the two rapidly shrank. Just when Lan Jue was prepared to counter Ruisi, unexpectedly, Ruisi leaned to the side, passing by Lan Jue. His cautious movement, seemingly prior to engaging in close combat, actually allowed the Boundary Line to entangle Lan Jue.
Lan Jue was surprised; he had yet to expect Ruisi to be this cautious. His mind, groggy from controlling too many Phantom Bees, quickly pondered and suddenly realized something.
"It's over." Ruisi smiled bitterly. Due to the severe headache he had just experienced, his thoughts paused momentarily. Once his mind cleared, he guessed the enemy's plan.
Ruisi immediately stopped controlling the Phantom Bees, intending to use a specific ability. Unfortunately, controlling the Phantom Bees had drained too much mana, rendering that ability unusable.
Sizzle~ A green metal wire wound around Lan Jue's waist, profoundly penetrating his flesh. Originally fixed to Ruisi's back, this metal wire had been shot toward Lan Jue when Ruisi circled him. It seemed like a cautious move before close combat, but in reality, it allowed the Boundary Line to entangle Lan Jue.
A few seconds ago, Su Xiao raised his hand to attach the Boundary Line to Ruisi's back. Bu Bu Wang immediately grasped Su Xiao's intent, thus controlling Ruisi to charge at Lan Jue.
Entangled by the Boundary Line, Lan Jue realized one thing: he was done for.
While Bu Bu Wang controlled Ruisi to charge at Lan Jue, with no other choice, Lan Jue could only block with his dual knives. Ruisi raised his arm, and the muscular curved blade in his hand smashed towards Lan Jue, who leaned slightly to the side.
Lan Jue used both energy blades to block above his head. He had already planned in his mind that when the curved blade clashed with the energy blades, he would use the force to dodge. As the curved blade descended with a whistling sound, it indeed contacted Lan Jue's energy blades first.
However, just as he prepared to dodge, he felt a stabbing pain around his waist accompanied by an irresistible force - Su Xiao had pulled the Boundary Line. Lan Jue's strength attribute, initially at 33 points, had been permanently reduced by -15 points, leaving him with only 18 points. In contrast, Su Xiao's strength attribute was at 72 points (base 69 + 3 points from equipment).
In this massive strength difference, Lan Jue was pulled to the ground by the Boundary Line.
Boom! The curved blade brutally struck Lan Jue's ribs, causing one of them to break into a V-shape, piercing deep into his organs.
"Wow~" Blood mixed with visceral fragments spurted out as Lan Jue, heavily injured to this extent, raised his arm and pressed it against Ruisi's leg. In Lan Jue's palm lay a blue beetle, rapidly gathering energy.
Boom! A surge of force expanded from Lan Jue's palm, shattering one of Ruisi's leg bones and one of Lan Jue's arms simultaneously. At the same time, the Phantom Bees circling Su Xiao landed. Slice. Su Xiao's figure disappeared, rushing swiftly towards Lan Jue.
Just as Lan Jue and Ruisi tumbled together - because Bu Bu Wang controlled Ruisi and one of his legs had been broken, out of instinct, Ruisi bit towards Lan Jue - Lan Jue, with his lone arm, produced another beetle, which he stuffed into Ruisi's mouth.
Boom! Ruisi's head shattered, the recoil causing Lan Jue to tumble a few times. Both his arms were severed, yet he didn't give up. Even though Su Xiao had appeared before him, wielding the Dragon Slaying Flash.
"You... " Lan Jue, bleeding from seven wounds, smiled. It had been a long time since he had met an opponent like Su Xiao. Leveraging the momentum from the Slice ability, Su Xiao kicked directly with one leg. Lan Jue's shin bones broke in a V-shape.
Throughout the confrontation, Lan Jue never used 'Command · Replace' for short-range spatial movement, not because he didn't want to, but while simultaneously controlling 26 Phantom Bees, he didn't have the mental capacity to employ other abilities.
Lan Jue's choice was correct; if he had used thousands of mechanical insects to attack Su Xiao, even injuring him severely would have been difficult. Mechanical insects were far slower than Phantom Bees. Su Xiao could have easily let Ruisi hold off Lan Jue, created distance, and used the Spider Queen to snipe Lan Jue.
After synthesizing the mechanical insects into 25 Phantom Bees, those 20 Phantom Bees almost killed Su Xiao. After breaking Lan Jue's shin, Su Xiao lifted the long knife in his hand, now covered in blood - his blood.
Splurt. The long knife swung, and Lan Jue's head flew off cleanly. Thud. Lan Jue's head rolled to the ground, his headless body collapsing. The Phantom Bees on the ground, a hundred meters away, began to shatter.
The battle between Su Xiao and Lan Jue didn't involve significant moves clashing or dazzling skills flying everywhere. Instead, both sides were constantly searching for weaknesses in the other. Once a weakness appeared, they would immediately push the other toward death, leaving no room for a comeback.
As Lan Jue fell, Su Xiao heard a thud behind him - it was Ruisi, already with his head blown apart. As Lan Jue died, Su Xiao received numerous notifications.
[Tip: The Hunter has successfully killed the enemy Clearer.]
[Verification in progress...]
[Verification complete, the enemy Clearer has been completely killed, and the ID is dissolving.]
[Tip: The Hunter's action has been greatly praised, granting additional rewards.]
[You obtained 100 points of merit, 3 Large Soul Crystals, 1 Gold-quality Equipment Box, and your data query authorization level increased by 1.]