Staring at the undead knight clad in dark gray armor, Xu Que felt a sickening discomfort, as though he had swallowed a fly.
"This far exceeds the data... It's beyond anything on record."
Except for its name and skills, every attribute and talent of this knight was explosively high!
As Xu Que pondered how to deal with this creature, the chilling gaze unique to the undead locked onto him, making him feel an unsettling chill.
"Roar!"
With Lite's fierce roar, a powerful aura surged forth.
"Is he underestimating me?"
Lite's roar did not instill fear in Xu Que; instead, it ignited a thrill within him, a desire to fight.
Unlike the snake-men, this undead knight had no tricks up his sleeve, relying entirely on brute force.
Xu Que flexed his limbs, gripping his black longsword tightly.
"Bring it on!"
As if understanding Xu Que's challenge, Lite raised his heavy sword and charged at him. The clanking of armor echoed on the ground, and as Lite closed in within ten meters, his speed increased dramatically.
At that moment, Xu Que felt an oppressive force weighing him down, slowing his movements.
"Damn, it's his innate skill!"
As Lite drew nearer, Xu Que raised his sword to counter, but Lite leapt forward, bringing his heavy blade crashing down.
Xu Que swiftly rolled back, skillfully diverting the sword's descending speed with a deft parry.
Boom!
The heavy blade struck the ground, and Xu Que seized the moment to re-establish his stance, charging forward with a fierce slash.
Clang!
The silvery gleam of Xu Que's blade was blocked by Lite's massive sword, leaving Xu Que astonished at the knight's reflexes despite his heavy armor.
Just as Xu Que was considering how to break through Lite's defense, the undead knight launched a sudden assault.
Sensing the powerful momentum, Xu Que dodged quickly, only to see Lite's sword slicing toward him again, following his evasive move.
Clang!
Xu Que deflected with a parry, but his posture was thrown off balance.
"Damn! If I hadn't reduced his attack power by seventy-five percent, that blow would have taken me out!"
In the next instant, Lite's left fist swung toward him like a hammer. Xu Que instinctively raised his left arm to block, but his hastily formed spiritual shield shattered under Lite's punch.
Crack!
A fissure appeared on his Dark Serpent bracer.
"What?!"
Xu Que was stunned. His bracer was a C-grade item, yet one punch had nearly broken it!
Before he could recover from the shock, Lite was upon him again. Xu Que tried to retreat, but Lite's left fist hammered down once more.
Bam!
The impact sent Xu Que rolling across the ground several times before he managed to stop.
Without hesitation, he staggered to his feet, shaking his head to clear his ringing ears. His mental energy was depleting, but he knew that lying down meant lying forever.
His ears still buzzed, but after several shakes, the sound faded. Just as he began to move, Lite, dragging his sword, charged forward again.
Clang, clang, clang…
The grating sound of the sword scraping the ground wore down Xu Que's already weakened state.
"To hell with you!"
Ignoring his exhaustion, Xu Que swung his blade in a powerful Sky Slash.
As the sword energy surged, Lite countered with a sweeping slash of his own, shattering the blade's glow into countless stardust-like fragments.
Seizing Lite's brief pause, Xu Que dashed forward, his body lowered, charging straight to Lite's head. Gathering strength, he aimed his sword at Lite's head and unleashed a fierce downward strike.
Boom!
The blade burst across Lite's helm, yet the expected electronic notification did not sound. Xu Que hacked relentlessly at the gaps in Lite's armor, still awaiting that elusive prompt.
When he attempted to cleave through Lite's waist, the knight retreated swiftly.
Xu Que pursued, but in the next moment, Lite's fist struck again.
Slash!
Crash!
Xu Que's sword sliced into Lite's abdomen, even as Lite's punch connected with Xu Que's stomach.
Xu Que staggered back, bent over as blood surged from his mouth.
"Damn it!" Fighting through the searing pain, Xu Que glared at Lite.
He barely had time to appreciate his armor's protection; without it, that blow would have killed him.
As Lite's abdominal wound began to heal rapidly, Xu Que understood. His gaze fell on a statue's head on the ground, its eyes glowing red, channeling its energy toward Lite.
Lite seemed to sense Xu Que's realization, ignoring his own wound as he charged forward.
Xu Que whirled around, sprinting towards the statue's head, the scene taking on an eerie air. A giant sword-wielding figure chased him, while he dashed with a sinister grin toward the lifeless head on the ground.
"Die!"
When he was ten meters from the statue, Xu Que unleashed a Sword Control Technique. His black sword shot toward the statue's head, just as Lite's massive blade slashed toward him.
Crack!
A crisp sound of bones breaking echoed. The black sword embedded itself in the statue's head, and its eyes dimmed instantly. Lite's sword halted, frozen a mere meter from Xu Que.
"Congratulations, human Xu Que. You have successfully cleared the B-grade [Dark Hall], gaining territorial rights, twenty-two spirit iron ores, eighteen spirit crystals, and four spirit stones. Daily territory earnings are available in the trading hall interface."
"Congratulations, human Xu Que. Data analysis confirms you possess a comparable territory. Would you like to fold [Shadow Forest] into [Dark Hall]?"
"No!"
Xu Que did not hesitate; he had no desire to commute here daily.
"Data analysis confirms a comparable territory. Would you like to fold [Dark Hall] into [Shadow Forest]?"
"Yes!"
This was the news Xu Que had been waiting for. He wanted his base to remain in the Devil City, his true home ground.
With his main territory selected, Xu Que turned his attention to Lite's corpse. Five colorful orbs floated around, which he swiftly gathered before dashing outside.
Despite his injuries, they were trivial compared to the lives at stake outside. After enduring so many battles to the death in his past life, this was child's play.
As for the rare equipment that would catapult him to the rankings, he had no time to inspect it. For now, only he, Xu Que, had access to C-grade weaponry.
Meanwhile, chaos had erupted in the valley outside…
Zhao Xian and Qi Shan, who had initially held their ground, were about to advance when they were intercepted by Kun Shao's Black Spore Serpent. To stop the creatures from chasing the Dark Orb in Huang Bo's hands, Zhao Xian took two cuts on Huang Bo's behalf.
Just as he readied himself to head back to the valley, Kun Shao turned back again…
In an instant, all their carefully laid plans descended into complete disarray.