Chapter 185
Chapter 185
Dark elemental energy surged through the withered Verdant Lands.
A fierce battle was unavoidable.
Ding!
[System Notification: Sovereign of Darkness · Reeves has used [Forbidden · God-Severing Spear]. His next attack deals 2,000% damage, is guaranteed to critically hit, and has an extremely high chance of inflicting effects such as Piercing, Tearing, and Bleeding!]
“Riiip…”
Carrying destructive power that rivaled Saint tier, the black spear in Reeves’s hand stabbed toward the utterly ordinary-looking man, seeking to kill him in one blow.
At the sight, Ning Wushen raised his right hand and faced his palm toward the spearhead.
“Clang!”
As though it had struck an invisible wall, the spearhead stopped one centimeter from Ning Wushen’s palm and could advance no farther.
“Boom!!”
The next instant, the land behind Ning Wushen collapsed. Sand and rock flew everywhere, and apart from the area occupied by him and the cross-domain teleportation array, the entire region sank into a vast basin.
The terrifying destruction seemed to prove that Reeves’s attack had been anything but weak.
-2! (Critical Damage)
An utterly insignificant damage number rose from Ning Wushen.
Karu: “…”
Fira: “…”
Reeves: “…”
The scene fell so quiet that a falling needle could have been heard. Time itself seemed frozen at that moment.
Such a terrifying skill, backed by a status screen that rivaled a Saint-tier powerhouse, had actually failed to pierce his Defense?!
“Since you have nothing to say, you can go repent in hell!” Ning Wushen casually seized the black spear and pulled it toward himself.
Ding!
[System Notification: Boundless Shadow · Ning Wushen has used [Disarm]. Your weapon has been seized, and you have lost ownership of it!]
“!!!!!”
Reeves’s expression changed drastically. “Wait… Wait!”
Disarm!
That was a very common A-rank skill. Under ordinary circumstances, its chance of taking effect was extremely low, unless…
The disparity between the two sides was overwhelming!
“Wait for what?”
“I…”
“Bang!”
Ning Wushen could not be bothered to hear his explanation. He threw a punch, and Reeves flew backward like a kite with a broken string, coughing blood as an unfathomably deep canyon opened in his path.
Enduring the agony of his bones being crushed, Reeves was scared out of his wits. “Run!!”
“Whoosh!”
The three powerhouses who had arrived so aggressively fled in panic, their hearts filled with indescribable terror.
Ning Wushen did not pursue them. Instead, he laughed and cursed, “You really are something, Zhou Ming! I knew you’d find work for me to do!”
He had chosen to remain behind and protect the cross-domain teleportation array precisely because he did not want to involve himself in the conflict between the Light Domain and the Dark Domain. Yet Zhou Ming had still drawn him into the plan, clearly intending to use him as a borrowed blade.
…
Meanwhile, in the Dark Domain.
Every powerhouse who had remained in the City of Darkness swarmed over, eager to tear apart the thieves attempting to seize the Core of Darkness.
The moment Zhou Ming touched the pitch-black, diamond-shaped Core of Darkness, he felt a vast power surge into his body.
Ding!
[System Notification: By touching the [Core of Darkness], your dark-element damage has increased by 50% for 5 minutes!]
“Hiss!”
Zhou Ming involuntarily sucked in a sharp breath.
A priceless treasure!
This was unquestionably a priceless treasure!
Merely touching it granted such a powerful effect. What would happen if he made it his own?
Without hesitation, he tried to dig it free, only to feel a heavy force resisting him.
“Whoomph!”
Blazing flames enveloped Zhou Ming. He decisively activated every enhancement skill at his disposal. Veins bulged across his arm as he pulled with all his strength.
2%… 4%…
A progress bar appeared above the Dark Magic Array.
Clearly, shutting down an active array required time.
Beside him, Qianying and Yun Wuyou tried to destroy the Dark Magic Array, but the special protection provided by the Core of Darkness prevented them from succeeding.
At that moment, the Dark Domain’s high-ranking demons and low-level monsters charged toward them in a single overwhelming tide.
Ding!
[System Notification: You have activated the large-scale event [Siege of the City of Darkness] (Difficulty: SS Rank)!]
“We need to hurry!”
Qianying moved to intercept them.
Because light and dark elements countered each other, the resulting destruction was extraordinarily severe. Thousands of meters around them were reduced to ruins in an instant. The earth split as sand and stone flew through the air.
“You dare cause trouble in the Dark Domain? Die!”
Two god-tier demons charged forward, balancing the combat strength on both sides.
Then a third god-tier demon rushed toward Zhou Ming, accompanied by several Demigod-tier enemies.
Soul Plunder!
Zhou Ming’s eyes blazed as he stole 10% of the demon’s Panel Attributes, then activated Soul Refinement to hold it back.
10%… 15%…
As Zhou Ming’s strength increased, the progress bar began filling faster as well.
“No one can save you!”
Only one second later, the demon broke free of the stun and appeared in front of Zhou Ming. It raised the broadsword in its hand and slashed down with all its strength.
At the same time, numerous Demigod-tier enemies closed in around Zhou Ming.
-245,641,268!
-85,648,008!
-77,895,123!
…
A series of attacks dealing far more damage than Zhou Ming could withstand struck him all at once.
To their surprise, Zhou Ming remained alive.
Ding!
[System Notification: You have received lethal damage, triggering the Flame Demon Emperor’s exclusive ability [Heaven’s Jealousy] and immediately launching a counterattack. The counterattack’s power is equal to that of the attack that inflicted lethal damage!]
“Get lost!”
Zhou Ming shouted. Keeping one hand on the Core of Darkness, he counterattacked with the other and blasted back the enemies surrounding him.
“Chirp! Chirp!”
Xiaoyou spread its wings and cast Shadow of Heaven’s Way and Holy Flame Purification on Zhou Ming.
As his duplicate helped extract the Core of Darkness, Zhou Ming’s expression turned grave.
With his current strength, Zhou Ming was still a little short of taking a god-tier powerhouse head-on. However…
He wanted to see how long he could hold one back!
“Ask the Heavens!” Zhou Ming shouted.
Far away in the City of Light, Cangxuan immediately felt Ask the Heavens trembling violently in his hand. He released his grip and laughed. “Go find your master!”
“Riiip!”
Ask the Heavens shot straight ahead, ignoring the obstruction of space as it tore through the void.
“Clang!”
A sword cry rang out.
Almost instantly, Ask the Heavens, which had long since been bound to Zhou Ming and could neither be dropped nor discarded, appeared beside him.
Gripping the sword, Zhou Ming faced the enemies charging at him once more and immediately brought out his strongest trump cards.
Ding!
[System Notification: You have used [Flame Soul Art]. All Attributes +120% until the battle ends. As a cost, when the skill enters cooldown, Level -5 and you will enter a Weakened state for 5 hours!]
Ding!
[System Notification: You have used [Forbidden · God of Blazing Flames]. All Attributes +200%, Attack +200%, all damage is converted to fire-element damage, and all other skill damage +200%. Duration: 30 minutes!]
…
“Oh?”
In the Verdant Lands, surprise flickered through Ning Wushen’s eyes. “He can already go this far?”
With the strength Zhou Ming now displayed, even Ning Wushen would have found it difficult to defeat him at the same tier.
After all, Zhou Ming held a Sacred Weapon!
A peerless sword unlike any even Ning Wushen had ever seen!
After raising his Panel Attributes to their current limit, Zhou Ming immediately invoked a Forbidden Spell. A blazing fireball appeared above his left palm and began expanding without pause.
This time was different!
The Forbidden Spell would be even more powerful than before!
Ding!
[System Notification: You have used the Flame Demon Emperor’s exclusive ability [Defy the Heavens], advancing [Forbidden · Flames of Eternal Calamity] into an Exclusive SSS-Rank skill!]
The former Rending Slash had now become the ultimate skill Heavenbinder. Just like Heavenrend, it had long since joined Zhou Ming’s exclusive series of Heaven-named skills.
As a result, Defy the Heavens could now be bound to another skill.
“Useless!”
The god-tier demon’s expression turned cold as it swung its blade at Zhou Ming again.
This move was indeed terrifyingly destructive, even stronger than the finishing attacks of some god-tier powerhouses. But in the face of an absolute numerical disparity, Zhou Ming had no right to act so arrogantly.
Zhou Ming’s expression did not change.
He hurled the enormous black-and-red fireball above his left hand straight at the demon.
Ding!
[System Notification: You have used [Forbidden · Flames of Eternal Calamity], dealing 11,200% damage based on 280% of your Attack to all units, friend or foe, within a 3,640 x 3,640 area. This attack is guaranteed to inflict Burn, causing enemy units to lose 1.5% HP per second for 10 seconds!]
“Boom!!!!!”
It was like a blazing sun crashing into the earth!
A sea of fire surged outward from the god-tier powerhouse at the center of the attack, instantly incinerating untold numbers of monsters.
Scarlet fire elemental energy roared outward, engulfing more than three thousand meters in every direction.
The moment the sea of fire formed a forbidden zone within the City of Darkness, countless monsters were buried in the flames!
This was destructive power that every mage player would envy!
-94,566,687!
-98,553,254!
-94,581,550!
…
“Damn!”
Even Zhou Ming, the one who had cast the skill, trembled at the sight and stared in disbelief.
The damage had nearly broken a hundred million!
That was fucking terrifying!
Of course, Zhou Ming did not find it unreasonable.
Forbidden · Flames of Eternal Calamity was already tyrannically powerful. Now it had advanced into an exclusive skill. With Ask the Heavens boosting its skill strength by another 40%, plus Xuanniao’s blessing increasing its attack range by 30%, it possessed both an enormous area of effect and astonishing damage!
On top of that, Zhou Ming still had the Heavenbreaker talent. Combined with the Sacred Weapon, it allowed him to ignore 85% of his opponent’s Defense and instantly execute any target below 6% HP.
Countless enhancements had been piled onto a single skill to produce such destructive power.
This was the incredible upper limit the Sacred Weapon had granted him!
“That’s it?”
The god-tier powerhouse, covered in soot and ash, charged through the sea of fire toward Zhou Ming and refused to concede even verbally. “That wasn’t much!”
The demon secretly rejoiced. Though its opponent possessed impressive Attack, his status screen was still only at the War Soul grade. If they had been at the same tier, even its own life would have hung by a thread.
“Slash!”
It unleashed a killing move and struck Zhou Ming directly.
-255,694,587!
“It’s over!” The demon breathed a sigh of relief.
Yet in the next instant, Zhou Ming was bursting with life again as golden light continually shimmered around him.
Xiaoyou’s Holy Light’s Blessing allowed him to revive on the spot after death and recover 30% HP!
At the same time, the Forbidden Spell brought him an enormous harvest.
Ding!
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have successfully killed [Demon Grunt] (Enhanced Grade ★★). Current Level EXP +4.9%!]
Ding!
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have successfully killed [Demon Commander] (War Soul-Grade Boss) and received the following rewards: Fame +300, Current Level EXP +74.6%, Gold Coins +100!]
Ding!
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have successfully killed [Demon Mage] (King-Grade Boss) and received the following rewards: Fame +800, Level +3, Gold Coins +500!]
Ding!
[System Notification: Congratulations! You have successfully killed the King-grade boss [Demon Mage]. As the first player in the game to defeat a King-grade boss, you have received the following additional rewards: …]