Abyssal Forest Conduit Tower, Floor 9.
True to their expectations, Lin Mo and Liu Xiaoyu breezed past the next few floors after the grueling challenge at Floor 5. They spent no more than five minutes on each floor, efficiently making use of the [Divine Vitality Surge]’s buff before its effect wore off.
Floor 6 had been a maze of mirrors that spawned twisted reflections of themselves, but Liu Xiaoyu simply shattered every mirror in sight with her storm qi and revealed the beasts that could conjure those mirrors.
Floor 7 was a gravity-inverted cavern filled with [Void-Bats], creatures that attacked from above, which was actually below. Lin Mo’s [Stellar Domain] proved invaluable there, stabilizing their orientation while they picked off the screeching bats with ranged attacks.
Floor 8 was a subrged ruin populated by [Abyssal Sirens], whose enchanting songs nearly caught Xiaoyu off guard until Lin Mo stuffed a handful of [Clear Sky Mint Mints] into her mouth, jarring her senses back to clarity.
Now, they found themselves traversing a different scenery on Floor 9.
The humid jungle, the rocky plateaus and the chaotic mazes were gone. Instead, they found themselves standing on a vast, flat expanse of greenery. The sky was blue with nary a cloud and it was so peaceful that they could hear the soft breeze flowing through the plains.
"Boss, after this, there’s another waiting room. Will we continue to Floor 10?" Liu Xiaoyu asked as they cautiously walked forward, traversing the endless sea of grass. "We’ve got about five minutes left on the [Divine Vitality Surge]. If we dawdle, we’ll be fighting Floor 10 with just our base stats. And according to the one who already reached it, Floor 10 is usually a solo Boss floor with a nasty gimmick."
"Don’t worry, Boss. We’ll crush this floor in three," Xiaoyu declared confidently. Her eyes scanned the horizon as her instincts told her that this peace was artificial.
Lin Mo nodded, "Mhm. Just stay alert. This floor... the spiritual energy is too calm. It’s unusual. We’re inside the tower. This isn’t supposed to happen outside of a waiting room."
Just then, the system panel materialized in front of them.
[Floor 9: The Silent Plains]
[Objective: Hunt the Apex Predator.]
[Current Threat: Hidden]
"Hunt the Apex Predator? That’s vague," Lin Mo muttered. "Usually, it gives us a na or a count."
"Maybe it’s shy?" Xiaoyu giggled, but her laughter was cut short.
Whoosh.
A soft breeze brushed past them. It ruffled Lin Mo’s hair and fluttered the hem of his uniform.
Then, a thin red line appeared on his cheek.
"Boss!" Xiaoyu shouted, her golden lightning flaring instantly as she raised her arm to block.
CLANG!
Sothing struck her armored gauntlet.
However, they found nothing. No beast, no weapon, just the empty air. But the impact was heavy enough to make her slide back a foot as her boots dug into the soft earth.
"Eh? Boss, are we dealing with invisible enemies?" Liu Xiaoyu narrowed her eyes as she tried to use her spiritual senses to detect any anomaly in her surroundings, "I can’t see them! Even my spiritual sense is just picking up wind!"
Lin Mo touched the cut on his cheek. It wasn’t deep, but it stung as a trickle of blood leaked out from it.
With his [Decanus Set] unequipped, it was a miracle he wasn’t beheaded right away. He had been too careless that he never considered a stealthy enemy this ti.
"Mhm. Be careful, Xiaoyu. Put on the suit." He wouldn’t take up his chances anymore. He imdiately put on the [Decanus Set] and sstrainedhis [Stillwater Perception] to the limit.
"There should be a few of them. They move so perfectly in sync with the air currents that they beco indistinguishable from them."
He stomped his foot and activated his [Stellar Domain].
The silver light expanded outwards from his feet, covering a twenty-ter radius.
With that, the serene, orderly weight of the stars clashed with the fluid flow of the wind.
Before their eyes, the air experienced a turbulence that made it shimr and warp.
Then, within the silver light, distortions appeared.
Vague, translucent outlines of beastly figures, tall and spindly, with elongated limbs that ended in scythe-like blades composed of compressed air. It’s like a combination of a mantis and a monkey.
[Entity Identified: Zephyr Stalker]
[Threat Level: Late Core Formation Stage]
[Ability: Aerodynamic Camouflage, Vacuum Blade, Wind-Walk]
There were at least ten of them, circling the duo like a pack of wolves made of glass.
"Late Core Formation enemies. If we don’t have the Divine Vitality Surge, we’d both be hard-pressed to even detect these creatures." Lin Mo gritted his teeth. "We can barely see them... Xiaoyu, if the starlight bends, punch it!"
"Got it! Sparky, wake up! Ti to earn your keep!"
The [Storm-Soul Totem] card in her Celestial Field flashed, and the lightning puppy, Sparky, materialized with a yip that sounded like a thunderclap.
The little wolf sniffed the air as its fur bristled with arcs of electricity that shot out from its body, seeking out the anomalies in the air pressure.
One of the Zephyr Stalkers lunged at Lin Mo, its wind-scythe arm aid directly at his neck.
[Crimson Flow Phantom Steps].
He slid sideways, leaving a red afterimage that was instantly bisected by the invisible blade.
As he moved, he thrust his [Starlit Dragon Spear] into the distortion.
"[Starcoil Thrust]!"
The spiraling starlight qi caught the edge of the wind entity. There was no sensation of flesh tearing, only the feeling of piercing a high-pressure balloon.
WHOOSH-POP!
The Stalker let out a harmonic shriek as its form destabilized. But its vacuum blade collapsed, exploding outwards in a gust of concussive force.
Lin Mo found himself being thrown back but he used the montum to spin, his spear lashing out in a [Dragon Crescent Sweep].
The arc of light caught another Stalker trying to flank him. The creature, caught by the heavy starlight, flickered into visibility before dissolving into a gust of wind and motes of light.
[Dinsion Essence Earned: 100]
"Wait. They’re fragile!" Lin Mo shouted over the howling wind. "They’re literally glass cannons! One good hit disrupts their form! But don’t let them touch you!"
"Fragile? Oh! I like fragile things!"
On the other side, Liu Xiaoyu who also equipped her golden suit of armor, beca a whirlwind. She didn’t bother with precision. She simply flooded the area with so much lightning that the air itself beca a conductive web.
"Sparky! [Thunder Howl]!"
The small wolf opened its mouth and unleashed a sonic bark wrapped in lightning. The sound wave rippled through the air, shattering the camouflage of three Stalkers at once.
Exposed, they tried to retreat, rging with the wind again.
"Don’t run away! [Nine Heavens Storm: Lightning Net]!"
Liu Xiaoyu bumped her gauntlets and the residual electricity in the air snapped together, forming a cage around the three entities.
She dashed forward, her armored fist glowing with the intensity of a miniature sun.
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Three punches, three explosions of wind and lightning. The Stalkers were vaporized instantly.
"There they go!" Liu Xiaoyu cheered, but her celebration was premature.
The ground beneath them suddenly rumbled.
The grass, which had been swaying gently, suddenly stood rigid, turning into spikes of hardened erald crystal.
"Jump!" Lin Mo roared as he channeled the Aether Energy to augnt his jump.
He and Xiaoyu shot into the air just as the entire plain erupted.
Then, they saw a few more Zephyr Stalkers climb out of the ground, followed by a larger one that seed to be the leader of the pack.
It was the Apex Predator. But contrary to what the tower wanted to happen, like searching for and hunting it down. They forced it to appear before them.
Most likely, it was because of how easily they could dispatch the Stalkers.
"This is better, Xiaoyu. We didn’t need to spend much ti searching for it in this vast plain."
"Yep! Boss, let’s go take it out and relax in the waiting room. We’ve had enough of this. Let’s go back and dip in the hot spring."
"Are you sure we can take it out easily?"
"Heh. Who are you talking with, Boss? I’m your prodigious assistant. The one with a Heavenly Physique! As long as it’s not as absurd as those from Floor 5, I can take it down."
"Sure you do." Lin Mo smilingly shook his head as he turned his attention back to the creatures waiting for them to descend.
"Screeech!"
The large one shrieked loudly turning into a physical blade of compressed air that sliced through the sky.
He used his spear to deflect them while Liu Xiaoyu maniacally tried to grab a few and threw them back like a thunderbolt.
With that, a few more Stalkers beca skewered helplessly, turning into motes of light.
[Floor Guardian: Zephyr-King Stalker]
[Threat Level: Early Nascent Soul Stage]
[Ability: Perfect Camouflage, Atmosphere Domination, Vacuum Domain]
"What is this tower? How can it generate absurd creatures with absurd abilities?"
Lin Mo helplessly muttered. But at the next second, he used his perk of being the Shopkeeper, pulling out a stack of Windstrike and Flaburst Talismans from his store’s inventory.
After generating a foothold with Qi Solidification, he threw them down, showering the creatures with massive explosions of wind and fire.
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