The monster turned in pain, its throat swelling, a sign it was about to spew acid.
Xiao Ye's arrow pierced the air, accurately striking the rock beetle's left eye. The acid attack went astray, corroding the ground and producing pungent white smoke.
Hong Yang seized the opportunity, infusing Gang Qi into the spear, lighting up the energy barytes embedded on it one after another.
With the Extre Speed Characteristic activated, he leaped from behind cover, holding the spear with both hands, aiming its tip at the rock beetle's throat exposed by pain.
"Take this spear!"
The spear blade pierced through flesh and blood; the rock beetle struggled violently but was suppressed by Wu who dashed forward and held its mouth shut.
From the side, a golden layer suddenly appeared on the dagger in Ah Qi's hand, activating the critical strike attribute.
Moving like lightning, he instantly got close to the rock beetle's head, driving the dagger with a sound of broken wind fiercely into the monster's hard skull seam.
Crack!
The dagger penetrated the scales, stabbing into the brain.
The rock beetle twisted its body in intense pain, attempting to roar but, with its mouth held shut, it couldn't make a sound.
After two final violent spasms, it collapsed to the ground with a thud.
The dead rock beetle's body shrank and withered at a visible speed, devoured and transford by an invisible force.
The once cold-shining hard scales lost luster instantly, weathering and flaking, while the flesh and bones collapsed and dissipated like sand.
Simultaneously, strands of dark red pure energy mist rose from the corpse, rging in the air, finally transforming into several streams of blood-colored qi, each entering Hong Yang, Ah Qi, Wu, and Xiao Ye's bodies.
Sss!
Hong Yang took a deep breath, feeling a surge of scorching energy rushing through his body, his muscles trembling under this energy, enhancing his strength by a margin.
The Challenger Tips promptly echoed in his mind.
As a professional Hunting Party player, he never tired of the delightful sensation brought by monster slaying.
The rewards from each hunt and the subtle feedback of physical fitness from attribute growth always left him wanting more.
Glancing at his sacrificial power balance, it was enough for an upgrade to his rune resonance weapon, so Hong Yang decided to return to Imperial Tomb Village first.
He glanced at the assassin players in the team:
"Ah Qi, how's Xiao Hua doing?"
Xiao Hua was the only Master Mage in the team, responsible for the output, following an extre output route.
The only defense was the ard vehicles, extrely fragile in build.
Especially as monster hunt intensity increased, her fragile build struggled even against the shockwaves of fierce battles.
After the last hunt, Xiao Hua had returned to Imperial Tomb Village early to redistribute Life Soul attribute ratios, thus missing this round of hunting.
"It's done. She ticulously adjusted a 10% boost in Qi-Blood attributes. Asking her to allocate so defense is like asking for her sacrificial power; doesn't she see she's almost lagging behind us, frail like a paper lantern, swaying with every blow of the shockwave." Xiao Qi fiddled with the dagger, ranting.
Next to them, Wu chewed a grass stalk while wiping his shield with Gang Qi, chiming in:
"A Master Mage is just different; reallocating Life Soul points is like asking for their life."
Hong Yang chuckled lightly at this.
He understood Xiao Hua's nature well — she pursued extre output, and even a 1% allocation to defense could cause her distress for half a day.
This ti, she surprisingly adjusted 10% of her attributes to physical fitness, a significant compromise, suggesting the intensity of the last battle had indeed left her with lingering fears.
Amidst the chatter, Hong Yang decided to lead the team back to the village for a rest.
Just as he summoned the function panel to click the "Return" feature, the ground suddenly shook violently.
Rumble!
The intensity of space tremors escalated, as if a force was erupting from deep underground.
The ground surged like waves, rock walls splitting open with countless grim cracks, stones tumbling down.
"What's happening?" Xiao Ye, the team's archer, staggered, barely keeping his balance.
Wu reacted the fastest, instantly raising his shield and yelling loudly:
"Everyone, get over here!"
The group quickly gathered by Wu's side, and a Blood Wall unleashed by Wu suddenly expanded, forming a do of protection around the team.
At this mont, a crisp shattering sound echoed from the heavens.
Hong Yang's pupils contracted as he looked up at the sky do, seeing a massive fissure tearing through it.
Space twisted and tore apart there as if an invisible hand were crumpling it like a fragnted scroll.
The previously dark underground cave ceiling began to reveal spreading shatter marks, swiftly sweeping across the entire sky.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
One explosive crack followed another, the whole scene visibly collapsing.
The ground fragnted into countless floating rock hunks, the surrounding scenery flickering wildly like rewound film, with scorching lava gushing from below.
"What's going on, a stroke of fortune or disaster?" Xiao Qi's voice echoed in the team channel.
In truth, there was not the slightest fear in the hearts of the team mbers.
As players, fearing death had never been their concern.
Resting at the village was their intention; dying to return or using the "Return" feature on the function panel was hardly different.
What made them tense was not knowing if it was a premonition of fortune or so natural disaster.
If they died before a fortune appeared, it would be a trendous loss.
As space continued to shatter, through the broken spatial barrier, the team saw an entirely different world.
Beneath a dark red sky stood countless towering skeletal mountains, clad in pale fraworks wrapped in ghostly blue flas.
User Comments
0 comments from readers