A hundred meters of distance, twenty seconds of time. That prompt left Ye Tianxie burning with urgency, because he had no way at all of judging how much health the War God’s Departed Spirit had. If that health was too high and he failed to strike him down inside twenty seconds, everything he had done today might come to nothing — because the System’s line about the War God being invincible once his guardian consciousness woke was certainly not empty bluster.
Even after his charge Ye Tianxie was still stuck in the press of the Departed Spirit army. Without hesitating, he triggered the Soul of the Evil Dragon, and the Evil Dragon’s wall — which stops everything — formed around him on the instant, sealing out every attack and every obstacle. Ye Tianxie stopped caring about anything else and drove the horse straight forward; wherever he went the Evil Dragon’s wall shoved the Warrior’s Departed Spirits aside, and in a matter of seconds he had broken clear of the encirclement and left the pursuing Departed Spirits behind him, further and further back.
Five seconds, six, seven…
Ye Tianxie counted the time off silently the whole way. After the ninth second the Evil Dragon’s wall vanished, and with his own health down below 10%, Blood Sacrifice of Fate triggered of itself. Its strongest and most perfect state is of course the 400% attack bonus — the state below 1% health — but the conditions for triggering that are far too harsh and far too brutal, and in the rush Ye Tianxie had no time at all to draw his own health down under 1%.
On the tenth second Ye Tianxie reached the motionless War God’s Departed Spirit at last… Like the Warrior’s Departed Spirits, his body showed half-transparent under the Eye of the Evil Dragon, his face blurred — and even so, nothing could hide the incomparable hardness of it, carried on an air of death. He wore golden armor whose shine had long since dulled, a golden shield in his left hand and a golden sword in his right, its point resting on the ground. As Ye Tianxie triggered Frenzied Battle Intent, the Eye of the Evil Dragon took in the attributes of the War God’s Departed Spirit:
The War God’s Departed Spirit: Level unknown. Grade unknown. Currently in a state of waking consciousness. HP: 100,000. The departed-spirit state of Zhan Wugui, the acknowledged War God of the Lost Continent, who died eighty years ago in the Guardian War. His body died, but his conviction to guard did not perish, and the departed spirit derived from that consciousness will carry his will and his conviction entire, and destroy every invader who tramples the soil of the Lost Continent.
Currently in a state of departed-spirit consciousness waking. Unable to act. Ability will increase enormously once awake.
A hundred thousand health!!
Taking a hundred thousand health off an immobile BOSS inside twenty seconds… The System’s recommended level for “Bones of the War God” was 20, and twelve level 20 players stripping that away in twenty seconds — which is to say destroying 5,000 health every second — was a genuinely punishing challenge. A quest like that was plainly not something an ordinary party could complete. It had to be the elite of the elite; otherwise how would it deserve the name of System Quest?
With Frenzied Battle Intent and Blood Sacrifice of Fate both on him, Ye Tianxie’s attack power had risen to 1,891. At the same time the War God’s Departed Spirit was an undead creature like the rest, and would take the same 50% increase in damage under Yaoyao’s Wall of Heaven’s Grace… but even so — a hundred thousand health in ten seconds. With the 400% attack bonus he could have managed it comfortably; as he was at this moment, doing it would be difficult on quite another scale.
“…Yaoyao, don’t heal me… Xiaobei, we’re going in! Even if we can’t do it, we go down trying!!”
He summoned Xiaobei and flung it around behind the War God’s Departed Spirit, then flashed forward himself and triggered Hero’s Heart. His first attack was his strongest technique — Dragon Tornado Hurricane Sevenfold Rend!
A blood-colored hurricane spun up and carried the Hour of Fate, flickering with scarlet light, sweeping across the body of the War God’s Departed Spirit…
MISS, MISS, -5400, -5382, MISS, -5398, MISS!
When the hurricane had passed, Ye Tianxie forced himself out of that brief spell of dizziness in a single second. The damage figures above the War God’s Departed Spirit had not fully faded yet, and something in Ye Tianxie lurched… the defense on the War God’s Departed Spirit was not high — and yet four of the seven strikes had come up MISS.
Off to the side, Xiaobei’s attacks followed close behind. Its Meow-Meow Fist landed four blows at a time and it attacked three times in two seconds — twelve strikes every two seconds, in other words. At level 8 Xiaobei’s attack power had climbed to 540, not far off Ye Tianxie’s own in his ordinary state, and its accuracy had reached 180, a figure Ye Tianxie could not come near. But its attacks…
-675, -677, MISS, MISS, -677, -669, -681, MISS…
With Xiaobei’s accuracy the misses were not as bad as Ye Tianxie’s, but at least one attack in three still went into empty air… The War God’s Departed Spirit had a hundred thousand health, and although no level information showed for him, health like that meant his level had to be far above Xiaobei’s and Ye Tianxie’s. Even with a low evasion, level suppression alone was enough to make MISS come up again and again.
The army of Warrior’s Departed Spirits behind was closing fast, and might reach his back at any moment — and when it did, Ye Tianxie would have no choice but to fill his own health back up or risk being killed outright. And with that, Blood Sacrifice of Fate and Frenzied Battle Intent would both be canceled, and he would have even less chance of beating the War God’s Departed Spirit.
The Hour of Fate came up and came down, and Dragon Rend Slash began cutting hard into the War God’s Departed Spirit…
-5230, MISS, MISS, -5244, MISS, -5238!
Seven seconds went by. Ye Tianxie’s six Dragon Rend Slashes, along with the Dragon Tornado Hurricane Sevenfold Rend, had taken better than thirty thousand health off the War God’s Departed Spirit, and Xiaobei’s storm of attacks had taken better than ten thousand more. And at that point the slow-footed army of Warrior’s Departed Spirits finally caught up behind him.
Yaoyao moved at last. One Mystic Spirit Cure went out and one-shot every Warrior’s Departed Spirit closing in — and at the same time Ye Tianxie’s health came back better than halfway, and Blood Sacrifice of Fate and Frenzied Battle Intent were both lifted together.
The twenty seconds the System had given were nearly at their end, and the health of the War God’s Departed Spirit stood at 53,000/100,000. Not even half of it gone.
A dangerous presence stabbed hard at Ye Tianxie’s nerves. His instinct for danger had never once deceived him… and at this moment that sense of crisis was overwhelmingly strong. Strong enough to mean: unbeatable.
He stopped hesitating, withdrew Xiaobei fast, and turned to leave… With a sense of crisis that strong, the best choice would have been to use a Town Portal Scroll and get out the instant before the War God’s Departed Spirit woke. But he could not make himself accept it. Unbeatable or not, he wanted to see just how strong this War God was.
He had barely started moving, and had covered less than three meters, when two points of light kindled dimly inside the empty helmet on that half-transparent departed body — cold and hard as blades in deep winter. In that moment, it was as though he had been given real eyes.
“Those who trespass on my land… die!”
The low voice came from behind him. Departed spirits cannot speak, and the sound of it rising was abrupt enough to shake the heart. It also carried, unmistakably, a terrible pressure that struck at the spirit.
These were the War God’s words of anger.
Ye Tianxie looked back from the saddle, and found that the War God’s Departed Spirit had already turned to face him… He plainly had no real body, and even so Ye Tianxie felt himself pinned by a pair of frighteningly cold eyes. And at that moment the War God’s Departed Spirit began to move, coming straight at him, the golden sword in his hand raised high, still giving off a light that awed the eye in the gloom of the Ten Thousand Bone Ruins…
“Ding… The War God’s Departed Spirit has woken. He carries the guarding conviction and the will of the War God Zhan Wugui, and carries every ability he possessed in life. He cannot be defeated. His aggro is now locked onto you, and unless you leave the Ten Thousand Bone Ruins he will hunt you without cease.”
“Ding… Special notice. The War God’s Departed Spirit has a movement speed of 160, and his aggro range is the whole of the Ten Thousand Bone Ruins!”
Ye Tianxie: “！！”
The health bar above the War God’s Departed Spirit had not changed; it still showed the same empty stretch, about half his total, as a moment ago. And now his attribute data stood entirely open, and one careless glance at it nearly pitched Ye Tianxie off the horse’s back.
The War God’s Departed Spirit: Level 80 Lord BOSS. HP: 530,000/1,000,000. The departed-spirit state of Zhan Wugui, the acknowledged War God of the Lost Continent, who died eighty years ago in the Guardian War. His body died, but his conviction to guard did not perish, and the departed spirit derived from that consciousness will carry his will, his conviction and all of his power entire, and will destroy without mercy every invader who tramples the soil of the Lost Continent.
Talent: Undead Body. Ignores all death-attribute attacks.
Skills: Morale Rally, Berserk Fury Slash, Greatsword Charge, Wrath of the War God.
Finishing Moves: Shield of Nightmare, Pangu’s Heaven-Splitting Slash.
Weakness: Because he is in a departed-spirit state, he fears all Light- and Life-attribute skills.
…
…
A level 80 Lord BOSS!!
No wonder the System prompt had said he could not be defeated… no wonder the sense of crisis a moment ago had been that overwhelming. An enemy like this was not something players at the game’s current stage could handle at all. Never mind one Ye Tianxie — ten of him, or a hundred, would not be qualified to fight him.
Waking had multiplied his health alone by ten, from a hundred thousand to a million — and the increase had not repaired the injuries he had taken. He still held the same wounded state, with 53% of his health remaining.
A movement speed of 160, slightly under Ye Tianxie’s on the Blood-Sweating Steed. And a terrible aggro range covering the entire Ten Thousand Bone Ruins — which meant that unless he got out of it, the War God’s Departed Spirit would follow him the whole way, and with aggro locked onto him he would not even have the chance to escape with a Town Portal Scroll.
Hoo… Ye Tianxie let out a light breath and ran for the canyon ahead. He was close to the edge of the Ten Thousand Bone Ruins here, so getting out of it would not be difficult. Only — killing a thousand Warrior’s Departed Spirits in a row, triggering a hidden branch of the highest difficulty, and then failing on the very last step… he could not make himself accept it.
If there had been even a thread of hope, he would have turned and fought the War God’s Departed Spirit… but a level 80 Lord BOSS, a million health. With his current abilities there was not a shred of possibility in it.
Anything that can be called a War God is hardly going to be weak.
Seven meters, eight, ten… The War God’s Departed Spirit was gradually dropping back, and the Warrior’s Departed Spirits chasing after him were falling away further still. And at that moment Yaoyao, which had been lying in front of Ye Tianxie all this while, suddenly stood up, sprang down off the horse’s back of its own accord, and ran hard at the War God’s Departed Spirit.
“Yaoyao!” Ye Tianxie turned in astonishment and shouted.
As it ran, a light the color of yellow earth flickered across Yaoyao for an instant, and a circular barrier of the same color, just large enough to enclose its body, appeared around it.
A barrier of invincibility that stops every attack and lasts a full twenty seconds — Mystic Spirit Wall · Heaven’s Barrier!
Startled and puzzled, Ye Tianxie watched Yaoyao charge straight at the War God’s Departed Spirit. With the Wall of Heaven’s Barrier on it he had no need to worry about its safety, but… what on earth was it going to do?
Behind the yellow light came a ring of white, close on its heels, exactly like a Mystic Spirit Cure — and in the instant it appeared, a damage figure floated up off the War God’s Departed Spirit that contracted Ye Tianxie’s pupils…
-450000!!!
(End of Chapter 218)