Chapter 38: The Price of Underestimation

Gazing up at the eight formidable rock guards towering before her, Xi Yue felt no ripple of emotion. In fact, she almost wanted to laugh.

Though her current body’s strength was not formidable, it was at least equivalent to a seventh-tier existence, placing her on par with her opponent.

Yet, that foolish green-haired man opposite her was fruitlessly expending so much spiritual energy to create a mere horde of cannon fodder. Did he not understand that stone golems of that caliber were utterly ineffective against a Saint-tier combatant?

Moreover, he had to waste precious energy to control them.

‘Was it a lack of combat experience, or merely a question of intellect?’ she wondered.

Nevertheless, despite his foolishness, she had to concede that the immense vitality and recovery granted by his life attribute were somewhat troublesome.

Xi Yue had not intended to test him, launching her attack with the clear aim of a single, fatal blow. Yet, she had not anticipated his life force to be so potent.

Perhaps it was due to his absorption of the star source; his head had been severed, yet he was not dead. He was no demigod, after all.

Sensing the limited spiritual energy within her, Xi Yue knew she had to use it sparingly. If her spiritual energy was depleted, she would be unable to maintain her consciousness on Blue Star.

An enemy of this caliber typically wouldn’t warrant her full attention.

But now, she had to end this quickly.

As Xi Yue struck a pose, her purple crystal sword held ready, purple spiritual energy gathered around her, forming four purple dragon heads, each the size of a car. They were identical to the ones that had devoured the investigation team earlier.

The purple crystal longsword, too, became enveloped in a strange, violet glow.

The next moment, Xi Yue vanished.

‘What just happened?’ Qingfeng Immortal incessantly questioned himself. ‘Where is that short-haired girl? How did she suddenly disappear?’

She had completely vanished from his sensory range!

As he frantically searched left and right for the dark-haired girl’s whereabouts, he sensed a flash of purple light appear in his visual blind spot to the left. He swiftly swung the hammer in his right hand to counter.

However, what he struck was not Xi Yue, but a purple dragon head. The dragon head immediately bit down on Qingfeng Immortal’s hammer, holding it fast. No matter how much force he exerted, he found it impossible to break free.

Witnessing this, Qingfeng Immortal decisively swung the hammer in his left hand, intending to disperse the purple energy. But just as he prepared to strike, he was astonished to find his other hammer also caught, seized by another purple dragon head that had erupted from the ground. It, too, remained utterly immobile.

‘When did this happen?’ a profound dread seized Qingfeng Immortal’s heart.

Yet, he had no time to ponder his shock. Two more purple lights roared towards him from the front. In response, Qingfeng Immortal hastily activated his earth-attribute spiritual energy, summoning a Guardian Wall to block his path, while simultaneously commanding his rock guards to form a defensive formation.

However, the defenses of the rock guards and the Guardian Wall proved utterly useless against the two purple lights. The two purple energy dragon heads converged in mid-air, forming a single purple light sphere.

In an instant, it shattered the four rock guards that had come to block it, then pulverized the Guardian Wall. Its power undiminished, it hurtled directly towards Qingfeng Immortal.

‘Why is this happening? How can my guards be so fragile!’

“Poof!” Before he could even register his astonishment, the purple light sphere slammed directly into Qingfeng Immortal’s chest plate.

As the purple light sphere struck, the two energy dragon heads biting Qingfeng Immortal’s hammers also emitted a dazzling radiance. The next instant, the three streams of energy exploded simultaneously.

The powerful explosion, combined with a terrifying corrosive force, instantly obliterated Qingfeng Immortal’s energy hammers and his protective wooden armor.

The aftershocks of the blast sent Qingfeng Immortal flying backward, uncontrollably. In a daze, he felt a presence appear behind him. A quick glance confirmed it was the short-haired girl, her purple crystal longsword raised, poised to deliver a final strike.

Due to inertia, he couldn’t stop himself for a moment.

“Bastard! Don’t underestimate me!”

The now disheveled Qingfeng Immortal clearly had no intention of awaiting his demise. A torrent of dark green spiritual energy accumulated in his hands. Since escape was impossible, he would confront her head-on.

Disregarding the self-inflicted harm, Qingfeng Immortal unleashed the spiritual energy in his hands, causing it to detonate just as they were about to make contact.

“Boom!” Following an earth-shattering roar, a dark green light sphere erupted. The surging, violent energy instantly drew both the short-haired girl and Qingfeng Immortal himself into its maelstrom.

Merciless spiritual energy wildly tore and destroyed their bodies.

After the explosion subsided, only Qingfeng Immortal remained in the center, his shattered body barely standing.

Looking at the short-haired girl lying motionless before him, Qingfeng Immortal finally breathed a sigh of relief. He hastily channeled spiritual energy to heal his body.

Such a method, though sacrificing a thousand to defeat ten thousand, was exceedingly unwise, but it now seemed to have brought him the fruits of victory.

Even though the previous explosion had utterly destroyed his protective wooden armor, he had endured the blast by relying on his physically enhanced body, strengthened by the earth-attribute star source, coupled with his already formidable regenerative abilities and vitality.

Conversely, the short-haired girl had established no defenses, focusing solely on offense. Having taken the full force of this explosion head-on, she must surely be on her last breath.

‘How could a close-quarters assassin not fear an area-of-effect spell?’

“Heh heh, it seems the final victory still belongs to me!”

Qingfeng Immortal couldn’t help but declare his triumph.

Hahaha!

Haha!

Ha!

Uh?!

Just as Qingfeng Immortal prepared to savor the victory over Xi Yue, a purple crystal longsword, without warning, pierced his chest from behind, dragging his heart directly from heaven to hell.

The next moment, an eerie purple spiritual energy invaded Qingfeng Immortal’s body along the length of the sword. With the influx of purple spiritual energy, Qingfeng Immortal gradually lost control of his body.

The dark green spiritual energy that had been healing him mysteriously dissipated, and the remaining four rock guards he commanded collapsed with a crash.

This strike from Xi Yue had directly sealed Qingfeng Immortal’s meridians and spiritual energy, leaving him utterly powerless to resist.

The victor was decided.

—

Feeling the spiritual energy within him continuously dissipate, Qingfeng Immortal slowly descended into an abyss of fear and despair. Trembling, he slowly turned his head to look at the short-haired girl behind him, who was completely unharmed.

“Weren’t you already lying there?”

However, the short-haired girl did not answer his question, instead continuing to manipulate spiritual energy to corrode his body. It was then that Qingfeng Immortal noticed the figure that had been lying on the ground was gradually dispersing into purple light particles, which then drifted back into the short-haired girl’s body behind him.

‘It was a clone? She can actually use a skill only available to those above demigod-tier?!’

Witnessing this, Qingfeng Immortal suddenly understood, but alas, he had no more chances. Having lost control of his body, he was helpless. Moreover, he seemed unable to even control his mouth now, making it impossible to beg for mercy.

Anger, despair, and unwillingness surged through his heart.

But what could he do?

It was merely futile rage.

Xi Yue, however, couldn’t be bothered with the thoughts of the foolish green-haired man before her. She was fully concentrating on extracting the star source from his body. Once she had assimilated this star source, she should acquire enough spiritual energy to utilize her wide-area perception.

She had initially expected the extraction to take a considerable amount of time, as a star source typically integrates completely with the user’s body and soul, making its removal rather troublesome.

However, Xi Yue was soon surprised to discover that this earth-attribute star source was not actually integrated with the green-haired man; it was merely embedded in his stomach. Consequently, he had never fully grasped the power of the earth-attribute star source.

‘No wonder that guy’s control over the earth attribute was so terrible… and why was it in his stomach?’

‘Could someone really be foolish enough to just eat a star source?’

‘Star sources are meant to be absorbed, not eaten!’

At this thought, Xi Yue’s gaze towards Qingfeng Immortal involuntarily carried a hint of disdain.

However,

Just then, faint, chaotic black and white energy imperceptibly began to slowly seep from Qingfeng Immortal’s body, flowing towards his pierced wound.