https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-100-The-Thunderous-Roar-of-Power/12550785/
Chapter 101: The Archer
Chapter 101: The Archer
Ji Xinghuo smiled faintly. For their first hunt, he had to showcase some of his strength.
Jing Ji sighed and said, "Let's collect the spoils of war."
The trio quickly gathered the exotic species and spoils from their defeated enemies before retreating from the hidden outpost. It was only then that Jing Ji dismissed the Silent Phantasm. Without this tactic, the previous commotion would have alerted nearby enemies.
"Let's go. On to the next target."
Jing Ji continued to lead the way.
Yuan Chongzhen transformed into a Shadow Panther and melded with the shadows, allowing the three of them to move swiftly through the night.
As they ran, Ji Xinghuo opened the interface of the Myriad Star Pupils. He had obtained 35 units of Spiritual Source Energy from eliminating the hidden outpost, which he promptly invested into the Thunderclap Hands.
Over the past few days, all the Spiritual Source Energy he had acquired was dedicated to upgrading Thunderclap Hands, and its progress was now at (Level 3: 624/743).
If all went well, it should reach the next level by the end of tonight.
"Stop."
As they advanced, Ji Xinghuo suddenly spoke in a low voice.
Jing Ji activated his Thought Necklace and asked, "What's wrong?"
Ji Xinghuo pointed in a direction that was not on their original route, about eight hundred meters away. "There's a patrol team over there. Are you interested in taking them out?"
Jing Ji hadn't sensed the enemies' location and looked at the darkness in that direction, pondering for a moment before asking, "Is it safe? You eliminated quite a few patrol teams last month. The enemy must be on guard by now. Could this be a trap set specifically for you?"
"I'll go scout it out and find out." Ji Xinghuo replied confidently.
Ever since his Rotating Magnetic Field had broken through to Level 3, his magnetic field perception range had exceeded two kilometers, making it much harder for enemies to ambush them, and his scouting efficiency had also improved.
Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen exchanged a glance and nodded in agreement.
"You take the lead."
Ji Xinghuo turned and walked ahead. Soon, the trio approached the patrol team.
He asked the other two to wait at their current location while he quickly circled the area. Confirming that there were no ambushes, he noted that there was a fourth-rank Da Gunren among the patrol team, making them slightly stronger than usual.
This was a normal occurrence.
Ever since the patrol teams had been suffering frequent losses, the Beiluoshimen Tribe had started including fourth-rank Da Gunren in their patrols.
Previously, whenever Ji Xinghuo encountered these enhanced patrol teams, he would usually refrain from taking action because a fourth-rank Da Gunren was not easy to kill, and a prolonged battle could easily lead to trouble.
However, now that he had two teammates, it wasn't a problem anymore.
Ji Xinghuo returned to the other two and quickly briefed them on the situation.
"You have more experience in hunting patrol teams, so you decide how we should engage them." Jing Ji didn't take complete control just because he was the organizer of the small team.
"Alright."
Ji Xinghuo didn't hesitate and said, "What I need most is the Silent Phantasm to muffle the sounds of battle..." He quickly devised a strategy based on their abilities.
Neither Jing Ji nor Yuan Chongzhen had any objections.
A moment later.
The three of them reached their designated positions. Ji Xinghuo stood on a platform on a mountainside, with short trees providing cover. His position was several dozen meters higher than the patrol team's route, giving him a vantage point to oversee the predetermined battlefield within his range.
Not long after, the patrol team approached from a distance.
Their formation remained unchanged, with ten Shixi people at the front and back, and the Da Gunren riding in the middle, while the Gelokak took turns flying to scout ahead.
The only change was the addition of a fourth-rank Da Gunren, who rode a Steel-maned Beast.
Ji Xinghuo held several Silent Arrows in his hand, waiting for the enemies to enter his attack range. His gaze shifted to the sides of the road, where Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen were hidden.
Jing Ji, the Phantom Assassin, excelled at stealth.
His body merged with the shadows, and with the rocks in front of him providing additional cover, he remained absolutely still, ensuring that the Gelokak had no chance of detecting him.
Yuan Chongzhen, on the other hand, had transformed into a Shadow Panther and was lurking in a patch of wild grass in another direction.
Ji Xinghuo silently praised them. Even with his magnetic field perception, if they remained still, he might have overlooked them with just a casual glance.
Of course, he would have been able to detect them if he had been more careful.
From his position over two hundred meters away on the mountainside, he watched intently as the patrol team gradually entered his range.
"Begin."
Ji Xinghuo spoke silently in his mind.
The Thought Link conveyed his voice to the other two.
Without hesitation, Jing Ji threw the dagger in his hand. It landed silently among the patrol team. In the next instant, his figure teleported to catch the dagger, and immediately afterward, he unleashed a Silent Phantasm, enveloping the entire patrol team.
Almost simultaneously, Yuan Chongzhen, in the form of a Shadow Panther, pounced forward, covering a hundred-meter distance in the blink of an eye, appearing in the middle of the patrol team.
As he landed, his sharp claws tore the neck of a Da Gunren.
His body rapidly expanded, transforming into a three-meter-tall Black Iron Giant Ape. With a roar that shook the air, the three startled Gelokak, trying to take flight, felt their eardrums pierce in pain and fell to the ground.
Chaos erupted within the patrol team.
However, order was quickly restored as the vine spirits dived underground, and wooden thorns sprouted from the ground, lashing out at Jing Ji.
The Da Gunren and Shixi people rushed forward to surround the Black Iron Giant Ape.
The fourth-rank Da Gunren, an Iceblade, reacted swiftly. In the instant he was attacked, a layer of ice armor solidified around his body, causing only a minor injury from Jing Ji's dagger instead of a fatal wound.
He let out a furious roar.
An Ice Blast exploded, forcing Jing Ji out of his invisibility. While still in mid-air, wooden thorns lashed at him from all directions.
The vine spirit was instantly confused, and it lashed out several times, failing to find Jing Ji's true body. He had already melted back into the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Pa! Pa! Pa!
Three Gelaokak corpses fell from the sky, their heads pierced by arrows.
The fourth-rank Da Gunren felt something was amiss and immediately took out his resonance crystal, preparing to send a distress signal. However, the crystal had just lit up when an arrow shot it to pieces, and the same arrow pierced his abdomen. Despite having two layers of protection from his ice and body armor, the arrow still managed to penetrate a small segment.
Agonizing pain radiated from his abdomen—the Da Gunren was injured.
"Now's our chance!"
Jing Ji immediately flashed behind the Da Gunren, stabbing his dagger straight at the enemy's heart. Simultaneously, he raised his repeating crossbow with his left hand and fired three arrows in quick succession at the Da Gunren's head.
Gritting his teeth against the pain, the Da Gunren's eyes turned icy cold. He spun around, slashing the air to deflect the incoming arrows.
Ice blades erupted from his curved blade, forcing Jing Ji to retreat once more.
Jing Ji had no intention of engaging the enemy head-on. Ji Xinghuo had told him that he only needed to hold off this strongest foe, leaving the rest to Ji Xinghuo.
Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh...
Titanium-aluminum alloy arrows flew from the darkness, piercing through the Silent Phantasm and finding their marks on the enemies.
Yuan Chongzhen, who was being besieged, felt immense pressure. Shixi people surrounded him from all sides, but as the battle unfolded, he realized that none of them could truly threaten him. He only needed to put up a slight defense, and one by one, the Shixi people fell.
He was merely bait to attract the enemies.
What took their lives were the arrows shot from the mountainside by Ji Xinghuo.
Yuan Chongzhen was deeply shaken. The Black Iron Giant Ape's vision wasn't particularly exceptional, and under the starlit night, he could only make out Ji Xinghuo's blurry figure on the mountainside. Yet, every arrow Ji Xinghuo fired hit its mark, each one striking the Shixi people's vital spots.
Moreover, Ji Xinghuo wasn't shooting indiscriminately. Each time he took down an enemy, it was either the one posing the greatest threat or the closest one—his priorities were crystal clear.
A deadly strike with every shot, and never missing!
In addition to taking down the Shixi people, Ji Xinghuo also took aim at the other Da Gunren and Gelaokak, easily piercing their heads with his arrows.
A fiery arrow flew through the air and embedded itself in the ground.
BOOM!
Intense flames erupted, and the vine spirit hiding underground let out a shrill shriek. It thrashed about wildly as its plant core was struck by the Blastfire Arrow, setting all its vines ablaze. Its end was near.
In less than half a minute, only the fourth-rank Da Gunren was left standing from the patrol team.
The Da Gunren turned to flee.
Jing Ji appeared in front of him to block his path, and Yuan Chongzhen, in the form of the Black Iron Giant Ape, burst forward from behind, forming a pincer attack.
"Get lost!"
The Da Gunren roared desperately, and his entire body erupted with frost, causing a violent explosion.
The area within a dozen meters turned into a frigid world. The ground was covered in ice, the air condensed, and frost blades appeared, dancing rapidly under the Da Gunren's control.
Frost Ice Prison!
Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen's speed decreased significantly, their movements becoming sluggish.
The Da Gunren was determined to make a desperate counterattack, even at the cost of a large amount of stellar power. However, an arrow wrapped in lightning suddenly shot towards him, its timing impeccable. It weaved through the frost blades dancing in the air and struck his neck just as the aftermath of his stellar power eruption was about to dissipate.
Crack!
The capacitor arrow pierced through the ice armor and sank into the Da Gunren's neck.
The high-pressure current surging through the arrow erupted, generating intense heat. Combined with the arrow's kinetic energy, it inflicted devastating damage, causing a large chunk of the Da Gunren's thick neck to disappear instantly.
The Da Gunren's head toppled to the ground.
The dancing frost blades in the air vanished, and the ice layer on the ground melted away in an instant.
Jing Ji and Yuan Chongzhen looked at each other, their eyes reflecting the incredulity they felt.
They knew that Ji Xinghuo was strong, and they were aware that the Magnetic Field Maniac was touted as the best across all professions. But was this not a bit too exaggerated?
Ji Xinghuo was only a mid-tier aberrant!
Furthermore, wasn't the Magnetic Field Maniac most renowned for close-quarters combat? What was with this archery skill?
Even the world's top sharpshooters wouldn't be this good!
Fortunately, Ji Xinghuo was their teammate. If they had encountered such an enemy in the wild, it would have been truly despair-inducing.
At that moment, Ji Xinghuo descended from the mountainside. Jing Ji looked at him and suddenly smiled. "In the coming month, the Beiluoshimen Tribe's patrol teams are going to have a tough time."
Ji Xinghuo was a little perplexed.
Jing Ji explained, "I think hunting patrol teams is more efficient. They're more suitable as our targets than the hidden outposts. There aren't many suitable hidden outposts to target, and it takes time to find them, whereas there are plenty of patrol teams."
"Makes sense!" Yuan Chongzhen nodded in agreement.
"What do you think, Xinghuo?" Jing Ji asked.
"I'm fine with whatever."
Ji Xinghuo smiled. "Whether it's hidden outposts, patrol teams, or lone bounty hunters, as long as they're enemies, I don't care. If we have a chance, we take it. I'm not picky."
After all, as far as he was concerned, killing enemies meant gaining spiritual source energy.
"Then from now on, you'll be the one leading the way."
After these two battles, Jing Ji had come to understand just how formidable Ji Xinghuo's perception was, so he decisively handed over the reins of the team to him.
Ji Xinghuo readily agreed.
The trio quickly collected their spoils of war and moved to another location to search for the next patrol team.
(End of Chapter)
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