Chapter 108: Risking Life and Limb

Chapter 108: Risking Life and Limb

The moment the legendary Dagun man appeared in his field of vision, Ji Xinghuo activated the Myriad Phenomenon to search for a way to defeat him.

The prediction for the future was that long-range shooting would be futile.

Only close combat remained as an option!

So he deactivated the Myriad Phenomenon to conserve his star power, and as expected, after firing several arrows in succession, he attracted the legendary Dagun man.

At this moment, Ji Xinghuo activated the high-frequency thinking of his Acceleration Ring, causing his magnetic field to spin at high speed!

As the ultrasonic sword energy slashed towards him, he did not retreat but advanced, taking a step forward.

Flash Step!

With a soft crackle, Ji Xinghuo's figure disappeared in an instant, moving several times faster than the sword energy. In a split second, he had moved nearly five meters, with the sword energy barely grazing him.

The rotating magnetic field, when activated, possessed tremendous explosive power.

When used in conjunction with the Flash Step, it produced unexpected results, increasing the distance and speed of the maneuver.

This was a technique Ji Xinghuo had discovered by chance after obtaining the Flash Step Ring, which explained the unusually high success rate of fusing the Flash Step.

A hint of surprise flashed in the legendary Dagun man's eyes as he witnessed this scene.

Of course, he was familiar with the Flash Step.

But not everyone who knew the Flash Step could dodge his ultrasonic sword energy. The technique had an extremely short duration, and one had to time it perfectly to pass through the gaps in the sword energy. Even he himself was not confident of pulling it off successfully; any misstep would result in being ripped apart by the sword energy.

"This human archer..."

Before the legendary Dagun man could finish his thought, he saw Ji Xinghuo approaching with a Flash Step and raising his hand, with lightning erupting from his fingertips.

Crack!

The lightning bolt split into countless arcs of electricity, with the outermost arc forming a circular shape that instantly expanded.

The legendary Dagun man had no time to dodge, and the arcs of electricity struck him, causing his mind to go blank for a moment as his body was paralyzed with electricity.

Although the pulse arc didn't injure him, it distorted his sword-wielding action.

His speed also decreased significantly.

Ji Xinghuo used the Flash Step again, but this time he stepped back. With four consecutive flashes, his body seemed to teleport, creating distance between himself and the Dagun man.

After the final Flash Step, he stood still, his right hand already drawing the bowstring with an electric capacity arrow nocked. With the rotating magnetic field amplifying the electric current, he fired. The electric capacity arrow hit the Dagun man's face directly, embedding itself in his flesh. High-voltage electricity erupted, causing the Dagun man to cry out in pain as his body finally came to a halt.

Crack, crack, crack!

Ji Xinghuo fired rapidly in quick succession, pulling out arrow after arrow from his dimensional quiver and shooting continuously.

Each arrow found its mark on the Dagun man's body—throat, heart, knee joints. Paralyzed by the electric current, the Dagun man's movements slowed, and although he swung his longsword to block the arrows, he always missed, taking a dozen arrows in just a few seconds. His entire body resembled a porcupine.

However, he always protected his eyes.

The arrows that struck other parts of his body failed to penetrate deeply and were unable to inflict fatal wounds.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Alycus materialized behind the Dagun man, his right hand transforming into a huge blood blade that he ruthlessly stabbed into the Dagun man's back.

"Ah..."

The Dagun man cried out in pain and turned, slashing at Alycus with his sword.

Alycus had no choice but to turn into blood mist once more and flee. The Dagun man's sword erupted with ultrasonic sword energy, tearing the blood mist apart, and Alycus fell out, his face as pale as paper.

A bloody hole had been stabbed into the Dagun man's back, the most severe injury he had sustained so far.

Suddenly, a shadow leopard appeared beside the Dagun man, transforming into a tall, heavy, black iron ape that pounced on the vulnerable Dagun man, who had been caught off guard due to his injuries.

The black iron ape stood three meters tall, and with its massive size, it pinned the Dagun man down, raising its huge iron fist and raining down blows on its enemy.

Boom, boom, boom!

Each punch, heavy and powerful, landed on the Dagun man's head like raindrops, pounding him into the muddy swamp.

Boom!

The Dagun man released another "sonic boom", blasting Yuan Chongzhen, who was pressing down on him, away.

Yuan Chongzhen flipped over, his entire body covered in filthy mud and water, looking extremely miserable. Although he was a martial artist, he had not had the opportunity to display his martial arts skills in this battle.

One was a long-range archer, another could turn into blood mist, and the third could transform directly into a beast.

Martial arts were most effective when fighting human-shaped enemies, but when your opponents were not human and refused to engage in close combat, your skills became useless.

The Dagun man let out a low growl.

He decided to go all out, his body swelling to a height of two and a half meters as he entered a giantized state.

First, he had to deal with the archer!

At this moment, the legendary Dagun man suddenly recalled that the human archer had stopped shooting arrows and turned to look at Ji Xinghuo. A bolt of lightning exploded in front of his eyes, filling his entire field of vision.

Boom!

A thunderclap rang out, reverberating throughout the swamp.

With the amplification of the rotating magnetic field, the Level Four Thunderbolt Palm had just delivered its most powerful attack.

The Dagun man was blasted into the air and fell into the swamp. Just as Alycus and Yuan Chongzhen were about to seize this opportunity to pounce, the Dagun man jumped up, half his head a bloody mess, one eye blinded, and the skin on the right side of his neck and body charred black and split open. However, not much blood flowed from his wounds.

Although he had sustained serious injuries, they were healing at a visible rate.

The Dagun man's remaining right eye turned blue—a sign of congestion.

At this moment, his eyes locked onto Ji Xinghuo as his sole enemy, and his mind was filled with only one thought—to kill this human!

The legendary Dagun man seemed crazed, but he had not lost his sanity.

This time, as he charged towards Ji Xinghuo, he did not release any ultrasonic sword energy but instead gripped his longsword tightly, the blade vibrating intensely.

Buzz...

An ear-piercing buzz reverberated through the area within a few hundred meters.

Ji Xinghuo, who was about to shoot an arrow, grimaced in pain as his eardrums bled, affecting his movements, and the arrow flew off course.

Seizing the opportunity, the Dagun man strode forward and lunged at Ji Xinghuo with his sword.

Even a casual strike from a legendary powerhouse could be devastating, and this sword strike was delivered with the Dagun man's full strength, incorporating all the sword techniques he had mastered in his lifetime. The sword carried a "tremor force", and in his mind, he had already anticipated Ji Xinghuo's subsequent changes and the corresponding sword techniques he would use.

Ji Xinghuo didn't engage in direct close combat with him at all. In the moment before the longsword struck, he stepped and sidestepped, disappearing from the Dagun man's sight with impeccable timing.

The Dagun man's longsword possessed "Sonic Form," allowing him to locate his enemies through sound wave vibrations.

But at this moment, the Sonic Form was too slow.

The speed of sound was far inferior to lightning and the Flash Step's movement speed.

The Dagun man relied on his rich combat experience and predicted that Ji Xinghuo would be on his left flank. He turned and was greeted by an arrow.

Ding!

The longsword deflected the arrow, and the tip of the sword aimed at Ji Xinghuo's throat as he took a large step forward.

Ji Xinghuo once again disappeared with a Flash Step.

The Dagun man subconsciously turned and saw Ji Xinghuo still within his field of vision, but he had retreated about five meters, just out of the range of the longsword's melee attack.

He urged his star power to burst forth with ultrasonic sword energy, but an arrow rushed forward and forced him to protect his face.

The ultrasonic sword energy veered off course.

Ji Xinghuo, in his high-frequency thinking state, stood in place and didn't move at all, allowing the sword energy to pass by and carve out a dozens-of-meters-long gully beside him.

The Dragon Falcon Eagle Bow fired continuously, like a rapid-fire gun, with arrows raining down on the Dagun man's head.

The Dagun man's defense had decreased significantly after being heavily injured by the Thunderclap Hand, and Ji Xinghuo specifically targeted his wounds. The arrows penetrated flesh and bone, causing the Dagun man to cry out in pain.

He immediately used the same technique again, releasing a sonic explosion to repel Ji Xinghuo.

Boom!

In the instant the sonic explosion arrived, Ji Xinghuo stepped forward, and the Flash Step turned into a lightning bolt that pierced through the white sound wave. Although his figure stalled and he was forced to end the Flash Step early, he was unharmed.

This sonic explosion blew away the arrows on the Dagun man's body, freeing him from pain.

Seeing Ji Xinghuo pass through the sonic explosion, he immediately swung his sword and moved forward.

The wavy blade was half a meter away from Ji Xinghuo's neck, but he disappeared again with a Flash Step and reappeared behind the Dagun man. Before the enemy could turn around, his right hand, still glowing with electricity, released a pulse arc that struck the Dagun man and slowed him down.

Then he shot two more arrows, embedding them into the Dagun man's body. By the time the Dagun man turned around, Ji Xinghuo had already used the Flash Step to escape.

The two figures, one large and one small, dodged and weaved in a small area.

Like a rabbit rising and a falcon falling, they moved as fast as lightning! The Dagun man frantically attacked Ji Xinghuo, his longsword waving and sound waves raging, but he was always half a step too slow. Ji Xinghuo danced on a tightrope, knowing that a single mistake would mean death.

However, Ji Xinghuo always managed to dodge the attacks at the last moment.

After each Flash Step, he would seize the opportunity to shoot one or two arrows to aggravate the Dagun man's injuries or release a pulse arc to maintain the slowdown effect.

Outside the battle circle, Alycus, Yuan Chongzhen, and Jing Ji were all astonished.

They had never imagined that an archer would fight an enemy in such a way, staying so close to the enemy's face without using any weapons, yet still able to shoot arrows without hindrance.

"He can't hold on much longer," Alycus said, realizing the danger Ji Xinghuo was in.

"What do we do?" Yuan Chongzhen asked anxiously. They had no opportunity to join the fight.

In this situation, if they rashly joined the battle, they might disrupt Ji Xinghuo's rhythm and do more harm than good. Besides, they were all severely injured and unable to fight anymore.

Just as the two were about to grit their teeth and step forward, they heard Ji Xinghuo's voice in their minds:

"Don't come over here."

Ji Xinghuo stopped his teammates. The powerful burst of the Level Three Rotating Magnetic Field supported his continuous use of the Flash Step, but his star power was rapidly depleting.

His stamina was also quickly running out.

The Dagun man noticed this as well, so he wasn't in a hurry. As long as he dragged the fight out for another dozen seconds or so, it would be the human's end.

"I can make countless mistakes, but you can only make one," the legendary Dagun man shouted. "Let's see how long you can last, hahaha..."

Ji Xinghuo's eyes remained calm and collected.

Suddenly, after another Flash Step, he stopped his high-frequency thinking, and his right pupil flickered slightly. Instantly, the world around him slowed down, and countless light and shadows played out in front of him, showing one future outcome after another.

The Dagun man didn't notice the subtle change in Ji Xinghuo and saw that he had stalled for a moment without shooting an arrow at him. He thought that Ji Xinghuo's power must have been exhausted, so he swung his longsword at Ji Xinghuo's neck.

Ji Xinghuo immediately dodged with a Flash Step.

But this time, he only sidestepped less than half a meter and stopped, still within the range of the longsword's attack.

The Dagun man reacted extremely quickly, and his longsword swept across.

Ji Xinghuo raised his left hand, which held the Dragon Falcon Eagle Bow, trying to block the longsword with the bow and buy himself a glimmer of survival.

"You're dead!"

The Dagun man's longsword slashed down, and the wavy blade was incredibly sharp, cutting through iron like mud. It instantly sliced through the Dragon Falcon Eagle Bow.

The sword blade cut through the bow as if it were tofu, and the continuing sweep was about to slice Ji Xinghuo in half at the waist.

Ji Xinghuo's left forearm blocked the sword.

A layer of bluish-golden scales appeared, but it wasn't enough to withstand this terrifying sword strike. Ji Xinghuo's forearm was instantly severed, cut off at the middle of his lower arm, and his entire hand flew off.

The Dagun man suddenly felt his hand empty, and his longsword was gone.

He was stunned for a moment, not understanding what had happened.

Ji Xinghuo had anticipated this moment and showed no reaction to his severed left hand. His right hand already held the Lightning Chase War Blade, and the rotating magnetic field amplified the war blade, causing it to shine with dazzling electric light.

Flash Step!

Ji Xinghuo flashed forward, almost crashing into the Dagun man's embrace. The Lightning Chase War Blade pierced the enemy's heart, and high-voltage electricity erupted, instantly destroying the heart.

Then, using up the last of his star power and stamina, he took a Flash Step and retreated five meters away.

The Dagun man's body trembled violently, and he looked at the bloody hole in his chest in disbelief. Blue blood gushed out, and a sharp pain struck him, but he couldn't utter a word.

Ji Xinghuo said to him, "You can only make one mistake, too."

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end