Chapter 55: Advancing Further, Acquiring Source Essence

Chapter 55: Advancing Further, Acquiring Source Essence

"Hello, my name is Mia, and thank you for saving us," the Banser girl quickly hid her large hammer behind her back and waved to Lu Heng.

"Hello, I'm Lu Heng," he greeted her.

Lu Heng waved and then turned his attention to Su Muyu with a concerned look.

With an outsider present, it wasn't appropriate for them to have a private conversation.

Su Muyu smiled gently, and her clear eyes met his with a reassuring gaze, as if saying, "I'm fine, don't worry."

Mia noticed their exchange and gave a knowing smile, then spread her hands and said, "Okay, so you two know each other. But still, thank you."

Lu Heng got straight to the point, "We're here to fight against the demons. Can you take us to see your leader?"

"There's nothing special about that old man," Mia replied with a peculiar expression, twisting her face.

Speaking so bluntly, it was clear she had a special relationship with the tribal leader, likely his daughter.

"There's something very important we need to discuss with your leader," Lu Heng continued, trying to convince her to take them to meet the tribe.

"But I can't go back now," Mia said, looking troubled.

"Why?"

"I came out because I have something very important to do," Mia rubbed her chin with her hand as she began to think.

"What is it? Perhaps we can help," Lu Heng guessed that it was likely related to the Dark God's resurrection ceremony.

"I received intelligence that a very important Dark God offering is being transported to Barton's Temple. I came out to intercept this offering," Mia said seriously.

Seeing that she was alone, Lu Heng realized she had sneaked out without her tribe leader's approval, which was why she was reluctant to return.

"Why not work together with your tribe leader?"

"That old man didn't approve of my participation in the battle. He wanted to lock me in a room, but a brave warrior shouldn't be confined," Mia clenched her fist and spoke with determination.

"In that case, we can help you."

"The offering I'm trying to intercept is a terrifying object filled with dark essence, it's very dangerous. Are you sure about this?"

"Of course, we'll work together," Lu Heng and Su Muyu replied in unison.

The main storyline quest was to intercept the Source Essence offering, and this was a crucial way to obtain the Source Essence.

The Banser girl was likely the daughter of their tribal leader, and by establishing a friendship with her, forming an alliance with the Banser tribe would become much simpler.

According to Mia's description, this offering might be the terrifying object from his memories.

...

After Lin Zeyu and the other three caught up, they introduced themselves briefly, and the seven of them formed a temporary team, heading towards the western mountain path of Ankalai Mountain.

North of Ankalai Mountain stood a temple shrouded in eerie mist, barely visible in the clouds.

This was Barton's Necropolis, the resting place of the Dark God's followers.

At that moment, on the western mountain path of Ankalai Mountain, a group of demon minions was heading towards Barton's Temple.

However, this group of demons wasn't escorting a transport cart; they were lightly equipped and didn't seem like a typical offering delivery team.

After spotting Barton's Temple, the devout Winged Demon Sorcerer would kneel and pray every time they covered a certain distance.

Only after hearing the response from their deity would they continue leading the team forward.

...

With the Recon Eagle scouting from above, Su Muyu spotted this demon team from a distance.

Lu Heng marked a narrow mountain pass on the map as the ambush point.

The group arrived early at the pass and hid, waiting for the demon team to arrive.

As they approached the narrow pass, the Abyssal Two-Headed Lizard among the demons became restless and agitated.

"This Two-Headed Lizard might have sensed danger. We should strike early. I'll handle the Winged Demon Sorcerer, and you take care of the other demon minions," Lu Heng turned to Lin Zeyu.

"Alright," Lin Zeyu nodded in agreement.

"No problem," the Banser girl gripped her long-handled hammer, eager for action.

Lu Heng turned to her and suggested, "Why don't you stay back and protect our Sensor?"

Mia immediately shook her head in refusal, "A Banser warrior should always be at the forefront of battle!"

At this moment, the Winged Demon Sorcerer tried to calm the Two-Headed Lizard without success. He became alert, spread his wings, and flew closer to the pass for a better view.

Seeing this, Lin Zeyu frowned and said, "He's flying now, you can't reach him. Shall I take over?"

"Do you have the confidence to take down this Winged Demon Sorcerer?" Lu Heng glanced at Lin Zeyu.

Lin Zeyu sighed, "Maybe... I'm not sure, but I can hold it off."

Lu Heng quickly estimated the flying height of the Winged Demon Sorcerer and said, "Forget it, I'll handle this."

Although the Winged Demon Sorcerer could fly, its flight capabilities weren't particularly impressive.

At this moment, the Winged Demon Sorcerer was flying at an altitude of about five meters.

This height wasn't low; it was roughly the height of a two-story building.

Under normal circumstances, only long-range attacks could pose a threat to it.

However, Lu Heng's current combat strength was far beyond the normal range.

As the Winged Demon Sorcerer flew towards the narrow pass, Lu Heng gave the command to attack: "Go!"

Then, he activated Gale Step, pushed off with both feet, and sprinted forward with a burst of speed.

With his agility of 27, his speed instantly surged to 36 meters per second.

Immediately after, Lu Heng activated the second stage of Gale Step, lunging forward with a straight-line stab, doubling the acceleration effect, and rushing towards the Winged Demon Sorcerer like an arrow released from a bowstring.

Lin Zeyu and the others also charged out, launching an attack on the demon squad.

Mia swung her large iron hammer and rushed towards the Stone Statue Golem, leaping high into the air, and unleashing her mighty strength to smash the hammer onto the golem's knee.

Due to her height, the spot she struck... was precisely the vital joint.

The Stone Statue Golem roared, stumbled with its right leg, and was knocked down by the mighty blow.

Lin Zeyu shot and exploded the head of a demon, then turned to look in Lu Heng's direction, considering whether to help him.

He was using a pistol as his weapon, and although he wasn't confident in taking down the Winged Demon Sorcerer, it was at least a long-range attack.

However, the situation was slightly different from what he had expected.

After Lu Heng activated the second stage of Gale Step and doubled his acceleration, his linear velocity soared to 54 meters per second, and in the blink of an eye, he rushed beneath the Winged Demon Sorcerer.

However, the Winged Demon Sorcerer was flying at a height of five meters, which was normally out of reach.

The Winged Demon Sorcerer was also ascending and simultaneously casting a Dark Sorcery Energy Wave at Lu Heng.

As Lu Heng sprinted, he dodged the energy wave attack with a swift turn and then released a shadow clone.

The shadow clone crouched, palms together, and placed them at his abdomen.

Lu Heng stepped on the shadow clone's palm, pushed off with force, and the clone's palms simultaneously propelled him upwards.

With the combined forces, Lu Heng soared into the sky like a springing onion, drawing out the Aurora Blade from the void and executing the "Ascending Dragon Style" from the Seven-Step Sword Technique.

Clang!

The sword's gleam soared like a silver dragon, slicing through the second Dark Sorcery Energy Wave.

Boom!

The chilling sword gleam's might remained undiminished, engulfing the Winged Demon Sorcerer and slicing it in half.

With a single sword strike, Lu Heng had taken down the Winged Demon Sorcerer. He reached out to catch the falling crystal core, then performed a double backflip and landed on one knee, punching the ground with his left fist to dissipate the downward momentum.

The entire sequence of actions was smooth and graceful, like a flowing stream.

[Kill Winged Demon Sorcerer, Absorb 120 Points of Demon Energy.]



Lin Zeyu witnessed Lu Heng's swift moves, his eyes widening in astonishment. If they weren't in the midst of battle, he would have applauded in admiration.

After eliminating the Winged Demon Sorcerer, the remaining demon minions scattered like sand.

Only the Stone Statue Golem was a tough opponent, standing at a height of six meters with a thousand-pound strength in its arms, capable of shattering the ground and rocks with a single swing.

Mia dragged her large iron hammer, darting around to evade the Stone Statue Golem's attacks.

Despite her short stature, her little legs ran surprisingly fast.

After dealing with the Winged Demon Sorcerer, Lu Heng joined the battle like a gale, blocking the Stone Statue Golem for Mia. With a heavy slash of his sword, he cleaved through a large chunk of stone debris.

However, the Stone Statue Golem's rock armor was too thick.

Even the incredibly sharp Aurora Blade required several strikes before it was finally defeated.

The Stone Statue Golem crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces under the scorching power of thunder and lightning, and then a source essence was extracted.

[Absorb Freeform Source Essence, Source Essence Fusion Rate Increased.]



[Source Essence Fusion Rate: 20%]



This Stone Statue Golem turned out to be a source essence sacrifice, but it was also a willing offering to the Evil God Barton, so it didn't need to be locked up and transported in a transport cart.

[Kill Stone Statue Golem, Absorb 120 Points of Demon Energy.]



[Demon Energy Reinforcement Level, Source Energy Level Increased to 12, All Attributes +2, Agility Attribute Extra +0.6]



After consecutive battles and slaying multiple level-12 Winged Demon Sorcerers, Lu Heng's attributes rose across the board with another level-up, and his combat strength increased significantly.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end