Chapter 94: A Swift Confrontation

Chapter 94: A Swift Confrontation

A patrol squad from the Betelgeuse tribe was making its way along a road. Both the Stoneling and the Dagun tribesmen had vigilant looks on their faces, and the Golaokak above scanned every corner with their eyes, listening intently to the slightest sound.

Suddenly, the Dagun squad leader in the middle of the group tilted his head back and collapsed, an arrow piercing his eye.

This attack came without any warning.

"Over there!"

It was daytime, so the Golaokak quickly located the direction from which the arrow had come and screamed loudly. They vaguely saw a human figure standing on a large rock ahead, flickering and becoming translucent, but it was enough to lock onto his position.

"Send up a signal right now!"

Another Dagun nocked an arrow and fired a Sonic Arrow into the sky as fast as he could.

There were also Golaokak who pounced on the squad leader's corpse, trying to pick up the resonance crystal to report the situation to the watchtower.

Clap!

The figure in front flickered again, and this time, they all saw clearly that it was indeed a human, drawing his bow and shooting arrows at them in quick succession.

As they realized this, the opponent's arrows also arrived.

However, the arrows did not hit anyone; they flew over their heads and actually hit the Sonic Arrow that had just been fired, cutting off the sound it emitted.

The Dagun tribesmen were stunned.

He was also an archer, skilled with the bow and arrow, and he had never thought that someone could hit an arrow in flight, let alone from such a long distance!

Before he could recover from his shock, another arrow arrived, piercing straight through his mouth.

Immediately after, the Golaokak who had just gotten hold of the resonance crystal was also shot dead, an arrow not only piercing through his body but also shattering the resonance crystal.

The rest of the Golaokak panicked and flew wildly into the sky, only to have their corpses fall one by one.

"Charge!"

A Stoneling shouted loudly, raising his shield and leading the other Stonelings in a mad dash.

The lone Lianasprite in the squad quickly expanded, its vines weaving into a wall that shielded the remaining Dagun and Golaokak from the front.

The Stonelings had already rushed out.

They were fast, with shields raised and eyes peering from behind them, locking onto the enemy on the boulder.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh...

Arrows flew towards them, and one by one, the Stonelings fell during the charge.

The Stonelings discovered that their shields seemed utterly useless. As long as they exposed a part of their bodies, the enemy's arrows would always find a way, with piercing arrows accurately seizing the opportunity to penetrate the gaps in their armor and easily pierce their bodies. Even if non-vital areas were hit, they would still lose their combat effectiveness.

After charging for just a hundred meters, half of their squad was already dead.

Given this situation, it seemed impossible for anyone to reach the enemy, and there was also a lack of adequate cover on the road, putting them in a dilemma.

Just as they hesitated about whether to retreat, an explosion suddenly sounded from behind.

Then came a chorus of painful screams.

When they turned to look, they saw that the Lianasprite's vines were burning, and the Dagun and Golaokak hiding behind the wall of vines had been turned into porcupines by arrows that seemed to come from nowhere.

In the blink of an eye, only a few Stonelings were left in the entire patrol squad, and they hadn't even had a chance to send out any signals.

"Keep charging!"

A Stoneling shouted loudly, "We must get to him! This is our only oppo—"

Before he could finish his sentence, an arrow pierced through his head.

The Stonelings' resolve did not waver, as the blood flowing in their veins was cold, and their hearts were even colder. They knew no fear, and they continued their charge with shields raised. Unsurprisingly, the Stonelings fell one by one, and the Stoneling who charged the farthest was still a hundred meters away from the enemy.

Ji Xinghuo jumped down from the boulder, quickly approaching, and casually shot a few arrows, ending the lives of a few Stonelings who were still struggling.

He spent two minutes harvesting the spoils and exotic materials, picked up Qinghong who was hiding by the roadside, and quickly left.

As he moved away, he opened the interface.

[Spiritual Source Energy: 28]



Ji Xinghuo invested all the spiritual source energy he had just obtained into the rotating magnetic field; this was the second patrol squad he had hunted today.

The progress of the rotating magnetic field increased to (Level 2: 255/1699).

"It's almost ready."

He felt that the sensing distance of the magnetic field had increased again, and he was in a very good mood.

Hunting during the day was indeed more difficult than at night, but as he had guessed, it was unlikely that the Betelgeuse tribe had so many legendary powerhouses to set traps and ambush him.

As long as he detoured a little further and was more cautious in scouting for hunting targets, the problem wouldn't be too big.

Unless the Betelgeuse tribe stopped patrolling.

But that was almost impossible. Without patrol squads, human bounty hunters would become more rampant, causing more casualties.

Without patrol squads, the Betelgeuse army would have to retreat into their fortresses, bunkers, and watchtowers, only able to defend passively. This was something that neither the upper echelons nor the people of the Betelgeuse tribe could accept politically, militarily, or publicly.

This was a defense system that had been formed over centuries, and it would not be easily changed because of a single bounty hunter.

The Betelgeuse tribe's primary response was to take him out.

"I will never hunt in the same place twice."

"Each time I strike, there must be a distance of at least twenty kilometers, and there must be no pattern to my actions."

"If something feels off, do not hesitate to retreat immediately."

Ji Xinghuo set himself a few principles and also summarized some experiences.

By now, he was already three or four kilometers away from where he had wiped out the patrol squad, and he was just about to breathe a sigh of relief when the magnetic field sensing detected an anomaly.

"Someone's chasing us!"

"And they're very fast!"

Ji Xinghuo's heart sank, and he quickly focused his attention on sensing. More than 800 meters behind was a rapidly moving magnetic field, and from the shape of the field, he could tell it was a Dagun tribesman, but the strength was not particularly exaggerated, so he was not a legend.

Initially, he suspected that the Dagun man might just be passing by, but after a few seconds, he confirmed that the man was indeed chasing him, and he was gaining on him quickly, now less than 700 meters away.

"A Speedster?"

The Beiluoshimen tribe also had a similar occupational template to the Speedster, adept at long-distance running and extremely agile in short-range movements and shifts in direction.

Ji Xinghuo immediately activated his rotating magnetic field, causing his speed to surge.

However, he found that his speed still couldn't match his pursuer's, and the distance between them was slowly shrinking.

In at most ten minutes, he would be caught up to.

Speedsters had excellent endurance and stellar power, especially in terms of endurance, ranking in the top three among all professions; otherwise, they wouldn't be able to sustain their long-distance running.

Once caught, the Speedster would be in peak condition, while his own stellar power would be greatly depleted.

Not only would their strengths be in a state of flux, but the ten-minute delay might also have given any legendary powerhouses time to arrive.

The longer he delayed, the more disadvantageous it would be for him.

"Since I can't shake him off, then I'll take him out!"

Without hesitation, Ji Xinghuo didn't stop in his tracks but instead released Qinghong and continued running for a few hundred meters before charging up a small, sparse hill and coming to a halt at its peak. The hill offered a sparse covering of vegetation, and from his elevated position, he could survey the surrounding landscape.

He immediately spotted the pursuing Dagun man.

As expected, his pursuer was a Speedster, clad in a form-fitting blue battle dress with a pair of super-powered combat boots. Each step he took covered more than five meters, his stride frequency was incredibly high, and his posture was relaxed as he navigated the rugged terrain as if it were flat ground, his long tail swaying back and forth to maintain balance.

"A Super Speedster!"

Ji Xinghuo remained calm as he took aim at the enemy with his Dragon Falcon Eagle Bow.

In just over ten seconds, the Dagun man had entered his range, and Ji Xinghuo immediately released the bowstring, sending a titanium-aluminum alloy arrow flying toward his enemy's eye.

The Dagun man's reaction was incredibly fast as he slightly tilted his feet to dodge the arrow.

At the same time, he took the opportunity to close the distance by a few dozen meters.

He was now at the foot of the hill, tilting his head slightly upward, his round, fish-like eyes locking onto Ji Xinghuo on the slope, exuding a chilling killing intent.

An arrow flew toward him, but the Dagun man skillfully deflected it with his curved dagger.

"Human..."

The Dagun man shouted as he charged up the slope, but his words were interrupted by a violent clap of thunder.

Crackle!

Qinghong, who had been hiding in the grass, unleashed a bolt of lightning toward the Dagun man's back.

If it were anyone else, they would have had almost no chance of dodging it.

However, this Dagun man's reaction speed was unbelievably fast. In the instant the lightning was released, his body suddenly blurred, and the lightning struck his afterimage. His true body seemed to teleport forward by about four meters, and his speed surged once more as he continued his charge toward the hilltop.

Flash Step!

Sprint!

At this moment, the Dagun man's speed completely exploded, surpassing fifty meters per second.

In just two or three seconds, he would be right in front of Ji Xinghuo, and the dagger in his hand, slicing through the air at high speed, emitted a piercing whistle.

Speed is power.

Even though the Dagun man's physical strength wasn't particularly remarkable, his attacks were imbued with terrifying lethality due to his high speed.

The Dagun man's thought processes were also operating at their limit. In his eyes, the world seemed to slow down, and Ji Xinghuo's movements appeared to be in slow motion. He could capture every action and even see the trajectory of the arrows Ji Xinghuo fired.

Ji Xinghuo swiftly shot an arrow, aiming for the Dagun man's eye.

The Dagun man slightly tilted his head, and the arrow brushed past his ear.

He closed in on Ji Xinghuo once more, now less than thirty meters away. At his current speed, he would be within attack range in just half a second. With a single flash step, he could slash at Ji Xinghuo's neck.

Suddenly, the Dagun man sensed that his enemy's right eye twitched slightly.

But there was no effect, as if it had been a hallucination.

Twenty meters! The Dagun man's curved dagger was raised, pointing at Ji Xinghuo's neck.

Fifteen meters.

The fingertips of Ji Xinghuo's right hand, which had just released the bowstring, glowed with electrical light. A bolt of lightning leaped from his palm, invisible to the naked eye. His body's magnetic field amplified the current, and in an instant, his stellar power was converted into lightning energy.

Ten meters.

The Dagun man and Ji Xinghuo could now clearly see the determination and killing intent in each other's eyes, with no hint of retreat.

There was a crackle, and a silver-white lightning bolt burst from Ji Xinghuo's fingertip.

Five meters!

The Dagun man had been on guard against the Thunderclap Hand, and as soon as the lightning was released, he once again executed a flash step, his figure flickering forward and appearing at Ji Xinghuo's side. His dagger was almost upon Ji Xinghuo's skin, and he imagined seeing his enemy's head severed from his body.

However, behind him, the lightning suddenly changed direction.

Boom!

The Thunderclap Hand struck the Dagun man's back, the powerful current causing his entire body to go numb and inducing excruciating pain. He nearly lost his grip on his dagger.

And at that moment, he was just two steps away from Ji Xinghuo.

As Ji Xinghuo's left hand released the lightning, he had already sheathed his bow and drawn out his Thunder-Restrained Battle Blade, slashing toward the empty space to his left.

As if they had rehearsed this move a thousand times, the uncontrolled body of the Dagun man crashed into the blade, his neck testing the sharpness of the edge.

Lightning arced along the edge of the Thunder-Restrained Blade.

Pfft!

Blue blood splattered, and a large fish head went flying as the Dagun man's head tumbled to the ground, his round eyes still retaining the joy of having slain his enemy.

[Spiritual Source Energy: +18]



Ji Xinghuo sheathed his blade and saw the information pop up in the interface.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end