"The Great Tree King can't hold out much longer."
"Looks like I can only gamble on luck."
At this moment, Yu Xian watched the mounting wounds on the Great Tree King shielding him, pondering grimly.
Bafentang's desperate suicide skill would keep firing until it died. While the Great Tree King's health pool was massive, it still couldn't truly compare to a boss; continuing to take the brunt of the onslaught would only lead to death.
Once the Great Tree King fell, it would be Yu Xian's turn to face Bafentang's tempestuous barrage of blade energy.
In the Zhen Realm, class users automatically awakened a skill every ten levels. Yu Xian had changed classes to Chaos Envoy; his starting skill was Chaos Summoning, he gained Chaos Curse at level 10, Chaos Missile at level 20, and later used a Skill Acquisition Stone to awaken Chaos Shield.
His level 30 skill, however, was Chaos Transmutation.
This skill allowed him to transmute any matter he touched into a random substance, and the more mental power he expended, the larger the transmuted area.
For example, he could randomly transmute the air he touched into steel or water, or even fire and lightning.
However, he had no control over what substance it became; everything was entirely random.
After its +1 enhancement, however, he gained a certain degree of control.
For instance, after expending mental power, he could select which portion of matter to transmute.
Yu Xian crouched down, pressed his palm against the ground, and unleashed Chaos Transmutation. The earth he touched instantly transformed into a slab of plastic. Frowning slightly, he shifted to another spot and activated Chaos Transmutation once more.
This time, luck was on his side. The spot he touched immediately turned into a pool of liquid. He ramped up his output of mental power at once, causing the liquid to spread.
Looking up toward Bafentang, he maintained a steady flow of mental power, sending a thin stream of liquid racing swiftly across the ground toward Bafentang's position.
The moment it reached Bafentang's feet, Yu Xian unleashed an explosive surge of mental power. The ground beneath Bafentang instantly dissolved into an unknown liquid. Its footing gave way, and its body plunged straight into the pool, cutting off its assault.
Yu Xian had no idea that the liquid he had transmuted was actually petroleum ether.
Petroleum ether, also known as petroleum spirit, was a colorless, transparent liquid with a kerosene-like odor—and a Class 1 flammable liquid that ignited with extreme ease.
All of this happened in a flash.
From slashing at high speeds, the temperature of Bafentang's mantis scythes had long exceeded a hundred degrees.
From the moment Yu Xian activated his skill to when it reached beneath Bafentang's feet took only about half a second. When Bafentang plunged into the petroleum ether, the mantis scythes in its hands instantly ignited the entire pool.
"Now's my chance!"
Seeing the pit of transmuted petroleum ether burst into flames, Yu Xian acted immediately.
The next second, the Great Tree King wrapped a vine around his waist and hoisted him directly over the pit. Yu Xian pulled a colossal boulder from his backpack without hesitation. The boulder plummeted from the sky and slammed over the pit, sealing it completely.
"Damn it! Not these underhanded tricks again!"
Bafentang's reflexes were by no means slow, but everything had unfolded too abruptly. Its expression twisted the moment it fell into the petroleum ether, and it snapped its head upward.
Just as it tried to escape, it had barely risen before the falling boulder struck it squarely on the head. Even with its exoskeleton armor—a head as hard as steel—the impact knocked it unconscious on the spot. Its body sank limply back into the flames, continually engulfed by the blaze.
After about three minutes, Yu Xian leveled up from 40 to 41. He finally breathed a sigh of relief, a smile spreading across his face.
With Bafentang dead, the remainder of the battle was virtually a foregone conclusion. Yu Xian dispatched Bolaiye and Xielina to reinforce the other troupe members, while he led the Great Tree King over to the boulder.
The boulder's irregular shape left plenty of gaps underneath for air to enter. While it had sealed the pit, several explosions had even erupted within, jarring the stone and making it tremble.
Now that Yu Xian wanted to move the boulder to collect the loot, he still needed the Great Tree King's help; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to lift it himself.
This game featured a specific mechanic—one shared by many storage-type items—where an item could only be stored inside a storage ring if the user could physically pick it up.
Yu Xian, however, could exploit a loophole: by having a summoned beast do the lifting, as long as the beast could lift it, he could store it in his backpack.
Although the Great Tree King was riddled with cuts from Bafentang's strikes, its core remained unharmed.
For plant-type monsters like this, as long as the core was intact, they could essentially regenerate indefinitely. Later, once it found a spot to root itself into the ground, its wounds would heal in no time.
At Yu Xian's command, the vines on the Great Tree King swiftly coiled around the boulder and hoisted it. Yu Xian reached out, touched the stone, and stored it into his backpack in an instant, ready for reuse next time.
After clearing the boulder away, Yu Xian peered down into the pit. Bafentang's corpse had already dissolved into white light, leaving behind three gemstones, a pair of mantis scythes, and a pair of straight blades as thin as cicada wings.
As expected of a Class Hunter Society branch base commander—every single drop was top-tier.
Yu Xian ordered the Great Tree King to fish everything out of the pit, inspecting each item one by one.
First were the three gemstones: a [Character Enhancement Stone], a [Class Enhancement Stone], and a [Skill Enhancement Stone]. After verifying the attributes of all three, Yu Xian broke into a goofy grin, unable to close his beaming mouth.
He had truly struck it rich.
Yu Xian hurriedly stowed the three stones away, then checked the weapons Bafentang had dropped.
[Wind Scythe]
[Sharpness: +1]
[Attack Enhancement: 20%]
[Special Effect: When using wind-attribute attacks, cost is reduced by 15% and skill power is increased by 10%.]
[Description: Bafentang's companion weapon. Maintained day and night, it possesses formidable attack power.]
...
[Fire Scythe]
[Sharpness: +1]
[Attack Enhancement: 20%]
[Special Effect: When using fire-attribute attacks, cost is reduced by 15% and skill power is increased by 10%.]
[Description: Bafentang's companion weapon. Maintained day and night, it possesses formidable attack power.]
What magnificent weapons.
Even if they weren't divine artifacts, they were definitely top-grade gear.
Looking at the two scythes, Yu Xian felt a surge of delight. In the hands of someone proficient with them, they would be devastating instruments of slaughter.
Most importantly, these weapons boosted attack power by a percentage, meaning they would remain useful even in the very late game, with no risk of falling behind his level.
Unfortunately, Yu Xian had no skill with scythes; in his hands, they would be swung around blindly at best. He wondered if he might later acquire a summoned beast capable of wielding them.
He stowed the two scythes away and turned his gaze to the pair of straight blades as thin as cicada wings.
These two blades had likely developed from Bafentang's wings; the patterns etched across their flats matched the veins of Bafentang's wings to a tee.
He took one of the blades from the Great Tree King's vine and stroked it carefully. Sure enough, the blade was flawless and transparent; he could see his hand right through to the other side.
With a thought, he immediately checked the blade's attributes.
Chapter 466