On the other side, the Nether Fiend Energy was still expanding. The Nether Armor King strolled forward, casually slashing out with its blade every now and then toward the surroundings.
In truth, its attacks were terrifying. Ordinary blade energy traveled in a straight line; when encountering an obstacle, it either cleaved through obstacle and all, or was blocked and dispersed.
Yet the Nether Armor King's blade energy did not dissipate after striking the labyrinth walls; instead, it banked around corners and continued onward.
This resulted in a lethal inevitability: unless its blade energy ran into a dead end, it would surely kill any class user it encountered.
Meridian - Nether Night Slash!
The Nether Armor King raised its hand and casually slashed out.
It truly was an offhand strike, for most class users didn't warrant a serious attack from it at all; it could kill them with utter ease.
This time, however, an anomaly occurred. The moment its blade energy turned the corner, it collided with something and abruptly dispersed.
"Hahahahaha! Fine blade! Fine strike! That feels great!"
Chi Feihong's signature coarse laughter echoed forward. Next, the Nether Armor King saw a burly man roughly its own height step into view.
Their gazes met, and Chi Feihong chuckled, "Come! Have a go and see if you can break through my invincible defense!"
"Ignorant fool!" the Nether Armor King said coldly.
Then it raised its hand, terrifying pressure instantly condensing upon the Dream-Severing Blade.
Abyssal Death Blade!
Seeing this dreadful strike slashing down, Chi Feihong immediately broke into an excited grin. Driving off his legs, his entire body rocketed straight toward the Nether Armor King.
In a flash, the blade energy collided with Chi Feihong.
"Hahaha, decent power! Feels great!" The space around Chi Feihong warped faintly as his voice rang out amidst the radiant light. Then the dragon tattoo across his back roared, and with a flash of golden light, the Nether Armor King's blade energy was blasted to pieces.
"Hm?"
The Nether Armor King had not expected its attack to truly be stopped by Chi Feihong.
At that moment, Chi Feihong descended amidst wild laughter, crashing toward the Nether Armor King with an Iron Mountain Lean. The Nether Armor King's reflexes were astonishingly swift as well; it immediately pinned Chi Feihong's shoulder with its left hand.
The instant they clashed, both sensed each other's immense power.
The Nether Armor King's impression of Chi Feihong was hardness—harder even than its own armor. Had its body not been suffused with Nether Fiend Energy, that single collision would likely have mangled its hand.
Chi Feihong, meanwhile, detected the Nether Armor King's terrifying strength and bottomless stats.
Normally, a Nether Armor King's entire self-awareness consisted purely of programmed parameters. Much like an NPC, it possessed intelligence yet could not break free from its design, making it fairly easy for class users to farm as a mob.
The Class Hunter Society's Nether Armor King, however, was different. It had already attained a true sense of self, transcending the mindset of an NPC.
Consequently, it no longer spawned at fixed monster spawn points, and class users were unable to slay it.
A Nether Armor King that remained unkilled could continuously boost its attributes through the deaths of Nether Armor Knights. Naturally, the longer it went on, the more horrifying it became.
It belonged to the breed that grew stronger with age—the longer it lived, the more invincible it became.
The Nether Armor King's stats had long since outstripped anything an ordinary Nether Armor King could boast. Chi Feihong's Iron Mountain Lean actually carried a knockback effect, but the Nether Armor King had proved completely immune to it.
With that immunity, Chi Feihong was unable to execute his subsequent move.
Originally, his standard combat routine was to open with the Iron Mountain Lean, combo into a Rising Dragon Fist, follow with a sweeping low kick upon landing, and finish with an unadorned straight punch.
This full sequence was enough to heavily injure any foe. However, against the Nether Armor King, the opening move had failed to take effect, leaving Chi Feihong unable to continue the combo, so he had no choice but to swiftly retreat.
The moment Chi Feihong fell back, the Nether Armor King struck.
Gripping the blade in its right hand, it unleashed a rising drag-slash, hewing upward from below straight toward Chi Feihong.
This strike was not a skill at all—it was a pure auto-attack, yet in truth, this was the Nether Armor King's most fearsome attack.
Under normal circumstances, a Nether Armor King was actually a magic-damage monster whose skills largely relied on Nether Fiend Energy to unleash their power.
Yet after continuously stacking attributes, its physical strength had grown absurdly terrifying. A simple basic attack in close combat far exceeded the destructive power of using a skill.
After all, skills ultimately had damage caps, whereas basic attacks had no ceiling.
Seeing the Dream-Severing Blade slash toward him, every hair on Chi Feihong's body stood on end. He could even clearly see his own face reflected in the mirror-smooth surface of the blade.
Not good.
This was the real killer move!
Chi Feihong's heart clenched. He attempted to dodge, only to find he couldn't get out of the way.
Too fast.
This slash from the Nether Armor King was as swift as light.
In the blink of an eye, the blade rose and fell. One of Chi Feihong's arms instantly went flying. Retreating dozens of meters, Chi Feihong glared at the Nether Armor King with an ugly expression.
Losing an arm wasn't a fatal issue.
However, the fight ahead was going to be ugly.
Chi Feihong hadn't expected the Nether Armor King's finishing blow to be so mundane.
A plain, unadorned strike had shattered his defense, when just moments ago even the Nether Armor King's blade energy had failed to do so.
"Looks like you can't handle this alone. We'd better take it on together."
Just then, a flash of black light flickered, and Tong Wozhen appeared beside Chi Feihong, looking at him with a grin.
Originally, everyone had come together. But when Chi Feihong reached the intersection up ahead, he had halted, insisted on dueling the Nether Armor King alone, and told everyone else to wait at the crossroads.
Class users possessed an eclectic array of abilities, however.
Someone had cast a synchronization imprint on Chi Feihong, using it to broadcast the visuals of the battle between Chi Feihong and the Nether Armor King for all to see.
After Chi Feihong lost his arm and suffered a setback, Tong Wozhen knew they couldn't let Chi Feihong face the Nether Armor King one-on-one any longer.
"Watch out for its blade," Chi Feihong didn't object, warning him with grave seriousness instead.
Tong Wozhen nodded. His defense was far inferior to Chi Feihong's; if Chi Feihong couldn't withstand a slash, he certainly didn't think he could take one.
Then again, tanking damage had never been his style.
"I'll keep it tied down for a moment. Heal your arm as fast as you can."
With that, Tong Wozhen transformed into a flash of black light. Appearing directly above near the ceiling, he thrust both hands toward the Nether Armor King and unleashed a black dragon.
His class was Five-Colored Dragon Master.
And among the five-colored dragons under his command, the black dragon possessed the highest offensive power.
Yet before the black dragon could even close in on the Nether Armor King, a flash of blade light swept across, instantly cleaving the black dragon to pieces. Tong Wozhen's expression changed slightly; with a flash of golden light, he reappeared in a different position.
Five-Color Dragon Burial!
Extending one hand, Tong Wozhen twisted his wrist toward the Nether Armor King. Five dragons of distinct colors materialized out of thin air, coiling tightly around the Nether Armor King's limbs and torso in an attempt to wring its body into a twisted knot.
Against an ordinary person, Tong Wozhen's attack would have been horrifying, potent enough to twist someone into a cruller and squeeze the marrow straight out of their bones.
Yet when this attack struck the Nether Armor King, it produced no effect whatsoever. It couldn't even make the Nether Armor King budge in the slightest. Only in this moment did Tong Wozhen truly appreciate just how terrifying the Nether Armor King was.
At the same time, he also realized the true caliber of the Guyue Continent's foremost meat tank.
Against a monster like this, Chi Feihong had actually been able to withstand its attacks.
Chapter 549