Chapter 2137: Summit Battle 25

Boom!! \"

Sword flow storm!

Lin An gripped twin swords, his whole body holding a forward‑slash stance, as a huge surge of spiritual energy erupted; instantly, what seemed like endless red‑black sword currents surged madly in the underground crack.

Like a deadly wind that shreds the weak, it swept across ten thousand meters!

One after another, the combined sword currents entered the howling blood‑red dragon, shrieking as they shot forth!

His gaze ice‑cold, Lin An stared fixedly at the distant corpse, his eyes reflecting the surging red.

Under the cover of massive sword currents, this lone corpse was instantly swallowed and submerged.

Yet seeing the corpse show no reaction, not even knowing how to dodge, his face held no hint of joy.

The reason was simple.

Only seen amidst the ravaging black‑red, a pale blank, as if a color had been dug out, was continually devouring his attacks.

These sword currents, which should have pierced the body's defense, each time they struck the corpse, were transferred and vanished, 'thrown' to the Rear.

The rock wall trembled; large amounts of silver debris shook loose and fell amidst the violent sword currents' spill, and under the impact of spiritual energy, it was as if ignited meteor rain illuminated the darkness.

The scene was gorgeous, eye‑catching, grand in scale, yet the effect was extremely poor.

Two seconds later, after a pallid flush flashed across Lin An's face, he finally had no choice but to helplessly stop outputting spiritual energy.

"The effect... is too poor."

"Hum"

"The conversion core stopped, and the supply of what seemed like endless spiritual energy was instantly cut off."

Lin An looked at the just‑taken‑out bottle of mental‑power‑burning potion, hesitated a moment, then still chose to put it away.

There was no need to waste it.

There are still many enemies ahead; if he can't find a way to conserve strength while defeating the opponent, then later he might as well not bother.

It's hard to imagine, but he has actually been attacking for a long time, so long that his internal spiritual energy and mental power have been exhausted twice.

Having learned from the first encounter, when he encountered the second corpse, still at Shattered Star level, he decisively chose to wear it down from a distance, giving the corpse no chance to 'awaken'.

But Lin An helplessly discovered that his plan failed at the first step.

"Obviously his level dropped, and little power remains within him."

"But the corpse's strength should be Shattered Star or Shattered Star. Its bodily defense cannot compare to those Star‑Destroying Level; strictly speaking, it is enough to match a Body System War Star."

"It overwhelms me in rules by three… no, four levels. The same goes for spiritual energy: the Shattered Star‑level spiritual energy has begun to undergo a qualitative change, which suppresses my spiritual energy, making the effect terribly poor."

He let out a silent sigh, Lin An slowly sheathed his swords, brows tightly knit.

Hard to kill.

Even a corpse is just as hard to kill.

It's hard to imagine that a corpse retaining only instinct, a Shattered Star‑level corpse standing there motionless, he couldn't kill it. For a moment, Lin An finally understood why, back on the Star Cluster Battlefield, Hei Di and the others had feared him so much.

Shattered Star level is indeed powerful.

Of course, the key is that he simply does not dare to engage in close combat; most of his strength cannot be unleashed.

Following his strongest fighting style, his most familiar means is Judgment‑pulling people, relying on the special nature of Judgment space to instantly tilt all energy and suppress the target. Then, using electromagnetic rules to empower his body, he slays the enemy with a single sword.

With amplification, weakening, close combat, and burst all maxed out, this set of tactics is virtually unbeatable. Often it can finish an instant kill before the enemy even gets a chance to attack him.

But facing a corpse, Lin An helplessly found that this approach no longer works.

How to pull a corpse?

The opponent's rules are far stronger than his; before the corpse's rules are exhausted, Lin An can imagine that if he flies over to engage in close combat, he would likely be blown apart mid‑air by the opponent's rules.

Even if he withstands it with the Flame of Time, the consumption would be too great for him to bear.

Moreover, long‑range attrition also fails.

"Although the corpse's remaining rule power is little, using it all for defense makes it far more troublesome than the beast I killed before."

"Rules similar to spatial transfer perfectly counter long‑range and energy‑type attacks."

"Mastering spatial rules also means that even if I initiate void‑walking, halfway I will still be caught by its fluctuations and thus be attacked."

Lin An shook his head, giving a bitter laugh.

His spatial rule level is too low, or rather he basically has none, relying entirely on a hodgepodge of skill combinations to simulate it.

The sole good news is that, thanks to the Omniscience Domain, although he cannot parse all information up close, he still obtained a rough grasp of the corpse's abilities.

"The defensive power of a Body System War Star level can offset half of my damage. Combined with transfer rules, 99% of my strength is wasted."

"Under long‑range blanket attacks, I can't even focus my spiritual energy to break through a bit."

"Relying on mental‑power lock also fails; the corpse's attack rules are clearly on the mental side, making my head feel like it's about to burst."

They gazed at each other from afar.

In Lin An's eyes, the corpse blocking the road was like a giant mushroom. Beneath its huge head were slender limbs; though it looked comical, inside the split skull, threads of substance‑like mental power continuously circulated.

In his perception, the corpse's mental‑power strength was nearly more than five times his own!

It sounds absurd, but thinking about it, it's normal. Lin An's stats are off the charts—for his own tier or War Star level. Compared to Star‑Destroying Level, however, he's still lacking.

Therefore, if he so much as touches it, once the opponent is awakened, what awaits him is a massive surge of mental impact.

"How to kill…"

"If I could get close, my bodily strength could indeed be put to use—including stacked attacks, electromagnetic rules, which can also be attached directly to the weapon for close‑range burst damage."

The transfer effect definitely cannot transfer close‑range damage.

Lin An can think that the corpse's defensive rules are purely meant for fighting Rule System opponents; as soon as he gets close, it's just a glass cannon.

Although bodily strength also has a Body System War Star, it's merely that—not particularly strong.

But the frustration lies in…

Lin An himself, facing Shattered Star‑level attacks, is also a damn glass cannon.

Fighting a war star, he can rely on defense to hard-resist, and bathe in the rules.

Although his own rules are slightly lacking in level, their quality and quantity are sufficient, enough to offset a large amount of damage.

Against a crushing star, his defense is enough to hold until he strikes. After killing and devouring to recover, as long as he isn't instantly killed, he can instantly return to full health.

But when it comes to shattering a star...

That is truly unbearable.

"Even long-range attacks can't be said to wear this guy down, but what about my path ahead..."

"Where exactly is the problem... According to 77's arrangement, this situation shouldn't have happened..."

Lin An frowned tightly, constantly comparing the route map given by 77.

His speed is already fast enough, but given the current situation, if he tries to slowly grind these corpses to death and kill his way all the way to the artifact, he probably won't make it before the competition ends.

Then likewise, if he still has his previous speed, it's even less possible to obtain it!

"The route is correct, I haven't wasted any time."

"Could it be that Big-Eye thinks these corpses can't stop me at all?"

Lin An instinctively recalled 77's calm demeanor, as if he wasn't at all worried about Lin An failing to get the artifact.

For a moment, Lin An didn't even know whether he should curse something.

77 was overconfident in him, to the point that he himself lacked confidence. He doubted whether he had made some mistake.

"Could it be that Faith Power can also boost speed, letting me charge straight through? Big-Eye didn't tell me; is he hoping I figure it out myself in battle? Just like those things I thought of before?"

Lin An looked thoughtfully at the Faith Power on his body's surface, but unlike before, he no longer had any ideas.

He really couldn't think of how Faith Power could further enhance speed.

"I... how..."

Just as Lin An was struggling to think, suddenly a few cheerful squeaking sounds rang out.