Chapter 797

Lanjue drew two energy pistols from his waist holster; they resembled handguns but had longer barrels.

Blue light patterns ran along both pistols, unmistakably non-standard equipment.

Lanjue held both pistols, not aimed at Su Xiao, but at the ground between them.

"Snakes underground? No—some kind of bomb. Clever tactic."

Lanjue pulled the trigger; two spherical energy rounds shot from the muzzles, accelerating rapidly while expanding in size—by the time they traveled over ten meters, they had grown to basketball size, becoming two plasma spheres.

Bang. Bang.

The two plasma spheres struck the ground and exploded, spraying dirt, carving a circular crater roughly three meters in diameter, blue plasma spreading across the surface.

Boom!

Another explosion echoed from underground; brilliant fire surged upward, resembling Su Xiao's Special-grade Alchemical Bomb.

A stone shard, blown by the blast, whistled past Su Xiao's ear—he had planned to detonate the mechanical bees near Lanjue using alchemical bombs, but now it was clear: Lanjue's perception was too sharp.

"Aren't you charging in? You're a close-combat specialist."

Lanjue spoke with deliberate provocation, his energy pistols now aimed directly at Su Xiao.

Su Xiao wouldn't rush forward so easily; this wasn't the time. At least a hundred unknown summoned creatures lurked beneath the soil around Lanjue, and hundreds of explosive mechanical bees hovered nearby.

But if he couldn't close in, and resorted to ranged combat, Su Xiao might not match Lanjue—he was a specialist in long-range abilities.

The battle had begun; Lanjue showed no mercy, his fingers rapidly pulling the triggers.

Bang. Bang. Bang…

Basketball-sized plasma spheres flew toward Su Xiao, their speed rivaling that of standard sniper rounds.

Though the plasma spheres were fast, Su Xiao was faster—he sidestepped before they even reached him.

Watching Su Xiao's sidestep, Lanjue didn't stop firing—he raised his pistols toward the sky and fired repeatedly.

Bang. Bang. Bang…

Dozens of plasma spheres shot skyward; Lanjue's energy pistols depleted their energy.

"Command: Rapid."

An invisible wave radiated outward from Lanjue; when it touched the mechanical bees, the red lights in their compound eyes intensified.

Buzz~

Hundreds of mechanical bees surged toward Su Xiao, their speed at least several times faster than before.

A swarm of mechanical bees closed in, and worse—the plasma spheres Lanjue had fired earlier had tracking capabilities.

Before Su Xiao: hundreds of fast-approaching mechanical bees; beside him: fourteen plasma spheres; above him: sixteen plasma spheres arcing down in parabolic trajectories.

Su Xiao pulled out three Special-grade Alchemical Bombs and hurled them into the swarm of mechanical bees, then detonated them simultaneously.

Boom!

The combined blast of three Special-grade Alchemical Bombs was devastating—fire engulfed the bees, triggering their own explosions.

A continuous roar of detonations echoed like firecrackers during New Year's; just as Su Xiao cleared the bee swarm, the plasma spheres from his sides and above surged forward.

Su Xiao summoned an 80-point-strength energy shield, testing the plasma spheres' power.

He severed the energy link to the shield and pushed his palm forward—the shield slid sideways toward the approaching plasma spheres.

Bang!

The shield collided with a plasma sphere; one exploded, engulfing the shield in a mass of plasma. The 80-point shield began to crack and fragment.

Moreover, the plasma drifted through the air, releasing torrents of electricity.

Su Xiao realized with surprise: the plasma spheres weren't particularly powerful. Lanjue had fired thirty total—if Su Xiao had used his Counter-Shield to absorb them, he could've withstood the remaining twenty-nine without issue.

Still, Su Xiao had no intention of tanking them. The plasma spheres' true purpose wasn't damage—it was likely to release massive electrical surges to paralyze enemies. A tracking, high-control ability—extremely troublesome.

Fortunately, once the plasma spheres deviated from straight trajectories, their tracking speed slowed slightly—Su Xiao's speed was more than enough to outrun them.

Su Xiao charged straight toward Lanjue—he felt the summoned creatures underground weren't active; they were still in activation phase.

Lanjue stood firm, showing no sign of dodging—he snapped his fingers.

With a snap, Xiang Lanjue snapped his fingers, and hundreds of mechanical fireflies appeared beside him.

As he snapped, hundreds of mechanical fireflies appeared beside him, swirling in a luminous net around him, then freezing midair, connected by beams of light—forming four concentric layers of fluorescent shields around Lanjue.

"Command: Guard."

The moment Lanjue finished speaking, Su Xiao was already within meters of him.

The four firefly-formed fluorescent shields flickered, thickening and solidifying.

Su Xiao raised his longsword—he had little time before the twenty-nine remaining plasma spheres closed in from behind.

The blade tore through the air, Qinggangyin energy surging to its peak along its edge.

The blade struck the fluorescent shield.

Sizzzz!

Sparks flew high—Checking Zhan Long Shan shattered the first layer of shield, then sliced into the second.

Boom.

Like a flash grenade detonating, the second shield shattered—Su Xiao's vision turned blinding white, his eyes burning, yet his strike didn't pause.

Zzzzz!

A high-pitched sonic wave struck him—the effect triggered by the third shield's destruction.

Crack.

The fourth shield split open. Though blind and deaf, Su Xiao knew his Checking Zhan Long Shan's trajectory was perfect.

Lanjue's lip twitched—he'd expected Su Xiao's close-combat strength, but even that exceeded his estimates.

"Command: Swap."

The sword came down, severing dozens of small creatures.

Boom!

The explosion's shockwave slammed into Su Xiao—but thanks to his Counter-Shield, he was only pushed back.

Su Xiao's vision gradually returned; the ringing in his ears faded. The instant he regained senses, he leapt sideways.

Whoosh~

Dozens of plasma spheres whizzed past him—this tracking ability was disgustingly persistent. Wherever Su Xiao went, they followed.

Vision restored, Su Xiao scanned the area—he saw Lanjue now over thirty meters away.

A tear marred Lanjue's leather jacket at the shoulder, revealing a faint bloodline on his skin; his brow twitched—clearly, Qinggangyin energy had infiltrated him.

Qinggangyin was brutally invasive: once Su Xiao drew blood—even a single scratch—the energy would seep into the enemy's body.

After taking Su Xiao's slash, Lanjue lost 160 mana points to Qinggangyin erosion, suffered 240 true damage, and his body stiffened slightly—the Qinggangyin Soul-Electrification effect triggered. He'd been paralyzed for 0.7 seconds.

Had Lanjue not swapped positions with his mechanical summons the instant he was struck, Su Xiao, upon regaining sight and hearing, would've landed several more strikes and kept him paralyzed until he was hacked to death. To die without even unleashing his full power would be unbearable.

"Only a 12% chance—was I just unlucky, or are the three control effects triggered independently?"

Lanjue had previously researched Su Xiao's data and understood Qinggangyin's general mechanics—he'd identified Su Xiao's three skills: Qinggangyin, Master of Swordsmanship, and Absolute Devil Body—and thus knew his close-combat and survivability capabilities.

Hundreds of mechanical dragonflies materialized beside Lanjue. Unlike ordinary summoners, who summoned a few, or at most a dozen, Lanjue summoned hundreds at a time—and beneath the ground, countless other mechanical insect summons remained hidden.

After summoning hundreds of mechanical dragonflies, Lanjue pulled up his leather jacket, revealing a metal arrow strapped to his belt.

The arrow was entirely black, with a sound sensor at its tail.

"Shhh~"

Lanjue whistled—and as he did, the metal arrow detached from its leather sheath, hovering beside him, its sharp tip locked onto Su Xiao.

Lanjue's prior attacks had merely been probes—gathering Su Xiao's movement patterns and speed, transmitting the data via neural interface to this arrow.

After completing this complex setup, the arrow's speed was three to five times faster than Su Xiao's movement.

"Shhh~"

Lanjue whistled again—the metal arrow shot forward with a whoosh.

Lanjue's abilities were comprehensive: his high vitality granted strong survivability; his agility let him avoid the clumsy fate of ordinary summoners in close combat.

Plasma spheres handled tracking, harassment, and final electrical paralysis, making it easier for the metal arrow to pierce vital points; mechanical summoned creatures combined attack, defense, control, and short-range position-swapping.

Among all these, the metal arrow was Lanjue's primary offensive tool—it fell under the summoning category and gained enhanced attack power and penetration from his "Summoning Master" skill, making it terrifyingly potent, nearly immune to all forms of shield-based defense.