Chapter 798: Ghost Bee

"Sshhh~"

A clear whistle rang out; Lanjue controlled the precise trajectory of the metal arrow through whistling—it was no inanimate object, but a fusion-type summoned creature, combining traits of several rare insects, named Ghost Bee.

The entirely black Ghost Bee shot toward Su Xiao with a swift hiss, its tail's sound-sensing device leaving a pale blue-gray trail in the air.

At this moment, Su Xiao was protected by a counter-shield, but behind him were twenty-nine plasma spheres relentlessly pursuing him—he could only keep moving.

A sharp piercing sound cut through the air; Su Xiao immediately sensed something hurtling toward him at high speed, so he shrank his perception range to five meters, making it easier to catch fast-moving attacks.

A metal arrow pierced into Su Xiao's perception circle, causing ripples to spread across it.

"So fast!"

Su Xiao shifted his focus from Lanjue to the incoming metal arrow; it gave him a strong sense of threat.

The metal arrow felt sharp, swift, and subtly eerie; through preliminary perception, he knew one thing: do not let it touch him, or the consequences would be severe.

"Sshhh~"

The Ghost Bee moved at extreme speed; the moment Su Xiao sensed it, the arrow had already reached the counter-shield.

Although the counter-shield had shattered many times among the soldiers, that didn't mean its defense was weak—in fact, a 500-point counter-shield was very sturdy; the problem was that amid a large group of soldiers, attacks came from all directions too frequently.

Blue energy veins flickered across the counter-shield; the arrowhead of the Ghost Bee was less than twenty centimeters from striking it.

"Command: Ghost."

Lanjue's mana dropped sharply; at the same time, the metal arrow—the Ghost Bee—changed.

The entirely black metal arrow turned pale blue, then began to become semi-transparent.

The Ghost Bee struck the counter-shield—no collision sound, no shockwave—passing through it as if the shield didn't exist.

It wasn't that the counter-shield had vanished; the Ghost Bee had transformed from physical to virtual—it was now neither matter nor energy.

Sensing this change in the metal arrow, Su Xiao's pupils contracted; if this arrow could turn virtual, it could also revert to physical form.

It passed through enemy defenses in virtual form, then turned physical to strike.

Realizing this, Su Xiao tensed every muscle, raising his Dragon-Cutting Flash; dodging was no longer possible—he had to slash the arrow away the instant it turned physical.

Everything around Su Xiao seemed to slow; the sensation confused him—he'd felt it before, when he'd dodged an axe aimed at the back of his skull.

The Ghost Bee's color shifted from blue to black, then stabbed toward Su Xiao's skull.

The Ghost Bee moved at extreme speed; Su Xiao had only one chance.

A faint prickling sensation appeared on his left temple—the warning signal from his perception as his skull was about to be pierced.

Su Xiao's long blade slashed down ahead of time; he had already predicted the arrow's trajectory.

"Ding!"

The blade struck the arrow's midpoint; a cut appeared on its black shaft, and the force of Su Xiao's strike sent the entire metal arrow sliding sideways—clinking as it hit the inner side of the counter-shield.

Lanjue, dozens of meters away, grunted, his facial veins bulging, his expression grotesque.

"Command: Transit."

Lanjue forced down his physical discomfort and blew the whistle louder.

The moment Lanjue issued the command, the metal arrow—Ghost Bee—reacted instantly: it stopped spinning and shot straight toward Su Xiao.

The instant the arrow re-targeted him, Su Xiao sensed it and twisted his head aside.

"Sshhh~"

The Ghost Bee left a bloody trail, its tip stained red.

Warm blood trickled down Su Xiao's cheek; a gash marred his skin. To a woman, this would be catastrophic—but Su Xiao didn't care; he wasn't a pretty face earning his keep.

The Ghost Bee had just grazed Su Xiao's cheek and reached the back of his head; it deftly reversed direction midair, arrowhead aimed at the base of his skull.

The counter-shield beside Su Xiao split apart, transforming from one circle into dozens of hexagonal small shields; over twenty hexagonal shields flew toward the pursuing plasma spheres, while three stacked together to block the back of Su Xiao's head—the Ghost Bee stabbed at the shield. Seeing this, Lanjue's expression changed.

"Command: Ghost."

The Ghost Bee turned from black to blue, its semi-transparent form piercing straight through the shield and Su Xiao's head.

As the Ghost Bee passed through Su Xiao's skull, his mind went hazy—then snapped back to clarity.

The moment Su Xiao regained awareness, the entirely black metal arrow appeared before his eyes; relying on his high neural reflex speed, he instantly leaned back.

As Su Xiao leaned back, the Ghost Bee was already at his face.

Leaning back lowered Su Xiao's height; the arrow, originally aimed at his third eye, skimmed over his forehead.

Having narrowly escaped another lethal strike, Su Xiao hadn't even exhaled when the arrow came again—he raised his blade to block.

"Ding!"

The metal arrow was deflected; the immense force transmitted through his blade shoved Su Xiao backward.

After this exchange, Su Xiao understood the arrow's traits: its speed was extreme—he could dodge it only when fully focused—and it nearly ignored shield-based abilities, switching between physical and virtual states.

This metal arrow was incredibly troublesome, but it wasn't without weakness: Su Xiao noticed its turning speed and curved flight were slow—it was only fast in straight-line thrusts. Moreover, Lanjue consistently avoided letting the arrow strike the counter-shield directly; the cut along its midpoint proved it could be damaged—it wasn't indestructible, merely highly penetrating.

As Su Xiao dodged the arrow, a collision sound came from just behind him—the twenty-odd small counter-shields had struck the plasma spheres.

Sparks flew, and thick arcs of electricity spread through the air.

The counter-shields that collided with the plasma spheres gradually dissolved into the air; Su Xiao had already severed the energy link to those twenty-odd shields.

The number of counter-shields beside Su Xiao had decreased; they could no longer form a full circle around him. Creating a new counter-shield required 500 mana points; without eliminating large numbers of soldiers, he had to conserve mana.

Washinoki Washinoki Jishi of counter-shields circled Su Xiao, occasionally intercepting the metal arrow's path; the arrow never clashed head-on with them, only occasionally turning virtual to slip through and strike Su Xiao.

As Su Xiao dodged the arrow, the wound on his cheek burned.

【You have been infected by an unknown toxin. The toxin has successfully disrupted your physical state. Due to your high resistances, the disruption is weakened. Your neural reflex speed is reduced by 8%. Duration: 30 seconds.】