Chapter 202: Fate-Soul Locking

In the time that followed, Chen Fan hunted several more Strange Beasts, but he was never able to execute the Fate-Soul Locking technique.

An hour later, in an open valley, Chen Fan encountered a Strange Beast with terrifying strength.

This was a Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis, four meters in length, its entire body covered in a layer of silver armor; even more terrifying was that its forelimbs had completely mutated into two sharp scythes over two meters long, the scythes gleaming with a cold, metallic light.

"This guy's aura is so strong, it's infinitely close to the Fourth-Order Peak!" Chen Fan felt a jolt of alarm as he looked at those two lethal scythes.

Just moments ago, he had witnessed this Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis hack a Fourth Order Late Stage Red Flame Tiger into several pieces in just three or four exchanges.

The Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis was bowing its head, gnawing on the carcass of the Red Flame Tiger; when it sensed Chen Fan's aura, it raised its head, its massive compound eyes coldly fixed on Chen Fan.

Chen Fan gripped the God-Slaying Spear in his hand, the power of Thunder within his body beginning to circulate slowly, emitting a faint "zizi" sound; the cold metallic luster and the horrifying aura of this Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis alone made him realize that this would be an unprecedentedly vicious battle.

In the natural world, insects possess excellent indicators in all aspects; at the same size, they absolutely crush lions and tigers with ease.

Therefore, a mantis of this terrifying size was by no means an easy opponent.

Just as Chen Fan was pondering how to respond, the Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis had already launched an attack on him.

With a light push of its strong hind legs against the ground, its figure catapulted forward, instantly crossing a distance of several dozen meters to strike at Chen Fan.

The two massive scythes were raised high and slashed down fiercely.

Of course, Chen Fan's reaction speed was not slow either; he held the God-Slaying Spear horizontally to block the opponent's scythes, but the terrifying force transmitted through his arms nearly crushed him to the ground.

"So strong!" Chen Fan was secretly alarmed.

At this moment, the twelve power tendons throughout his body resonated like bowstrings; with his strength doubled, he pushed away the opponent's scythes and dodged ten meters away.

However, the opponent's attacks followed immediately, the dense afterimages of the scythes flying up and down, determined to hack Chen Fan into mincemeat.

Naturally, Chen Fan was no pushover, and he quickly clashed with it repeatedly using the God-Slaying Spear.

But soon, Chen Fan felt his arms go numb and the web between his thumb and index finger on the verge of splitting. The opponent's strength was too fierce, and its blade speed was too fast. Chen Fan had no chance to catch his breath; he couldn't even manage to use the Star River Inverted technique.

Of course, he had used Instant Radiance a few times, but the results were minimal.

The opponent's silver armor was incredibly hard; he was unable to pierce through it. Unless he could strike the opponent's compound eyes and penetrate the Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis's brain through them.

However, the opponent was no fool; the two scythes danced with a whistling wind, leaving almost no opening, and Chen Fan had no chance to strike its compound eyes.

"To kill it, I must either use Death Gaze as support, or we must comprehend the Fate-Soul Locking technique."

Chen Fan gritted his teeth and resisted the urge to use Death Gaze.

He intended to use this battle to properly comprehend Fate-Soul Locking!

"Success or death!"

Sometimes, people just need this kind of courage! Only by living toward death can one become stronger than others!

As Chen Fan slowly adapted to the rhythm of the Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis's attacks, his spear technique became agile and unpredictable.

A flash of insight rose in his heart, and the trajectory of the God-Slaying Spear became even more impossible to fathom.

The spear shadows and electric light echoed each other, and slowly, Chen Fan finally felt a glimmer of something.

After another moment, this feeling became even more intense.

"Right now!"

Chen Fan's mind stirred, he danced the long spear, and he let out a violent shout.

"Third form of the Zhenyue Qijue Qiang — Fate-Soul Locking!"

As he shouted the name of this form, his essence, Qi, and spirit all reached their peak.

The God-Slaying Spear thrust out, simple and unadorned, yet Thunder surged from the tip of the spear, unexpectedly splitting into several streams of Thunder light; the trajectories of these light streams were all different, but miraculously, their destination was the same.

It was precisely because the power of lightning had been divided into parts that it bypassed the blockade of the Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis's scythes.

When all the Thunder light streams converged into one, they continued to surge forward at extreme speed. It was as if countless streams had bypassed heavy obstacles and finally gathered into a surging great river, rushing toward the compound eyes of the Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis with the momentum of a landslide.

That massive power seemed as if it would completely destroy everything blocking its path. The Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis was now completely helpless!

Boom! A loud sound rang out; this stream of Thunder light pierced out from the compound eyes of the Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis, directly destroying its brain.

The Silver-Armored Ghost Mantis let out a shrill, miserable scream, its massive body swayed a few times, and it collapsed to the ground with a crash. Chen Fan let out a long sigh of relief and slumped to the ground. He had won this battle with extreme difficulty, but he had finally mastered the third form of the Zhenyue Qijue Qiang!

"Rest for half an hour; the next moment is the time to hunt Bai Yaozu."

Mastering the third form of the Zhenyue Qijue Qiang gave him the confidence to face Bai Yaozu.

Now, his combat power could rival the very peak of the Fourth Order Late Stage; he indeed could not take down Bai Yaozu in a one-on-one fight, but with the addition of Qingyou, he would have the strength to fight!

Half an hour later, Chen Fan stood up and began searching everywhere for Bai Yaozu's figure.

Not long after, he encountered another member of the Bai Family in a mountain forest.

Chen Fan took him down, asked for the location of Bai Yaozu, and then pierced him through with his spear.

Finally, an hour later, he ran into Bai Yaozu head-on in front of a small hill.

To kill Bai Yaozu, Chen Fan had many methods, such as using his Mimicry Ability to change his appearance for a sneak attack, or using Death Gaze to catch the opponent off guard, but Chen Fan chose neither; today, he wanted to kill the opponent using fair and square means.

The purpose of this was twofold: first, to improve his ability to fight to the death, and second, to hone his Otherworldly Ability in preparation for advancing to a Third-tier Ability User.

Bai Yaozu was followed by another person, and when the two saw Chen Fan, a cold, sinister expression appeared on their faces.

"Chen Fan!" Bai Yaozu roared, and he prepared to carry his Diamond Mace to kill Chen Fan.

The man beside him took a step forward first.

"Brother Zu, let me meet this brat." He snorted coldly, swung two large brass hammers, and came to kill Chen Fan.

"Seeking your own death!" Chen Fan snorted coldly, raised his spear, and met him.

"Brat, die!" The man's giant hammer smashed fiercely toward Chen Fan.

Chen Fan held the spear with one hand and blocked the opponent's offensive.

"You dare to use a hammer with this little strength." Chen Fan's eyes sharpened, his long spear moved, and a flower of Thunder appeared out of thin air, as if it were an Epiphyllum blooming for an instant; the next moment, the man's neck was pierced through.

His pupils dilated instantly, and he used both hands to clutch his neck, trying to stop the blood from spraying wildly.

His eyes were filled with disbelief, because he had not seen how Chen Fan had attacked.

However, none of this mattered anymore, because the countdown to death had arrived.

Bai Yaozu's gaze also faltered; Chen Fan seemed even more powerful than he had imagined.