Chapter 317: Cut the Crap!

In the gap between breaths, the three of them stopped their movements and smiled at each other.

"Not bad, you actually managed to take down such a hardcore target." Lin Xuan flicked the blood off his Dagger, his tone carrying a hint of satisfaction.

"Cut the crap. If we run into a similar enemy next time, can you still maintain this kind of performance?" Xiao Qing snorted, though the corners of her mouth also lifted into a smile involuntarily.

Wang Zhenqiu walked over to the corpse and squatted down, reaching out to touch the remaining ice crystals. "I feel like today's battle wasn't as simple as it looked on the surface... What's the deal with these ice crystals? Could it be that someone deliberately lured this mammoth over to test our strength again?"

He raised his head, his gaze sweeping toward the distance with a complex expression: "And, that laughter seemed to have echoed faintly once just a moment ago..."

Just as they were chatting enthusiastically, a patch of pitch-black darkness suddenly shrouded the sky above their heads.

"What's the situation?" Lin Xuan looked up alertly, only to see dark clouds gathering rapidly, lightning intertwining and rolling. Afterward, a familiar cold laugh echoed in their ears: "Hehe, you really do have some skill, but a trial like this has only just begun."

"Xiao Qing, Wang Zhenqiu! Look out!" Lin Xuan shouted, violently pushing the two of them away. At that very instant, a bolt of lightning struck straight down, smashing fiercely into the spot where they had just been standing, exploding into a blinding white light.

The air was filled with the smell of burning, and the expressions of the three turned grave at once.

"Who on earth is this guy? Why is he so fierce right from the start?" Xiao Qing gritted her teeth, her hands forming seals as a thin water curtain defense appeared in front of her. Her delicate brows were slightly furrowed; she was clearly feeling an unprecedented sense of oppression.

Wang Zhenqiu grinned, "Never mind who he is, let's just fight! Brothers, hold the line for me!" His fists slammed violently into the ground, and instantly, countless sharp earth spikes broke through the soil from underground, attempting to block the overwhelming lightning raining down.

However, the opponent clearly did not intend to let them deal with it easily. The cold laughter carried a trace of disdain: "Mere Ability Users, and you still want to contend with the might of heaven and earth? What a joke!"

Immediately, the gathered dark clouds actually began to rotate slowly, transforming into a massive vortex. Following that, a loud, piercing cry rang out from the sky—

A large bird with a body shimmering in blue-purple light flew over with wings spread. Its wingspan was at least ten meters long, and every flap stirred up gusts of wild wind, causing the surrounding lightning to churn even more fiercely. Even more terrifying was that those cold eyes seemed capable of piercing through everything, locking onto Lin Xuan and the other two.

"What... is this thing?" Lin Xuan narrowed his eyes, his internal alarm bells ringing loudly. Although he had never heard of such an exotic beast, he could tell just from its aura that this was definitely not a level that an ordinary creature could reach.

Without waiting for them to continue thinking, the large bird suddenly flapped its wings and dove down, its sharp claws flashing with cold light, aiming straight for Lin Xuan.

"You're courting death!" Lin Xuan roared, his hands forming a spell gesture, and a layer of crimson flame armor suddenly covered the surface of his body. "Since you delivered yourself to my doorstep, let me see what you're capable of!"

Accompanied by surging firelight, Lin Xuan leaped into the air, colliding head-on with the large bird. The moment the two impacted, it triggered an explosive shockwave, reducing the nearby trees to ashes.

At the same time, Xiao Qing below was not idle either. She tapped her toes on the water surface, her figure moving with the agility of a swallow through the air, and the flowing water she cast out formed layers of barriers, forcefully blocking the lightning that kept striking down.

"Tsk tsk, I couldn't tell, you're actually quite capable." Wang Zhenqiu said half-jokingly and half-seriously, then suddenly stomped his foot, causing the earth to tremble violently. Countless stone pillars shot up from the ground, pursuing the large bird. However, these attacks were easily scattered by the sky-filling lightning before they could even get close. He rubbed his chin and muttered to himself: "This won't work, I need to change my approach."

"Enough talk, hurry up and think of a way to deal with this monster bird, if we drag this out any longer we're all going to be finished!" Xiao Qing shouted with a frown, appearing somewhat anxious.

Just then, the large bird unleashed its power again. Its feathers fell off like blades, and after hovering in the air, they shot out in all directions, targeting the three who were dodging. Wherever those flying feathers passed, even the space seemed to be torn with fine cracks.

"Trouble, there's no way to dodge this move!" Lin Xuan's pupils constricted, and he hurriedly increased his protective flames, seeking to withstand more of the attacks.

Sure enough, only a few *chi-chi* sounds were heard as the flying feathers struck his armor, sending sparks flying. Even so, many sharp feather blades still pierced through the Flame Barrier, wounding his shoulders and back.

"That hurts like hell..." He cursed under his breath, enduring the pain, and then a sharp glint erupted in his eyes. "Looks like I have to use my ultimate move! Get ready to act on my signal."

"Fine, watch yourself," Xiao Qing replied, simultaneously manipulating the water flow to form a thick shield to protect herself.

On the other side, Wang Zhenqiu nodded, his palms digging deep into the ground to grope around for a moment, then he chuckled: "Don't worry, I'm already prepared, now it's all up to your performance, old boy."

Hearing the two respond, Lin Xuan decisively adjusted his state. He took a deep breath, his entire body burning with raging flames, and he resembled a falling meteor as he dashed straight toward the large bird. As his speed increased, the power gathering within his body became increasingly scorching, and the aura that finally erupted caused the temperature of the entire battlefield to soar.

Seeing the distance between the two close to only a few meters, that violent energy actually faintly suppressed the large bird's aura, which had previously looked down on everything.

But the large bird clearly was not one to be outdone. At this very moment, it suddenly opened its beak and spat out a beam of light as black as ink, which contained a terrifying power capable of devouring all things!

"It's here, now is the time!" Lin Xuan's gaze was firm; at the final moment, he stopped abruptly, concentrating all his power into his right fist, and threw a punch with lightning speed.

"Bang!!!"

The two extreme energies collided violently, instantly annihilating into a massive mushroom-cloud-shaped shockwave. A tyrannical storm swept in all directions, and the sound of mountains crumbling and the earth splitting was hair-raising.

Once the dust had dissipated slightly, everyone discovered that the terrifying monster had finally fallen, turning into a charred, shell-like carcass that smashed powerlessly onto the ground. Lin Xuan also fell to the ground due to exhaustion, his face covered in a mixture of dust and sweat, looking utterly disheveled.

Xiao Qing hurried over to support him, "How is it? Still alive?"

Lin Xuan panted heavily and nodded, "Barely still breathing."

Suddenly, Wang Zhenqiu interjected: "That was close, we almost checked out. But... don't you guys feel like something is wrong behind all this? Why would this inexplicable thing appear to attack us? And that persistent voice... could it be another trap set by our enemies?"

The air fell into a brief silence.

Just as everyone was still pondering the answer, that person's sinister laughter came from afar once again: "Hehehe, not bad, you actually managed to take down my pet. But if you think this is the end, then you're being too naive."

Following that, the originally clear sky suddenly became even darker. A new threat, hidden somewhere, was waiting...