Chapter 173: The Final Strike (4 Updates)

Han Bai?

Lord Han?!

They know each other?

Fang Yue was a little bewildered. Just as he was about to press the matter, he saw Lan Yuntian's pupils return to black, suddenly go blank, then snap back as if waking from a daze, giving a violent start.

"W-who am I?"

"Where am I?"

"What's for dinner tonight?"

His brain's memories seemed somewhat muddled, but fortunately he soon recalled everything.

"Right, wasn't I beaten to Heavy Injury by that anomaly and brought into the village for treatment? Why am I still at the village entrance?"

What… is going on?

Fang Yue's head was full of question marks, but he saw the surrounding villagers of Man Shui Cun let out disappointed sounds in unison.

"Lord Lan has turned back into Captain Lan…"

"Lord Lan's slumber is getting longer and longer—could something be wrong?"

"Lord Lan's affairs aren't for us to guess at. Still, a few days ago when the anomaly entered the village to slaughter, Lord Lan didn't wake either… so why would he wake this time for that guy from Gu Yue Cun?"

"Maybe—maybe Lord Lan felt that the crisis a few days ago, we could handle it?"

The last speaker's voice was clearly lacking in conviction.

The others also began pointing and whispering about Fang Yue, breaking into heated discussion.

Amid the crowd's murmuring, Fang Yue froze for a beat, then suddenly spun around and sprinted toward the village entrance.

Right—now was not the time for all this!

The finishing blow was urgent!

Hiss!!

595!

Sprinting to the village entrance, aiming at the Pressure Ghost's remaining head, Fang Yue suddenly drew his blade, flames burning, and slashed down in one stroke.

The damage was much higher than that previous strike—probably related to the Pressure Ghost's state.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle!

Under Leng Yue's slash, that head instantly split into two halves of black water, then went poof and turned into a skyful of large water droplets scattering in every direction.

"Trying to run?"

Fang Yue's inner force burned madly, the flames of the Starfire Blade Technique surging violently, spreading outward, and in an instant evaporating the skyful of water droplets into steam.

Within the spreading steam, a single remaining black water droplet fled outward.

But compared to Fang Yue—already at full state thanks to 【Night's Breath】—that speed was simply not worth looking at.

Catching up in a few quick strides, Fang Yue attacked wildly.

555!

222!

372!

581!

861!

2518!

When the final slash came down, the already-wobbling black water droplet finally went poof and burst apart, leaving a patch of black water on the ground.

"System Notice: Congratulations to player 【Yese Liming】 for slaying the anomaly 【Pressure Ghost】. Reward: Control +3, Disarm +3, Lifespan +1 day."

Fang Yue:???

Why only this much reward? This was a 【Mid Black Grade】 Pressure Ghost! So strong, so powerful—why are the stats given even less than 【Sheep Void Ghost】!

Fang Yue couldn't quite understand it. After thinking it over carefully, a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Because he realized he seemed to have overlooked one thing.

Namely… aside from the finishing blow, he had actually done hardly any damage to the Pressure Ghost at any other point.

Even though he landed the final strike, god only knew what proportion of that damage made up in the Pressure Ghost's death data.

Lord Lan's few sword strikes had nearly taken the Pressure Ghost's life on the spot—one more strike from that guy and the Pressure Ghost would have died right there.

This situation was similar to how Lord Han had stepped out that one night and instantly killed 【Edgeless Ghost】.

Only back then, Fang Yue had only gotten an assist-with-injury reward; this time it was… a cleanup-kill reward.

The nature was actually about the same—both were scavenging for rewards. Only by stealing the kill would the reward be a bit better… right?

Fang Yue wasn't entirely sure either.

Opening his stats.

"Name: Yese Liming."

"Realm: Post-Heaven Third-Rate."

"Status: Ghost Curse 【Back of Hand】."

"HP: 200/200."

"Inner Force: 1/300."

"Control: 69.2 【Base: 49.2】 【Status/Boost: +20】."

"Disarm: 78.9 【Base: 58.9】 【Status/Boost: +20】."

"Talent: Night's Breath 【Upper Human Grade】."

"Skills: Analysis Pupil 【Lower Human Grade】, Starfire Blade Technique Lv. 1 【Post-Heaven Third-Rate】, Starfire Heart Method Lv. 3 【Post-Heaven Third-Rate / Max】."

"Remaining lifespan: 1 month and 15 days."

Other things are manageable, but the Starfire Blade Technique burns through remaining lifespan too wildly—I can barely hold on.

I've earned plenty of lifespan rewards from killing anomalies, yet I feel my lifespan has dropped significantly.

Also, curse anomalies are another problem.

At this moment, the black water on the ground had already decomposed into Black Ember.

Fang Yue picked it up, his expression brightening instantly.

"System Prompt: Congratulations, you have obtained 50g of Black Ember."

Fifty grams!

Add that to what I had before, and it's a full 75g of Black Ember!

I'm rich!

I'm fucking rich!

Earlier, I worried that even if the caravan group was still in Mo Cun, I wouldn't have enough money to buy anything—but now it seems I don't need to worry too much.

Also, my Control Power is still 0.8 points short of reaching 50 points—then I'll be able to use the Starfire Blade Technique during the day!

Fang Yue felt a small surge of excitement; every time he encountered danger during the day, he'd been anxious and on edge.

Now, if I just boost a few more stats, I'll reach the standard Captain-level power!

Roughly comparable to Chen Mu's strength. After all, Chen Mu has more experience with Starfire Martial Arts and higher stats than I do during the day—otherwise he couldn't have trained in Starfire Martial Arts. But he certainly doesn't have the max-level Starfire Heart Method, so we're evenly matched, probably?

"Once I hit 60 Control Power, I'll be truly Captain-level during the day!"

Seeing the Blood Hunters running over, Fang Yue sheathed his blade.

"Deputy Captain Ye, did you kill that thing…?"

The Blood Hunter asked nervously.

If Fang Yue hadn't still been alive, he wouldn't have dared cross the line at the village entrance.

The terrifying power of the Pressure Anomaly had created overwhelming pressure.

Fang Yue smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry—the Pressure Anomaly has been killed by me."

Everyone exchanged glances, then burst into cheers.

"Great!"

"We're safe!"

"It's finally dead!"

The people of Man Shui Cun also exhaled in relief.

"Good, good—it didn't escape."

"But originally, Elder Lan could've killed it; we didn't even need to bother…"

"Don't say that—it's dead, and that's what matters. At least someone had the courage to go out and deliver the final blow. If it were us… we probably wouldn't dare!"

That man was right.

Everyone coveted the head of the Pressure Anomaly.

But the moment they thought of the terrifying power of the Pressure Circle, no one dared act.

Close range means death; ranged attacks are useless. This anomaly is so strong it's nearly impossible to handle—without Elder Lan stepping in, no one in the village could've dealt with it.

Lan Yuntian now arrived before Fang Yue. This guy had been beaten to the brink of death by the Pressure Anomaly just moments ago, yet after Lan Yuntian's possession, his injuries were completely healed.

This effect, while not as monstrous as 【Night's Breath】, was still an extremely powerful recovery method.

Wait a minute—this guy didn't even understand how dangerous the Pressure Anomaly was; he just went to throw away his life.

If he'd died from his Heavy Injury, what would happen to Lan Yuntian?

I'll make up 10 more chapters tomorrow for sure.

(End of Chapter)