Four Split Personalities

"There’s something even cooler."

Motan turned his head to Ji Xiaoge with a smile, then slightly bent forward and took a deep breath—

Hoo!

Along with a gentle breeze, the bone thieves suddenly realized the highly skilled Half-Dragon Swordsman had vanished from his spot, and then...

Pfft, pfft!!

Two flashes of pale green cold light streaked by, and a pair of bone thieves standing back-to-back clutched their necks and staggered to the ground half a second later, already dead.

Pfft, pfft, pfft!!

A blurry figure flickered at the edge of the battlefield, and three bone thieves, who were encircling Ji Xiaoge, fell heavily to the ground, each with a fresh cut at their Achilles tendons.

"Poison!"

One of the bone thieves halted for half a second, then pointed at the first two corpses that had turned green and shouted, "Protect the vital areas and any unprotected spots, don’t let him... ugh!"

His face became rigid as he looked down in disbelief at the half of the sword blade protruding from his chest, then he felt an intense pain spreading from the wound and violently coughed up black blood.

At the same time, two spellcaster bone thieves not far away also collapsed to the ground, clutching their slit throats in agony, unable to close their eyes in death.

Eight Leaves One Blade Style, Second Form: Swift Wind + the rapid-acting poison of Justice Mandala—

"Poisonous Gale."

Having achieved an eight-kill streak in one breath, Motan sheathed the Justice Mandala back in its scabbard and drew the Corona Slash Sword again, sighing lightly, "Although personally, I don’t particularly like this move."

[What kind of monster is this!]

The remaining thirty-odd bone thieves instinctively stepped back, looking uncertainly at the Half-Dragon whose strength was at best middle rank, swallowing nervously in unison.

It’s no wonder they were scared like this; after all, Motan’s recent feat of eight kills with eight swords was indeed fierce. To be honest, if it weren’t for Motan, who had clearly shown signs of fatigue after having spent 800 points of Physical Strength Value, those bone thieves with weak willpower would not have been surprised if they had turned tail and run away right on the spot, having seen nearly half of their companions brutally slain despite the twenty-fold numerical superiority. This situation was far beyond their understanding.

Of course, those bone thieves who were killed instantly couldn’t complain; even Ya Ya, who had reached the threshold of advanced strength and speed after going Berserk, could barely see Motan’s [Gale] move. The group of bone thieves, who mostly relied on numerical superiority, could see even less, allowing Motan to make eight consecutive critical hits under precise control.

With middle rank rapid-acting poison combined with ultra-fast strikes to vital points, this [Poisonous Gale] was definitely equivalent to a deadly weapon in fights against equals.

"That was... real cool..."

Ji Xiaoge blinked her eyes, murmuring in a low voice, "But then again, this guy always seems to look pretty cool when he gets serious."

[The physical exertion was a bit much; I must end this battle quickly, if not kill them all, at least scare them off...]

Motan didn’t care whether he was looking cool or not; he was simply reviewing his stats and skill cooldowns while quickly thinking through his strategy.

And then he came up with a plan.

"Um..."

He swayed slightly, almost collapsing to the ground, his chiseled face showing sheer fatigue as he gasped for an extended time before raising his Heavy Sword with great effort and solemnly said to the bone thieves in front of him, "Keep fighting, or let us go, make your choice."

This was not an act of pretense, it was the fatigue Motan displayed on purpose after ’letting out a breath’, which was his true state of being highly fatigued after a substantial reduction in his Physical Strength Value; the nonchalant appearance earlier was just the result of suppressing it with his strong willpower.

As Motan had predicted, after they heard his words, those bone thieves who were planning to wait and see before deciding whether to fight or flee got fired up again. Someone yelled ’He’s almost done for, let’s go chop him up together’, and the remaining thirty-odd bone thieves immediately charged towards him, poised to carve Motan into pieces.

And that’s exactly what he was waiting for!

As the first bone thief charged up with a howl, Motan had already adjusted his breathing rhythm, then resumed the stance he had before with the sword at his side, his left hand open and his right hand lightly pressed on the butt of the sword handle.

This time, though, he was not going to use the Crescent Moon Flash, but another move from the Eight Leaves One Blade Style, Fifth Form—

"Crescent Moon"

Active Skill

Requirement to Master: Slight

Consumption/Limitation: Equipped with single/double-handed sword weapon, 50 Physical Strength Value

Effect: Rests the right hand lightly on the hilt and enters the "Crescent Moon" status, consuming 50 Physical Strength Value per second; movement is limited to a small area within a two-meter radius and movement speed increases by 200%, the rate of receiving critical hits decreases by 50%. During the status, evade an enemy attack to deliver a counterattack with a 100% critical hit rate. Cooldown: None

Note: Slight

As mentioned before, this defensive skill might not seem very eye-catching at first glance, but a close read of its effects will reveal that "Crescent Moon" is absurdly strong in its practicality.

To extract the key points: Consumes 50 Physical Strength Value per second, tripling movement speed during the duration, evasions followed by guaranteed critical counterattacks, no cooldown.

For Motan, with his exceptionally strong combat intuition, this skill could be played to its full potential.

Just like what he’s doing now...

He leaned to the left, anticipating an evasion. A half-second before the enemy weapon could strike, he activated "Crescent Moon," completed the evasion in half a second, and used the next half-second to deliver a backhand strike. With the 100% critical hit bonus, he opened a large wound on the enemy’s chest before canceling "Crescent Moon."

A life was taken!

He bent his knees slightly and leaned forward, launching himself at the moment "Crescent Moon" was activated. He used the sudden increase in speed to dodge two returning Wind Blades; then he delivered a heavy sword thrust and canceled "Crescent Moon."

Another one slain!

He flicked his tail at the encroaching Martial Monk and instantly activated "Crescent Moon" in response to the monk’s subconscious counterattack. He withdrew his tail, completing the evasion, and delivered a heavy downward slash that sheared off the monk’s jaw, then canceled "Crescent Moon."

Triple kill!

"Care to continue?" Motan, after spending another 150 Physical Strength Value to complete the triple kill, his pupils slightly condensed as he nonchalantly lowered his blood-stained longsword and asked indifferently, "I am indeed a bit tired now, but so what?"

"Don’t try to act cool, Mor! Just finish them off! Villains die talking too much, you can’t miss the chance to deal the final blow to the bad guys!" Ji Xiaoge sent an ill-timed message to him.

"I want to... The problem is I’m out of Physical Strength Value now, and if I can’t scare them off, it’s going to be very dangerous," Motan still maintained an indifferent expression that viewed lives as worthless but quickly replied within the message bar.

Indeed, he had just expended his last 150 points of Physical Strength Value. He couldn’t even use "Gale" which was still cooling down, let alone the minimally consuming "Crescent Moon." If the opponents kept pressing on, he would have no choice but to sacrifice his own health to regain Physical Strength Value.

The risk was too great in doing so, and even with Ji Xiaoge providing support from behind, Motan felt only a 60% confidence in their chances.

But as the saying goes, fortune may bring in sail what fate blows in storm. The good news was that Motan had indeed scared the opponents; several Spellcasters and Rangers who were far away didn’t even dare to fart—they turned tail and ran, a behavior that often causes a chain reaction...

The bad news was that the Spellcasters and Rangers quickly came back "slimmed down," the kind that’s left with only a head...

A full-bodied laugh echoed from outside the tower...

"Of course we’ll continue."

Both Motan and Ji Xiaoge’s hearts skipped a beat.

The enemy’s support!

Chapter 568: The End