Chapter 242 - 236: The Boss’s Second Phase
Li Chunfeng just stood by the entrance, the motion of drawing and sheathing his sword never ceasing.
CLANG! SHING! CLANG! SHING! CLANG! SHING!
He simply drew and sheathed his sword, watching a battle he couldn’t comprehend, yet yearned for with all his being.
He wanted to see where this new path he had chosen would ultimately lead.
’If... I can survive until the end.’
...
Second Form: Corruptor of All
When its health dropped to 50%, the Light-Devouring Shadow suddenly devoured all the surrounding minions and darkness, transforming into a towering shadow giant that scraped the sky!
It then activated a skill.
[Pseudo-Golden Crow Fall!]
The boss roared, and countless meteors burning with shadowflame appeared in the sky, smashing down onto the platform!
"Everyone, move! Don’t stop!" Lin Qingfeng roared in the team channel.
The entire battlefield instantly became a sea of fire. Players frantically weaved through the gaps between meteors. The slightest misstep would get them hit, turning them into a flash of white light.
Even for Core Formation Stage Cultivators, if they were touched by the shadowflame, their health bars would plummet.
[Dark Sun Wheel Sweep!]
Immediately after, a massive, fan-shaped AOE that covered half the arena swept across!
"Get behind the boss!"
The players who reacted quickly instantly dodged into the safe zone behind the boss.
Those who were half a beat too slow were instantly sliced in half by the wave of shadow energy, not even having time to scream.
Su Ling’er, relying on the powerful physique granted by the Sword Refining Skill and her beast-like combat instincts, barely managed to survive amidst the sea of fire and the sweeping attacks.
She was sent flying by the shockwaves again and again, only to crawl back to her feet each time, dancing madly on the very edge of death.
However, the boss’s next mechanic soon arrived.
[Devour Light!]
The boss opened its giant maw, and from the players’ perspective, it began casting.
The light of the entire scene was visibly sucked into its mouth as darkness began to consume the world.
At the same time, the will of Xihe was awakened. On the other end of the platform, a huge, hemispherical shield glowed with a soft light.
The [Dawn Shelter] was slowly rising.
[Game Tip: Please enter the shelter within 10 seconds or you will be instantly killed! If, at any point, no one is left alive within the instance, the promotion trial will be considered a failure!]
"Anyone not in the combat zone, stay on the stairs and don’t come in! Everyone inside the combat zone, get in the circle! Now!!!"
Lin Qingfeng’s voice was laced with urgency.
All the surviving players charged madly toward that path of survival.
However, while Su Ling’er wasn’t far from the shelter, the crushing pressure and the limits of her own Cultivation made reaching it hopeless!
She had been knocked to the far edge of the platform while dodging a sweep attack just moments before.
Now, she sprinted toward the shelter with all her might, but she could only watch as the all-consuming darkness was about to wash over her ankles.
’It’s too late!’
’Is this trial over for me?’
A trace of regret welled up in Su Ling’er’s heart, but she could only accept this outcome.
And farther behind her, Wang Xiedi was also pumping his legs, sprinting desperately.
He wanted to live, too.
But with his Qi Refining Stage Cultivation, he had been left at the very back during the chaos.
He watched the light of the shelter.
’Unless I use that Secret Technique I got earlier!’
He glanced at Su Ling’er, who was running ahead of him but was also hopelessly far from the shelter.
’To have survived this long, to have participated in a battle like this as a Qi Refining Stage cultivator... I’m already lucky enough.’
’Since... there’s no hope for me anymore...’
’Then at least I can do one more responsible thing.’
Wang Xiedi no longer hesitated. He burned his blood essence, pouring his Spiritual Power into the Secret Technique he had just learned!
[Mirror Flower Water Moon Step]!
Light and shadow twisted at that moment.
As Su Ling’er sprinted, her vision blurred.
The next second, she had instantly crossed the vast distance and appeared at the edge of the Dawn Shelter!
She stumbled forward and into the shelter.
She then looked back in astonishment, but she couldn’t see anything.
The boundless darkness had already swallowed the entire platform.
She didn’t understand how she had gotten here. One moment she was on the verge of death, the next she was on the only path to survival.
Of the entire platform, only the lone point of light that was the Dawn Shelter remained, along with the few dozen survivors of the calamity inside...
Lin Qingfeng counted the survivors. When his gaze swept over Su Ling’er, a look of surprise couldn’t help but cross his face.
"Junior Sister, you’re actually still alive?"
he blurted out.
"A Foundation Establishment Stage cultivator like you actually managed to survive a scene like that? Impressive!"
"I really thought you were a goner for sure."
Su Ling’er had just steadied herself, still shaken, when she heard this. She froze.
She had been a little confused, thinking that her Eldest Brother had used some unknown method to pull her over at the last second.
’But from the look of it... that’s not what happened at all?’
’He’s actually this surprised that I survived?’
’And another thing!’
’What the hell do you mean by that?!’
’What do you mean, "you’re actually still alive"?!’
’You make it sound like you’re disappointed!’
’Are you pissed that I didn’t die?!’
’I thought you saved me, but it turns out you were just waiting to collect my corpse, weren’t you?!’
’Fine, but it looks like there won’t be a corpse to collect in this situation anyway!’
She took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing the urge to retort, and then said:
"It’s all... all thanks to Eldest Brother’s divine might, which intimidated that fiend, allowing this Junior Sister to survive by a stroke of luck!"
Lin Qingfeng nodded in satisfaction.
Su Ling’er, meanwhile, silently retreated to the edge of the shelter.
She gazed out at the bottomless, endless darkness beyond the shelter, her heart filled with confusion.
She recalled the final moment before being swallowed by the darkness.
Then, for some reason, there was an incomprehensible distortion of light and shadow in front of her.
And then, she was here.
’What... what exactly happened just now?’
’How... did I get over here?’
After this field-clearing skill, the other players re-entered the battlefield from the stairs of light.
Only Li Chunfeng didn’t emerge from the stairs of light, instead hiding within them to continue drawing and sheathing his sword.
And the boss entered its final phase...
...
Wang Xiedi felt a violent shift in light and shadow.
When his consciousness focused again, he found himself on the familiar training grounds of the Guixi Sect.
Behind him, the gate of light leading to the secret realm had long since vanished.
"I’m... out?"
He looked down at his hands, then felt his body. It was completely unharmed, and his previously depleted blood essence had been fully restored.
He looked around. The entire Guixi Sect was deathly silent.
’Where did all those senior brothers and sisters who died go?’