Clang!
An extremely forceful sword technique danced down from midair, fast as lightning, fierce as rolling thunder. A single thrust pierced through a Minotaur's chest, eliciting a furious "Moo!" from the creature.
Jianxin bent both knees and planted his feet on the Minotaur's broad shoulders, borrowing the force to vault into the air. He twisted his body around and shot like a sharp arrow toward a second Minotaur charging at him.
Shing, shing, shing!
The sound of tearing silk was unbroken. Jianxin used his long saber as a sword, stabbing eleven times into the monster's body in a single instant. Eleven layers of sword qi surged like a great river's surging torrent, twisting the very air.
Buzz!
As the final sword strike reverberated, a massive bull head crashed thunderously to the ground.
In a single breath, Jianxin had heavily wounded one Minotaur, then slain a second one!
Though this could not be separated from the Ice Mirror Butterflies' snow-fall divine ability providing support, it was still sufficient proof that his swordsmanship was transcendent.
On the other side, Zichen spat qi into a sharp arrow -- a thin white line pierced like an arrow bolt through a Howling Moon Werewolf's brow, killing it instantly. She then grasped the empty air with her left hand, and a werewolf not far away was immobilized, unable to move. The next second, Li Wang pulverized it with a barrage of wild punches.
Suddenly, a chill ran down Zichen's spine. Just as she was about to dodge the incoming danger, her body fell into a state of stasis. Along with her, her blood, breath, cells, and thoughts all stopped.
Her gaze had coincidentally landed on that eye reflecting the light of a blood-red moon.
"Life-Death Standstill."
By the time Zichen came back to her senses, spider silk had already wrapped around her waist, and her body was being rapidly flung toward a Minotaur's axe blade. This spider silk naturally came from Wang Miaoyin, who, having absorbed ten drops of the Abnormal Venom, could now produce silk of no small toughness.
"It's over."
Zichen's heart at this moment was filled with utter despair.
"You wench named Wang! You actually dare to come out!"
Li Wang roared, pointing with fury in his eyes and surging forward at top speed. But the distance was too great -- he could only watch as Zichen's body pressed against the axe's edge, about to be cleaved in two in the next second!
Suddenly, Zichen's entire body shimmered with a mirror-like luster, and the sound of crackling shattering was heard.
The spot where Zichen had been was replaced by a pile of thoroughly smashed mirror shards, and in the very next instant, Zichen reappeared at a location far from the Minotaur, the spider silk on her body also snapped.
"What just happened?"
Li Wang and Jianxin were dumbfounded, yet simultaneously extremely relieved.
"Elder Long, thanks entirely to you. Otherwise, my Secret Keeper Bureau would have lost an agent," Yinhe said to Long Bingheng with an expression of gratitude.
"We're all human -- such a trifling matter is nothing worth mentioning. Just don't forget our agreement," Long Bingheng said without the slightest ripple of emotion.
"Elder Long, was that a substitution just now?" Gui Yu looked toward the four Ice Mirror Butterflies in the sky and asked.
"My Ice Mirror Butterflies have already deployed a semi-formed domain within this area, 'Drifting Ice Mirror.' Within this domain, not only can snowflakes with freezing and frost-forming capabilities fall continuously, but they can also use ice mirrors to perform substitution swaps with objects whose life intensity is lower than their own within the domain," Long Bingheng explained.
She was actually not concealing the secrets of her Gu Insects from the Secret Keepers at all.
"Semi-formed domain?" Gui Yu cast a questioning gaze.
"Meaning a domain that can be disrupted without deploying a domain of equal level or destroying its core -- its rules' completeness and strength are both inferior to a true 'domain.'"
...
"That woman surnamed Long's Gu is truly interesting."
"The four butterflies must be eliminated first."
The demon spider's gaze was slightly cold as it sneered inwardly and made up its mind.
It then opened one corner of its "Lightning Net Barrier" and released several dozen Specters. These entities were composed of Yin energy and had no physical form, making them precisely immune to the Ice Mirror Butterfly's snow-fall divine ability.
But seeing Bai Jie reinforcing, the enemy side clearly wouldn't sit by and do nothing either.
From a distance, Gui Yu raised his hand, and twenty-some translucent, sinister forms appeared out of nowhere, floating. Armed with spears, pikes, and short blades, they charged with clear objective toward those Specters unaffected by the ice and snow.
They were precisely Gui Yu's transcendent ability of condensing Yin Spirits.
However, these Yin Spirits were armored and armed, with more solidified forms, appearing stronger than the ones Gui Yu had summoned during his last confrontation with the demon spider.
Clang, clang, clang -- the clash of metal on metal.
Dozens of Specters and Yin Soldiers immediately locked in battle, blades clashing. Yin energy was dense, stirring up gusts of sinister wind, forming a new battle zone.
At this point on the battlefield, in the battle zone between the bats, hellhounds, and Enforcers, due to the Enforcer robots' self-destruction, the bats and hellhounds had all been wiped out, but the Enforcers' numbers had also dropped to twenty percent of their initial count, with the remaining Skeleton Undead and Night Gaunts continuing to pin them down.
In the battle zone of the Savage-Blood Minotaurs and Howling Moon Werewolves, although the majority of the Gu Insects had been eliminated, with the addition of Jianxin and the other two Secret Keepers, plus the Ice Mirror Butterflies' support, only one Minotaur and four werewolves remained now.
"Calamity Poison Rain."
The demon spider's consciousness issued a silent call.
Abruptly, in the already dark sky, several rain-laden black clouds condensed out of nowhere. The clouds merged, ultimately forming one enormous mass so heavy it made it hard to breathe, a black cloud enveloping the entire mountaintop, suspended above everyone's heads.
Everyone held their breath, feeling the humidity suddenly intensify. Vaguely visible within the black clouds were bluish-purple lightning serpents swimming about.
The next second, as expected, the heavens connected with the black clouds and burst. Pattering rain descended upon the mortal world.
This was naturally no ordinary rainwater, but toxic rain capable of corroding all life!
The new skill the demon spider had comprehended after its sixth evolution was now displayed before the world for the first time! It was also its first time using it -- though since it had only just comprehended it, it was not yet proficient at raising toxic mist over a large area.
"This rain must not be touched."
Gui Yu murmured. A layer of golden light emerged all over his body. The rainwater that fell on him disappeared as if evaporating.
"This... this is actually Bai Zhi's ability? But I recall the files say it doesn't have this?"
Yinhe furrowed his brow but took no action and emitted no aura. Yet the toxic rain simply could not land on him at all, as if his body wore an invisible raincoat.
"Formidable."
Long Bingheng commented to herself. As light flickered from the ring on her finger, a transparent umbrella appeared in her hand. Umbrella up, shelter from the rain -- one fluid motion.
Even more miraculous was that the umbrella showed not a trace of damage upon contact with the toxic rain -- clearly it was no ordinary object.
Seeing the three of them unharmed, the demon spider was not surprised, only growing more curious about their methods. Its true target was those four Ice Mirror Butterflies.
Due to being in the sky, they were closer to the toxic rain clouds than the humans, and thus the Ice Mirror Butterflies were the first to come into contact with the toxic rain. Black smoke rose from their bodies, and at the same time, a mirror-like luster spread across their surfaces.
But Bai Jie had prepared well in advance.
Skill: High-Order Intimidation!
The immense lifeform pressure of a higher-order being was concentrated entirely upon the four Ice Mirror Butterflies!
Almost simultaneously, another profound force that locked onto "time" was also, under the gaze of those blood-moon eyes, imposed upon the same targets.
"Life-Death Standstill."
In an instant, the fluttering wings of the ice-blue butterflies stiffened, and the mirror-like luster abruptly vanished.
The very next moment, the four Ice Mirror Butterflies began struggling violently, clearly undergoing tremendous agony.
"No good -- the mirror substitution didn't form before it was interrupted!"
A flustered ripple appeared on Long Bingheng's jade countenance, and she cried out in alarm.
Only half a second had passed. Before Long Bingheng could even salvage the situation, under the toxic rain's corrosion, those four Ice Mirror Butterflies were already completely festering all over. They turned into four lumps of rotten flesh and dropped wretchedly onto the ground.
Ding! A system notification rang out:
[Target Ice Mirror Butterfly status has been updated to "Deceased"]
"No..."
A sweet, coppery taste surged up Long Bingheng's throat, and threads of crimson trickled from the corner of her delicate lips.