Chapter 46: The Trap
Chapter 46: The Trap
“I knew it, this thing, this is what you call a Mana Missile!” Wang Ben covered his cheek, saying with a face full of resentment, “But, it was you, Fangfei, who actually cut him, so why was I the one who got hit by the Mana Missile? However, his magic robe is quite interesting; it actually withstood your full-power strike!”
Nearby, Liu Fangfei, who had been disguised as a femme fatale, now returned to her gentle and elegant demeanor, beautiful and charming.
“Brother, do you think we’ll be able to meet him again?” Liu Fangfei’s eyes grew misty, and her voice carried a faint tinge of melancholy.
“Oh, has a maiden’s heart been stirred?” Wang Ben said with a half-smile, unable to resist teasing, “Well, a hero saving a beauty, turning the tide when all seems lost, what beauty wouldn’t be moved?”
“What are you talking about? It’s just that his magic is profound and his methods mysterious; I find it odd, that’s all.” Liu Fangfei pouted, a blush spreading across her face, and then she remembered something, “Brother, is his name really Lei Fengxia?”
“Of course not!” Wang Ben burst into laughter, amused that his clever sister could also be a bit slow at times, “When he spoke, although his face showed no expression, his eyes flickered, and his tone held a hint of mockery. It was clearly made up! This fellow isn’t very honest…”
“This guy…” Liu Fangfei couldn’t help but frown.
“But, wanting to find him shouldn’t be too difficult either.” Wang Ben’s next sentence perked up her spirits.
“How do we find him?” she blurted out, then realized she had spoken out of turn and added weakly, “I’m just… a little curious.”
“He’s about our age, yet has such incredible abilities. He must be a Heaven’s Pride!” Wang Ben knew when to stop and didn’t tease his sister further, “Looking at the magic academies around here, Dawn Cliff stands alone as the biggest and best! Finding him should be a piece of cake, right?”
Liu Fangfei fell into thought, puffing out her cheeks slightly, the tear mole on her face rising and falling with the motion, making her look especially captivating and alluring.
“Alright, we’re lucky. Everything is already prepared!” Shedding his lazy noble young master appearance, Wang Ben revealed a shrewd and capable side, “Shi Yi, take out all the sacrificial offerings. The Prison Spirit technique can begin now!”
The fat man acknowledged and started moving.
“Let me ask you one more time, are you really sure?” Once everything was ready, Wang Ben, his eyes blazing like torches, stared intently at Zhang Jue and confirmed once more.
“With your status, how would I dare lie to you?” Zhang Jue said with a face full of righteous conviction, speaking with absolute certainty, “Using my family’s inherited method, there’s a seventy percent chance of obtaining the ‘Treant’ bloodline; a twenty-five percent chance of obtaining the ‘Marsh Spirit’ bloodline; and a half-percent chance of obtaining the ‘Green Dragon’ bloodline!”
“The ‘Green Dragon’ bloodline is certainly good, but even the ‘Treant’ bloodline, combined with the ‘Mottled Bamboo Physique’, can produce various extraordinary phenomena!” Wang Ben nodded, gave his sister a loving glance, and promised solemnly, “If this succeeds, my sister will only take one. The rest will all be yours!”
“Thank you, sir!”
Zhang Jue cupped his hands in salute, seeming overjoyed, though deep within the curve of his smile, there was a trace of sinister gloom.
…
He was done for!
He, was definitely dead!
Hong He chased relentlessly, his footsteps silent, sneering to himself, feeling schadenfreude.
He saw it clearly. That “Torrent Blade Slash” was delivered with full force; it was definitely not an act!
Being ambushed by a warrior at close range, this is a Mage’s greatest taboo!
This kid, his talent might not be bad, but his actual combat experience is really lacking…
“The blade of lust hangs over the head. Just because the other party is a beautiful girl, you let your guard down. You deserve your misfortune!”
While chasing, he didn’t forget to look down from a superior position and comment extensively.
Hong He’s steps halted. He stopped for a moment, bent down, and used his dagger to scrape at the ground a few times. Immediately, the smell of blood wafted out.
“Truly foolish!”
Like a general surveying the battlefield, he cursed, secretly contemptuous.
–If you had coughed up three liters of blood, covered in crimson, perhaps it would have made me suspicious. But the calmer you are, the more nonchalant you act, the more suspicious your behavior becomes.
Also, wrapping the spilled blood with Mana and burying it, did you think I wouldn’t discover the traces?
Too naive!
Hong He felt as if he had transformed into a cunning fox, engaging in a battle of wits with a wounded rabbit, appreciating his clumsy performance, patiently waiting for him to lose blood.
This young man had sharp senses and clearly detected my presence, but his methods of dealing with it were all laughably clever tricks.
One time, he even pretended to be lying down resting in a clearing, making himself a target to lure me into shooting.
Hong He naturally wasn’t foolish enough to take the bait.
“It should be about time he ran out of tricks…”
He paced patiently, unhurriedly, humming a little tune, feeling like everything was under his control.
The sun set in the west.
That young man finally couldn’t hold on anymore. Clearly, he was tired, exhausted, out of energy, and stopped playing those useless tricks.
He hid behind a giant tree so large it would take several people to encircle it, meditating and healing his wounds, falling silent.
Hong He knew the opportunity had ripened—it was time to pluck the fruit.
He smiled.
“Hiding behind a tree, you think that can block my magic arrow? Covering your ears to steal a bell—truly laughable!”
“My ‘Sky Sever’ bow has the ‘Ramming Bull’ sigil array inscribed on it, which enhances piercing power! Even an iron plate can be pierced through!”
“Little guy, you can die now!”
He gave a contemptuous smile, drew the bow like a full moon, concentrated Mana on his fingertip, then channeled it into the bowstring. Like a spark of Starfire, it ignited the entire great bow, instantly bursting with radiance!
The three sigil arrays—”Wind God’s Breath,” “Ramming Bull,” and “Flame’s Power”—lit up one after another. The threefold magical effects merged into the magic arrow, its colors dazzling, adding further ferocity!
He hesitated for a moment, then ran his finger along the bowstring. A drop of blood soaked into the string, staining the long bow red.
At that very instant, an eagle’s shriek faintly resonated within the bowstring, and the tri-colored magic arrow transformed into a sinister blood-red!
Sacrificing blood to the bow was one of the Arcane Archer techniques, requiring a wisp of vital blood—no small cost.
“Die!”
With a cold, fierce shout, as the words fell, he released the string. The arrow shot out like lightning, tearing through the air!
A drop of blood transformed into the arrow’s spirit. Mid-air, the magic long arrow morphed into a blood-colored giant eagle, cleaving through the wind like it parted waves!
The blood eagle soared up and down, tracing an elusive trajectory, covering a hundred meters in an instant, crashing into the giant tree.
Like a hot knife cutting through butter, the giant tree collapsed inward. Ring-shaped cracks continuously deepened. In just a moment, a circular hole was hollowed out in the giant tree. And in the empty space behind it was Li Yi’s back!
In the twilight, the bloody light bloomed like a blood-stained rose.
“Ugh!”
He slung the bow over his shoulder, stood tall and imposing. A scream of agony came from far away.
“Settled!”
Hong He’s mind relaxed, and a proud smile appeared on his lips.
“Heaven’s Pride? So what if you’re a Heaven’s Pride? Aren’t you still a ghost under Hong He’s arrow?”
Walking with measured steps, he strode through the forest with style.
He approached.
The young man lay face down on the ground. His back showed no visible wound, but beneath him, a pool of blood was spreading, gurgling out.
“Kid, don’t blame me. Someone paid a high price for you to die,” he squatted down, a mocking expression on his face, “If there’s a next life, try being a rich man… Huh? What’s this?”
He suddenly noticed the young man was clutching something in his hand, now shattered to pieces. Countless glittering golden liquid, like starlight, flowed on the ground, emitting a misty radiance that dispersed into the air.
“This stuff, is this Starlight Liquid? I remember, this thing can only be used as a power source for Arcane Energy arrays; it’s useless… Why did he carry this on him? What was he planning to do?”
Hong He murmured to himself, not noticing that the Starlight Liquid flowed silently, passing between his legs, gathering and solidifying behind him, rising up like a mountain.
“Finally, you finally took the bait… The ‘Blood Macaque’s Blood’ on my hand was almost running out…”
A faint, light sigh made Hong He’s pupils contract. Like a startled frog, he jumped away in a panic.
“You’re not dead yet? Don’t worry, I’ll send you on your way right now!”
His face wore shock, then he sneered, drawing the bow into a full moon, aiming at the back of the young man’s head.
“But, it really hurts…” The young man groaned once more, yet did not move, “That’s a nice bow. I suggest you take a look behind you first.”
“A feint? Such a clumsy trick…” He was just sneering, his mouth open, when his voice suddenly cut off.
The forest was already dim, and as night approached, it was almost lightless. Suddenly, countless rays of light showered down from behind him, as if he were bathing in starlight!
“Starlight Enthrallment!”
He turned his head, a cry of surprise bursting out, his voice actually sounding somewhat distorted and strange!