Only at the very end did it spin as it flew toward the pitch-black skeleton.
The skeleton casually raised the long blade in its hand to block, and with a single motion knocked away the Purgatory Darkflame Spear wreathed in dark crimson fire!
Bai Qiu stood atop a streetlamp, lifting his hand and making a grasping motion through the air toward the spear.
Instantly, the Purgatory Darkflame Spear shone brilliantly and came howling back to him.
His brows were tightly furrowed, as if furious beyond restraint, yet the lower half of his face twisted into a grin—teeth clenched in a savage smile.
Within his shattered golden eyes, battle intent surged!
The pitch-black skeleton before him was a rare opponent!
Dark King: Gilshak, Level 30 (King-tier Boss)
Strength: C+
Magic: C+
Endurance: C+
Agility: C+
Dark Power: C++
Skills: ???
It was Bai Qiu’s first time encountering a monster with its own name, and its attributes were so well-balanced it almost seemed as if the panel had been custom-made.
The blackness of the skeleton wasn’t just ordinary darkness, nor merely a glossy black—it was so dark that it repelled the surrounding light, staining everything within several meters of it in shadow.
In terms of size, it wasn’t large.
Compared to Lord-tier monsters, it could even be called small, standing just over two meters tall.
Yet all its attributes far surpassed those of Lord-tier monsters.
Moreover, Bai Qiu, being of the same level, couldn’t detect its skills—indicating it possessed abilities that prevented probing!
On the rooftop of a nearby building behind Bai Qiu, Zhang Shiyao stood beside A Yuan, staring intently at the tense standoff between Bai Qiu and Gilshak at the center of the battlefield.
A Yuan did the same.
Using an aura-concealment skill, it enveloped both itself and Zhang Shiyao, watching Bai Qiu nervously.
It could keenly sense that the monster’s presence was in no way inferior to Bai Qiu’s—if anything, it was even stronger!
The people of Zone 2225 recognized him instantly upon seeing the silver armor, along with the red and black crystals embedded in it—it was Bai Qiu himself.
Although Bai Qiu usually appeared and disappeared unpredictably, his fame was immense.
His armor and weapon were highly distinctive—but that alone wasn’t enough!
The only way to verify his identity was through actual combat strength.
With a single spear strike clearing the battlefield, his identity was already confirmed!
Rather, he had once again refreshed the players’ understanding of his power!
“Holy shit! That strong? One strike and everything’s wiped out?!”
“Bai Qiu is here! Zone 2225 is really saved this time!”
Whether it was viewers from other safe zones in the livestream or the people on-site in Zone 2225, while they marveled at Bai Qiu’s strength, they also quietly breathed a sigh of relief.
Bai Qiu and Gilshak faced each other from afar.
Gilshak raised a hand toward Bai Qiu, and a pitch-black aura instantly spread outward.
From within the darkness, countless bones emerged and recombined, ultimately forming into various Dragonfang Overlord shapes… ten of them in total!
“Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!” Before the ten Dragonfang Overlords had fully taken shape, they were each struck by arrows and blown apart with headshots!
Bai Qiu lowered the Fallen Dragon’s Bow in his hand, then raised his arm to catch the Purgatory Darkflame Spear hovering behind him.
With his mental power, he controlled Fallen Dragon’s Bow to float at his back, ready for use at any moment.
He lifted his spear and pointed it at Gilshak, saying coldly,
“If all you can do is play these boring tricks, then crawl back to wherever you came from!”
A voice rose within Bai Qiu’s mind—deep, hoarse, and filled with fury!
“You stand too high!”
Gilshak looked at Bai Qiu, the soul-fire in its eyes surging violently.
Gripping a 1.5-meter-long pitch-black blade in one hand, it slashed diagonally, releasing a black blade aura!
This slash wasn’t aimed at Bai Qiu, but at the streetlamp beneath his feet.
With a soft whoosh, the lamp was cleanly severed.
The smoothness of the cut made one wonder—if the strike hadn’t been angled, would the pole have remained balanced, allowing Bai Qiu to keep standing on it?
As he landed, Bai Qiu raised his spear to block the rapidly descending blade, then quickly retreated and thrust forward!
Clang!
The clash of blade and spear no longer produced sparks, but a collision of pure energy.
Yet compared to the nearly solidified dark blade, Bai Qiu’s Purgatory Darkflame Spear was clearly at a disadvantage!
“Too dispersed!”
Gilshak’s contemptuous voice echoed in his mind.
Immediately after, it lifted a leg and kicked Bai Qiu square in the chest armor—Boom!—sending him flying backward!
“Crack! Crack! Crack…”
The roadside greenbelt was lined with thick banyan trees, each over twenty centimeters in diameter.
Yet Bai Qiu, sent flying, smashed through one with ease.
Dense branches scattered in all directions as the trunk toppled!
Fast—too fast!
In the blink of an eye, Bai Qiu, who had been dominating moments ago, was already at a disadvantage.
The cheering players suddenly fell silent, their breathing catching!
Zhang Shiyao’s emerald-green eyes were locked onto the center of the battlefield.
The brief exchange had made her fully realize just how powerful this monster was!
Its movements were so fast that even she could barely follow them—if she couldn’t see clearly, ordinary players stood no chance.
If not for the stark contrast between Bai Qiu’s armor and Gilshak’s dark form, they might not even know who had knocked down the banyan tree…
“Crack… crack…”
Before the tree had fully fallen, magic power burst from Bai Qiu’s body.
Riding a howling gale, he charged at Gilshak once more!
Man and skeleton clashed again, exchanging several rounds of blows. T
his time, the dark infernal flames coating Bai Qiu’s spear were far more condensed!
But even so, he was still no match for Gilshak.
Seizing an opening once again, Gilshak knocked aside the spear and slashed upward from below, cutting from Bai Qiu’s waist to his shoulder.
The Dragonslayer Set (MAX) was left with a deep, two-millimeter gash!
One had to know—this was with Bai Qiu already reinforcing his armor with magic, which had offset most of the black blade’s power, and yet it was still damaged!
At present, aside from his freely expendable magic power, Bai Qiu’s Strength and Endurance were roughly on par with Gilshak’s.
As for Agility, due to the title [Map Pioneer], he was even slightly faster than Gilshak…
Yet despite the seemingly overwhelming advantage on paper, the actual battle was far from ideal.
Not only was Bai Qiu inferior to Gilshak in terms of magic condensation, but his combat techniques also lagged far behind.
Even wielding the Purgatory Darkflame Spear—where reach should give him the upper hand—he was still at a disadvantage in direct clashes!
Only Zhang Shiyao could clearly see it: each time Bai Qiu and Gilshak engaged in close combat for several exchanges, from the very beginning where he was kicked away and fell into a disadvantage to now, after more than a dozen exchanges, his armor had only just been marked with a single slash.
It wasn’t hard to tell that Bai Qiu’s growth in battle was astonishing!
But others couldn’t see that.
All they saw was Bai Qiu being suppressed by Gilshak from the start—either being kicked away or forced back.
The relief they had just felt turned into anxiety once more!
Could it be that Bai Qiu… couldn’t defeat it?
…
Safe Zone No. 2201.
A refined-looking young man stood outside a tent and reported,
“Reporting to the commander, Bai Qiu has already arrived at Zone 2225. He instantly wiped out all the monsters surrounding the safe zone at the very start! He is now engaged in battle with a mysterious black skeleton!”
He had been specifically assigned to monitor Bai Qiu’s movements and gather all possible intelligence about him.
So when Bai Qiu appeared in Zone 2225 through the livestream, after his initial shock, he immediately rushed over to report!
“Good! I kno—wait, why did he get sent flying again?! Ah!”
Li Zhongjun’s voice came from inside the tent.
From his tone, it was obvious he was busy watching the live broadcast from Zone 2225.
“Uh… Xiao Song, right? There’s nothing for you to do here anymore. Go handle other matters. As for observing Bai Qiu, I’ll take over personally this time—no need to trouble you!” Li Zhongjun said.
Right after that, an even more excited voice came from inside: “Yes! That’s it—hit it hard!”
The refined young man stood there, completely dumbfounded.
Somewhat unwillingly, he replied, “Y-Yes, sir!”
He really wanted to say—he also wanted to watch Bai Qiu fight!
For a scene like this, an epic-level clash, he wished he could analyze it frame by frame!
But orders were absolute.
No matter how reluctant he felt, he could only obey…
Back to Bai Qiu—within less than half a minute, he had already exchanged hundreds of blows with Gilshak.
His armor was marked with over a dozen cuts, some deep, some shallow!
As expected, fighting with everything he had was the fastest way to grow stronger.
At this moment, the infernal flames of the Dark Prison surrounding Bai Qiu had been condensed to an almost tangible state, with not the slightest bit of leakage!
But every few dozen exchanges, Gilshak would still find an opening and add another wound to his armor!
By now, Bai Qiu’s level of magic condensation was no longer inferior to Gilshak’s.
The reason he was still at a disadvantage lay mainly in the gap in technique!
Gilshak’s understanding of the blade far surpassed Bai Qiu’s proficiency with the spear.
This was also a drawback of Bai Qiu using multiple weapons!
Jack of all trades, master of none—against weaker opponents, he could naturally slaughter them with ease.
But when facing someone of equal strength, the disadvantage in technique became glaringly obvious!
Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck Bai Qiu.
He recalled the basic spear combat technique that Ye Lingtian had demonstrated a few days ago…
— The end of the Chapter–
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