Ren Mian could not understand.
Though Ji Xinghuo was a Magnetic Field Madman, his rank was too low, and currently, his strongest method of attack was still the bow and arrow, yet he abandoned it to close in for melee combat.
This was simply reckless, even an overestimation of his own abilities.
"Sister Ren, hold him off."
Ji Xinghuo’s voice echoed in her mind; despite her doubts about Ji Xinghuo’s strength, she still cooperated with all her might.
She multitasked, manipulating the few remaining Green Lock Dragons on the ground which came to life, swarming like a tide toward the four legs of the Forest Patrol leader, crazily entangling them; at the same time, she leaped high, her fists condensing into bright light, and smashed heavily towards the Forest Patrol leader’s head.
The light burst forth, but the Forest Patrol leader, who had long been accustomed to this tactic, closed his eyes, unaffected as his war blade cleaved Ren Mian’s fists.
Ren Mian’s body flew backward, slamming into a large tree.
She herself was unhurt, but the trunk of the tree broke in two.
The Forest Patrol leader looked up; he had long been aware of the marksman hidden in the shadows, and now seeing Ji Xinghuo reveal himself, a look of disdain and cruelty appeared on his face.
Ji Xinghuo was mid-air, in an extended posture.
In his left hand, he held a bow, and with his right hand holding the Thunderbolt Battle Blade, he pulled the bowstring; a Capacitor Arrow was already nocked on the composite bow, and as he flipped over, he aimed the arrowhead at the enemy below.
He could only fire one arrow, just one chance!
Myriad Phenomena opened.
In an instant, the world seemed to have hit the pause button in Ji Xinghuo’s eyes, and everything within hundreds of meters was reflected in his mind.
He saw the blood flames pulsing on the enemy’s body;
He saw every Green Lock Dragon on the ground, wriggling, growing, contracting, and every thorn on the brambles;
He saw every tree within hundreds of meters, every leaf, and every drop of falling rain;
All things, within his field of vision!
Simultaneously, the world in Ji Xinghuo’s eyes began to twist and change, countless lights and shadows flowing, illusions piling upon one another, allowing him to see every possible future.
Just now he had tried to find a way to kill the enemy but had failed.
This time, he succeeded!
In a flash, all the lights and illusions froze, and Ji Xinghuo saw a clear result, a way to kill the enemy.
The Rotating Magnetic Field had already been pushed to its limit, amplifying the lethality of the Capacitor Arrow more than threefold, the electricity dancing visibly on the arrow, even coalescing into plasma, reaching the maximum the material of the arrow could bear.
Ji Xinghuo fired this arrow.
A flash of lightning.
Like a thunderbolt striking down, a hint of wariness flashed in the Forest Patrol leader’s eyes as he tried to dodge, but his four hooves were bound by the Green Lock Dragon and he could not break free in time.
He could only dodge sideways to avoid his vitals.
But this dodge was exactly what Ji Xinghuo wanted; his real target wasn’t the leader’s head, but his arm.
A thunderous sound and the splatter of blood.
The Capacitor Arrow pierced through the Forest Patrol leader’s right arm; though the arrow lodged within the muscle and didn’t pass through, the high-voltage current rendered the entire arm numb, and although he didn’t drop the war blade, he lost his strongest counterattack.
The Forest Patrol leader had not anticipated this outcome.
Ji Xinghuo cast aside the composite bow, both hands clutching the Thunderbolt Battle Blade tightly; the Rotating Magnetic Field spun wildly, sparks of electricity shining on the silver-blue blade, which, as he fell through the dark rainy night, drew out a dazzling trail of light.
The Forest Patrol leader sensed danger and roared furiously, the blood flames on his body surging, waving his uninjured left fist to smash at the descending Ji Xinghuo.
At the critical moment, Ji Xinghuo’s figure suddenly reversed, inverting head-down, feet-up.
The Gale Battle Boots stepped on thin air, accelerating once more.
This unexpected move caused the Forest Patrol leader’s punch to miss, and Ji Xinghuo stretched out a hand to lightly touch the raised arm of his opponent, using it to change direction, once again flipping right-side up, elegantly avoiding the collision with the oncoming head. Strangely, Ji Xinghuo did not strike with his blade.
Not until the next instant.
Ji Xinghuo had now fallen to the chest level of the Forest Patrol leader, who was wide open.
The Thunderbolt Battle Blade finally made its move, plunging fiercely into the heart’s location!
There was a wound there, created by the Capacitor Arrow shot earlier, penetrating the flesh but not reaching the heart, the arrow having been removed, leaving behind a bloody hole.
The tip of the Thunderbolt blade was geometric-shaped, extremely sharp.
Ji Xinghuo, as if he had practiced this maneuver thousands of times, inserted the blade with immense precision into the wound, exploding all his strength from both hands, activating all three "Electric Arc Ring Cuts" on the blade, which coupled with the sharp tip, finally pierced through the Forest Patrol leader’s chest, stabbing into the heart!
Ji Xinghuo didn’t look at the result; he dropped the blade, rolled down the slope upon landing, catching the composite bow he had thrown down.
The Forest Patrol leader stiffened, standing motionless, the blood flames on his body extinguished.
He looked down at the war blade in his chest with an expression of disbelief, then looked up at Ji Xinghuo down the slope, roaring in anger.
The answer was another Capacitor Arrow.
The arrow, like a stroke of lightning, shot into his mouth, piercing through the back of his head.
Without the protection of the blood flames, he wasn’t so fearsome anymore.
The body of the Forest Patrol leader collapsed thunderously, and only then did blood spout from the chest, shooting up a few meters high like a fountain of blood.
[Spiritual Origin Ability +313]
Ji Xinghuo let out a sigh of relief, only then feeling pain all over his body.
Although it was just a brief contact for a couple of seconds, a hare’s jump and a falcon’s fall, a dragonfly skimming the water, without a real collision with his body, the Blood-Drinking Fury Flame still caused him significant burns.
The Myriad Phenomena had also automatically shut down due to the exhaustion of star power, and at this moment he felt dizzy, stumbling and falling to his knees.
Ren Mian hurried over, concerned she asked, "Are you okay?"
"I’m fine," Ji Xinghuo shook his head, struggling to stand up and showing her a smile, "I’m just a bit drained, I’ll be fine after some rest."
Ren Mian took out a peach blossom petal and placed it on Ji Xinghuo’s body.
Instantly, Ji Xinghuo felt an overwhelming vitality coming from the petal, his burns healing at a visible rate, his spirit lifted, easing the pain in his head, star power rising, and his physical strength rapidly recovering, many times better than the effects of healing with a millennium green!
"This is..." Ji Xinghuo’s face showed surprise.
Just now, Sister Ren used these peach blossom petals for Jiangnan Caiyi and Chi Zhonglin. It not only stopped bleeding and healed wounds but also restored star power and physical strength, combining the effects of multiple plant samples.
He glanced at the peach blossom imprint on Ren Mian’s forehead.
"Evergreen Peach Blossom Spring," Ren Mian explained, "This is my exclusive Plant Witch method, the only one in the whole world, no matter how serious the injury, as long as there’s a breath left, it can save you."
Ji Xinghuo felt astonished upon hearing this.
Painful groans came from below the hillside.
Chi Zhonglin staggered up, with a wound stretching from his shoulder down to his abdomen, already healed, albeit his complexion was somewhat pale.
Ren Mian quickly hurried over, the Green Lock Dragon protecting Jiangnan Caiyi dispersed, revealing her body. After a quick check, Ren Mian sighed with relief and smiled, "Your physical injuries have almost recovered, it’s just some mental trauma, a few days rest should do."
She placed a small white flower on Jiangnan Caiyi’s forehead, "This is honeysuckle, it can heal mental trauma and relieve your headache."
Jiangnan Caiyi’s expression of pain quickly faded, her color returning.
She stood up and looked towards the corpse of the Forest Patrol Clan leader.
It was not until then that the others came to their senses, Chi Zhonglin exclaimed in disbelief, "Xinghuo, you actually killed him! How did you do it?"
They all had seen the process but couldn’t understand it, deeply shocked.
Ji Xinghuo’s actions were quite ordinary, neither showing any high level of Archery Skill nor a high Martial Arts Rank, but they were remarkably effective. Each movement, change in direction, and timing was just right, penetrating the enemy’s heart with one strike!
And that final burst arrow was even more baffling.
The leader of the Forest Patrol Clan seemed to cooperate deliberately, letting Ji Xinghuo shoot him dead, finally losing the opportunity for a frenzied counterattack before death.
Ji Xinghuo laughed, "I just took a desperate chance, and it turned out I was lucky, I didn’t expect to actually overpower him."
"Is that really something that can be explained by luck?" Chi Zhonglin scratched his head, full of confusion.
Jiangnan Caiyi’s eyes were also filled with doubt.
Ren Mian, thoughtful for a moment, suddenly smiled and said, "You don’t have to be so surprised, Xinghuo’s combat intuition is the sharpest I’ve ever seen, unrivaled. It may look ordinary, but each change contains a deeper meaning. To seize the optimal moment in a swiftly changing battle is a talent perhaps one in a billion possesses."
Chi Zhonglin, full of envy, sighed, "A Primary Level Mutant killed a Fourth Rank Forest Patrol Clan member, a Blood Warrior, at that. It’s outrageous, no one would believe it if you said so. If this were on Earth, with such a record, you could have made it onto the ladder!"
"Everyone made an effort," Ji Xinghuo humbly said, "If Sister Ren hadn’t held him off frontally, I wouldn’t have had a chance."
What he said was true.
If he were alone against the leader of the Forest Patrol Clan, there would only be one path - death.
"I was careless," Ren Mian admitted with some apprehension, "I didn’t expect there to be another Blood Warrior. Thankfully Xinghuo was here, otherwise, things would have been unimaginable."
"Sister Ren, you shouldn’t blame yourself, we all agreed to make a move," Ji Xinghuo consoled.
"Without sister saving us, we would be dead already."
Ren Mian shook her head and didn’t dwell on it further, looking around at the devastated hillside, bodies everywhere, hardly anything of value left.
The Talent Ability "Forest Language" of the Forest Patrol Clan might be worth a bit.
It could serve as the core Ability for a Plant Witch, manipulating plants and making them grow rapidly. However, the majority of Plant Witches prefer "Vine Heart Root". The effects of the Ability are better, and the Fusion Success Rate is higher.
Then the rain stopped.
Ji Xinghuo walked up to the body of the Forest Patrol Clan leader, pulled out the Thunderbolt and the Capacitor Arrow stuck in his arm. The arrow from before was already damaged.
The Wanxiang Star Pupil popped up interface information.
[Race: Forest Patrol Clan]
[Alien Species: Forest Language, Spirit Smell, Bloody Frenzy, Resilience*, Eagle Eye*, Intuitive Reflex*, Muscle Memory*]
To the right of the interface was a virtual image of the Forest Patrol Clan leader, displaying the positions of Alien Species on his body.
Ji Xinghuo’s eyes lit up, he’d struck it rich!