ASER - Chapter 119
Chapter 119: Hammer
Han Zhuo heard the sound and looked up. He saw that after Zhao Ritian's dark staff spun, the wood-attribute elements on the island surged out like a dim yellow river.
And where her staff passed, the fire elements converged with the surging wood elements.
Fingertips together, Daoist art initiated.
Both were high-caliber geniuses. Han Zhuo instantly understood what A'Diao wanted to do. So, holding his staff in one hand, he tapped the water surface with his fingertips.
A ring of blood-fire shot into the water, yet it didn't dissipate upon contact, instead burning the half-submerged body of the Reef Whale.
This blood-fire was formidable and poisonous. Even A'Diao was a bit wary. The Reef Whale couldn't ignore it either. So, it roared, and the sea surface surged with waves, launching it high into the air in a whale breach.
The moment it breached, a ring of shimmering light was released by it.
Wherever this layer of light passed, vegetation instantly disintegrated...
A'Diao and Han Zhuo withstood such terrifying destructive power, their armor almost creaking, its outer shell cracking...
Resist it! Then kill it!
A'Diao's fingertips already glowed with the light of a technique.
"Beacon Fire Mountain Forest, Burn!"
Advanced dual-attribute fusion Daoist art.
Go!
This was a burning mountain forest fire python, nearly a hundred meters long. It roared and pounced on the large whale, coiling around the whale's body like a constricting python.
The Reef Whale was enormous; how could a mere fire python strangle it? Water ripples spread across its body, steadily isolating the flames outside its skin. But as A'Diao twisted her hand, the fire python exerted force all over its body.
Crack!
The massive Reef Whale's body was forcefully twisted...
Han Zhuo had already deployed five Spirit Plant Bodies, locked on, and unleashed!
Beams of light pierced through...
The Reef Whale's body trembled, and it let out a painful shriek.
That's right, they were aiming for a certain "chrysanthemum."
Anyway, the current Han Zhuo had already thrown caution to the wind—this was the idea of that shameless madman surnamed Zhao; he was just cooperating, cooperating!
The Reef Whale was in agony, blood gushing like a spring, but it also shattered the fire python, sending sparks flying... A'Diao also suffered a backlash. She almost spat out a mouthful of hot blood but swallowed it down and leaped backward into the air.
Han Zhuo, on the other hand, took the opportunity to fall into the water, using the water surface to block this layer of damage.
But the water surface churned with a hundred layers of waves. He was also hit by the waves, causing him to vomit blood profusely. He only managed to dart out of the water under the protection of the five Spirit Plant Bodies. The water surface was already controlled by the Reef Whale, like a sealed cage, with countless tentacles reaching for him from behind... and also for A'Diao.
BOOM!!!
The Reef Whale was about to fall back into the water. The exposed "chrysanthemum" wound seemed unlikely to be severely damaged again. But at this moment, A'Diao had directly activated her true name carrier's unified attack mode.
Strength, defense, and speed were all amplified... The Xun Spirit Pupil boosted her speed to its maximum...
As she leaped down in a flash of light, a bolt of lightning condensed at the tip of her Spirit Element Staff, drawn from the sky.
"One Bolt of Guiding Lightning! Fall!"
The Spirit Element Staff swung down... Fall!
RUMBLE!
A distorted bolt of lightning struck down from the clouds in the sky. Just as it was about to hit its "chrysanthemum," the Reef Whale slapped its tail.
It forcefully blocked the lightning bolt with its tail.
But at this moment, Han Zhuo and A'Diao simultaneously entered stealth mode...
The Reef Whale subconsciously tried to track both of them, but it could only focus on one; it couldn't track both simultaneously.
It chose to track A'Diao because it vaguely sensed that this shorts-wearing man was stronger.
Thus, the stealthed Han Zhuo avoided the terrifying whale tail and sent a condensed, liquid-like mass of blood-fire into the "chrysanthemum's" opening...
After blocking the lightning, the tail swung back to strike Han Zhuo.
Han Zhuo zipped away on his flight device. On the other side, A'Diao, whose position had been detected, felt the traction lines invading her mental body.
So strong!
A'Diao felt a terrifying pain in her mind, so intense she almost couldn't hold her Spirit Element Staff. But she saw that Han Zhuo had already sent the blood-fire towards the "chrysanthemum's" opening, but there was an energy cluster blocking it; the blood-fire would be shredded as soon as it entered.
So...
A'Diao endured the severe pain and aimed her staff at the Reef Whale.
"Metal, condense! Out!"
Metal element?
That's right, the Reef Whale previously had a large metal-element sword condensed by her inside its body. It was left inside after an attack on the "chrysanthemum."
Leaving it inside was good.
Although it was difficult to control elements through flesh and blood, her mental body was too strong. She managed to regain control of the metal element...
The large metal sword re-condensed, and then fiercely stabbed from the inside out!!!
It pierced an opening, and the blood-fire entered.
Han Zhuo immediately controlled the blood-fire with all his might to corrode everywhere. The Reef Whale wouldn't even let the blood-fire near its outer shell, so how could it withstand the blood-fire wreaking havoc inside its body? In agony, it frantically attacked both their mental bodies with the traction lines.
Han Zhuo couldn't take it anymore. The faint blue pattern on his forehead flickered, as if warning him that his mind was in danger. Anyway, he was vomiting blood profusely like someone with consumption... and he also lost control of the blood-fire.
Once the blood-fire damage subsided, the Reef Whale controlled the seawater, and a massive wave condensed into a giant watery palm, slapping fiercely towards A'Diao.
A'Diao: "???"
Damn it, he was the one controlling the blood-fire, yet you only slap me?!!
However, Toilet felt that this large whale was very smart. It must have discovered that its traction lines were very effective against Han Zhuo, but had limited effect on A'Diao. The difference in strength between their mental bodies was immediately apparent, so of course, it was more wary of A'Diao.
Concentrate its power to kill her first, then kill Han Zhuo!
A'Diao also knew the situation was very bad. This large whale was too resilient, with high magic resistance and a long health bar. Most people wouldn't survive a sword to the "chrysanthemum," but this one...
No, a battle of attrition would surely lead to defeat! Could she outlast a whale?
Now, it was either hide, or...
A'Diao gritted her teeth and suddenly transformed into a streak of light... Was she fleeing?
When Han Zhuo saw A'Diao's burst of speed, he thought she was trying to escape, but then he realized this person was flying straight towards the whale's fatal wound.
Huh?
The Reef Whale seemed to sense A'Diao's objective and panicked. It cried out, trying to swat A'Diao with its tail, but its tail was clumsy and couldn't match her speed. Out of desperation, it even diverted all its traction lines... to attack A'Diao's mental body with full force.
With this attack, A'Diao felt as if something solid inside her mental body had shaken.
The pain made her see stars, but she still charged into the bloody opening without hesitation.
Upon entering, she was met with a torrent of terrifyingly corrosive stomach acid. Bang! A'Diao, protected by her level 16 body armor and a spatial Spirit Plant Body... flew straight through, directly to the Reef Whale's internal heart!
Attack the heart?
How could that be possible? Previously, when they were looking for the "chrysanthemum," they had discovered that the large whale's internal organs were protected by whalebone. This bone was so hard that likely only something at the Transcendent could damage it; they couldn't break it at all.
So... A'Diao was looking for its mental body.
A mental body cannot be protected by bones; no matter how strong the whalebone was, it was useless.
And while it was relentlessly entangling A'Diao and Han Zhuo with its traction lines, it never considered that A'Diao could also follow the traction lines to find the location of its mental body.
Found it, then break it!
Toilet: "You haven't truly controlled Mental Threads before. This is very risky; you'll suffer a backlash!"
A'Diao: "Can't worry about that now."
If she couldn't kill this large whale, she wouldn't be able to leave this sea region alive either!
Saying this, A'Diao condensed over two hundred Mental Threads... according to the control method she had learned in advance.
Success or failure hinged on this one move!
When Han Zhuo saw A'Diao go in, his first reaction was that she was doomed. His second reaction was that he could escape.
But before Han Zhuo could make a decision, he suddenly felt the traction lines tighten abruptly, as if a powerful mental tide had erupted in an instant...
Han Zhuo was in so much pain that he half-knelt on the water surface. Rings of blood-fire burned out from within his body, but a faint blue cold current at the center of his brow flickered in and out of existence.
Ah!!
Han Zhuo cried out in pain, but soon, this mental tide disappeared, and all the traction lines went limp...
The pain subsided. Han Zhuo regained some vision and saw the massive whale's body floating motionless on the water surface... No, it should be called a corpse now.
It's dead?
Han Zhuo was stunned for three seconds, then suddenly turned and fled!
If this large whale was dead, it must have been killed by that Zhao Ritian.
This person was too terrifying and would definitely retaliate against him, so...
It had to be said, Han Zhuo was still very astute, and his reaction was fast enough. Unfortunately... at this moment, something shot out from the whale's "chrysanthemum" opening.
It looked... like a hammer.
The small hammer that Toilet had transformed into.
Thwack!
A loud thud.
It ruthlessly smashed onto the back of the weakened Han Zhuo's head.
Blood splattered. Han Zhuo fell to the ground with the sound. Before he could react, he heard a voice from behind.
"Brother, why are you running? Time to divide the spoils."
The Reef Whale's corpse was still warm. Han Zhuo's head was covered in blood. After A'Diao emerged from the "chrysanthemum" opening, she had intended to kill him directly, but Han Zhuo suddenly sprang up as if from the dead, pulling out something and aiming it at her from a hundred meters away.
Like a young maiden holding scissors to her own neck to threaten a shameless flower-plucking scoundrel: Don't come closer! If you come closer, I'll kill myself!
Fierce and resolute.
Such a peerless handsome man, with disheveled hair, a face full of blood, and a wretched appearance, was clutching a token and coldly said to A'Diao, "You can't kill me. I am the Young Marquis of the Han Clan of Hanzhou. My ancestors in the first generation included a Grandmaster. My grandfather is now the Grand Marshal of Hanzhou, and my father is..."
"If you dare to kill me, I'll crush this, and my great-grandfather will be teleported here. You will surely die!"
He's invoking his ancestors.
Same old trick, same old formula.
A'Diao: "..."
Toilet: I think if it weren't for your previous actions, this Han Zhuo would definitely be too arrogant to announce his family background or use this teleportation talisman.
But ever since he came into contact with you, his worldview has shattered.
Look at this, what kind of influence is this? A perfectly fine, ethereally handsome, and coldly alluring young man has been turned into this kind of caricature by you!
Public morals are degenerating daily, and people are not as good as they used to be.
But it takes magic to defeat magic; that's truly an ironclad rule.
"But I still think you're more formidable than him. After all, when it comes to posturing, you can brazenly fabricate a family tree and almost believe it yourself. His family tree is real, yet he finds it so stifling, shameful, and unbearable. This shows you're much stronger than him!"
Toilet's sarcastic praise made A'Diao very displeased: "Isn't it just because you hate that I turned you into a hammer? My fault? Damn it, I wanted to create those high-end, impressive, top-grade items, but it reminded me that it would cost extra Mental Power. Crap, I need to save Mental Power for the 404, I can't afford it!"
So I used the free quota to make a hammer.
Toilet felt like vomiting whenever it thought about it: Damn A'Diao, you cheapskate!
A'Diao's displeasure mainly stemmed from the fact that Han Zhuo actually had a teleportation talisman token and dared to threaten her.
Actually, if it weren't for her own significant depletion and the severe damage to her mental body, her dominance was also more superficial than real. Otherwise, she could have killed him with one hammer blow just now, and even now, a full-power burst could take him down instantly.
However, if this teleportation talisman was real, then even if she attacked swiftly now, the other party would still have time to crush it.
A'Diao pondered inwardly while saying aloud, "So it's the Young Marquis. Are you threatening me? Do you think I'm afraid of your Han family?"
The blood on Han Zhuo's face had coagulated and dripped from his chin, drop by drop, making his complexion appear even paler. His expression was cold as he said, "You said it before, we're all out here training. Who would call their family for help at the drop of a hat? We're not primary school students; we have some dignity. If you kill me, isn't it just for money and because you're afraid I'll cause you trouble?"
"Kill me, and I'll crush the teleportation talisman. Your family may be far stronger than my Han family, but you are here. If pushed to the brink, wouldn't you also have to sacrifice your life? As for whether my Han family will be reduced to ashes under your Zhao family's attack in the future, that would have nothing to do with us two dead people."
"How about this: I'll return all the storage rings from before. According to the agreement, our grievances will be written off..."
This person was trying to use A'Diao's previous tone to persuade her.
The Han family? The Han family was indeed someone she couldn't afford to provoke right now. But she was currently using a fake identity; her true self had no connection to this matter at all. At worst, she could just change her identity after killing him. A'Diao never liked leaving enemies for tomorrow, even if Han Zhuo wasn't a major threat to her.
But A'Diao was still secretly gathering her strength, recovering, waiting to kill him with a single blow. On the surface, however, she seemed to be considering: "Only returning what I gave you before? Little brother, you're quite the businessman."
Han Zhuo expressionlessly took off his own ring as well. "Plus my own. My skills were inferior. I'll spend money to avert disaster. I have absolutely no complaints and will never retaliate in the future."
A'Diao: "Add your belt."
Han Zhuo gritted his teeth and took off his storage belt as well.
A'Diao: "And your jade pendant is also a storage item, right?"
Han Zhuo bit his lip and unfastened the jade pendant.
A'Diao: "Your pants..."
Han Zhuo couldn't bear it anymore: "No one refines pants into storage equipment! I'm not a pervert!"
A'Diao: "You're not a pervert, but I am. Take them off!"
Han Zhuo: "!!!"
Could he endure this? Even if it meant death, he would...
Five seconds later, Han Zhuo stood in mid-air wearing only a pair of shorts, his snow-white, well-built body and eight-pack abs on display...
A'Diao only cared about the things in his hands.
"Toss them over."
Han Zhuo: "Swear you won't kill me."
A'Diao: "Alright, if I, Zhao Ritian, dare to kill you, then may I have no little JJ..."
Han Zhuo: "You always swear by that. I suspect you really don't have one."
Oh dear, you've even discovered this.
A'Diao: "Oh, you have one? I almost didn't notice just now."
She deliberately glanced at a certain spot.
For many years after, Han Zhuo remembered the ambiguous gaze this shorts-wearing man gave a certain part of his body.
Pervert!
Han Zhuo was about to ask her to make a more serious vow, preferably to re-establish an agreement, but he suddenly realized she might be stalling for time to recover her strength. So he immediately said, "I'll throw the things over now. You leave immediately after you get them, otherwise I'll crush the teleportation talisman right away."
After saying that, he threw the items over.
A'Diao watched the items fly over, but they were scattered in several directions... Then she saw Han Zhuo turn and run!
Either retrieve these scattered valuables, or chase him?
A'Diao, who had already finished gathering her strength, moved swiftly. Tentacles extended from her bracelet and grabbed the items, while she simultaneously prepared to chase after Han Zhuo to kill him.
In an instant, the scene showed a peerlessly handsome man, disheveled and partially exposed, fleeing desperately across the vast sea, while a muscular man in floral shorts chased after him with a hammer...
What a terrifying scene.
Han Zhuo knew he couldn't escape. He wanted to crush the communication talisman, but found a talisman stuck to his arm by a palm strike—a Frost Talisman!
One arm was completely frozen; the communication talisman couldn't be crushed. He wanted to switch hands, but it was too late. A'Diao had already...
Just as A'Diao was about to kill Han Zhuo, her Spirit Element Staff already raised, her scalp suddenly tingled. What was that sound?
Not far away, from the uneven reef-like carapace on the Reef Whale's back, a swarm of flying parasites suddenly emerged. Their bodies were nearly a hundred times larger than before the resurgence of spiritual energy.
They buzzed, blotted out the sky, and flew towards Han Zhuo and A'Diao, enveloping the area.
"Bloodvine Barnacles!"
The level-two Demonic Spirit Bloodvine Barnacles had grown wings and antennae. Tens of thousands of them flew about. They looked low-level, but their numbers were vast.
Seeing this scene, the two were so scared their souls almost left their bodies.
During the First Era, many cultivators who crossed the seas would turn pale at the mere mention of barnacle Demonic Spirits. Don't underestimate their generally low level; their numbers were terrifyingly large. Most importantly, their adhesion was dreadful. They would tenaciously attach themselves and continuously suck blood and energy, whether from flesh-and-blood bodies, new technological weapons, or even Spirit Plant Bodies. Once entangled by these things, one could only be drained to death!
It was known that in the First Era, barnacle Demonic Spirit swarms easily numbered in the millions, and populations in the hundreds of millions were not uncommon. Thus, they were known as the "Ghost Swarms of the Sea," and no one who encountered them survived.
If A'Diao and Han Zhuo had known that this large whale hosted a swarm of Bloodvine Barnacles, they might have fled without even bothering with the corpse.
Of course, it was the same now.
Oh my god!
How could A'Diao still care about Han Zhuo? She turned and ran, but she didn't forget one thing. Gritting her teeth, she charged back towards the barnacle swarm...
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