Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

”Sharing damage... It must be miserable being your Contracted Beast,” Su Chen commented coldly.

CLICK!

He tapped his index finger, and a spent shell, still warm and etched with scorched marks, ejected from the gun’s body.

Immediately, Su Chen gave a steady push with his left hand, chambering another Single-Headed Bullet enchanted with a triple Technique. The crisp sound of the mechanical lock echoed through the silent woods.

BZZT!

At almost the same instant, an Echo Arrow, fired in a high arc, fell like a meteor and plunged diagonally into the forest soil far away.

The Arrow continuously released invisible ripples, like deep-sea sonar, sweeping repeatedly through the complex, dense woods to forcibly pinpoint anything hidden with vital signs.

In addition to Ruoruo’s visual support, Su Chen’s Elemental Resonance Perception made the trembling of every plant and the displacement of every wisp of Earth Element in the forest clearly visible.

”Found you.”

Su Chen moved like a shadow, swiftly weaving through the grove of ancient trees.

BANG!

Another muffled gunshot rang out, the muzzle flash flickering for an instant in the gloomy woods before vanishing.

This shotgun, which should have been used for close-quarters assaults, was now firing with terrifying range and precision that far surpassed a sniper rifle.

The projectile, wrapped in an electromagnetic stream, crossed dozens of meters in an instant, blasting apart an ancient tree thick enough for three people to link arms around.

Splinters of wood exploded, along with a spray of blindingly bright blood.

Although the figure within was unseen, Wyatt, who had been hiding behind the cover and rapidly absorbing natural energy, had been caught red-handed.

In that brief moment, the opponent’s healing speed was nothing short of miraculous. The bloody hole in his arm had almost fully recovered, leaving only a shallow indent, but a new gash had been torn open on his left waist by the electromagnetic stream.

”Damn it... What the hell is this guy’s deal?”

Wyatt’s expression was so dark it could have dripped water, his heart filled with frustration.

One wrong move had led to a cascade of errors.

He already regretted his initial reckless charge, thinking he could take down his opponent even if it meant trading injuries.

After all, not long ago, he had personally taken a large-caliber bullet from an anti-materiel sniper rifle and come out relatively unscathed. But he had completely misjudged the damage from his opponent’s shotgun.

’Too fast, too powerful.’

’A moment’s hesitation and it would have been a headshot.’

’This isn’t working.’

’I need my team to coordinate with me. I’m not a true lone wolf, after all.’

”It’s fine.”

’I’ll just treat this as gaining experience.’

Wyatt quickly calmed himself. After all, the Authority of the Desert Beast Master profession maxed out his survivability. His margin for error was incomparable to other professions. As long as he wanted to disengage and flee, no one could stop him.

He didn’t even think about trying to pin Su Chen down.

Upon detecting a killing intent-laced Perception, he immediately activated his teleport, instantly crossing several kilometers to appear beside one of his poison bees, right next to a figure who had fallen behind.

That’s right.

His personal Contracted summons could also serve as Teleport Anchor Points. Wyatt could teleport to their side, and he could also teleport them to his own.

Furthermore, he had mastered Summon Poison Bee Swarm Lv7. The vast swarm of poison bees he summoned could spread out across the battlefield, acting as individual spatial jump nodes.

This was the Technique that had allowed him to appear and disappear without a trace during the daytime assault on Dongfu City, making him a nightmare for the defenders.

It was also how Wyatt had managed to top the contribution points leaderboard.

Keep in mind, he was only ranked fourth in both Oran City’s Trial Tower and its arena. But in an open area like this, with no limitations, the stage for him to perform was thrown wide open.

”You were actually forced to retreat.”

Colonel Griffin, who had been struggling to keep up from behind, saw the man appear beside him. He was momentarily incredulous, but then realized it was somewhat understandable.

Only those who had fought against that opponent could realize just how terrifying his strength was.

”Tell me what you know about him,” Wyatt asked patiently.

...

”A decent profession, but ultimately, it’s focused on survivability,” Su Chen commented.

To be fair, in their first clash, the Desert Beast Master’s performance could be considered both strong and weak.

The weak part was that after a single mistake, I was able to chase him down and beat him relentlessly.

His so-called ”home-field advantage” had all but become my shooting range.

The strong part was his ability to take two of my shots and not die. The Desert Beast Master’s Symbiosis trait is truly absurd; not only does it establish a Life Link with a powerful Contracted Beast, mutually boosting their Life Energy, but it also allows him to share and transfer damage.

And since the Desert Beast Master is also a Superior advanced profession of the Life Warlock, both he and his summons possess remarkable life Recovery Power.

But in terms of damage output, it was still lacking.

’It gets a Five-Star ’strong’ rating based on its survivability and margin for error, as well as its ability to overcome physical shortcomings through fusion transformation.’

Su Chen made a fair assessment. If its overall damage profile could match that of a Grand Elemental Master, this profession would truly be invincible.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t.

As for the theory of ”glass cannons” having surplus damage...

That’s complete nonsense.

At least for him, he was nowhere near the concept of having ”surplus damage.” The Blood and Flesh Reviver he fought in the Underground City and the Desert Beast Master he just faced both required even higher damage and a faster initial response speed to take down.

’It’s still not enough.’

Su Chen’s fear of insufficient firepower had yet to be fully alleviated.

”He forgot something important.”

Before they left, Yan Ruoruo had made a point to collect the blood left on the wood splinters into a vial.

”Both cities have the hidden profession of Three-Star Curse Warlock. They can use a person’s blood and personal belongings as a medium to perform a remote death curse. Let’s hand this over to the combat defense department and let them make use of it,” she specifically mentioned.

The intel from Captain Hong had specifically mentioned this point: be extremely careful with your own blood and treasured items, and never leave them behind on the battlefield.

This amount of blood alone would hardly be enough to kill him, but it was more than enough to make his life a living hell, plagued by nightmares.

If that Desert Beast Master continued to recklessly attack Dongfu City tomorrow, perhaps they could use this to great effect.

The two of them didn’t linger. Carrying a heavy Magic Guide Pillar, they headed southwest toward the hills. After flying at top speed for twenty minutes, they finally stopped at a strategically located forest highland, resting for a while with their backs against a rugged cliff face.

Evidently, they were still heading toward Mist Gorge, a region shrouded in shadow on the map and filled with unknown possibilities.

”We’ll check out the situation. If there’s nothing going on, we’ll head back to the city,” Su Chen said.

Considering the situation, the combat defense department, which had the same intel, would surely dispatch an elite unit to investigate.

Yan Ruoruo poured a cup of clear, cool water from the self-purifying flask at her waist and sipped it slowly.

Beside her, the captured Magic Guide Crystal Pillar stood on the ground. The runic glow on its surface flowed ceaselessly, and a nearly transparent Barrier had already spread outwards, securely sheltering the two of them within it.

This guarantee of safety was a great comfort.

”You should be solidly in first place now,” Yan Ruoruo said, putting down her cup and turning her head to look at the man beside her who was checking the condition of his gun.

This wasn’t flattery, but a purely rational deduction.

As far as was known, only three of Dongfu City’s Teleportation Gates had been destroyed, and its Rune Core hub was defended like a fortress. The enemy had retreated without success, unable to complete the world quest.

Su Chen alone had destroyed three Teleportation Gates. Adding in the more than thirty Rune Professionals who had died at his hands, including several Three-Star and Four-Star Professionals, the contribution points he had accumulated were by no means few.

The high rewards from destroying structures and killing High Level Professionals, in particular, had caused his rank to skyrocket.

”Probably,” Su Chen replied, not getting complacent. The world quest was only about a third of the way through; first place wasn’t firmly in his grasp just yet.

There were still many variables to come.

”Tomorrow will probably be interesting.” He had also guessed that the current top rankings on the contribution leaderboard didn’t represent true strength; it all depended on what the Oran City side planned to do tomorrow.

Just as he expected, the contribution rankings for the top three from Oran City’s Trial Tower were not ideal. None of them had managed to break into the top ten, and one had even fallen outside the top 30.

The reason was that they had chosen to attack the Rune Core hub during the day, only to suffer a bitter defeat at the hands of the organized military forces.