Evolution Begins with Elemental Domination

Just then, the shadows on the flank suddenly split apart.

A Four-Star Netherworld High Priest appeared like a phantom. He thrust his hands forward, and a tidal wave of darkness surged toward Su Chen. Its purpose wasn’t to kill, but to shatter Su Chen’s footing in the air.

Once the Water Mirror Screen shattered, the enemy would instantly lose their balance and fall, while also being silenced and temporarily unable to use Runes.

But before that could happen, Su Chen was already upon him.

SWOOSH!

He instantly unleashed the Lv8 Shadow Assault he had just acquired.

His body transformed into a streak of black light, shooting straight toward the enemy.

’Shit...’

The Netherworld High Priest’s pupils constricted and his expression turned grave. Thinking of his opponent’s fearsome reputation and brilliant combat record, he didn’t dare to risk a direct confrontation. Deep down, he felt completely outmatched.

”Bastard!”

Not daring to take the hit, he hastily activated his Illusion and Reality Transformation, instantly swapping places with a clone he had planted a hundred meters away.

The next instant.

BOOM.

The clone left behind was smashed to pieces by Su Chen’s charge.

But that was only the first phase of the Lv8 Shadow Assault. The second phase followed seamlessly as his body plunged toward the ground like a beam of dark light.

A nature envoy who had completed his Werewolf transformation didn’t even have time to react before a six-meter-long Divine Sword Radiance mercilessly sliced him in half at the waist.

WHOOSH!

The third phase of Shadow Assault continued to surge forward.

Su Chen burst out of the smoke, charging toward a broken wall.

The Five-Star master of Secret Techniques frowned slightly. Seeing this, he didn’t dare try to block him head-on.

’Then let me give you a little surprise.’

His mind raced, and using a strange Substitution Technique, he swapped places with a distant Fire Element explosive trap.

But this little surprise package was never opened.

Su Chen came to a dead stop just seven meters from the broken wall, as if nailed into space, completely motionless. He hadn’t moved forward enough to trigger the Fire explosive trap.

This ability to instantly negate his forward momentum was another feature of the Lv8 Shadow Assault.

And the very moment the Five-Star master of Secret Techniques reappeared at the mouth of an alley a hundred meters away...

FWIP!

A silent, double Spiritual Energy Arrow accelerated out of the darkness and pierced through his left shoulder and head with perfect accuracy.

Not a single drop of blood bloomed, but a wave of Spiritual Energy designed to annihilate his will and nerves silently corroded his body.

Urk!

The master of Secret Techniques grunted but didn’t fall.

”Hahaha...”

A sinister laugh escaped his lips.

”Since you’ve accepted my ’gifts,’ you must also bear the consequences.”

During a lull in yesterday’s fierce battle, the master of Secret Techniques, Darius, had secretly scattered and left behind over twenty Lv3 to Lv5 Runes at this vital Rune Core location.

In addition, he had cast mass Frenzy and Acceleration Skills on many undead skeleton warriors and Ghouls.

Anyone, friend or foe, who had unwittingly enjoyed these ’benefits’ within the last 12 hours had already formed a hidden link with him.

The main idea was undoubtedly... ’if you take my benefits, you have to take my disasters for me.’

In an instant, many of the surviving Dark Creatures suddenly weakened, their movements becoming slow and sluggish. Even a dozen or so Olan People inexplicably felt unwell, their arms going numb, forcing them to stop casting healing spells.

However, what annoyed Darius was that he vaguely sensed he hadn’t formed many of these secret links with the people of Dongfu City.

This was purely a case of one person’s actions causing trouble for another down the line.

Ever since a Curse Warlock had played a similar Misfortune-transferring trick in other border regions, Dongfu City’s officials had issued a clear decree: all Runes and equipment of unknown origin had to be efficiently purified before being absorbed.

This step wasn’t complicated.

At the very least, among the people of Dongfu City, who had suffered through the parasitic swarm incident, one out of every three spellcasting Professionals was guaranteed to have mastered a High Level purification-type Rune.

And those with extraordinary Perception could easily notice how conspicuous an item wrapped in a trace of an ominous curse was.

”This dog is also annoying!”

Another thing that irritated the black-robed master of Secret Techniques was the Nightmare Soul Dog’s multiple fission phantoms, which constantly passed through rifts in reality to attack him head-on.

After his aura was captured by the opposing Soul Dog, no matter how many times he tried to withdraw, it would quickly track and follow him like a shadow.

Among its professional traits was an incredible Spirit Element technique called Mind Deprivation.

This skill was the perfect counter to magical beasts and Summoned Pets with low intelligence. It could even forcibly tamper with contract links, causing an enemy’s pet to turn against them.

However, although Darius succeeded in controlling the Nightmare Soul Dog several times, they were all indistinguishable Phantom Clones. Before he could even issue a command, Xiaoye would forcibly recall them, making them disappear.

Xiaoye was extremely cautious when participating in high-stakes battles.

It would never reveal its true body unless absolutely necessary.

As a loyal guard dog, it always lurked silently within thirty meters of its master, completely blended into the night, ready to help him out of a tight spot at any moment.

Meanwhile, Su Chen was, of course, still facing the siege.

WHOOSH!

Another vast, brilliant pillar of annihilating light descended from the sky, aiming straight for Su Chen’s head, but he once again dodged it with ease.

The moment he reappeared, a dozen Radiant Chains shot through the air from all directions, weaving into a cage.

In a flash, they failed again, as the figure, like mist and lightning, zipped and dodged out from within at high speed.

”Die!”

A Demon Warlock with outstretched wings, wreathed in the flames of Hell, charged from the side with a savage grin.

The word had barely left his lips.

As if he had anticipated it, Su Chen spun around in mid-air, taking a reverse step to appear right in front of him.

The Demon Warlock’s pupils shrank.

Logically, he was currently in his Demon Transformation state. Normally, his reflexes, hand speed, and movement speed were several times greater than the average person’s.

But the person before him was so fast he couldn’t even see an afterimage. His own Dynamic Vision could barely keep up.

’It’s over...’

SWISH!

A clean, sharp Divine Sword Radiance slashed upward from below in a brutal diagonal strike.

The beauty of this strike was that it first destroyed the pouch at his waist.

Su Chen didn’t have time to scan with his Telekinesis in that split second, so he could only make a rough guess that the death-substitution doll the Warlock carried was probably in that pouch.

’As expected...’

His waist was severed, his organs splattered, and his body exploded, but this triggered another of his Passive Survival Skills, transforming him into a hundred burning demon bats that scattered and fled.

But Su Chen had seen this before and was already prepared.

He lifted his right hand slightly, and a powerful, immense fluctuation of Dark Gravity appeared in his palm.

”Goodbye.”

All the bats, as if seized by an invisible hand, were dragged back shrieking, completely unable to escape the terrifying suction.

Not only that, but a wild and chaotic binding force erupted, crushing the cluster of bats into a bloody pulp within that area.

SPLAT!

SPLAT!

To maintain this continuous channeling, Su Chen didn’t move recklessly. The successive layers of a lightning shield, Water Mirror Screen, and even a coronal guard absorbed all the incoming damage for him.

Finally, he managed to kill a Demon Warlock.

The next instant.

Before the Netherworld High Priest could ensnare him with the Shadow Binding Skill, Su Chen’s flesh and blood transformed, and he vanished in a streak of shadowy light.

”Don’t think you can escape.”

The Holy Light Judge locked onto the Dark Element fluctuation. Just as he was about to cast a counter, a terrifying premonition of doom filled his heart, forcing him to use Light Escape to get away from the pack of Soul Dogs that had suddenly appeared to attack him at close range.

The other two Four-Star powerhouses were also temporarily forced back by a sudden barrage of Arrows.

...

”So, are you still daring enough to go, old man?”

Not far away, two figures stood on the shoulders of a Death Knight. As the towering giant advanced, they continued to approach the war-torn area.

”That guy Wyatt is probably dead already, because all his Summoned Pets in the rear have been wiped out.”

Colonel Griffin said sarcastically, ”Now your son is dead too. You should just stay in the back like your family head, old man.”

In response, Matel Lorenz’s expression was grim and uncertain. He looked exactly like an eighteen-year-old boy, but he had just experienced the pain of losing his son.

In his seventy-plus years of life, he had absolutely no firsthand experience with killing. At most, he had brawled with other rich kids in his youth. As for the rest of it—the dirty business of ’humane’ physical destruction—that was something he could arrange with a single look or a simple order. He never had to get his own hands dirty.

Now, after obtaining immense Divine Power, Matel Lorenz naturally had some ambitions. He felt he should also strive for a top spot on the leaderboards in this era of great conflict.

But looking at the distant figure who seemed like a God of Slaughter, he completely crushed the thought.

”Is there no way to stop him?” he asked the soldier beside him, flustered and exasperated.

”First, you need to pull back your Death Knight that’s trying to ’help.’ It’s just getting in the way. Focus on attacking the buildings. That guy is like a flea; don’t even think about catching him.”

”Frankly, the man you see as your son’s killer is without a doubt the number one person in Dongfu City. To be precise, he’s the number one in the Twin Cities.”