Seeing that her attacks still hadn't managed to harm Haoyun, Elina appeared visibly surprised. However, this surprise quickly turned into excitement. In Elina's view, although her attacks couldn't kill Haoyun in one blow, he had no effective way to counter her besides relying on the armor's protection. So, Elina came up with a more interesting idea. She planned to use various means to attack and torment Haoyun, slowly wearing him down to death.
Under Elina's telepathic command, the two thunderous claws that gripped Haoyun's armor began to toss his body around within the balance realm. Haoyun, completely at a disadvantage, had to contend with the spinning dizziness while exerting all his strength to try to remove the two thunderous claws inching closer to his chest.
After playing with Haoyun for a while from a distance, Elina suddenly realized and exclaimed, "Oh! So that's how it is! I thought you could penetrate the confinement I set up with the dark energy storm here because you had some extraordinary power! But in the end, you still rely on the Countess's modified Shadow Yin Realm Battle Armor to enter here! Hmph! I must admit, that Countess guy indeed has some skills. The shield she designed can actually withstand the attacks even from me, a quasi-subversion level combatant. However, trying to challenge me just with the defense of this armor is too reckless! Because you have only a sturdy shield but no sharp spear, you cannot defeat me!"
Elina snorted coldly and continued with a playful tone, "Hmph! Alright then! Since you're so bold, let me break through your sturdy defense with a sharp spear and see what else you can do!"
With that said, without waiting for Haoyun to react, Elina once again raised her left hand, shaped like a claw, and aimed a palm strike towards Haoyun, who was still tumbling irregularly. A force strong enough to blow away the stars and rivers in front of Elina gushed out from her palm, directly hitting Haoyun, who was spiraling through the air. In an instant, Haoyun, spiraling in mid-air, was corrected in his flight trajectory by this powerful force, then straightened out and smashed towards the edge of the Balance Realm.
As expected, Elina's attack once again left Haoyun in an extremely sorry state. However, like before, Haoyun's armor shielded him from Elina's attack. Nevertheless, Haoyun wasn't reassured by this. During this period, besides feeling a strong vibration, Haoyun suffered no damage. Because at this point, Haoyun had understood the purpose of Elina's attack: it wasn't to break through the armor of the Shadow Yin Realm Battle Armor, but to push Haoyun into the dark energy storm that formed a barrier at the edge of the Balance Realm. In this way, Elina could use the storm's grinding power to completely break down the defense of the Shadow Yin Realm Battle Armor and slowly torture Haoyun to death.
Damn it! Damn it! Haoyun cursed inwardly. He realized that although he had suddenly awakened a powerful force within him, this force seemed to only enhance his ability to withstand beatings, rather than giving him the strength to counter Elina's attacks. Haoyun was well aware of the consequences of falling into the dark energy storm, and knew that his top priority was to quickly stop himself from spiraling backwards. However, the force that pushed Haoyun back was remotely controlled by Elina, coupled with the restriction imposed by the two thunderous claws, which strengthened only his defensive capabilities but not his attacking prowess. Haoyun could only watch helplessly as he spiraled towards the dark energy storm, unable to think of any strategy to counter it.
"Bang! Bang!"
Just as Haoyun was about to fall into the dark energy storm, there suddenly came two crisp sounds from his chest. Then, amidst a series of crackling explosions, the two thunderous claws firmly grasping the armor disintegrated into two clusters of electric flowers and dissipated instantly. The strong thrust exerted on Haoyun by Elina also disappeared at this moment, finally allowing Haoyun to regain control of his body.
However, the problem was that due to the excessive propulsion force applied by Elina, Haoyun still found himself rapidly plunging towards the dark energy storm even after regaining control. Therefore, Haoyun could only prepare himself to endure another round of attacks from the dark energy storm first, and then quickly figure out a way to escape from it after the inertia on his body subsided!
"Hey! You little brat! You're really just a dog without us!" At this moment, a long-lost and very arrogant voice suddenly entered Haoyun's ears. Then, Haoyun saw Dao Lao, with his long beard fluttering, rushing out of the dark energy storm and jumping behind him, pulling him out just as he was about to plunge into the dark energy storm.
"Old Dao! Where the hell have you been dead? I've been fighting Elina for eight hundred rounds!" Haoyun exclaimed excitedly.
"Oh! Don't mention it! We were really stripped of a layer of skin by the dark energy storm just now! If it weren't for our luck to be able to escape by chance, I'm afraid we would have been turned into ashes by the dark energy storm by now!" Dao Lao replied in a nonchalant manner, but his face still couldn't hide the fear.
"Be careful!" Haoyun wanted to ask Dao Lao if his experience in the dark energy storm was similar to his own, but before he could speak, Dream Jia's reminder came from the other side of the dark energy storm. At the same time, several golden light bullets flew past Haoyun and Dao Lao almost simultaneously, annihilating the thunderous claws that appeared in front of them almost simultaneously by tearing through space.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
"Old Dao! Hurry up and pull him away! Aren't you afraid of being sucked into the dark energy storm again later!" Dream Jia urged as she rushed out of the dark energy storm with her golden Glorious Equality, charging towards Elina's direction. Judging from Dream Jia and Dao Lao's display of momentum just now, it was obvious that both of them had enhanced their strength, allowing them to successfully escape the invasion of the dark energy storm. Moreover, judging from their methods of dealing with Elina's attacks just now, their strength had obviously improved more significantly than Haoyun's.
When Dream Jia appeared, she immediately started fighting Elina without hesitation. Dao Lao gestured to Hao Yun to quickly wield the Demon-Slaying Staff, also gleaming with golden light. Dao Lao then exerted force, using the transformed staff like a long whip to fling Hao Yun out of the area ravaged by the Dark Energy Storm.
It was at this moment that Hao Yun heard the system's reminder again in his mind: "Attention! The flight function of the Yin Spirit Realm Battle Armor has been reactivated! Energy available for flight function: 100%."
"System, activate flight function immediately!" Hao Yun rejoiced upon hearing this and promptly commanded, activating the flight function. He swiftly adjusted his posture in the air, then charged towards Elina with the Phoenix Blade covered in the same golden light. Since both sides understood each other's situations well, there was no need for further pleasantries; they immediately engaged in intense combat.
The battle lasted for dozens of rounds. Soon, Hao Yun and his companions realized that although individually they were not as strong as Elina, their coordinated efforts produced a miraculous chemical reaction. This reaction seemed to form an array that greatly enhanced their combat effectiveness, giving them the confidence to face Elina head-on.
Elina quickly noticed this as well. It appeared that when Hao Yun and his team cooperated, they gained additional strength. Consequently, Elina consciously avoided standing in the center of the triangle formation they created, attempting to disrupt their coordination and diminish their attack strength. She aimed to dismantle them one by one while reducing their collective assault.
Hao Yun and his team soon discerned Elina's strategy. They consciously tightened their formation to ensure synchronized attacks during each offensive and defensive maneuver, maximizing their strength against Elina. This left Elina temporarily without effective countermeasures, as she was constrained by their continuous assaults, unable to exert greater pressure on the Balance Ring.
It was through these exchanges that Hao Yun and his team gained new insights into Elina's tactics. Despite her fierce attacks, she relentlessly used the Thunder Claw to tear through the space against them. Her preference for long-range combat seemed to stem from a desire to keep the purplish-red ball of lightning energy close to her side. This made Elina appear less like she was fighting Hao Yun and more like she was protecting the ball of lightning from being destroyed by them.
As the battle progressed, Hao Yun and his team also noticed that Elina's attacks were increasingly limited by distance, causing her Thunder Claw strikes to weaken noticeably as the release distance increased. This flexibility allowed Hao Yun and his team to maneuver more freely, calmly countering Elina's powerful attacks, making it difficult for her to pose a threat. Despite her frustration, Elina found herself unable to break free from the restraint imposed by Hao Yun and his companions.
"Hmph! You three useless fools! If you're brave enough, don't run so far!" Frustrated by Hao Yun and his team's ability to counter her attacks, Elina angrily shouted.
In theory, Elina's overall strength far surpassed that of Hao Yun and his team. Yet, at this moment, rather than enjoying an absolute advantage over them, she found herself exposed by their tactics, drawn into a prolonged battle. How could Elina not feel deeply angered? Especially after hearing Hao Yun and Dao Lao mockingly challenge her, "If you're not afraid, why don't you come chase us down?!"
However, this time, rather than launching another fierce attack out of extreme anger, Elina sighed heavily and muttered to herself, "Hmph! If not for— Hmph! Forget it! Once I finish my business, I'll come back and play with you slowly!"
After saying this, Elina raised her left hand and formed a seal with five fingers in a strangely twisted manner against conventional wisdom. A blood-red rune, simple yet profound, appeared out of nowhere. This rune seemed to guide the energy lightning bolts sporadically shooting from the surrounding Dark Energy Storms, redirecting them to converge on the slowly rising blood-red rune.
As these energy lightning bolts screamed into the blood-red rune, it began pulsating like a heartbeat, rhythmically throbbing in mid-air. Simultaneously, it continually splattered large amounts of blood-red mucus. These mucus strands quickly spread in the air, intertwining with each other to form a blood-red protective shield. This shield enveloped Elina and the purplish-red electric ball entirely. Elina's action clearly indicated that since she hadn't found a way to deal with Hao Yun and his team yet and didn't want to continue fighting them, she decided to retreat by using the forming blood-red protective shield to keep Hao Yun and his team at bay. This way, Elina could focus on dealing with the Balance Ring. Once she had dealt with it, she could then turn back and settle the score with Hao Yun and his team.
Due to Elina's obvious attempt to avoid conflict, Hao Yun and his team were able to confirm their previous suspicions with high probability. Despite Elina's current formidable strength, her concentration on suppressing the Balance Ring had inadvertently subjected her to its control as well. This limitation meant Elina couldn't muster enough power to deal with Hao Yun and his companions.
Hao Yun and his team were unaware of what Guardian Uryll had secretly bestowed upon Elina, allowing her to wield such terrifying power against the Balance Ring. However, from the current situation, it was evident that even with the clandestine aid of Guardian Uryll and the Mother of Mold, Elina's suppression of the Balance Ring was insufficient to eliminate it entirely.