Leiter was already in a terrible mood, and being repeatedly obstructed only made him angrier. Faced with these negligible 10-point toxin damages, he remained unfazed and directly cast two consecutive black fireballs!

—120! —1150!

Two black fireballs struck the illusion, dealing 1150 damage and instantly killing it, but Xiao Hua only lost 120 HP!

"Haha! Old man, die for me!" Xiao Hua laughed heartily upon realizing that Leiter's dark magic only caused 10% damage to him.

"Impossible!" Leiter was shocked to see his signature dark magic causing such low damage.

"What's impossible? Watch how I torture you to death!" At such close range, Leiter had no time to chant more powerful spells. Only the hundred-plus damage black fireballs were manageable for Xiao Hua to endure. He had stocked up on large health potions and instant recovery potions for this mission. Additionally, he had nearly forty packets of poison. If Leiter's HP wasn't too high, torturing him to death was entirely feasible!

Torturing Leiter wasn't just a bluff—it was mutual torture. The difference was that Xiao Hua could replenish his HP through cheating, while Leiter could only rely on natural regeneration.

In the dark sewer, dim flashes of firelight occasionally flickered. Within moments, Xiao Hua and Leiter had exchanged several attacks. Leiter used several instant-cast dark magics, each causing only around 100 HP damage to Xiao Hua. Xiao Hua's attacks, once successfully poisoned, could stack up to forty or fifty HP damage. Infinite stacking poison could only accumulate up to twenty HP damage before needing to be reapplied. Xiao Hua didn't bother trying to dodge the instant spells completely; he merely tried to minimize the chance of a critical hit.

Ten to dozens of damage points were insignificant to Leiter, who had over 10,000 HP, but even a tiny ant could eventually bring down an elephant, especially when Xiao Hua acted like a group of relentless and cunning ants. After tangling with Xiao Hua for nearly a minute, Leiter realized that his dark magic was indeed ineffective against this young man.

"Do you possess dark energy too?" Suddenly, Leiter understood and spoke fearfully. Only if this young man possessed dark energy, and a stronger one at that, could he negate most of Leiter's attacks. This was a principle Leiter had discovered through years of studying dark magic, a secret unknown even to Montu!

"You're right, you're clever!" Xiao Hua replied with a sneer while continuing to attack Leiter relentlessly.

"Young as you are, you surely don't know how to use dark energy. Let me go, and I'll teach you the true method. You'll be ten times stronger than you are now!" Leiter, with a serious expression, tried to entice Xiao Hua with his offer.

"Deal! Teach me, and I'll let you go, I swear!" Xiao Hua, no fool himself, responded with a convincing promise.

"How can I believe you'll let me go after teaching you? Humph!" As the City Guardian, Leiter was used to being in a position of authority. Even the city lord treated him respectfully. He was furious at Xiao Hua's audacity to bargain with him.

"And how can I believe a wicked dark mage like you? Hey!" Xiao Hua retorted, thrusting his dagger harder into Leiter.

They had been fighting for over a minute. Xiao Hua used an appraisal skill and found that Leiter still had over 14,000 HP, having lost only about one-fifteenth of his total HP. At this rate, he could grind Leiter down in about twenty minutes!

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"Walk with me to the outside of the sewer. I'll teach you how to use your power, and then let me go. Outside, there's more space, and I won't worry about your betrayal!" Leiter suggested, his expression darker.

"Did you set up an ambush outside?" Xiao Hua asked, knowing the answer.

"How could I? I'm alone now!"

Damn! Treating me like an idiot!

"Alright, give me something valuable first. Then, even if you renege outside, I won't lose out." Instead of calling out Leiter's lie, Xiao Hua suggested, hesitantly.

"Stop attacking first!"

"Not until you give me something!" Xiao Hua ignored him, knowing that stopping now would allow Leiter's HP to regenerate fully.

Leiter, who hadn't encountered such stubborn resistance in years, reluctantly searched his pockets and finally produced something.

Damn! This guy must have many good things in his pocket!

Watching Leiter's actions, Xiao Hua salivated, thinking that Leiter, in his hasty escape, likely carried many valuable items. Not stripping him bare would be a disservice to the game!

How to strip him? Naturally, by stealing! This old man couldn't kill him, so he'd slowly grind him down and steal everything!

"Here, take this!" Leiter reluctantly handed over an item, the first time in years he had given something to someone else, especially an unknown young man!

System Prompt: You obtained the free skill book "Mirage"!

"Mirage": Using this book teaches you the skill "Mirage," creating an illusionary scene to deceive enemies. Requires specialization in Water Element to learn.

Well, seems like a decent skill. Cheap for Piaoling!

Xiao Hua accepted the "Mirage" book without hesitation, but his dagger continued to attack relentlessly.

"Item received, and you're still attacking!" Leiter shouted angrily.

"Guardian, my insatiable greed is acting up again. What can I do? Maybe you could give me another item, and my problem might be solved."

"Perfidious scoundrel, the demons of hell won't spare you! Water Ball!"

Deceived, Leiter cursed and cast a non-dark magic Water Ball. In all these years, since learning dark magic and feeling its power, he hadn't used Water Element spells except for Mirage. Partly because he rarely had the chance to use magic in this peaceful city, and partly because he had come to disdain ordinary elemental magic. But now, he had no choice but to use Water Element magic to kill this annoying brat!

Oh no!

Xiao Hua shouted in alarm. Water Ball wasn't dark magic and could deal serious damage!

—190!

A black water ball struck Xiao Hua, but surprisingly, it only took 190 HP!

Leiter panicked. Years of experimenting with dark magic had converted his entire magical power into dark energy, and now he was reaping the consequences!

Xiao Hua understood the situation and laughed even louder, attacking without restraint. But the Water Ball still contained some water attribute damage, higher by nearly a hundred points compared to pure dark magic, so Xiao Hua had to be careful to avoid critical hits.

"Guardian Leiter, give me another item. I swear, I'll let you go this time, no need to teach me the method of using dark energy."

"No one will believe your lies, villain!" Leiter's voice was filled with rage!

Realizing that Water Element magic also couldn't seriously harm Xiao Hua, Leiter started retreating, attempting to escape to the outside of the sewer.

In the dark sewer, an elderly man in black robes stumbled clumsily, casting spells backward, pursued by a young man in white fur coat wielding two daggers, showing no respect for the elder, slashing relentlessly!

"Guardian Leiter, stop running. It's tiring. Let's sit down and 'talk.'"

Leiter's tactic was effective; as a high-level boss, his HP regeneration was faster than average. Running reduced the poison damage by nearly half. After nearly five minutes, Leiter still had around 12,000 HP! Xiao Hua had to find a way to slow Leiter down.

Steal!

Steal failed!

Seeing the cooldown end, Xiao Hua attempted another steal but failed again.

Leiter seemed to see through Xiao Hua's trick and continued running silently, angry and determined not to stop.

Shadow Assault!

A shadow was thrown onto Leiter, reducing his speed by 20%. Xiao Hua rushed up and attacked fiercely. Most of the 2,000 HP damage he inflicted in the past five minutes was thanks to Shadow Assault.

But the effect lasted only three seconds, and after three seconds, Leiter resumed running energetically.

The distance to the exit was not short; even on his mount, Xiao Hua spent nearly an hour reaching it. Leiter, with average speed, would take an hour to reach the outside. Xiao Hua calculated that in half an hour, he could kill Leiter, giving him ample time to steal from a wealthy high-level NPC nearing death!