Even though it was the first time Xiao Hua had seen the skill "Shocking Strike," he guessed it was likely a status control skill!
Residual Image!
Since "Shocking Strike" was an area effect skill, and Xiao Hua was still two meters away from the black-clothed man, he had little chance of escaping the skill’s range unless he retreated. Without hesitation, he used Residual Image!
Xiao Hua’s figure split into three illusory images in the air, each disappearing as quickly as they appeared. Using the skill caused only a slight pause in his movement, after which he continued charging towards the black-clothed man!
The black-clothed man finally showed a look of fear. Since the ambush began, Xiao Hua had continuously used skills he had never seen before, and his attacks were incredibly high. Who was this person? How could there be such a formidable individual among the scouts?
This Residual Image is really great!
Xiao Hua thought excitedly. While fighting monsters in Black Fog City to wash away his PK value, he had practiced using Residual Image extensively to adapt to its characteristics. Although it was sometimes effective and sometimes not, it worked at this crucial moment!
Looking at the warrior standing just a few meters away, Xiao Hua grinned. Swinging his weapon, Queen’s Blade, he unleashed eight attacks in an instant, creating a dazzling white light.
Normally, with over 500 agility, a player could attack three times per second. With the Phantom Ring, Xiao Hua could attack four times. Under the effects of Limit Break, he managed to achieve an astounding eight attacks in one second!
-1315! -341! … -1520! …
A series of attacks landed on the black-clothed man, causing a dozen overlapping red, purple, and green damage numbers to appear above his head.
Eight attacks per second meant that over a dozen attacks took only a bit over one second. Given the warrior’s speed, there was no chance of dodging. Even though the black-clothed man had just consumed an instant-recovery potion, restoring his HP to over 5000, facing Xiao Hua’s almost brutal attack, his HP was drained in less than a second!
Death!
The black-clothed man barely had time to react before collapsing to the ground. He took a single step to dodge, but was immediately defeated!
After eliminating the black-clothed man, Xiao Hua twisted his body to dodge several arrows that followed him, transforming into a gray blur and speeding forward. Two tracking arrows chased him, but after two seconds, they fell farther and farther behind!
From the mages casting area spells, the archers’ ambush, to Xiao Hua using Limit Break to kill the black-clothed man, the entire process took less than ten seconds. Using the remaining few seconds of Limit Break, Xiao Hua fled at a speed faster than riding a mount, escaping the range of the black-clothed attackers before they could organize a pursuit!
Watching Xiao Hua escape, the group felt a sense of disbelief. But the most astonished were the scout team members, who, in soul form, witnessed the entire escape process. Had they not seen it with their own eyes, they wouldn’t have believed anyone could survive such a situation.
As Xiao Hua fled further, the fallen scouts chose to respawn in the city one by one.
However, among them, only Shihen did not witness Xiao Hua’s near-supernatural performance. Shihen, seeing the massive magical attack, assumed everyone was doomed and immediately respawned to warn others about potential issues elsewhere. After respawning, he sent a message to someone guarding the entrance of the reinforced monster zone, only to learn that person had also been eliminated. This was why Shihen urgently returned to the city.
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Shihen did not give up, however. Oak Forest Guild had another hidden team near the entrance of the reinforced monster zone to relay messages.
After confirming this team was safe, Shihen relaxed and instructed them: “The enemy can detect stealth. Don’t try to sneak; charge together. If one person reaches the reinforced zone, send the message!”
After sending the message, Shihen didn’t know what else to do. The guild channel was still under control, allowing only senior members to speak. Few Oak Forest Guild members were in Wanxiang City. Shihen contacted a few who had respawned to form a party for leveling outside the city. At this moment, a player who had just respawned messaged him: “Boss Shihen, that rogue named ‘NotStealingWives’ is insane!”
“Did he not die immediately? How long did he last?” Shihen asked in surprise, finding it hard to believe someone could survive so many magical attacks, especially a fragile rogue!
“He didn’t die! Incredibly, he killed one person and escaped!” the player replied in amazement.
“What happened? How is this possible?” Shihen frowned, disbelieving.
The player then vividly recounted how Xiao Hua broke through the ambush, repeatedly emphasizing how incredible he was.
Is this true? Shihen confirmed the story with several other respawned players, receiving similar accounts.
While it seemed unbelievable, Shihen recalled Xiao Hua’s previous performance, which seemed ordinary. Clearly, he had been deliberately concealing his strength. For someone so powerful to act harmless, it raised suspicion, especially in such a critical moment.
Thinking this, Shihen quickly messaged the hidden team to report to the guild leader, but received no response. He sighed, knowing it was too late; the team had already entered the reinforced zone.
...
At the ambush site, a priest not wearing black emerged from behind a tree to resurrect the black-clothed man.
“Damn! Where did this guy come from? When did Wanxiang City produce such a freak?” The black-clothed man, having been brutally attacked by Xiao Hua, knew firsthand how formidable he was. Being unable to retaliate in melee combat was humiliating!
“Captain, what do we do now? Brother Bai also had some trouble,” said an archer, hesitantly asking despite the man’s anger.
“What else can we do? We’ve done what we could. Evacuate!” shouted the black-clothed man angrily.
“What about the big thing up ahead?”
“What else can we do? Can’t dismantle it now. Leave it to fate. Good luck means killing more, bad luck means fewer scouts,” he replied irritably.
“Come here, prepare to leave!” The black-clothed man took out a scroll from his backpack. “Damn, if not for the time and location restrictions, I wouldn’t use this!”
“Captain, isn’t our lives more important than a teleportation scroll?” someone protested.
“Yes!” The black-clothed man nodded without hesitation.
“...”
A blinding white light flashed, and the gathered black-clothed figures vanished from the oak forest path.
...
After escaping the black-clothed attackers’ range, Xiao Hua looked back and, seeing no pursuit, breathed a sigh of relief.
Recalling the earlier perilous encounter, he felt a bit of fear but also satisfaction at using his full strength against players for the first time. Realizing the power of his gear and attributes, he was able to defeat a warrior and escape a group of over a dozen people. In a one-on-one fight, Xiao Hua doubted anyone could survive ten seconds against him in Limit Break state!
Immersed in the exhilarating feeling, Xiao Hua started thinking about how to explain his survival to the guild. With such gear, revealing it now would make others wary.
Just as he was contemplating, the guild channel erupted with the president’s voice: “There’s an ambush ahead. The scouting team is wiped out, and the messenger team is also eliminated. Everyone stop. I’ll discuss with the elders.”
Wiped out? What happened?
Xiao Hua wondered why the message to the guild president indicated total annihilation. However, this provided an excellent opportunity for him to remain hidden.
Shihen thought the team was completely wiped out, and the final messenger team was also eliminated after delivering Shihen’s message. Thus, Xiao Hua’s survival remained unknown.
After a brief discussion, Oak Forest Guild’s leadership concluded that the enemy targeted them specifically. The purpose of killing the scouts could be either delaying their progress by preventing them from gathering monster data or setting up traps ahead and eliminating the scouts to prevent discovery.
The first goal was achieved, but the second was also likely given the elimination of the messenger team.
Deciding to send a team ahead of the main force to clear possible traps, they agreed on a group of two hundred people to prevent another ambush.
Meanwhile, Xiao Hua ran to the right fork of the road and went into stealth, waiting for the main Oak Forest Guild group to emerge from the left path so he could join them undetected and continue advancing.