Calamity Messenger

Chapter 323 - 260: Meeting Ying Rushi

Yan Qing got two rewards from the third case: one was "Earth Vein Evil Qi," making the path of Foundation Establishment smooth; the other was "Red Furnace Fire Essence," enhancing Bingzi Pepper Forest to Third-Turned Legendary!

The maximum durability decreased to 70/70, and the base attack power increased to 40~55. Activating Heaven-Covering could increase the base attack power by up to 800 points. Just looking at the data, it’s worthy of being legendary, but Bingzi Pepper Forest gave Yan Qing a huge surprise:

"When the Heaven-Covering Blade Aura hits the target, if the theoretical damage value > 100, the Blade Aura will remain on the target and after 0.05 seconds deal 20 points of shock blunt damage."

This new effect seemed ordinary at first glance; compared to Bingzi Pepper Forest’s usual hundreds of damage points, 20 points of damage seemed insignificant, a mere trivial gain. But Yan Qing knew well that blunt damage had a huge difference compared to cutting damage: blunt damage causes a hindering effect on the enemy!

The greater the blunt damage, the stronger the hindrance effect, which is an advantage that cutting damage lacks. It’s like being killed by the world’s fastest sword; you might still have time to marvel, "What, I was actually hit by the sword," but if hit head-on by a large heavy truck, you might open your eyes and find yourself in another world.

points of blunt damage is roughly like stubbing your toe on the corner of a table—though the damage is not high, it’s enough to cause some hindrance to the enemy. Bingzi Pepper Forest’s Heaven-Covering already had a near-long-range distance advantage, and now it could hinder enemy movement. Combined with Yan Qing’s Naraku Curse Secret Technique, Yan Qing was confident he could keep even enemies of the same level from closing in!

Indeed, Yan Qing, who possessed top melee tokens, aimed to give the enemy no chance for close combat!

And don’t forget, Yan Qing also had Celestial Calamity Karmic Force!

The shock blunt damage from the Heaven-Covering Blade Aura counted as an additional attack, capable of triggering real damage!

Which means now Yan Qing’s regular attack could cause Heaven-Covering Blade Aura damage + blade aura-triggered real damage + shock blunt damage + shock blunt-triggered real damage. If in a game, Yan Qing’s one slash would show four different numbers! Anyone who played "Baldur’s Gate 3" knows how overpowered Yan Qing’s multi-segment damage is now.

But the most heavily injured on the field was Yan Qing himself!

Blood suddenly spurted from the hands gripping the hilt; Yan Qing looked down in shock.

Only to see his hands covered in dozens of dense holes, as if he held not Bingzi Pepper Forest but the world’s sharpest thorns.

"These beasts are strange! Attacking them hurts yourself, even with the defense barrier still up!" Bu Liuguzhen hurriedly restored Spiritual Power to heal injuries, loudly reminding, "They seem to... they seem to all possess reflexive damage abilities!"

Yan Qing realized it as well; his Melting Hundred Forms Hand had the ability to block reflexive damage—he understood these injuries all too well. Reflexive damage, in terms of priority, was almost second only to real damage; effects directly applied to the body with defense barriers unable to block.

So he immediately did two things: switched from holding the blade with both hands to holding the blade in the right hand, recalling the blade aura; the left hand pulled out the Hundred Jade Bracelet, wrapped it around his hand, and continuously popped Blood Replenishing Pills into his mouth.

The simplest way to deal with reflexive damage was absorption, followed by taking medicine. Yan Qing could only be thankful "Messenger" was a fantasy Xianxia game, where basic healing items were elixirs, tasting like very faint White Rabbit milk candy. If it were a fantasy game with healing potions, Yan Qing wasn’t sure if his bladder could hold up.

Yan Qing was quite surprised that the Evil Ghost Elite charged at him while he was taking medicine.

Clearly struck by Yan Qing’s Legendary Great Blade Aura, clearly seeing him covered in legendary radiance, yet the Evil Ghost Elite showed no fear or hesitation, almost like Secret Realm Demon Fiends in their suicidal charge. If it weren’t for seeing their height differences, Yan Qing would have suspected other Secret Realm Demon Fiends had invaded.

Both sides clashed, long knife clashing against spear forest, like a reef resisting the waves. Yan Qing perfectly used the evasion technique just learned from Teacher Zheng, avoiding most of the spears, only taking one spear thrust, successfully breaking into his long knife’s comfort zone with the Orange Flame Long Saber stoutly slashing at the forefront Evil Ghost Elite!

Since everyone had reflexive damage, deal with them one at a time, ensuring that the medicine can replenish in time! An 800-point attack, can you withstand it!

Then Yan Qing showed a shocked expression again.

The Evil Ghost Elite’s defense barrier was shattered by one slash, but they didn’t die, even had the strength to pull out a waist knife for a strike. But as the consequence, Yan Qing’s right hand exploded with over twenty holes, like a pipe riddled with holes, with blood rushing to escape.

While Yan Qing was surprised, the Evil Ghost Elite’s defense barrier rippled gently, like water flowing to a low point, repairing the injured companion’s defense barrier!

In a flash, Yan Qing completely understood the terrifying nature of these Evil Ghost Elites and why Jiang Shi and her team ran.

Yan Qing had been somewhat puzzled. Although losing the pilot and relying solely on system control made a smaller character relatively weak, at least they had the ability for stationary output. Even if Jiang Shi was a bit weak, Rabbit Heroine was a solid Third-Turn Combat Power—despite lacking Yan Qing’s brilliant command, Rabbit Heroine could decimate all Third-Turn Messengers on Earth—being a Legendary Profession exclusive to a true account, Life-taking Messenger was overpowered enough to rival two or three Legendary Tokens.

Though the Evil Ghost Elite numbered quite a bit, did Rabbit Heroine really need to avoid their edge? Wasn’t it just a setup pretending to play her?

Now looking at it, these Evil Ghost Elite were precisely melee and single-target nemeses. Unless relying on Foundation Establishment Battle Power for a sweep, or gathering an army for a volley, typical Messengers couldn’t contend with them, only to be disgusted to death by them!

The attack power of the Evil Ghost Elite is just like this, though the counter-attack ability is somewhat interesting, they possess an unimaginable trait:

Chain!

Yan Qing just attacked all of the Evil Ghost Elites, and whether he attacked one or attacked them all, the number and damage of counter-attacks he received were the same!

This indicates two things: counter-attack is fixed damage and there is a time interval for triggering. Therefore, attacking one or attacking everyone makes no difference, there is no discount on the counter-attack Yan Qing suffers!

Moreover, the defensive barrier of the Evil Ghost Elites seems to be shared. Unless it can be shattered by Yan Qing’s strike, they cannot be defeated individually due to the shared barrier, constantly maintaining the highest chain counter-attack intensity!

No wonder the Rabbit Heroine had to run; they are literally her nemesis. If she can’t instantly kill the Evil Ghost Elite, she’ll be counter-attacked until she runs out of Qi Blood.

So strong, Yan Qing thought, he originally thought it was a novice match, planning to show off in front of others, but didn’t expect to encounter high-end eight-serial opponents in the First-Turn Secret Realm. But the words had already been spoken, what could he do?

He could only kill them all.

Yan Qing took a step forward, plunging into the circle of the Evil Ghost Elite’s encirclement. This was a perfect distance, forcing the Evil Ghost Elite to either pull back their spears or draw their swords to attack him. However, at this instant, they were unable to attack.

Hand of Melting Hundred Forms: Direct Strike!

Bingzi Pepper Forest: Heaven-Covering Blade Aura: One Meter!

With the first slash, Yan Qing’s right hand gained over twenty new wounds, revealing the white bones, like a pancake visited by mice, missing chunks everywhere! Yet, the pain did not affect him at all. Possibly, the Qi Blood from the Third-Turn Messenger brought more adrenaline, or the Blood Replenishing Pill effectively reduced the feeling of pain, or perhaps the pride of a skilled player was fueling his desire to showcase himself!

Bingzi Pepper Forest switched to the left hand, Yan Qing, long accustomed to wielding with both hands, struck the second slash before the Evil Ghost Elite could dodge!

The one-meter blade aura only reduced the damage by 20%. With two slashes, all the defensive barriers of the Evil Ghost Elite shattered!

This was the most clever solution Yan Qing could think of: to deal the maximum damage to them all in the shortest time!

The Heaven-Covering Blade Aura cut through the Evil Ghost Elite like a hot knife through pork fat, slicing them one by one at the waist. He had no intention of holding back; since the Evil Ghost Elite was so ruthless to the novices, Yan Qing saw no reason to be less ruthless than they.

After two slashes, both of Yan Qing’s hands were almost entirely wasted; even though Heaven-Covering had plenty of time left, he couldn’t lift the saber anymore. But even so, it was enough. Nearly all of the Evil Ghost Elite were cut at the waist; even if they could still crawl, death was just a matter of time.

The lone survivor was the most peripheral Evil Ghost Elite, who timely dodged the second slash, only to turn around and find his companions sliced into two segments, with red and yellow organs spilling from the wounds, gruesome like a slaughterhouse, leaving him the sole survivor. Like waking up from a nightmare, he suddenly yelled and turned to flee.

Yan Qing was taken aback; they could actually run and be frightened? He thought these guys were akin to speed bumps, boldly resisting Bingzi Pepper Forest, but surprise aside, Yan Qing didn’t intend to let this lone survivor go: "Take him down."

Ye Si, Jiang Shi, and the Rabbit Heroine rushed forward upon hearing the command, and Gai Louxian and Bu Liuguzhen, who couldn’t intervene before, also charged up, five against one, even with the counter-attack ability, the Evil Ghost Elite could only provide amusement.

"Prince... Prince... Prince Jun!"

Everyone looked over and noticed, at some point, a noble young lady in a blue brocade robe stood at the front hall entrance. The Evil Ghost Elite was rushing over to join her, their hoarse voice filled with delight: "Hurry, the enemies are strong, let’s block the entrance!"

Gai Lou’s expression changed; he was well aware of the Marquis of Lecheng County’s power, and with so many Evil Ghost Elites outside, if they were to block the Secret Realm entrance under her command, they’d be trapped like fish in a barrel, with no escape—

Clang!

The clear and melodic sword sound soothed the unrest within the Secret Realm.

The Evil Ghost Elite fell to the ground, their mask shattered, a shallow bloodline appearing on their forehead, evidently pierced straight through the head, passing instantly without a trace of pain.

Ying Rushi sheathed the Gui Cang Secret Sword, as for her Heaven-Swaying Sword, it was already stored into the Storage Ring upon spotting the Yellow Dog.

"We," she gazed at everyone, saying, "need to have a talk."