79: Chapter 79 Mr. Chen,
He channeled his magic to stabilize his body, narrowly avoiding a collision with a tree.
In the distance, the loud noise of the giant bear crashing through trees echoed in the forest, mixed with its angry roars.
"Tsk, this is trickier than I imagined."
Lin Fan landed on his feet after being knocked back nearly twenty meters and spat on the ground.
Before he knew it, the area within a ten-meter radius had turned into ruins; the grass was riddled with craters, and many trees had been blasted apart.
Lin Fan could actually end the battle instantly if he used Space Rend.
But if he did that, the giant bear's corpse and its magic core would be completely destroyed!
"I'll have to try again. If that doesn't work... I'll have no choice but to use it."
Beneath his mask, a look of determination flashed in his eyes.
His figure flickered, instantly covering dozens of meters as he chased after the giant bear.
Lin Fan appeared before the giant bear like a ghost.
The beast finally stopped after crashing into a towering tree, still unable to get up.
He could clearly see a massive, circular bloody hole in the giant bear's abdomen, caused by the energy ball.
The fur in that area had been completely burned away, the skin was charred black, and blood was slowly oozing out.
But for a magic beast of this size, this injury was clearly not fatal.
"What a tough nut to crack."
Lin Fan clicked his tongue.
The next second, his eyes suddenly turned deep purple.
Fifty brilliant purple star points emerged in rapid succession with astonishing speed.
After rising into the air, they intertwined to form two overlapping Star Arrays.
The entire process took less than a second.
The giant bear didn't even have a chance to get up.
The moment the two purple Star Arrays formed, a fierce wind arose.
Dust and dead leaves flew everywhere, shrouding Lin Fan and the giant bear as if a storm were about to descend.
"Taste the power of a Tier 4 lightning magic... Thunder Strike!"
Lin Fan pointed one hand straight at the sky.
His eyes, swirling with purple light, locked firmly onto the giant bear's only remaining eye.
The moment the incantation fell, the two Star Arrays surged into the air and expanded, easily covering a fifteen-meter radius, with a terrifying destructive pressure sweeping across a twenty-meter area.
Purple electric arcs danced wildly across the surface of the Star Arrays, and then...
Boom!
A thick bolt of purple lightning descended from the sky, illuminating the entire forest.
Bang!
The lightning was incredibly fast, striking the giant bear fiercely.
It completely engulfed the beast in purple light, causing the ground to crack and the forest to tremble.
In the blink of an eye, Lin Fan caught a glimpse of the giant bear opening its mouth.
A tiny red light shot out but was instantly swallowed by the lightning.
Violent air waves exploded in all directions.
Lin Fan's robe fluttered violently, yet he stood firmly, his raised arm motionless.
The giant bear let out a painful roar, but it was completely drowned out by the thunder.
A moment later, the Star Arrays dissipated, and everything returned to calm.
Lin Fan looked at the giant bear and was instantly stunned.
Lin Fan: "..."
He stared at the giant bear in astonishment...
This damn beast had actually withstood his magic head-on!
At this moment, one of the giant bear's paws was blocking its front, and there was a huge bloody hole in it, with bones exposed and blood dripping down.
On its chest, there was a wound that wasn't wide but was bottomless, with blood occasionally gushing out like a fountain.
Lin Fan couldn't believe it.
The giant bear had actually used its paw to take the brunt of the lightning.
Only the weakened residual force had struck its chest.
"Even so, it should have been blasted through. Just how tough is its body?"
Lin Fan was shocked.
But the next moment, he suddenly thought of something, and his eyes narrowed.
He had clearly seen it just now.
The giant bear had shot a small energy ball into the air!
After processing everything in his mind, he finally understood why the giant bear hadn't died.
It had blocked the lightning twice, combined with its incredibly tough body.
The weakened version of the lightning, which was enough to insta-kill ordinary magic beasts, had only caused it a deep wound.
For a magic beast to be able to do this was already terrifying.
"Since that's the case, I'd like to see how many paws you have to block with, and how many energy balls you can spit out. Unlike you, I don't have a cooldown on my spellcasting."
A cold smile curled the corners of Lin Fan's mouth.
The next second.
Two Star Arrays appeared in the air again, covering a large area.
The giant bear looked up, its blood-red single eye staring fixedly at Lin Fan's mask, red light surging in its eyes as if roaring:
Damn human, you're cheating!
"Thunder Strike."
Lin Fan's voice fell calmly.
Boom!
Rumble!
[Ding, task completed, gained 10 experience points!]
"Hoo..."
Thump!
The moment he saw the system notification, Lin Fan let out a long sigh of relief and slumped to the ground.
The giant bear was finally dead.
"This is the hardest battle I've fought in my life, counting both lifetimes."
He propped himself up with his hands, looked up at the sky, and panted continuously.
The sky was still bright, but the sun was already slanting to the west.
Lin Fan turned his head to look at the giant bear's corpse.
Its chest had a huge, charred hole, with no trace of blood around the wound, and residual purple electric arcs flickered from time to time.
"You are a respectable opponent; the whole time, you made me feel like my life was hanging by a thread."
Lin Fan sighed softly, acknowledging the giant bear's strength.
If anyone else had witnessed this battle, they would probably be unable to resist calling him pretentious...
Once he used Tier 4 magic, the battle was basically over.
How could he have the nerve to act like he had exhausted all his energy?
After sitting quietly for a moment.
Lin Fan got up and walked to the giant bear's corpse, placing one hand on its thick leg.
His eyes glowed with a silvery-white light, and spatial star energy condensed into two star charts behind him.
"space pouch."
The silvery-white light enveloped the giant bear's massive body.
The next moment.
The corpse and the light disappeared together, leaving behind only a giant, bear-shaped crater.
After putting the giant bear's corpse into his space pouch, Lin Fan returned to the city.
At his current speed.
The return trip only took a few minutes.
Before nightfall, there was still plenty of time.
When he arrived at the city gate.
He saw the guards surrounding someone and did not notice him immediately.
It wasn't until he got closer that the guards noticed his figure.
"It's Lord Chen!"
"Lord Chen is back, Mr. Chen, welcome back!"
"Mr. Chen, was your trip outside the city smooth?"
The guards immediately greeted him respectfully.
Lin Fan couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, feeling puzzled in his heart...
These guards' attitudes were too unusual.
Usually, they would maintain respect because of his status as an explorer and a distinguished guest of the Alliance, but they had never been this enthusiastic.
Just then.
A man pushed past the guards and rushed toward him, and the others hurriedly tried to stop him.
They were afraid that this man's recklessness would anger Mr. Chen and wanted to pull him back.
But the man broke free from the obstruction, ran straight to Lin Fan, and fell to his knees with a thud.
"I beg you, save me! Mr. Chen, I beg you, save her!"
The man looked up at Lin Fan's mask, his face covered in tears, his expression full of pleading, his eyes red.
Lin Fan looked at this person and recognized him.
This was one of the guards who had been stationed at the city gate the first time he entered the city.
He had seen him a few times and had a fairly good impression of him.
Looking at the man's attire.
Plus the fact that he hadn't seen him in the guard squad earlier, Lin Fan guessed that he wasn't on duty today and had come specifically to find him.