161: Sleepless Chess

The form displayed by the Serpent Stone Statue surprisingly bore some resemblance to the legendary Fuxi.

However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that the aura it emitted was exceptionally evil, an evil so profound that it rendered it incomparable to Fuxi's sacred and solemn image.

Perhaps due to some unknown reason, the Serpent Stone Statue's bloodline had mutated, continuously evolving in an unspeakable, horrifying direction.

In that instant, these complex thoughts flashed through Li Wen's mind like lightning. Yet, at this very moment, an intense battle was raging, leaving him no time for extensive contemplation.

Wumian, like a light-footed page boy, floated gracefully in the air. His bright eyes suddenly opened, and in a flash, the entire vast arena seemed to be encompassed by his gaze, transforming into a giant chessboard.

Immediately after, he began to make his moves without hesitation, one Mental Chess Piece after another, like meteors, hurtling directly towards the head of the Serpent Stone Statue on the opposite side of the arena.

It should be noted that the Serpent Stone Statue was a new pet painstakingly cultivated by that senior, and its strength naturally could not be underestimated.

Facing the fierce onslaught, it displayed astonishing speed and agility, swiftly moving from its original position.

But Wumian's wisdom was far beyond ordinary people; how could he easily employ such a meaningless feint? As expected, as the Serpent Stone Statue moved at high speed, a deadly ambush, already laid, suddenly emerged in its path.

Moreover, these were not ordinary Mental Chess Pieces, but pure, powerful masses of mental energy.

Wumian skillfully used his profound and unfathomable techniques, without actually placing pieces, to subtly arrange this terrifying mental power along the enemy's inevitable path.

No sooner said than done, with a thunderous roar, Wumian decisively activated the Mental Burst Skill, instantly detonating the deeply hidden mental energy.

For a moment, the entire battlefield was enveloped in dazzling light and deafening explosions.

Ruan Yifei was a seasoned veteran, incredibly rich in combat experience.

However, at this moment, facing the unavoidable situation before him, his eyes narrowed, and he immediately issued an order:

“Stone Skin Skill!”

As he gave the command, the Serpent Stone Statue moved with lightning speed.

In the blink of an eye, its entire body was covered by a hard, stony protective layer, donning an indestructible armor.

Not only that, the Serpent Stone Statue rapidly retreated backward, attempting to distance itself from the danger.

Due to the enhancement of multiple powerful traits, the Serpent Stone Statue's defensive power at this moment was terrifyingly formidable.

Most of the damage from the explosion was easily fended off, as if hitting a bronze wall and iron fortress, with only a slight mental impact able to penetrate the defense and cause minor effects on the Serpent Stone Statue.

Seeing the situation gradually developing in an unfavorable direction, Ruan Yifei secretly pondered countermeasures.

At this point, he knew it was meaningless to continue hiding the powerful Skill, Fissure Thrust.

So, he gritted his teeth, deciding not to hold back his strength.

However, what Ruan Yifei never expected was that Li Wen, on the opposite side, was fully aware of all the Serpent Stone Statue's Skills.

Just before the Serpent Stone Statue could launch its attack, Li Wen, controlling Wumian, once again displayed astonishing tactical prowess.

Wumian calmly continued his dazzling maneuvers, beginning to place pieces in both left and right directions.

These pieces seemed to possess some mysterious power; their placement appeared random but was in fact exquisitely clever. At a glance, it looked like a carefully laid out plan, blocking the Serpent Stone Statue's path forward.

Seeing this, Ruan Yifei knew he could not delay any longer; he had to act decisively, aiming for a one-hit kill to defeat Wumian in one fell swoop.

Because he was well aware that ghost-type pets with physical forms like Wumian were often more afraid of physical damage.

And this was precisely why Li Wen initially wanted to train Wumian to become a master of spells.

“World-Shattering Stone!”

As this soul-stirring cry rang out, guided by the commander's decisive and powerful gesture, the Serpent Stone Statue, resembling a giant python coiled around a massive rock, began to gather strength, like a flood dragon preparing to soar into the sky, leaping violently upward.

Immediately after, it crashed down to the ground with the force of a thunderbolt.

In an instant, the entire arena seemed to be shaken by this powerful impact, trembling violently.

At the same time, rolling smoke and dust, like a surging giant wave, continuously churned and swept upward, quickly obscuring people's vision completely.

However, in the very next moment, something unexpected happened.

The Serpent Stone Statue, originally hidden within the thick smoke, suddenly surged out like a phantom, executing its ultimate technique, Petrified Assault.

The snake-like parts of its body instantly petrified, becoming incredibly hard and gleaming with a cold, metallic sheen.

Accompanied by a sharp whooshing sound, it sped towards Wumian's location at an unimaginably high speed.

Just as the Serpent Stone Statue was about to collide head-on with Wumian, in the nick of time, Wumian displayed astonishing agility and reaction speed.

His figure flickered, instantly vanishing from his original spot, appearing on the Tingen position in the blink of an eye, leaving behind only a decoy to mislead the enemy.

Despite this, the decoy still took the full brunt of the Serpent Stone Statue's ferocious attack.

However, Ruan Yifei had clearly anticipated this.

Almost simultaneously, he unhesitatingly made his counter-move, decisively ordering the Serpent Stone Statue to launch an even more fierce attack—Fissure Thrust.

The Serpent Stone Statue's body plunged violently into the ground, instantly disappearing without a trace.

Immediately after, a muffled roar was heard, and the ground suddenly split open with a huge crack, sending countless rocks and soil flying.

It turned out that the Serpent Stone Statue had cleverly avoided Wumian's incredibly powerful Mental Chess Pieces, which had been released towards the decoy's position, by using its earth-burrowing technique.

Lu Chen expressed regret on behalf of Li Wen, saying.

“It's over. His pet was simply too heavily countered. The Commander rank is already far ahead of most people.”

“Mental attacks are usually invincible, but unfortunately, he encountered Petrified, a state that also affects mental attacks.”