20: Those favored by the gods

Five minutes ago.

East City Contaminated Zone.

A Rank 38 Heavy Shield Guard, having used up his skills, cast aside his cumbersome heavy shield and raised his blade to hack with all his might using basic attacks, completely disregarding his own defense.

"Xiao Lan, the God Descent Cult thieves are numerous. Old Liu, Old Ma, and I will hold them off. You go quickly and call for the Great Wall Guard Army's help!"

The steel blade sliced into a body, and hot blood splashed across his face.

But he didn't care at all. The blade in his hand swung faster and more urgently. He vaguely heard some shouting, but it seemed to be separated by a thick layer of glass, making it impossible to hear clearly.

It didn't matter!

Kill!

Exerting every last bit of his broken body, no regrets until death!

He was kicked in the right waist. A God Descent Cult member hugged his body, trying to use their life to stall his offensive pace.

Don't even think about it!

Kill, kill, kill!

In my, Hu Yong's, life, I would rather die than fail to stop the enemy and help my teammates retreat!

I am a Heavy Shield Guard. As long as I haven't died, I won't let my teammates get hurt.

Kill!

He stabbed his blade into a body lunging at him and kicked it away. With a flourish of the blade, he reversed his grip and stabbed the person behind him.

Another one dead!

"Hahaha, you God Descent Cult rebels! I, Hu Yong, have killed three in a row. Even if I die, it's no loss! Hahaha..."

Hu Yong was laughing loudly and was about to continue his charge when a playful voice suddenly sounded in his ear: "Oh, is that so?"

An ominous premonition surfaced in his heart. The scene before him shattered, and the tragic battlefield reappeared.

Old Ma was dead behind him; Old Liu had been cut into two; Xiao Lan had been stabbed through the heart... this scene was so familiar!

An illusion, it must be an illusion!

Hu Yong stood dazed on the spot, unable to believe that the God Descent Cult scum he had just killed had actually been his teammates.

He rubbed his eyes vigorously with both hands, but the image before him didn't change at all.

"It's you, you bastards from the God Descent Cult! I'm going to kill you!"

Hu Yong was filled with grief and indignation, tears in his eyes. He raised his blade and was about to charge again when he heard a deep, magnetic voice speak.

"Don't be in such a hurry. First, tell me who harmed my God Descent Cult's Spirit Array Master?"

Hu Yong was full of rage, yet he felt the voice before him was incredibly gentle, capable of smoothing over all pain.

His expression became calm—or more accurately, vacant, like a puppet that had lost its sanity—as he answered truthfully: "I don't know."

"You don't even know that? Then kill yourself!" The magnetic voice rang out again.

"Alright!" Hu Yong gripped his blade and pulled hard, and a head flew up.

The God Descent Cult members danced with joy, praising one after another: "Lord Protector's strength is matchless! As long as we clear out all the professionals in the three Contaminated Zones, we will surely be able to avenge Great Master Xie."

"Revenge! Revenge!"

"These ignorant people really deserve to die; they don't even know the painstaking efforts of our Holy Cult..."

Mind Controller, A-rank raised his hand, and everyone immediately stopped.

He then nodded with satisfaction: "Split up and continue searching. We must slaughter every professional here! Wait, a Mind Link fluctuation... someone is spying on us..."

Pursue!

After Mind Controller, A-rank finished speaking, he waved his right hand, and a giant bird appeared beneath everyone's feet.

The crowd took it as normal and sat in their respective positions.

The giant bird spread its wings and quickly closed in on Xu Le's direction... On the other side.

The signal point was approaching rapidly, clearly heading this way.

Xu Le took out a Directional Teleportation Talisman and held it in his hand, thinking that if a conflict broke out and he couldn't win, he would run.

With his number of teleportation talismans, it was enough to escape to a safe area.

In less than two minutes, a giant bird carrying nine people landed, intercepting him in front.

With just one look at the black robes worn by the nine people, identical to those of the God Descent Cult followers, Xu Le knew their identities.

Mind Controller, A-rank curled the corners of his mouth, wearing a kind and friendly expression.

Xu Le activated "Divine Eye," and his information surfaced.

[Name] Mind Controller, A-rank

[Age] 42

[Class] Psychic (A-Rank)

[Rank] 60

[Talent] Spiritual Sense, God-Blessed

[HP] 14650/14650

[MP] 16080/18080

[Strength] 105

[Agility] 105

[Physique] 265

[Spirit] 1008

[Skills] Mind Capture, Heart-Confusing Art, Focusing Art, Mind-Awakening Art, Mind Link, Heart-Illusion Art... "His health is this high?"

Xu Le continued looking down and found that besides his equipment, the [God-Blessed] talent not only gave him an additional 8,000 HP and MP but also increased his skill power by 50%. It was no exaggeration to call it terrifying indeed.

"Young man, what are you looking at?"

Mind Controller, A-rank's voice was deep and magnetic. In the darkness, there seemed to be a power trying to pull out Xu Le's mind and subject him to hypnosis.

However, Xu Le possessed the Divine Body trait; unless it was a Divine-Grade attack, he could reduce damage by 99.99%. In just a blink, all the discomfort disappeared.

In his heart, however, he couldn't help but gain a bit more understanding of these people.

Just one look, and he immediately used "Mind Capture." Truly a Cultist.

"Oh, interesting!"

"To actually be able to break free from my Mind Capture!"

While Mind Controller, A-rank said it was interesting, a hint of murderous intent spread across his face as he directly cast "Heart-Illusion Art."

The scene before Xu Le's eyes changed; the surroundings were all a hazy grey, and two figures, one black and one white, walked over from the distance.

Both held Soul-Hooking Chains, and on their tall hats were written "Fortune at First Sight" and "Peace Under Heaven" respectively.

The Black and White Impermanence?

Too fake!

With a thought from Xu Le, the illusion before his eyes vanished.

Mind Controller, A-rank's expression remained normal as he praised loudly: "I didn't expect to find someone with such high Spirit attributes here, able to break free even from the Heart-Illusion Art."

"Good, good, good. Are you willing to join my Holy Cult and save the ignorant masses?"

"Social dregs, not even a dog would join you!" Xu Le spat.

He calculated in his heart: the leader is an A-Rank professional, gaining 20 attribute points per Rank. Although he is already Rank 60, every one of his attributes is far inferior to his own. He can fight!

Stowing away the Directional Teleportation Talisman, he blasted a "Mental Shock" onto Mind Controller, A-rank.

Now that he was Rank 30, his Spirit attribute was 3010 points, and the damage dealt was 4 × (3010 - 1008).

-8008.

A bright red number floated up from Mind Controller, A-rank's head, and the other Cultists were startled.

Such terrifying damage would make anyone's heart go cold.

After all, they weren't God-Blessed and didn't have such terrifying amounts of health.

Even Mind Controller, A-rank, seeing his health bar nearly empty, felt his "Dao Heart" somewhat shattered.

Too terrifying!

Xu Le didn't care about them. Having succeeded with one strike, he immediately released his three contracted beasts.

Little Yellow Chicken spread its wings and flew high into the sky. With a shake of its body, nine identical Clones appeared, and it immediately cast "Meteor Fire Rain," bathing everyone in a sea of fire.

At the same time, Little Dog let out a roar, and over a hundred Clones appeared, charging towards the nine people.

On one of the Clones, a little snake the thickness of a chopstick was clinging, unnoticed by anyone.

Little Dog roared again, and "Exhilarating Roar" took effect. The four basic attributes of all contracted beasts present, including Xu Le himself, increased by 20%.

Little Yellow Chicken and Little Black Snake looked back in shock, and Little Dog gave a fawning smile before slipping behind... Xu Le's back while they weren't looking.

Looking at the densely packed contracted beasts charging over, the Cultists' expressions changed. For a moment, they couldn't tell if they were surrounding Xu Le or being surrounded by Xu Le alone.

However, they had cooperated for many years and had plenty of combat experience; though panicked, they weren't in chaos.

The Priest in the team immediately raised a Group Shield for everyone, followed by a "Purify" to clear Mind Controller, A-rank's stunned state.

Without needing Mind Controller, A-rank's orders, they reacted instantly based on years of experience.

The front row raised shields and charged, while the long-range attackers followed behind, throwing out various skills haphazardly.

Their goal was to swarm forward and kill the "weak" Contractor, causing all the contracted beasts to perish on their own.

The Assassin in the team grinned, activated an invisibility skill, and vanished into the air.

Then he used the "Assault" skill and crept toward Xu Le.

"A mere Contractor, even at Rank 99, can be wiped out with one blade."

Xu Le mocked silently. The body could turn invisible, but the mind could not.

Under the detection of the Mind Link, that person was continuously emitting signals.

He commanded the three fastest dogs to bite at the air. With just one bite, it was over a thousand points of damage.

With the three dogs biting together, that Assassin's health bar vanished before he could even reveal himself, and he became a cold corpse.

"What terrifying attack power!"

As Mind Controller, A-rank recovered from being stunned, he saw such a brutal scene and hurriedly pulled out a Group Teleportation Scroll.