Chapter 317: Do or Die

Han Xiao's eyes were filled with madness as his entire being merged with the spear, transforming into a stream of light that pierced through everything, aiming straight for the gaping, grievously wounded hole in the monster's chest.This was a do-or-die strike!

Ling Shuang let out a clear cry. The light wings on her back suddenly ignited, transforming into the purest essence of ice energy.

Countless ice-blue rays of light condensed before her into a longsword no more than three feet in length. She grasped the hilt with both hands, her body moving with the sword as it shot straight for the point between the monster's two remaining snake heads.

The Three-Headed Shadow Viper Scorpion also sensed the lethal crisis. The dark energy surrounding its body boiled up like a final flare of life.

This was the moment.

Su Zhan's speed surpassed the limits of his current state. He compressed all his remaining power into his scaled left claw, forming a blade of dark energy.

"Shhh!"

The dark blade struck the monster at the exact same moment the ice-crystal longsword pierced its head.

It was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Pfft—!"

"BOOM—!!!"

A massive explosion erupted.

Han Xiao's spear radiance also blasted into the monster's chest and head simultaneously.

Under the assault from both inside and out.

The Three-Headed Shadow Viper Scorpion's colossal body swelled up violently as if being inflated, before completely shattering apart with an earth-shattering roar.

Countless shell fragments, flesh, venom...

Mixed with a violent shockwave of energy.

Swept outwards in a frenzy.

Han Xiao and Ling Shuang, being the first in line, were violently blasted away by the point-blank explosion. They were sent flying through the air, spurting blood wildly before crashing heavily against a distant rock wall, their fate unknown.

Su Zhan had anticipated it and retreated backwards urgently, yet was still grazed by the edge of the blast, adding fresh injuries to his already severely wounded body.

But a ferocious smile spread across his blood-stained face.

In his perception, a vast, ocean-like torrent of pure Life Essence was madly surging into his body from the center of the monster's self-destruction, like a hundred rivers returning to the sea.

Because he had delivered the final blow.

His participation rate in this Special-risk level monster's death had reached an extremely high proportion.

Excruciating pain and the torrential rush of energy struck simultaneously.

His body felt as if it were being torn apart and reassembled.

The festering wound on his left shoulder was healing at a rapid pace.

The shattered bones in his back were knitting back together.

The depleted power within him, like a long drought meeting sweet rain, broke through that solid barrier.

An aura far more powerful than High-risk peak suddenly erupted from within Su Zhan.

The tattered clothes covering him were instantly pulverized into dust by this power, revealing the body beneath, now covered in pitch-black scales.

A faint, dark red light seemed to flow between the gaps of those scales.

Special-risk level!

First tier!

Su Zhan had successfully broken through.

With the help of the massive Life Essence from that Special-risk third tier Shadow Viper Scorpion, he had stepped into this brand new realm in one leap!

The changes did not stop.

As his realm broke through, the Aberrant essence within his body seemed to be further activated.

A scorching energy, filled with a desire for destruction, was born out of thin air at the location of his heart and rapidly flowed throughout his entire body.

Su Zhan raised his right hand and opened his palm.

"Whoosh—!"

A cluster of dark red flame ignited in his palm.

The flame was not bright, somewhat dim, but its core displayed a dark red that seemed capable of devouring light.

It lacked the warmth of ordinary fire, emitting an aura of destruction. The surrounding air began to warp slightly the moment this flame appeared.

Flame of Destruction...

A name naturally surfaced in his mind.

This was the new ability he had awakened upon stepping into the Special-risk level.

Su Zhan focused his mind slightly. The dark red flame in his palm abruptly contracted, condensing into a seed of fire the size of a walnut, the destructive power contained within it becoming even more concentrated.

With another thought, the fire seed transformed into a slender thread of flame, winding around his fingertip, responding to his will as if it were an extension of his own limb.

Su Zhan slowly stood up.

The injuries on his body had already healed.

Han Xiao, leaning on his Blazing Plains Blood Spear, barely managed to stand upright. Blood still stained the corner of his mouth, his aura was chaotic, and his consumption was immense.

Ling Shuang wiped the blood from her lips, her ice-crystal light wings retracting, her face pale.

The two of them looked at Su Zhan, their eyes filled with shock and suspicion.

"Chen Qing!"

Han Xiao's voice was hoarse. "Why... why did you attack just now?"

This was far too illogical.

Su Zhan was their target of pursuit. He and this Special-risk level Mist Creature should have been completely unrelated parties. One could even say he and this Mist Creature were on the same side.

He could have completely sat back and watched the tigers fight, waiting for them to mutually weaken each other before seizing an opportunity to escape, or even ambush them.

Yet he chose to take a huge risk and attack at the most critical moment, helping them kill that monster?

Saving the enemy, striking a blow against your own side?

This made no sense at all!

Ling Shuang's gaze swept over the spot where the monster's corpse originally was. It was empty, not even a drop of blood remained.

"Where is its corpse?"

Ling Shuang's voice was icy. "What did you do?"

Su Zhan's heart stirred slightly.

They didn't see the white Life Essence? Only he could see it?

This discovery surprised him and filled him with relief.

It seemed the process of absorbing Life Essence, in the eyes of outsiders, might just appear as the monster's corpse dissipating.

But Han Xiao and Ling Shuang were not fools.

The bizarre disappearance of the monster's corpse, coupled with Su Zhan's illogical assistance earlier, and his now obviously recovered, even stronger state... connecting all these dots...

Han Xiao's pupils suddenly contracted, his gaze fixed intently on Su Zhan. "You can... absorb the power of Mist Creatures!?"

Ling Shuang's chilling aura surged violently around her. "Is this the reason you summoned the Mist in the Uninhabited Zone? Is this the secret behind your rapid increase in strength!?"

Su Zhan looked at them silently, his eyes calm.

His greatest secret had already been guessed seven or eight out of ten by them.

Once this secret was leaked, what he would face would not merely be pursuit from the Aberrant Purge Division and the Transcendence Society, but the complete, at-all-costs eradication from the entire nation of Daxia, and potentially all human forces!

Killing intent flooded Su Zhan's heart.

Su Zhan slowly raised his hand. The dark red Flame of Destruction ignited once more in his palm, its annihilating aura causing the surrounding temperature to plummet abruptly.

"It seems..."

Su Zhan's voice was terrifyingly calm. "Only one side between us can survive."

Han Xiao and Ling Shuang's expressions changed drastically.

The two of them forcefully mustered their remaining power. Spear intent and freezing aura rose once more!

"Want to silence us? I'm afraid you don't have the capability!"

Han Xiao roared angrily. Even though his stamina was only at forty percent, his fighting spirit remained undiminished.

Ling Shuang's ice-crystal light wings spread open again, countless ice feathers gathering, poised to strike.

Negotiations had broken down. Only a fight to the death remained!

Having stepped into the Special-risk level, Su Zhan's power, speed, and control over energy far surpassed his previous High-risk peak state.

Not to mention he now commanded the destructive dark red flame.

Facing the Blazing Plains Blood Spear thrust by Han Xiao.

Su Zhan's right hand directly grabbed for the spear tip.

The dark red flame coiled around his palm.

"Clang—!"

Han Xiao only felt an immense force transmit from the spear shaft. The skin at the base of his thumb split, blood flowing freely.

At the point of contact between the spear tip and Su Zhan's palm, the dark red flame spread upwards along the spear shaft. Wherever it passed, the Spiritual Energy he had poured into it was directly incinerated.

The radiance of the spear shaft dimmed at a visible rate.

This flame was strange!