35: Chapter 34: His attempt to outwit his opponent failed, and everyone condemned him!

Six black-purple venomous vines, twice as thick as before, burst out from the ground, wrapping around Lin Mo's waist, abdomen, and neck like giant pythons.

The surface of the vines seeped with pungent green mucus, corroding the sand and stones on the ground and emitting a harsh hissing sound.

- 0! - 0! [Block effective, Talent XP + 40000!] [You have been afflicted with neuroparalytic toxin; you will be unable to move for 0 seconds!]

A pale golden waterfall of data washed frantically across Lin Mo's retina.

He gritted his teeth hard, forcing his expression—which was so pleasurable he was about to laugh out loud—into a wail of extreme agony: "It hurts! It hurts so much! Two brothers, let's talk this over! Whatever the bounty is, I'll pay double!"

A hundred meters away, there was finally movement behind the sand dune.

"Are you sure he's only level thirty?" A ranger wearing a tattered white hood held a crystal longbow, his eyes full of suspicion.

Standing beside him was a mage in black robes, holding a piece of withered wooden staff in his hand.

"Nonsense, the intel clearly states he's a Blank Slate Warrior."

The mage's tone was extremely cold as he tapped his staff on the ground again, "But that assassin from the Zhang family died earlier, so we can't be careless. This kid probably has some trump card from the Alliance."

The ranger nodded. The two looked at each other, still not stepping forward.

"Let's add a few more safety measures."

The ranger pinched three armor-piercing arrows with [Tendon Severing] effects, pulling the bowstring to the max instantly.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The three arrows were fired simultaneously, pinning Lin Mo's wrists and right knee respectively.

The mage followed closely, throwing out a parchment scroll emitting a pale yellow light. [Gravity Swamp]!

The area where Lin Mo lay collapsed instantly, mud churning as a threefold gravity field pressed down on his body, dragging him deep into the mud pit.

This time, it was Lin Mo who was speechless.

Big brothers, I'm just a 30-level rookie right now, not some big boss, okay? Is it really necessary to use so many crowd control skills from a hundred meters away?

Fortunately, the control duration was 0 for all of them.

Currently, Lin Mo's Berserk skill had increased his tenacity to 229.5%. This meant that if he were hit by a 5-second control skill, the duration would be reduced by 11.5 seconds first, and there would still be some left over...

"Ah—my hands are numb!" Lin Mo screamed at the top of his lungs, his voice filled with tremors and despair.

At the edge of the Gravity Swamp, the mage and the ranger finally walked into view side by side.

They moved in an extremely erratic route, maintaining a five-meter distance between them at all times. This was the perfect tactical positioning that allowed for mutual cover at any moment while avoiding being wiped out by group crowd control skills.

"Look at his pathetic state." The ranger-dressed professional sneered, "How on earth did that trash from the Zhang family get counter-killed by this guy? I wouldn't even glance at such garbage when I was hunting in the tribe at five years old."

"After all, they are all greenhouse flowers raised by the Alliance. Once they encounter a life-or-death situation, they turn into a puddle of mud." The mage replied coldly, "Those people actually offered a bounty of one billion for a live capture; it's practically giving us free money."

"If we had known, we shouldn't have accepted the skinning mission from the Nine Nether Temple."

Nine Nether Temple?

Lin Mo, lying in the mud pit, captured this strange term. He made a note of it. He would have to ask Qin Lan later what kind of shady villain organization this was.

Seven meters away. The two stopped. This distance was just outside the maximum range of the warrior's universal skill [Charge]. This absurd level of caution made Lin Mo deeply realize the value of a hell-level dungeon. None of these mercenaries who licked blood for a living were fools.

"Kid, stop screaming." The mage raised his staff, the tip pointing directly at Lin Mo's brow, where a cluster of highly concentrated corrosive green light was rapidly condensing, "We've decided to take your skin."

"Don't worry, I'm a professional at peeling bark. I guarantee you'll be able to watch your own skin being peeled off while remaining conscious for an hour."

The ranger also lowered his longbow and drew a bone-carving dagger from his waist: "Confirm he is unable to move, then act quickly. The people from Zhang Ling's side will probably be here soon; don't let them snatch him away."

Now is the time.

Lin Mo's wailing stopped abruptly. The terror and pain on his face vanished instantly, replaced by an extremely calm, even slightly bored smile.

Because his expression changed so abruptly, the mage and the ranger's movements instinctively paused for a tenth of a second. This was the sixth sense of those who had experienced countless life-and-death battles screaming a warning!

"Retreat!" The ranger's pupils contracted violently, his short dagger protecting his chest as he retreated backwards without hesitation.

Too late.

The Berserk power within Lin Mo was completely unleashed at this moment without reservation.

Boom!

The Gravity Swamp was detonated from the bottom as if by ten tons of explosives, sending mud flying a dozen meters into the air. The venomous vines that had been wrapping around Lin Mo like giant pythons, along with the frozen ice, didn't even last half a breath before instantly shattering into pieces!

Lin Mo didn't use any dash skills at all. Uh... actually, he didn't have any dash skills... He purely relied on the terrifying explosive power brought by his over eight thousand points of strength to stomp hard on the ground. The rock layer beneath his feet was directly stomped into two half-meter-deep spiderweb-like craters. He shot out like a heavy artillery shell, instantly tearing through seven meters of air with a piercing sonic boom, appearing right in front of the mage!

"What?!" The mage only had time to utter these two words.

The corrosive green light condensing at the tip of his staff hadn't even had time to fire before Lin Mo's long, clean, white palm had already bypassed the staff and gripped his cheek. His five fingers contracted violently like a hydraulic jack!

"Help..."

Bang!

The mage was not known for defense or speed, and in this situation, he hadn't even managed to activate his magic shield. Lin Mo's right-hand longsword swept horizontally, heading straight for the mage's neck. The movement was clean, without any superfluous techniques. If this sword struck true, this unknown mage would certainly be decapitated!

Just as the sharp blade was about to slice through the mage's throat, a wooden cross hanging on the mage's chest suddenly shattered. A blinding dark golden light instantly enveloped his entire body.

Clang!

Lin Mo's longsword struck the light as if it had hit some irresistible rule of the world, and the huge counter-shock force made even Lin Mo's wrist slightly numb.

"What the hell?"

A Substitute Divine Wood! This was a top-tier life-saving treasure that was priceless and in high demand on the black market! In the next second, the mage's body turned into countless dancing withered leaves. And a long-rotted skeleton a hundred meters away instantly transformed into the mage's appearance.

"Pfft—!" As soon as the mage swapped positions and landed, he spat out a large mouthful of blood mixed with bits of internal organs, his face ashen. The right side of his facial bone had already been crushed halfway by Lin Mo. If the substitute item hadn't triggered quickly, he would have been a headless corpse by now.

"Substitution Jutsu? This item is really high-end." Lin Mo didn't cross the hundred meters to pursue, but instead turned to look at the ranger less than ten meters away on the other side. This ranger's reaction was truly superb.