68: Chapter 68 Don't come any closer!

Chaotic Stars.

One thought arises, and the galaxy is in chaos.

As Chen You formed a sword seal with his left hand, the spiritual power within his body surged violently into the ascension dao sword, like a sluice gate being opened.

Buzz—!

A strange sound erupted from the sword body, one that resembled not the clash of metal, but rather the sound of space being violently torn apart.

In an instant, centered on Chen You, within a radius of about two to three meters, the air suddenly became viscous and distorted.

Countless wisps of sword qi, visible to the naked eye and as fine as starlight, spontaneously materialized. They moved without pattern, without trajectory, frantically circling, piercing, and slicing around him!

This area instantly transformed into an absolute slaughter domain!

Though described as seven strands of sword qi, they looked more like millions of fireflies flickering.

Or like a dense expanse of stars.

"Kill!"

The skeleton soldiers in the front rank had the soul fire in their eye sockets flickering violently.

They raised their decaying long spears and shields, charging forward fearlessly.

However, the moment they stepped into that starlight domain, it was as if they had stepped into a high-speed meat grinder.

"Crack! Crack, crack, crack—!"

A continuous barrage of dense, grating sounds of shattering bone filled the air.

There were no screams, no resistance.

The LV10 undead soldiers, whether it was the tattered armor on their bodies or their once-proud skeletal frames,

The instant they contacted those fine sword qi, they were instantly sliced, decomposed, and crushed!

Without even holding out for a second, the dozens of skeleton soldiers in the front row dissolved into plumes of flying bone fragments.

[ - 1620! ]

[ - 1710! ]

[ - 1650! ]

...

A continuous stream of dense damage numbers obscured the view.

Awesome!

This was the thrill of area-of-effect attacks!

It was completely different from the single-target burst damage of 'Startling Swan'!

This wasn't clearing mobs... No... This was mowing down grass!

However, the smile on Chen You's lips froze slightly the moment it appeared.

Where the skeleton soldiers had been shredded by the sword qi, the wisps of ghostly blue soul fire had not extinguished.

Instead, they seemed to be drawn by some invisible force, reassembling.

On the ground, the scattered bone fragments mixed with dust began to writhe violently, visibly reforming and reshaping!

In just two or three seconds, brand new skeleton soldiers shakily stood up again, raising their long spears once more and locking onto Chen You.

Resurrection?

Chen You raised an eyebrow.

So that's it. This monster has a resurrection talent; every single one needs to be killed twice.

For an ordinary small team, this was undoubtedly a nightmare.

After finally defeating one, just as they shifted focus, it stood up again.

It was enough to completely drain a team's mana reserves and shatter their morale.

"A little interesting."

Chen You was not annoyed; instead, a trace of excitement flashed in his eyes.

Kill twice?

It made no difference!

With a thought, he maintained the 'Chaotic Stars' sword formation and stood rooted to the spot, unmoving.

The subsequent skeleton horde surged forward as if driven mad.

Then, a scene that would make any player's scalp tingle appeared.

Charge, touch the sword formation, shatter.

Soul fire condenses, bone dust reshapes, resurrect.

Charge again, touch the sword formation again, shatter again.

The entire process formed a perfect closed loop.

Chen You stood at the center of the storm, surrounded by swirling starlight sword qi, resembling a deity.

He didn't need to do anything; he only needed to maintain the output of his spiritual power.

The undead army before him was trapped in an infinite cycle of charging, dying, resurrecting, and dying again.

Just as Chen You was savoring the thrill of gaining experience points, a white figure, riding a majestic white tiger, finally galloped in from the direction of the valley entrance.

It was Yue Ying.

She had chased after Chen You, her heart filled with apprehension and anticipation.

The Guild Master was actually accepted as a friend!

What did that imply?

It implied that this man named 'Chen You' wasn't impossible to persuade; he just had a very high standard!

And now, he was tackling the guild's prerequisite quest alone—this was the perfect opportunity for her to show what she could do!

However, when she rounded a massive boulder and saw the scene at the center of the Echo Valley battlefield, she froze completely on the tiger's back.

What did she see?

A mountain of corpses and a sea of bones?

No, something even more terrifying!

It was a storm of death composed entirely of sword qi!

Countless skeleton soldiers were fearlessly charging into that storm, only to be torn to shreds, then bizarrely resurrecting, only to be crushed again.

And at the very center of that storm stood a figure clad in a magnificent Daoist robe.

He held a single sword, its body dotted with starlight.

He stood there, and by his mere presence, the hundreds of thousands of undead soldiers could not approach him by even an inch!

It was him!

Chen You!

Yue Ying's breathing nearly stopped at that moment.

Her mind went completely blank.

This was... his strength?

No need for maneuvering, no need for blocking, no need for any technique...

Just standing there created an absolute domain.

Was this... reasonable?

This was a completely different kind of shock compared to when he used Exorcism Talismans to smash the BOSS in the dungeon!

While 'Money Power' was outrageous, it was at least within the scope of understanding.

But the scene before her completely surpassed her understanding of the Source Realm!

"Gulp."

Yue Ying swallowed hard, forcing herself to calm down.

She couldn't be scared off!

The more powerful he was, the greater the value of cooperation!

Since he had already accepted the Guild Master's friend request, that meant...

Was he considered an ally now?

If she went up now to help, even if it was just dealing with a few stragglers on the periphery, it would be a demonstration of her attitude!

A signal of friendliness!

With that thought, Yue Ying took a deep breath, leaped down from the tiger's back, and shouted toward the figure at the center of the storm:

"Chen You! Let me help you!"

Her voice was clear and full of energy.

However, the moment her words fell...

The back that had been standing still like a statue suddenly jolted.

Chen You, who was immersed in the pleasure of soaring experience points, nearly messed up his sword seal upon hearing that shout.

Who?

Who was speaking?

He glanced sideways and saw the Elven girl riding the white tiger.

Yue Ying?

Why did she follow him here?

The next second, Chen You's hair nearly stood on end.

Help him?

No way, man! My 'Chaotic Stars' is indiscriminate area-of-effect damage!

This thing doesn't have an enemy/ally identification system!

If you rush in and graze my sword qi, the system will judge that I attacked you first, and my newbie protection period will be instantly gone!

Worse, you might be instantly killed by me!

In an instant, countless thoughts flashed through Chen You's mind, condensing into a single, soul-deep cry:

Don't you come over!

"Stop right there!"

A cold, urgent low shout came from within the sword qi storm, carrying unquestionable authority.

"Don't come closer!"

Yue Ying, who was just about to step forward, stopped abruptly, and the whole person froze.

She... was rejected again?

And with such a... nearly scolding tone?

A wave of immense grievance and shame instantly surged into her heart.

She was trying to help out of goodwill; even if he didn't need it, did he have to use that kind of attitude?

However, when she raised her head and met Chen You's turned profile, that sense of grievance instantly solidified.

What an ice-cold face that was.

Without the slightest trace of emotion, his gaze was as sharp as a knife, as if looking any longer would pierce her very soul.

He wasn't looking at her at all; his gaze was fixed on the endless undead surrounding him.

Yue Ying's heart sank suddenly.

She suddenly understood.

He wasn't scolding her.

He was... protecting her!

That's right!

Look at that violent storm of sword qi, look at those skeletons instantly ground to dust!

Was that kind of battlefield somewhere she could step into?

If she rashly charged forward, not only would she be unable to help, but she would become a burden to him, distracting him!

His 'Don't come closer' wasn't rejection; it was a warning!

A reminder!

He was just... not good at expressing himself.

He used the coldest tone to speak the gentlest words.

Once she understood this, Yue Ying not only lost all resentment but felt a warm current surge in her heart, her cheeks flushing slightly.

So... he wasn't entirely unreasonable after all.

Looking at the back that stood unyielding amidst the monster horde, Yue Ying's expression became increasingly complex.

Meanwhile, Chen You, at the center of the storm, noticed Yue Ying stop her steps and finally breathed a sigh of relief internally.

My dear lady, you finally got scared off.