Chapter 371 - Compact Dirt

The array dissolved along with the blinding white light. Everything within it had been consecrated. Only three figures remained standing: Lie Guang, Han Wu, and the assassin leader.

The leader, a God like Lie Guang, had known he could not withstand the force of Smite. In a desperate gambit, he found a way to endure it. He sacrificed his six underlings, draining their blood to empower himself. Their deaths weighed on him, but the infusion allowed him to survive Smite, though his heart throbbed with guilt and pain.

Meanwhile, Han Wu had relied on Black Dragon King Transformation to resist the attack. The Skill had fortified his body against elemental damage, and combined with the Dark Energy from his Dark Locust Armor, he endured Smite without faltering.

Lie Guang was visibly drained. Smite was his most powerful Skill and had sapped every ounce of his energy and stamina. His armor dissipated, leaving him exposed in his human form before Han Wu and the leader.

The leader was badly injured but far from as weak as Lie Guang.

“

Hehe,

I am the victor!” he gloated, changed into his Blood Panther form, and slowly advanced toward Lie Guang. He intended to kill him first to prevent any more mishaps.

Lie Guang tried to run but he couldn’t. He was utterly powerless, a man stripped of all defense. Desperation filled his gaze as he looked to Han Wu and silently pleaded for salvation.

Han Wu turned his head, pretending not to see him.

Bullshit. You tried to kill me with Smite too.

Lie Guang’s panic escalated. “Envoy, I am a God of the Armor Civilization! You must save me!”

Han Wu remained indifferent, acting deaf. Lie Guang’s voice grew frantic. “My father is Ban Tu! You have to help me for his sake!”

Han Wu yawned, unshaken.

The leader loomed over Lie Guang. With a swipe of his massive paw, he growled, “Stop wasting your breath and die!”

Lie Guang closed his eyes in despair, and memories of his life flashed before him. He remembered being raised solely by his mother, only to lose her to illness before he could awaken his armor. Later, he awakened his Light Armor and joined Ban Tu’s team. As he grew stronger, he accidentally discovered that Ban Tu was his father.

Ban Tu had fathered him during a drunken affair and abandoned both him and his mother. That betrayal turned his respect into burning hatred. He swore he would grow strong enough to avenge his mother’s death and defeat Ban Tu.

Memories raced through his mind, yet the killing blow had not come. He opened his eyes in disbelief. Two beautiful figures restrained the leader on either side.

Qin Shuang and Jing Jing had arrived. Jing Jing pinned the leader to prevent him from moving while Qin Shuang unleashed a continuous surge of electricity to paralyze him. Han Wu strolled casually forward and formed a locust with Dark Devour, which tore into the leader.

Soon, the locust reduced the leader to nothing, bones and all. Han Wu absorbed the released energy and reached the threshold to upgrade his armor once more. Black matter seeped from the armor and enveloped him in a dark cocoon. Qin Shuang and Jing Jing stood vigil beside it.

Lie Guang exhaled in relief. He had survived. Free from immediate danger, his gaze lingered on Jing Jing and Qin Shuang, and desire stirred within him.

Han Wu was occupied with his upgrade, and Ban Tu was absent. Lie Guang assumed this was his opportunity.

“Envoys, I don’t have much strength left. Could you carry me back to base?” he said, feigning weakness to earn their pity.

Unfortunately, he had chosen the wrong tactic. Jing Jing and Qin Shuang were not easily swayed. Seeing that Lie Guang was still being obnoxious, Jing Jing fired a Bone Bullet at the ground just in front of him. With her armor upgraded to the Earth grade, her Bone Bullet now had the power to blast a massive crater.

Lie Guang, still too weak to resist, tumbled into the crater and couldn’t crawl out. He shouted for help, hoping the two would pull him up, but they ignored him and waited by Han Wu’s side for his armor upgrade to finish. Left with no other option, Lie Guang had to rest in the crater and wait for his energy to recover. He swore aloud that he would make the two girls beg for mercy once he regained his strength.

Jing Jing, a bloodthirsty skeleton by nature, quickly lost patience. She began firing Bone Bullets around the crater, sending dirt flying into the air before it rained down into the hole. She didn’t stop until the crater, with Lie Guang trapped inside, was completely filled. She had buried him alive.

Lie Guang was strong enough to survive being buried for some time, but without light deep underground, his energy couldn’t recover quickly.

After he was entombed, silence finally settled over the area.

Han Wu’s black cocoon cracked open twenty-four hours later. He emerged, and his eyes lit up with happiness as he looked at the two girls.

Qin Shuang was the first to congratulate him. “Han Wu, congratulations on upgrading your armor to the Earth grade.”

Jing Jing’s expression tightened with jealousy. She had wanted to be first, but Qin Shuang had beaten her to it.

Han Wu smiled warmly. “Thank you both for protecting me.”

With his armor upgraded, his strength had grown again. He was certain he would no longer feel powerless like the last time Lie Guang had used Smite. Still, to become fully immune to Lie Guang’s Smite and other high-level Skills, he would need to upgrade his armor to the Heaven grade as soon as possible.

As he spoke, his eyes wandered, and he noticed a strange mound. Confusion flickered across his face—he didn’t remember it being there before.

Qin Shuang chuckled. “Stop staring. We buried Lie Guang down there.”

Jing Jing nodded. “He got a little too impudent with me.”

Han Wu frowned, stepped toward the mound, and opened the gate to his divine realm. He summoned his locusts and instructed one in particular to fetch a shovel from his realm.

Qin Shuang blinked, puzzled. “Han Wu, what are you doing? Are you digging that bastard up?”

Han Wu shook his head and offered a calm, confident answer. “No, I’m just making sure the dirt is properly compacted.”