Chapter 74 New Engraving and Secret Technique

Chapter 74: Chapter 74: New Engraving and Secret Technique

The Knight Commander was sent flying backward by the slash. Feng Yin didn’t let up. Seizing the opportunity, he crossed his steps and quickly caught up, delivering another heavy slash the moment his opponent crashed to the ground.

CLANG!

At the last possible second, the Knight Commander gripped his spear with both hands and blocked upward, barely parrying the blow.

With his life on the line, Feng Yin wasn’t about to give his foe a chance to recover. Maintaining the high ground, he unleashed a storm of high-speed slashes. In just a few breaths, the Knight Commander’s Heavy Armor was hacked to tatters, and copious amounts of dark red blood oozed from the metallic gaps.

Feng Yin swung again, finally knocking the blocking spear aside before instantly redirecting his blade to slash at the Knight Commander’s calf. These monsters possessed incredibly tenacious vitality. Unless they were decapitated, they simply couldn’t be killed in one hit. It was better to destroy their limbs first.

As if sensing the mortal danger, the Knight Commander’s body suddenly erupted with a fiery red light!

Feng Yin’s heart skipped a beat. He instantly abandoned his attack and rapidly retreated. The next instant, the Blood Flame touched the pool of blood on the ground, triggering a violent explosion. The blast launched the Knight Commander high into the air, yet, fully enveloped in the Blood Flame, he appeared completely unscathed. Mid-air, he swiftly assumed a charging stance, his spear tip aimed directly at Feng Yin, who had retreated several meters away.

"It’s coming!" Feng Yin thought. He had deliberately held back his full strength precisely to watch out for the enemy’s trump cards. In this broken game, every Elite or boss monster had a second or even third phase that would trigger once their health dropped to a certain threshold. Although this Knight Commander was only a minor Elite, he was no exception.

Feng Yin focused all his attention on the enemy hovering eerily in the air. The next instant, the Blood Flame on the Knight Commander’s body burst!

Stealing Step!

Feng Yin shifted sideways in a flash.

BOOM!

A bloody streak of light flashed by as the Knight Commander executed a devastating thrust. The flaming spear instantly pierced right through Feng Yin’s original position, stabbing deep into the stone bricks and triggering a violent shockwave. Using his momentum, the Knight Commander rolled across the ground, propping himself up with his spear to assume another stance aimed at Feng Yin.

The following moment, entirely shrouded in Blood Flame, he sprinted toward Feng Yin with his spear leveled!

This time, however, Feng Yin didn’t immediately use Stealing Step to dodge. Instead, he dashed laterally, using normal movement to evade the charge while keeping his eyes locked on his opponent.

After chasing him for over twenty meters, the Blood Flame on the Knight Commander erupted once more!

Feng Yin decisively executed Stealing Step to dodge again.

SWISH!

Amidst the flying streaks of flame, the violently thrusting Knight Commander missed Feng Yin once again.

"Just as I expected," Feng Yin thought, unable to help but curse the "game developers" for being so insidious. In the game, the Knight Commander’s second on-foot charge was a trap. It functioned like a delayed attack, specifically designed to bait players into dodging prematurely. To think this move had actually been carried over into reality! If he had lost his cool and used Stealing Step the moment the enemy initiated the charge, the Knight Commander would have locked onto his landing spot mid-dodge and unleashed an explosive thrust just like before, either forcing out his third Stealing Step or resulting in a direct hit.

After missing this strike, the Knight Commander seemed completely exhausted. He stopped in his tracks, the Blood Flame around his body slowly diminishing.

Feng Yin directly raised his left arm and fired a Crossbow Arrow at him.

THWACK!

The Crossbow Arrow instantly pierced through the Knight Commander’s Back Armor, burying itself deep into his body. The moment the arrow struck, it was as if it triggered his survival instincts.

BOOM!

His bodily Blood Flame suddenly rioted as he furiously spun around with a sweeping spear strike! The weapon dragged a trail of explosive crimson flame, tracing an exaggerated, full-moon-shaped arc. Had Feng Yin approached to strike his back with a melee attack instead of using a projectile, there was a high probability he would have been hit by this explosive retaliation.

Of course, Feng Yin hadn’t approached. With his prior gaming experience, he already knew the Knight Commander’s explosive attack patterns by heart. Thus, the moment he fired the Crossbow Arrow, he had already gripped his sword with both hands by the side of his face, assuming the Forehead Level Stance with the blade’s tip pointed straight at his target’s head.

The second the sweeping Blood Flame erupted, Feng Yin’s feet rapidly alternated. His figure moved so fast he nearly became a blur. The air was sharply compressed by his explosive dash, emitting a wild, piercing roar.

CLANG!

Soaring Dragon Sky-Piercing!

The Canfeng Sword drew a trail of gray flowing light. The tip of the blade pierced right through the eye slit of the Knight Commander’s Helmet and burst out from the back! Feng Yin’s momentum didn’t falter; he impaled the Knight Commander, carrying him entirely for another seven or eight meters before coming to an abrupt halt.

Feng Yin stood firmly, holding his sword steady. Hanging upon the blade was the Knight Commander’s corpse, limbs limp and his spear dropped to the ground.

The next moment, a wisp of black smoke emerged, and the corpse scattered into drifting ash.

[Banished the Knight Commander of Filth. Obtained 30 units of Spirituality.]

A shiny circular object dropped from the ashes.

"No way, it dropped loot again?!" he thought. Overjoyed, Feng Yin immediately sheathed his sword and stepped forward to pick up the object.

It was a coin-sized, circular Badge, featuring an embossed relief resembling a tiny spear in the center. A message surfaced in his line of sight:

[Long-Handled Engraving (Main Hand Armed Engraving): Upon equipping, alters the Main Hand Armed Form and unlocks relevant Traits based on Engraving Level.]

"Excellent!" he thought. It was exactly the Engraving he had anticipated.

Extremely satisfied, Feng Yin gave a slight nod. Although this Long-Handled Engraving wasn’t as precious as a special Armor Engraving like the "Wolf’s Badge," its drop rate was absolutely quite low. It was an Engraving that could only be obtained with a small probability after killing an enemy who wielded a Long Handle weapon. Typically, one would only obtain it occasionally in the late game, when mass-slaughtering groups of spear-wielding monsters similar to the Knight Commander. To get it after killing just the very first one was truly an unexpected delight.

Any Engraving, Skills, and Secret Technique acquired within a level required returning to base before they could be equipped. He couldn’t see its specific effects right now.

Since the guards and the Knight Commander had all been cleared out, only the final step remained for this level: pulling out the Life Wedge, then tallying the level completion. And the Life Wedge for this level was located...

Feng Yin turned his head and looked at the dried-up fountain pool in the center of the plaza. The stone-built pool was currently emitting a strange glow in his eyes.

At that moment, the White Crow flew down from a nearby stone pillar and perched on his shoulder. "You’ve felt it too, haven’t you? The Life Wedge is in that fountain pool!"

"I’m guessing it’s inside that statue," Feng Yin replied.

Without delay, he walked straight to the edge of the pool and leaped lightly, landing in front of an angel statue in the center. He drew the Canfeng Sword and swung with a forceful slash.

CRACK!

The blade struck the surface of the statue. The next second, the entire statue splintered with countless cracks before quietly shattering apart, revealing the Life Wedge, which resembled a Spiral Sword Blade.

Feng Yin sheathed his sword, reached out, and pulled the Life Wedge right out.

SNAP!

Amidst an illusory shattering sound, the Life Wedge transformed into specks of starlight and was completely absorbed by his Armor. At the same time, a pitch-black entrance quietly opened up at the bottom of the fountain pool.

The White Crow cawed, "Haha, a secret passage entrance! Is it telling us we can enter the Monastery through here?"

The next moment, several messages popped up before Feng Yin’s eyes:

[Objective completed. Liberation Level increased by 1%.]

[Reward Secret Technique: Blood Flame.]

[Returning shortly.]

Endless gray fog surged forth, completely obscuring the world.

***