Chapter Seventy: While You Wait for the Cooldown, I Choose Not to Wait

The battle in the Peach Blossom Villa District erupted with shocking suddenness and ferocity. In less than a minute, nearly half of Yi Shen’s villa had already been destroyed, and seven or eight of the patrolling members outside had been injured or killed.

But at this moment, Yi Shen had no time to lament the ruination of his home.

The infiltrator before him was far more experienced and seasoned than Yi Shen had anticipated. Had it not been for his ability to repeatedly cast Ice Barrier to evade damage, he would have died in the very first round at the stairwell.

All these summoned creatures and mirror images, of course, were conjured by Yi Shen himself. He now stood at the intersection of the corridor and the guest rooms. The window had already been opened by him, allowing for a swift escape at any moment.

But Yi Shen was not the type to turn tail after suffering a setback. Besides, he had spent these past days improving his attributes and skills precisely so he could stand his ground with more confidence against high-level opponents.

Taking advantage of Wu Qi’s brief hesitation, Yi Shen had already summoned over a dozen creatures, and together with the mirror images, the corridor was instantly packed to the brim.

The surrounding walls were already battered and nearly unrecognizable, but Yi Shen no longer cared about such things.

Meanwhile, Wu Qi’s health was steadily being whittled down by a multitude of attacks. Even though the difference in their levels meant that Yi Shen and his summons could only deal a few hundred points of damage per strike, the sheer volume and frequency of attacks made up for it. In just three or four seconds, they had dealt over five thousand points of damage, causing Wu Qi to lose about five percent of his health.

Clang.

Yi Shen methodically unleashed his skills, having also switched to his defensive gear. The initial tension had faded; now he had found his rhythm in battle, and it felt as if the world had shrunk to just numbers and the enemy before him. Although this was his first time confronting a high-level explorer in direct combat, as long as he could maintain the current state, Yi Shen believed he could deplete his opponent’s health within thirty seconds!

Just as Yi Shen prepared to ramp up his attack frequency and unleash high-damage skills, the shadow before him suddenly vanished into thin air. Several “Immunity” markers appeared in its place, leaving behind only a short blade!

Something was wrong—he sensed it immediately.

A phantom materialized out of the void and drove straight for Yi Shen’s heart! He cast Ice Barrier once more, but his reaction was still a split-second too slow!

Crack!

-11201...

A red damage number appeared above Yi Shen.

A sharp metallic clang rang out in the air—the opponent had landed a single blow!

And that single blow had shaved off more than ten thousand of Yi Shen’s health!

[Ice Barrier]

Only after the damage landed did Yi Shen’s Ice Barrier activate, and all subsequent attacks from his opponent were successfully negated.

...

“Is that all?”

“Doesn’t seem that high?”

The sudden shadow-step assault had given Yi Shen quite a scare. His lack of combat experience meant he’d overlooked the possibility that his opponent might possess special movement skills.

But when the damage appeared, Yi Shen saw that his health had only dropped by about ten percent, and he breathed a quiet sigh of relief.

After donning his full set of defensive gear, his stamina attribute had surpassed ten thousand, with a total health pool exceeding one hundred thousand—on par with a level-fifty tank. His greatest fear had been that he would be instantly overwhelmed, that his opponent would cut him down in a single strike.

But now it seemed that even with a thirty-level difference, the opponent’s powerful skill had only dealt ten thousand damage—he still had plenty of room to maneuver.

Wu Qi, on the other hand, had also taken note of the damage numbers.

But for Wu Qi, surprise had given way to utter shock.

What the hell? What is this?

Most of Wu Qi’s view had been blocked by summons, and after finally locating Yi Shen, he’d wanted to use a quick strike to take him out in one blow. After using shadow step, he had indeed struck Yi Shen and dealt significant damage—just as he’d hoped. Shadow step was all about catching the enemy off guard, after all.

But what he hadn’t expected was that the opponent was a fully armored warrior, shield and all! And after tanking the full brunt of his shadow step and subsequent attacks, had lost less than ten percent of his health!

Even a level-sixty mage would have, at most, fifty or sixty thousand health.

Which meant that Yi Shen’s health was at least a hundred thousand.

A mage with a hundred thousand health?
Wielding a shield?
This many summons?
Unlimited teleports?
Constantly casting Ice Barrier??

What kind of monster is this?

Wu Qi considered himself an experienced veteran, but he could not fathom how Yi Shen had managed to reach such an absurd level.

Watching Yi Shen slip into Ice Barrier again, Wu Qi even felt the urge to throw in the towel. How was he supposed to fight this?

Someone this overpowered, with invincibility on cooldown? This was insanity!