Chapter 212: Chapter 134: Orc Warrior, The Might of the Horizontal Slash

The tough combat suit tore instantly, and the cold blade tips left two faint white marks on his skin.

-21!

-18!

Two damage numbers floated above Lin Ye’s head, catching him by surprise.

Lin Ye’s movements abruptly halted.

He glanced down at his ridiculously long health bar, which had barely changed at all.

It was only then that he realized.

’I’m not the same person I was just a few minutes ago.’

With his current Life Value of over 30,000 and his terrifying endurance stat, an attack of this level was no different from being tickled.

’Dodge?’

’Block?’

’Completely unnecessary!’

Upon this realization, Lin Ye’s eyes instantly turned deathly cold.

He abandoned all thoughts of defense and evasion.

There was only one thing he had to do.

Attack!

Aside from his eyes, which he had to protect, he completely ignored the attacks assailing him from all directions!

An eerie layer of purple crystal instantly coated the shaft of the Star-Piercing Spear, frantically filling its hollow core until it was solid.

HUMMM—

Now several times heavier in his hand, the Star-Piercing Spear began to thrum, powered by Lin Ye’s now-monstrous strength.

At the same time, Lin Ye activated [Horizontal Slash] with a mere thought.

He ignored a bone spear aimed at his shoulder and leaned forward abruptly. The Star-Piercing Spear in his hand became a straight black line as he thrust it fiercely into the chest of an unlucky soul directly in front of him.

SQUELCH!

The dull thud of a blade sinking into flesh echoed.

The ferocious expression on the Shadow Scale Warrior’s face instantly froze. It looked down at the bowl-sized, transparent hole in its chest, its eyes full of disbelief.

Without even a chance to scream, it crashed to the ground, all signs of life extinguished.

However, this was only the beginning!

The instant Lin Ye’s spear found its mark, two other Shadow Scales next to the one he’d just killed were preparing a pincer attack.

Suddenly, they let out bloodcurdling screams, their bodies spasming violently.

Without warning, bloody holes erupted in their chests!

Dark green blood sprayed out like a fountain!

Although they weren’t killed instantly, they were grievously wounded and had lost all combat capability.

Lin Ye saw it clearly: the moment his thrust landed, two nearly invisible blades of wind had spread from his spear tip, curving in a bizarre arc to precisely rip open the chests of the two adjacent enemies.

Such was the terrifying power of Horizontal Slash!

A trace of surprise flashed through Lin Ye’s eyes.

He had assumed a skill like [Horizontal Slash] could only trigger its cleave effect during wide, sweeping attacks like slashes or hacks.

He never expected that even with a [Straight Thrust]—an attack focused on maximum single-target piercing—

—empowered by [Horizontal Slash], it could still split off additional blades of wind to damage surrounding enemies!

’The versatility of this skill is far beyond what I imagined!’

"Gawuwulululu!"

Seeing this bizarre, incomprehensible scene, the Shadow Scale squad leader’s golden, vertical pupils constricted. A strange, horrified shriek tore from its throat.

’Just one strike!’

’Just one exchange!’

’And on our side, one is dead and two are grievously wounded!’

’And our opponent? He took attacks from five of us and didn’t even get a scratch!’

’This human... he’s a monster!’

’The power gap is too immense!’

Without a moment’s hesitation, the squad leader let out a shriek and was the first to turn tail, fleeing for its life toward the depths of the valley.

Its reaction was undeniably fast.

However, its action instantly shattered the already wavering morale of the remaining Shadow Scale Warriors.

Seeing their captain flee, their eyes filled with terror. With bizarre shrieks, they scattered in all directions.

’Trying to run?’ 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

A cold smirk tugged at the corner of Lin Ye’s mouth.

He didn’t chase after the fastest-fleeing captain.

Instead, with a turn of his wrist, he switched the Star-Piercing Spear from a thrust to a horizontal sweep!

WHOOSH—!

The Crystalized Star-Piercing Long Spear whistled through the air, carving a deadly semicircle.

A torrent of spear wind erupted, flowing everywhere like quicksilver!

SCHLICK!

The nearest Shadow Scale Warrior to Lin Ye didn’t even have time to dodge before being cut in half at the waist!

Its torso and legs flew apart, spilling viscera and blood across the ground.

Beside it, the other three fleeing Shadow Scales also screamed in agony.

The closest one was also caught by the invisible blade of wind and met the same fate, sliced in two.

The other two weren’t sliced in half, but gruesome, bone-deep gashes were carved into their bodies, drastically slowing them down.

Lin Ye took a step forward.

A single step carried him five or six meters, and he appeared behind the fleeing squad leader as if by teleportation.

Feeling the stench of death at its back, the squad leader tried to turn and block in sheer terror.

But it was too late.

Lin Ye gripped the spear with both hands, raised it high, and brought it down in a vicious chop.

THWUMP!

The long spear fell, unstoppable.

This Lv. 28 Shadow Scale squad leader, along with the hard bone helmet on its head, was cleaved in two from head to toe.

The world instantly fell silent.

Lin Ye held the spear in one hand and, with a light flick, flung the dark green blood and brain matter from the Gun Blade.

He turned, his gaze indifferent as he looked at the few Shadow Scales still wailing on the ground, not quite dead yet.

"Didn’t your parents ever teach you..."

"...that when you run away, you should split up, not run together?"

As his voice faded, the Star-Piercing Spear in his hand blurred, becoming a series of afterimages.

THWIP! THWIP! THWIP!

After a few soft thuds, the ground fell silent.

Eight mangled corpses lay scattered across the yellow sand at the mouth of the valley.

Lin Ye strode forward, his long spear flicking out again and again, precisely piercing each corpse’s skull to pry out the Origin Life Crystal radiating an ominous aura within.

Eight pitch-black, diamond-shaped crystals appeared in Lin Ye’s palm.

After his last experience, Lin Ye felt little psychological resistance to devouring these things.

He knew full well they wouldn’t actually end up in his stomach.

The system would, at the moment they entered his throat, convert them into the purest energy for him to absorb.

Lin Ye opened his mouth, and the eight Origin Life Crystals disappeared into it.

[Ding! You have devoured the origin of the Shadow Scale Race Warriors. Taotie mechanism activated!]

[You have gained a total of 7.3 Agility! 6.2 Strength! 6.9 Endurance!]

The notification for the attribute increase echoed in his mind.

Unfortunately, this time, he still failed to obtain the Shadow Scale Race’s racial traits or skills.

Lin Ye was not surprised by this.

Absorbing a skill through the [Taotie] mechanism was an extremely low-probability event to begin with.

He slowly raised his head, his gaze passing over the corpses at his feet to the tranquil Alien Tribe deep in the valley.

His gaze was as cold as ice.

’These aliens.’

’I won’t leave a single one behind.’

’I’ll slaughter them all!’