The Powerful Ant Demon possessed immense strength. Although it had sustained considerable injuries, its movements were unaffected, as if it were a lifeless puppet. It snapped off the spikes impaling it and charged directly at Zhang Deming.

Zhang Deming swiftly retreated some distance. Sensing the Seeds of Spiritual Power that had invaded the demon’s body, he determined they had gestated long enough and activated another Technique.

"Technique: Vine Growth!"

The Seeds of Spiritual Power, which had been injected into the Powerful Ant Demon’s body through the spikes, all erupted at once. They instantly sprouted, growing countless vines that scrambled to burst forth from the demon’s body.

The Powerful Ant Demon, which was in the middle of attacking Zhang Deming, abruptly froze. Immediately after, vines began to emerge endlessly from its body. In a flash, it was reduced to a bundle of plant food, completely encased by vines.

POP...

The Powerful Ant Demon suddenly exploded, dissolving into a shower of Spiritual Light that filled the air.

’What the...?’

’Is that it? What an anticlimactic end.’

Zhang Deming was completely bewildered, unable to make heads or tails of the situation. He had expected the Demon Beast to undergo some bizarre transformation.

Just as Zhang Deming was about to investigate, Spiritual Light began to gather in the air again.

This time, it was incredibly fast, giving Zhang Deming no time to prepare. Another Powerful Ant Demon materialized, its aura even slightly stronger than the last one.

’Could it be...?’

As the Powerful Ant Demon charged at him again, Zhang Deming’s expression changed slightly as a certain possibility occurred to him.

There was no time for further thought; the Powerful Ant Demon was already upon him.

Zhang Deming dodged the Powerful Ant Demon’s attacks while sensing the difference between his Spiritual Power consumption and recovery rate.

Instead of summoning more Jade Vines on a large scale, he flipped his hand and retrieved a Long Sword from his storage pouch.

Zhang Deming raised his Long Sword as several vines snaked out from his waist, glinting ominously.

And so, Zhang Deming engaged the Powerful Ant Demon in close combat.

He had learned the Sword Control Skill long ago and was now very familiar with it.

With a surge of Spiritual Power, Zhang Deming used his Swordsmanship to slowly gain the upper hand.

The main reason was that the Powerful Ant Demon was too ordinary.

Zhang Deming felt that, given a little time, he could easily defeat it with just his Tier Two Sword Control Skill alone.

In fact, as he fought, his script ran automatically, and the Spiritual Power he had consumed was already nearly fully replenished.

But just as a smile touched Zhang Deming’s lips, his expression changed once more.

Because in the time he had been delayed, yet another Powerful Ant Demon had materialized.

’Dammit. Not only do they keep appearing as I suspected, but the spawn time for the Powerful Ant Demon is fixed!’

’There’s only a five-minute window for each one.’

’Whether I’ve dealt with the previous one or not, the next will appear, and it’ll be a little stronger than the last.’

’The increase isn’t much, but this is a serious problem because there’s no telling how long this will go on.’ 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

After all, the title of the assessment was: Comprehensive Combat & Recovery!

Seeing the third Powerful Ant Demon appear with a slightly stronger aura, Zhang Deming’s expression grew grim.

He no longer dared to blindly conserve his Spiritual Power. With a surge of energy, he beheaded the injured demon with a single sword strike.

At that moment, the newly appeared third Powerful Ant Demon also reached him.

It raised one of its legs and slammed it onto the ground.

Zhang Deming’s expression shifted. The vines around his body spun rapidly, forming a Vine Ball that enveloped him completely.

As the Powerful Ant Demon stomped, a powerful shockwave spread out like lightning.

The entire grassy field was torn up, sending bits of grass flying everywhere.

The violent shockwave blasted the Vine Ball around Zhang Deming into fragments, and the Spiritual Shield beneath it rippled like water.

The immense force knocked Zhang Deming back, plowing a long furrow through the dirt of the field.

After using the war-stomp-type ability, the demon itself became slightly rigid.

As he was being flung back, Zhang Deming quickly pressed both hands to the ground.

"Technique: Thorny Earth Spike!"

Dozens of Jade Spikes erupted from the ground during the Powerful Ant Demon’s moment of stiffness, once again piercing through it.

However, Zhang Deming could clearly feel that the resistance was much greater than when he had pierced it the first time.

After being impaled, the Powerful Ant Demon, still like a puppet that felt no pain, snapped the spikes and charged at Zhang Deming again.

Ultimately, under the explosive power of Zhang Deming’s Seeds of Spiritual Power, it dissolved into a cloud of Spiritual Light.

Zhang Deming had just let out a light sigh when Spiritual Light surged once more, and another Powerful Ant Demon materialized.

The fourth one was again noticeably stronger than the third. While the increments were small, they were not imperceptible.

Having already killed several, Zhang Deming was now quite proficient. He successfully finished it off before the next one could appear.

Just like that, Zhang Deming fell into a grueling stalemate.

’So, this stage is purely a battle of attrition?’

「Two hours later.」

Zhang Deming was down to half his Spiritual Power. Although his script was constantly recovering it, the Spiritual Qi in the environment wasn’t rich enough for the recovery to keep up with his consumption.

The Powerful Ant Demons were also growing progressively stronger.

Zhang Deming decisively took out a Spirit Stone. As he channeled it, the Spiritual Power in his Dantian began to recover rapidly.

And so, Zhang Deming fought on, one hand clutching the Spirit Stone.

With the help of his script, his Spiritual Power was restored at an incredible rate.

His deficit of Spiritual Power was instantly alleviated, and he even had a surplus, allowing the reserves in his Dantian to slowly fill up again.

The only downside was that it was a bit expensive in terms of Spirit Stones.

Fortunately, Zhang Deming’s current net worth was around three to four thousand Spirit Stones, so he could afford to burn through them for a short while.

「Three hours later.」

As yet another Powerful Ant Demon was slain and a new one appeared, Zhang Deming’s expression sharpened.

After five long hours of battle, the Powerful Ant Demon had broken through from Tai Chi One Life to the realm of Tai Chi Second Life.

Moreover, this time, it was not one Powerful Ant Demon that appeared, but two.

As soon as the two Powerful Ant Demons appeared, they charged straight at Zhang Deming.

Zhang Deming held his sword in one hand, vines snaking around him, as he became entangled in a fight with the two Powerful Ant Demons.

In the midst of the battle, Zhang Deming found an opening and suddenly pressed one hand to the ground.

"Technique: Thorny Earth Spike!"

With a surge of Spiritual Power, dozens of spikes shot toward one of the Powerful Ant Demons.

But at that exact moment, the other Powerful Ant Demon abruptly lifted its leg and stomped on the ground.

A powerful shockwave tore up the surrounding grass. Not only did it send Zhang Deming flying, but it also destroyed the Thorny Earth Spikes that were about to emerge from the ground.

His attack had failed to connect.

Watching the two Powerful Ant Demons coordinate with each other—not with natural chemistry, but with the perfect, programmed precision of robots—Zhang Deming’s expression grew dark.