Chapter 143: The Ninefold Strike of the Demon Sword

“Damn mortals, I won’t let you succeed!” The Lich Tris screamed as he surged forward, hovering in midair and rapidly closing in on Ye Chen.

“Too late!” Ye Chen growled lowly, thrusting the black demon sword forward with force, piercing into the forehead of the Sword Spirit. Strangely, no wound appeared—the black demon sword seemed to be absorbed by the Sword Spirit. At the same time, Ye Chen’s magical energy rapidly drained, flowing into the Sword Spirit’s body.

“Seeking death,” the Lich finally reached Ye Chen and fiercely raised his right hand. Dark blue-black electric sparks immediately gathered there, and with a fierce swing, he shouted, “Dark Thunderstorm!”

Crack.

A thick bolt of dark blue-black lightning exploded directly above Ye Chen, striking down like an arm-thick spear aimed at his head.

“Stone Demon Possession!”

Sensing the threat from above, Ye Chen activated the auxiliary skill on his Stone Demon Ring without hesitation. Although the Silver Set armor at level 2058 could withstand this blow, what if the Lich landed a critical hit?

“Ding! Stone Demon Possession activated successfully; defense increased by 150%.”

Ye Chen’s defense instantly surged beyond 750 points just as the Dark Thunderstorm struck.

-803

Blood-red numbers rose above Ye Chen’s head, causing his health bar to plummet—he was left severely wounded in an instant. Ye Chen’s heart tightened; without Stone Demon Possession, this hit would have easily exceeded a thousand damage. Yet compared to the level 60 Sword Spirit, the Lich’s attack power was rather weak. This wasn’t surprising, as the Sword Spirit was 20 levels higher than the Lich. Once monsters or players reach level 60, there’s a significant transformation. Players can enter their third rebirth, while monsters also strengthen accordingly. The Sword Spirit itself was among the most formidable attackers among monsters.

“Die!” The Lich screamed again, swinging his right hand once more as magical light gathered, preparing to unleash another attack.

Cold Moon Frost’s heart clenched upon seeing this; with her keen eyes, she knew Ye Chen would be instantly killed by the next blow. Facing such impending failure, she couldn’t bear to watch and turned away, unwilling to witness the shattering of her hopes.

Crack.

Dark blue-black lightning descended again, but just as it was about to strike Ye Chen’s head, the Blazing Fire Sword Spirit suddenly moved. With a low shout, it lifted the blazing demon sword upward, shattering the dark thunderbolt with a single strike!

The entire Lich’s hall fell into silence. Cold Moon Frost turned in surprise to see Ye Chen standing unharmed, her mouth slightly agape, confused by what had just occurred.

“Sword Spirit, kill this Lich!” At that moment, Ye Chen pointed at the Lich who had just launched the Dark Thunderstorm and ordered the Sword Spirit.

Cold Moon Frost blinked in disbelief, thinking her teammate must have lost his mind—ordering the high-level Sword Spirit, clearly an enemy, was absurd. But what happened next left even the worldly-wise Cold Moon Frost speechless.

Without hesitation, the Blazing Fire Sword Spirit stomped the ground and charged at the Lich. Anyone could tell the Sword Spirit was about to attack.

“Damn human, damn demon sword! You’ve made the Blazing Fire Sword Spirit your master!” The Lich’s face twisted in rage as he retreated, immediately commanding forty leader-class ghouls to reinforce. The ghouls abandoned their pursuit of Cold Moon Frost and howled as they lunged toward the Sword Spirit.

The Lich had cast some spell on the ghouls; suddenly, they accelerated and quickly surrounded the Sword Spirit. The Lich smiled wickedly, circling around the Sword Spirit to strike directly at Ye Chen—a trait of such intelligent monsters was their ability to choose attack targets before establishing full aggro.

Cold Moon Frost’s earlier joy faded into worry. The Blazing Fire Sword Spirit was undoubtedly powerful, but if the Lich killed Ye Chen, all would be lost.

Ye Chen remained calm, having anticipated this situation. He commanded the Sword Spirit sharply, “Target the Lich. Activate skill: Fire Flash.”

“Impossible! How do you know the Blazing Fire Sword Spirit’s skills? Even I don’t know this secret!” The Lich howled in disbelief.

Ye Chen sneered. In the Divine Realm, there was no secret unknown to 2058. Discovering Sword Spirit skills was trivial. Before the Sword Spirit was bound, it obeyed random rules and used only basic skills. Once bound, knowing its skills allowed Ye Chen to command it to unleash them.

Under the Lich’s horrified gaze, the Blazing Fire Sword Spirit transformed into an invisible flame, bursting out from the ghouls’ encirclement and instantly appearing before the Lich, reforming into its original form.

Ye Chen’s heart stirred with excitement—this was Sword Demon Technique, both in effect and form, dazzling to the extreme. Cold Moon Frost’s eyes shone with admiration.

“Target the Lich. Demon Sword Nine-Strike!”

As Ye Chen spoke, fear flashed in the Lich’s eyes. He tried to flee but couldn’t outrun the Sword Spirit and could only defend desperately.

“Draw Sword Slash!”

-18,036

“Wind Break!”

-21,036

“Mountain Cleave!”

-25,016

The Blazing Fire Sword Spirit’s sword never ceased, its low shouts continuous, launching an unrelenting assault with each strike more powerful than the last. Ye Chen and Cold Moon Frost were swept by waves of excitement, silently wishing they could possess such strength—they would laugh even in their dreams.

“Ye Chen, is that Sword Spirit using a combo skill?” Cold Moon Frost suddenly noticed the Sword Spirit’s moves completely bypassed the skill’s minimum cooldown. Her voice trembled.

“Yes, it’s a combo skill—nine strikes in just three seconds.” Ye Chen had only heard of combo skills before; this was his first time witnessing one. The attack speed was astonishing. In player versus player combat, mastering such a skill could grant huge advantages and even overturn defeat. The Demon Sword Nine-Strike was among the finest combos, with damage increasing with each hit—a terrifying technique indeed.

“Sky-Splitting Slash!” With the Sword Spirit’s final roar, over 140,000 critical damage exploded above the Lich’s head. Even Ye Chen, the summoner, was stunned by the number. The seemingly robust Lich now had less than 600,000 health. This single combo had drained over 400,000 health...

Aggro rules were inviolable to monsters; the Lich was fully focused on the Sword Spirit and had to fight to the death. After the Demon Sword Nine-Strike, the Sword Spirit showed signs of fatigue, its skills entering a long cooldown, so Ye Chen ordered it to switch to normal attacks.

Without skills, the Blazing Fire Sword Spirit’s power diminished; each strike dealt just over ten thousand damage. The Lich buffed itself with numerous defensive spells, and the two formidable foes entered a battle of attrition, though the Sword Spirit was clearly winning.

“Ye Chen, that Demon Sword combo isn’t an ordinary combo, is it? You call it Demon Sword Nine-Strike—is that the legendary sword technique used by the Sword Demon? And I saw your demon sword... is that why the Blazing Fire Sword Spirit accepted you as master?” Seeing the forty ghouls also attacking the Sword Spirit, no longer fearing danger, Cold Moon Frost came to Ye Chen’s side and asked several questions in the team chat.

“Don’t you know that’s a personal secret technique for players?” Ye Chen replied coldly, somewhat helpless. This mission required two people, so some secrets about the demon sword being revealed was inevitable. But if he didn’t say it, others would only guess blindly.

“Never mind, it’s none of my rogue business.” Cold Moon Frost rolled her eyes, then suddenly turned serious. “But rest assured, I won’t tell anyone about what I saw today. I never betray teammates. If you ever find out I leaked today’s events, you can kill me to level zero—I won’t resist.”

“Thanks for that.” Ye Chen was slightly surprised and softened his tone. Such promises weren’t necessary, but it seemed this cold and aloof woman might not be so disagreeable—if only she didn’t call him weird...

“Add me as a friend. Though we’re not in the same city, the five districts will eventually connect, so we can exchange information then.” Cold Moon Frost took the initiative to send a friend request.

Ye Chen nodded and accepted. It was mutually beneficial; forum gossip was shallow, and real insider information was only known to top players—a good preparation for the future.

While they talked, the Lich’s health dropped to just over 200,000, and though surrounded by the Lich and ghouls, the Blazing Fire Sword Spirit had barely lost any health, firmly in control.

180,000... 160,000... 150,000... the Lich soon became critically wounded.

“Ha! Wonderful! The semi-spirit level monster is about to fall. Give me a spirit dagger!” Cold Moon Frost’s short laugh revealed her excitement—such a result against a semi-spirit Lich was unimaginable at this stage.

“Heh, even if I drop a spirit dagger, you’ll have to pay for it. Why so excited?” Ye Chen teased.

“Don’t measure the value of a spirit weapon by money. It’s about to drop—just about to!” Cold Moon Frost focused on the Lich’s health, joyfully exclaiming as it neared 100,000.

“Drop? Not yet!” Ye Chen’s words had barely fallen when the Lich screamed, “Dark Sacrifice!”

Boom. Boom.

The leader-class ghouls exploded, their bodies turning into black smoke, flowing into the Lich’s semi-corporeal form...

(To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please support it with recommendation and monthly votes on Qidian. Your support is my greatest motivation.)