Breaking Invisibility and Revealing Might

Never Leaves Empty-Handed was still lecturing the unconvinced thief, endlessly boasting about how incredible Ye Chen's anti-stealth abilities were. A few other idling thieves gathered nearby, though they clearly didn't believe it, assuming Never Leaves Empty-Handed was just exaggerating to make someone else look good.

Right at that moment, Ye Chen's staff suddenly lit up with a patch of black, net-like phantom light. This spell left all the thieves slightly startled—a Reveal Trap. They were very familiar with this Shadow Priest skill designed to counter rogue stealth, but what was the point of using it here? Shouldn't he be hurling Blood Flame to kill monsters?

Ignoring their confusion, Ye Chen uttered a low shout, and the phantom revealing light flew straight toward Soaring Dragon Prodigy.

What—what does this mean? Most of the Soaring Dragon thieves were still puzzled, but Never Leaves Empty-Handed's expression changed drastically. He did not believe Ye Chen would make a pointless move; doing this undoubtedly meant there were enemy stealth thieves hiding near Soaring Dragon Prodigy, perhaps even more than one!

Never Leaves Empty-Handed bolted toward Soaring Dragon Prodigy. Before he had run more than a few steps, he saw the revealing light suddenly detonate right beside Soaring Dragon Prodigy, which meant only one thing: there were thieves!

The few Soaring Dragon thieves nearby who had just doubted Ye Chen's ability to detect stealth instantly widened their eyes. The looks they directed at Ye Chen were now tinged with awe; any expert capable of detecting rogue stealth from such a distance commanded the respect of all thieves.

Struck by the Reveal Trap, Windless Blood and four other thieves who had been plotting to ambush Soaring Dragon Prodigy were instantly forced out of stealth. This sudden change left Windless Blood, his companions, and Soaring Dragon Prodigy slightly stunned. The rest of the Soaring Dragon players who noticed this scene were also momentarily dazed, their minds failing to process the situation for a second.

"Kill!"

"Kill!"

Two furious shouts rang out almost simultaneously from the mouths of Windless Blood and Soaring Dragon Prodigy. The remaining thieves also snapped back to their senses and charged at Soaring Dragon Prodigy alongside Windless Blood. All five daggers flashed with fiery light. Although Soaring Dragon Prodigy swung his sword to counterattack, a trace of despair flashed in his eyes. He was already at half health, and these five thieves, being high-ranking members of their respective guilds, possessed top-tier equipment and strength. He even recognized many of their names as minor celebrities in Lieshan City. Facing a pincer attack from five such thieves, his survival was virtually impossible.

"Boiling Blood Flame!"

This soft cry suddenly echoed across the field, and a wave of blood-red flames surged toward Soaring Dragon Prodigy. To Soaring Dragon Prodigy, this apocalyptic sight appeared as magnificent as a celestial wonder, and Ye Chen's quiet utterance sounded like heavenly music to his ears, causing an excited smile to involuntarily form at the corner of his mouth.

Windless Blood and the others didn't pay much attention; an area-of-effect attack at best would knock off two or three hundred health points, and Soaring Dragon Prodigy was still going to die anyway. Imagining the leader of Lieshan City's top guild dying by their hands, ferocious and ecstatic expressions appeared on the faces of several thieves.

"Die!" Windless Blood used Shadow Dance to bypass Soaring Dragon Prodigy's preemptive strike, his dagger shimmering with fiery radiance as he thrust it straight at Soaring Dragon Prodigy's back.

Boom. A cluster of blood flames crashed down from the sky, exploding with Soaring Dragon Prodigy at the center.

-900, -900...

Five damage figures floated up from the heads of the five thieves, instantly depleting the health bars of three of them. They only had time to turn their heads and cast a single glance at the Shadow Priest who had attacked them before turning into beams of light and respawning back in the city.

Terror!

Windless Blood and the remaining half-health thief stared with eyes full of sheer disbelief. An area-of-effect magic spell could actually deal such massive damage—this completely exceeded their imagination.

"It's you again, Night Dust!" Windless Blood caught sight of the Shadow Priest looking at him with a cold smirk. A look of shock and anger instantly surfaced on his face, but his body rapidly retreated, trying to distance himself from Ye Chen. His stealth had just been broken and was still on cooldown.

"Windless Blood, prepare to die." Never Leaves Empty-Handed chased after him, launching into a Shadow Dance of his own as he assaulted Windless Blood.

Cold Edge. Never Leaves Empty-Handed's dagger flashed with a cold glint as it struck straight at Windless Blood.

"You think you can take me?" Windless Blood shifted his footing, his body swaying in a bizarre fashion to miraculously dodge Never Leaves Empty-Handed's dagger, and spun around to hand Never Leaves Empty-Handed a stun.

Never Leaves Empty-Handed wanted to dodge, but his footwork was clearly inferior to Windless Blood's, and he could only watch helplessly as he was stunned in place.

A look of triumph flashed in Windless Blood's eyes; no thief in Lieshan City was his match, not even Never Leaves Empty-Handed, who ranked right behind him. Just as he was about to order the thieves hidden around the Soaring Dragon heavy infantry to make their move, he suddenly noticed Ye Chen flashing him a bizarre smile. His heart skipped a beat, but before he had time to think further, a streak of cyan-black lightning suddenly crashed down from above.

Crack, -1369.

Thud, Windless Blood collapsed to the ground, filled with reluctance and resentment. As the temporary leader of this expedition, he hadn't even had time to give the order for a full-scale assault...

Everything happened far too quickly and abruptly—in reality, it all transpired within the span of a few breaths. Therefore, neither the Soaring Dragon players nor the ambushing thieves had fully grasped what had happened. It wasn't until Windless Blood died that those concealed thieves snapped out of their stupor. They exchanged glances, completely unsure whether they should continue the assassination plan. Just as they wanted to check in with their leader, a command reached their ears that made them feel as though they had fallen into an icy abyss.

"All Shadow Priests, target our own heavy infantry, cast Reveal Trap." The one issuing the order was none of other than Ye Chen.

"Soaring Dragon Shadow Priests, execute the order!" Soaring Dragon Prodigy immediately backed Ye Chen up after slaying another rogue with a single sword strike.

The Shadow Priests had already begun subconsciously preparing their spells the moment Ye Chen gave the order, and upon hearing Soaring Dragon Prodigy's voice, they hesitated no longer. One by one, Reveal Traps woven from dark magic flew straight toward their own heavy infantry.

"All Mages, area-of-effect magic, target our own heavy infantry."

With Soaring Dragon Prodigy's backing, the mages executed Ye Chen's command without hesitation, hurriedly chanting their respective tier-two area-of-effect skills.

Panic. The thieves who had been forced out of stealth by the Reveal Traps were completely panicked. For a moment, some wanted to turn and flee, while others wanted to drag a few enemies down with them before dying. The scene plunged into chaos, and the pressure on the Soaring Dragon heavy infantry was drastically reduced.

It wasn't that these high-ranking guild thieves lacked discipline; rather, it was because such a mixed coalition force lacked unified leadership. When faced with a crisis like this, they were bound to fight individually. Moreover, since they were inherently competitors to begin with, could they possibly expect anyone to take a bullet for someone else? A rout was entirely natural.

Boom, boom, boom...

Having their area-of-effect spells ready without needing further coordination, the mages poured all their strength into hurling spells right into the middle of the enemy ranks. Although these mages' area-of-effect damage couldn't match Ye Chen's, when three or four mages piled their spells onto the exact same spot, the destructive power was definitely not much less than his. Within moments, a large majority of the thieves were wiped out, leaving a glittering pile of equipment scattered across the ground.

Seeing this, the remaining thieves lost all will to fight and frantically tried to escape. However, their stealth skills were all on cooldown, making it utterly impossible to slip out of the Soaring Dragon mages' attack range. Among these elite thieves, there were indeed a few ruthless individuals; seeing no hope of survival, these few immediately launched desperate suicidal attacks against the nearby Soaring Dragon heavy infantry. A few heavy units couldn't withstand the assault and were cut down, causing Soaring Dragon Prodigy's heart to ache.

"Brother Night, watch out!" Soaring Dragon Prodigy happened to glance over and spotted a few Vulpine thieves who had somehow sneaked up behind Ye Chen, preparing to launch a sneak attack.

Hearing this, Ye Chen flashed Soaring Dragon Prodigy a smile. He had long since noticed these fellows trying to ambush him and was merely waiting for them to walk into the net themselves.

"Die, you bastard surnamed Night." A thief named Vulpine Claw held his dagger reverse-grip, launching a stun straight at the back of Ye Chen's head. As long as this strike succeeded, his two companions' Fire Blades would solidly connect with this Shadow Priest. With a triple-assault round-robin stun, no matter how strong this Shadow Priest was, he was bound to die.

Swish. The exact instant the dagger was about to hit, Ye Chen suddenly stepped aside, causing the blade to strike empty air.

Vulpine Claw was slightly startled, then immediately shouted, "Stun him together!"

The other two thieves hastily canceled their Fire Blades and were just about to initiate their stuns when Ye Chen suddenly spun around. His staff was burning with blood-red flames—this particular move had been reserved specifically for the three of them.

"Boiling Blood Flame!"

Following a low shout, the blood-red flames on the staff erupted instantly, engulfing the three thieves in the blink of an eye.

-900, -900, -900

Thud, thud, thud

Three muffled thuds later, once the blood flames faded, only three slowly fading corpses and three equipment pieces shimmering with a pale blue glow remained on the spot.

Picking up the three Rare-grade items, Ye Chen turned around to look. The coalition of thieves on the field had been thoroughly wiped out, while the Soaring Dragon thieves were joyfully gathering the equipment off the ground. One had to remember that the thieves qualified to enter the Martial Soul Secret Realm were all high-ranking members of their respective guilds, so their equipment naturally wasn't shabby. There were dozens of Rare-grade items and at least seven or eight Bronze ones, leaving the group of Soaring Dragon thieves grinning from ear to ear.

Never Leaves Empty-Handed also walked back to Ye Chen's side, handing a piece of equipment flashing with a cyan light directly to him with a smile: "A Bronze single piece dropped by Windless Blood. Your spoils of war, Brother Night."

Ye Chen took the equipment and inspected it. It was just a very ordinary Bronze piece, and not even part of the Dark Blood Set; clearly, it was just filler equipment dragged in from somewhere, instantly killing his enthusiasm. Glancing at Never Leaves Empty-Handed's eager gaze, he tossed the equipment right back to him and said, "Take it for 200 gold."

Never Leaves Empty-Handed subconsciously caught the item, stunned for a moment upon hearing the price, and hurriedly said, "Brother Night, this is high-level Bronze equipment. It's easily worth at least 300 gold."

"Ha, didn't you pitch in earlier too? If you hadn't kept him tied down for a moment, he really would have run out of my attack range." Ye Chen chuckled. In truth, even if Windless Blood had run a bit further, the Dark Demon Thunder could still have reached him, but there was no need to be overly meticulous about everything. Trading 100 gold to make Never Leaves Empty-Handed owe him a favor was well worth it. As long as he made sure to look after Azure Feather a little bit whenever he wasn't in Lieshan City, this money wasn't spent in vain.

Never Leaves Empty-Handed naturally understood that Ye Chen was deliberately cutting him a deal. He immediately smiled happily and said, "Then many thanks, Brother Night." With that, he tossed 200 gold over to Ye Chen. It wasn't that he necessarily lacked that 100 gold, but this wasn't about the money—it was about face. An expert in his eyes like Ye Chen giving him this much face made him very pleased.

As the two were talking, Soaring Dragon Prodigy strode over to Ye Chen with a beaming smile. The fact that Soaring Dragon could escape unscathed today was entirely due to Ye Chen, which made him feel genuine goodwill toward him for the very first time, rather than the utilitarian calculations and exchanges of the past.