Su Li took a light breath. He could see that Wang Xu’s ability allowed him to control lightning and flames—two completely different energies fused together into a far more terrifying “thunderfire.”
The bone bullets Jiang Xiaodong fired were dodged by Wang Xu, but unexpectedly, the bullets curved midair, chasing after Wang Xu from behind and shooting again.
Jiang Xiaodong’s ability wasn’t just about transforming his right arm into a massive flesh-and-blood spear; he could also control the bone bullets he fired, even making them turn. Wang Xu hadn’t anticipated this. Based on what he knew before, the bone bullets from Jiang Xiaodong’s right-arm spear couldn’t change direction.
That left only two possibilities: either Jiang Xiaodong’s ability had grown stronger, or he had been hiding this skill all along.
Jiang Xiaodong didn’t give him time to think. His right hand’s index, middle, ring, and pinky fingers pulled the trigger in rapid succession—*bang, bang, bang, bang*—four more bone bullets shot out.
These curving bone bullets were far more dangerous. Even Wang Xu, strong as he was, couldn’t dodge them all. With a furious roar, he detonated the thunderfire around his body, wrapping it around himself like a serpent of lightning and flames intertwined.
Even so, the thunderfire couldn’t fully block or deflect every bullet. One bullet, shooting from behind, struck Wang Xu in the back, tearing through his chest with a trail of blood.
Wang Xu grunted, staggered back, and his face turned pale in an instant.
No one expected Wang Xu to get injured in the first exchange. The group from Fengjing Center Tower immediately grew excited, while the faces of the Financial City crowd darkened. Seeing their leader wounded so quickly didn’t sit well with anyone.
Among the crowd, a young woman cried out in alarm and rushed forward.
Su Li glanced at her from the crowd. She wasn’t exceptionally beautiful, but she had delicate features, and her eyes were full of worry and concern.
“Xiaoya, it’s fine, don’t come over.” Wang Xu looked at the bullet hole in his chest, touched it, and grinned.
Jiang Xiaodong didn’t press the attack. Instead, he chuckled. “Wang Xu, look how much Xiaoya cares about you. I think you should just give up. The position of Great Leader should be mine.”
Wang Xu shouted, “Jiang Xiaodong, why are you talking more and more nonsense? This is just the beginning—what are you so smug about?” Suddenly, he lunged forward again, raising his hand. The thunderfire he controlled surged like a blazing serpent toward Jiang Xiaodong.
Jiang Xiaodong hurriedly retreated, raising his right-arm spear to fire bone bullets.
“I’ve already seen through your tricks. Do you think they’ll still work on me?” Wang Xu roared. Thunderfire rose around his body, quickly turning him into a man of flames. His figure flickered as the bone bullets shot into the thunderfire, either melting or being repelled by the lightning with a series of crackling sounds. The power of the thunderfire was astonishing.
Su Li’s expression grew serious. Wang Xu, as the leader of Financial City, controlled thunderfire in a way reminiscent of Xu Haishui’s fire manipulation, but the gap in strength was immense. Several Xu Haishuis working together probably couldn’t match him.
Jiang Xiaodong fired five bone bullets in a row, but none could harm Wang Xu. The thunderfire closed in on him, the flames seeming ready to devour him. He felt his face sting with heat, and his hair began to curl from the high temperature.
Jiang Xiaodong kept retreating, trying to widen the distance, but Wang Xu stayed on him. Both moved at incredible speed—one retreating, one chasing—flying around the rooftop. Jiang Xiaodong’s bone bullets were useless against Wang Xu, while the thunderfire grew more terrifying, threatening to engulf him.
Feeling the unbearable heat, with Wang Xu within four meters and the thunderfire closing in from all sides, Jiang Xiaodong finally let out a roar: “Wang Xu, you forced me to do this!” His left arm suddenly began to mutate, transforming into a flesh-and-blood spear identical to his right.
Wang Xu sneered. Since the bone bullets couldn’t break through his thunderfire defense, it didn’t matter whether Jiang Xiaodong had one spear or two.
The tide had turned. Now the Fengjing Center Tower crowd worried for Jiang Xiaodong, while the Financial City group cheered, urging Wang Xu on.
Zhao Haoyang, acting as the referee, stood with his hands behind his back, watching the fight calmly, exuding an air of detachment and mastery.
Jiang Xiaodong’s left arm had become another flesh-and-blood spear. As he retreated, he raised both arms, merging the two spears together. With a series of cracking sounds, the two spears fused into one massive weapon.
“Wang Xu, taste my Blood Cannon!” Jiang Xiaodong roared. From the fused spear, a beam of blood shot out—a Blood Cannon formed from his own blood and spiritual energy, far more powerful than the bone bullets.
With a thunderous boom, the Blood Cannon struck the surging thunderfire, erupting in a blaze of blood and lightning.
The sight made many gasp. No one had expected Jiang Xiaodong to have such a move. The Blood Cannon tore through the thunderfire’s defense. Wang Xu let out a wild cry, blood spraying from his mouth as he flew backward and crashed heavily to the ground.
But Jiang Xiaodong didn’t escape unscathed. The thunderfire still reached him, scorching his face and body in several places, leaving blackened skin.
Still, compared to Wang Xu, his injuries were minor.
Wang Xu lay on the ground, his upper clothes completely burned away, his chest blackened and smoking with a foul smell.
Even with the thunderfire’s defense and his own special protective abilities, the Blood Cannon had dealt him a heavy blow. Without those two layers of protection, it might have killed him.
Jiang Xiaodong looked at the fallen Wang Xu, shook his head, and sighed. “Wang Xu, I didn’t want to use this. My Blood Cannon is too powerful—I can barely control it.”
From the crowd, Xiaoya rushed to Wang Xu’s side, her face full of anxiety.
“I’m fine…” Wang Xu shook his head and slowly sat up. The blackened, smoking skin on his chest suddenly cracked, peeling away to reveal fresh, white skin beneath.
“Huh?” Jiang Xiaodong stiffened.
Wang Xu grinned. “Jiang Xiaodong, what’s with the victory pose? Do you really think that’s enough to take me down? This is a new ability I just got. Your Blood Cannon is impressive, but it’s far from enough to beat me.”
He stood up, gently pushing Xiaoya aside. “Let’s go again.”
Jiang Xiaodong fell silent, his expression turning serious for the first time.
“Something’s wrong!” Just then, four people climbed up from the edge of the building, shouting as they ascended.
The shouts drew everyone’s attention. The four climbers were Qin Xin, You Zhenghao, Hu Zhengqi, and Tao Haoyu.
Earlier, they had set out with Su Li and Wang Shixian, but the Crocodile-Toothed Turtle was too fast, leaving them far behind.
By the time Su Li and Wang Shixian arrived, they had only covered half the distance. Now, they had finally made it.
You Zhenghao shouted “Something’s wrong” as he climbed. Wang Xu frowned. He didn’t remember You Zhenghao’s name but recognized Qin Xin. “Qin Xin, what’s going on?”
Qin Xin yelled, “Everyone, look! We’re surrounded by a ton of monsters! We just came over and noticed all these creatures rising from the water!”
At his words, the crowd realized what was happening and rushed to the rooftop’s edge to see.
Wang Xu exhaled lightly. “Just surrounded by monsters? What’s the big deal?”
As he spoke, there was no need for anyone to look over the edge. Monsters were already climbing up the rooftop’s perimeter.
The building was large, and the rooftop was spacious. Everyone had been gathered in the center, so no one had noticed the changes around them until Qin Xin’s group appeared and the monsters began climbing up.
The creatures climbing up were all high-level undead. Su Li recognized them at a glance.
There were gaunt Spitters, small, childlike Throwers covered in tumors, and slower-moving Corrupters on land.
He also spotted three Bloodthirsters.
He wondered if the one that had chased him earlier was among them.
Most of these high-level undead were Level 8. Su Li noted that one of the Bloodthirsters was Level 9, while the other two were Level 8. He suspected the Level 9 one was the same one that had pursued him.
Had it realized it couldn’t win but refused to accept defeat, so it went back to its lair for reinforcements, surrounding the place to take revenge?
The onlookers, who had been watching the fight, now drew their weapons, forming a large circle facing outward. Though surprised by the sudden appearance of undead monsters, they remained calm, assuming combat stances.
“Interesting. Are these monsters here to entertain us?” Jiang Xiaodong laughed.
Wang Xu spat. “These monsters have some nerve. What a buzzkill, ruining our fight.”
Jiang Xiaodong looked at Wang Xu. “Wang Xu, I’ve got a new idea. How about we see who can kill more monsters? What do you think?”
Wang Xu glared at him. “Fine by me. Who’s afraid?”
Qin Xin’s group had joined the crowd. They spotted Wang Shixian and Su Li but had no time to greet them, as the undead were already attacking from all sides.
The Throwers struck first, tearing off their tumors and hurling them like “pus bombs” at the crowd in the center.
“Deploy defenses!” Wang Xu and Jiang Xiaodong shouted almost simultaneously. Su Li noticed several people stepping up, summoning giant shields of wind, expanding glowing barriers with their hands, or forming walls of crystal that arranged themselves into barriers.
The pus bombs slammed into these defenses, exploding in a series of booms. Protected, the crowd remained unharmed. Then, Su Li saw those with ranged abilities counterattacking.
In an instant, fireballs flew, ice pillars descended, white energy bullets shot out, and thin bolts of lightning crackled.
These ranged attacks hit the surging monsters, triggering continuous explosions.
But the undead weren’t stupid. They hid behind the bulky Corrupters, using them as shields against the ranged attacks.
The Corrupters’ fatty defenses absorbed the explosions, making them the undead’s shields.
Su Li observed this, noting that both Financial City and Fengjing Center Tower’s people were well-trained and coordinated, handling the monster assault calmly.
“Compared to them, our Golden Eagle Alliance lacks this kind of teamwork. When I get back, I need to understand everyone’s abilities—who’s defense, who’s ranged, who’s melee—and organize them into teams for better cooperation. That way, we can achieve more than the sum of our parts.”
Su Li nodded to himself, feeling this trip had been worthwhile. He had learned a lot.
As numbers grew, group battles would become more common. A good formation or coordination would be crucial; otherwise, fighting individually would lead to chaos, wasting everyone’s strengths.
Jiang Xiaodong’s Blood Cannon split back into two flesh-and-blood spears, firing bone bullets at the advancing monsters.
He could control the bullets, curving them around the Corrupters to precisely hit the Throwers behind.
He saw the Throwers as a major nuisance with their bombs and decided to take them out first.
Each bone bullet hit a Thrower’s head, but the controlled bullets were weaker. Even a direct hit only wounded them, not killing them instantly.
It took multiple shots to the same Thrower’s head to shatter it and finish it off.
Wang Xu watched Jiang Xiaodong kill three Throwers from a distance while his own thunderfire was limited to close-to-mid range—within four or five meters. Beyond that, its power dropped sharply, let alone reaching ten meters.
“You sneaky bastard.” Wang Xu realized why Jiang Xiaodong had made that suggestion. He hadn’t killed a single monster yet, while Jiang Xiaodong had already taken down three.
The Corrupters led the charge, blocking ranged attacks as they advanced.
Behind them, Throwers kept hurling pus bombs, and Spitters launched wind blades. Most were effectively blocked by the crowd’s defenses, causing little harm.
As the distance closed, the Corrupters finally sprayed corrosive black fatty liquid from their chest organs.
The defenders’ pressure increased.
“Attack!” Wang Xu shouted. Protected by thunderfire, he was the first to break through the defensive circle, charging into the monsters.
Jiang Xiaodong followed, finding the bone bullets too weak. He merged his spears back into the Blood Cannon.
Moving swiftly to dodge the Corrupters’ corrosive liquid, he aimed the Blood Cannon at the Throwers and Spitters in the back.
With a thunderous blast and a flash of blood, two Spitters and one Thrower were blown apart, their limbs flying.
With the two leaders taking point, the melee fighters joined in, engaging in close combat. Ranged attacks became impractical, especially explosive or area-of-effect ones, as they risked hitting allies.
“Roar!” One of the Level 8 Bloodthirsters charged at Jiang Xiaodong.
Zhao Haoyang from the Eastern Building still stood with his hands behind his back, aloof and protected by the crowd, watching without acting, exuding an air of superiority.
Su Li glanced at him, wondering about his true strength. With that pose and mysterious expression, he seemed like a hidden expert.
Su Li joined the fight alongside Wang Shixian. He didn’t reveal his true power, not even drawing his Dragon Rhinoceros Sword. Instead, he used his “Demon-Hunting Claws” ability, transforming his hands into claws. The claws were formidable, easily tearing through flesh.
He had never used this ability before, relying on his swords, but now, unwilling to reveal them, the claws were perfect.
Wang Shixian glanced at Su Li, noticing he hadn’t drawn his spiritual weapon but used clawed hands instead. She thought he was being low-key, avoiding attention.
After all, even the two leaders, Wang Xu and Jiang Xiaodong, didn’t have spiritual weapons—only Wang Xu had a spiritual glove on his left hand.
Comparing this, Wang Shixian’s heart raced. Could Su Li be stronger than Wang Xu and Jiang Xiaodong? He had a spiritual weapon they lacked, or was it just luck, as he claimed?
Her mind wandered, making it hard to focus on the fight. She stayed close to Su Li, watching him as he circled a gaunt monster and tore it apart with his claws.