If this world had delved deeply into the study of jade, creating even more powerful weapons, it seemed that even without innate talents, they might not be weaker than the Azure Sphere.
Though such devices don’t represent one’s personal strength, in the heat of battle, as long as you can harness that power, who cares if it’s yours or not!
Howard immediately resolved to understand this Celestial Ore, the so-called jade, more thoroughly!
After the terrifying explosion, a dense cloud of dust and smoke billowed up, obscuring vision so severely that even the wild beasts struggled to discern their surroundings.
Howard felt a wave of relief wash over him, grateful for having trusted his instincts to flee the warehouse immediately.
Had he been caught in the blast, both he and Aurelia would have likely met their end there.
The guards showed no signs of mercy.
Reactivating their jade stones, they prepared for a second wave of attack, this time targeting the group of beasts.
Fortunately, Howard’s patience paid off.
A troop on black steeds suddenly appeared nearby, galloping towards the scene.
The leader, clad in armor crafted from jade, wielded a mace also made of the same material.
“A bunch of beasts, breaking free from the Beast’s Binder? Impressive!”
“But to think these creatures could turn the tide? Dream on!”
“Brothers, attack! Kill them all!”
As the leader’s cold voice echoed, he activated his jade-crafted mace.
In the next moment, an ethereal shadow of the mace exploded forth, striking the group of beasts with the speed of lightning.
Moreover, Howard felt a disturbance in the space around them.
Focusing his gaze, he was startled to see about a dozen assassins swiftly closing in on the beasts.
Their methods were identical to those Howard had encountered before!
It was now certain – the Obscured Celestial Realm was indeed one of the planes plotting against the Azure Sphere!
With a steely look in his eyes, Howard immediately released Aurelia’s hand and whispered, “Stay here and wait for me. I’m going to assassinate their leader, plunging them into chaos. Only then will we stand a chance to escape.”
No sooner had he finished speaking than Howard darted towards the leader of the guards.
Fortuitously, Howard’s Stealth Skill was of a high level, and the guards were completely oblivious to his approach, fully engaged in a fierce battle with the beasts.
In just a few breaths’ time, Howard closed in on the lead guard.
Seizing the moment when the guard was activating the phantom swing of his mace, at the critical juncture between the dissipation of old power and the emergence of new, Howard swiftly drew a dagger and lunged at the guard’s neck.
Bang! .𝒎
However, before the dagger could make contact, a flash of white light emerged from the jade-crafted equipment, forming a barrier that blocked the dagger.
Howard’s attack was as futile as if he had stabbed a wall!
This scene caused Howard’s brows to furrow slightly.
When the beasts had attacked earlier, the jade equipment had not reacted, or if it had, the effect was negligible.
Why then, with his strength surpassing that of the beasts, was he unable to penetrate the barrier formed by the jade?
Surprised by this development, Howard had no time to dwell on it.
His presence was now revealed!
Immediately after, a whooshing sound filled his ears as the lead guard swung his mace viciously towards Howard from behind.
“I knew it! Relying solely on those beasts wouldn’t be enough to escape the dungeon. There must be someone else lurking in the shadows!”
“Die!”
With an angry roar, an overwhelming oppressive force bore down.
Howard looked up only to see a massive, dark sphere hurtling towards him, the fierce wind slapping painfully against his face.
In this dire situation, Howard’s expression was one of grave seriousness.
He knew retreating was not an option; doing so would trap him in the relentless, unending assault of the lead guard.
Eyes darting, Howard was uncertain if his physique could withstand the power encased within the jade.
Without hesitation, he activated his Blink skill.
With a swift motion, Howard’s figure flickered, miraculously weaving through the immense hammer, and reappeared behind the lead guard.
The drawbacks of wielding such a gigantic weapon were now evident.
Once such a weapon strikes or forces the target back, it can effectively trap the opponent.
However, the guard had never anticipated Howard suddenly materializing behind him.
Missing his target, the hammer crashed down, the massive inertia throwing the guard off balance, causing him to stumble forward.
Seizing this opportunity, Howard cast his Gravity spell.
With a hum, although intangible, the unseen gravitational force pressed down like a mountain, firmly immobilizing the lead guard, rendering him unable to move.
As he struggled desperately to stand and lift his mace again, Howard had already circled to face him.
Quietly, he executed his Lotus Palm skill.
As Howard’s hands moved continuously, six phantasmal shadows of lotuses emerged, instantly appearing before the eyes of each guard nearby.
In that moment, every guard displayed a stunned expression, frozen in place, rendered immobile.
They had all fallen into the illusion of the Lotus!
Although the beasts were of low intelligence, their combat instincts remained intact.
Seizing the opportunity as the guards were entranced, they leapt up, breaking free from their previously trapped state.
As for the lead guard?
Howard’s palms pressed directly against his chest.
In the next instant, a terrifying force erupted.
The jade armor was activated once again, radiating light, but having just withstood Howard’s attack, this time the barrier was significantly weaker.
Under the explosive force of the palm strike, the barrier shattered. The power contained within the Lotus Palm penetrated the heart of the lead guard.
Bang!
A loud explosion echoed as a bloody hole burst open in the chest of the lead guard.
His complexion turned deathly pale, and the light in his eyes gradually dimmed.
[Ding! Congratulations to the awakened Howard, you have successfully slain an Extraplanar creature, earning 80,000 experience points!] 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Being a leader, the guard’s level was not low, hence the substantial reward for his demise.
Upon seeing the system notification and confirming his target’s death, Howard once again deployed his Stellar Stealth skill, slipping into the void.
By the time the guards snapped out of the Lotus illusion, Howard’s figure was nowhere to be seen.
And their leader lay on the ground, devoid of all life.
This scene utterly terrified the group of guards.
Had it not been for the presence of the wild beasts stirring their survival instincts, they might have been completely overwhelmed by shock.
However, the death of a minor leader caused a commotion far beyond Howard’s expectations.
Thunderous rumbling echoed from a tall building not far away.
Suddenly, a man clad in a pale blue robe flew out.
He wore no jade-crafted armor, but in his hand, he held a jade sphere, radiating a luminous glow.
“How dare you! How could you let the warehouse be breached?”
The man scanned the surroundings, cursing in anger.
Yet, his actions were swift; he threw the jade sphere into the air with force.
Instantly, it unfurled into dozens of blue threads that cascaded down like flowing water.
With a rushing sound, the blue threads transformed into a vast net that descended rapidly, enveloping all the wild beasts within its grasp.
Roaring in defiance as the net fell upon them, the beasts swung their claws fiercely, exerting tremendous force, as if to tear the net apart with knife-like ferocity.
Alas, every attack that touched the net passed through it as if it were mere water, failing to break it.
But when the net finally settled on the beasts, it erupted with countless bolts of lightning.
Crackling and booming, the thunderous sounds filled the air.
The beasts, which had just escaped, were now paralyzed by the electrifying net, lying immobile on the ground.
Witnessing this scene, Howard’s eyelids twitched involuntarily.
“Has the mastermind behind this already made their move so quickly?”
Even Howard doubted he could suppress so many fierce beasts in such a short span of time.
After the beasts were paralyzed on the ground by the lightning, the nearby guards gathered around. They then hoisted the beasts and carried them back into the dungeon.
Fortunately, the dungeon was constructed of a special material.
Even though the warehouse had been leveled by the high-lethality weapon crafted from jade, the underground passageways and the dungeon itself remained unscathed.
As the guards were escorting the beasts back, the figure in the blue robe floated over.
Scanning the area, he coldly said, “The guards responsible for watching will lose half a month’s pay! How could you not notice the beasts breaking free from the Beast’s Binder? What’s the use of having you?”
The nearby guards all bowed their heads in silence, not uttering a word – after all, they weren’t the ones being punished.
The guards who should have been reprimanded had already been killed in the surprise attack by the beasts.
Unaware of what had transpired, the figure stopped at the body of the lead guard, examining it closely.
He exclaimed in surprise, “Such strong Power of Soul! Could it be that old Grein has broken out?”
“Hurry, check the dungeon! That old man Grein is a top-tier Enchanter. We absolutely cannot let him escape!”
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