Chapter 35: Blood Explosion Inscription
"Two dead ants with just one slash!" The customers shouted so loudly that it started to attract the attention of the entire shop.
"And he even deflected that abrupt explosion when he destroyed them. I think he is my new idol along with Bu Dong!" A female customer squealed to her friend.
"Huh? If he loses, I will laugh at you." her friend replied with some doubt at Se Lang's ability.
"Wow, Boss Jin is too cunning, to have suicidal fire and ice ants in this dungeon!" The customer started sweating. To him, the goblin dungeon was not easy and this Zither Mistress dungeon instance was a whole new level of danger and excitement.
"Did Boss Jin make his monsters easier?" One of the customers started to query.
"How is it easy when you have to deal with suicidal ants? Besides, that scythe wielding person is a Grade 3 and from the looks of it, it is even possible that he is a Grade 3 Peak! "
"Yun, do they really explode when they die? I captured them before their death so I had no idea about it." Jin asked Yun in his head and she replied with a firm shake of the head as she sat at the corner of the bar counter.
"I do not have suicide ants, it is probably his ability." Jin reaffirmed his customers so that they did not spread wild rumours.
"I know of the Wacky Wolf style, those cultivators do not have such an ability. I think it is an inscription or a certain accessory." The know-it-all customer was back and he was there again to explain. The crowd started to chatter loudly about the possibility of using an inscription. Some were surprised that a serious contender visited the shop.
"I did not expect that at all." Deng Long finally chased up to Se Lang as he saw the explosion from a distance.
"I think their organs that produce fire and ice were interrupted, causing an internal explosion within their bodies." Se Lang swung down his scythe to remove any taints on it.
"I have to admit, the monsters are indeed more lifelike than the other dungeon suppliers. Most Grade 2 monsters readily die after a swing of my scythe."
"Did they not?" Deng Long thought Se Lang was overpowered as well.
"You forgot how my scythe works?" Se Lang scoffed a little.
"Oh, the lingering effects of your Blood Explosion inscription.." Deng Long still felt that Se Lang's scythe was a cheat weapon after being friends with him for a long time.
"Yes, I believe that is why the fire and ice ants erupted. When I first swung my scythe, both of them coordinated their defence to block my attack with their mandibles but my scythe did inflict a wound. I was really lucky this time round I guess."
Se Lang had an offensive inscription embedded in his scythe that had a chance to trigger the enemies' blood vessels to explode, causing internal bleeding. At worst, internal haemorrhage of various organs since the blood vessel that exploded was randomly targeted by the inscription.
"You are the expert after all. I would take your explanation anytime." Deng Long was already glad that he passed 'Stage 1' of the dungeon. That meant that he would get some panda medals even if they lost the instance.
Why the panda medals? There were some rumours going around in the Pandamonium main chat stating that Boss Jin had top notch goods as rewards. This was why it took some time for clearance in shipping and also the reason Boss Jin was not able to reveal the goods at the opening of his store. No matter how baseless a rumour is, there was a hint of truth in it and Deng Long believed it for now.
If those rumours were really true, it did not hurt to earn some panda medals to exchange for a reward or two. Undoubtedly, this had already been the best move he had done for quite a while. Treating his friend to this dungeon instance and making a simple bet with him. Deng Long had probably already won since Se Lang was starting to like the dungeon. Not to mention, getting those panda medals for free with little work done was a bonus to his bet.
Deng Long then remembered Se Lang had always hogged the glory back in the station when they bagged criminals. Deng Long figured it was fine for him to give Se Lang a little payback and a taste of his own medicine.
At this moment, the Zither Mistress seemed to be playing an endearing melody, which Jin was familiar with, the call of the Great White Snake. The snake lurked in the grassland and crept slowly towards the duo.
However, Se Lang's perception was high enough to notice a creature slithering within the grasslands. The police work he was specialised in had enhanced his investigative abilities.
"Let's play with you since those ants were a lucky kill." Se Lang swung his scythe horizontally and a wide energy wave crossed through the grass to attack the Great White Snake. Unfortunately, the energy wave was met with a sonic wave from the Zither Mistress and the melody she was playing got even more upbeat. "I guess this will not be as easy as those ants." Deng Long shrugged his shoulders lightly and smiled at Se Lang.
"Even better." Se Lang's thirst for blood was evident. All the restraints he had to exercise in the police job made it unsuitable for his Wacky Wolf Style despite the fact that he liked the job a lot. To be able to let go all once on monsters capable of handling his attacks were a big plus for him.
Se Lang ran towards the Great White Snake as he dodged and deflected Zither Mistress's sonic waves. The Great White Snake did not play defensive against Se Lang and glided towards him with immense speed.
Both collided head on with the snake going for Se Lang's torso while Se Lang went for its oesophagus. The scythe's attack was not able to scratch the scales of the snake while Se Lang was an inch away from being bitten to death.
The Zither Mistress smiled as Se Lang made the same mistake as Jin, who got distracted by the snake's bite attempt and got hit by a sonic wave. Zither Mistress rapidly threw another shot at Se Lang. However, Deng Long was there to cover his buddy's back. With his Wobbling Wombat Style, Deng Long parried the second sonic wave with his dual batons.
"Thanks Bud!" Se Lang was able to break through his temporary paralysis. Now he knew he had to put in spirit force to deal damage against the Great White Snake since normal physical attacks would not be able to damage its scales. At Grade 3, cultivators were able to harness the spirit force within them to enhance their attacks.
As cultivators proceeded to Grade 3 and higher, they could use their Chi as a sort of spiritual weapon enhancement or even armour that was similar to the Towering Tortoise Style Armour Projection that Kong Xian used. In Kong Xian's case, higher grades of the Towering Tortoise Style would allow him to create a more potent chi armour specialised in high defence.
Se Lang inserted some spirit force into his scythe and did a swirling attack against the Great White Snake but it retaliated with a tail swipe. The impact of the swipe was strong enough to parry the swirling attack and knocked Se Lang backwards. Despite this, the scythe managed to do some damage to the Great White Snake too.
The snake ignored Deng Long and struck with immense hostility against the fallen Se Lang. Deng Long took this opportunity to attack the flank of the Great White Snake but the Zither Mistress was faster and did three continuous sonic wave projectiles against Deng Long before he could attack the snake.
Se Lang was bitten through his heart despite his counter attack that blinded the snake. Deng Long got unlucky when the last sonic wave slit his throat and he fell to his death.
Though there was some luck involved, the teamwork shown by Zither Mistress and Great White Snake was comparable, if not possibly stronger, than the teamwork of Deng Long and Se Lang. Both lost their lives due to some selfishness in the dungeon and that was why they returned to the store lying unconscious.
"This is exactly the dungeon I was expecting from Boss Jin." One of the customers commented as Jin brought the two men up to the second floor.
"You are right! I believe the Wacky Wolf cultivator got a little cocky after his first kill. He kept leaving the Wobbling Wombat behind when the Wombat user could have blocked the attacks for him. Boss Jin's dungeons required teamwork more than anything.
Damn if I do not say this but even his monsters are more coordinated than most of us." A female customer deduced the reason behind Se Lang and Deng Long's loss and the crowd agreed readily.
Jin smiled at his customers' response and brought the guys up.