Chapter 80: Slaying Li Yanxing

The scene before him unfolded far too suddenly. Lin Huang had suspected that Li Yanxing harbored ulterior motives, but he never imagined Li would erupt into violence—and with a single strike, aim to end Leng Yuexin's life.

"You... despicable wretch..." Leng Yuexin coughed blood as the blade pierced her lung, cursing him with fury. She had never expected Li Yanxing to be such a person.

Lin Huang's eyes nearly split with rage. If Leng Yuexin died, his mission would fail—not only would he lose the reward of two card decks, but he would forfeit two monster cards as well. In the end, he would be the one suffering the most.

"White, Black Charcoal—kill him!" Lin Huang roared, summoning White and Black Charcoal into the fray.

Though Li Yanxing was severely weakened by poison, he remained a formidable opponent at the Gold Tier, nearly stepping into the extraordinary. Lin Huang dared not underestimate him, so he brought forth his two strongest summoned beasts.

At the same time, Lin Huang released his transformation, drew his Black Eagle 33, and switched to sniper mode, aiming the barrel directly at Li Yanxing's left eye.

Near the underground river, the space was wide; even Black Charcoal's massive form could move freely. With a shake of its wings, it soared to the top of the rock wall, spewing a torrent of black dragon flame at Li Yanxing.

White, standing a dozen meters away, unleashed its attack: its crimson-gold wings transformed into two massive blades, slicing through the air towards Li Yanxing.

From several dozen meters away, Lin Huang poured all his power into the black life energy, quickly condensing a bullet in the chamber. As soon as it formed, he pulled the trigger.

A black bullet shot from the barrel at terrifying speed, trailing sparks, headed straight for Li Yanxing's left eye.

Facing these sudden, relentless attacks, Li Yanxing was momentarily stunned. He hadn't expected Lin Huang to appear out of nowhere, nor for him to have two Bronze Tier summoned beasts.

Under normal circumstances, even knowing Lin Huang was a summoner, he wouldn't have paid any mind to Lin Huang or his Bronze Tier beasts. But now, poisoned and having exhausted all his energy in his attack on Leng Yuexin, his reserves were spent.

Gold Tier warriors possessed formidable bodies, but without energy to maintain their defenses, they couldn't activate protective skills. No matter how tough, they couldn't ignore the attacks of Bronze Tier monsters—let alone withstand the power of the Black Eagle 33, nearly matching Bronze Tier capabilities.

Every year, the Hunter Association lost Gold Tier hunters to rampaging beast hordes—hordes usually comprised only of Iron and Bronze Tier monsters, rarely Silver Tier. Those elite hunters perished because they exhausted their energy, leaving their bodies vulnerable.

Lin Huang's three-pronged assault reached Li Yanxing almost instantly. Forced to abandon Leng Yuexin, Li Yanxing dodged, looking haggard as he evaded their attacks. His eyes glared venomously at Lin Huang, threatening, "You little brat—you're asking for death!"

"It's you who's seeking death!" Lin Huang shouted back. "White—don't let him escape!"

White instantly understood Lin Huang's command, transforming its blood energy into a long whip, lashing out to entangle Li Yanxing.

Despite his depleted energy, Li Yanxing relied on his skillful movements to dodge. His agility was remarkable, and for a while, Lin Huang and his beasts' attacks failed to land.

Lin Huang realized he needed White to lock down Li Yanxing's movement, to make their attacks effective.

Seeing the two blood energy whips coming for him, Li Yanxing's expression changed. If this bloodthirsty creature managed to restrain him for even a few seconds, Lin Huang's barrage could easily kill him.

He was reluctant to give up the blood exchange with Leng Yuexin, so he kept maneuvering around Lin Huang, refusing to flee.

Leng Yuexin, now unconscious from blood loss, lay limp. Lin Huang frowned, and his Black Eagle 33 transformed into a black pistol. He began moving towards Leng Yuexin.

Li Yanxing, who had intended to escape, saw Lin Huang approaching and a sly smile curled his lips. He abandoned his plan to flee, preparing to attack Lin Huang as soon as he was close enough.

If the summoner died, the summoned beasts would lose control and might fight each other. Amidst the chaos, he could abscond with Leng Yuexin. So he kept weaving through their attacks, waiting patiently for Lin Huang to approach.

As Lin Huang fired and edged closer to Leng Yuexin, the distance between him and Li Yanxing grew smaller.

When he finally reached Leng Yuexin’s side and bent down to help her, Li Yanxing suddenly lunged. He broke free from White and Black Charcoal’s attack zone in one stride, his hand transformed into a blade, slicing towards the back of Lin Huang’s neck.

With his Gold Tier strength, even without energy, this blow would be fatal if it struck Lin Huang.

Just as Li Yanxing’s hand was about to slice Lin Huang’s neck, crimson-gold spikes erupted from Lin Huang’s spine, piercing Li Yanxing’s chest in a moment of utter shock.

Lin Huang slowly raised his head and saw a bloodthirsty creature with white hair and crimson eyes standing before him.

“You really thought I approached to save her? You’re quite naive.” Lin Huang’s red eyes stared coldly. “I saw you were planning to retreat, so I used myself as bait to lure you in.”

“You... you're a bloodthirsty kind...” Li Yanxing spat blood, stunned that events had turned so unexpectedly. He had fallen to a nobody he’d never considered a threat.

“No, I’m human. I just have a few tricks to transform myself into various monsters,” Lin Huang smirked. “Now that you know my secret, you can rest in peace…”

As he spoke, the other blood energy wing on Lin Huang’s back transformed into a flexible crimson-gold serpent, wrapping around Li Yanxing’s body, climbing up to his head.

The serpent’s head morphed into a sharp spike, thrusting viciously into Li Yanxing’s left eye, bursting through his skull in a spray of red and white.

Li Yanxing’s last breath of life was utterly extinguished.

A chime sounded.

[Host has slain a Gold Tier human across realms, acquiring the rare skill card "Thunder Blade" and the rare skill card "Cloud Step".]

“Killing yields skills?!” Lin Huang was momentarily stunned by the notification.

Two cards soon transformed into points of light, leaving Li Yanxing’s body and entering Lin Huang.

Lin Huang rifled through Li Yanxing’s belongings but found nothing; everything was likely in Li’s Imperial Heart Ring, which had now locked itself since its owner was dead.

He cut off Li Yanxing's finger, retrieved the Imperial Heart Ring, and tossed it into his own storage space.

He took the ring to prevent anyone from finding Li Yanxing’s body, reactivating the ring, and uncovering clues about this incident.

He had Black Charcoal incinerate Li Yanxing’s corpse with dragon flames, then dumped it into the underground river before turning back to check on Leng Yuexin.