He then dashed into the depths of the forest.
Soon, an old man holding a longsword appeared, standing right over where Li Xiuman had cast Concealed Ground Spike.
He held a longsword in one hand and a compass in the other.
His eyes were fixed on the spinning needle of the compass.
“Come out, kid.”
“You have nowhere left to run.”
His voice echoed through the empty forest.
“Hmph, overestimating yourself.”
The old man gripped his scabbard with one hand and slowly sank into a stance.
But in the very next second, as he gathered his strength, a surge of magic power erupted right beneath his feet.
Sharp Ground Spikes burst out from the earth, shooting straight toward him.
“Trap Magic? A mere trick.”
The old man swiftly drew his sword and leaped into the air, sweeping his drawn blade downward to slice through the Ground Spikes pursuing him from below.
Shattered rock flew everywhere as the sharp Ground Spikes were effortlessly chopped into dust, kicking up a cloud of debris.
Right then, a dark shadow burst out from the shadows, lunging toward the old man's back through the cloud of dust.
However, as if sensing the presence, the old man spun around with a swift backward slash.
The figure was cleaved in two without resistance, falling to the ground with a dull thud.
“A Golem?”
“Nothing but trash.”
“Swordsmanship, Whirlwind Slash!”
A whirlwind whipped up alongside the flash of his sword, carrying the surrounding dust high into the air.
Deprived of their dusty cover, several black figures were instantly exposed.
Seeing that they were exposed, they stopped hiding and swarmed the old swordsman all at once.
Farther back in the forest, several Golems raised their hands and began casting magic.
“Tier 2 Magic, Water Prison!”
A massive stream of water condensed in front of the Golems and surged toward the old man.
“...Whew.”
The old man tightened his grip on his blade, taking a breath as a brilliant glow burst in his eyes.
“Daring to strike at me—you truly underestimate me.”
“Super Body Strengthening!”
“Perception Infusion!”
“Blade Unification!”
The old man's aura surged continuously, to the point where his clothes billowed from the intense airflow.
A circular gust of air expanded outward, centered around him.
“Lone-Sword Style, Continuous Slash!”
In an instant, the old man's figure split into several clones, as though using an afterimage skill, each swinging a blade outward in all directions.
Yet this was merely an illusion born of sheer speed.
As the old man took a breath and sheathed his sword, all the Golems that had swarmed him shattered into pieces mid-air.
They couldn't even get close to him.
Observing the battle from a bird-form Golem high above, Li Xiuman felt deeply shocked.
So this was the full power of a real Lv. 48 Swordsman? How terrifying.
Then, the old man suddenly snapped his head up.
He locked eyes with the Golem hawk circling high in the sky.
Or more accurately, he was looking directly at Li Xiuman through the Golem hawk's eyes.
Such terrifying intuition and perception made Li Xiuman hastily sever his connection with the Golem hawk.
“Controlling Golems from afar, is it?”
“Nothing but petty tricks.”
The old man casually swung his sword, deflecting the surging streams of water.
It was as if an invisible barrier was deployed around him, preventing any attack from getting near.
“Awoo!”
A wolf howl echoed.
Two giant rock wolves leaped out from the dense forest, baring their fangs at the old man.
One must know that Li Xiuman's current expertise in Golems had all been learned from that Ore Beast Wolf.
So putting appearance aside, Li Xiuman's strongest Golems were wolf-form Golems.
“Stubborn fool.”
“Sword Slash!”
He casually struck twice, sending two arcs of sword light flashing downward.
However, the two Golem wolves nimbly dodged, closing the distance in the same breath to bite at the old man.
This caught the old man off guard.
How did these two wolf-form Golems suddenly become so much stronger?
He swiped his scabbard with his left hand, deflecting the Golem wolf on his left.
Then, holding his sword with both hands, he pushed the blade horizontally into the mouth of the Golem wolf on his right, stopping its jaws from snapping shut.
Almost suffering a minor setback made the old man feel he was losing face, so he immediately unleashed his full strength.
“Lone-Sword Style, Single Blade Drop!”
Planting his feet firmly on the ground, he dropped into a stance he had practiced uncounted times.
With a twist of his wrist, he dragged the blade wedged in the Golem wolf's mouth forward, neatly slicing away half of its head.
“Awoo!”
The other Golem lunged forward in a rush.
The old man spun around and delivered a high kick, kicking its head completely sideways.
Following up with two seamless sword slashes, the Golem wolf's head hit the ground.
He was, after all, an old man who could do the full splits!
A simple spinning high kick was nothing to him.
Damn it, who would even care about an old man who can do the splits?!
“Damn it, it dirtied my clothes.”
The old man looked down at the muddy water splattered across his clothes and the mire beneath his feet, unable to suppress a frown.
After the preceding battle and the continuous stream of water magic, the surroundings had turned into a muddy swamp.
Meanwhile, the magic Golems concealed in the forest were still relentlessly casting water magic.
His battle instincts warned him that a scheme was brewing.
He glanced down at his compass; the needle was darting wildly from east to west, making it impossible to determine the location of that bastard.
The Wind Whisper Compass could guide the user to their target through air currents, but if the wind field was disrupted, it would become useless.
The old man looked up at the sky.
Several stone birds circling high above were continuously casting wind magic, disrupting the air currents.
“How did that kid figure out the compass's weakness?”
“Looks like I need to shoot down those stone birds first.”
The old man pulled out a magic item from his robes.
It was a crystal ball with a pair of pure white wings floating inside.
A single-use magic item: Flying Wings.
After he crushed the crystal ball, the white wings drifted out and rapidly enlarged, attaching themselves to his back.
Then, with a flap of the wings, the old man slowly rose into the air.
Adjusting his muscles to adapt to flight instantly, he shot up into the high sky without hesitation, charging toward the stone birds.
But right at that moment, another figure burst out from the forest, swinging a massive bone mallet directly at him.
Mid-ascent, the old man was forced to block, but the blow slammed him back down to the ground.
A strand of silver hair casually slipped out from beneath the cloak.
The attacker was none other than Number Zero.
Even though her arm had been sliced off in a single clash last time, Number Zero showed no fear now.
Wielding the Troll's Mallet, she immediately pressed her attack.
“Tier 3 Magic, Water Spirit's Blessing!”
“Tier 3 Magic, Fire Spirit's Blessing!”
“Tier 3 Magic, Earth Spirit's Blessing!”
“Tier 3 Magic, Wind Spirit's Blessing!”
“Tier 3 Magic, Wind's Favor!”
In the distance, Li Xiuman unfolded his Bone Wings and flew swiftly toward the battlefield.
As he flew, magic circles expanded around him one after another, layering buffs onto his body.
If it were an ordinary Tier 3 Mage, casting this many enhancement spells would have drained their mana pool completely dry.
“The special Golem whose arm I sliced off last time?”
The old man landed on the ground and dropped into a combat stance.
“You're a rare special Golem. I'll do my best not to break you.”
“After all, the Golem craftsmanship on your body is worth a fortune.”
As soon as he spoke, his figure vanished from Number Zero's vision in the very next second.
Rate on N.U.
