Scourge Messenger

Chapter 468 Joys and sorrows
"Fifty percent of your blood remaining," Jiang Shi reminded, "Prepare for the [Joy and Sorrow]!"

As soon as Jiang Shi finished speaking, the Weeping Daoist rose into the air, and all attacks that landed on him were blocked by a layer of pale golden barrier. Yan Qing did not attack in vain. This scene had been mentioned in the information provided by Miao Bi. Once the Weeping Daoist's health dropped below 50%, he would definitely enter an invincible state and unleash his strongest killing move, which could not be interrupted by any supernatural power.

"The beauty of nature is intoxicating, and fair skin and green gauze can bewitch a traveler's soul. Ask not of the many affairs of the mortal world, for a pot of wine is enough to face the empty gate. Immortal mountains and palaces are but illusions, and this body is adrift on rivers and seas. I still remember the beauty of spring, when peach blossoms covered my old silk skirt."

As the Weeping Taoist chanted his verses, the phrase "The Feast Never Ends" resonated with a powerful echo. This wasn't due to the limited space causing the echo, but rather because the Weeping Taoist was splitting in two. He was like a severed earthworm, forcefully coalescing into a new entity!
Killer Move: Divide and Conquer!
The weeping Taoist's clone wore a broad smile, which the magician referred to as the "Laughing Taoist." The two shared a health bar and a killing move; they were about to launch an attack together!
With a clatter, an eight-sided die appeared above everyone's head, assigning each person a number from one to eight without exception.

"Gather at halftime and keep track of your points." Yan Qing became increasingly talkative with nervousness: "The northwest half is 1-2-5-6, and the southeast half is 3-4-7-8! Watch where the bombs land, and then run accordingly!"

Two streaks of fire fell, landing precisely at the northernmost and southernmost points of the "Never-Ending Feast," each covering one-third of the area.

"run!"

Yan Qing is [one]. He, Jiang Shi, Ning Xiaoxiao, and Yao Shiyuan ran to the northwest half of the field, while Ying Rushi, Shang Xinlei, Deng Jin, and Wei Bai were in the southeast half. The fire bombardment will cleanse the [Never-Ending Feast] clockwise, and once it will bomb the very center of the field, so as long as you run to the location of the last fire bombardment, you will be safe.

But this is just the effect of the killing move [Joy and Sorrow]; the real trouble is the subsequent targeted execution!
"I'll be in front, [two] with their backs to me, and the other two must stay out of our sight, in blind spots!"

"I'm ready!" Ning Xiaoxiao, whose score was two, shouted.

Suddenly, the Weeping Daoist teleported behind Yan Qing, slashing with both hands to unleash a fan-shaped burst of brilliant light. The damage wasn't particularly high, but Yan Qing felt an immense heaviness in his body, and his defensive barrier was tinged with dazzling colors, beautiful as a rainbow, yet concealing a deadly threat—if he were attacked again by the Weeping Daoist or the Laughing Daoist, the barrier would explode instantly, bringing him to the brink of death!
At the same time, the Laughing Taoist appeared behind Ning Xiaoxiao and unleashed a dazzling rainbow light that pierced through everything in front of her! She was not seriously injured, but she was also marked as vulnerable and could not withstand another attack.

This is the highlight of the "Joy and Sorrow" event. The Weeping Taoist and the Laughing Taoist will launch a series of wide-range fan-shaped attacks and straight-line attacks that pierce through the front, in the order of one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, based on the messenger's points! Everyone can only withstand one attack. Once they are hit by someone else's damage or by the fire that cleanses the area, their health will be instantly depleted!
The solution wasn't difficult. Yan Qing and Deng Jin discussed many solutions and finally settled on this one: the eight people were divided into two teams and ran across the field chasing the firelight. Everyone had to make sure that when it was their turn, there was no one in front of them. Specifically, Yan Qing looked ahead, Ning Xiaoxiao looked behind, and the people in their team had to stay to the side. In this way, only the two of them would be hurt.

After defeating Yan Qing and Ning Xiaoxiao, the Weeping Daoist and the Laughing Daoist immediately teleported to the opposite side of the field to chase after [Three] and [Four]. Yan Qing and the other three quickly ran to the next location where the fire had been bombarded.

Next up are Jiang Shi's "five" and Yao Shiyuan's "six," one facing forward and the other facing backward, with Yan Qing and Ning Xiaoxiao huddled together beside them.

"Dog Master, I'm so nervous!" Ning Xiaoxiao said in a trembling voice, "This solution is too dangerous."

It is indeed very dangerous. If anyone is looking at the wrong people, the whole group could be wiped out in an instant.

"As long as you follow our plan, you'll definitely be able to safely break this deadly move," Yan Qing reassured him, then repeated, rather speechlessly, "You dog, Master?"

"You don't think it's good? That dog brother? Mr. Dog? Young Hero Dog?"

"Just call me Dog, it's just a temporary code name."

[Five or six], [Seven or eight], the Weeping Taoist and the Laughing Taoist have already attacked everyone according to the points, and everyone is in a vulnerable state, but no one has taken a second hit... The most troublesome killing move, [Parting and Reunion], has been successfully overcome! A whirlwind rose in the center of the arena, and the Weeping Taoist and the Laughing Taoist stepped out of the whirlwind. They will now transform into the Double Demon King mode, doubling their damage and killing moves. Although there are no particularly complex killing moves like [Parting and Reunion], the two Demon Kings alone are enough to give everyone a hard time.

This is the turning point in the strategy. If your team has high single-target burst damage, you can consider sending a shieldbearer to pull away one of the demon kings, while the rest of you focus fire on the other demon king, since they share health anyway. If your team has a lot of area-of-effect damage, pull the two demon kings together and quickly reduce their health with wide-area damage.

Simply put, the last 50% of "Extreme Sorrowful Taoist's" health is the DPS test. The faster you kill him, the better. If you kill him slowly, you'll be dragged down to a wipe by the two demon kings' endless killing moves!
Coincidentally, Yan Qing's greatest strength lies in unleashing maximum bursts of power in an extremely short time!
"It's over," Yan Qing said calmly. "Stay away from them."

Deng Jin, Wei Bai, and Ning Xiaoxiao quickly moved away from the Demon King. The strategy Yan Qing discussed with them only covered the solution to the [Joy and Sorrow] mechanic; he said he would handle the rest. However, the Demon King still had 50% health after [Joy and Sorrow]. Even a fourth-rank messenger, let alone a fifth-rank True Person or a sixth-rank Grand True Person, couldn't defeat it alone, especially since the Demon King had split into two.

However, neither Jiang Shi nor anyone else questioned Yan Qing's decision, and they could only stand aside, becoming spectators with complicated feelings.

Yan Qing stood before the Weeping Taoist and the Laughing Taoist, his right hand picking up a piece of yellow paper and reciting an ancient prayer. At this moment, he was extremely calm, without sorrow or joy, like the fickle nature of life and death. Rather than saying he had come to deal with the two demon kings, it would be more accurate to say that he was pronouncing a death sentence.

On his yellow paper burned four large characters with green flames: "The Weeping Taoist"!
The yellow paper vanished, and the Weeping Taoist's body erupted with blood, even his soul was ripped out, and he actually knelt on the ground. The Weeping Taoist was clearly in a dazed state, which was a perfect opportunity to attack. Deng Jin and Wei Bai had an idea, but seeing that Jiang Shi and the others did not move, they also patiently remained still.

Yan Qing methodically replenished his spiritual energy. Huanxiao Daoren looked at him, clasped his hands together, and prepared a double-strike single-target death attack. However, Yan Qing was even faster; his right hand picked up another piece of yellow paper, this time with "Huanxiao Daoren" written on it!
[Death and Life Together] Duo!

The Laughing Taoist collapsed with a thud, piling up on top of the Weeping Taoist. The two demon kings were no longer moving; they had died instantly!
It sure works!

Upon seeing that the Weeping Taoist would create a clone with shared health in its second phase, Yan Qing realized he had a way to quickly kill this demon king. The [Life and Death Together] skill, when used alone on any target for the first time, reduces the target's maximum health by 25%. Since the Weeping Taoist and the Laughing Taoist share a health bar but are two different targets, using [Life and Death Together] on them separately would reduce their combined health by 50%!
It can only be said that the Sorrowful Taoist and Yan Qing are indeed compatible. The only time the invincible body appeared was when the health was at 50%. After 50% health, there was a clone with shared health. Yan Qing felt that he was wasting this divine power if he did not use the "Life and Death Together" to quickly kill this demon king.

Yan Qing had considered whether to conceal his strength, since [Life and Death Together] was a trump card capable of turning the tide of battle, and the fewer people who knew about it, the better. But ultimately, he felt it was unnecessary. If he were to hesitate, then he shouldn't have let Jiang Shi step into the limelight in the first place, much less let Jiang Shi use the Summoning Stone. Since he had already decided to lead the era in a high-profile manner, he should run with all his might, reaching the forefront of the era before anyone could react!

More importantly, if Yan Qing had such strong skills but couldn't show them off, she felt she would develop depression.

Showing off is an important emotional need in gaming!
"Be careful," Jiang Shi suddenly said.

Yan Qing turned his head and saw that the Weeping Daoist and the Laughing Daoist had merged back into one, transforming into a demon king unlike any he had ever seen before, wearing a mask that was neither smiling nor crying. Now, he could be called the Weeping and Laughing Daoist.

The Taoist of Sorrow and Joy aimed his hands at Yan Qing and spewed out boundless light, engulfing Yan Qing's figure!

death penalty!

(End of this chapter)