Gao Wu: If this BOSS isn't nerfed, is it even playable?

Chapter 165 Passive Trait: Wrathful Gaze Subdues Demons!

Lin Ye charged forward again, wielding his gun in one hand, moving even faster than before, and his gunplay became even more ferocious.

The eight-armed warriors of the Blood Slaughter Tribe are renowned in this region for their fearlessness in the face of death.

Retreat is not in their vocabulary; their glory is forged on the bones of their enemies.

But at this moment, this glory is being crushed in the most savage way by an incomprehensible humanoid monster.

When another six-armed elite was blown apart by Lin Ye's spear, and blood and brains splattered on the face of his companion beside him, the companion's arm, which was wielding a battle axe, hesitated for the first time.

It watched the figure stroll leisurely among the corpses of its people, without a single wound on its body. In its scarlet eyes, the frenzied fighting spirit was being replaced by a more primal emotion.

fear.

The idea, once it took root, spread like a plague among the remaining eight-armed warriors.

Their king was killed in an instant, the altar was reduced to ruins, and the god was publicly humiliated.

Now, the entire tribe's elite are being slaughtered by the enemy.

The so-called glory is laughable in the face of an absolute gap in strength.

Finally, after witnessing his fellow kin being torn in two by the golden spear light, a four-armed slave soldier's mental defenses completely collapsed.

It let out a terrified scream, dropped its weapon, and turned to run wildly toward the canyon exit.

It was as if the first domino had been pushed over.

The number of deserters is increasing.

Minutes later, the battle had turned into a one-sided chase.

Lin Ye's figure flickered continuously in the canyon. Each appearance was accompanied by a dazzling golden spear light and a scream that abruptly stopped.

Just as he was about to slaughter the last dozen or so eight-armed tribesmen, the prompt he had been waiting for finally rang in his mind.

[Ding! You have slain an elite member of the Eight-Armed Clan; the Gluttonous Beast mechanic has been activated!]

[You have gained the passive racial trait: Wrathful Gaze Subduing Demons!]

Lin Ye paused slightly in his pursuit, and the tension in his heart finally eased.

Passive trait!
This means that, unlike Crystallization and Shadow Scale, this new ability is not mutually exclusive and cannot be used simultaneously; he needs to switch between them during battle.

Passive traits and abilities are always in effect.

One is proactive, and the other is reactive; this is the ideal combination for the [Gluttony] mechanism.

The moment the system notification sounded, Lin Ye keenly sensed that the battle situation before him had undergone a subtle shift.

Throughout his battles with these eight-armed tribesmen, he had always felt a subtle, yet powerful, pressure.

The circulation of internal energy was always a little slower than usual, and even the speed at which the [Crystallization] technique was used to condense amethyst seemed to be affected.

Although this sense of sluggishness is almost negligible in the face of his absolute strength.

But it does exist.

But at that very moment, the lingering sense of oppression vanished into thin air.

The flow of the Qi and Sha was smoother than ever before.

The mobilization of mental energy was now completely unhindered.

While chasing down the last few fleeing Eight-Armed Clan members, Lin Ye also took a moment to examine this new passive ability.

【Subduing Demons with Wrathful Gaze】

[Type: Passive Racial Trait]

[Effect: Now all your attacks will weaken the target's special abilities or special skills that require energy.]

[Note: This effect is weakened when attacking a target stronger than yourself; conversely, it is strengthened when attacking a target weaker than yourself.]

Three words flashed through Lin Ye's mind in an instant.

Anti-Mage!
He immediately understood why that strange feeling of oppression had suddenly disappeared.

It turns out that the true racial advantage of these eight-armed races, who seem to only rely on brute force in hand-to-hand combat, is not their multiple arms, but a passive characteristic that can subtly weaken the opponent's energy circulation during battle.

The reason he is now immune to this effect is entirely because he used his own "nullification" to nullify the Eight-Armed Clan's "nullification".

There's an absurd feeling that I'm using my own impeccable flawlessness to invalidate yours.

In this purely mechanic-driven competition, the stronger side will naturally prevail.

puff!

As the last eight-armed clansman was pierced through the back by the Star Piercing Spear, the entire canyon finally fell into complete silence.

All that remained was the gurgling sound of the lava river and the howling wind rushing in from the canyon entrance.

Lin Ye shook off the bloodstains on the tip of the spear and sheathed the Piercing Star Spear back behind him.

He looked around and saw mutilated corpses everywhere.

Warm blood gathered into streams, meandering across the scorched earth, eventually flowing into the dark red lava river, where billowing plumes of foul-smelling white smoke rose.

Without pausing, Lin Ye's gaze swept past the mountain of corpses and landed behind the altar ruins, on the basalt fortress that stood out starkly from the surrounding simple caves.

He hadn't forgotten that before the ritual began, those boxes of extremely pure source crystals were carried out from this fortress.

He currently has three active temporary skills that are eagerly awaited, as well as a passive trait with great potential.

He would not let go of any opportunity to devour the source crystal.

Beneath his feet lay a churning, boiling river of lava, and Lin Ye's thoughts stirred slightly.

hum!
A hexagonal purple crystal materialized out of thin air beneath his feet, hovering steadily above the magma, shielding him from the intense heat that could melt gold and iron.

Lin Ye lightly touched the crystal with his toes, and his figure floated forward dozens of meters like a ghost.

Before it even reached its destination, the second amethyst crystal had already formed.

In a few leaps, he crossed the lava lake, which was hundreds of meters wide, and landed smoothly in front of the fortress.

The fortress blends seamlessly with the mountain walls on both sides of the canyon, constructed entirely of massive black basalt columns, with a rugged and savage style.

Without any elaborate decorations, the massive stone pillars are covered with marks of varying depths from chopping and impact.

I don't know what happened here before.

Without hesitation, Lin Ye stepped into the entrance of the fortress.

The interior of the fortress was equally simple and straightforward, with wide passageways and walls inlaid with glowing ores at intervals, illuminating the interior of the fortress.

A strong aura of source crystal permeated the air.

He relaxed only after confirming that there were no more living eight-armed beings inside the fortress.

Lin Ye twitched his nostrils slightly, following the increasingly strong scent of source crystals in the air, and walked deeper into the fortress.

After passing through several empty corridors and huge stone chambers resembling military camps, he finally arrived at a core area located underground.

A heavy alloy gate blocked the way, and a faint blue light shone through the gaps below the gate, like a dream.

Lin Ye did not search for the mechanism to open the gate.

He raised his right hand, and golden energy surged forth from his dantian, pouring into his five fingers.

laugh!
His fingers pierced through the half-meter-thick alloy gate as easily as piercing through a layer of damp paper.

Lin Ye's arm muscles bulged, and a tremendous force suddenly erupted.

"Squeak——!!"

With a sickening metallic twisting sound, he ripped the several-ton alloy gate off the stone wall!

boom!
Lin Ye casually tossed the deformed gate aside, where it crashed to the ground with a loud bang.

He looked at his perfectly intact right hand and couldn't help but feel a sense of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a feeling of deep emotion or reflection).

The Condensing Qi Realm is indeed another level of life.

The destructive power that can be displayed with every gesture is something that cannot be imagined at the Meridian Opening Realm.

He stepped into the warehouse.

The next second, even with Lin Ye's composure, his breath caught in his throat.

The warehouse was extremely spacious, and at this moment, it was filled with boxes of source crystals.

Boxes and stacks piled up, forming small, dark blue crystal mountains.

Pure, deep blue light intertwined, illuminating the entire warehouse like a deep-sea dreamscape, the air filled with a rich, almost liquefied, source energy.

What excited Lin Ye even more was that the quality of these source crystals far surpassed any he had ever seen before.

Each piece is crystal clear and flawless, containing such strong energy fluctuations that faint blue halos are visible to the naked eye.

Clearly, these are top-tier stockpiles accumulated by the Blood Slaughter Tribe over countless years and carefully selected.

comfortable!
This purity and this quantity of source crystal are enough to enhance the [Wrathful Demon Subduing] skill he just obtained, or even directly strengthen it to a level close to that of other skills.

……

Two hours later.

Inside the warehouse, one-third of the mountain of source crystals had disappeared.

Lin Ye sat cross-legged in the center of the open space, looking at his skin that shimmered with a faint blue light.

He could feel that every inch of his flesh and blood, every cell in his body, was filled with a violent source energy so saturated it was about to overflow.

These energy sources have even begun to dissipate outwards through radiation.

Lin Ye glanced at the time; he had been inside the Nirvana Tower for over thirteen hours.

If he hadn't impulsively flicked the combat bracelet into the statue's mouth to save someone, he probably would have been forcibly teleported away by the power of the rules long ago. According to the training camp's rules, this was already considered a serious overtime.

He hadn't forgotten his promise to Yin Liulan.

If you can't repay your debts and points, being eliminated is a certainty.

Lin Ye decided to rest for a while until the uncontrolled source energy radiation in his body completely subsided before returning to the training camp.

Otherwise, if he went back looking like an Avatar, he would probably be captured and dissected for research immediately.

He opened his personal panel to review his gains.

The descriptions of the skills 【Crystallization】 and 【Shadow Scale】 did not change after absorbing a massive amount of source energy.

Lin Ye was not surprised by this.

The potential of these two skills depends more on his own development and application.

Both Amethyst and Shadowscale have reached a bottleneck after this enhancement.

Even if there are improvements, they will probably only be in terms of crystal condensation speed and hardness, as well as the enhanced camouflage and stealth effects of Shadowscale.

The real qualitative change came from two other things.

After absorbing enough source energy, the activity and resilience of the mycelium of the [Silk-Born Puppet] exploded.

Now, he can even leave a portion of milky-white core mycelium inside the puppet's body.

These core mycelia possess higher intelligence and are better able to execute Lin Ye's commands.

At the same time, another qualitative change is that his puppet itself has become a source of diffusion that can continuously spread black spores, so that he no longer needs to personally implant the spores.

The new passive ability, "Wrathful Demon Subduing," has also been significantly enhanced.

The word "weaken" in the original description has been changed to the more domineering word "suppress".

Now, as long as an opponent's strength doesn't exceed his by one major realm, their strength will be greatly reduced when fighting him.

More than ten minutes later, Lin Ye got up and walked out of the fortress.

The canyon remained deathly silent, save for the howling wind that swept over the corpses scattered everywhere.

Lin Ye determined the direction, then sped off back the way he came.

As I passed by that familiar, twisted, withered forest, a shrill shriek came from overhead.

A lone elite Stone Goblin spotted him and was preparing to sound the alarm.

Lin Ye looked up at it and flicked his finger to shoot out a golden aura.

I just happen to need a means of transportation.

Seconds later, the fierce glint in the eyes of the Stone Goblin elite vanished, replaced by absolute loyalty.

It obediently lowered itself and prostrated itself before Lin Ye.

Lin Ye flipped over and mounted its broad back.

The Stone Demon Clan puppet flapped its wings violently, stirring up a cloud of dust, and carried Lin Ye into the sky, transforming into a black shadow as it flew towards the previous entrance to the rift.

boom!
A deafening roar, accompanied by a violent tremor of the ground, exploded at the entrance to the Nirvana Tower's fissure.

The instructors stationed there changed their expressions drastically, and almost simultaneously sprang up from their positions, their bodies surging with aura, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"What's going on!"

Something is rushing down!

All eyes were fixed on the billowing dust that had been stirred up ahead.

Soon, the smoke and dust slowly dissipated.

A tall, slender figure stood quietly in place.

Behind him, a three-meter-tall elite Stone Goblin was rapidly dissolving into a pool of writhing black slime, which eventually seeped into the ground and disappeared.

The entrance was deathly silent.

All the instructors' eyes were fixed on that figure, their eyes filled with astonishment and doubt.

This young man... just now, did he fly back riding on the back of that Stone Goblin?
Also, what is this invisible aura emanating from us?

Every instructor present possessed at least the strength of the mid-stage of the Condensation Realm.

They could clearly sense that the young man in front of them had an aura that was at most at the early stage of the Condensation Realm, and even carried a trace of the ethereal state of someone who had just broken through.

But he just stood there quietly, and every move he made brought them a heavy sense of oppression.

They had only ever experienced this feeling with Dongfang Zhen, the strongest student in the training camp!
One of the most senior instructors stepped forward. He suppressed the shock in his heart and asked in a deep voice, "Who are you? Show me your combat bracelet."

This is a routine procedure; the identity of the returnee must be verified to rule out the possibility that they are a superior alien race in disguise.

Lin Ye shook his head: "The bracelet isn't on me. I gave it to them to bring back when I was saving people."

Upon hearing this, all the instructors present showed expressions of shock.

"Rescue?"

"Those three missing trainees... were you the one who rescued them?" an instructor blurted out.

The other person seemed to remember something, their pupils contracted, and they exclaimed in surprise, "You're Lin Ye?"

Lin Ye nodded, a hint of doubt in his mind.

How come I feel like I've become famous overnight?
The instructors' eyes changed when they heard his name.

Once the lead instructor received confirmation, the wariness on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a complex, almost awe-inspiring expression.

He voluntarily gave up his seat.

"Before Captain Nie left, he instructed that if a student named Lin Ye returned without a bracelet, he should be allowed to pass after his identity was confirmed."

Lin Ye once again passed through that familiar spatial ripple.

The next moment, the familiar scene inside the Nirvana Stone Tower came into view again.

Even though less than a day had passed, Lin Ye felt as if it were a lifetime ago.

Twelve hours ago, he was on the verge of a breakthrough and was in his weakest state.

Twelve hours later, with his normal strength at the P1 stage, he might be able to crush the instructors in front of him who were responsible for guarding and recording.

Lin Ye's sudden appearance caused the five or six students who were resting cross-legged inside the tower to turn their heads in unison.

As the brutal elimination process continues, only 21 of the original 36 participants remain.

Those who have survived to this day are all the elite of the elite.

This is why, towards the end of the training camp, almost all the trainees chose to spend most of their time in the Nirvana Tower.

The credits earned from actual combat hunting have become the most important criterion for assessment at this stage.

Lin Ye ignored the scrutinizing gazes and walked straight to the huge points leaderboard next to the square.

Below the list, an instructor in charge of recording stopped him.

"Student, please show your wristband. I need to sync your kill data to earn credits."

"The bracelet is gone."

The instructor was taken aback, then frowned.

But when he saw Lin Ye's face clearly, his expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in surprise, "You are Lin Ye?"

Lin Ye was even more puzzled.

He could feel that the moment the instructor called out his name, all the students in the tower, and even the other instructors, turned their attention to him.

These people had different expressions in their eyes; some were curious, while others were scrutinizing.

The instructor's tone became much more polite.

"Chief Instructor Yin instructed that if you return, you should report your achievements during this period yourself, and we will be responsible for recording them and converting them into academic credits."

Upon hearing this, Lin Ye pondered for a moment before slowly speaking.

"I wiped out an eight-armed tribe."

“There are about three hundred four-armed slave soldiers, seventy or eighty six-armed elites, let’s say seventy, and one eight-armed tribal leader.”

His voice wasn't loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears in the quiet stone tower.

The entire Nirvana Tower fell into a deathly silence.

All the students who were resting with their eyes closed or talking in hushed tones froze.

They stared at Lin Ye as if he were a madman, as if trying to confirm whether they had misheard.

what?
One person slaughtered an entire Eight-Armed Tribe?
Every student who has entered the Heavenly Abyss Rift knows how troublesome the Eight-Armed Clan is.

That racial ability that can suppress both physical strength and martial spirituality is a nightmare for all martial artists.

Fighting them is like being in shackles; you're lucky if you can unleash 70% of your full strength.

And now, this guy claims he single-handedly wiped out an entire tribe?

They even... killed a leader-level eight-armed tribesman?

The instructor in charge of taking notes almost broke the pen in his hand.

He swallowed hard, his voice dry as he asked again, "Chief? Are you sure you killed an eight-armed tribe chief?"

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(End of this chapter)