I am the Arcane Archer, and all my skills are self-created.

"Listen up, everyone!"

Li Wu's voice rang out in the team channel, and everyone stopped what they were doing.

"The BOSS's defense is too high; my current skills can't break through it. I need time."

"Time?" Hua Zitong's voice immediately turned serious.

"I want to create a new skill."

There was a moment of silence.

"You mean... here? Now?" Zhui Feng's voice rose eight octaves.

"right."

"Are you crazy?"

"Shut up." Li Wu's tone left no room for negotiation. "I need you to help me hold off the BOSS. You don't need to deal damage or control it. You just need to do one thing: keep its attention away from me."

"But……"

"Hua Zitong, you lead the team."

"...I understand." Hua Zitong's voice deepened. "Night Wind, Ink Mark, and Wind Chaser, the three of you come with me."

"Wait!" Chasing Wind cried out anxiously, "That thing can kill any one of us with a single strike! You want us to go and draw aggro?"

"We don't need to get hit by its blade." Hua Zitong's voice turned cold. "Didn't you notice? It's not moving very fast. With its steel armor and twenty-meter size, every step it takes is slow. As long as we don't get cornered, we can use the area of ​​this space to run around it."

"But that level 52 suppression..."

"Enough with the nonsense." Hua Zitong interrupted him. "The president said he needs time, so let's give him time. One minute, three minutes, ten minutes, no matter how long it takes, we have to hold on."

"This isn't a question of whether you can hold out," Li Wu added. "The four of you spread out in four directions and take turns harassing it. Don't get within ten meters of it; its AOE skills have a range of about ten meters. Maintain your distance and take turns drawing its attention."

"What if it identifies you as its target?" Mohen asked.

"Then you'll have to interrupt its pursuit," Li Wu said. "Even though you can't freeze it, half a second of stun is enough for it to turn its head. In that half second, have someone else take over the harassment."

"Okay, I understand." Mohen pushed up his glasses.

"Night Wind, your mission is the most crucial." Li Wu looked at Night Wind in the shadows one last time. "If it gets too close to me and the others can't draw its aggro in time, use your Sap."

"clear."

"Let's begin then."

Li Wu took a deep breath and retreated to the edge of the circular space.

He found a stone pillar that hadn't collapsed yet and sat down against it.

Before him, Mal'Ganis's twenty-meter-tall figure slowly turned around, his gaze sweeping over the several small figures scattered around him.

"Run?" The warlord's voice was low and mocking. "You can't escape."

Hua Zitong didn't reply. She rushed forward from the left and threw a throwing knife at the warlord's ankle.

-12!

Twelve points of damage.

But hatred held them back.

Mal'Ganis glanced down at her, then raised his greatsword.

Hua Zitong had already turned and run away.

The giant sword slammed into the ground behind her, the shockwave sending pebbles flying. Hua Zitong rolled over, a piece of gravel grazing her arm.

-234!

"Sister Hua!" Zhui Feng exclaimed in surprise.

"Keep running! Don't stop!" Hua Zitong's voice was chillingly cold.

She was running, and Malganis was chasing. Its pace was slow, but each step covered five or six meters.

But Hua Zitong was faster. Her agility was second only to Li Wu and Ye Feng in the Myth Guild. In this space with a diameter of 100 meters, as long as she was not forced into a corner, the warlord could not catch up with her at all.

"Ten seconds!" Hua Zitong counted down the time. "Zhuifeng, pick me up!"

"I am coming!"

Zhui Feng drew his bow from the right and fired an arrow.

-8!

Eight points of damage, but that's enough.

The warlord's attention was diverted, and it stopped chasing Hua Zitong and turned to look at Zhui Feng.

He took off running in the wind.

"Okay!" Hua Zitong breathed a sigh of relief.

The ink marks and the night wind responded from two other directions.

The four people were like four ants surrounding an elephant, taking turns scratching it and then running away. The damage was ridiculously low, but each attack was enough to draw its aggro.

Mal'Ganis was initially unconcerned, thinking these insects couldn't cause any trouble. But after a few dozen seconds, it began to get annoyed; these damned insects were too fast, and its greatsword was always hitting empty ground.

"Ants!"

It roared and plunged its giant sword into the ground.

"The fel energy shockwave is coming!" Chasing Wind shouted. "Everyone, evacuate!"

A green shockwave spread outwards from the warlord's center. Hua Zitong and the others were prepared and had already created distance before the shockwave arrived.

-0!

I didn't run into anyone.

"Keep harassing them!" Hua Zitong ordered.

"I'll go!" Mohen fired a spell projectile from behind. Although the damage was only in the single digits, it successfully made the warlord turn around.

The four people ran in a perfect rotation rhythm within this circular space, each drawing aggro for ten seconds before the next person took over. The warlord's attention was constantly shifted, making it impossible for him to lock onto any one target.

At the edge of the space, Li Wu, who was sitting against a stone pillar, closed his eyes.

His consciousness sank into the sea of ​​his mind.

Deep within the spiritual sea, the symbols of the Thirty-Six Secret Texts floated in the void, each radiating a different color of light.

Li Wu stared at four of them.

The four secret inscriptions, 【炽】, 【增】, 【凝】, and 【锐】, represent four kinds of power.

He needs to combine them to create a completely new four-arrow skill.

"Incanthosis provides energy... amplifies scale... condenses and compresses density... sharpness imparts penetration."

Li Wu silently recited in his mental sea.

The logic is very clear.

Blazing + Intensification + Condensation—that's the combination of the Fusion Penetrating Arrow. He was already very familiar with how these three secret runes worked together.

The current issue is how to incorporate [Sharp] into this foundation.

【Sharp】 is not a simple secret that "increases damage" or "increases penetration".

Its core concept is "ignoring obstacles".

In the combination of two and three arrows, the [Sharp] attribute represents physical penetration, allowing arrows to penetrate armor, shields, and protective armor.

However, at the level of the four characters, the meaning of 【锐】 will be elevated to a higher level.

It is no longer a matter of physical penetration.

Rather, it's conceptual penetration.

Ignoring the concept of defense itself.

"If I can make the concept of 'Sharpness' penetrate and take effect... then this arrow will not just penetrate its armor on a physical level, but negate its defense on a rule level."

Li Wu's mind raced.

But to achieve this, he needs to solve a core problem:

The order in which the four secret documents are arranged.

Intense + Increased + Condensed + Sharp?

Blazing + Increasing + Sharpening + Condensing?

Blazing + Sharp + Increase + Condensation?

Sharp + Blazing + Increasing + Condensing?

Different arrangements result in completely different effects. In the Thirty-Six Secret Texts system, order is everything.

"The flame must be at the very front, as the source of energy; this remains unchanged."

"Increase must follow closely, expanding the scale of energy, without changing anything."

"The problem lies in the order of Ning and Rui."

Condensation first, sharpness second: first compress energy to its extreme, then impart penetration. This means that an arrow is an extremely compressed energy point, possessing penetrating power.

Sharpness first, then compression: first imbue with the concept of penetration, then compress it to the extreme. This means that the arrow is a carrier of the concept of penetration, compressed to its smallest form.

"The difference lies in whether energy is the primary factor or the penetration itself is the primary factor."

In Li Wu's spiritual sea, the two combinations each emerged in a vague form.

The form of Blazing + Increasing + Condensing + Sharpening is very similar to the Fusion Penetrating Arrow, except that it has an extra layer of sharpness at the end.

He couldn't make out the shape of the flame, the increase, the sharpness, and the condensation.

That form twisted and deformed in his mind, unable to stabilize.

"Is the structure before the condensation unstable?"

He tried it, and the four cryptic symbols in his mind began to slowly rotate and move closer.

It's glowing brightly, the connection is established, and everything is normal up to this point.

Then Rui attempted to connect.

hum!

The mental sea trembled violently, and the four secret texts were repelled.

Construction failed.

"As expected, the energy flows of sharpness and increase are incompatible. Increase is expansion, while sharpness is contraction. If the two are directly connected, their directions are opposite, and the energy will collapse."

"Therefore, it must be blazing + increasing + condensing + sharp, with condensing in the middle as a buffer. Condensation can both accept the expansion of increasing and resonate with the contraction of sharp."

The logic makes sense now.

Li Wu attempted to construct it again.

【炽】to light up.

[Added] Following the previous one, energy expansion.

【凝】Continuing from above, energy is compressed towards a single point.

Then there's [Sharp].

He carefully pushed the symbol of "sharp" towards the end of "condensed".

The moment the two secret texts came into contact, a crisp "ding" sounded in the mind's eye.