[The Direct Vision Great Sage raises his hand to raise another Knowledge Barrier to protect his subordinate, but he is ultimately still a step too slow…]

[By the time the savage power of Character Law has swept through, the Knowledge Barrier only barely manages to appear…]

[When the blinding light of the spell eruption dies away, only a solitary Knowledge Barrier remains in front of you. The sage it was meant to protect could not withstand a second attack from a top demigod, and under the might of the spell his body has been completely vaporized.]

[You have defeated Knowledge-Seeking Direct Vision Branch Association Sage. Your experience increases greatly!]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage’s face is twisted with ferocity. With even his last subordinate dying miserably to your sneak attack, he laughs in his rage, saying, good, very good.]

[He had not expected the True God’s Envoy to not only seize the bodies of others, but also unleash spell power far surpassing the original body.]

[Osborn’s Character Law, in your hands, can explode with such terrifying might that this power is almost approaching his own level.]

[Is this the great power bestowed upon the Envoy by the true Lord?]

[You notice that you have cast Character Law twice in succession, yet still failed to shatter his Knowledge Barrier.]

[The Great Sage is a little farther away from you, but he is still within the effective attack range of the spell. Even so, the Knowledge Barrier he cast has withstood two uses of Character Law without breaking.]

[Your heart sinks. You understand that although your Shell Quality has risen a tier, your equipment and skills are still stuck at Mythic grade, and there is still a certain gap between your strength and the Great Sage’s.]

[Your chances of defeating him are truly rather slim.]

Lin Xun narrowed his eyes, his thoughts spinning rapidly.

This was a gap of absolute power. Facing the true top demigod Direct Vision Great Sage was not something that could be bridged by one or two items.

[You possess the shell of the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil.]

[You stomp down hard, unleashing terrifying physical strength that causes the ground beneath your feet to crack open with a roar.]

[Your figure streaks straight toward the Direct Vision Great Sage. Twisting your waist and swinging your arm, you slash the Scarlet King’s Sword viciously at the defensive barrier.]

[The savage power stirs up howling gales as the blood-red sword light crashes into that thin yet incredibly solid layer of Knowledge Barrier.]

[At the same time, behind you as you swing with reckless abandon, a tall, thin figure in a robe appears…]

[That figure is wreathed in hazy light and shadow, its face none other than the familiar Sage Osborn.]

[The sage’s consciousness body raises his staff high and tugs open his robe collar again, revealing that bloodshot giant eye once more.]

[Special Skill Character Law activated!]

[Two earth-shaking forces strike the Knowledge Barrier together, determined to smash through the defense and behead the Direct Vision Great Sage with your sword.]

Earlier, when Lin Xun was dealing with Sage Osborn, he had burned through all the Bloodshed Points stored in the Scarlet King’s Sword.

After consecutively killing four sages now, the Bloodshed Points had surged back to full, but he still did not use the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil’s strongest strike, Bloodthirsty Judgement.

In this hellish game, Shell Quality had the highest priority and carried the greatest weight in overall damage output.

Sage Osborn, with Mythic+ Shell Quality, wielding a Mythic weapon and using the Mythic skill Character Law, would absolutely deal more damage than the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil, even if the latter was holding a Mythic+ weapon with a Mythic+ weapon trait.

To put it another way, Shell Quality was like an advanced internal cultivation manual. Even if the enemy’s techniques were more exquisite and their weapon sharper, as long as you brought your deep internal energy to bear at full force, you could break skill with raw power, ignore their refined technique, knock their weapon flying, and run them through with a single thrust.

Of course, that was not the main reason why Lin Xun refused to use Bloodthirsty Judgement…

[When the Direct Vision Great Sage sees your ferocious attacks closing in, and sees that you can change into another form and still summon Sage Osborn’s spirit body to attack together…]

[The shock you bring him is no small thing, but the Direct Vision Great Sage does not reveal the slightest hint of panic.]

[He raises his staff high, sending countless characters surging into the Knowledge Barrier and reinforcing the defensive spell even more.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage’s gaze is icy cold as he chants the lengthy incantation of Endless Flood of Knowledge. He simply lets you hammer away at the barrier, as if completely unconcerned that you might break through.]

[The surging spell power and the brutal weapon strike hit the Knowledge Barrier at the same time.]

[Amid a sky-shaking boom, the thin layer of defensive magic flickers twice, yet still stands firm like an iron wall.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage lets out a cold snort, his eyes full of disdain as he continues to quickly chant his incantation…]

[Repeatedly casting the massively draining Character Law makes your shell, Knowledge-Seeking Direct Vision Branch Association Sage, feel a bit fatigued.]

“This turtle shell is way too hard…”

Lin Xun let out a helpless complaint and continued to control the shell to launch frenzied attacks on the enemy.

As the Scarlet King’s Sword continued to hack down and Character Law erupted once again, the defensive barrier finally dimmed slightly. It seemed that the remaining shield value was not very high.

Character Law could be cast instantly and hit very hard, but its only flaw was that it consumed a tremendous amount of mana.

Sage Osborn had only used it a few times before a low mana warning appeared.

Seeing that the shield value of the barrier was running out, Lin Xun’s spirits lifted. As long as he could break the magic shield, a spellcaster’s frail body would never survive a single strike from the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil.

[…]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage’s incantation is nearing its end, and the Knowledge Barrier in front of him is extremely dim, as if about to shatter.]

[Seeing the dawn of victory, you laugh loudly and hammer the barrier even more madly.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage does not stop chanting. The look in his eyes as he regards you is full of thick ridicule…]

[Just as the Knowledge Barrier flickers weakly, countless tiny characters surge out from the Direct Vision Great Sage’s body and merge into the defensive spell. The barrier that had been on the verge of shattering instantly returns to its original state.]

[You have struggled to attack with all your might for so long, only to be faced with a completely intact Knowledge Barrier once again…]

[This fills you with a sense of despair and helplessness. You simply cannot defeat the Direct Vision Great Sage.]

Watching as the Great Sage’s Endless Flood of Knowledge is about to finish its casting bar, Lin Xun knew that if he did not pull some tricky moves now, he would most likely die right here.

[You suddenly stop your attacks, rest the Scarlet King’s Sword back on your shoulder, and speak to the Direct Vision Great Sage who is chanting at high speed…]

[You admit that you cannot beat him, but… you do not need to defeat him in the first place.]

[With that, you heft the crimson greatsword and turn to sprint away at full speed.]

[Wind gathers at your feet as you run with astonishing speed, leaving a trail of dust billowing high behind you and vanishing far into the distance in the blink of an eye…]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage stares blankly at your figure running farther and farther away.]

[Because the direction you have chosen for your escape leads straight toward the massive silhouette half-hidden in the fog: the Multivision School Branch Association.]

[If you succeed in escaping to the Multivision Branch Association, then his five loyal subordinates will have died in vain, and all of his goals and plans will come to nothing.]

[He immediately reacts. Seeing that you have already run out of the spell’s attack range, he can only interrupt the incantation that is about to be completed.]

[Cursing furiously, he leaves the protection of the Knowledge Barrier at once and raises his staff, flying after you.]

[The Direct Vision Great Sage flies at an incredible speed, catching up to you in an instant and landing in front of you.]

[His eyes blaze with fury as he grits his teeth and squeezes out a sentence: did you think he only knew how to cast Endless Flood of Knowledge, that long-chant spell?]

[You ignore the Great Sage’s words. Taking advantage of the fact that he has not yet cast a Knowledge Barrier to protect himself, you swing your sword at him with a sudden slash.]

[The Great Sage raises his staff as more than ten giant lances formed of blazing characters appear behind him.]

[As the tip of his staff points toward you, the giant lances shoot toward you like shells fired from a cannon.]

[Even before they reach you, the savage, violent pressure tells you that there is absolutely no way you can take this head-on.]

[You hastily halt your attack, swing the broad blade of the greatsword horizontally in front of you, and once again summon the sage’s drone consciousness behind you.] 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

[Sage Osborn lifts his staff, and a Knowledge Barrier instantly appears in front of you…]

[A thunderous explosion erupts…]

[The Knowledge Barrier only manages to stop three or four lances before shattering to pieces. If you had not used the broad blade of the Scarlet King’s Sword to block one lance and borrowed the impact to fly backward, you would already have died to the spell’s immense power.]

[Even so, you still suffer the brunt of the spell’s shockwave and take some injuries.]

Lin Xun’s pupils shrank.

The skill the Great Sage had used was Knowledge Dragon Lance, a skill that Sage Osborn also possessed. Low-tier spells always had a skill grade one tier lower than Shell Quality.

If his judgment was correct, the Great Sage had just used a Mythic skill to easily shatter a sage-level magic shield…

“Damn. His Knowledge stat is definitely ridiculously high, probably far higher than mine.”

“Otherwise, there is no way he could break the shield so easily while using a spell of the same level.”

[The Great Sage lets out a cold laugh and gives you no time to breathe. With another sweep of his staff, even more giant lances appear behind him than before.]

[You know that, barring a miracle, there is absolutely no way you can withstand this next attack.]

[The Great Sage does not wish to kill you. As long as you surrender, there is a high chance you will live.]

[Do you wish to drop your weapon and surrender?]

Lin Xun took a deep breath. Victory or defeat would be decided here.

He decisively pressed ‘No.’

[You ignore the many giant lances streaking toward you, disregard the icy glint and extreme danger of those lance tips, and charge at the Great Sage with a roar.]

[At the same time, endless bloody aura gushes out from the crimson greatsword…]

[The Great Sage had seen you unleash this martial technique at the Coleman Workshop and knew exactly how powerful it was.]

[He lets out a cold snort as even more lances appear behind him and blast toward you. He intends to clash with you head-on and see whose attack is stronger.]

[The Great Sage has full confidence that he can smash you, who have turned into a blood-red meteor, to pieces with his lances.]

[However, the crimson aura surging from the sword does not form a comet-like aura around you, but instead pours entirely into your body.]

[Weapon Trait Fountain of Blood activated!]

[Your current Bloodshed Point is 100/100, satisfying the activation requirement for Fountain of Blood.]

[Release the accumulated blood power within the weapon to maintain your own ‘survival’ state, becoming death-immune for a short duration. Activating this skill consumes 100 Bloodshed Points.]

[Endless blood light floods into your body. In that moment, you seem to hear the thunderous roar of your own blood surging.]

[That sound is like a waterfall of blood hanging ten thousand meters high, pouring down from the heavens carrying the blood of millions who have died in battle.]

[Blood that can gather into rivers and lakes, even rise up into a surging ocean, becomes your inexhaustible life force.]

[The lance tips are already upon you. The lances pierce your skin, stab into your flesh, and run through your body, yet they still cannot stop your advance.]

[Your eyes are blood-red, and boundless killing intent focuses on the person in front of you. Only by killing him can you cool your boiling blood and vent the raging slaughter in your heart.]

[The lances that keep shooting through you riddle your body with bloody holes, but you still do not fall.]

[You do not even feel pain. You feel only that vigorous life force is about to overflow from your body.]

[Your vision is a sea of red, and there is only one target left: that shocked face.]

[The Scarlet King’s Sword arcs out in a streak of blood-red light, about to sever the neck that connects his head to his chest.]

[That frail neck will never withstand your full-force slash.]

[Just as you are about to lop off the Great Sage’s head and think victory is in your grasp, he suddenly lets out a thunderous shout as blinding light erupts from a magic item on his body.]

[Countless characters surge out and condense into a barrier that rises in front of the Great Sage, interposing itself between sword edge and neck.]

[With a deafening boom, your sure-kill strike is actually stopped by the Great Sage’s magic item.]

[He retreats again and again in fright, hurriedly raising another barrier to protect himself.]

[As for you, the roaring of your blood and the feeling of overflowing life force steadily fade…]

[The duration of Fountain of Blood is extremely short, reaching its limit after only a few breaths and beginning to dissipate…]

[Covered in wounds, you kneel on the ground leaning on the greatsword. Fountain of Blood can only keep you ‘alive’ while it lasts; it cannot erase these grievous injuries.]

[You are now near-fatally injured.]

“What a last-minute failure…”

Lin Xun had used the Scarlet King’s Sword’s final Weapon Trait, Fountain of Blood, yet his desperate gamble failed because of the enemy’s magic item.

The Direct Vision Association was truly powered by money from top to bottom. Old and young alike all had pricey magic items as trump cards.

[The Direct Vision Great Sage now keeps a safe distance from you, no longer daring to struggle with your frail body in close combat.]

[He calms down and says slowly that he had not expected the true Lord to grant you so many tricks. He almost fell into your trap.]

[However, there is no way for you to turn this around now.]

At this point, the Desire Primordial Fire Child of Evil was hanging on by a thread, and Sage Osborn’s mana was nearly gone. There was still quite a distance to the Multivision Association.

Lin Xun had exhausted his trump cards. Killing the Direct Vision Great Sage was basically impossible.

“Impossible… no. I still have Plan B.”